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WILKES-BARRE — Oh, how the bubbles shimmered, with hints of pink, green and gold.
And, how large they were — many so big a kid could have fit inside; a few even big enough for an adult.
“You won’t have to take a bath today,” Mark Krokos, also known as “That Bubble Guy,” teased the children who took delight Wednesday morning in bursting the creations he launched from the lawn of the Osterhout Free Library.
Midway through the week-long Friends of the Osterhout Free Library Book Sale, organizers held a day especially designed to please the youngest library patrons, complete with bubbles, a make-and-take craft, an ice cream truck, a chance to win one of 25 children’s dictionaries and the opportunity to buy children’s books by the bagful.
As Ariella Villa, of Wilkes-Barre, who just turned 5, happily clutched a pair of tiny books about Sesame Street characters Elmo and buddies Ernie and Bert — one in each hand — her mom, Evelyn, found a larger volume about a mermaid whose name is very similar to her little girl’s.
Big sister Isabella said she likes to read to Ariella, but she was a bit disappointed that she didn’t see any books from the young adult “Dork Diaries” series that she enjoys herself.
“Maybe they went fast,” her mother suggested.
At another table, 3-year-old Allie Beekman brandished a colorful book titled, “Litterbugs Come in Every Size.”
“Oh, that looks like a good one,” said her grandmother, Annette Connors of West Wyoming, noting she likes to read with Allie and her other granddaughters, 6-year-old Hannah Beekman and 22-month-old Calina Comerota, who were busily turning pages under the book sale tent on Wednesday alongside Calina’s au pair from South Africa, Larissa Nel.
The 43rd annual book sale continues from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. today, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday and 9:30 a.m. to noon Saturday on the patio at the library at 71 S. Franklin St. Saturday is “Bag Day,” which means you can fill a bag or a box with books for a nominal fee.
In addition to children’s books, the sale offers thousands of books, from mysteries to romances to science fiction and, well you name it. Some are vintage books that may have been enjoyed by generations of library patrons; others are donations that co-chair Irene Martin describes as “never opened.”
The table of fresh, new books contains many titles, from Tom Clancy’s “Power and Empire” and James Patterson’s “Kiss The Girls” to H.G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds” and Julie Dao’s “Forest of a Thousand Lanterns.”
For more information on the sale, call 570-823-0156. You may also check the Osterhout Free Library’s Facebook page to learn about daily surprises at the sale.
