The Tarkio group members who attended the summer reading program on Thursday learned about rescuing animals and how to keep their own pets safe. Pictured are, clockwise starting at far left, teacher Jayne Martin, Ailee Ohnmacht, Hannah Wennihan, Winston Hogue, Harper Wood, Tucker Hurst, and Landry Hurst.

Bev Christians and Otto Brandenburg discussed tardigrades with the older group of readers at Rock Port. Tardigrades, often called water bears or moss piglets, are near-microscopic animals with long, plump bodies and scrunched-up heads.

Children’s Librarian Otto Brandenburg reads to the 3 and 4-year-olds who attended the Rock Port Summer Reading Program on Tuesday, June 29, 2021.

This summer reading group at Tarkio Library made cages to hold zoo animals on Tuesday, June 29, 2021. Class members include, from left to right, Stason Sundermann, Leevi Driskell, Ellie Hurst, Gigi Vette, Waylon Blackman and Cambria Baruth.

The older children who attended summer reading at Fairfax on Thursday play some Animal Facts Jeopardy.

The second week of Summer Reading at the three Atchison County branch libraries was held June 29 and July 1, 2021.

TUESDAY

Fairfax Librarian Amanda Agnew presented a theme about unusual animals. The group read Peculiar Zoo by Barry Louis Polisar and a book about a narwhal by Ben Clanton. The group sang and danced to a song about narwhals and played a game distinguishing real animals from fanciful animals. Then they constructed their own peculiar animals with art materials.

In Rock Port, Children’s Librarian Otto Brandenburg read Alligators Are Awful (And They Have Terrible Manners, Too) by David McPhail, Tyrannosaurus Rex Vs. Edna The Very First Chicken by Douglas Rees, and Otis by Janie Bynum to the 3-4 year-olds. The group did coloring pages of dogs and created their own artwork from macaroni. Tiffanie Gaines treated the 5-6 year-old group to a reading of The Donkey Egg by Janet Stevens and Susan Crummel. The group got to plant seeds in their own half egg shell.

In Tarkio, hippos were the main subject. Brooke Walton’s group read Here Comes Doctor Hippo by Jonathan London, Hilda Must Be Dancing by Karma Wilson and The Hiccupotamus by Aaron Zene. The group made great Hippo puppets and played the game Hungry, Hungry Hippos. Courtney Driskell treated her group to the books Hippos Are Huge! by Jonathan London and The Baby Beebee Bird by Diane Redfield Massie. The group also made cages to hold zoo animals.

THURSDAY

Atchison County readers were treated to a variety of fun activities, stories and information on the fourth day of the library’s annual Summer Reading Program.

In Tarkio, Jayne Martin’s group welcomed special speaker Megan McAdams, who talked about her animal rescue efforts in Atchison County and shared information about how to care for pets. Participants were highly enthused with Megan’s presentation.

In Fairfax, Sarah Osburn shared the books The Three Little Pigs by Margaret Hillert and Jessica Gunderson’s No Lie, Pigs (And Their Houses) Can Fly! The Story Of The Three Little Pigs As Told By The Wolf. The group created their own houses from toothpicks and marshmallows and then used a blow dryer to see if their houses were strong. All of the houses passed the test! The group also discussed heroes and villains and made up their own stories with the help of hand puppets. Michelle Oswald’s section made bird feeders using birdseed, corn syrup and suet. They read another chapter from Where The Red Fern Grows and played some Animal Facts Jeopardy.

The first group in Rock Port was taught by Mackenzie Dougherty who led a dis-cussion on jungle animals. Mackenzie read the book Safari by Robert Bateman and participants constructed their own binoculars from paper. Bev Christians and Otto Brandenburg discussed tardigrades with their group. Information from several books was shared about the micro-animal and a microscope was used to experiment with slides. A demonstration illustrated what soaking gummy bears in water could do and some of the gummy bears were shared.

FINAL WEEK

This is the final week of the summer reading program offered by the Atchison County Library for area children.

The schedule for Thursday, July 8, is as follows:

Rock Port: grades 1 and 2 (completed), 9:30 a.m.; grades 3 and 4 (completed), 10:30 a.m.

Tarkio: grades 1 and 2 (completed), 9:30 a.m.; grades 3 and 4 (completed), 10:30 a.m.

Fairfax: grades 1 and 2 (completed), 9:30 a.m.; grades 3 and 4 (completed), 10:30 a.m.

The library’s remote access reading challenge runs through July 19 for county-wide participants aged 7-12. Readers will be challenged to read and submit a record of chapter books, making them eligible for a completion prize. Readers may currently register for this program by clicking on the access button at the library home page and following directions, or by calling the library at 660-744-5404.