A Woodside Walk- Projects for Neighborhoods

JOIN ME FOR A CURATED CARRYALL STORYTIME!  Starting Monday July 25th at 2pm  Woodside Queens Public Library 54-22 Skillman Ave Woodside, NY 11377 718-429-4700 To sign up:    https://forms.gle/HZzpaoH3gJAzZnw36 OTHER DATES: To see individual bags click HERE

It's fall so Get Ready for.... Ready, Set, Kindergarten @ Kings Bay branch of Brooklyn Public Library! stay tuned......

Come Visit me in the Magical Storytelling Tent next weekend~ MAGICAL StoryTime Tent 1:00pm 2:00pm ❉❉❉

I live with curators and they curated a show which opened recently.  At the opening, I did storytelling for children and had a blast changing all my usual characters into chickens. Listed in the NY Times Times Spare Time for Children   ‘Which Came First? The Chicken Museum’ (Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday) A chicken museum sounds like something only a child could dream up, and that’s indeed the case: Hiro Maddock Spiller wanted to go to one when he was 3. Fortunately, his father, Harley Spiller, a.k.a. Inspector Collector, could help make that dream come true. The result is “Which Came First? The Chicken Museum,” a new show at the City Reliquary community museum organized by Mr. Spiller and Hiro, who is now 6. The exhibition, which offers all manner of things fowl — including a wishbone collection — opens this Sunday with a reception from 2 to 5 p.m. and “Chicken Tails,” storytelling for children by Micki Spiller, an artist who is Mr. Spiller’s wi...

Today was a lovely overcast mild day for our Neighborhood park Octoberfest, and I got to tell some of my favorite stories. "The Round Red House", is definitely one of my favorites with a great surprise ending. and inside the round red house was the star! "hello...This is ze Viper..." I think the parents enjoyed the stories as much as the kids. And finally, the last story: The Bakeshop Ghost.

Join me today in the Magical Story tent as a part of Sunnyside Gardens Park  Octoberfest!   Oktoberfest at Sunnyside Gardens Park Saturday October 5, 2013—Noon to 5pm 48-21 39th Avenue Sunnyside, NY 11104 Sunnyside Gardens Park is hosting it's 7th Annual Oktoberfest with Wine, Beer & Bratwurst in our picnic grove, lots of arts & crafts, and our huge Pumpkin Patch!

Today's Story Hour had several themes, the most obvious being Leprechauns and St. Patrick's day.  Since the parade was held yesterday...in the snow, many kids came out to hear stories and do some crafts at the Village Book Nook. I began with the story of Patrick O'Donnel, who gets tricked by that wee little man leprechaun. Then I read some books: Too Many Leprechauns  by Stephen Krensky and Dan Andreasen A Fine St. Patrick's Day by Susan Wojciechowski and Tom Curry Then since the history of 8th Street to me is that of a place once lined with shoe stores, I ended with the all time kids favorite Pete the Cat- I love my white shoes by James Dean and Eric Litwin This concludes the Story Hour at the Village Book Nook.  The exhibit is to close next Saturday March 23rd, but there is talk of it extending thru April... photo credit Ann Price We Shall See... Join me in two weeks at the Center for Book Arts Family Day in conjunction with the Exh...

This week's book topic was Prince and Princesses. Books: The Princess of 8th Street by Linas Alsenas Clever Jack Takes the Cake by  Candace Fleming and G. Brian Karas The Princess and the Pizza by   Mary Jane Auch and Herm Auch Unlike last week, we began with a handful of girls sitting still and listening to the stories.  The books I selected were a good mix, and there were a a lot of clever bits sprinkled into them so that the adults could enjoy the stories.  And as Hiro says..."very good parodies!" Total head count of kids was a whopping 14 by the end, perfect amount for the space, and in fact got a bit rambunctious when the boys arrived.  One girl named Mazie, lived on 8th Street, so the first book was a perfect fit for her and the neighborhood.  I think she felt extra special, and was a bit disappointed when she realized that everyone got a book bag and not just her- the princess of 8th street. Clever Jack takes the Cake is such a pe...

