Based in Western Massachusetts, Tom Knight has been delighting children and their grown-ups with his original, interactive, musical puppet show since 1988.  His unique blend of musicianship and puppetry celebrates reading (“The Library Boogie”), the environment (“The Garbage Monster”), and science (“The Solar System”), with hand-made puppets, catchy songs, and lots of audience participation. 

The vibrant and amusing visual elements appeal to children as young as 2, while fun lyrics engage children up to twelve, and adults, too! Tom has performed more than 1000 times at libraries, schools, pre-schools, summer camps, museums, and festivals across the country.  He just released his 6th studio album for families - Look Both Ways!

“Whimsical and with sensitivity. Never preachy.”– Ithaca Times

“Affirming, empowering, and kid-friendly. Not only educational, it’s thought-provoking.”– School Library Journal

Thank you to The Friends of Forbes Library for sponsoring this event.

The Poop Museum is the place to come for those who are curious and have questions about poop, and also, if like Susie Maguire, they LOVE poop, and think it’s fascinating! Susie is a poop expert who thinks poop is THE most interesting subject in the world. She has studied poop for years and loves nothing more than sharing her expansive knowledge of poop
with the people of the world. At The Poop Museum, everyone learns many fantastic, fabulous and fun facts about human, animal and insect poop, many of which truly amaze and surprise.

Just a few of the poopers that visitors to the Poop Museum will meet, include:

- The world’s messiest pooper
- The animal that has poop attack powers
- The animal that uses poop as protection
- The rainbow pooper
- The animal that has to hold its poop ALL winter long

At The Poop Museum, everyone learns A LOT, and some of the facts that are shared are mind blowing! But The Poop Museum is also full of laughter ... because ... well ... our subject is poop and Susie has found a wonderful way to blend solid science, with the hilarity that humans love, when it comes to poop. 

So come and see us to learn and laugh and talk all about poop when The Poop Museum visits your town! 

We look forward to seeing you there!

Thank you to The Friends of Forbes Library for sponsoring this event.

About Susie Maguire:
Susie is an award winning teacher, storyteller and event creator for children and adults. As a creative learning and development specialist and consultant, Susie’s company created
events around the world for many of the world’s biggest and best companies including Unilever, Hewlett-Packard, Pepsi-Co, Facebook, Ericsson and many more.

Susie is blessed to have a son (now 20) who she world-schooled as they travelled to more than 60 countries. They have called the US, Canada, France, the UK and now The Netherlands (Holland) home.

Susie has worked with children all over the world, for more than 20 years at children’s charities, schools, libraries, nurseries, kindergartens, home education groups and organisations like The Institute of Imagination in London.

The Musical Petting Zoo is a fun and informative hands-on traveling exhibit of musical instruments! After an introduction to the instruments, participants get a chance to bow a violin, blow a horn or tap out a rhythm on a drum. Here’s your chance to try an instrument in a judgment-free zone that encourages exploration and excitement!

Thank you to The Friends of Forbes Library for sponsoring this event.

Nature-loving kids and adults are invited to join author Naila Moreira to learn observation skills during this workshop on nature journaling. We'll discover the creative process of capturing the outdoors within the pages of a notebook, from the weather, to the birds and bugs, to the plants and landscape. You don't need to be a good artist or writer - this is a way to store your own memories and learn more about the land around you. We'll start indoors with inspiration from Moreira's new middle-grade eco-novel, THE MONARCHS OF WINGHAVEN. Then we'll sally outside to observe and record whatever we find, with guidance. This practice is for everyone: the workshop is geared to kids age 7 to 13, but will be good fun as well for adults.

All materials will be provided and signed copies of The Monarchs of Winghaven will be available for purchase.

About Naila Moreira: Naila has loved nature and writing since childhood. Her bird-and-nature watching and her work as a geologist have taken her to the coasts, forests and grasslands of New England, the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and Brazil. Through it all, she’s kept her pen busy writing about her adventures. A former artist-in-residence at the Shoals Marine Laboratory in Maine, Naila Moreira now teaches at Smith College in Massachusets, where she lives with her family. Find her online at www.nailamoreira.com.

Audiences will see wonderful slides of our local butterflies presented by Jerry Schneider, creator of the award-winning Butterfly Game. Audiences will answer questions such as: What is good butterfly habitat? How can we attract more butterflies into our community? When, how, and why do Monarch butterflies go to Mexico? In addition to answering these questions, we will learn interesting butterfly characteristics (did you know that butterflies taste with their feet?). Jerry brings displays of butterflies and moths, cocoons, and sometimes caterpillars. The
second half of the program is a wonderful tee shirt craft! Heavy cotton Gildan tee shirts are $5.00, or kids may bring their own.

Thank you to The Friends of Forbes Library for sponsoring this event.

Photo courtesy of Wiscasset Public Library.

Join the folks from Off the Wall Games for a sealed deck Magic the Gathering tournament! Cards will be provided to all players. Please feel free to bring lunch. For ages 10-17 only. The tournament will likely take around 4 hours. *Registration is required and will be capped at 15 people.* Online registration will open on Saturday, August 3 at 11 AM. Please email childrens@forbeslibrary.org with any questions!