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Books Are Windows Story Window Storytime Blog

Peek inside for storytime ideas! Wilmette Librarians share suggestions for age-appropriate books, rhymes, songs, and crafts.

November 18, 2008

Zoo Storytime
(For 2.5-3.5 Year Olds)

I (and the kids, I think) had a lot of fun with last week's storytime theme: zoo animals!

- Monkey and Me, by Emily Gravett - In this deceptively simple book, kids can guess what animal the little girl will see next based on what she's acting out: waddling penguins, bounding kangaroos, etc. Way more fun than I expected!

- If You're Happy and You Know It: Jungle Edition, by James Warhola - I love this book, a very fun, animal-themed spin-off of the traditional song.

- Such a Silly Baby, by Steffanie and Richard Lorig, illustrated by Amanda Shepherd - A careless mom leaves baby behind at the zoo, circus, etc., where baby picks up all sorts of new habits. Very silly, as you can imagine.

- The Seals on the Bus, by Lenny Hort, illustrated by G. Brian Karas - Another of my favorites and another sing-along book about a bus overrun by seals, vipers, and skunks, among other things.

Posted by Lisa at 1:01 PM | TrackBack (0)

November 12, 2008

Happiness=Storytimes
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)


We are happy to enjoy storytimes together and we can add to our fun by singing along to James Warhola's If You're Happy and You Know It. Warhola happens to be Andy Warhol's nephew and his jungle illustrations to this classic song are joyful and fun. A rooster rushes her fellow farm animals to a barn to witness the birth of a chicken in the colorful Hurry! Hurry!, by Eve Bunting. Singing about food is funny, and indeed, we had some smiles as we sang along to the big book version of Peanut Butter and Jelly , by Nadine Wescott. We sang together and counted on our fingers, pretending they were frogs with the flannel story of the Raffi song, "Five Green and Speckled Frogs".

Posted by Sue at 11:13 AM | TrackBack (0)

November 9, 2008

Lost and Found
(For 2.5-3.5 Year Olds)

By the time they're 3, most kids have had the experience of losing something important to them, whether temporarily or permanently. Last week we read stories on that subject-- all with happy endings!

- Where's Spot?, by Eric Hill
- Corduroy, by Don Freeman
- Where's My Darling Daughter?, by Mij Kelly & Katherine McEwen ORWhere's My Teddy?, by Jez Alborough

We also did the "Here is the beehive but where are the bees?" finger play.

Posted by Lisa at 1:33 PM | TrackBack (0)

October 27, 2008

Dinosaurs Are Cool
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)


The storytime kids love to read stories about dinosaurs and pretend to be scary ones! The big book version of Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs, by Byron Barton, is always a favorite as it shows so many different types of dinosaurs, including small ones. In Tip Tip Dig Dig, by Emma Garcia, brightly colored trucks clear some messy looking land to make a playground. We practiced identifying colors with this book. What starts out as a bad day for the bird, dog, fox and squirrel with some disappointments, turns into a good day in Kevin Henkes, A Good Day. I did a counting flannel called "Ten Little Pumpkins" in honor of the fall season and Halloween being just around the corner!

Posted by Sue at 8:33 PM | TrackBack (0)

October 24, 2008

Fall Stories
(For 2.5-3.5 Year Olds)

Fall has hit, without question. No more T-shirts and shorts, it's time for jackets and boots! Here's what we did to welcome fall this week in storytime.

We have a nice pegboard with a leafy, green tree painted on it. At the beginning of our session, each kid added a red, yellow, or orange leaf to the tree to decorate it for fall.

Clifford's First Autumn, by Norman Bridwell - A pleasant, general fall book that is great for getting kids' attention because, well, it's CLIFFORD!

We pretended scarves were fall leaves. We held them way up high in our branches (arms). The wind blew, first gently, then harder and harder, until the leaves swirled down. Then we kicked them, raked them up, and tossed them in the air!

Nuts to You, by Lois Ehlert - Short rhyming story about a squirrel that gets into the house.

We sang "Gray Squirrel" and swished our bushy tails.

Mrs. McNosh and the Great Big Squash, by Sarah Weeks, pictures by Nadine Bernard Westcott - Funny rhyming story about a squash grown out of control.

For craft time, we made fall collages with die cut leaves, squirrels, and acorns.

