Teddy Bear Picnic – Clinton

Teddy Bear Picnic – Clinton

Join the Clinton Branch and Huron Early ON for a Teddy Bear Picnic! Meet in front of the library with a stuffed friend as we read a story, decorate wagons play some games and have lots of fun! This program is designed for kids ages 0-6 and their parents or caregivers.

Pre-registration is encouraged by visiting www.keyon.ca

Summer Reading Week 2: Shoot for the Stars!

Summer Reading Week 2: Shoot for the Stars!

And that’s a wrap on Week 2 of the TD Summer Reading Club! We hope you’re starry eyed and ready to learn, because this week’s theme was “Shoot for the Stars!”. Did you know that if you traveled to the nearest star, it would take 70,000 years?  

This week we had a super fun craft planned, where we made stained-glass stars to hang in your windows at home! Together we read the book, Star of the Party by Jan Carr, and played a game with moon rocks – be sure to practice your balancing skills for this one!  

Don’t forget to bring your reading log this week, so you can start collecting beads for read-a-bead!  

For those who cannot join us this week, we have another colouring sheet that you can print off at home or at the library, and a fun reading list all about stars can be found on the Huron County Library’s catalogue.  

Lastly, we have a super fun reading challenge for our friends who are not able to come to the reading club: print off this Rocket Ship Reading Log, and colour in one rocket ship for every book or chapter you read!  When the page is full, show it off to your local librarian and win a small prize! 

Aim for the stars! 

Nadine and Morgan  

Summer Reading Week 1: Blast off!

Summer Reading Week 1: Blast off!

It’s the first official week of the TD Summer Reading Program—hooray! We are so excited to be visiting all the incredible Huron County Library Branches and cannot wait to read some exciting stories with all of you who are joining us this summer!  

This week we met lots of new friends who we will see all summer, so what better theme to kick things off with than “Blast off!” While we enjoyed meeting our new friends, we will also had fun learning about everything in our solar system! Did you know there are eight planets, five dwarf planets, one star, and (at least) 299 moons in our solar system? That’s a busy party!  

Together we learned about how the summer reading club works, how to use your book log, how to win prizes, and how to make your nametag! We also read a book together, called, XO, Exoplanet by Deborah Underwood, and decorated our giant reading rocket ship in the library (we can’t wait till you see this, it’s super cool!). 

For those who are unable to come to our first week, we still have cool things in store for you! You can print off a very cool colouring sheet at home or at your local library branch. We also encourage you to go to your local library this week and check out some great books to begin your summer reading adventures! For story suggestions based on this week’s theme, check out our online reading list for week 1!    

We have liftoff! 

Nadine and Morgan

 

Q & A with local illustrator Mathias Ball

Q & A with local illustrator Mathias Ball

Born and raised in Goderich, Mathias Ball (he/they) is a trans-identified illustrator who draws inspiration from animals, emotions, and warm bright colors. He is a graduate of the Illustration program at Sheridan College and his dream is to illustrate a world depicting cute characters and lots of dogs.

Still my Tessa written by Sylv Chiang and illustrated by Mathias was championed by Gary the Unicorn and won the second edition of ‘Canada Reads for kids’ in 2024. Gary the Unicorn said they picked this title because, “it feels like a warm hug for the heart!” 

Other picture books they’ve illustrated include Every Body Is a Rainbow by Caroline Carter, What If Bedtime Didn’t Exist? by Francine Cunningham and These Cookies Are Not for Puppies by local author, Larissa O’Donnell. You can also find his work on their small business website, Sulkypup, where they sell prints, original plush (coming soon), gender neutral clothing and other items.

The Clinton Branch was proud to have Mathias come visit and share their journey to getting published and starting their own business based off their gorgeous digital artwork. The following is a conversation between Branch Assistant, Shannon O’Connor and the local illustrator/artist, Mathias Ball:

Q. How did you get your start in picture book illustration and what draws you to that medium?

Illustrating for picture books is something that I was always interested in! My style of work has always leaned more toward the cute, colourful, and bubbly, so creating illustrations for picture books felt like a natural fit. As for getting started, I went to school at Sheridan College for their Bachelor of Illustration program. After graduating in the lovely year of 2020, I started posting my work online which got the attention of some Art Directors and Literary Agents. In 2022, I teamed up with my agent, Natascha Morris, who has since helped with connecting me to book projects such as Still My Tessa and What If Bedtime Didn’t Exist? along with some more books yet to be released.

