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By Laura Drinan
Hometown Weekly Reporter
On September 29, children were invited to the Sherborn Public Library at the Community Center for “Stay and Play Storytime,” which included stories and activities for babies and preschoolers. During the event, families enjoyed fall-themed books and crafts to get excited for autumn.
Filling in for Cheryl Ouellette, the Children’s Librarian, was Gwenyth Swain, who normally works at the library’s circulation desk. Gwenyth enthusiastically read a variety of fall stories, like “It’s Pumpkin Time,” which tells the story of a brother and sister’s experiences planting a jack-o-lantern patch in preparation for their favorite holiday: Halloween.
The small, intimate group allowed the children to ask questions during the read-aloud and get closer looks at the illustrations. Next, Gwenyth read “Mrs. McNosh and the Great Big Squash.” The children sat in their caregivers’ laps for the stories and in the tiny, yellow chairs set up on the rug in the library. The book told the silly story of Mrs. McNosh, who found herself in a world of trouble when she planted a seed that grew uncontrollably into a giant squash.
Three-year-old Aoife and two-year-old Lizzy color in paper pumpkins to get excited for autumn.
Gwenyth Swain reads a story about jack-o-lanterns at the weekly ‘Stay and Play Storytime’ at the Sherborn Library.
To finish the storytime, Gwenyth read a book that helped the children practice their colors: “Red Pepper, Yellow Squash.” The picture book gave three-year-old Aoife a chance to prove her mastery of colors as Gwenyth asked the children about the variety of colorful vegetables in the story.
Once the stories were over, children could still look forward to fun at the library. Gwenyth set up real and paper pumpkins for the children to decorate. Thirteen-month-old Georgia decorated a paper pumpkin with glow-in-the-dark stickers while she enjoyed holding the real, miniature pumpkin. Aoife and two-year-old Lizzy also decorated their paper pumpkins with stickers and colored it with markers and crayons before the girls played games on the computer together. Meanwhile, 19-month-old Ella carefully placed stickers on her real pumpkin before deciding they were better suited for the paper pumpkin, which she colored in.
The autumn stories inspired the children’s creativity as they crafted, and reminded the children that there is always something to do at their local library.
