What’s Inside
welcome!
Some of my earliest memories are of going to the library with my mom and brother. We lived just down the street and could easily walk there. We would check out, carry them home, and the curl up in mom’s bed to read them. It’s part of what helped me make the decision to become a librarian later in life.
As we learn more and more about literacy, we’ve come to understand how important it is for very young children to begin interacting with books early. Developing language skills, understanding symbols (letters), and connecting pictures in books to objects in real life puts young children on a path to becoming successful readers. As a parent, you can encourage this early literacy learning by reading with your child on a regular basis. With the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program we incentivize reading by providing rewards and celebrating milestones. Most children I know love to keep track and see progress; and more importantly celebrate wins – and rightly so!
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Get started on your 1,000 Books adventure
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Walk in the forest with Larry
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Swim in the ocean as you read
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Drive through a safari
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Explore the warm jungle and its animals
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By offering this program at the library we hope to encourage parents and children to build those early literacy skills and be ready for Kindergarten on day one. Plus, we have A LOT of books for you to check out and get to that 1,000 book goal! We’re here to help you in anyway we can — just ask our staff.
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As always, see you at the Library!
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Let’‘’ s GET StartED How to use this booklet: To keep kids engaged the whole way, we’ve created an interactive reading tracker. For every 20 books, place a sticker on the milestone - and cheer! When your little one meets the 200 book goal in each adventure theme, come to the library to pick up a fun prize! Start in the forest, then move through the ocean, a safari, the jungle, and end in the arctic! Join Larry in space to learn about ways you can continue to enrich your child at the library. Don’t forget to make your bookmark (p24) to accompany your reading!
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Use beantack to also track your reading ! Set up an account or log into your account. If you created an account for previous programs, please use that account instead of making a new one. Simply check off every book you read to earn prizes Download the Beanstack app
Meet Larry the Library Llama - our 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten mascot! Larry will guide you through your reading adventure.
book recommendations
Here is a selection carefully curated by Larry the Llama. As we enter the first theme in the program, we have some books you could read along as you reach your 200 books goal. The forests are vast and have so much more to tell us, so scan this QR code to get more book recommendations!
larry’s forest recommendations!
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LArry Is in the forest
Start your reading adventure with Larry in the forest! As you move along the path to your reading goal, place stickers on your milestones and cheer! When you’ve read 200 books, come to the library to collect a fun prize!
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20 Explore our beautiful state parks by checking out a State Park Pass at the Library!
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Can you find and name all the woodland animals?
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160 Can you name some animals that live in trees?
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180 You can grow your own flowers by checking out seeds at the library!
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OLLECT YOUR PRI C E ZE! COM
I READ
200 BOOKS
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DID YOU KNOW? Forests like this cover about ⅔ of South Carolina!
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LET’S TRAce! We are going to help the forest animals find their families by tracing over the dashed line to create a path for them to walk on!
GET TRACING!
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YOU DID IT
Now that the forest animals are reunited, let’s go somewhere new! The ocean perhaps? 6
Scan to get started
Books with you wherever you go, whenever you go. Enjoy thousands of e-books and audiobooks on Libby for Kids.
ALSO AVAILABLE IN SPANISH ON SC LENDS APP
You did it! Let’s move on and travel with Larry to the ocean. Here are more books to you could read along as you reach your 400 books goal. The ocean has a lot of stories to offer, you can scan the QR code for more recommendation for this section!
larry’s ocean recommendations!
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Can you finish this tune? “Row, Row, Row your boat, gently down the stream....
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South Carolina has over 180 miles of coast line on the Atlantic Ocean!
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LArry Is IN THE OCEAN When fish swim together, it’s called a school.
How many arms does this Starfish have?
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CT Y COLLE OUR PRIZ E M E CO
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Make a splash! Join your pal, Larry and learn about life under the sea, as you read your way to 400 books. Place your stickers on the milestones as you move to your goal - and cheer! Claim your prize at the library when you get to 400!
I READ
400 BOOKS
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Come check out a South Carolina Aquarium Pass at the library !
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Let’s color! Color the shapes with the letter A in Blue, B in Green and C in Orange!
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B C
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C A B
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ONE ALL IN
Print books with a ready-to-play audiobook inside. Press play to read along for a screen-free experience.
Come check out our selection at the library!
book recs Congratulations! Let’s move on and travel with Larry on a safari. We have more books to you could read along as you reach your 600 books goal. Safaris are big with a lot of animals, so if you are interested in other books, you can scan the QR code for more recommendation for this section!
larry’s safari recommendations!
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When birds fly together it’s called a flock.
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DID YOU KNOW? Elephants can eat up to 600 lbs of vegetation each day!
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480 The biggest safari in the world is in Tanzania, Africa! You can see lions, elephants, hippopotamus and many more.
