Saturday Family Story Time, 7/30

When I get kids to actually show up for Saturday story time, it's always a lesson in improvisation. Today, I planned for mostly toddlers and had only one toddler, along with three babies, and four preschoolers. Go figure.

Thankfully, I took a big pile of books in there with me, and had some choices so that I could adjust as  the crowd grew. And it was really nice. I love my big groups and actually feel most comfortable with those, but it's also nice to be able to get to know the kids a little bit in the small groups. Before today, I thought I'd cancel monthly Saturday story times, but now I'm wondering if it's worth having one now and then, even during the school year...

Opening Song: Clap Along With Me

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big (twice)

Rhyme: Dance Your Fingers (twice)

Book: Mr. Gumpy's Outing by John Burningham (1970)
Everyone loves Mr. Gumpy. This book does go on, with Mr. Gumpy's various restrictions about how the animals and children are to behave in the boat, but it's a lot of fun building up to the moment when they all do exactly that which they were asked to avoid doing, and splash! into the water they go! Even babies like this book.

Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider (a cappella; sung twice)

Book: My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall (2009)
I usually remember to read this book around Valentine's Day, but it seemed like a good one for an all-ages group as well. The older kids laughed over the silly rhymes and enjoyed dissecting the images to see how the hearts fit together. The babies were drawn to the bright colors, and the moms oohed and aahed. I'll definitely want to remember this book for future family story times!

Song: ABCD Medley
I think my days with this song are numbered. Time to find a replacement for the Fall! 

Song: One, Two, I Love You (Numbers Are Our Friends)


Song: Old MacDonald (a cappella with puppets)

Song: You Are My Sunshine (sung twice a cappella, with puppet)

Book: The Queen's Feet  by Sarah Ellis, illustrated by Dusan Petricic (2006)
I learned of this book just this morning, but quickly fell in love! Queen Daisy's feet have a mind of their own, and they get her into all kinds of trouble in situations where she's supposed to be on her best royal behavior! This story has the same sense of humor as Princess Hyacinth, which is my favorite read-aloud for school-age kids, but it's less wordy and worked for everyone in my audience, except one little baby, whose attention span made it only 7/8 of the way through. (These babies were amazingly attentive, I've never seen anything like it!)


Song: The Wheels on the Bus 

Song: Chickadee
It warmed my little heart when a three-year-old announced after the first verse - "This is my favorite song!"

Song: Skinnamarink

Baby Lap Time, 7/29

Opening Song: Clap Along With Me

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big (twice)

Rhyme: Dance Your Fingers (twice)

Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider (a cappella; sung twice)

Song: You Are My Sunshine (a cappella; with sunshine puppet)

Book: In My Tree by Sara Gillingham and Lorena Siminovich (2009)
I love the owl finger puppet in this book, who peeks out of the center of each page while the scenery changes around him.  I'll have to remember this book for Fall, since it does have at least one scene with Fall leaves.

Song: Did You Ever See? (Flying Animals Edition)

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: Head and Shoulders

Book: Baby Faces by Margaret Miller (1998)
This was the perfect book for this group! I loved sharing the pictures of each baby's face and enjoyed the way the babies stared intently into the eyes of each one. The favorite by far was "boo-hoo!"

Flannel Board Song: How Much is that Doggie in the Window?

Rhyme: I Went to Visit the Farm One Day

Song: ABCD Medley

Song: Chickadee

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

Tales for Twos and Threes, 7/29

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?


Song: If You'd Like to Read a Book

 

Book: Who Sank the Boat? by Pamela Allen (1982)
This was the perfect choice for this age group. Just enough text, and just enough invitations to interact with me. And the message that sometimes it's the smallest ones that make the biggest differences was delivered in a unique and amusing way. This was also surprisingly a good one for introducing the parts of a boat, such as the bow. 

Song: One Little Finger

Book: A Mighty Fine Time Machine by Suzanne Bloom (2009)
I debated and debated about whether to do this book, and it would have worked well if the audience had been just a bit older. I had a lot of toddlers and babies, and not so many twos and threes. But the few older kids who got engaged with this book really loved it and said so.  

Song: Shake My Sillies Out  

Song: Head and Shoulders 

Song: Clap Along With Me 

Song: Old MacDonald Had a Farm (a cappella with puppets) 

Song: Turn Around 

Song: Wheels on the Bus


Song: ABCD Medley 

Song: Skinnamarink

Tales for Fours and Fives, 7/28

Before this morning, I hadn't done a story time in eight days. And I have to say, getting up in front of the room today, I felt sort of rusty. But some of my regulars were very excited to see me back, and gave me a nice warm welcome, which helped me ease back into the swing of things.

