A wildly popular storytime with the Wheeler Library has returned to the Beriah Lewis Farm in North Stonington this summer.

Farm Storytime, held on Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m., was started last year. Children’s librarian Karla Umland said one of the library’s volunteers had a connection to the farm, which is active in the community, and they teamed up to bring an hour of books to the farm on Boom Bridge Road.

“We did it just a few times throughout the summer, and it was so popular that I decided to do it every week this summer,” she said. “The kids really enjoy visiting the animals after the storytime.”

Each session includes stories, songs and other activities related to the farm and farm animals. The new season started July 5 with a plush dog that the children passed around as they sang a song and introduced themselves. Umland brought out a felt board for the kids to sing “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” and read “Harold and the Purple Crayon” by Crockett Johnson.

Thanks to an anonymous donor who gave thousands of copies of “Harold and the Purple Crayon” to Connecticut libraries, each of the 27 children in attendance also received a copy of the 1955 classic.

Umland said the farm storytime provides many teachable moments as kids marvel at the large trucks, machinery and animals that walk by. As she read “Apple Pie 4th of July” by Janet Wong, four-year-old Oliver Lewis brought out Slam, a four-month-old Brown Swiss ox he is raising on his family’s farm, and his brothers brought out a small yoke to show how oxen teams are partnered to move heavy loads. Oliver planned to show Slam and his partner, Dunk, at the North Stonington Agricultural Fair.

Slam licked the children as they petted him, and Oliver’s father, Ledyard Lewis, told the kids that Slam was licking the salt off their hands and arms.

Umland said the farm was happy to partner with the library for Farm Storytime. Members of the farm also bring calves to the library for visits from time to time, and she said it tied in well with the 2017 summer reading theme of “Build a Better World.”

Farm Storytime runs through August 9 at Beriah Lewis Farm, 273 Boom Bridge Road in North Stonington. For more information, call the Wheeler Library at (860) 535-0383. The library is located at 101 Main St. in North Stonington.

a.hutchinson@theday.com