WINTER STORY TIME

GLAD RAGS - STORIES ABOUT

CLOTHES

Sign-up for the Winter Story time will begin

Monday, January 10th for Hudsonville

Library Cardholders and “Non-Resident

Service Card”* holders. Story times begin

January 24th and will go for six weeks. A

Wee Wiggler program for toddlers 18 months

to 3 years accompanied by an adult lap is of-

fered either Monday or Friday mornings from

10:15 to 11:00 am. Story times for “indepen-

dent” 3 to 6 year olds are offered either Mon-

day or Friday mornings from 11:15 to 12:00

noon, Wednesdays 10:15 - 11:00 a.m. or Fri-

day afternoons from 1:00 - 1:45 p.m.. The last

ten minutes of most story times will include a

craft and parents are encouraged to come in

and help their children.

A parent or designated adult will have to sign

children in and out of each story time for 3 to

6 year olds. Also at sign-up please notify us

of any medical conditions we should be aware

of such as food allergies, asthma, etc.

As before, the downstairs will be open during

story time so that little children can play freely

and adults can enjoy conversation and coffee.

*If you have a question about the “Non-

Resident Service Card, please call the library

at 669-1255.

September/October 2015

CHILDREN’S Programs

FAll STORY TIME

Fall Story Time at the Gary Byker

Memorial Library will be: Colors,

Numbers and Shapes. We will read

a countless number of colorful books

in amazing shapes and sizes. Story

time registration begins Monday,

September 14th. The session will run for eight

weeks beginning Monday September 28th. Story

times for “independent” 3 1/2 to 6 year olds will be

offered Monday and Thursday mornings from

11:15 to 12:00 p.m. There is a $10.00 fee per

child for non-residents. Hudsonville Library card-

holders may sign-up for free. The last ten minutes

of story time includes a craft and parents are asked

to come in and help.

The Wee Wigglers will also be

doing: Colors, Numbers and

Shapes (Sign-up and fees are as

above.) This eight week program

for toddlers 18 months to 3 1/2

years accompanied by an adult

lap is offered either Monday, Wednesday or

Thursday morning from 10:15 to 11:00 a.m. The

first twenty minutes is for stories, songs, and finger

plays. Then there is a parent assisted craft, snack

time for the kids and time for the parents to chat.

BRICK BUILDER’S CHALLENGE

On the first Saturday of every month from October

to March at 10:30 am, we will have a Lego building

challenge. Our first meeting is Saturday, October

3rd. Bring a gallon size ziplock baggie of your own

Legos. When you come, a theme will be announced

and you have 40 minutes to build. Prizes are given.

This is a walk-in program—no fee or registration. (Second through sixth grade.)

On Saturday, October 24th from 10:30 to11:30 am,

design and decorate a mini-pumpkin (we’ll have them

here for you), make a treat bag, play some games and

eat some snacks. This is for children ages 4 to 10.

Parent participation is encouraged. This is a free,

walk-in program.

Pizza and pages

Help us re-start this club for kids 3rd through 5th

grade who love reading, sharing, and learning

more about books! Each month we’ll have

pizza, talk about books we’ve enjoyed, play

some word games and win some prizes. Please

bring a copy of the book you are reading and

be prepared to tell us a little about it. First Meeting:

Thursday, October 1st from 4:30 to 5:30 pm. This

program is free but registration is necessary. Can't

make it to the first meeting? We'll have Pizza and

Pages again - same time, same place every first

Thursday of the month through March. Registration

begins October 1st in person, by phone or online.

MAYORS READING CLUB

This reading club is for children 4 to 7

years old. Get the Mayor’s Reading Club

log at the library or online. “Read” the 12

picture books by December 31st, 2015 and

get a book and coupon. This is a free club

to promote reading for all children.

Read 1000 books to your child before she goes to

kindergarten and win prizes along the way. Ask

about this program at our front desk.

GARY BYKER MEMORIAL LIBRARY

CHILDREN’S NEWSLETTER

Colors,

Numbers,

Shapes

Halloween Crafts and Games

Byker Summer Reading Club

We had 600 children and teens join the summer reading club with approximately 350

finishers. Over 700 people attended our summer programs. We had 74 kids and teens win

raffle prizes. Below are our grand prize and contest winners. Congratulations to everyone!

