Our Park Naturalists and volunteers come to your local library each month to share a story about a native animal and lead a craft or activity. These programs are FREE to attend and are most appropriate for preschool to upper elementary age children. Advance registration is required by contacting your library. 

Please note: With the ever-changing circumstances involving the COVID-19 pandemic, Animal Tales may become Virtual Animal Tales and/or an Animal Tales StoryWalk at McCloud Nature Park during any given month. Follow us on Facebook or contact your local library for updates.

September: The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri

The leaves have started to fall. The air is cold. Squirrel needs to get ready for winter. He cannot nibble with the mice. He does not have time to hop with the frogs or run with the dogs. Will this busy little squirrel ever slow down? Focusing on all the charming features of the fall season, this sweetly illustrated story features country animals, pumpkins, leaves, apples and other signs of autumn.

October: Can You Do This, Old Badger? by Eve Bunting

There are lots of things Little Badger can do that Old Badger can’t manage to do very well anymore. But Old Badger can still show Little Badger a few tricks to teach him how to become a badger extraordinaire – like how to catch fish, where to find worms, and how to get to the honey before the bees get to you. Old badgers are supposed to teach little badgers, he says. It’s all part of the plan — and so is nap time!

November: Time for Bed, Little One by Caroline Pitcher

Little Fox doesn’t want to go to bed. He’s not tired yet! But morning is breaking and his friends are either eating breakfast or getting ready for bed. Finally, Little Fox finds Squirrel and the two friends chase each other through the woods. But soon, Little Fox is getting sleepy. Maybe it is time for Little Fox to get ready for bed after all.

December: The Barn Owls by Tony Johnston

Tony Johnston’s The Barn Owls recalls in quiet tones the memory of a barn that has stood alone in a wheat field for one hundred years at least. The owls have nested there and have hunted in the fields and circled in the night skies as time slowly slipped by. Every night as the moon rises, a barn owl awakens and flies out to hunt.

Clayton – Liberty Township 

• Call library at (317) 539-2991 to register in advance
• Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. 
• Sept. 7, Oct. 5, Nov. 2, Dec. 7

Monrovia 

• Call library at (317) 996-4307 to register in advance
• Tuesdays at 1 p.m. 
• Sept. 7, Oct. 5, Nov. 2, Dec. 7

Plainfield – Guilford Township 

• Call library at (317) 839-6602 to register in advance
• Wednesdays at 10 a.m. 
• Sept. 8, Oct. 6, Nov. 3, Dec. 8

Brownsburg 

• Call library at (317) 852-3167 to register in advance
• Wednesdays at 4 p.m. 
• Sept. 8, Oct. 6, Nov. 3, Dec. 8

Jamestown

• Call library at (765) 676-6190 to register in advance
• Thursdays at 3 p.m.
• Sept. 9, Oct. 7, Nov. 4, Dec. 9

Roachdale

• Call library at (765) 522-1491 to register in advance
• Thursdays at 4:30 p.m.
• Sept. 9, Oct. 7, Nov. 4, Dec. 9

Avon

• Call library at (317) 272-4818 to register in advance
• Fridays at 2 p.m.
• Sept. 10, Oct. 8, Nov. 5, Dec. 10

Danville

• Call library at (317) 745-2604 to register in advance
• Fridays at 4 p.m.
• Sept. 10, Oct. 8, Nov. 5, Dec. 10