“What happens if you eat ‘libaries’?” Silence. “You tell more lies.” Appreciative laughter from 75-plus young readers, many of whom probably pronounce “library” as “libary.”

“What happens if you go to the library?” Silence again. “You read more books.” Ha Ha.

And so began the opening concert last week of the Kitsap Regional Library’s slate of children’s performers, who will spend the next month entertaining children in the library system’s countywide summer reading program.

Presenting this first concert, at Silverdale’s Waterfront Park, was musician and entertainer Alley Oop. The children sitting on the concrete floor of the covered picnic area were enthralled as he told jokes, played a variety of instruments and sang silly songs. “Ants in Your Pants” appealed to the wiggly listeners, while “Mama Don’t Allow” struck a chord with the rebellious (and grammatically challenged) crowd.

His trunk contained a few puppet buddies to help him, including a shy turtle and a backward-talking bear.

Most of the audience members wore “Paws, Claws, Scales and Tales!” reading program T-shirts, but some wandered over from the park’s play area to see what all the noise was about and ended up staying. The concerts are free and open to all children and their grownups.

Alley Oop performed three shows that day, in a carefully choreographed schedule that included a 10:30 a.m. show in Port Orchard, a 1:30 p.m. show in Silverdale and a 3:30 p.m. show at the downtown Bremerton library.

All the children’s performers’ shows are on Tuesdays through Aug. 29. Some of them will play instruments and lead sing-alongs, others have decidedly different talents.

Next up is Charlie Williams, aka Charlie the Noise Guy, who specializes in reading books aloud in an animated style. He is a human noisemaker, able to mimic noises from toilets flushing to planes taking off and landing, much to the delight of his young audiences.

His shows are July 18, 10:30 p.m. at the Sylvan Way Library, 1:30 p.m. at the Manchester Library and Aug. 8 at the Little Boston Library and Poulsbo Library.

Also appearing July 18 in two shows is The Reptile Man (Scott Peterson), who brings along a scaly group of friends for his presentations. Peterson runs The Serpentarium, a zoo specializing in reptiles, in Monroe. He travels around the state educating and entertaining audiences about reptiles and their place in the environment.

His shows are 10:30 a.m. at St. Cecelia’s Catholic Church, hosted by the Bainbridge Library and 1:30 p.m. at the Kingston Library. He also appears Aug 15 at the Manchester Library.

For more information on upcoming performers, and the summer reading program, visit your local library, or www.krl.org.