Detective puppet: a collaborative project

One of my nephews in very enthusiastic about puppetry. He's been a part of our library puppet group the last two years and intends to participate again this year, taking a little bit more of a leadership role. He doesn't just think about puppets at the library, though. He plans puppets at home as well. In fact, last fall he and I roughed out plans for a puppet show that we have been working on here and there ever since. This weekend he was over at my house and we created the first puppet for the show.

Introducing: Burt the cow, private eye.

 

 

Burt's head is made out of the toe of a sock, heavily stuffed and carefully shaped, then painted with acrylic paint. His body is cardboard. His trench coat is made from a canvas end left over from a tote bag project. We made his hat out of craft foam.

We're pretty pleased with how Burt turned out and look forward to making more characters.

I want to tell you a story

With summer reading at an end we had just two programs this week. The first was a special guest at my Tuesday storytime. Two members of our library puppet group (ages 11 and 12) who had to miss our annual puppet show performed their story at storytime. They adapted the picture book Wait! I Want to Tell You a Story by Tom Willans. After the show they answered some questions, played with the kids a little, then helped them to make simple puppets of their own.

They laughed like this the entire time

The snake and the lizard

Hard at work on our puppets

Trying out the puppet stage with one of the puppeteers

Yesterday was the last planned day of the Story Laboratory. We've enjoyed this program so much and it is so easy to do that we may schedule it again in the future. Here are a few shots from yesterday.

I love this back cover

If I remember correctly, the right-hand pages reads "Don't step in poo"

I'm quite fond of the dolphins and manatee jumping out of pink and red water.

Book review - Rocky & Bullwinkle

Title: Rocky & Bullwinkle: Volume 1
Author:Mark Evanier
Genre: graphic novel
Similar books: Meet the Muppets by Roger Langridge
                     Darkwing Duck: The Duck Knight Returns by Ian Brill
                     Chickenhare by Chris Grine
Rating: 

Awfully funny

Summary: This book contains 8 stories: 4 Rocky and Bullwinkle and 4 short Dudley Do-Right. Rocky and Bullwinkle get involved in psychic predictions, try to help out a struggling magician, journey to the moon, and start selling burgers while Dudley is contaminated with a wicked perfume, tries to get his man, gets tricked into buying a useless item, and runs a suspicious errand.
My opinion: Both illustrations and plot wise this new graphic novel follows the format of the original cartoon. The plots are punctuated by cultural references and terrible puns. Many of our favorite characters are present: Captain Peachfuzz, Gidney and Cloy, and of course Boris, Natasha, and their Fearless Leader. It is laugh out loud funny in it's ridiculousness and has some awesome visual elements (the fellow who looks awfully like the Doctor in The Burger Monster/Bullwinkle's Swap Meat for instance). Great for old and new fans.
More information: Rocky & Bullwinkle releases September 23rd.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Picture books for everyone

Today's multi-age picture book is the perfect example of what I had in mind when I first came up with this feature.

If You Happen to Have a Dinosaur by Linda Bailey and Colin Jack

Firstly, dinosaur books are pretty much always a win. Plus, this book is very quirky and has absolutely fantastic illustrations. There's tons to look at on each page. Apart from the sheer entertainment factor, this is a great book for encouraging creative thinking. I read this to my 4s and 5s storytime and we all had a grand time speculating about uses for various dinosaurs. I imagine this would go even better with older children. It would also make a great starting point for a creative writing assignment for homeschoolers.

WWW Wednesdays

What are you currently reading?
Somebody on This Bus is Going to be Famous by J.B. Cheaney
The nine middle schoolers on Mrs. B's bus route are all very different. They have different concerns and different goals. The mysterious bus stop on their route draws them together. Why do they always stop there when no one gets on? The mystery will change lives and at the end of it, someone is going to be famous.
The first couple of chapters set up these characters nicely, giving just enough information about each kid to make their story compelling. The description on Amazon promises mystery, self-discovery and comedy so this should be a good one.

What did you recently finish reading?
Rocky and Bullwinkle: volume 1  by Mark Evanier
Four stories of Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Bullwinkle the Moose butting heads with villains Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale. As in the classic cartoons, each story is broken up with a brief adventure starring Dudley Do-right.  
I've been a Bullwinkle fan since the first time I saw the show on LaserDisc, so I was pretty excited to read this new graphic novel. The stories maintain the sensibility of the show while also using modern references to better appeal to a younger audience. An absolute riot.
 
What do you think you will read next?
The Opposite of Love by Sarah Lynn Scheerger
A tale of two "disappointments" who find each other and then are torn apart by circumstance. Teen romance is not typically my favorite but I'm trying to stretch my reading life a little bit more out of my comfort zone. 

also

Rust by Royden Lepp
I've wanted to read this graphic novel about a young man trying to keep his farm going after war and the mysterious kid he finds in the barn since I first spied it at a conference last year. At last I've gotten my hands on a copy. Hopefully it lives up to my anticipation.

Book review - Sisters

Title: Sisters
Author: Raina Telgemeir
Genre: Graphic novel/memoir
Similar books: Amelia Rules series by Jimmy Gownley
                     to dance by Siena Cherson Siegel
Rating: 

Telgemeier really gets it

Summary: While on a road trip with her mom, brother, and sister, Raina reflects on her relationship with her sister and why they don't get along very well. The situation isn't helped by outside influences: a missing pet snake, older cousins, parental tensions, and a flat tire in the middle of nowhere. Will Raina and Amara figure out what it really means to be sisters?
My opinion: Telegemeier really understands what it is like to have a sister, someone you both love and despise. Anyone with a sister will agree, while our details may be different the general attitudes are the same and she relates them really well. The illustrations are awesome, clearly understood and entertaining. Apart from the sister situation, anyone who's ever gone on a family road trip will relate to this book. This makes a nice companion to her first book, Smile (a perennial favorite at my library), but one need not read that one to understand this one.
More Information: Sisters releases August 26th.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Hippos and dishes

With all the prep I've been doing for the Monster Tea Party, I didn't have time to work on any big crafts this week. I did manage to get two small projects done though.

Hippo magnets

I was given this kit a year or two ago and it's been just sitting in a drawer since then, waiting for me to get around to painting them. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. They now grace my refrigerator.

Sculpey dishes

This was an experiment. I wanted some shallow dishes that I could attach magnets to the bottoms of in order to make magnetic pin holders. They didn't turn out quite as well as I'd hoped. The foil I used to create the domed shape left depressions in the clay. I was also playing with using rubber stamps to make a pattern in the dish. On the plus side, the magnet does hold pins through the clay so I'll be trying this one again.