AN AFTERNOON WITH RAMONA!

Due to our on-going construction and lack of parking, this program was done as a passive program, due to poor sign-up. But, all of the elements of a full-blown program are available to you should you wish to use them!

As with our other programs, a Powerpoint presentation about Ramona and her creator, Beverly Cleary was done to begin the program. This Powerpoint highlighted the Ramona series of books, characters in the series, and the life of the author. It is interesting to note that Cleary herself was a poor reader early in school. As she went on through school, eventually receiving training as a librarian, she was asked by children about books "about children like themselves". These comments are what prompted her to begin her successful writing career.

I also wrote a Reader's Theatre script taking an excerpt from Chapter 1/Ramona's Great Day from the book Ramona the Pest. I had intended to make use of our Teen Advisory Board to perform this short play for participants. The script is available if you'd like it!

Those present were able to do the following Ramona-themed crafts:

NAME ART--When Ramona was learning how to write her name, she discovered the the Q in her last name (Quimby) looked like a kitty-cat from behind! Participants took the letter that their first or last name (or both) began with and were challenged to draw an animal that it either looked like or started with. As you can see from the example above, I've done my name. The "B" from my first name became a camel and the "S" from my last name morphed into a snake!

RIBSY THE DOG CRAFT--Ribsy the dog is actually owned by Henry Huggins. But, when Henry rescues Ramona and her red rain boots from a mud puddle, Ramona is determined to marry him! The base of this craft is a toilet paper roll. Participants colored and cut out the piece that covered roll, plus the tail, legs, and head (see example pictured above).

RAMONA BOOKMARK--This cute bookmark was colored and then laminated. Once the lamination was complete, a hole was punched in the top and ribbon threaded through! See example pictured above!

LET'S MAKE PANTS FOR ELLA FUNT!--In the book Ramona and Her Mother, Ramona struggles to make pants for her stuffed elephant, Ella Fun! Participants colored their elephants and added whatever type of pants they wanted. As you can see by my example, my pants have a "Elmer" kind of feel!

AN "EGG HEAD" CRAFT!--In the book Ramona Quimby, Age 8, Ramona loves 3rd grade and her new teacher, Mrs. Whaley. The kids in the class start a trend of cracking their hard-boiled eggs on their head before eating them. One day, Ramona's mom doesn't hard boil her egg and poor Ramona ends up with raw egg all over her head! Participants took a page that contained a blank head shape and drew themselves. Once they were done, using yellow tempera paint as our "egg" mixture, we dripped egg all over them! See my example for how it might turn out!
The participants really enjoyed this craft, although we all agreed that it was hard to draw yourself!

Snacks were served to those present. Since this was a passive program, participants could take a break from crafts whenever they wished to eat or eat while they worked.

PARTY WITH THE PIGEON!

On October 27, 2007, a small but lively group of participants enjoyed an afternoon with Mo Willems' Pigeon character. As participants arrived, they were given car-shaped nametags (Ellison die) by Children's Librarian Barb Scott. It only figures that since the Pigeon wants to drive the bus, he'd like to drive a car as well!

Participants then watched a short Powerpoint presentation on Mo Willems and his Pigeon character, which highlighted the books in the series, as well as other books that the author has written. The Pigeon character actually first appeared in the margins of a book Willems was working on, and, as Willems tells it, the Pigeon pretty much demanded his own book! It is interesting to note that in Willems' newest book Knuffle Bunny Too, the name of the main character is Trixie. This just happens to be the name of Mo's own daughter!

Then, participants were released to work on five different Pigeon-themed crafts. They were:

PIGEON AND DUCK STICK PUPPETS
Participants first colored the puppet patterns, which were copied off onto construction paper. Then these were cut out, using the examples (pictured above). Large/jumbo craft sticks were then added to the back of each and a goggly eye was glued onto the Pigeon puppet!

PIGEON'S BUS CRAFT
This colorful bus is just perfect for Pigeon to ride and such a friendly face, to boot! Participants colored all of the pieces that made up the bus and then cut them out and assembled them according to the example (pictured above).

HOT DOG! IT'S A CRAFT!
This hot dog is just too cute for anyone to eat, even Pigeon or Duckling! Participants first colored all of the pieces and then cut them out. The hot dog was glued to the bun and then the arms, legs, eyes, nose, and mouth were added, according to the example.