Today was the first of three Storytime at the Exhibit space where I have the Village Book Nook installation.  There will be another one next Sunday at 1pm as well as on St. Patrick's day. So please stop by 24 West 8th street, New York, NY!

My book "curating" project will be expanding outside of the Woodside Neighborhood for a while to Greenwich Village, where  a Book Nook will be set up as a part of an Exhibition called- installation shot by Jessica Wallen A Gathering Place .    24 West 8th Street New York, NY This exhibition is sponsored by No Longer Empty : please stop by the opening on Friday February 22nd from 7-pm!   There will be Storytime scheduled as part of the show every Sunday for the duration of the Exhibit, so stop by on Sundays at 1pm!   Hope to see you soon!             ps.   The Laundromat Book Cart will still be up during this time.

Storytime at the Sunnyside Garden Park Octoberfest

This morning I had an epiphany.  As I was taking our son to summer camp in Manhattan, we passed a group of children all wearing orange t-shirts.  The shirts were day camp shirts for Woodside on the Move , that meet every day at PS11. After I dropped of my son at his school, I immediately went to PS11 and met Justin Petropoulos, who runs the summer camp, as well as the after school program there. I told him about my project and offered some coloring books for the campers.  He was thrilled, and told me if I wanted to, just to give ALL of the remaining books to him so he can have them for the after school kids as well. YIPPEEEEEEEEE!

Through August 16th at the Woodside Library Here are some photos from the first Storytime I did for K-1st graders a few weeks ago. It was a hot hot hot 98 degree day and 30 kids showed up and had some fun! come join us every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and get your free Woodside coloring book! photos taken by Kunio Suzuki- who dropped in from Japan

July Update: It's been a busy beginning of summer for the project. In late spring I received a grant from the Queens Council for the Arts to make a larger edition of the coloring/activity books. In June I had 2000 copies printed - not on my humble ink jet printer but through an actual printer- Lin Co.  in Long Island City .  What an improvement! In July I received another grand, this time from Printed Matter. I began taking a Storytime course through Pratt School of Library Science to improve my skills on that front.  Practiced by giving a toast at my best friend Rob 's wedding. Number of books released the last few months- 95, making it a total of 610 titles, though there are no where near that many remaining at the Laundromat. I approached the children's librarian, Ms. Helen,  at the Woodside branch and will begin doing Storytime next wednesday, hoping to continue for the rest of the month. So if you have K-1st graders with nothing to do on a Wedn...

At the beginning of the year, I brought a stack of posters of three girls reading , titled "The Fairy Tale" by an artist named Walther Firle to Mr. Lee, the manager of the Laundromat.  He promptly hung one up over the book cart, officially marking my book cart area a sort of nook. Today I brought over 27 new books for the cart, and weeded out the damaged ones. Then I was interviewed by Carlos Martinez , who is working on a radio show...Some nice press for the project I hope. A woman from Slovania told me that there is another laundromat nearer to her, but she and her daughter come to Laundromat 55 because of the books.

The book that I've had to repair the most is Un Bolsillo Para Corduroy by Don Freeman.  At this point, this book has more tape than paper.  The nice thing about this book is that it takes place in a laundromat.

A new holiday books section has been added to the cart...albeit a small one but still festive. Happy Holidays!

Will reschedule soon, so keep checking back! But you can enter the Coloring Contest by printing out the page from the Coloring/Activity book link at the top of this page and submitting it to the box at the Launtromat.

Some more dates have been added to the Story Time readings. Come join us for stories and prizes! September 17th and October 1st at 10am Also, you can enter the Coloring Contest by printing out the page from the Coloring/Activity book link at the top of this page and submitting it to the box at the Launtromat.

The other day the Staff at the Laundromat 55 decided to move things around a bit.  Now the video game has been moved into the back nook where the books used to be and the book cart has been moved closer to the front of the space, with more chairs surrounding it.  It's nice to see that they have really adopted the cart and now consider it a permanent fixture to their business.