Story Window Storytime Blog: October 2007
Peek inside for storytime ideas! Wilmette Librarians share suggestions for age-appropriate books, rhymes, songs, and crafts.
October 31, 2007
Halloween Happenings
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)
What do you think of when you think about Halloween? We think about costumes, trick-or-treating, and candy! My storytime kids looked festive in their Halloween costumes. Sam enjoys all kinds of costumes and pretending in Where's Sam? by Yves Got. Another book about the many examples of Halloween costumes is Sweets and Treats , by Toni Parker. In Moonlight: the Halloween Cat , by Cynthia Rylant, a cat explores Halloween night as she notices pumpkins and trick-or-treaters. We did a classic famous fingerplay about Halloween. Hold up your five fingers, pointing to each finger.
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said, "Oh my, it's getting late."
The second one said, "There's witches in the air."
The third one said, "But we don't care."
The fourth one said, "Let's run and run and run."
The fifth one said, "It's Halloween fun."
And whooo went the wind, out went the light, and the five little pumpkins ran out of sight."
(Hide your five fingers fingers behind your back.)
Posted by Sue at 9:41 AM | TrackBack
October 30, 2007
BOOOks
(For 3.5-5 Year Olds)
The kids in storytime could barely sit still this morning, they were so excited about Halloween! They enjoyed Erica Silverman's Big Pumpkin. A witch grows a great big pumpkin and needs the help of a vampire, a ghost, a mummy, and a bat to harvest it. We also read Dav Pilkey's The Hallo-Wiener, a funny favorite tale of a heroic trick-or-treating Dachshund. To wrap things up, the kids made paper-plate jack-o-lanterns. They glued shapes onto paper plates and then colored the plates to make them look like seasonal pumpkin friends.
We sang a fun monster song. Lots of kids sang along. I think they liked pretending to be monsters, plus they recognized the tune of "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes."
Horns and fangs,
Knees and claws,
Knees and claws.
Horns and fangs,
Knees and claws,
Knees and claws.
Eyes and ears and tail and paws.
Horns and fangs,
Knees and claws,
Knees and claws!
Posted by Janet at 3:47 PM | TrackBack
October 25, 2007
Pumpkin Storytime Redux
(For 2.5-3.5 Year Olds)
My pumpkin-themed storytime this fall closely echoed last year's. I did, however, add a new book into the mix.
Mrs. McNosh and the Great Big Squash, written by Sarah Weeks and illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott, is a humorous rhyming tale about a squash grown out of control. Fortunately, Mrs. McNosh has a clever solution to the potential disaster. This is a quick read with flawless rhythm and rhyme, making it a worthwhile addition to pumpkin and/or vegetable (fruit?) themed storytimes.
Posted by Lisa at 11:44 AM | TrackBack
October 23, 2007
The ARRRR in Reading
(For 3.5-5 Year Olds)
We hit the high seas in storytime this morning with some books and rhymes about pirates. We learned about the ways of pirates in Kathy Tucker's Do Pirates Take Baths? (To find out the answer, read the book!) Ever wonder where the phrase "Jolly Roger" came from? Brett Helquist offers an amusing theory in Roger, the Jolly Pirate. We ended storytime by making tricorner pirate hats. The kids left with their hats and the ability to talk like pirates. ARRRRRR!
Posted by Janet at 3:10 PM | TrackBack
October 22, 2007
Fall Leaf Colors
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)
I showed the storytime kids a bunch of colorful leaves I recently collected. I read two books about the wonderful season of fall, while waving my pretty leaf collection near the illustrations of leaves on the pages. I allowed the leaves to fall to the ground, imitating fall trees. In Mouse's First Fall , by Lauren Thompson, Mouse and Minka jump and hide in colorful leaves. Two brothers stomp and kick crunchy autumn leaves in Fall Leaves Fall!, by Zoe Hall. The big book version of Where's Spot?, by Eric Hill, is always popular as the kids love guessing where Spot has hidden. Finding animals under the flaps is a big surprise for this age group!
Posted by Sue at 7:23 PM | TrackBack
October 15, 2007
Animal Sounds
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)
The storytime kids enjoy lift-the-flap books very much. Lucy Cousins with her popular Maisy series excels in this genre. The children were intrigued with finding animals under the flaps in Maisy at the Farm . We all made animal sounds as we discovered animals once more under the flaps in Peek A Moo! by Marie Cimarusti. I brought out a new fluffy polar bear puppet, to the amusement of the storytime kids, to enrich the classic story, Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin. We all had fun making animal sounds once again.
Posted by Sue at 8:27 PM | TrackBack
October 12, 2007
Apple Storytime
(For 2.5-3.5 Year Olds)
Fall is here, and so are the local apples! Some adults insist that "Apples are red." Kids know that's not true, but a little proof helps. We started storytime by admiring a real live red apple, yellow apple, green apple, and multi-colored apple.
Repeating last October's apple storytime, we read The Apple Pie Tree, by Zoe Hall, and did the story of Ten Red Apples, by Pat Hutchins, with the puppets and lots of counting. We did the same action rhymes you will find on the 2006 page, too, as well as singing "Ten Little Apples" (tune of "Ten Little Indians").
We also read Apple Farmer Annie, by Monica Wellington. You just can't beat Wellington for bright, simple (but never simplistic!) books about everyday careers. In this case, Annie harvests her apples, makes delicious food with them, and sells the rest at a farmer's market in the city.
A new apple-related book is All for Pie, Pie for All, written by David Martin and illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev (so you know it's adorable). Grandma Cat bakes an apple pie, which the cat family eats. The mouse family picks up the cats' leftovers, and the ant family picks up the mice's leftovers, until not a crumb is left! I'm getting hungry just writing about it.
Posted by Lisa at 1:54 PM | TrackBack
October 8, 2007
Count to Ten
(For 1.5-2.5 Year Olds)
Counting songs are popular at storytimes. Ten Naughty Monkeys , by Suzanne Williams, is especially exciting for my group. We sing this song each week, as the children jump up and down pretending to be monkeys, while I wave my monkey mitt around! Another song book with charming pictures of stuffed animals falling out of an animal den, illustrated by John Butler, is Ten in the Den. Guessing colors is also interesting for my group. In the classic big train book Freight Train , by Donald Crews, we had fun identifying the names of each car as well as its color. Singing Mother Goose rhymes is an important method to for young children to learn about the rhythms and vocabulary of our language. Our Mother Goose song magnets provide another nice opportunity for the children to sing together.
Posted by Sue at 7:13 PM | TrackBack
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