Into the Rainforest at Thomas Ford

We welcomed master puppeteer Marilyn Price to our Library for a Saturday puppet show. She performed her "Into the Rainforest" show, an ecological treasure chest of stories told with recycled puppets featuring the plight of the Rainforest as well as local opportunities to save and protect this world.

Stories included included: I Shot My Arrow in the KanKan Tree, Guara Diva Saves the Trees, and The Kapak Tree.

We were most pleased to receive a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. They provided partial funding for this wonderful cultural opportunity.

More pictures are available on our Flickr site. Enjoy!

Rhonda Telfer Author Visit

We enjoyed a visit from our very own local author Rhonda Telfer. Her book, Grandpa's Treasure, fit right into our theme of earth appreciation. Rhonda read her books and showed us an exciting barn display featuring elements from her story. You can visit her site at Visual Generation to learn more about the story and see a few of the beautiful photographs.

Rhonda read and discussed her story, and then we played "Beat the Author" in a corn shucking contest. Rhonda will be sorry to say that she lost. Rhonda also brings a barn display and sample feed corn for the children to touch and shred.


We tempted kids with fresh steamed corn to taste, and many parents were surprised to see their kids reaching for more! Recipe: Take knife and saw off the top of an ear of corn while keeping the husk on. Just only gently peel away straw pieces of the outer husk. Put 2-3 ears in the microwave and turn on high for about 12 minutes. The corn steams itself in the husk and and you just simply peel it once slightly cool. Yum!


We also offered fresh local strawberries, cheese and milk to sample a few products that might grow on a farm. Throw in an Ellison barn craft, hay gluing and a little square dance music and you have a program to remember! We had about 50+ kids in and out of the program and parents were raving about how much fun it was.


Hint to Illinois: Rhonda loves to visit schools and libraries!


Other books read/discussed in the program included Cows in the Kitchen (Crebbin) and Barn Dance (Martin).


Please visit our Flickr site to see other updates! It is an exciting summer.

Decorating Ideas & Update

This year we've tried a few new tactics to decorate for our program in a cost effective manner that would still be low enviro impact.

Our art volunteer has created a set of beautiful window paintings using Simply Washable Tempura paint from Colorations. This paint can be used on paper and a variety of other surfaces. It will wash off easily from glass using a vinegar based cleaner or similar product. The paint averages $1.69 each color and comes in a recyclable bottle.

We have several window displays and other pictures from our Children's Department on our Flickr Site. Check it out!

We have registered over 900 children from our program, and the response has been excellent concerning prizes and decorations.