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Story Window Storytime Blog: For 3.5-5 Year Olds

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

January 7, 2010

Bear Stories, Old and New

I read the wonderful Galdone version of The Three Bears, and talked about what an old story it really is - an English folktale, about 300 years old! (a somewhat-educated guess) Then I read a new book, about a bear who lives in a cave instead of a little house in the woods: Gruff the Grump, by Steve Smallman. First we talked about what grumpy means, and I introduced the story by also mentioning that this bear has no friends and no one ever comes to visit him - this premise is a sure-fire attention getter, I've learned. Anyway, the story involves the bear's somewhat accidental friendship with a small pesky rabbit and makes an involving read-aloud for this age group. In between these two longish books, we did "Head and Shoulders" (first regular, then fast, then tired and slow) - and afterwards, the kids colored two small tagboard stick puppets: one bear and one person, to go with the Goldilocks/Bear interactions of the first story.

Posted by Lyn at 10:32 AM | TrackBack

December 10, 2009

Pictures

I read 3 books, all relating to creating pictures. First, a new one called Lines That Wiggle, by Candace Whitman - the rhymed text simply describes various lines, and the fun (textured) pictures show them wiggling, swaying, etc. David's Drawings, by Cathryn Falwell, is about a boy who makes a picture of a tree, which is then embellished by all his classmates. How he gets his own picture back is a gentle statement on individuality (and also a gentle anti-Rainbow Fish message). The last book, Blue Goose, by Nancy Tafuri, has 4 barnyard animals painting everything they see. In between, we played a red light/green light game (from an old recording, Tempo for Tots) and did a few fingerplays. The art project was a super simple one: they were given plain white paper, skinny markers, and regular crayons, and made pictures using the markers for the lines and the crayons for the colors inside the lines. Both groups (13 kids on one day, and 12 on the next) made a wide variety of images, including Supergirl and Spiderman!

Posted by Lyn at 9:38 AM | TrackBack

September 30, 2009

Toys

To go with the general theme of toys, here are the three books I read:
Lizzy and Skunk, by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick. One of those deceptively simple books. It's short but very subtle in ways, allowing kids to fill in the details. A girl's skunk puppet is much braver than she is, until one fateful day, when Lizzy finds she must prove herself and save Skunk.
Pete and Polo's Big School Adventure, by Adrian Reynolds. When Pete goes to school by himself for the first time, he takes his toy polar bear with them. But then another child says, "Your bear's a funny color...why isn't he brown like mine?" Turns out all Pete's classmates have regular brown teddy bears. What's it like to be different from everyone else? And can it ever be a good thing? (please note the mild anti-Rainbow Fish sentiment - sorry!)
On Tuesday, my third story was Where Are You Blue Kangaroo, by Emma Chichester Clark. It's a good book but was a little long, so on Wednesday I switched to Knuffle Bunny - which all kids, even those who've heard it many many times, still love.
For the art project, they drew pictures of a child, then glued on various small die cut shapes to represent toys the child might have, then colored the toys. I suggested they might want to make up a story about the toys, and many of them did, telling me about them on their way out.
And of course there were songs in between the stories (Head and Shoulders, Open Shut Them, etc.)

Posted by Lyn at 12:01 PM | TrackBack

August 17, 2009

Where's My Friend?

I like doing storytime with the older preschool set once in a while because it lets me try out books that are too long or conceptually difficult for toddlers. These are three stories I'd never read before, and all went over very well with the group.

- Where's Tumpty?, by Polly Dunbar. This is a very silly story about an elephant who's a little unclear on the concept of "hide and seek." Lots of giggles and shout-outs for this one. I think it would work well for 2-3 year olds, too, actually.

- Missing Molly, by Lisa Jahn-Clough. Simon is frustrated with Molly's choice of too-easy hiding spots when they play hide and seek, until she plays a trick on him. Older preschoolers will catch onto the joke right away, much to their delight.

- Melrose and Croc: An Adventure to Remember, by Emma Chichester Clark. This sweetly illustrated story of two friends is exciting and just a little nail-biting for the 4-5 year old set. They were riveted.

