February is a cold, short month; but inside, the library focus is still that
“We are WILD about Reading!”
Our first animal for the month is the largest living primate – the gorilla. 
Primates are divided into 2 groups ~ apes and monkeys. 
Apes do not have tails and are larger in size; whereas monkeys do have tails and are a bit smaller. Gorillas are members of the ape family, which also includes the chimpanzee and orangutan. The gorilla has arms that are longer than their legs, so they normally walk by putting their feet flat and walking on their knuckles of their hands. This movement is called knuckle walking. 
Gorillas are quite smart and can learn to communicate in sign language. A group of gorillas is called a band. 
Our second wild animal to learn about is a wild member of the pig family that lives in Africa – the warthog. They were given this name because their
large, flat heads are covered with “warts,” which are actually protective skin
growths or bumps. Just by looking at a warthog’s face, you can tell if it is a male or female. The male has 2 pairs of “warts” while a female has a single pair. Warthogs are also known for their four protruding tusks which are used for fighting and defense. A grouping of warthogs is called a sounder. 

During library story time some of the books we will be reading are: “Gorilla! Gorilla!”(by Jeanne Willis); “The Escape of Marvin the Ape”(by Caralyn Buehner); “Little Gorilla”(by Ruth Bornstein); “Jungle Drums”(by Graeme Base), and “Warthogs in the Kitchen” (by Pamela Duncan Edwards).

Our February Library Lingo words are reference and character.
Reference books are used for help or information, such as a dictionary (meaning of words), atlas (maps) and encyclopedia (subject facts). 
These books cannot be checked out of the library. 
The word character refers to the main person or animal in a story that the action is about. This brings our word list up to twelve!

Mrs. Muck
Librarian