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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.

August 10, 2010

Insects
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)


Summertime brings warm weather and various insects, some cute, some not so cute! A caterpillar's huge appetite and awesome transformation into a butterfly is depicted in Eric Carle's beautifully illustrated classic, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Another insect exploration book is Emma Dodd's I Love Bugs! which celebrates the many types of insects a child can find in his backyard. We counted and identified the colors to the flannel board story, "Five Little Flowers".

Posted by Sue at 5:08 PM | TrackBack (0)

Singing Redux
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)


I always enjoy singing with the storytime kids! In this parody of the classic song," Wheels on the Bus", noisy animals get on a city bus in The Seals on the Bus, by Lenny Hort. We made all the animal sounds together. Jane Cabrera utilizes her winning illustrations to depict an amusing dog in the Mother Goose rhyme, Old Mother Hubbard. I did the flannel board story, "Two Little Blackbirds".

Posted by Sue at 4:31 PM | TrackBack (0)

Singing Fun
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)


Singing along with books is fun for the storytime kids. Children and animals help create a comically outsized and absurd peanut butter and jelly sandwich from scratch in the funny songbook, Peanut Butter and Jelly, by Nadine Wescott. Everybody enjoys this high-spirited comical jungle version of the classic song cleverly illustrated with a stomping dancing elephant by James Warhola called, You're Happy and You Know It. I lifted the many flaps in the clever book illustrated by Paul Zelinsky that created enjoyment and excitement to the familiar song, called The Wheels on the Bus. The children discovered the parts of their own faces as I did the flannel story called, "Two Little Eyes."

Posted by Sue at 3:46 PM | TrackBack (0)

Hooray for the Fourth of July!
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)


The storytime kids enjoy the Fourth of July holiday. Jenny sees her neighborhood get ready for the July 4th holiday by having picnics and attending a parade in Happy 4th of July, Jenny Sweeney! by Leslie Kimmelman. The various elements of a parade such as marching bands, vendors, and spectators are depicted in Parade, by Donald Crews. Celebrating all things summer in Bob Raczka's Summer Wonders provided many delightful ways for summer enjoyment for children including attending July 4th parades! We did our annual march around the room to "Sousa's March". Fun stuff!

Posted by Sue at 3:21 PM | TrackBack (0)

June 30, 2010

Frogs and Rain
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)


Summer has arrived bringing with it lots of rain. A popular song in book form is Itsy Bitsy Spider, by Lorianne Siomedes about a spider washed out by the rain. Big Frog learns how to fit into the charming pop-up book by the popular Mo Willems in Big Frog Can't Fit In. A joyful romp into a pond by all the animals on a farm, including the farmer himself, takes place in Pig In the Pond, by Martin Waddell. We sang and counted to the flannelboard song originated by Raffi called, "Five Green and Speckled Frogs." We like those funny frogs.

Posted by Sue at 10:47 AM | TrackBack (0)

May 25, 2010

Farm Fun
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)


At the farm, we played peek-a-boo with lift-the-flaps and touch the fluffy animals in Pig-A-Boo! by Dorothea DePrisco. An adorable dog looks for a playmate among the farm animals and finds a playful child in Dog Wants To Play, by Christine McDonnell. The challenge is to find four small chicks on each page while singing along with the familiar schoolyard counting song in the colorful One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, by Jane Cabrera. We counted five green and speckled frogs as I did the flannel board story of this Raffi song.

Posted by Sue at 2:25 PM | TrackBack (0)

May 19, 2010

Happy Storytime
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)


Animal stories always bring smiles to the storytime kids. James Warhola, nephew of Andy Warhol, has humorous depictions of dancing noisy animals at their zoo in this classic song version of If You're Happy and You Know It. My many Maisy fans enjoyed the irresistible concept book about opposites called Maisy Big, Maisy Small, by Lucy Cousins. We spent a day in the country with Anita Lobel's colorfully drawn and expressive animals in Hello, Day!. We counted along with the flannel board story, "Five Little Owls".

Posted by Sue at 12:10 PM | TrackBack (0)

May 11, 2010

Mother's Day
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)


Mother's Day honors those loving moms and grandmothers that we cherish. To celebrate this special day, I chose books about animal moms and their babies. Animal babies are reunited with their moms in the reassuring book, Where Is My Mommy?, by Julie Downing. In Kiss Kiss, by Margaret Wild, a baby hippo forgets to kiss his mom goodbye but remembers to do this after watching other baby animals kiss their parents. A child pig works hard to make her mother feel special on Mother's Day by making her food, etc. but she makes messes for her mom to clean up as well in A Special Day for Mommy, by Dan Andreasen. We enjoyed singing along to the classic nursery rhyme as I did the flannel board story called, "Mary Had a Little Lamb."

Posted by Sue at 1:49 PM | TrackBack (0)

May 3, 2010

Chicks
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)


A bright yellow chick hatches, gets a hug, eats, poops and sleeps under its mother's liftable wing in the playful Chick: A Pop-Up Book, by Ed Vere. There are lots of things to count such as sticks and chickens hatching out of eggs in the colorful rendition of the familiar counting rhyme, "One Two Buckle My Shoe" in Big Fat Hen, by Keith Baker. It is always good fun to sing along to the nursery rhyme big book version of Farmer In the Dell.

Posted by Sue at 6:00 PM | TrackBack (0)

April 19, 2010

Duck Fun
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)


Mo Willems, a favorite picture book author, creates more fun as Cat introduces her new friends in Cat the Cat Who Is That? Daisy the duckling almost loses her mother as she explores a pond in Come Along, Daisy! by Jane Simmons. A chicken finds out he can't quite do everything a duckling can do, especially swimming, in The Chick and the Duckling, by Vladimir Suteev. The storytime kids enjoyed counting and identifying colors along with the flannelboard "Five Little Flowers".

Posted by Sue at 6:15 PM | TrackBack (0)