Summer Reading Showcase: Storytime!

Now With Tree Painting Rituals On The Library Lawn!

Storytime with Miss M is one of my very favorite programs that the library provides. This program is designed to foster early literacy skills, and it is so enjoyable for me as a staff member and helper to observe the joy that is emulated by the attendees and their caretakers.

The 0-5 year old set that comes in to story time is a pretty diverse crew. I am always greeted by Shoe Boy. This big brown-eyed little guy has a career in advertising or modeling awaiting him because he always bolts through the door and runs right up to me with a smile adorning his cute little mug.

"HI! LIBWAREIAN!!!" It screeches.

"Well hello there my fiend." I reply (cause manners and stuff)

"SEE MY SHOES!" It shouts at me. I am quite old, so he is probably just making sure that I can hear him. I can report there is no problem on the auditory front, for I'm pretty sure Jesus could hear this kid in His sealed tomb.

At that point there is a sneaker kicked into the air towards my schnoz.

"They are totally on your feet, sir," is my usual reply.

"LOOK AT MY SHIRT!" It hollers next.

I pretend to be enraptured by the superhero characters adorning Shoe Boy's character covered t-shirt and once the fashion show is over, he hauls shoe over to the story time rug and awaits Miss. M.

Other children and their handlers pile into the library and Miss M inaugurates story time with the ol':

"Let's sit criss, cross, applesauce!"

This is Storytime speak for sit on your rear with your legs in parking gear.

She then engages the small frys with all manner of stories, songs, and dance. A puppet of some sort usually trots out and eats letters and stuff. The small humans love it!

Summer Reading Storytime always can be counted on to add an element that even surprises me. Today I am reasonably sure that Miss M used the children to prepare a ritualistic sacrifice for some fairy princesses.

My job as support staff is to help set up Storytime. I wasn't too concerned when I helped lay a bright pink tablecloth out onto the library lawn. I have done such things before, as we tend to have our craft portion of Storytime outside during the summer months. It was when we got out the large whitewashed birch branch that I started to get concerned.

The other part of my job is to take pictures of everything that happens during library programs. You would not believe the amount of reports that we have to do, and pictures are needed for them. Well, when I helped place plates of glittering paint and brushes next to the chunk of birch I know that my face was more questioning than a celebrity reporter at a political convention. Miss M laughed and said the kids were going to paint the tree.

"Um. What?"

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Was there a group of not nice Tinkerbells lurking somewhere that we needed to appease? Usually craft time involved making a little inchworm apple craft or a rainbow with cotton balls and construction paper. You know, benign, relevant to the story and letter of the day stuff. Today though, we were going to be painting a flippin tree chunk!

I have to admit, the kids were really adept acolytes and jumped into group tree defacing, er, painting. As I snapped pictures of the historic event, I kept wondering the big W word:

"WHY?"

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Once the children completed their naturepiece they all drifted away and the chunk of tree was left out in the library's yard to dry. I kept waiting for it to burst into a glittering flame or a unicorn to leap out and venerate our sparkle offering, but the only thing that happened was Miss M threw the chunk o' birch into her vehicle of conveyance. Perhaps she was delivering the glitter spirit stick to her overlords. I really just didn't get it.

Shoe Boy was happy though, for he adorned his already amazing sneakers with some really fancy magenta glitter tempura paint. His mother was even crying glitter tinged tears of joy!

The finished product with a most probable glitter-sinister purpose...

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And as always, all of the images in this post were taken on the author's glitter fairy sacrifice woke iPhone.

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