“Winter Dance” is the new story featured on the StoryWalk in the winter months.
The Brown County Public Library has added a new story to the StoryWalk on the Salt Creek Trail.
The new story is called “Winter Dance,” written by Marion Dane Bauer and illustrated by Richard Jones, and follows the story of a fox as he tries to get ready for a snowy winter, according to a press release.
“It’s a really sweet story about red foxes and what they do in the wintertime,” Children’s and Teen’s Librarian Samantha Hyde said.
The Library’s StoryWalk debuted in April 2022 and is a way to encourage children to read and enjoy the outdoors.
Starting at the Brown County Community YMCA trailhead, the quarter-mile walk consists of 18 stations.
Kids can read the story and follow the activity prompts on each page until the end of the book. Families might be dancing, singing or playing a game at each station.
Hyde said the StoryWalk is based on Every Child Ready to Read, which is a research-based early literacy outreach education program for parents and caregivers, according to the program’s website.
“They say you should do talking, singing, reading writing and playing everyday,” Hyde said.
“So, we tried to incorporate every one of those into the prompting. It’s very interactive.”
Other library programming
From January through March, the library will highlight a Global Series. January will be focused on the Northern Hemisphere, February will be Southern Hemisphere and March will feature a World’s Fair, where families will be able to showcase something they learned over the first two months.
Hyde said participants will be able to learn all about the different cultures in each hemisphere. There will also be lots of crafting and hands-on activities.
In February, the library will have a reading challenge, designed around Black History Month. They have plans to do different challenges every month.
“The challenge for February will have a list of different books that are written by Black authors, and (participants) get to pick a certain number of those books to read, based on their age,” Hyde said.
Following February, the next challenge will be about the Iditarod dog sled race in Alaska.
Hyde said that challenge will feature a map in the library themed on the race, with movable markers, designed to look like dog sleds, that show how many minutes participants have spent reading.
By completing challenges, participants can claim prizes, such as specialized bracelets, book marks or book bags, which will be themed to match the challenge of the month.
