Children's Department

The Children's Department is located on the 1st floor of the library. We can be reached at 203-426-3851. Our Children's Department Home Page has information about programs and a variety of resources for children and parents.

• Children's Program Calendar
• Kids Catalog!
• Story Hours
• Summer Reading Program
• Sesame Street E-Books for Kids & TumbleBookLibrary E-Books for Kids Free-Trial
• Museum Passes
• Muzzy Online Language Learning for Kids
• Internet Resources for Kids
• Searching the Internet
• Books and Authors
• Homework and Reference
• Science, Nature and Animals
• Resources for Parents

STORY HOURS

Story Hours are offered in consecutive six week sessions four times during the school year beginning in September for children ages 3- 5. Registration for the next session will take place March 16-26, 2013.  The 6-week session will begin April 1, 2013.  Registration forms will be available at the children's circulation desk. No phone registrations will be accepted. Children must be a resident of Newtown to be eligible for this free program.

Mother Goose on the Loose is a program of rhymes, music, movement and flannel board activities for children under 2 and their caregiver that takes place on Wednesday mornings at 10 am in the library meeting room. There is no registration or fee for this program. Limited to Newtown residents only please.

Mother Goose II is a program designed specifically for 2 year olds, (children 24-36 months of age), and their caregivers. This program uses many of the elements from Mother Goose on the Loose, with the addition of interactive activities and books geared for active two year olds. The program meets Thursday mornings at 10 am in the meeting room. No registration is required, limited to Newtown residents only please. 

Story time for 3 - 5 year olds meet Monday or Tuesday at 10 am or Monday or Wednesday at 1 pm. This 45 minute program of stories, songs, rhymes and a simple craft takes place in the children's story hour room. Parents do not need to stay in the room during the story time, but they must remain in the children's department.     Limited to Newtown residents only.

Sensory Story Time

Thanks to a grant from GE Capital Real Estate, the C.H. Booth Library is pleased to offer an additional story time on Saturday mornings at 10:30 am in the meeting room.  Sensory Story Time is designed to engage all of the senses through music, movement, art, reading and a variety of play activities. Sensory Story Time is open to 10 children ages 3-5  (along with a caregiver) who are residents of Newtown.

Pick up a registration form in the children's library between March 16-26, 2013 for the next session that begins on Saturday,

April 6, 2013.

Summer Reading Program:  June -August, 2013

For more than 25 years the CH Booth Library has encouraged children to read during their summer vacation by sponsoring an independent reading program for children ages 4 through grade 5. Children receive their own reading records and keep track of the books they read over the summer between   Participants come to the library to talk about what they have read with our trained young adult volunteers and are rewarded with incentives. 

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library has come to Newtown!

How would you like to put a little magic into your child's hands each month?  Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is a unique opportunity to do something simple and powerful for preschoolers.  A free, age-appropriate book will be mailed directly to your child or children every month until his or her 5th birthday. Registration is limited to only those children who are ages four and under and who reside in Newtown.

Click here to register your child for Imagination Library.

Sesame Street E-Books for Kids - Use in the Library or At Home

Sesame Street E-Books for Kids offers over 200 E-Books, Audiobooks, Animated E-Books, and Interactive E-Books that you can read on the computer with your child. There are books in English & Spanish, covering a wide range of topics including early childhood literacy, learning, family, friendships, health and safety, science and much more. Come in today to explore.

Click here to read Sesame Street E-Books in the Library. - This Link is for In-Library Use Only

Reading from Home? Click here to read Sesame Street E-Books from Home. Click the "Login" button in the upper-right of the Sesame Street screen. For the EMail Address, enter: library@sesame.com For the Password, enter: sesame123

Muzzy, The World's #1 Language Course for Children is Here!

Muzzy online is now available.  Choose Spanish, French, English,

German or Italian.  A fun and interactive way to learn.

Click here to get started.

Internet Resources for Children
Because of the nature of the Internet and World Wide Web, it is possible for a child to access almost anywhere, through a series of links. Parents should take an active role in supervising their children while they search the Net. By working together, parents can help their children make their time on the Internet exciting, fun, educational and safe. Children age 14 and under must have a signed parental permission form on file before they may use the Internet at the library.

Searching the Internet
Kids Click! – Search engine geared for children and designed by librarians

Facthound- Select your grade level and topic. Facthound links you to age appropriate web sites as well as book titles.

Yahoo!KIDS - Get help with homework and much more.

Books and Authors

Best Children's Books
PBS Kids--Games featuring popular children's book characters
Scholastic Book Wizard--Find Just Right Books
Children's Literature Web Guide

Database of Award Winning Children's Literature

Mid-Continent Public Library (Lots of book lists with extensive series information)

Authors and Illustrators on the web

Homework and Reference

A to Z Maps Online: is the worlds largest subscription-based database of proprietary, royalty-free world, continent, country, and state maps. Included in the 4,000+ maps are: political maps, physical maps, outline maps, population maps, precipitation maps, climate maps, and other thematic maps. New maps are added to the collection every month.

www.ICONN.org (Connecticut Digital Library) You'll need your library card to log onto these educational databases. Choose the following for resources that are age appropriate for young researchers:

Kids InfoBits: Students in grades k-5 can find information on animals, science topics geography and more. Just click on the Kids InfoBits link and find the information you need.

Junior Edition: Middle School Students

Student Edition: High School Students 

Global Road Warrior: The ultimate guide to the world. Information for the student, traveler or business person. Global Road Warrior provides country facts, society & culture, demographics, points of interest, maps, country flags and much, much more. Search by country or search all countries for a specific topic. Reports are downloadable and include information on how to create citations for school reports.

Muzzy Online Language Course for Children: Choose Spanish, French, English, German or Italian.  A fun and interactive way to learn.

Biographical Dictionary - A searchable database with basic facts on over 16,000 famous people. BJ Pinchbeck's Homework Helper - "If you can't find it here, you just can't find it."

Science, Nature and Animals

Exploratorium in San Francisco - A museum of science, art, and human perception.

Franklin Institute Science Museum - All kinds of neat info about current exhibits and things to learn.

StarChild Project - An astronomy site sponsored by NASA. Terrific!

Resources for Parents

Great Kids Connecticut: A web site for parents devoted to information on parenting education and health and safety.

Family Education: Homework help, expert parenting advice and more!

ALA Great Web Sites for Kids: The American Library Association has put together a wealth of great web sites perfectly suited to children on a wide variety of subjects.

Inspire My kids:  Founded by two Connecticut fathers, including Newtown resident,

Mike Stutman.  Inspire My Kids provides real life stories and videos that parents, teachers, coaches and any adult who cares about kids can use to inspire the children in their lives to be the best they can be.  Chosen by the American Library Association as one of their "Great Websites for Kids."

Museum Passes

Admission to select museums are free or reduced with your C.H. Booth Library card and a $50 refundable deposit. Passes are available on a first come first served basis at the children's circulation desk. Passes circulate for 3 days. A fine of $5 per day is charged per day if passes are returned late.