A lion’s roar is really loud. You can hear it from 5 miles away! Try your loudest roar.
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Crocodiles have 65 teeth. Do you brush your teeth?
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I am so proud of you! You are more than halfway to reading 1,000 Books!
I READ
600 BOOKS
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CO
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C O L L E C T Y O U R P RIZ
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You’re doing great! Grab your sunhat and let’s join Larry on a safari. Meet some interesting animals and make your way to 600 books! Don’t forget to place stickers on your milestones and cheer! When you reach your goal, head to the library for a fun prize.
LARRY IS ON A SAFARI
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FIND THE COLOR!
Circle all the yellow animals.
The jungle is waiting for me, I need to go! I’ll see you there.
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READY TO
PLAY ?
No wifi, No browser, No distractions. Launchpads, where learning is fun and entertaining.
Come check out one at the library!
book recs book recs Another milestone achieved! Let’s go walk through the jungle. If you need book recommendations, her are a few you could read, and more if you scan the QR code for more recommendation for this section!
larry’s jungle recommendations!
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Parrots love to copy sounds!
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This reading adventure is getting wild! Read through the jungle with Larry, and learn about some interesting animals, as you trek to 800 books! When you reach your goal, head to the library to claim your prize. Make sure you put a sticker on each milestone and cheer!
LARRY IS IN THE JUNGLE
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DID YOU KNOW?
There are more than a million different kinds of animals and plants that live in jungles!
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Frogs, birds, and fish love to live right next to waterfalls because they keep the air cool and wet.
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740 Rainforests cover about 6% of the Earth‘s land surface!
I READ
800 BOOKS
A jungle boa has colors and patterns on its skin to help it hide in the trees.
CO
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COLLECT YO
IZ UR PR
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jungle maze Our friends monkey and the bird (specifically called a Toucan) got lost in the jungle and need your help to find each other! Let’s help then find their way back to each other by tracing over the right path through the maze. (Hint: there might be multiple ways!)
The jungle friends are reunited! Thanks for your help. Now, let’s go to the arctic! We have new friends to meet over there.
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Did someone say bookish merch? Order your very own shirt to support our 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program (and to look really cool!)
More designs in our online store, adult and kids' sizes available now. Scan to shop.
book recs book recs Only one more! Have you been to the arctic before? Well, let’s go! If you want to read about penguins and polar bears, we have reading recommendations for you, and even more if you scan the QR code for more recommendation for this section!
larry’s arctic recommendations!
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Special ships, called icebreakers, are made for the frozen arctic waters. They are made with thick steel armor so they don't get hurt when they bump into ice.
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Orcas live in family groups called pods
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Penguins are flightless birds that love to swim.
900 880 DID YOU KNOW? The ice of the Arctic contains around 10% of the world’s fresh water.
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LARRY IS IN THE ARCTIC Cool! You made it to the last leg of your 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten reading journey - the arctic. Learn about animals who like living in this chilly spot while you read your way to the finish. Keep adding stickers to the milestones and when you get to 1,000 - YOU DID IT! Go share the good news with all of your library friends - we want to cheer with you!
One animal that lives only in the Arctic is the narwhal!
960 980 Keep going! You’re almost there!
! AN AWARD AW T I D I AIT UD
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YO
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LARRY IS IN SPACE
QR CODE TO RESSOURCES PAGE
Your library is out of this world! We’ve got so many things to help kids learn and grow. Explore our apps for listening, reading, or watching. Check out hands-on activities available at our LEAP Station, join us for special programs, and more! Your library is here for every chapter.
Whazoodle: An all-audio adventure. Kids can explore a world of podcasts, music, short stories and more on an easy-touse speaker. No Wi-Fi, downloads, or extra pieces necessary.
Hoopla: Digital app for children's books, audiobooks, comics, movies, and TV shows. Magna-Tiles: Encased magnets allow the pieces to effortlessly snap together from any side, encouraging imaginative building like towers, castles, and more.
Puzzles: They strengthen cognitive and problem-solving skills. Borrow a puzzle from The LEAP Station.
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I’m so happy that you finished 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten! The library is here to accompany you your whole life, from this challenge to the next, with so many more ressources than you could imagine! Keep coming to visit us !
QR Code Concepts Book River
DID YOU KNOW? We have Smart Globes you can borrow from the library to learn more about our planet earth!
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LET’S MAKE A BOOKMARK Larry The Lama is ready for an adventure with you! As he follows you in the booklet, he can also be in your books with you.
On the other side of the page, you will find two double-sided bookmarks! Cut around the dashed lines to have you very own bookmark.
You can also come to the Maker’s Space at the Anderson Main Library on your next visit to laminate your bookmarks so that you can keep them forever!
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Date
Librarian Signature
for completion of 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten Program!
This certificate is awarded to:
CONGRATULATIONS
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