Miss Lucy had a baby, his name was Tiny Tim

Gif courtesy of thisanimalisawesome.tumblr

..she put him in the bathtub
to see if he could swim 

he ate up all the water

he ate up all the soap

he tried to eat the bathtub

but it wouldn't go down his throat

Miss Lucy called the Doctor

Miss Lucy called the Nurse

Miss Lucy called the Lady with the Alligator Purse

We have lots of fun jump rope rhymes in the library.  Just click on the book covers to go the catalog.

These books are great for hand clapping, too. 

The weather is so gorgeous today! Grab a partner, 15 dogs, and jump to it.

* Also, please please please take it from me and do not try the Miss Lucy jump rope technique with cats. They just WON'T jump and end up playing with the rope and then the minute you leave, they jump at nothing. Sigh.

From your secret admirer

Happy Valentine's Day dear reader! This sweet vintage valentine is a rebus. Hope your mailbox is stuffed with valentines.

Meow, meow, meow, xoxoxoox Miss Kitty

Here's another fun rebus you might enjoy (click on the photo to go to the catalog.) I love Will Hillenbrand's sweet illustrations.

Friday Finishes

Wieliczka Salt Mine, Poland

CHAPTER 20. The Last Message.

They wrapped the message in Doon's shirt and put a rock inside it. Then they stood in a row at the edge of the chasm, Doon in the middle holding Poppy's hand and Lina's. Linda took aim at the heart of the city, far beneath her feet. With all her strength, she cast the message into the darkness, and they watched as it plunged down and down. 

Mrs. Murdo, walking even more briskley than usual to keep her spirits up, was crossing Harken Square when something fell to the pavement just in front of her with a terrific thump. How extraordinary, she thought, bending to pick it up. It was a sort of bundle. She began to untie it. 

City of Ember. Jeanne DuPrau

Monday Begins

THE INSTRUCTIONS.

When the city of Ember was just built and not yet inhabited, the chief builder and the assistant builder, both of them weary, sat down to speak of the future.

"They must not leave the city for at least two hundred years," said the chief builder. "or perhaps two hundred and twenty."

"Is that long enough?" asked his assistant.

"It should be. We can't know for sure.

"And when the time comes," said the assistant, "how will they know what to do?"

"We'll provide them with instructions, of course," the chief builder replied.

CHAPTER 1: Assignment Day

In the city of Ember, the sky was always dark. The only light came from great flood lamps mounted on the buildings and at the tops of poles in the middle of the larger squares. When the lights were on, they cast a yellowish glow over the streets; people walking by threw long shadows that shortened and then stretched out again. When the lights were off, as they were between nine at night and six in the morning, the city was so dark that people might as well have been wearing blindfolds. 

The City of Ember. Jeanne DuPrau. 

Use these for storytime Miss Kitty will not

Us and Them by Jamie Mitchell

Read this book you will

Sixth-grader Tommy and his friends describe their interactions with a paper finger puppet of Yoda, worn by their weird classmate Dwight, as they try to figure out whether or not the puppet can really predict the future. Includes instructions for making Origami Yoda

Friday Finishes

Chicken and waffles from May's Counter, Tuscon, Arizona.

And it was always like that in Coal Harbour. Some people got old and some died. I left parts of myself some places and found others unexpectedly. New people appeared on the scene and others disappeared before I had a chance to say goodbye. All kinds of ordinary people gave their whole hearts to things you wouldn't think you could give your heart to. I made discoveries like the reason for Miss Honeycut's anecdotes, and other things, like the whereabouts of my sweaters, remained a mystery forever. And Coal Harbour never became a big resort or swank tourist spot or anything, but I didn't care because I knew that as long as you lived there you could get anything you wanted. And it always came on a waffle. (Recipe to follow.) 

I adore Polly Horvath's Everything on Waffle. Such a delectable choice for reading aloud and especially for a budding gourmand- if you think spaghetti, roast beef, ice cream, anchovies, or cotton candy on a waffle are gourmet delights. I've never had chicken and waffles but let me tell you, vanilla ice cream and hot fudge on a waffle is scrumtious.  Pair this with Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory , fire up the waffle maker this weekend and have a literary feast. I think Miss Bowzer and Willy Wonka would get along swell together.

Unlock your imagination

Snap up the The Lego Ideas Book just put out on the new non-fiction shelves and think of what you can build with these little bricks of inspiration.

I am enchanted by the vision of artist
Jan Vormann and his Dispatchwork art installations. 
Vormann uses Lego bricks to patch and restore buildings, both humble and sacred, all over the world.

Both Google and YouTube are filled with examples of this great public art project. Maybe we should have a giant Lego donation drive and repair our libraries with Legos!