I didn't have much of a plan for today, since attendance for this group can be kind of unpredictable, but I made sure to choose books that would appeal to fours and fives, even though the crowd had mostly younger kids. We'll be discontinuing this story time at the end of August and possibly replacing it with a preschool or toddler story time, so creating a routine at this point seems kind of pointless, but I still like to adhere to whatever I've advertised.

Here's what we read and sang:

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Book: Actual Size by Steve Jenkins (2004)
I read this book in a very conversational tone, mainly addressing anything I said to the actual four year olds in the room, two very outspoken boys who have been coming to my story times since we opened. I loved hearing their observations, and enjoyed reassuring one little boy that no, I don't most of these animals would eat him if given the chance!

Song: Shake My Sillies Out

 Book: Click, Clack Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Betsy Lewin (2000)
I wanted to read Dooby Dooby Moo, but chickened out at the last minute and went with this title, which I know much better. It wound up being a great success. The kids laughed out loud at my exaggerated "moooos" and joined in with me on the last few.

Song: ABCD Medley


Song: One, Two, I Love You (Numbers Are Our Friends)

Book: When Dinosaurs Came With Everything by Elise Broach, illustrated by David Small (2007)
This book won The E.B. White Readaloud award, but I found it very difficult to read aloud. The kids in my target age group were mesmerized by the story, but the adults and smaller kids seemed restless and no amount of inflection or excitement in my voice really changed that. Do other people read this a certain way? I'd love to know if I'm missing some tricks!

Song: Turn Around

Song: Skinnamarink

It's nice to be back, and it was especially good to be able to slowly get back into the routine with a small group. Looking forward to Baby Lap Time tomorrow!

6 Chapter Books About Slumber Parties

	Arthur's First Sleepover by Marc Brown Everyone's favorite anteater camps out in his backyard and outsmarts his little sister when she tries to rain on his parade. (Read my review.)
	Sleepover Squad series by P.J. Denton Four second-graders form a club devoted to their love of sleepovers! (Read my review.)
	Slumber Party Payback by Derrick Barnes Ruby Booker must try to prevent her older brothers from ruining her slumber party!
	Sleepover Sleuths by Carolyn Keene Nancy, Bess, and George attend a slumber party where a doll goes missing!
	Henry and Mudge and the Big Sleepover by Cynthia Rylant Henry and Mudge sleep over at Patrick's house, but there is so much to do, they might not sleep all night!
	Sleepy Hollow Sleepover by Ron Roy Ruth Rose, Dink, and Josh spend a creepy Halloween night in Sleepy Hollow.

7 Kids' Books About Weddings

Sister of the Bride

by Beverly Cleary

Barbara watches as her older sister's impending marriage turns her into a responsible adult. Read my review of this book here..

The Wedding Planner's Daughter
by Coleen Murtagh Paratore

Willa Havisham tries to convince her wedding planner mother to seek a little romance herself.

 

Horrible Harry and the Kickball Wedding 

by Suzy Kline

For Valentine's Day, Harry stages a wedding to classmate Song Lee. 

Kristy's Big Day 

by Ann M. Martin

Kristy's mother marries Watson Brewer, and the Baby-sitters Club must take care of the many cousins attending the wedding. (This was my favorite book when I was in 4th and 5th grade.)

Beautiful Brides  

by Melissa Lagonegro

Each of the Disney princesses gets ready for her own magical wedding in this easy reader, which I reviewed here.

Congratulations, Miss Malarkey! 

by Judy Finchler, illustrated by Kevin O'Malley 

Miss Malarkey has been acting strangely. Why is she so unusually happy? She's getting married! Read my review here.

 

My Mother Got Married (And Other Disasters)  

by Barbara Park

I read this book as a kid, and it's being re-released later this year.  It's the story of how a boy comes to accept his new stepfamily following his mother's remarriage.

Baby/Toddler Story Time, 7/19

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Book: Quiet LOUD by Leslie Patricelli (2003)
I made this book an interactive experience by asking everyone to put a finger to their lips and say "Shhh" after each quiet page. This evolved into many adults - and even some little ones - making sounds for the other, loud pages, which was a lot of fun. Next time, the only thing I might add is a follow-up with the flannel board - there are a couple of pages in the back of the book that list additional quiet and loud objects, and it would be fun to extend the book to a flannel board activity. This book will go on my list of story time greatest hits!

Song: Two Little Blackbirds (Soft & Loud Version)
I used this once before, back when I did a Loud and Soft theme (back in the days when I made myself try themes.) It's a good one to revisit now and then!

