We traveled to South Korea when we read this book by Chloe Perkins.
Summer Reading 2019 is winding down this week as we give away our final prizes and draw Grand Prize winners.
Children's programming slows way down during this time of year, but that isn't the case for June, July and the first half of August! Summer can be a hectic time in the Children’s Room especially, so often there’s no time until it’s all over to reflect on some of the cool programs and projects kids had the opportunity to participate in over the weeks. That's why I'm taking the time to share some of the information and and activities we shared in the Storytime Room for World Wednesdays.
Every Wednesday during our Summer Reading Program, for one hour, kids were able to learn something new about a different country around the world through books, documentaries, dances, crafts and even trying out a recipe. I hope you enjoy these images of our worldly adventures. I wasn't able to take photos the week we made mini tres leches cakes, but you wouldn't be able to judge their deliciousness from a photo anyway.
We kicked off our summer with an Irish Dance performance and lesson from the students at the Champagne Academy of Irish Dance. Trea does a great job teaching jigs to any age or skill level!
Click on this image to see a gif of the dance lesson!
This week the kids learned all about different Adinkra symbols from West Ghana.
Using stamps and stencils they created their own Adinkra cloth that describes them.
We learned all about Diwali with this book by Hannah Eliot. We also had a guest named Tanya who celebrated Diwali in India as a child to answer all of our questions.
The La Petite Day Camp came every week, here they are showing off their finished Rangoli.
We learned about the origin of the Dragon in Chinese culture by reading Legend of the Chinese Dragon by Marie Seller.
The dragon in Chinese culture has special powers over water elements, so the kids relaxed as we watercolored dragons and listened to traditional Chinese music.
We learned all about the art of Moroccan Zellige by watching a few short documentaries. One of the videos showed the process of creating Moroccan tile work from start to finish.
Kids were able to use Moroccan stencils to create and elaborate designs on a matte bathroom tile and use acrylic paint pens and sharpies to color in.
Using origami paper, we learned how to make and play the Korean game Ddakji.
Next we learned about the rich history of mosaic in Ancient Greece to modern day. I made a powerpoint with a brief history and lots of gorgeous pictures for us to be inspired by.
This activity was a little challenging for the younger kids, but the older kids really embraced the challenge.
We traveled to Mexico to learn how how pom poms have become a symbol of good luck!
To the Huichol Nation, pom poms signify “the way.” These bursts of color are a reiteration of roses in full bloom as to Huicholes, their path is always filled with roses.
For our last World Wednesday, we read a nonfiction book about the traditional holidays of Sweden and made our own custom Dala Horses.
We also watched a short documentary about the production of these handmade symbols of Sweden. Some people even made their craft look traditional!
Mari has the best job in the library because she gets to plan children's programming, create displays, do preschool storytimes and take the bookmobile out to the Iowa City schools. She enjoys reading kid and adult fiction, true crime and memoirs.
Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living, with her confidence-driven brand, showing other women how to do the same. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains' toddler one night, walking the aisles of their local high-end supermarket. The store's security guard, seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make things right. But Emira herself is aimless, broke, and wary of Alix's desire to help. At twenty-five, she is about to lose her health insurance and has no idea what to do with her life. When the video of Emira unearths someone from Alix's past, both women find themselves on a crash course that will upend everything they think they know about themselves, and each other. With empathy and piercing social commentary, Such a Fun Age explores the stickiness of transactional relationships, what it means to make someone "family," the complicated reality of being a grown up, and the consequences of doing the right thing for the wrong reason.
I quickly devoured this book, Reid’s writing is light and conversational and her keen observations of the world shine though. A white mother, Alix, is mortified when her babysitter, Emira, who happens to be black, is accused of kidnapping her toddler at a yuppie grocery store. We see through the two characters’s experiences a dark but funny exploration of privilege and the problematic nature of the white savior. -Mari
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