Children’s Programs

*Gingerbread House Workshop: Children ages 4 and up are invited to join us on Saturday, December 11, from 3 to 4 pm, to decorate their own mini gingerbread house. Each child will be provided with an assembled graham cracker house, royal icing and festive candies to use for decorating.

A $3 material fee is due upon registration, which must be done in person; no phone registrations will be accepted.

*Holiday Craft Workshop: Marie Walker will conduct a holiday craft workshop for ages 6 and up on Saturday, December 18, from 1 to 2 pm.

A $3 material fee is due upon registration. Sign up in the Children’s Department.

*Author Visit & Book Signing: Newtown author Karen Pierce has written a unique book about yoga for children. In the book, called Yoga Bear: Yoga For Youngsters, the author uses pictures of real children imitating animals to simulate 22 yoga poses.

Karen Pierce is the mother of two children. She has been practicing yoga for 22 years and teaching for the past seven years.

Meet the author and see a live demonstration of her techniques on Saturday, December 18, from 2 to 4 pm, in the library’s lower meeting room. Copies of the book will be available for purchase on the day of the program.

(Yoga Bear, by the way, was illustrated by Paula Brinkman Hughes, who grew up right here in Newtown.)

 

Young Adults

*Let’s Talk About: The next Young Adult book discussion will concern A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park, winner of the 2002 Newbery Medal.

Tree-ear, a thirteen-year-old orphan in medieval Korea, lives under a bridge in a potters’ village. He longs to learn how to throw the delicate celadon ceramics himself, and sneaks into master potter Min’s workplace where he accidentally breaks a pot.

Copies of this title are available in the YA area.

Young adults in grades 5-8 are welcome to join us in the Story Room on Wednesday, December 15, from 4 to 5 pm.  Sign up at the Main Floor Circulation Desk or call the library.

*Inspired By The Book: Enter the “Letters about Literature” Contest if you’ve read a truly awesome book lately.

Write a letter to the author telling him or her why their book really inspired you and made a difference in your life.

This contest is for students in three categories: grades 4-6, 7-8 and 9-12. Winners can receive up to $100 plus Target gift cards.

Pick up fliers in the YA area or go to the YA Webspot for details (www.biblio.org/YAWebSpot).

Deadline for entering is December 4.

*Scrabble Club continues on Sunday afternoons with informal play for all ages in the Young Adult area. Drop in and have some fun with this classic word game from 1 to 5 pm. Check out games at the main desk for play in the library.

*Creative Writing: A fiction writing workshop will be offered for young people in grade 6 and up beginning January 24. This is the second creative writing program of the 2004-05 year, and will be led by professional writer and teacher Wally Wood, a Newtown resident.

Meetings will be on alternate Monday evenings from 6-8 pm on the following dates: January 24, February 7 and 28, and March 14 and 28.

Participants are expected to attend all five session meetings. There is no fee, but the program is limited to 15 participants.  Sign up at the Main Floor Circulation Desk or call the library.

 

Adult Programs

*For Crossword Puzzle Lovers: Come meet crossword puzzle creator Douglas Fink on Thursday, December 2, at 7:30 pm. He will be at the library to talk about his latest book of puzzles as well as explaining the process of puzzle making. His books will also be available for purchase. Call the library to reserve a place.

*Upcoming Book Discussions: On Monday, December 2, at 1 pm, join the Daytime Book Group for a discussion of Paul Revere’s Ride by David Hacker Fischer, and/or on Tuesday, December 13, at 1 pm, join members of The Mystery Book Club for their talk about Philip Roth’s The Ghost Rider.

The Thursday evening group will not meet in December.

Please note that all book groups now meet in the Antiques Room on the third floor.

*Sunset Series: The second of a two-part series on advanced directives will take place at the library on Thursday, December 7, at 7:30 pm.

Ethicist Dan O’Hare, Cheryl Edwards, RN, and Julia MacMillan RN, will all be on the panel of this informative discussion. “Decision Making At The End of Life, Part II – Choices To Be Made” will address resuscitation options, and organ donation and transplantation.

Call the library to reserve a place.

*Performance of “A Child’s Christmas”: Connecticut Heritage Productions will present Dylan Thomas’ classic A Child’s Christmas in Wales on Thursday, December 9, at 7:30 pm, in the lower meeting room of the library.

Peter Loffredo brings to life these sometimes amusing, sometimes touching memories of childhood in the early 1900s.

*Independent Film Series: The Republic of Love will be shown on Tuesday, December 14, at 7:30 pm.

Based on a novel by Carol Shields, this romantic comedy deals with the barriers facing lovers in the 21st Century.

*4th Annual Holiday Concert: On Friday, January 7, at 8 pm, Newtown resident Richard Serbagi will conduct the Concert Society of Putman and Northern Westchester at Trinity Episcopal Church, 36 Main Street. A reception will follow the performance.

The 4th annual Holiday Concert will feature John Hanulik, playing the oboe d’amore, and a work written by Connecticut composer Joseph Russo in memory of 9/11. Back by acclamation is soprano Maria Ferrante singing selected arias from Messiah.

Violinist Eric Lewis will be the soloist as Maestro Serbagi conducts Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons.

Tickets can be purchased at C.H. Booth Library or Newtown Savings Bank. No tickets will be sold at the door. All proceeds of the performance will purchase non-fiction books for the Children’s Department and Young Adult sections of the library.

C.H. Booth Library, at 25 Main Street, can be reached at 426-4533. Winter hours have returned: The library is now open Monday through Thursday from 10 am to 8 pm, Friday from noon to 5 pm, Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm, and Sunday from 1 to 5 pm.