Storytime Magic

The Library’s weekly sessions of reading and crafts bring books to life for Club kids.

Building strong literacy starts at a young age and is more critical than ever in today’s world.

Regular reading exposes children to new words and sentence structures essential for early literacy—even before they can read independently. Parents sharing stories with kids at bedtime is a wonderful start. Pairing that bonding time with group activities outside the home is an excellent way to put the imagination reading unleashes into action.

The Club Library gives young Members the opportunity to do just that during weekly Storytime. Held each Wednesday and Saturday, these small-group sessions nurture curiosity, discussion, creativity and social skills.

“Engaging young minds by making storytime interactive fosters their early literacy and cognitive skills development,” notes Lynne Hall, a research associate at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community’s Early Childhood Center, part of Indiana University Bloomington.

One young Member who enjoys Storytime is Eito Hirose. The 7-year-old has been attending the Library gatherings almost every Wednesday since his family joined the Club last September.

“The librarians read to us and we also have craft time,” he explains.

He especially loves the Magic Tree House series by American author Mary Pope Osborne. The chapter books—aimed at early readers, typically ages 6 to 9—follow siblings Jack and Annie as they discover a treehouse that whisks them away on time-travel adventures to various historical periods and places.

“I love the stories because they’re magical.”

When it comes to crafting, a standout experience for Eito was making crowns after reading Paris Rosenthal’s Uni the Unicorn in the Real World. The Library’s Anna Mukai created an adorable unicorn-themed headpiece complete with pink ears, a golden horn, flowers and colorful butterflies for Club kids to make.

Eito’s mom, Rika Hirose, says she and dad Motoyasu love seeing their son enjoy such a relaxed atmosphere. “Not only does he develop a reading habit, but he also becomes interested in the topics covered and enjoys socializing with the friends he meets there.”

Rika adds, “We were surprised that each time had a different theme, and that the readings and crafts were tailored to that theme.”

Another recent theme was Greek Mythology Week in April, when the Library invited Members of all ages to explore the epic tales of Athena, Zeus, the Titans and more. Members were encouraged to dress as their favorite Greek deity and take part in special Storytime and crafting sessions.

Young readers are also treated from time to time by visits from authors, who read their own works to the kids. Guests have included Olly the Lone Red Squirrel author Larissa Soares, who shared her children’s story of friendship, kindness and acceptance, and educator Kinota Braithwaite, who read from his book Mio The Beautiful, a tale of growing up biracial in Japan.

Parents and grandparents are welcome to join, and for the Hirose family, these experiences have been an important part of their membership.

“We would like to tell other parents that relaxing and unwinding at the Club’s Storytime is very valuable for children. There aren’t many storytimes in Tokyo that are entirely in English. The conversations between the librarians and the children here are really lovely.”