Posted by Lisa at 9:08 AM | TrackBack

April 8, 2009

Best of Winter 2009--Craft

At one storytime, we read some great stories about boxes, such as Not a Box by Antoinette Portis. Accordingly, we did a box-related craft. The kids got a sheet of paper with a box on it and drew around the box. Following the book, some of them turned the box into a racecar. Others made it a rocketship. Some put a bunny in it. Others put themselves in it. They showed lots of creativity in adapting the box to their own ideas. You could even say they were thinking outside the box, while thinking about the inside of the box.

Posted by Janet at 4:36 PM | TrackBack

Best of Winter 2009--Rhyme

During a storytime about the letter O, we did a fun action rhyme. The kids seemed to like saying it, and they followed the actions really well. It's a traditional rhyme, but I found it in Storytime Slam! by my favorite storytime guy, Rob Reid.

Oliver Twist, can you do this?
If so, do so.
Number one, touch your tongue.

Oliver Twist, can you do this?
If so, do so.
Number two, touch your shoe.

Oliver Twist, can you do this?
If so, do so.
Number three, touch your knee.

Oliver Twist, can you do this?
If so, do so.
Number four, touch the floor.

Oliver Twist, can you do this?
If so, do so.
Number five, jump so high.

Posted by Janet at 4:25 PM | TrackBack

Best of Winter 2009--Book

We read lots of old favorites and popular new titles, but a somewhat random book from 1999 sticks out in my mind as the kids' favorite of the session. We read Picky Mrs. Pickle, by Christine M. Schneider, during a storytime about the color green. Mrs. Pickle will only wear green clothes and eat pickles and pickle-flavored food. Her life is very routine, until, one day, her niece convinces her to try something new: eggplant ripple ice cream. This changes everything! Mrs. Pickle can't get enough of new friends and new fun. She even wears a red dress!
The kids liked the funny text, but they loved the silly details in the pictures--a poodle wearing green, a pickle-shaped mailbox, 112 pairs of green shoes, pickle-looking perfume. I think the message that it's ok to try new things was also pertinent.
All in all, Picky Mrs. Pickle is a great pick!

Posted by Janet at 9:54 AM | TrackBack

March 16, 2009

Best of Winter 2009

My storytime blog has been quiet lately. That doesn't mean we've been quiet in storytime. Oh no. I'll give an update of my favorite song, rhyme, craft, and books of this session.
First, Best Song: Aiken Drum. Although it's an old favorite, I remember hating it as a child. What is an Aiken Drum anyway? Maybe that's why I forgot about it. Maybe that's why I was so pleasantly surprised when I rediscovered it on the Wiggleworms Love You CD put out by the Old Town School of Folk Music. The nonsense is great fun and it makes for wonderful kid participation. This version of the song tells about the man in the moon, how his various body parts were made of different food, and how he played different instruments. You know, "His eyes were made of birthday cake...he played upon his jingle bells..."
Kids can point out the body parts. I gave them different kinds of instruments, which they played when the song mentioned that instrument. At the end, everybody jammed together. Who cares who or what an Aiken Drum is! We had fun.

Posted by Janet at 8:18 PM | TrackBack

February 4, 2009

Houses!

General theme this week for my two programs was houses of all types, and the related art project involved coloring and adding stickers to a house picture.
Anyway, on both Tuesday and Wednesday I read The Indoor Noisy Book, by Margaret Wise Brown, and Ghosts in the House! by Kozuno Kohara. One is brand new, the other is 67 years old. The Brown book holds up amazingly well and the kids didn't seem bothered by any of the anachronisms. I haven't read it to a group in about 10 years, and I was glad it stills goes over well. The third story on Tuesday was Where is That Cat, by Carol Greene, a great book about a woman who takes in a stray cat but doesn't want to adopt him permanantly. How she changes her mind involves spotting the hiding cat (pretty small) in the pretty but detailed illustrations; in cases like that, it's hard to stop the kids from jumping up and going right to the page, which is hard to manage in a group situation. My third book on Wednesday was a shorter one by Jan Thomas, The Doghouse, which was really just right for the slightly younger group that day. When the animals start disappearing into the doghouse, what's happening to them? Good suspense, with bright, antic pictures, and a definitely non-scary ending.