Book: I Look Like This by Nick Sharratt (1992)
This book shows  how a boy's feelings change depending on what happens to him. The turn of a flap in the center of each page zooms in on his face to show his happy, sad, scary, angry, and sleepy expressions. The kids really loved this, and anticipated each turn of the flap with eager excitement.

Song: If You're Happy and You Know It (a cappella)

Song: Shake My Sillies Out

Song: Head and Shoulders

Flannel Board Rhyme: Three Melting Popsicles
The kids love this one until the ending. I might need to rewrite that part. 

Song: One Little Finger
I finally found the CD I got this from!

Song: Clap Along With Me


Song: The Wheels on the Bus (Raffi version)

Song: ABCD Medley

Song: Itsy-Bitsy Spider (a cappella, sung twice)

Song: You Are My Sunshine (a cappella, with sun puppet, sung twice)

Song: Chickadee

Song: Skinnamarink

Family Story Time, 7/18

Finally, finally, finally, the Monday story time went well. After months of struggling with an indifferent and seemingly bored crowd, I decided to approach things differently, and I modeled this story time after my successful Baby/Toddler story times on Tuesdays. And it worked like a charm! The audience ranged in age from babies to around five years old, and though some of them got rowdy here and there, it was by far the best Monday story time I've ever done.

Here is the magical recipe I used. (Believe it or not, the farm animals theme that emerged was unintentional!)

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Book: The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle (1950)
This was the nice, big board book version. The kids liked watching the progress on the web, even though one little boy in the front insisted the book was too scary.

Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider (a cappella)

Song: You Are My Sunshine (a cappella; with sunshine puppet; sung twice)

Book: Baby Danced the Polka by Karen Beaumont, illustrated by Jennifer Plecas (2004)
Four-year-old boys find this book hilarious. They also had a good time making the animal sounds, though even the savviest couldn't identify the animals from the illustrations.

Song: Shake My Sillies Out

Song: Head and Shoulders

Book: The Little Red Hen by Byron Barton (1993)
This is a tried and true story time favorite. Today, as I was reading I added in some animal sounds to spice things up.

Song: Old MacDonald Had a Farm

Song: The Wheels on the Bus (Raffi version)

Song: ABCD Medley

Song: Chickadee

Goodbye Song: Skinnamarink

Baby Lap Time, 7/15

This was another amazing baby story time. The format I've been using lately, and the fact that I have been incorporating more rhymes has made a huge difference to the quality of this program, and to the way people react to it. Also, as I mentioned in my post about today's Tales for Twos and Threes program, I had early literacy training this week, which gave me some really good tips about the skills we're actually supporting by  doing story times for very small kids. I'll mention them in my blurbs about the books below.



Opening Song: Clap Along With Me

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big (twice)

Rhyme: Two Little Blackbirds

Book: Hop! by Phyllis Root, illustrated by Holly Meade (2005)
One of the things Saroj Ghoting demonstrated during the training I took this week was ways to add to books to make them more interactive. Her example was with One Duck Stuck (also coincidentally by Phyllis Root), where a duck appears on each page, but never quacks. She added a hand motion and a "quack quack" to the end of every page. So today I adapted that strategy for this book - I asked every grown-up and big kid in the audience to hold up two fingers and say "Hop! Hop!" at the end of every page. It worked so well. Everyone participated, and for  the most part, all eyes were on me. 

Rhyme: Hop Your Bunny 

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: Head and Shoulders

Book: Dress Up Peekaboo! by Charlie Gardner, Dave King, and Rachael Parfitt (2007)
This is going to sound strange, but I have a problem with my left hand, so lift-the-flap books can be hard for me to manage when I have to hold the book upright to face an audience. This one, with its huge flaps that merely elongate the existing page, is perfect  for me and wound up being perfect for this age group, too. I had the grown-ups join me on the refrain of Peekaboo! (again, focusing on the interaction mentioned above, which helps with print motivation) and we made the sounds of the animals that were mentioned. This book also introduces great vocabulary, such as sheriff, tutu, and cape.

Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider (a cappella)

Song: You Are My Sunshine (a cappella; with sunshine puppet; sung twice)
This sun puppet is becoming quite popular. A little girl came up to give it a hug after the session!

Rhyme with Puppets: I Went to Visit the Farm One Day
This was maybe the most fun I've had doing any rhyme ever.

Song: The Wheels on the Bus
So much for my vow to wean people off of this song. I needed it today.

