GONZALES — Sterling Bubblesmith made a splash at the Gonzales Library June 13 with bubbles to kick off the Summer Reading Program entertainment line-up.
“I love performing in libraries and I love that the County of Monterey invites me and other people to come and bring some entertainment to encourage you to come into the library,” Bubblesmith said. “You just might discover there are some books and take some out to read them.”
Libraries have always been an important place to Bubblesmith, who traveled to several libraries from just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. His favorite book is “Bubble Magic” by Tom Noddy.
“It teaches you to do some of the tricks I’m going to do for you,” Bubblesmith added.
After giving his audience some safety tips for his bubble show, he demonstrated several varieties of bubbles, starting with small bubble wands, then moving to straws and bigger hoops. In the process of learning about bubbles, Bubblesmith learned there are many everyday items that can produce bubbles, including empty fruit baskets, paper towel rolls, coat hangers, music CDs, plumbing fixtures, rolls of tape and more.
Audience members were able to interact with the show near the end by having the chance to be inside a bubble, and one little girl even received a bubble hat and earrings to match.
Over the summer, the Monterey County Free Libraries branches in King City, Greenfield, Soledad and Gonzales will have a special guest entertainer who gives talks or demonstrates things like bubbles and magic. Because students are usually not in school over the summer, it is a time when they can lose a portion of what they learned over the year by not reading, which is why the library system developed the Summer Reading Program. It rewards students and adults for reading by giving them the chance to win prizes for completing reading challenges or coming to events, such as the Sterling Bubblesmith show.
The next entertainer is Magician Chris Lopez scheduled for June 19 at 11 a.m. at King City Library and at 4 p.m. at Greenfield Library, and June 20 at 11 a.m. at Soledad Library and at 1 p.m. at Gonzales Library.