Posted by Lyn at 11:56 AM | TrackBack

January 21, 2009

Shapes and Numbers

For my two groups this week, I read books about shapes and numbers. I warned them that the books were more about ideas than stories, which didn't seem to bother them at all. First, Round Like a Ball, by Lisa Campbell Ernst, a guessing game book with cutaway pages and a surprise ending (that a few of them guessed). Then, Christopher Counting, by Valeri Gorbachev, one of my favorite storytime authors. Christopher is a rabbit who simply likes to count things. This describes his obsession with counting everything in sight, at home and out in the world, and ends with a satisfying bedtime at home with mom and "one kiss." The last book, by Dayle Ann Dodds, was The Shape of Things. Simple verses show how shapes can be arranged to make various pictures (trains, ferris wheels, etc.) And this led into the art project, using scissors and paper and glue to make shape pictures of their own. We also sang BINGO to add some letters to the shapes/numbers theme. Normally I'm a big fan of plots and characters and a little bit of dramatic tension. This was a nice change and the kids seemed to enjoy themselves.

Posted by Lyn at 4:46 PM | TrackBack

October 21, 2008

Happy Birthday

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

May 7, 2008

Spring for Spring

The temperature is rising, flowers are blooming, and leaves are finally sprouting. It must be spring. To celebrate, we read some vernally themed books in storytime.
In Lisa Cambpell Ernst's Wake Up, It's Spring, animals and a human family shake off their slumber as the season changes. The kids seemed to like the repetition in this joyful tale.

Lucky Song, by Vera Williams, describes a sunny day when everything goes Evie's way.

In Bear Wants More, by Karma Wilson, Bear wakes up from hibernating and eats everything in sight. After every new snack, the kids repeated, "and the bear still wants MORE!"

My favorite action rhyme this session went like this:
If I were a little flower
(kids crouch down)
Sleeping underneath the ground,
I'd raise my head and grow and grow,
(kids stand up slowly)
And stretch my arms and grow and grow,
(kids raise arms high)
And nod my head and say:
"I'm glad to see you all today."

Posted by Janet at 4:01 PM | TrackBack

April 9, 2008

Happy Earth Month

In honor of Earth Month, we read some stories that celebrate the environment. We started out with Lindsay Barrett George's Around the Pond: Who's Been There? Two kids and their dog talk a walk in the woods, noticing tracks, feathers, and other things animals have left near a pond. The kids at storytime looked closely at the pictures and took good guesses at which animals had been there. This interactive book was a fun way to introduce kids to pond wildlife.

The kids in Liesel Moak Skorpen's We Were Tired of Living in a House take to the trees, caves, and beaches. They celebrate their natural surroundings before deciding that getting chased out of a cave by a bear is perhaps a sign that living in a house is OK.

What better way to observe Earth Month than by going camping. Little Critter and his dad do just that in Just Me and My Dad by Mercer Mayer. Things don't go totally smoothly--their tent is in a jumble and their fish dinner gets eaten by a bear. But spending time together outdoors is what counts.

We also sang "Happy Earth Day" (sounds a lot like "Happy Birthday"). In honor of Little Critter, we made tents. This very simple craft consisted of half a sheet of cardstock folded in thirds, colored, and taped together. Voila! A tent.

Posted by Janet at 4:15 PM | TrackBack

November 28, 2007

Mad About Mo

Mo Willems is my favorite children's picture-book author right now, and, happily, after this last storytime, the kids seem to love his books, too. I think he's extremely funny, and his characters represent children's emotions well, both in words and images.

We read three books by Willems at storytime this week. The first was one of his easy readers about Elephant and Piggie, There Is a Bird on Your Head. A pair of birds (love birds?) builds a nest on Elephant's head with hilarious results. Thanks to Piggie, Elephant escapes his avian predicament.

We also read Caldecott Honor book Knuffle Bunny. Trixie misplaces her Knuffle Bunny on a trip to the laudromat, and poor Dad can't understand why Trixie is upset. The kids related well to the idea of having--and losing--a favorite stuffed toy.

Last, we read The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog, about the ornery Pigeon who also appears in Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and other books. Duckling wants to share Pigeon's hot dog, but will Pigeon let him? The kids couldn't stop laughing at that pesky Pigeon's antics.

Finally, the kids colored a picture of Knuffle Bunny and added drawings of themselves with the much-loved stuffed animal.

Bonus Mo Willems fact: Check out his Pigeon sketch on display in the Youth Services department!

