Baby/Toddler Story Time, 2/28/12

It's so hard to be sick on story time day. And for me, with the way the weather has been this Winter, that's been happening more often than usual, and it's kind of messing with my momentum. Today, thanks to a very nice coworker, I only did one session so I didn't have to totally kill my voice, but even that was a challenge, and people were not at all sympathetic. In fact, the more I lost my voice, the louder they talked to be heard over me. But I stuck by my decision not to use recorded music, and I think, all things considered, it could have gone a lot worse.

I would like to know, though, what the magic trick is that will make adults sit quietly and listen to a picture book. Because really, it's not that hard, but none of them do it.

Anyway, here is this week's baby/toddler story time:

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Book: Shhhhh by Kevin Henkes (1989)
I love this book, but it didn't have its full effect because I couldn't read as loudly as I wanted. Making the shhh sound at the end of every page was fun, though. I know it's a cliche, but I like some librarian shushing action now and then.

Rhyme: Two Little Blackbirds (Soft and Loud edition)

Rhyme: Wiggle Fingers 

Book: I Can't Get My Turtle To Move by Elizabeth Lee O'Donnell, illustrated by Maxie Chambliss (1989)
My innocent children's librarian mind didn't realize it right away, but this book kind of makes it seem like the turtle might be dead. And once I realized that, I understood why the adults weren't so on board with it. (Also, I did not plan this at all, but apparently I read two books in a row published in 1989!)

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: Head and Shoulders

Song: The Wheels on the Bus

• ...wheels...round and round
• ...doors...open and shut
• ...wipers...swish swish swish
• ...driver...move on back

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big

Book: Domino by Claire Masurel, illustrated by David Walker (2007)
This book is adorable, but it had too much of a plot for the kids to grasp it and too boring a plot for the adults to pay attention. Sad.

Song: If You're Happy and You Know It

• ...clap your hands
• ...pat your knees
• ...beep your nose
• ...tickle your tummy
• ...shout hooray

Song: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Song: Where is Big Toe?

Song: One Little Finger

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

I Can Read! Feast for Beginning Readers Round-Up, February 2012

Welcome to the I Can Read! Feast for Beginning Readers Round-Up for the month of February 2012. This monthly meme, created by Terry Doherty of The Family Bookshelf, celebrates easy readers and illustrated chapter books to encourage kids working to become successful readers. It's not too late to join in! If you have a link to share related to beginning readers, please comment below, and I'll add it to the round-up. (I'll accept links through Friday evening - after that, hang onto your posts for next month!)

On to the contributions...

JENNIFER of Jean Little Library shares the review of Zig and Wikki in the Cow she posted on a recent Non-Fiction Monday.

At Literatea, BETSY has reviews of No. 1 Car Spotter by Atinuke and On the Go with Mr. and Mrs. Green  by Keith Baker.

JESSICA highlights the following reviews from Vegbooks, "a resource for parents and teachers who want to support the vegetarian and vegan kids in their lives.":

• Snow by P.D. Eastman (reviewed by Jennifer Kali) 
• Meet Mr. and Mrs. Green by Keith Baker (reviewed by Jessica Almy) 
  
•  Good Dog, Aggie by Lori Ries (reviewed by Andrea Zollman)

At The Cath in the Hat, CATHERINE reviews Bad Kitty for President and Ivy and Bean: No News Is Good News.

ANDREA, who blogs at Roving Fiddlehead shares a link to her library's Staff Picks Blog, where she recently reviewed Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke.

Author KATIE DAVIS shares a video of her visit to Good Morning, Connecticut, where she explains the difference between easy readers and chapter books and booktalks Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie by Julie Sternberg, Have Fun, Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke, and Clementine and the Family Meeting by Sara Pennypacker.

Finally, I'm KATIE, and here at Secrets & Sharing Soda, I'd like to share my lists of Five Characteristics of Great Easy Readers and Five Characteristics of Great Chapter Books, as well as my reviews of Say What? by Margaret Peterson Haddix and Team Spirit and The Trouble With Thor from the Marvel Superhero Squad series by Lucy Rosen.

If you enjoyed participating in the I Can Read Feast this month, please consider hosting in the future! Information is available on this page at The Family Bookshelf.

Baby Lap Time, 2/22/12 and 2/23/12

Today marks the end of Baby Lap Time for the Winter. Here's what we did during our final session.

