Spring 2000 Volume II, Number 1
Come visit a library that’s like no other on earth and GET WILD ABOUT READING!
Between the Lions is a new series that opens up a world of literature and learning for 4- to 7-year-old children. Theo and Cleo and their cubs, Lionel and Leona, run a library where books, words and story characters come vividly and magically to life. Each episode centers on a book or other reading material that the lions and their friends discover in the library.
Puppetry, animation, live action, stories, poems, and music blend into lively programs with the educational mission of helping children learn to read. Skits present lessons about vocabulary, spelling, and the fun of wordplay.
Between the
Lions airs at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.
Web site: www.pbs.com/wgbh/lions
6:30 a.m.
Teletubbies
7:00 a.m.
Barney & Friends
7:30 a.m.
Arthur
8:00 a.m.
Dragon Tales
8:30 a.m.
Sesame Street
9:30 a.m.
Teletubbies
10:00 a.m.
Zoboomafoo
10:30 a.m.
Theodore Tugboat
11:00 a.m.
Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood
11:30 a.m.
Reading Rainbow
1:00 p.m.
Wimzie’s House
1:30 p.m.
Between the Lions
2:00 p.m.
Tots TV
2:30 p.m.
Noddy
3:00 p.m.
Zoboomafoo
3:30 p.m.
Between the Lions
4:00 p.m.
Wishbone
4:30 p.m.
Zoom
5:00 p.m.
Dragon Tales
5:30 p.m.
Arthur
NHPTV regrets that PBS is no longer carrying The Puzzle Place and Kratt’s Creatures, so these two programs have been removed from our schedule.

15 minutes. Young children who are read to a minimum of 15 minutes a day, enter school up to two and a half years ahead of children with no exposure to books. It’s never too early to begin.
Start with board books for infants and toddlers.
Reading and literacy aren’t just skills -- they are how people participate in society’s exchange of information, ideas, and feelings.
• Set aside a special time and find a comfortable place to sit (rocking chairs are great!). Here’s an opportunity for some quality “lap time.”
• Turn off distractions like the television or radio.
• Have your child point out objects, talk about the pictures, or repeat common words. This gets them involved in the reading process.
• Read with expression and vary the pace of your reading. Even babies delight in hearing language -- reading, talking and singing. Children enjoy the three R’s of reading: rhythm, repetition and rhyme.
• Be enthusiastic about books and keep a wide selection of reading materials at home.
• “Once upon a time.....” Be a storyteller. Make up stories or tell about your childhood memories and family history.
• Make age-appropriate books and writing and drawing materials readily available so they become a normal part of a child’s regular play.
Helpful Books
Many children’s books are available on issues like divorce, death, illnesses, disabilities, new baby, adoption and step-families; as well as on multi-cultural and multi-generational themes.
www.nhptv.org/kn/vs/kidbook.sht
Vist your local library and help your child get a library card and choose books to borrow.
Click into NHPTV’s Just for Kids web site and explore the Book Zone. There are stories, activities, book reviews, author information, and some great links to other book-related sites.
Watch for inexpensive children’s books at flea markets , yard sales, and school or library book sales.
Book lists can also be found in many of the
PBS children’s program web sites at www.pbs.org/kids
Books are wonderful gifts! Encourage this.

These two poems were written by Robert Louis Stevenson and can be found in his “A Child’s Garden of Verses.” They are about ordinary things and you can tell that he enjoyed swinging. Read these poems out loud -- you can hear the rhythm of a swing going uuuuppppp and doooowwwnnn.
The Swing
How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do.
Rain
The rain is raining all around
It falls on field and tree,
It rains on the umbrellas here,
And on the ships at sea.
Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
Rivers and tres and cattle and all
Over the countryside--
Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown--
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down.
Fun With Words
You can use paper and pencil, pen or marker. Or, magentic letters are really fun.
• See how many words you can make from these letters: n r i p g s
. Start with two-letter words and work up to a word that uses all the letters. Then, try other letters.
• See how many rhyming words you can think of: cat, sat, hat, rat; or funny, bunny, money, honey.
Try making a sentence using the words that rhyme.
• Have you ever heard of a palindrome (pal - in - drome). It’s a word that reads the same forward and backward, like mom. Can you think of some?
• You can be a poet, too! Try writing about what you see, or about something you really like. The words can rhyme, but they don’t have to
MAKE A BOOK SNAKE
Summer is a great time to read and it’s fun to keep track of the books you read or that someone reads to you. Here’s one way to do it.
What you will need: colored paper glue pen or fine-tipped markers
Cut strips from the colored paper about 1/2 inch wide and 5 inches long -- or you can make larger strips for the front of the snake, and smaller ones as you get closer to the tail. Decorate the first strip to look like the head.Write the titles of the books on the strips (one per strip) and glue them together to make a chain. Watch the snake grow!
Television Programs about Books and Reading
Arthur
Between the Lions
Reading Rainbow
Wishbone

Saturday, June 3 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Special Opening Day Tickets:
$13; children ages 1-3 admitted free.
Meet Mr. McFeely and Purple Panda from “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.”
Say ‘hello’ to the Tooth Fairy.
Smile for NHPTV cameras and visit the NHPTV mobile unit.
Surprise give-aways throughout the day.
Lively shows, tasty food, 35 acres of fun!
Story Land is on Route 16. For more information about Story Land, call 383-4186.
NHPTV Family Day is made possible in part by:
A portion of all proceeds on June 3 will be donated to NHPTV to help support quality programming.
NHPTV Ready to Learn
Pat VanWagoner, RTL Coordinator, (603) 868-4352 e-mail: pvanwagoner@nhptv.unh.edu
FAX: (603) 868-7552 Web Site: www.nhptv.org/kn
Ready to Learn Education Partners: Mary Alice Arakelian Foundation, The Byrne Foundation, Norwin and Elizabeth Bean Foundation, Citizens Bank, The Fuller Foundation, Arthur Getz Charitable Trust,
Samuel P. Hunt Foundation, Oleanda Jameson Trust, and Alice J. Reen Charitable Trust.
New Hampshire Public Television
268 Mast Road
Durham, NH 03824