Posted by Janet at 11:18 AM | TrackBack

November 13, 2007

Anarchy and the Ewe K

Barnyard mayhem broke out at storytime today. We read books about unrest on the farm. These kids have been reading books about regular old farms and farm animals for years, so I decided that it was time to shake things up with some offbeat farm stories. First we read Doreen Cronin's uproarious Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type. Some discontented cows get ahold of a typewriter and start making some serious demands of Farmer Brown. An electric blanket for chickens?!? The kids had fun reading along with me and the text: "Click, clack, MOO! Click, clack, MOO! Clickety clack, MOO!"

Then came my new favorite book: Jarrett Krosoczka's Punk Farm. After Farmer Joe goes to bed, the animals put on a punk rock show. They perform a rip-roaring version of Old MacDonald. The kids howled at the "EEE-I-EEE-I YEEOOOW! OW! OW!" We even had our own version of a Punk Farm. We listened to Old MacDonald and played along on bells and tamborines. As the sheep says, "Thank you, Wisconsin!"

Posted by Janet at 2:37 PM | TrackBack

October 30, 2007

BOOOks

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 23, 2007

The ARRRR in Reading

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

September 28, 2007

Royal Romp

Everyone was a princess or a prince in storytime this week. We read the cleverly written and exquisitely illustrated King Bidgood's in the Bathtub, by Audrey and Don Wood. We enjoyed Janet Stevens's anthropomorphic rendition of The Princess and the Pea. Rapunzel doesn't let down her hair in Leah Wilcox's Falling for Rapunzel. Instead, many troublesome objects come flying out of her tower. That poor prince. We also read Keiko Kasza's The Mightiest and June Crebbin's slightly scary Into the Castle. Finally, we decorated crowns and everyone went home royal.

Here's a favorite nursery rhyme, courtesy of a favorite storyteller, Rob Reid. When the kids hear "up," they have to stand up; when they hear "down" they have to sit down.
The Grand Old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men.
He marched them up a hill.
He marched them down again.
And when they're up, they're up.
And when they're down, they're down.
But when they're only halfway up,
They're neither up
Nor down.

Posted by Janet at 2:42 PM | TrackBack

July 26, 2007

Monster Madness

It was a wild rumpus at storytime this afternoon! Happily, all of the monsters at storytime--literary and human--were of the friendly variety.

Laura Numeroff's 10-Step Guide to Living with your Monster is a humorous look at monster care. For instance, did you know that monsters love chewing gum? The kids picked up a number of other important tips for keeping monsters happy.

Leonardo the Terrible Monster, by Mo Willems, tells the tale of a monster who wants badly to be scary. Instead, he makes a friend.

Where the Wild Things Are continues to be a favorite. Some of the kids already knew the story, but they were excited to hear it again.

I found some fun monster action rhymes. The kids seemed to like pretending to be monsters--showing off their claws and horns and roaring ferociously.

We decorated monster claws. These were claw-shaped paper cut-outs with flaps to attach on feet or hands. The kids really wanted to wear them--I was happy to find that some of them still had monster claws after storytime.

Posted by Janet at 4:59 PM | TrackBack

July 10, 2007

Summertime Storytime

It's officially beach weather, and there's no shortage of books on the subject. Here's what we read:

- Sink or Swim, by Valerie Coulman, illustrated by Rogé. Ralph the cow won't accept that "cows don't swim." His gradual solution is hilarious in this cutely illustrated book.

- The Pig in the Pond, by Martin Waddell, illustrated by Jill Barton. On a hot, hot day, Neligan's pig makes a big splash. What will Neligan do when he gets home? Why, strip down and jump in, too! Lots of opportunities for animal noises, and a giggle-eliciting mention of "underwear"!

- Harry by the Sea, by Gene Zion. Kids still love this classic about Harry getting covered by seaweed at the beach, inadvertently fooling everyone into thinking there's a sea monster on the loose!

Posted by Lisa at 12:42 PM | TrackBack

May 22, 2007

Mama Don't Allow No Music Playin' Round Here

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

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 1, 2007

Beeline for Felines

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

April 24, 2007

Dog Blog

We read dog stories today. Dogs and dog books were my favorite as a child, so I really hoped the kids would relate to the stories today. Sure enough, the kids told me about their own pet dogs. (Don't worry, cat lovers, we'll do cat stories next week.) We read Martha Speaks by Susan Meddaugh, about a dog who talks after eating alphabet soup, and the very cute McDuff Comes Home by Rosemary Wells. Then the kids decorated bone-shaped paper dog tags to wear around their necks. No lost dogs here at the library!

