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Home » Storytimes » Story Window » May 2007

Story Window Storytime Blog: May 2007

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

May 30, 2007

Vehicles Doing Work
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)

Imagine driving a truck and doing work even though you are a child. Children love truck books, and in this marvelous story, Digger Man, by Andrea Zimmerman, a boy daydreams that he can drive a tractor to create a neighborhood playground. The lift-the-flap book by Paul Zelinsky, Wheels on the Bus, is a big favorite. The children enjoy singing this classic while watching the colorful illustrations. In the fun My Terrific Tractor Book, by DK Publishing, we heard tractor sounds, and saw examples of how different trucks do work on a farm.

Posted by Sue at 11:30 AM | TrackBack

May 23, 2007

Mice Are Nice
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)

Mice make for cute picture book characters. My storytime group always enjoys the Maisy the mouse series by Lucy Cousins. We read together With Love From Maisy , by Lucy Cousins. Maisy gives her friends interesting presents showing how thoughtful she is. In Mouse Went Out to Get a Snack, by Lyn Rossiter McFarland, a clever hungry mouse manages to scrounge up food only to lose most of it because of a house cat. The children liked the story, Fix It, Sam ,by Lori Ries because a big brother Sam, is kind and helpful to his accident prone little brother. I did the flannel board, Dog's Colorful Day , which is adapted from the marvelous color concept book by Emma Dodd, always a great favorite.

Posted by Sue at 12:02 PM | TrackBack

May 22, 2007

Mama Don't Allow No Music Playin' Round Here
(For 3.5-5 Year Olds)

We're gonna play that music anyhow! And that's what we did in storytime today. First we read Violet's Music by Angela Johnson. Violet loves playing music and she'll play anything she can get her hands on--a rattle, a badminton racket, her crib. But can she find any other kids to jam with?
My Family Plays Music by Judy Cox tells the story of a family of musicians. The little girl accompanies everyone--a cellist, a saxophonist, a pipe organist--on various percussion instruments. Fortunately, we have lots of instruments in our storytime collection here. The kids played tambourine, cymbals, cowbells, etc., as they were mentioned in the book. (This works best with a small group.)
Mama Don't Allow by Thacher Hurd is a great story about Miles and his Swamp Band. Miles's mama declares she won't allow no music playin' round here. The intrepid group plays their music anyhow. Banished to the swamp, they entertain a party of alligators and narrowly escape with their lives. There's a Grammy-winning cd that goes with this book. It's the book read on cd (highly recommended), plus a couple songs. We listened to one of them, "Mama Don't Allow," and played along on various instruments.
Last, we listened to one of my favorite songs, "I Know a Chicken," by Laurie Berkner. The kids shook egg shakers and bells slow, fast, up and down, and round and round, as cued by the song. All in all, it was a good change of pace for the kids to play music during storytime.

Posted by Janet at 3:23 PM | TrackBack

May 17, 2007

Monkeying Around
(For 3.5-5 Year Olds)

If there's one way to get preschoolers riled up, it's talking about monkeys! We read the classic Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina. It made for good audience participation as we mimicked the monkeys mimicking the peddler. Tsz, tsz, tsz say the monkeys...and the librarian...and the kids. We also read Dave Horowitz's A Monkey Among Us. It's a quick tongue-twister with clever rhymes about animals paired with brightly colored pictures.
Five little monkeys can get into lots of trouble, as we see in two favorite rhymes. Five Little Monkeys tease Mr. Alligator and SNAP! Then there are four little monkeys... There are also those five little monkeys who jump on the bed. One falls off and breaks his head. Then, well, you know the rest.
Finally we made caps (as in Caps for Sale). They were made of paper plates--just make a slit around 3/4 of the center. Flip up the middle, decorate it, and then you've got a cap.

Posted by Janet at 3:29 PM | TrackBack

May 14, 2007

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

Mother's Day is a very special day. We talked about how we can make our moms feel important, for example, through making a card, giving a hug or a kiss, or buying a present. My stories were all about the importance of every mother, including the animal variety! A child pig makes lots of messes as she produces presents for her mom which include a card, a bouquet of flowers, and a sandwich in the funny book, Special Day for Mommy , by Dan Andreasen. In Where Is My Mommy?, by Julie Downing, the baby animals look for their mommy, and fortunately, is reuninted each time. In Mommy Mine , by Tim Warnes, many lovely pictures of animals show that mom and child really do bond together. I did the flannel board story "Two Little Eyes To Look Around" while the children found where their eyes, nose, etc. were located.

Posted by Sue at 8:15 PM | TrackBack

May 9, 2007

Springtime Stories
(For 2.5-3.5 Year Olds)

Spring, as they say, has sprung. Flowers are blooming, butterflies are fluttering by, the works. This week we read a medley of springtime stories.