Song: ABCD Medley

Song: Chickadee 

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

Tales for Twos and Threes, 7/15

I finally had some early literacy training this week (with Saroj Ghoting), mainly on the six skills kids need to get ready to learn to read (letter knowledge, print awareness, print motivation, vocabulary,  phonological awareness, and narrative skills). I knew, vaguely, that reading to babies and toddlers was important, and that it was good to repeat things, and to expose them to rhyme, and to new words, but I didn't really know why, so I often felt like I was muddling through things. But having that sense of direction made a world of difference in the way I approached today's books. I'll make some notes about that when I mention the books below.


Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Book: Can You Cuddle Like a Koala? by Jim Butler (2003)
This is a great action book, which wound up being perfect for this age group. Each page shows an animal doing an action that the kids could then mimic. We cuddled like koalas, swung like monkeys, and crept like mice. We also made some noises for animals whose sounds we could identify (mainly the frogs.) This was a good book to use for print motivation. I made the story interactive and fun, and as a result, reading the book wasn't something I had to get done, as it often has been at some of our busy story times, but a fun experience. I even ended by telling the kids how much fun I had, and I wasn't even faking it.

Song: Cuddly Koalas

 

Book: I am a Backhoe by Anna Grossnickle Hines (2010)
This story shows a little boy acting like different construction machines and vehicles. One very savvy little girl in the audience guessed the name of every machine without hesitation- and she was about 95% correct. She was a bit older than the other kids, maybe around four years old, so it's possible I was wrong when I thought this book would be too immature for fours and fives. I think the main early literacy skill touched on here was the vocabulary of all the different machines. (The same little girl who knew her backhoes and dump trucks snuggled up next to me at the end of story time, and said, in a very serious, quiet voice, "I like it when you read.")

Song: Shake My Sillies Out 

Song: Head and Shoulders

Flannel Board Rhyme: Five Pretty Sandcastles

Song: If You're Happy and You Know It (a cappella)

Song: One Little Finger

I found this song on a CD I downloaded, but now I can't find it, so I don't know who the singer was. In any case, here are the words and actions. And here is a tune similar to the one I use, that I found on YouTube. When I find my actual tune, I'll add it to my Wiki and link to it from my song index page here on the blog.

One little finger, one little finger, one little finger (hold up one finger)

clap, clap clap  (clap hands)

Point to the ceiling (point up with one finger)

Point to the floor (point down with one finger)

And put it in your lap.

Two little fingers, two little fingers, two little fingers (hold up two fingers)

clap, clap, clap (clap hands)

Point to the ceiling (point up with two fingers)

Point to the floor (point down with two fingers)

And put them in your lap.

(Repeat with three, four, and five fingers.)

Song: One, Two, I Love You (Numbers Are Our Friends)

Song: ABCD Medley

Song: The Wheels on the Bus

Song: Chickadee

Song: Skinnamarink

Flannel Friday: Knock, Knock!

I was shelving the 811s when the library was slow on the Saturday before the Fourth of July, and I came across Good For You! Toddler Rhymes for Toddler Times, a collection of poems for toddlers by Stephanie Calmenson. In that collection, there were two wonderful rhymes I immediately knew I wanted to adapt for the flannel board.

I'll post about the first one today, and, if I figure out how to adapt it, the second one next week.

This one is called Knock, Knock!

It begins like this:

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Grandma Jennie.

This verse repeats four more times, and remains the same except for the relative who comes through the door.  Grandpa Joe, Aunt Melissa, Uncle Moe, and Cousin Artie each join the group, and then the last verse goes like this:

Knock, knock
Who's there?
Pizza! Party!

This has so many possibilities, but my tentative plan for using this rhyme at Baby/Toddler Story Time is this:

• Put a door on the flannel board. Make a knocking sound, and prompt parents and kids to say "Who's there?"
• Bring out Grandma Jennie. (I'm using the family clip art from kizclub.com until I get around to either making or buying a set I like better.)
• Repeat until all the relatives are on the flannel board, then put up a picture of a pizza.
• Say goodbye to each relative one by one.

I am getting a little tired of the five little something-or-others routine,so this will make a nice new addition. I'm trying not to introduce a lot of new stuff again until the Fall, so I sort of have a backlog come September, but we'll see how it goes. If I get sick of sandcastles, popsicles, and farm animals, I might have to introduce this one a bit early!

This week's host for Flannel Friday is Andrea. Upcoming hosts and previous links can be found at Anne's blog, So Tomorrow.

6 Kids' Books About Camping

Campfire Mallory

by Laurie Friedman

2008 | 176 pages | Chapter Book

Mallory reluctantly goes on a camping trip with her friends, and things just don't go as planned.

 

Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking,
and Other Natural Disasters 

 by Lenore Look

2009 | 176 pages | Chapter Book

Alvin, who fears many things, worries about camping with his father.