Opening Song: Say Hello

Rhyme: Cheek Chin

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big

Bounce: All the Little Babies

Book: A Good Day by Kevin Henkes (2007)

This is more of a story than I might usually read to babies, but they loved the animal illustrations. 

Song with Puppet:  How Much is that Doggie in the Window?

Rhymes and Songs with Shaker Eggs: 

• Jack and Jill
• Humpty Dumpty
• Shake My Sillies Out
• London Bridge

Song: Tony Chestnut

Song: Head and Shoulders

Book: Blue Sea by Robert Kalan, illustrated by Donald Crews (1979)
Despite the illustrations and minimal text, this book doesn't work with babies.

Song: Row Your Boat

Bounce: Mother and Father and Uncle John 

Song: If You're Happy and You Know It

• ...clap your hands
• ...beep your nose
• ...tickle your tummy
• ...shout hooray

Song: Where is Big Toe? 

Song: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
I skipped this song today, because I have a sore throat, but we sang it yesterday - mostly because one of the moms told me her son had started doing the motions at home.

Goodbye Song: Open, Shut Them Goodbye Song

8 Novels About Kids On Their Own

	Losing Joe's Place by Gordon Korman Jason moves into his brother Joe's apartment in Toronto for the summer, along with two friends. The freedom is great at first, but as the summer goes on, it becomes harder and harder to avoid losing the apartment.
	The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner Orphans Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny set up home in a boxcar, trying to avoid being sent to live with Grandfather Alden, whom they have never met.
	Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome John, Susan, Titty, and Roger Walker spend their summer on Wild Cat Island, their home away from home in the Lake District of North West England, hiding from natives and battling with pirates Nancy and Peggy Blackett.
	Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan When their grandmother dies, Amy and Dan Cahill discover they are part of a huge and powerful network of Cahills. Now they must compete with other members of the family to track down 39 clues that will lead them to the power and fortune their grandmother left behind.
	The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright The four Melendy children pool their allowances so that each sibling might have on Saturday on his or her own in New York City.
	Homecoming by Cynthia Rylant After their mother abandons them in a grocery store parking lot, Dicey, James, Maybeth, and Sammy Tillerman travel alone on the road to their aunt's house.
	From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg Claudia Kincaid and her little brother Jamie run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where they become wrapped in a mystery surrounding a beautiful statue.
	Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis Convinced that concert flyers kept by his mother, advertising performances by Herman E. Calloway and the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!! are clues that will lead him to his true father, Bud sets out for Grand Rapids, looking for home and family.

Gettin' Crafty Post #16: Printable Friendship Wristbands

I have had a very busy Winter season, so on the days that I do crafts - Monday and Thursday - I have been keeping things very simple. I was so glad to  find this fun printable from kidscanhavefun.com. I knew friendship bracelets were popular with girls in the middle grades but did not expect the number of nine- and ten-year-old girls who got into this craft!

I. Supplies

• Friendship Wristbands printable
• Crayons or Markers
• Glue or Tape (to fasten the bracelets)

II. Prep

There was no prep beyond printing out the templates, but if I did this craft again, I think I might like to make my own templates to suit a particular occasion, such as National Library Week, or National Poetry Month, or to allow the kids more room to write their own messages. I also think they'd work well as an activity for a summer program I'm planning for beginning readers, which is focused on the alphabet. 

III. Process

I didn't get to see too many of the final products, but the participants were mostly girls, and they did a lot of giggling and chatting while they colored. Some smaller kids did the project, too, but it was the biggest hit with the 8-10 year old set.

Baby/Toddler Story Time, 2/21/12

I've been building up to this for months, but finally, this morning I actually had the courage to forgo recorded music and do all my own singing at my most crowded story time of the week. I wasn't sure what would happen, honestly, or if people would go for it,  but at the end of the day, after three amazing sessions during which hardly anyone chatted with their neighbors, texted, or just simply ignored me, I have to say it was the best decision I've ever made.

Recorded music, for my groups, has always been the signal for the adults to stop paying attention and start just hanging out. Somehow, by eliminating the sound that drowns out their talking, I got them to stop talking at all. I will continue to promote the recordings from which I take my songs, and I'm sure I'll still throw in the occasional recorded song, but I'd really like that to become the exception rather than the rule. And since my library is not ordering anymore music, it seems like a good time to focus more on the music we can provide on our own. It's a lot easier to provide the words and tune for families to take home with them than to track down the one or two copies of a CD we have left. This also makes a good segue into when I will eventually bring my ukulele to story time - hopefully this summer.