Fran's Flower, written by Lisa Bruce, illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw. Fran's flower won't grow when she gives it pizza; what does it take?!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle. *Everybody* knows this story! Many children have a copy at home and can tell you what happens next.

Carrot Soup, by John Segal. Rabbit has looked forward to carrot soup since springtime, but where have his carrots gone? Kids can look in the background of the illustrations for clues.

We did the "Here Is the Beehive" fingerplay and "Two Little Blackbirds." We also did some pretending with the scarves, as I sang the following song:

(to the tune of "Wheels on the Bus")

1. (Your scarf is a leaf. Spread it on the ground, and climb onto it. Now wriggle!)
The caterpillars are wiggling around, wiggling around, wiggling around,
The caterpillars are wiggling around, all around the garden.

2. (Your scarf is your chrysalis. Pull it over your head and body.)
The caterpillars are going to sleep, going to sleep, going to sleep,
The caterpillars are going to sleep, all around the garden.

3. (Your scarf is your wings! Fly around.)
The butterflies are flying around, flying around, flying around,
The butterflies are flying around, all around the garden.

For craft time, we made butterfly "kites" -- tagboard butterflies on a string, which we decorated with crayons and scraps of tissue and construction paper. Kids enjoy making these butterflies fly!

Posted by Lisa at 1:41 PM | TrackBack

A Good Day
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)

My storytime kids liked discussing the events in a day that could make it good or bad. In
A Good Day, by Kevin Henkes, various animals experience obstacles that almost ruin their day, until their luck changes, and happy endings occur. In Hurry! Hurry! by Eve Bunting, an excited rooster encourages every animal to come to the barn to see the hatching of a chicken out of an egg. The joy of a new birth is exciting. I spoke about the importance of helping others, which is the moral of the story in the humorous big book, LIttle Red Hen, by Byron Barton. Mother Goose Rhymes are always fun to sing, and watching the flannel board story, Mary Had a Little Lamb, is good fun indeed!

Posted by Sue at 10:08 AM | TrackBack

May 5, 2007

Firefighter Storytime
(For 2.5-3.5 Year Olds)

What is it about firefighters that is so appealing to young children? Fires are scary, but the brave men and women who put them out are endlessly fascinating! Here are the books we read this week:

Dot the Fire Dog, by Lisa Desimini - A day in the life of a firefighting team, starring their dalmatian! This overview is just the right length for this age group, and the kids love Dot's special role.

Hugo, the Flying Firefighter, by Lorette Broekstra - Hugo is flying in his airplane when he spots a fire in a neighborhood home. He then finds his own way to save the day!

Fire! Fire! Hurry! Hurry!, by Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha, illustrated by Karen Barbour - A very repetitive book with lots of opportunities for the kids to join in with sound effects and responses.

Once again I undertook writing an action rhyme. Please feel free to use/change it to suit your purposes, and excuse the imperfect rhymes...

LET'S BE FIREFIGHTERS!

Listen to the firebell, clang clang clang! (Cup hand to ear)
Then slide down the pole as fast as you can. (Pretend to grip a pole and slide to the ground)

Put your boots on your feet (Pretend to put on boots -- stomp!)
and your helmet on your head. (Put hands on head)
Now jump into your fire engine red! (Jump!)

Drive, drive, drive to the scene of the fire. ("Driving" motion)
Make the lights flash 'round (Spin hand around above head)
and the sirens cry, "WEE-OOO WEE-OOO WEE-OOO!" (Cup hands to mouth)

Now climb up the ladder (Climbing motion)
And reel out the hose ("Roll" hands)
Turn on the water, and out the fire goes: (Pretend to spray a hose)
"WHOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSHHHH!"

Is the fire out yet? If so, great! If not, keep spraying...

Posted by Lisa at 10:49 AM | TrackBack

May 1, 2007

Beeline for Felines
(For 3.5-5 Year Olds)

Oooh, I've got "The Cat Came Back" stuck in my head. That's because we read cat tales and sang cat songs at storytime this morning. We read Kitten's First Full Moon, Kevin Henkes's Caldecott winning picture book. Kitten loves a good bowl of milk, and the only one she can't have is the one high in the sky. The kids discussed whether or not there could really be a bowl of milk in the sky. Hmm. We also read Drat that Fat Cat by Pat Thomson. That book has it all--repetition, animal sounds, rhyming, interactivity, funny pictures. As the cat went around eating everything in sight, the kids answered the question "Is that cat fat enough?" Most of the time, the answer was NO!
The song "The Cat Came Back" makes me laugh, and it made the kids meow a lot. There are a number of picture books related to that song. I like Bill Slavin's. We also listened to Laurie Berkner's musical rendition.
Finally we decorated kitty masks. MEOW!

Posted by Janet at 5:45 PM | TrackBack

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