In honor of Harry the Dirty Dog (another story we read), here is a rhyme about another messy pooch:

Fleagle the Beagle,
It's time for the tub.
I know you don't like it,
But you need a scrub.
I'll wash you with soap
From your tail to your head.
And when you're all clean
You may sleep in my bed.

Posted by Janet at 12:18 PM | TrackBack

April 11, 2007

Silly Stories

This was my first storytime at the Wilmette Public Library! It was fun to meet the storytime crowd here. I decided to start off on a silly note with some books about things that don't happen...or do they? We read Duck on a Bike by David Shannon. At first, the kids were pretty sure that ducks don't ride bikes, but I like to think that they changed their minds after hearing about this adventurous bird. I also told them the story of Bark, George by Jules Feiffer. I had a paper bag designed to look like George the dog. When George went to the vet, I pulled a cat, a duck, a pig, and a cow out of the bag/George. The kids thought it was pretty neat. Our last story was Silly Sally, a fun rhyming ramble by Audrey Wood. We wound things down by decorating Rocker Ducks, simple fold-over duck shapes that move back and forth. Ducks rock.

Posted by Janet at 6:54 PM | TrackBack

December 6, 2006

Woolly

For my Tuesday (smaller) group, I read No Roses for Harry by Zion and Cry Baby by Brown. Both stories show knitted items un-ravelling. I knit a small square that the kids helped to take apart so they could see how something like that happens. Both of these stories are great read-alouds. The Harry book is part of the classic series that begins with Harry the Dirty Dog. Getting a present you don't like and want to ditch somehow is something a lot of kids can relate to. We also talked about sheep and wool - I showed a few photos from some of our non-fiction books. The project was kind of experimental - the kids made yarn pictures with glue and scraps of yarn, filling in details with color pencils. They were told to glue the yarn to the paper in a way that made a picture or design. It turned out to be a little nebulous and messy - maybe better for older kids - so probably not a keeper for this age group. I varied the program for my larger group on Wednesday morning. Instead of No Roses for Harry, I read Three Bags Full, about a sheep who gives away all her wool. Also read Cry Baby. The project was to glue people shapes to a paper and then glue felt scraps over the person to make a warm blanket. A fingerplay I did with both groups was Two Little Blackbirds Sitting on a Hill, with the variations of sitting on a cloud (one named quiet, one named LOUD); and sitting on a pole, one named high one named low - with corresponding high squeaky voice and low bass voice, of course.

Posted by Lyn at 12:07 PM

October 27, 2006

Poetry in storytime

We introduce children to poetry in storytime by using nursery rhymes, fingerplays, and stories written in verse. It's painless-- doesn't hurt a bit!! They don't even realize they're being exposed to it!

This week, I included an easy poem in our storytime craft; its entitled, "Plump Pumpkin" by Douglas Florian, from his book "Autumnlings." Florian writes wonderful children's poetry, and his seasonal series of books is a treasure. In addition to his autumn book, there are also Winter Eyes, Handsprings, and "Summersaults." The poem includes an amusing play on the word, "orange," which both adults and children could enjoy.

Plump orange pumpkin.
Plump orange cat.
Plump orange full moon--
Orange you fat!

Posted by Kathleen at 4:14 PM

October 18, 2006

Autumn Leaves

One of the books I read this week was Nuts by Paula Gerritsen. When a mouse tries to gather tasty nuts for the coming winter, they're all blown away by a bad storm. This is one of those short picture books that is deceptively simple and actually has a lot of suspense and dramatic tension. Both of my groups enjoyed it. I also brought out a tried and true old favorite, Silly Fred by Karen Wagner. When the Beaver tells Fred he doesn't like him, the kids are always very attentive - and somewhat shocked. There's a happy ending, though (of course) and some good silly songs to sing as part of the story. The art project was to create an autumn tree using a big letter T (with the vertical line as the trunk and the horizontal line as the basis for branches) using paper scraps, pencils, markers, and crayons.

Posted by Lyn at 12:16 PM

September 27, 2006

Dinosaurs!

Read a couple of older books to my groups this week (small group Tuesday at 2, large group Wed. at 10:30):

Dinosaur Eggs, by Moseley
The Dinosaur Who Lived in My Back Yard, by Hennessy.