So... here is my very first a cappella Baby/Toddler Story Time:

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Book: Hello, Goodbye by David Lloyd, illustrated by Louise Voce (1998)
I wanted to read some new books this week - and by new, it turns out, I meant old. This 1998 title is a simple story of a single tree, whose inhabitants and visitors say hello, and then goodbye when it starts to rain. I got everyone involved by having them buzz like bees and chirp like birds, and by the end of the story, each group was so into it, they were saying hello and goodbye unprompted.

Rhyme: Wiggle Fingers

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big

Book: Hoot, Howl, Hiss by Michelle Koch (1991)
This was a great animal sounds book. The animals are divided into categories according to habitat, and all of them have some sound associated with them. I don't really have a monkey noise that I use, but the adults did their own for me, and when it came to whistling like a marmot, we just tried to whistle. The ending was kind of abrupt and strange, but it didn't matter. This book got tons of participation and tons of applause.

Song: Shake My Sillies Out 

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Flannel Board Song: Old MacDonald Had a Farm

Book: Knick Knack Paddy Whack by Steve Songs, illustrated by Christiane Engel (2009)
It killed my voice to sing this much three sessions in a row, but this book demands to be sung! It got a little old around the number five - there's only so many times an old man should play knick knack, honestly! - but the kids seemed to like the novelty of singing instead of reading a book.

Song: If You're Happy and You Know It

• ...clap your hands
• ...pat your knees
• ...stomp your feet
• ...beep your nose
• ...tickle your tummy
• ...shout hooray!

Song: The Wheels on the Bus

• ...doors...open and shut
• ...wipers...swish swish swish
• ...driver...move on back
• ...horn...beep beep beep
• ...babies...waa waa waa
• ...grown-ups...shh shh shh

 Song: Chickadee
I said last week that the calypso beat was essential for this song, but this group did very well without the recording. I think it's all in how well I sell them on it. It also helped that most of the caregivers were regulars and could sing all the words from memory.

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

I Can Read Feast for Beginning Readers, February 2012

Welcome to the I Can Read! Feast for Beginning Readers for the month of February 2012. This monthly meme, created by Terry Doherty of The Family Bookshelf, celebrates easy readers and illustrated chapter books to encourage kids working to become successful readers.

All this week, I'll be collecting your reviews and other posts related to books for beginning readers. Please comment to this post with a link to your contribution, or send me an email at sharingsoda@gmail.com. On Friday, I will post a round-up of everything you submit.

Don't have time to write something new? No problem! Anything posted in the last year - since February 2011 - is eligible. Need more information on easy readers and chapter books? Visit Terry's informative post here. Hosts are needed for the rest of the year! Click here to sign up as a host for any month, March through December. 

I look forward to reading and sharing your submissions!

Hail to the Chief: A Presidents Day After School Story Time, 2/16/12

My new approach to after school programs is receiving very interesting reactions from our after school crowd. For one thing, it's attracting not only the original group of kids who have attended afternoon programs since we opened last year, but a whole new set of kids who have never come to programs before. On the other hand, though, people - especially parents - seem puzzled by the fact that I let the kids color and work on crafts while I read. I think most of them feel better once they see it in action, but still, I feel awkward a lot of the time, and I'm working on ways to make that less obvious.

One of  the goals of this program, believe it or not, is to focus more on books and less on "fluff." Rhymes and songs have their place in story times for very small kids, but for older kids, I've noticed they start distracting them from the focus of story time, which is, in a word, reading. So instead of drawing out the afternoon by starting the craft at 3 and then trying to do a thirty minute story time at 4, I've combined them, and as future weeks progress, I hope to link the crafts more and more closely to the books, and to literacy in general.


Here's what the program looked like this week:

The Craft: Lincoln Penny Pendants 

  
I. Supplies

• Star template
• Scissors
• Crayons
• Glue
• Hole Punch
• Yarn
• Pennies

II. Prep

The only preparation I did ahead of time, aside from dividing the supplies amongst four tables, was to cut lengths of yarn so the kids could just grab one in their selected color and attach it to their necklaces. I also created an example pendant, pictured below, to give the kids an idea of how to put them together.

