At Library Storytime, Every Kid Is A Superhero

By CRAIG HIGGINS

The Progress

Every kid yearns to be a hero. And on Wednesday, June 29, a small but enthusiastic crowd of youngsters rocked their favorite crimefighting costumes at a Moapa Valley Library Storytime event as part of the Summer Challenge 2022.

A weekly series taking place all summer, each Summer Challenge event has featured its own theme. This time out, superheroes ruled the day. Kids and their parents filtered into a small side room filled with stuffed animals and pictures of various comic book champions. Pint-sized renditions of Spider-Man, the Hulk, and Spider Gwen (mistaken by the library’s storyteller for Moon Knight) filed in, some grabbing a spot among a couple rows of chairs while others camped out on the floor.

Dressed in a t-shirt emblazoned with a Wonder Woman logo, the storyteller began by asking the kids about their favorite costumed characters. She then connected this engaging topic to real-life heroes by referring the enthusiastic crowd to a picture on the wall featuring firefighters, police, and military personnel. For such impressionable minds, creating such a link might one day result in a new generation of dedicated public servants.

But such far-off concerns would be for another time. Crowded around the storyteller’s feet, the children sunk into the tale spun in front of their eager ears.

Having drawn their rapt attention, the reader opened a colorful picture book and narrated the tale of “Lyric McKerrigan, Secret Librarian” by J.S. Weinstein and V. Brosgol. In this story, a hero whose superpower to “brandish just the right book at just the right time” defeats the dastardly plans of the fiendish Doctor Glockenspiel.

With her short tale completed, the storyteller directed the fired-up youngsters to a resource table stacked with multi-colored markers and a stack of trapezoid-shaped pieces of poster paper held together with red string – blank slates for capes.

The reader then instructed the kids to pick out their own cape and decorate it however they wanted. Kids spilled out along the floor and throughout the library, picking spots on which to begin their design work. An ordinarily quiet day at the mild-mannered library suddenly burst with energy crackling from young minds feverishly intent on making each creation a symbol of small-fry hero-dom.

Moapa Valley library’s Summer Challenge will continue through the end of July. Future Wednesday Storytime themes include “Monster Time” on July 6, “Birds” on July 13, and “Oceans” on July 20. All events occur at 11:30 a.m.

For more information, contact the library at 702-397-2690 or visit LVCCLD.org/SummerChallenge.