 

The Jellybeans and the Big Camp Kick-Off

by Laura Numeroff and Nate Evans, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger

2011 | 32 pages | Picture Book

All of the Jellybeans girls find their niche at camp, except Nicole, who struggles before deciding to form a soccer team.

 

Sports Camp

by Rich Wallace

2010 | 160 pages | Middle Grade 

Riley Liston is one of the smallest and youngest kids at sports camp, but that doesn't stop him from competing to win as a swimmer in the camp marathon.

 

Chiggers

by Hope Larson

2008 | 176 pages | Young Adult Graphic Novel

Fresh middle school drama in a magically realistic camp setting.

There's a Bat in Bunk Five

by Paula Danziger

1980 | 160 pages  | Middle Grade

Insecure Marcy comes into her own during a summer working at camp.

Baby/Toddler Story Time, 7/12

It's supposed to hit 101 here today, and that meant a large story time crowd, trying to beat the heat. The sessions were on the shorter side today - I thought they were each 20 minutes, but I had a complaint that the last one was only 15. Oh well. In any case, it was mostly a success. This format really works!


Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Book: Grandma Calls Me Gigglepie by J.D. Lester, illustrated by Hiroe Nakata
A little boy and a series of animals each share the special nicknames given to them by their grandmothers. My favorite is the baby crab, nicknamed Twinkle Toes! (This one's an oversized board book. We have some really nice ones at my library now!)

Rhyme: Here Are Grandma's Glasses

Book: A Fabulous Fair Alphabet by Debra Frasier
I chose this one because it was so eye catching, and the kids seemed to like it, though I lost them about halfway through. I love the two-page spreads for "Cotton Candy" and "Large Lemonade."


Song: Shake My Sillies Out

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Flannel Board Rhyme:  Five Pretty Sandcastles 

Song: Itsy-Bitsy Spider (a cappella; sessions 2 and 3)

Song: You Are My Sunshine (a cappella with sun puppet; sessions 2 and 3)

Song: The Wheels on the Bus (Raffi version)

Song: ABCD Medley

Song: Chickadee

Song: One, Two, I Love You (Numbers Are Our Friends) (Session 1) 

Goodbye Song: Skinnamarink

Baby Lap Time, 7/8

What a great story time! Sometimes everything just clicks - the right songs, the right books, the right crowd - and the result is the most perfect session. Today was one of those.

Opening Song: Clap Along With Me

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big (twice)

Rhyme: Dance Your Fingers (twice)

Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider (a cappella; once with hand motions, once with puppets.)

Song: You Are My Sunshine (a cappella; with sunshine puppet; sung twice)

Book: Bouncy Baby by Begin Smart Books (2009)
This book shows all the actions baby does throughout the day. A situation from daily life is presented, and then beneath the flap is baby's reaction - clapping, eating, waving, etc. Some of the families chose to do the actions; others just listened.

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: Head and Shoulders

Book: Binky by Leslie Patricelli (2005)
Baby looks everywhere for his Binky, but no one seems to have it - not fishy, or doggie, or even Mommy or Daddy. But in the end, he finds it right where it belongs. Lots of adults joined in on the chorus of "No!" when Binky was found not to be in a given place.  I will definitely use Leslie Patricelli's books again in the future.


Song: ABCD Medley 

Song: Where is Thumbkin? 

Song: Old MacDonald Had a Farm (a cappella with puppets) 

Song: Chickadee 

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

Flannel Friday: Three Melting Popsicles

Three melting popsicles

sticky and sweet

I ate the green one -

what a yummy treat!

(Rub stomach and say, "Yum yum!")

Two melting popsicles

sticky and sweet

I ate the purple one -

what a yummy treat!

(Rub stomach and say, "Yum yum!")

One melting popsicle

sticky and sweet

I ate the red one -

what a yummy treat!

(Rub stomach and say, "Yum yum!")

No more popsicles

sticky and sweet

I guess I'll have to find

something else to eat!

I'm on a summer-themed flannel board kick. Last week was sandcastles, and this week it's popsicles. I had trouble with the colors on my library's color printer and ended up having to recolor the clip art above in Word to get colors that looked halfway decent. Google has a bunch of popsicle images - I recommend tracking down your own if you want to use this rhyme. Or make them from felt. I have run completely out of felt at my library for the moment, but that's what I will probably do eventually.

Once again, I wrote the rhyme myself. The challenge of writing them becomes sort of addictive after a while - I'm already pondering ideas for one about flip-flops, and maybe one about sunglasses. I'm also thinking of trying to get a head start for the Fall, but so far there hasn't been time for that.

Katie at Storytime Katie has the round-up this week. Don't miss it!