Grand Prize Winners:

Ezekiel Cervates: Holland Aquatic Center

Junero Guedes: Georgetown Ice Center

Addison Vanderlugt: Boulder Ridge Animal Park

Alyssa Morales: Imax coupons

Winston Diep: Craig’s Cruisers

Emily Vink: $25 Meijer Gift Certificate

CONTEST WINNERS

Jori Eriks won a $25 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble for her “bookface”

Josie Doeszema won a $20 gift certificate for the best superhero design, Fire and Ice.

Shawn Spoelman came in 2nd and won a Captain America figure.

Maylee Boven came in 3rd and won a raffle gift.

Why We Have Summer Reading Club

Every summer, public libraries in Michigan offer a reading program. Librarians indicated that the top three

reasons the summer reading program is successful are parent involvement, a variety of library activities, and

community support of the program.

Children and teens who attended summer reading programs performed better academically and experienced

greater gains in their academic performance than their nonparticipating peers. Students who were allowed to

choose their own summer reading books saw lower levels of literacy loss over the summer. Participants

out-performed nonparticipants on tests across all measures and grades, kindergarten through 8th grade.

PHOTOS OF THE SUMMER: 2015

Police Department Tour Henna

Ronald McDonald

Super Hero Chalk Art Super Hero Training Camp

Nature’s Super Heroes

Butterfly Garden Tour Lego Club Fire Safety

Steven’s Puppets Book Craft Dr. Zeemo’s Yoyo’s

Fun and Safe Kids’ Websites and Apps

The Internet doesn’t have to be a big, scary place! Check out these fun and safe websites for kids—

there’s something fun and educational for everyone.

Art Games This delightfully interactive and fun website is hosted by Buffalo, New York’s Albright

Knox Art Gallery. Kids from 4 to 12 will have a blast creating their own masterpieces and playing

art-spirational games.

Brain Pop This American site offers fun and educational animated videos and games to help reinforce

the school curriculum from kindergarten through grade 12. (Check out Brain Pop Jr. for grades K to 3.) A

subscription is required to access the entire site but there is still plenty of content available for free.

Build It’s a virtual Lego set for the little Lego lover in your life. Lego and Google Chrome teamed up

to create a site for master builders of all ages to build their own creations. And no clean up required!

DOGOnews Kids can catch up on current events with news stories written just for children. Started

by a San Francisco mom, DOGOnews is a great resource for homework, projects and curious minds.

Funbrain Kids won’t even realize they’re practicing math and reading skills while playing these

games. Funbrain offers great games, books and comics for grade school aged kids and guilt-free

distraction for their parents.

Funology This is a great site to visit with your kids for fun and creative activities to do together.

Older kids will also have fun browsing the great selection of crafts, recipes, science experiments,

magic tricks, games, jokes and trivia. Save it for a rainy day.

How Stuff Works This no-frills site is jam-packed with information to feed your knowledge-hungry

kids. How Stuff Works is not geared specifically for kids but it’s hard to imagine a 12-year-old boy

who wouldn’t love it.

KidsReads This is the perfect place for your book worm-in-training to nerd out. It’s full of kids books

reviews, articles, contests and author spotlights.

NASA Kids’ Club Junior astronauts will have a blast exploring this fun and exciting website. There’s

information and games geared to a variety of ages and skill levels to help feed their love of space.

National Geographic Kids Stunning photography, games, articles and videos will keep your kids

happily engaged on this magazine’s website. There’s also a special Little Kids page that makes

learning fun for kids 3 – 8.

Disney Junior Fans of the Disney staples like Sofia the First, Doc McStuffins, and Jake and the Never

Land Pirates will swoon for the interactive games and videos on the colorful site.

Science Bob Your go-to site for all things science and science fair. There’s so much great information

on Science Bob on science experiments and research methods that you almost won’t need to help at all.

Almost.

Christopher Columbus Facts For Kids

Did you know that the second Monday of October is Columbus Day? On a

special day like this, it's a great opportunity to give out some Christopher

Columbus facts that kids will find interesting. Nowadays most kids do not know how America was

discovered. Below I have listed some important facts that let kids know who Christopher Columbus is and

what he did for our nation.

Christopher Columbus (Cristoforo Colombo) was born on October 31st, 1451 in Genoa, Italy.

His parents were Domenico Colombo, a wool weaver, and mother, Susanna Fontanarossa.

Columbus had three brothers - Bartolomeo, Giovanni Pellegrino, Giacomo and a sister - Bianchinetta.

He was the eldest of them.

Columbus' family wasn't rich. He belonged to a middle class family.

