Storyland crafts at NR library

What started out with nine children and six moms quickly turned into 25 kids, ten moms, two grandmas and an aunt or three at the New Richland Library’s Storyland Crafts event on Tuesday, June 3.

The rain was coming down pretty hard outside, a full twenty degrees cooler than the day before. It brought a nice, but wet break from the heat. There were three tables set up with colored fuzz balls, markers, chalk, notebooks, coloring pages and much more. Each table was tailored to one of three different children’s stories: “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” “Some of These are Snails,” and “The Day the Crayons Quit.” Despite their ages, the children were well behaved and listened to the stories one by one before being dispatched to the tables. The last crayon being the peach color really kept the kid’s interest.

Isaac, 4, and Charlie, who is almost 1, were there with their mother Kaylee Espe, who commented, “It’s a rainy day, so we’re having some fun at the library.” At the caterpillar table, little multi-colored fuzz balls were glued together to create long, vibrant-looking caterpillars. Parental supervision kept the glue messes to a minimum. Jack Pogones, 5, and Jenna Hansen were there. Said Hansen, “I got an email about this preschool thing today. After this is done, we’re going to work to show off my new daughter Emma. She’s a month old.” Little Emma confirmed this by cooing in her carrier. Her eyes aren’t able to focus yet, but she was trying.

Knox Peterson, 7, tackled the crayons; his passion with the black crayon showed in every stroke on the paper. Noah Eiler, 4, and Ivy Van Maldeghem, 5, took a break from the craft tables to check out another book Ivy had found. They were also kind enough to pose for a picture.

A full roster of events is scheduled at the New Richland Public Library this summer, including two different reading challenges. For ages 3 to 9, the program calls for 600 minutes of summer reading done in 15-minute increments; when completed, the challenge can lead to prize packs like an artist pouch, Speed Racer pack or a jump bag. There is also a Teen Summer Reading program; completing two traditional books, two audio books and four graphic novels earn a raffle entry for a $25 movie pass and much more.