Children's Update: Manvel

Preschool storytime is busting at the seams as more than 130 people attended in October. We learned about outer space, fire safety, dinosaurs and Halloween. For crafts we made a mobile with stars, the moon and planets. We also made a dinosaur scene with die-cuts. The fire safety storytime included a visit from the Manvel Fire Department. The children were able to sit in the truck and see the lights and hear the siren. For Halloween, we made jack-o-lanterns and had a costume contest.

Teen Read saw two people attending the first session. We had a good discussion on current books and movies. The second meeting of Teen Read had three people including a new member. He brought a new perspective to the group, and we discussed current books and old favorites like the Lemony Snicket books and “Hatchet” by Gary Paulsen.

We only had two teen show up for our library mystery “The Body in the Bookdrop.” They had to follow the clues to see which staff member killed Mr. Banner O. da Books. The clues were hidden in books relevant to their subject, such as the fingerprint clue in a book on fingerprinting. The teens had a good time and solved the case.

We’re still having some difficulties getting people to attend our Pajama Night Storytime. We’re working on some new marketing ideas.

Four children came to the Kids’ Craft Time. We made a spooky Halloween picture. The children wrapped tissue paper squares around the end of a pencil, put a drop of glue on it, and stuck it to the tree limbs on the paper to make leaves. They got very creative. One boy tried to add as many spooky things as he could. One girl came up with the idea of crumpling tissue paper squares and gluing them at the base of the tree to make leaves that had fallen.

In November, we're making a turkey table decoration stuffed with rice that can be cooked later. The teens are having a board game afternoon, and our Pajama Night Storytime is going to be about teddy bears.

We lost one of our staff members this month. Jessica, our part-time clerk, left to get married and move with her husband to San Antonio. We wish her all the best. Our shelver, Jean, has moved into the part-time clerk position.

Geri, children's librarian