CREATE YOUR OWN PIGEON DOOR HANGER!
This door hanger is double-sided. Participants first colored the Piegon and the background, if they wished. The hanger was then cut along dotted lines, glue applied to the back of one piece, and then folded.

COLOR THE PIGEON!
A coloring page was provided for participants to color and turn in for display in the library.

Snacks were also provided for those present.

Each participant received a goodie bag before leaving for the day. These goodie bags contained Rubber Duck necklaces (purchased from U.S. Toy) and Gummi Hot Dogs (purchased from Candy Direct).

Handouts were also provided for participants to take home. These included word searches, coloring sheets from other Willems' books, and arecipe for the cookies included in Mo's book Edwina, The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct.

ALA also has a complete reading program with Pigeon and his friends available in their catalog!

AN AFTERNOON WITH GERONIMO STILTON!

Geronimo Stilton and his books were the focus of the afternoon of September 22, 2007, with a program presented at the Bucyrus Public Library. As participants arrived, they were given a mouse-shaped nametag (Ellison die-cut).

Children's Librarian Barb Scott began the program by reading the first chapter of the first Geronimo Stilton book to be published, Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye. This was followed by a short Powerpoint presentation on the Stiltson, as well as other characters appearing in his books. Participants learned that this series was first published in Italy and became best-sellers there. Scholastic is the American publishing agent for this series and maintains a page at www.scholastic.com/geronimostilton At this site, readers can see issues of Geronimo's newspaper, The Rodent's Gazette. Sadly, the newspaper site has not been updated since spring of 2006, but readers can look at back issues. The site does seem to be fairly current on the books, however.

As part of the Powerpoint, there was a short quiz on the books incorporated to test the reader's knowledge of the series.

Once these two activities were finished, participants were released to craft tables to make 6 different Geronimo Stilton-themed crafts! They were:

1. Heart-Shaped Mouse Craft--This adorable mouse craft was found on-line at www.first-school.ws The craft is made completely of heart shapes and very easy to assemble! Participants colored and cut out the heart shapes and them assembled them into adorable-looking mice!

2. Benjamin Stilton Toilet Paper Roll Craft--Benjamin is Geronimo's favorite nephew, and this TP roll craft reminded me of him! The base of the craft is a toilet paper roll. The template for the craft was found on-line at www.dltk-kids.com Since TP rolls come in different sizes, participants might have to make the piece covering the roll a big bigger, or in my case when I made the example, I simply trimmed the roll down to the size of the piece that covered it. This little guy holds a piece of cheese (Geronimo's favorite food!) in one of his hands.

3. Flag of Italy--Participants learned earlier in the program that the Geronimo Stilton books were first published in Italy. So, it was only natural that they make an Italian flag to celebrate that fact! The pattern for the flag was found on-line at www.enchantedlearning.com This is a great site where many of the patterns used to be free, but now, lots of them can't be accessed unless you are a member. But--GOOD NEWS! The membership cost for one year for access is ONLY $20.00! This gets you a log-in name and password. Once you are logged into the site, the log-in lasts.....seems like forever! If you are interested, check out the information at the top of the home page. As an added bonus, site members have access to a banner-free version of the site with printer-friendly pages. It's a great deal for a site that you will use a lot!
Back to the flag! The flag of Italy is a green, white, and red vertical tri-color, and was officially adopted in 1946, when Italy became a republic. Participants colored the flags as the arrows and colors indicated and then cut them out.
Participants also learned, at this station, that "topo" is the Italian word for mouse....remember Topo Gigio on the old "Ed Sullivan Show"? Hence, the name!

4. The Big Cheese Craft--Geronimo's favorite food is cheese, so it was only natural that I include a craft that featured it. The pattern for this "cheesehead" was found on www.dltk-kids.com in their Alpha-Buddies section. Participants colored a block of cheese, and then added a face, arms, and legs that had been colored and cut out!

5. Geronimo Stilton Paper Bag Puppet--This pattern for Geronimo was sort of a mish-mash of different patterns from several sites. The base idea came from www.dltk-kids.com site once again with a mouse paper bag puppet they featured. I used the ears, eyes, and nose, but adapted it by adding a shirt, tie, hands, and a pair of glasses to put on Geronimo's nose! It turned out quite cute and resembled Geronimo a lot! Pieces were colored and then assembled on the bag. It is important that the sides of the bottom of the bag were folded under to form more of a "snout" for the nose.

