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Wnuk sat with McKenna, 3, on Monday afternoon at the deAngeli branch. The mother and daughter read a book together. Gena said her daughter has attended the library's storytimes before and found them very beneficial.

"(Jan Curtis, children's librarian) reads stories to the children and they listen to music. They hear a story and get to interact with other kids," Gena said.

The deAngeli Branch Library of the Lapeer District Library system has three different storytimes this fall. Jan Curtis, children's librarian at deAngeli, said storytime serves as an introduction to the library.

"For 2 1/2-year-olds, if they sit through one story I'm thrilled," Curtis said. "We have games and I'm stressing following directions. I look at storytimes as pre-kindergarten. We do some numbers, letters, and play. We work on listening and it's wonderful."

Curtis said the stories she picks go along with a theme and are books she likes. "We'll do autumn themes like monsters, gorillas, farmers, and we'll go into Christmas.

"Storytimes (help develop) socialization skills," Curtis added. "I don't claim storytimes make them ready for school, but it helps."

The toddler program is for children 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 years old. It will run 9:30-10 a.m. on Wednesdays Oct. 31-Dec. 12.

Preschool story time is for children 3 1/2 to 5 years old and not in kindergarten. Preschool story times run 9:30-10:15 a.m. Nov. 1 through Dec. 13.

Family story times run 6:30-7:15 p.m. Tuesday evenings Oct. 30-Dec. 11. The family storytime is modeled after the popular summer program, "Lunch with the Munch Bunch," where families gather to hear stories together. A parent is required to attend with the children.

Pre-registration is required for all the deAngeli story programs. Call the children's desk at (810) 664-6971. Curtis said there's still space in all three age groups.

Hadley's library has storytime 11:30 a.m. Monday; Metamora's time is 10 a.m. Monday; Clifford's time is 1:30 p.m. Monday; Columbiaville's time is 6:30 p.m. Monday; Otter Lake's time is 11 a.m. Tuesday; Goodland Township's time is 2 p.m. Thursday; and Elba Township's is 2-3 p.m. Thursday. Such storytimes will continue through the end of the year and Celeste Hingst presents the program.

"As the librarian she'll let us know the theme and books ahead of time," said Mary Ellen Thomas, librarian at the Elba Township branch. "Children come in and do some movement exercises. Celeste reads to them and they do a craft. A few weeks ago she picked leaves and I put out supplemental (books).

"The children have fun and they learn about a subject matter. It opens them up to reading and books and helps them with listening and social skills."

It's not too late for a child to participate in any of the above storytimes. For more information, call the individual library.

Upcoming themes for branches that make up the Lapeer District Library include scarecrows, Halloween, owls, harvest, Thanksgiving, colors, friends, Christmas trees, and gingerbread.

At the Almont Township Library, the whole purpose of storytime is to get children to discover reading and books.

Kay Hurd, Almont Township Library director said their storytime there is 10:30 a.m. Tuesdays and is geared for children 5 and under. "We've been reading Halloween books. The goal is to start children off at the library. It gets them to come back," Hurd said.

Jennifer Decker can be reached at 664-0811, Ext. 8125 or jennifer.decker@lapeergroup.com