Story Window Storytime Blog: August 2006

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

August 16, 2006

Stories at Vattmann Park
(Special Storytimes)

We had beautiful weather for our final "Stories in the Parks" session of 2006, and a terrific turn-out of kids, moms, and babysitters who were ready to listen, sing, and dance.

Our first story was "I'm Not Cute!", by Jonathan Allen. This is a new book and was fun for kids and adults alike. Baby Owl wants everyone to see him as a fierce predator, but they're too busy telling him how cute he is and giving him hugs. Is it possible to be cute and a hunting machine?

If You're Happy and You Know It, by Jane Cabrera, based on the familiar song, is a book that gets kids active! For example, a lion suggests that if you're happy and you know it, ROAR!

Moving into a farm theme, we read Farmer Duck, by Martin Waddell, and Farmer Brown Goes Round and Round, by Teri Sloat. Farmer Brown is a great companion to that favorite song "Old McDonald," as a twister leaves all the animals saying the wrong sounds. It is, as the children informed me, very silly!

We also gave our new parachute its inaugural use. Lift it high, bring it low, shake it fast, shake it slow... and of course, lots of foam balls. It takes very little instruction for kids to have a great time with a parachute, though coordinating movements is something I look forward to practicing!

Posted by Lisa at 4:33 PM

August 9, 2006

Storytimes for Babies and Toddlers
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)

We sing songs, do fingerplays, read stories, dance, play peekaboo, play instruments, do flannelboard stories, play with puppets, and much more at my storytimes. Young children, beginning in infancy, are developing knowledge of spoken language, the sounds that form words, letters, writing, and books. These emergent literacy skills are the building blocks for later reading and writing. Therefore, I use a variety of means to engage children in learning through books, singing, and movement.

I use many Mother Goose rhymes because these rhymes use language in a playful way, and demonstrate the sounds of our language for children. You can locate Mother Goose books in our Picture Books collection for they are filed under Mother Goose. I also have a handout with many of the songs I use each week, which I put on the storytime table.

I enjoy having interactive experiences with children because they learn in this way best of all. Flannelboard storytelling is an example of making reading aloud an interactive experience. The children guess the colors, or count the shapes on the flannelboard.

Some favorite authors that we've recently enjoyed include Alborough, Barton, Carle, Cousins, Crews, Fox, French, Hill, London, Oxenbury, Strickland, Sturges, Tafuri, Uff, Walsh, and Wood.

Posted by Sue at 9:43 AM

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