6. Newspaper Scavenger Hunt--This was a break from the tradition craft, but did involve some cutting and pasting. Since newspapers are a part of Geronimo's life, participants were asked to scour some old newspapers that were on hand, and find 10 items. Once they were found, they cut the items out and glued them onto a piece of construction paper provided. The 10 items that they had to find were:
1. A classified ad
2. The number 5
3. A picture with someone smiling in it
4. Sports story--once found, cut out the score of the game
5. The letter K
6. Ad ad for food
7. Picture of any kind of animal
8. The name of the newspaper
9. A date other than today
10. A face with glasses
This activity proved to be a lot of fun!

Participants were also treated to snacks as part of the program. Even the snacks took on a cheese theme: Cheese-Its, Cheese Puffs, and also sugar cookies, pretzels, and punch. You might want to have different types of cheese for your participants to taste as part of your program!

A Geronimo Stilton costume is available from Costume Specialists in Columbus, Ohio. Their website is www.costumespecialists.com It is one of the Scholastic costumes available for a shipping price of $60.00. It's a very cool looking costume! You will want to have someone fairly thin and of average height wear this costume.

Door prizes (books) were also given away at the conclusion of the program, as well as goodie bags with Smartie candies (since Geronimo is such a smarty!). You might be able to pick up paperback copies of the books themselves cheaply through your vendor, the local Wal-mart or bookstore, or perhaps Scholastic book orders through a local school!

IT'S KATIE KAZOO AND YOU!

Katie Kazoo is a popular series with 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders, and that is the core audience that you may get for this program. The titles lend themselves to a variety of craft ideas, much like the Magic Tree House series.

Here's the scoop on Kate: she's an ordinary third-grader, except for one very extraordinary problem...she wishes on a shooting star to be anyone but herself. What Katie wishes comes true with regularity, as she trades places with characters in each of her books!

First, check out the Katie Kazoo website at www.katiekazoo.com
Here, you can download (in PDF format) a number of Katie Kazoo Classroom Crew kits. They've got great ideas, activities, and things like word searches, puzzles, etc. that you could include as part of your program. I like to use the word searches and puzzles as handouts for the participants to take home.

I did a Powerpoint presentation on the series and characters, along with author information on Nancy Kruhlik that I can send to anyone interested.

Here are the craft ideas that I chose to use as part of my program and the books that I paired them with:

1. Snowman Paper Plate Craft--Use with the book It's Snow Joke! The base of this craft is a small white paper plate. The plate is doused with glue and then covered with cotton balls to simulate snow. On top of the cotton balls are glue the following items (cut from construction paper): carrot nose, two eyes, and derby hat.

2. Take a Hike Door Hanger--Use with the book Camp Rules! The base of this craft is the Ellison door hanger die cut. This was colored whatever color the participant desired. Then, a smaller paper with the slogan "Take a Hike! I'm Reading!" was glued to the front. These could be made fancier by the use of scrapbooking scissors, as we did. Once that was glued on, then participants could also affix to the front an evergreen tree and campfire (also Ellison dies).

3. Valentine Monkey Bookmark--Use with the book Love Stinks! These bookmarks were kits purchased from Oriental Trading Company. These come in packs of 12 bookmarks (and all the pieces with which to make them) for $4.95. These turned out really cute!

4. Heart-Shaped Dog Craft--Use with the book Doggone It! This adorable little doggie is made entirely of heart shapes. The pattern can be found on the www.dltk-kids.com site, one of my favorite sites to find patterns for my programs! I have the pattern in my file. You might want to provide an example for participants to follow in gluing the hearts together correctly!

5. Make Your Own Pizza Craft--Use with the book Any Way You Slice It! The base of this craft was a crust shape copied off on white constructon paper. Participants could color and then add toppings as they desired. I had a number of "toppings" (also done on white construction paper to color) available, such as pepperoni, sausage, cheese, onion, mushroom shapes. Once these were colored, they were placed on top of the colored crust. I had each of the "toppings" in separate baggies to make them easier for participants to find.

As usual, snacks were served. If your local Wal-mart carries the Katie Kazoo book in their magazine/book section, why not purchase several to give away as door prizes for your program?

As I stated before, the titles in this series open up lots of possibilities for crafts! Enjoy!

MADELINE PROGRAM

We originally received a publisher's kit that detailed a "Madeline Says Merci" event, a tea in which visitors learn all about manners. This kit has reproducible sheets that can be the basis for many of the following crafts or activities. This program could also be a great Christmas program, tying in the book Madeline's Christmas. Along with the book's chartacters, French Christmas customs could be highlighted, as well as form the basis for crafts and/or snacks for the event!

