Tuesday, 8 February 2011

libraries and the art of suggestion

One of my most favourite (free) things to do is to order a great big stack of library books as a surprise for the children. I think I do this about once a month over the colder seasons, but probably hardly at all through warmer weather. I normally pick four or five books out for each child, and try to find ones that are relevent to some thing they are interested in. I know that this would be called "strewing" in autonomous speak, but I like to think of it as a pleasant surprise.

There is no pressure to read any of the books, but when I walk through the door, heaving two big canvas bags, they all want to see what I've picked up.

In this week's collection there was:

Mb
Great Day for Up
Green Eggs and Ham (audio book) both by Dr Seuss
Paper, Scissors, Sculpt!
The Art of Hand Shadows
Usborne Book of Papercraft
Puppets

Eb
Dinosaur Origami
The Pirates of Pompeii (audio book)
Biggles Learns to Fly
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (audio book)
Science Museum :: Flight

Od
100 Fantastic Things To Do
Tales From the Hood
Angela and Diabola
Making Stuff for Kids

Shrek
Toy Story 3
Pocoyo
That's Not My Monkey
Spot's Windy Day

When I picked up the books, the librarian commented that I would soon have a very decorated house what with all those paper crafts...I hadn't thought of that.

2 comments:

Sam said...

Inspiring lists! Your search facility must be better than ours. I'd love to know what you think of Paper, Scissors, Sculpt - it looks wonderful.

Cheryl said...

OK. You have officially inspired me. I knew that books could be reserved on line, but after reading your list, I took a look at our local facility. It looks so easy. I think I have a new hobby! Thank you!