Q. Are there any particular subjects/authors/topics that attract you most? If so what and why?

As a queer individual, I’m always drawn to topics having to do with LGBTQ+ themes. A handful of the books I’ve illustrated so far are ones that I would have loved to have as a kid–not only for LGBTQ+ folks, but being able to see stories where you feel represented and shown in a positive light can mean so much to a kid, and really pull out their confidence.

In addition, I love books that feature animal characters or take place in nature. Growing up in Goderich, I spent a lot of time outside in the surrounding forests and trails, trying to befriend critters here and there. It’s always a pleasure when I can pull inspiration from that and bring it into a project.

Q. Do you have any favourite illustrators or artists that inspire(d) your own work?

Always a fan of any artist with blocky shapes and lots of colours. To name a few, some artists are Anoosha Syed, Jon Klassen, and Paige Bowman.

Q. What has been your favourite project to date and what are you most excited about working on next (if you can share anything about that)?

It’s tough to answer, but I think my favourite may be an upcoming book, Little Wolf’s Howl published by Marble Press. Going back to one of my favourite subject matters, this book follows the story of a Little Wolf who gets lost and needs to find her way back to her mother. She encounters some new animal friends who help her along the way. Illustrating this book felt the most natural to me, and it was very easy to picture the illustrations as I did my first read of the manuscript.

For what I’m excited to work on next, it’s a bit up in the air at the moment! I don’t have any book projects on the go at this time, but I have my online business, Sulkypup, where I’ve been designing and releasing gender-neutral clothing on a triannual basis, along with designing some accessories and stationery goods. I have a Summer Update that will be happening in mid-July and I have been prepping some new items for my Fall Update later in October. I’m hoping to release a plush for the Fall Update of one of my original characters as well, which I’ve been very excited about, as designing a plush is something I’ve always wanted to do.

Q. What are you currently reading or what are some of your favorite books?

Some favourite series of mine are the Scott Pilgrim series and anything done by Tatsuki Fujimoto. I tend to read more comics and manga over just text-based books, as I always enjoy seeing what other illustrators are up to and how they share their stories.

Q. What advice would you give to any young aspiring artist/illustrators?

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes; embrace the things you love. To develop your skills, you need to allow yourself the opportunity to draw things that may look quirky so you can know what to do differently next time. The more you draw, the more you will learn. Also, you may eventually look back at your old art and think it’s embarrassing and cringy, but please don’t throw it out. You were just as much an artist as you were then as you are at this moment. Don’t be ashamed to celebrate the growth that you have had between then and now.

As for embracing the things you love, as an artist, you may gradually become more concerned about finding your artistic voice. What I’ve advised mentees in the past is that style is something that grows out of the things that you love about creating. For me, I really like playing with colour and traditional textures, and I like drawing animals and creatures. Meanwhile, others may embrace black & white art with a much more graphic appearance. In the end, what we love can help define who we are as artists.

Bayfield Pizza Pages: Summer Reading Challenge

Bayfield Pizza Pages: Summer Reading Challenge

Kids, get ready to dive into the wonderful world of books and embark on a reading journey like no other! Join us this summer for an exciting adventure as Olio partners with the Huron County Library’s Bayfield Branch to present the ultimate summer reading challenge! From July through August, kids ages 4-12 are being challenged to read as many books as possible.

At the end of the challenge, top readers will earn an exclusive invitation to a pizza party provided by Olio! Imagine enjoying delicious slices of pizza or some fabulous spaghetti with fellow bookworms, celebrating everyone’s reading accomplishments in style.

Gather your favourite books, unleash your imagination, and let’s make this summer a memorable one filled with stories, excitement, and of course, plenty of pizza! Get ready to turn the pages and devour those books – the Pizza Party awaits the champions of reading!

Full program details:

  • Ages: 4-12
  • How to Participate: This program is intended for patrons of the Bayfield Branch. Please visit the branch to register and to receive your reading log. Track your reading, and once it’s full bring it back to the branch to be entered into the Pizza Pages Reading Challenge. The top readers will be invited to attend a special pizza party hosted by Olio. Each log will earn readers a small prize.
  • Dates: July 2-Aug 23
  • Deadline: All reading logs must be returned to the branch by Aug. 23.
  • Questions? Email bayfieldlibrary@huroncounty.ca or call 519-565-2886