Fall and Winter Special Events for Kids at ICPL

Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month

Bilingual Storytime: 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 11, Storytime Room: Nicole Upchurch as Dame Cinco will delight preschoolers with tales and banjo playing.
Bilingual Storytime: 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, Storytime Room: Ana Fernandez, a University of Iowa instructor from Spain, will share stories and fun activities during Family Storytime.
Shadow Puppet Show: 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 1, Meeting Room A: El Dia de los Muertos with Deanne Wortman. According to tradition, families welcome ancestors on this holiday. Music and a craft planned for children.

Part of the Latino Conference sponsored by University of Iowa’s Center for Diversity & Enrichment, School of Social Work, ACT, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa. For more information, visit http://www.uiowa.edu/~socialwk/latinoconf/.

Popo’s Puppet Festival

Lights, camera, action! On Saturday, Oct. 27, Popo’s Puppet Festival proudly presents three shows, all with an international flair. Celebrating more than 20 years of happy puppetry at the ICPL, this year’s performances (all in Meeting Room A) include “Stories and Cuentos” from Mexico, "The Rabbit and the Moon” and “The Musical Ant,” a collaboration with Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre Company’s Monica Leo and Mexican artist Eli Portugal from 10:15-11:15 a.m. The Library’s own Kidspectacular youth puppetry and drama troupe then presents “Hershel and the Goblins” based on the Ukrainian tale by Eric Kimmel with a parade of goofy ghouls from 11:30 a.m.-noon. “Popo’s Spooky Fun” with Deanne Wortman and Dave Panther will then perform from 12:15-12:45 p.m. It’s laugh-out-loud fun with crazy frogs in Popo’s basement and silly Popo trying to figure out what to wear for Halloween. Make-and-take puppet crafts and refreshments will be provided. The event is free and open to the public.

Go Green on City Plaza

Join us for “The Great Trash Bash” Family Storytime and Recycling Relay at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, followed by PlanetRecapture at 11 a.m. Enthusiastic kids in 3rd-8th grade from seven local schools are invited to meet the environmental challenge. PlanetRecapture is a local grassroots movement to connect kids to nature, water quality, sustainability and health. PlanetRecapture groups at area schools have tested water quality and cleaned areas such as Willow Creek and Ralston Creek. Experts from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the City of Iowa City Government will join PlanetRecapture members and 100 Grannies to lead fun activities such as water quality testing, recycling, and the first ever Capture the Flag game held on City Plaza followed by free refreshments.

Visit http://www.facebook.com/planetrecapture for more information.

Celebrate the Season

Kick-off the holiday season at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 1, in the Storytime Room with a Higgledy Piggledy Pop Mini Puppet Show, “The 3 Billy Goats Gruff.” Kidspectacular presents the favorite Norwegian fairy tale full of cute Billy goats and a mean (yes, he’s very, very grouchy) old troll. Don’t let him trick you into thinking he’s handsome. With music and fun activities.

Part of Downtown Iowa City’s Celebrate the Season Saturday events. For more information, visit http://downtowniowacity.com/.

Winter Break at ICPL

It’s frosty fun time at the Library, so come on down when school is out. There are plenty of special programs guaranteed to give you and your children warm fuzzies.

Gingerbread Fun: 10:30 a.m.-noon Thursday, Dec. 20: Kids are invited to drop in and decorate gingerbread cookies and make seasonal crafts.
Gunny the Clown: 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 27: Gunny will tickle your funny bone with his silly tricks in Meeting Room A.
Funky Blues Music Jam: 10:30 a.m. Friday, Dec. 28: Bring the whole family and get your groove on with the music of Kevin B. F. Burt in Room A.
Snips & Snails & Puppy Dog Tails: 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 5: Sue Pearson of SPOT and Company will be joined by her puppy pal teams as they demonstrate not-so-perfect puppy tricks and good behavior, sprinkled with some doggie do’s and don’ts behavior tips.

Guys Read Book Club

Our mission: Matching ICPL guys with the appropriate books (and other readable things) in a fun, guys-only environment from noon-1 p.m. in Meeting Room E. With pizza. Aimed at guys in grades 5-8. Guys Read, a literacy initiative founded by children's author Jon Scieszka, is designed to draw attention to boys' literacy and to help boys become self-motivated, lifelong readers.
School's Out Date: Friday, Dec. 21.
During the School Year: Saturdays: Sept. 22, Oct. 27, Nov. 17, and Jan. 26.

See all of our events on the calendar at http://calendar.icpl.org/.