Wilton Library’s summer reading programs begin

From poodle skirts to disco balls, from space exploration to dinosaurs, Wilton Library’s summer reading program, Pages Through the Ages, provides a summer’s worth of free fun for toddlers through fifth graders. This year’s theme embraces the decades from the 1950s to the 2000s and all the things that captured people’s attentions and imaginations.  Kids can register anytime throughout the summer and with this year’s Evanced online registration program, they can keep track of their reading progress wherever they are – at the beach, the pool or even their own backyards – as long as there is an Internet connection.  The summer reading program runs from June 21 through August 16 and includes prizes sponsored by Subway, Swizzles and the Toy Chest.  There will be activities for everyone including drop-in crafts, drop-in story times, animal and musical entertainment, movies, dances and more sponsored by the Coyle Family Young Readers Fund and the Sherman Family Fund.

Andrea Falkner, Head of Children’s Library’s remarked, “This is such a fun-filled summer.  We’ve been planning all year for this ‘hip, groovy and awesome’ summer crammed with activities for the kids.  We’ve got something for every day of the week and then some, so parents can think of us as their free stay-at-home summer camp.”

The Pages Through the Ages program kicks off with a Sock Hop right out of the ’50s on Saturday, July 6, from 6 to 8 p.m.  Elvis costumes, poodle skirts and saddle shoes are encouraged for all kids in grades K and up and their caregivers.  Trivia, hula-hoop, Elvis look-alike contests are all part of the fun with prizes, giveaways and throwback candies and root beer floats.

The activities continue with Drop-in Crafts all day on Mondays, from July 8 through Aug. 12; Drop-in Story Times on Tuesdays from July 9 through Aug. 13 at various times depending upon the ages of the children; Wonderful Wednesdays with entertainment on five consecutive Wednesdays: Robert Rivest and his World of Mime, July 10, Space Exploration, July 17, Bubbleology, July 24, Beardsley Zoo, July 31, Dinosaurs Rock!, Aug. 7, Meet and Greet the Disney Princesses, Aug. 14; Movie Theater Thursdays from July 11 through Aug. 15 (no movies on Aug. 8), with Disney Classic animation movies in the morning and feature films in the afternoon; and Dancing through the Decades on five consecutive Fridays with instruction by the Wilton Dance Studio – Nifty ’50s on July 12, Groovy Dances of the ’60s, July 19, Disco Dances of the ’70s, July 26, Awesome Dances of the ’80s, Aug, 2 and Outrageous Dances of the ’90s, Aug. 9.     

Lesley Keogh, an assistant in the Children’s Library, added, “We can’t let a summer go by without some sort of Harry Potter activity as well, so we will be honoring the decades of the ’90s and ’00s with a Harry Potter Summer School at Hogwarts for kids entering grades 3 through 6 on Thursday, August 8.  This is an all-day fundraiser for the library, from 9 – 5, with all things Harry Potter including the Sorting Hat, classes in potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts, crafts, games and trivia. There is a fee as it is a fundraiser and space will be limited, so early sign-ups are encouraged.”

Teens also have a reading program this summer that uses Evanced for online tracking, and provides a host of activities throughout the vacation.  Grey Rocks, a Wilton teen band whose members include Ryan Amodei, Forest Rappaport, Cole Smith and Wes Wallace, will be playing on July 9; tie dye t-shirts and duct tape crafts, a few culinary challenges, a scavenger hunt, movies and an animated movie workshop are just some of the things teens can do this summer at the library. The teen programs are sponsored by the John and Patricia Curran Teen Fund.