III. Process

Most of the kids - except one family whose mother insisted upon it - did not layer their stars, but just used one and stuck a penny on the center of it. The library only has one hole punch, so making sure everyone got the chance to punch a hole was a bit of a tedious task, to the point that next time, I might go back to punching holes ahead of time. Even though I didn't really plan on latecomers, some kids also came in just  for the craft after the stories were over, and the last child didn't finish until right before we closed at 5:30.

The Read-Alouds: Books About Presidents

Book 1: Duck for President by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Betsy Lewin (2004)
Farmer Brown's duck decides to run for president of the farm, and from there launches an unexpectedly successful political career. Though this is not nearly as great as Click, Clack, Moo, and some jokes went over the kids' heads, they still really liked it. I actually wish I'd read a second funny one to keep the laughter going after this.

Book 2: George Washington's Birthday: A Mostly True Story by Margaret McNamara, illustrated by Barry Blitt (2012)
This is not a great read-aloud, and really only a useful book for kids who have already learned about the life of George Washington. Events that happens on his fictitious seventh birthday hint at and parallel events in his real life. The kids seemed to like it, but I know they didn't really "get" it. It also confused the heck out of a mom who was actually quizzing her kids on what they learned at story time. (Oy.)

The Book Display: More Presidential Books

For the first time ever, I displayed books in a story time that I wasn't going to read, and kids actually looked at them. A brother and sister spent almost half an hour with a chart of U.S. Presidents, just figuring out who was dead and still alive. Their favorite discovery was that Adams and Jefferson died the same year and were in  fact friends. Talking to them about that chart, which was in the back of Hanoch Piven's What Presidents Are Made Of, was the highlight of my entire afternoon.

Here's the full list of what was on display: 

• What Presidents Are Made Of by Hanoch Piven
• Madam President by Lane Smith
• My Teacher for President by Kay Winters
• Presidents' Day by Anne Rockwell, illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell
• The Worst of Friends by Suzanne Jurmain, illustrated by Larry Day

Baby Lap Time, 2/15/12 & 2/16/12

Opening Song: Say Hello

Rhyme: Cheek Chin

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big

Rhyme: Two Little Penguins
I am trying to vary the activities I do at lap time so that there are more props. For this rhyme, I used two of my flannel board penguins as stick puppets.

Bounce: Mother and Father and Uncle John
It took a long time for my Fall group to at all warm up to this bounce, but both Winter groups get a kick out of it. I've noticed some of the nannies doing it with their charges 

Book: All Kinds of Kisses by Nancy Tafuri (2012)
This book is a new favorite for me. We read it at Baby/Toddler story time on Valentine's Day, and then repeated it at both lap time sessions even though Valentine's day is over. I would consider flannelizing this as well, especially because it focuses so heavily on mothers in the end, and it would be nice to be able to switch that up, especially when I am in a room with a bunch of stay at home dads.

Flannel Board: I Have Five Kisses
I adapted this after Valentine's Day so it can be used year-round.  I also simplified it for the babies.

Song: Tony Chestnut

Song: Head and Shoulders

Songs and Rhymes with Shaker Eggs: 

• Jack and Jill
• Little Miss Muffet
• London Bridge
• Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Book: Hello, Baby by Mem Fox, illustrated by Steve Jenkins (2009)
A baby started crying partway through this book, and one of the adults commented that I was scaring him with the illustrations in this book. I was kind of offended, to be honest, since I think it was totally unrelated to the book, but that's the way it goes.

Song: I'm a Little Monkey
I did this with one puppet on Wednesday, then realized we have two monkey puppets and did it with two on Thursday. It wasn't a huge hit, because it was new, but I think I'll repeat it next week, and probably again this Spring. 

Bounce: All the Little Babies
I needed a new bounce, so I pulled together lines from different versions of this song. It's to the tune of Shortnin' Bread, and it seemed like it was a pretty big hit.  These babies love leaning to the left and right, so there were lots of giggles.

Song: If You're Happy and You Know It

• ...clap your hands
• ...beep your nose
• ...tickle your tummy
• ...shout hooray

Song: Where is Big Toe?

Goodbye Song: Open, Shut Them Goodbye Song

Pre-K Class Visit, 2/16/12

Yesterday (Thursday) was an all-day marathon for me. The day started at 10:00 with yoga story time, where I read stories, and an instructor from the nearby yoga studio performed the corresponding yoga movements. It was a wonderful program, but since it was mostly her content and not mine, I've opted not to write about it in any more detail on my blog. Hopefully, since it looks like this will be an ongoing program for our library, I will be able to write more generally about the benefits of collaborating with a yoga studio in the future. But for now, I'm moving right on to my second story time of the day, a class visit from the Pre-K kids at the Catholic school next door!