During his early life he sold maps and charts with his brother.

Columbus was self- taught through reading.

Columbus was only 17 when he got to work with ships.

Columbus attended Prince Henry's School of Navigation in Portugal.

Columbus had two sons; they were Diego and Fernando respectively. Both of his sons worked for Prince

Juan, the son of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.

Columbus’ idea of finding a new trade route to Asia was rejected three times by the Portuguese,

Genoa ,and Venice governments. Finally the Spanish Royal, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella

accepted it. They funded his voyage and allowed him three ships - the Santa Maria, the Nina and the

Pinta.

He set sail in August 1492 with the aim to find a shorter and an easier way to Asia.

During Columbus' voyage, Columbus and all his crew had lice. Fleas and rats were all over the ship.

In fact, Columbus and the crew wore the same clothes the whole voyage.

Columbus used maps created by Muslim Explorers.

Columbus was not the first to discover America, some sailors had already set foot on America before

him but it had not been discussed.

It was a sailor named Rodrigo de Triana in Columbus' crew who spotted the New World first.

Columbus never set foot in North America. .

Half of his voyages failed.

It was Columbus who introduced horses to the New World.

Since Colonial days, Columbus Day was unofficially celebrated and in 1906, it became an official

holiday. In 1937, it became a federal holiday. In 1970, the day was changed to the second Monday

of October every year.

Columbus died on May 20, 1506 in Valladolid, Spain at the age of 55. His remains can be found in

both the New and the Old World.

Recommended Books for Columbus Day

Christopher Columbus (ages 4-8)

by Stephen Krensky This easy-to-read account of Columbus's fateful voyage includes

maps and a cutaway view of one of his ships.

Columbus Day (ages 4-8)

by Vicki Liestman This illustrated book tells about Columbus' discovery of the New World and relates the

history of Columbus Day. It includes a look at the controversies surrounding the holiday and discusses

both the positive and negative effects of Columbus' first voyage.

Follow the Dream: The Story of Christopher Columbus (ages 4-8)

by Peter Sis This beautifully-illustrated book, along with its brief, uncontroversial text, serves as an

excellent introduction to American history for young children. Sis depicts the world of the 15th century

and re-creates the obstacles Columbus faced as he crossed the sea, while avoiding the debates that now

surrounds the discovery of the Americas

First Voyage to America: From the Log of the 'Santa Maria' (ages 9 and up)

by Christopher Columbus A reprint of a 1938 work, this illustrated book features translated

excerpts from the journal Columbus penned during his first voyage. The abridged text ends

when the ship reaches land.

If You Were There in 1492 (ages 8-14)

by Barbara Brenner This amply-illustrated book helps children visualize the world of Christopher Columbus. It

examines school, family, government, work, food, clothing, and other aspects of life in Spain,

including little-known facts. It also discusses life after the discovery of the New World and

portrays the impact Columbus' discovery had on the lives of his contemporaries.

Columbus Day (ages 12 and up)

by Jimmie Durham Cherokee poet, artist, and social activist Jimmie Durham vividly portrays the

Columbus Day holiday from a Native American perspective.

Christopher Columbus: Adventurer of Faith and Courage (ages 9-12)

by Bennie Rhodes This biography for younger readers examines the life of Christopher

Columbus from a distinctly Christian perspective.

Westward With Columbus (ages 8-12)

by John Dyson In the summer of 1990, a crew of adventurers stepped aboard a replica of the Nina to

re-enact Columbus's first voyage. In this book, one of the adventurers takes young readers back to

the days of Columbus, describing the journey through the eyes of a fictional cabin boy. Photos taken

throughout the journey complete the work.

Columbus Day Craft Activity: Triple Sailboat

The project is quick, simple, and fun.

The supplies included:

–1 light blue piece of construction paper

–1 dark blue strip of construction paper

–6 small white squares

–1 brown construction paper half-circle cut-out

–4 pieces of “O” cereal

–3 craft sticks

–glue stick

First, turn the light blue paper lengthwise, then glue the dark blue strip to the bottom of the light

blue construction paper (also lengthwise so that it’s perpendicular to the bottom edge). This

forms the water.

Then, glue the brown half-circle so that it overlaps with the strip of water, forming the boat.

Attach the three craft sticks as masts.

Glue two white squares to each craft stick to serve as flags.

The four pieces of “O” cereal serve as the portholes.

Variations: Use marshmallows. Trace your hand as the ship.