The publisher's kit provided nametag patterns, word searches, coloring sheets, and crossword puzzles that could be used.

The kit begins with a two-page instruction sheet on how to prepare for the "tea". One suggestion has decorating the area with green vines, just like "the old house in Paris". Use French flags as decorations (making a construction paper pattern of a French flag could also be a craft!). Ellison offers an Eiffel Tower die that could be used as well! If you choose to do the tea program, think about serving punch and cookies, or small tea sandwiches as snacks!

A game that is included is a twist on the game "Simon Says". "Madeline Says" has participants acting out different types of manners.

The kit comes with nametags that could be used, as well as an activity that goes with them.

A "Fun with Finger Puppets" sheet features four characters from the books that could be used as a craft.

A sheet detailing how to make a "Consideration Flower" (basically a paper flower) is included.

We had done stick puppets with 4 of the characters from the books: Madeline, Miss Clavel, Pepito, and Genevive. These were colored, cut out, and placed on popsicle sticks.

Author information is also included with a timeline. It is interesting to note that Bemelmans' daughter, Barbara, was the inspiration for Madeline. The character Madeline was named after Bemelmans' wife, Madeleine Freund.

Also part of the file that I have on-hand is from The Family Channel and is a "Madeline in the Classroom" booklet. It has a few ideas that could be adapted for crafts for this program!

IF YOU GIVE A PIG A PANCAKE PROGRAM

Most of these ideas were adapted/came from a kit that was provided by the book's publisher. I do not know if this kit is still available, but I do have copies of the patterns used.

The program started out with sharing the book by Laura Numeroff. Biographical information on the author and showing her other books could be done as well.

A game that could be played as part of your program is "Pin the Pancake on the Pig". We made a larger version of the pig and individual pancakes on colored construction paper. The pig pattern came from a coloring page that was provided.

Another game that was provided in the kit was a Scavenger Hunt. 9 items appear on the sheet that appear in the book. Divide participants into teams. Photocopy enough pictures so that each team can find one of each to complete the hunt. Provide a master sheet that teams can affix the pictures to (provide teams with scotch tape as well). Hide the pictures in your library. Provide small prizes for teams as they finish!

Pig Mask--This mask pattern can be found in the book Paper Hat Tricks II.

Pig Coloring Page--This coloring page can be colored and handed in by participants.

Any number of other cute pig crafts could be used to supplement this program.

A word search and maze were included in the publisher's packet.

AN EVENING WITH ARTHUR!

Demco has a large amount of items that can be used to supplement this program! Their website is www.demco.com. Toll free phone number is 1-800-356-1200. We purchased bookbags, bookmarks, balloons, and the Arthur glasses/tie/library card items.

I began the program with a trivia game called "The Brain's Brain Game". This trivia game asked questions about the Arthur series of books, but had multiple choice answers. The actual game is quite lengthy, so I selected questions I thought that participants would readily know.

Coloring sheets and handouts were available for the taking.

Several crafts were available to do, as well. They were:

1. Arthur Glasses--This was a purchased craft through the Demco site. Glasses, bow tie, and libary card punched out of a pre-printed sheet.

2. Arthur Doorhanger--The Ellison doorhanger die was used as the base for this craft. A pattern for the doorhanger bottom that features the slogan "Please Don't Disturb I'm Busy Reading with Arthur" was found (I think it might have come from an older issue of CopyCat Magazine) that fit perfectly to the bottom area. This was colored, cut out and glued onto the doorhanger.

3. D.W. and Arthur Party Crowns--This craft originally came from the PBS site, but I am not sure if it is still available. I have patterns, however. Pattern sheets were printed twice, colored, and cut out along dotted lines. Pieces were then taped together along a side edge, then sized to the child's head and taped again to complete.

4. Arthur Paper Bag Puppet--This pattern came from the November/December 1994 issue of CopyCat Magazine. Patterns of Athur's head and body were colored and cut out. The head was glued to the bottom of a paper lunch bag. The head was lifted up and the body was glued below it.

5. Arthur Mask--This pattern came from a PBS booklet. Pattern was colored and cut out. A paint stick was attached to make a mask the child could hold in front of his or her face.

Another craft that would work well for this program was the Pooh Bear Ears from the Winnie the Pooh program that I did. They look very much like Arthur's ears, as well!