Posted by Lisa at 12:01 PM | TrackBack (0)

October 21, 2008

Happy Birthday
(For 3.5-5 Year Olds)


Everybody's got a birthday, and we celebrated them all today in storytime. We did some fun fingerplays and flannel boards about cakes and blowing out candles. We read a simple story about a girl's birthday, Happy Birthday, Lulu! by Caroline Uff. We moved on to a story about party etiquette, I Am Invited to a Party! This is one of Mo Willems's Elephant and Piggy books. They're easy readers, but they also work well in storytimes because they're just so silly and Elephant and Piggy are sympathetic characters. And finally, we read Annie Was Warned, by Jarrett Krosoczka. Because Annie's birthday is on Halloween, she says she's not scared of anything. But what will she find when she goes to a creepy mansion on October 31?
We wrapped things up with some cake decorating. The kids got pictures of plain cakes and they had to put candles and other decorations on them. It looked like they made some tasty birthday treats today!

Posted by Janet at 2:22 PM | TrackBack (0)

October 20, 2008

Colorful Colors
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)


Children love to identify colors and they love to find hidden objects behind flaps. The big book version of Mouse Paint, by Ellen Walsh is a creative look at the power of mixing colors as white mice mix colorful paint together to create new colors which they utilize to change their fur color. In Cat's Colors, by Jane Cabrera, a cat looks at his colorful world to determine which color is his favorite, finally choosing orange because of his mother's color! Children love the concept of giving presents. In With Love From Maisy,by Lucy Cousins, Maisy gives presents that are hidden under flaps and tabs, to all of her best friends. The flannel board story, "The Little Red House," explores the concepts of colors and sizes as each colorful felt house hides an even smaller house.

Posted by Sue at 6:16 PM | TrackBack (0)

October 15, 2008

Apple Picking Storytime
(For 2.5-3.5 Year Olds)

It's officially fall, and the farmer's market abounds with bushels of apples. Here's what we read in celebration of this versatile and popular fall fruit!

- Ten Red Apples, by Pat Hutchins - As in years past, I did a puppet adaptation of this counting story, with opportunities for kids to identify animals, make animal sounds, and count the apples remaining.

- The Apple Pie Tree, by Zoe Hall, illustrated by Shari Halpern - A year in the life of an apple tree, from bare branches to pie steaming on the table! A nice informational book.

- All for Pie, Pie for All, by David Martin, illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev - One apple pie, three families of critters to enjoy it down to the last crumb! I never get tired of Gorbachev's illustrations.

We sang "Ten Little Apples" (to the tune of "Ten Little Indians") and other favorite songs. For craft time, we glued die-cut people and trees to paper and put colored stickers on the trees for apples.

Two more apple stories we didn't have time for: Apple Farmer Annie, by Monica Wellington, and The Apple Pie That Papa Baked, by Lauren Thompson, illustrated by Jonathan Bean.

Posted by Lisa at 1:10 PM | TrackBack (0)

Trucks and Cars Go Fast and Far
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)


Racing Cars are exciting, especially ones driven by dogs, giraffes, and hippos! As the animals drove their cars around the race track, we sang the new version of the favorite song "Wheels on the Bus" to Alexander Zane's Wheels on the Race Car. Tom drives a big truck to deliver fruit across the country in the brightly illustrated Truck Driver Tom, by Monica Wellington. Singing Mother Goose rhymes is always a good time. We sang to the big book version of Sing A Song of Sixpence. We pretended (with great enthusiasm) to blow out birthday candles as I did the flannel story, "10 Little Candles".

Posted by Sue at 9:12 AM | TrackBack (0)

October 7, 2008

Going for a Ride!
(For 2.5-3.5 Year Olds)

I'm always impressed by two and three year olds who know their vehicles better than I do. Actually, that's probably most of them. "That's a sailboat! That's a cruiser!" Yep, uh huh, sure. Anyway, I always like a vehicular-themed storytime to break up the pastoral fall stuff.

The Bus for Us, by Suzanne Bloom - Kids guess and check whether the next vehicle moving onto the page is, indeed, the school bus or something different-- a garbage truck or backhoe, perchance?

Clip-Clop, by Nicola Smee - This book about several barnyard animals riding on Mr. Horse's back is so simple and silly, but it always gets the kids giggling.

Cosmo Zooms, by Arthur Howard - Cosmo's the only dog on Pumpkin Lane without a notable talent, until he takes a nap on a skateboard...

We did our "Five Little Garbage Trucks" flannel board and sang "Wheels on the Bus." For our project, we glued colored die-cut cars and trucks on black paper and colored with chalk.

Posted by Lisa at 1:06 PM | TrackBack (0)