Both seemed to go over well. We discussed real dinosaurs and where they might have lived, and also what they might have looked like. The kids colored little dinosaur puppets made out of tagboard. Fingerplays and stretches included Humpty Dumpty (on the magnet board - to tie in with the Dinosaur Eggs book), Open/Shut Them (of course), and Head and Shoulders.

Posted by Lyn at 5:14 PM

September 21, 2006

An Apple Story to Tell

On Tuesday morning, 9/19/06, I told my group the story of "The Little Red House with No Doors and No Windows and a Star Inside," by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, found in Anne Pellowski's "A World of Children's Stories." Pellowski writes that the roots of this story are most likely in Central Europe, where there is a body of folklore related to apples. I look forward to telling this story every Fall.

The Story Is: A little boy is tired of all his toys, and asks his mother- what can he do? She tells him maybe he could go on a "journey" and find a "little red house with no doors and no windows and a star inside." The little boy is intrigued and sets out asking his question of a little girl, a father, a grandmother and finally the wind: "Have you seen a little red house with no doors and no windows and a star inside?" Near the end of the story the little boy realizes that the red apple blown down by the wind, just might be such a "house." He then wonders if there's a star inside. He pulls out his little jack knife and cuts the apple open. And lo and behold! There is a star! (I tell the children the jack knife was his birthday present; boys and girls are always very impressed that he owns such a thing.) I bring an apple to cut as I tell the story and we eat it afterward. I never tire of the look on kids' faces when I cut the apple. It's such a rich story, evoking hopes, dreams, generations, growing up, adventure, the beauty of earth and seeds, that kids and adults (whom I welcome at my storytime) always love the story as I do.

To Tell: I shorten the printed story a lot. Each year before I tell the story again, I re-think my answers to some questions: What kind of relationship does the boy have with his mother? Does the mother think the boy will find anything? What would another child believe about the possibility of such a house? A middle aged man? An old woman? Will I make the main character a boy or a girl? Am I ready again, to be astonished at the little star inside?

Use a Delicious Apple. Since you want the apple to be a surprise, hide it in a lunch bag with a small knife while you tell the story. Cut your apple when the boy does. Be SURE to cut the apple horizontally. Also, be sure to check with parents or caregivers before the story for permission to give kids pieces of apple to eat. I put up a sign for grownups before stories- most kids this age don't read yet.

Posted by Joanna at 10:03 AM

September 13, 2006

First week

My Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning groups both heard stories about Friends: Fluffy and Baron, a new book about a large dog befriending a baby duck, and Missing (by Jonathan Langley), a book about a girl and a pet cat who "lose" each other. Missing has an interesting narrative structure, with lots of "meanwhiles..." going on - plus the two "lost" characters speculate about what could have happened to the one that's missing (eaten by a shark, changed into a frog by a witch, etc.) Both went over well, especially Fluffy and Baron, which turned out to be a great read-aloud for this age group. Art project was gluing people and animal "friends" onto a paper and making up stories about what might be happening to them.

Posted by Lyn at 5:14 PM

July 13, 2006

At the Seaside with 3 to 5s

During the school year, I usually do storytime for younger children, so it's nice to have a chance to try out some slightly longer stories with the 3-5 age group. Here's what we read on Tuesday:

- Lost and Found, by Oliver Jeffers. This is a new book, very cute, and a winner, judging by Tuesday's crowd! A penguin arrives at a small boy's doorstep. He helps the penguin return to the South Pole, only to realize that the penguin was not lost, but lonely. The big pages and rich watercolor illustrations make it okay for a big group.

- Swimmy, by Leo Lionni. My feeling is that you can never go wrong with Leo Lionni. A clever black fish helps his little red friends outsmart the bigger fish who want to eat them. No, fish can't really talk, as I was informed by my listeners, but it's still a good story.

- Ebb & Flo and the Greedy Gulls, by Jane Simmons. This story doesn't have many words, but so much happens in the pictures and between the lines, it's a nice way to get kids actively involved in telling the story with you. Also, it's perfect if you want to introduce the word "sulk" to your kids' vocabulary.

We also sang "Ten Little Fishies" (to the tune of "Ten Little Indians") with flannelboard fish, and I dusted off our Autoharp to play "Pig on Her Head," from Laurie Berkner's album Buzz Buzz. Every kid who wanted to chose an animal to have on his or her head, and we sang about it. Needless to say, there were lots of sharks and whales and dolphins on Tuesday!

Posted by Lisa at 10:30 AM | Comments (1)