Family literacy night tribute to popular picture books at the Bartlett Library
In total, 128 patrons were in attendance as the Bartlett Library hosted "An Elephant & Piggie Family Literacy Night" on Thursday, Nov. 10 in order to celebrate Family Reading Night.
Throughout the state of Illinois, Family Reading Night takes place in November to encourage families to spend true quality time while reading together. The statewide event is sponsored by the Illinois Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White and Illinois Center for the Book.
Youth & Teen Services Assistant Manager Phyllis Sadowski said that family time is crucial, so what better way to enjoy each others' company than by reading fun stories together.
"An Elephant & Piggie Family Literacy Night" brought families together to listen to a few stories by Mo Willems: "We Are in a Book," "I Really Like Slop" and "My Friend is Sad." Sadowski and Youth & Teen Services Librarian Mary Beth Fuller brought the characters to life by using big cutouts of Piggie and Gerald to act out each of the stories.
At one point during storytime, Sadowski and Fuller brought out a song for all the children to dance along to, which coincided with one of the books by Mo Willems: "Elephants Can't Dance."
Sadowski said, "Everyone can dance! Everyone up!" And the children were up on their feet shaking, jumping and swaying to the music.
When storytime was over, the families went to different stations set up in the library's Meeting Room.
The main activity for everyone to participate in was to make a Thank You Bag, which was based off of the "Thank You Book." Children got foam stickers (leaves, acorns, scarecrows, pumpkins and stickers that said "Give Thanks") and crayons to decorate a paper bag. The idea behind the Thank You Bag is that the children can give the bag to someone they're thankful for at Thanksgiving. The bags contain pencils, a pumpkin stress ball and a turkey sticker craft.
Patrons could also pick a few "Elephant and Piggie" activity sheets, such as a mazes, coloring pages, etc. They could also play with puppets, read more Mo Willems books or play a letter bean bag game.
Throughout the program, everyone had fun listening to stories, participating in activities as well as getting to enjoy some quality family time.
If you missed this program, an upcoming Youth & Teen Services program is "Harry Potter Party" on Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. Grades 5-9: Come celebrate the Wizarding World with games, snacks, trivia, crafts and more! Costumes are welcome!
For more information and a complete listing of scheduled programs, call 630.837.2855 or visit www.bartlettlibrary.org.