I love this group, because they're great listeners, and they love stories. This morning, we shared some of my favorite books, a rhyme, and a few songs.

Hello Song: Hello, how are you?

Book: Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Betsy Lewin (2000)
This book is so much fun. The kids picked right up on the "click clack moo" refrain and chanted it with me each time. The ending was a huge hit, especially since most of  them had never read the book before.

Rhyme: Blue is the Lake

Book: Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina (1947)
The kids were completely and utterly silent the entire time I read this book, to the point that I wondered if it was lost on them, but when I finished a little boy's whole face lit up, and he said, "That was so funny!" I love seeing kids react to classic books for the first time.

Song: Rum Sum Sum

Book: Birds by Kevin Henkes, illustrated by Laura Dronzek (2009)
I read this book because I can't wait for Spring. I'm sure this will turn up again throughout the Spring. 

Song: Chickadee (a cappella)

Book: Go Away, Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley (1993)
It's fun reading this book with big kids who can repeat phrases after me and help me send the monster away!

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

The marathon continued after this story time with Baby Lap Time and an After School Story Time for Presidents' Day. Stay tuned for posts about those, coming up next...

Flannel Friday Round Up, 2/17/12

Welcome to this week's
Flannel Friday Round-Up!

Listed below are all of the contributions I have received so far via Twitter, email, and Facebook. If you've tried to send me your post and it's not here, please comment to let me know, or try sending it again. If you're still working on your post - fear not! I can still make edits throughout this evening to accommodate last-minute additions.

On to the flannel boards...(Latest additions are at the top of the list.) 

CATE shows off her puppet, Gertie, and her bandaids at Storytiming. 

KARI ANN at My Storytime Life shares the sheep she made for her Mother Goose on the Loose program. 

MARY (@daisycakes) at Miss Mary Liberry shares a set of Feelings Faces including happy, sad, surprised, and confused. 

TRACEY (@tcy28) from 1234 More Storytimes has an adorable set of Valentine's Day finger puppets to use with 5 Little Valentines.

MADIGAN (@madiganreads) from Madigan Reads has a flannel board for When Animals Get Up in the Morning. 

JANE joins Flannel Friday for the first time, with a Flannel Friday inspired set of bandaids at Piper Loves the Library.

SHAWN at Read, Rhyme, Sing shares her version of Five in the Bed made with "a receiving blanket, a few straight pins, and some laminated bears." 

MOLLIE (@molliekay) at What Happens in Storytime shares two great ideas about hats - My Hat It Has Three Corners, and Milo's Hat.

SARAH (@sarah_e_hay) has adapted Leslie Patricelli's board book, Binky, into a flannel board story about a baby prince and his teddy bear over at Read It Again.

At Notes from the Story Room, LINDA (@LMeuse) shares a folktale called The Month Brothers, for which she has created a colorful and detailed cast of flannel characters. 

KATIE (@katietweetsya) of Storytime Katie has a great idea for integrating letter knowledge into story time - letter puzzles! 

KAY (@storytimefun) shares her ideas for a family story time all about penguins at Storytime ABC's.

At So Tomorrow, ANNE (@sotomorrow) provides us with a flannel board adaptation of a favorite childhood song, Alice the Camel. 

LUCY (@LucyMaudM) is celebrating lots of Winter rain with Five Little Raindrops at In the Children's Room.

Inspired by a past Flannel Friday post, ANGELA (@annavalley) presents her set of vehicles - suitable for learning about colors as well as transportation - over at Valley Storytime. 

LISA of Libraryland has flannelized Eric Carle's latest picture book, The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse in her first-ever Flannel Friday contribution. Welcome, Lisa! (And great job!) 

MELISSA shares a flannel board story entitled Grandmother’s Aprons: A Quilt Story at Tickle the Clouds.

At Fussy Hen at the Library, SUSANNE includes two flannel board ideas as part of a write-up about her Coyote and Cowboys story time. 

DANIELLE (@ABadCaseofBooks) at A Bad Case of Books has created a flannel version of Shigeo Watanabe's Where's My Daddy.

In a belated Valentine's Day post, KATIE (@recipe4reading) at Recipe for Reading  shares her interpretation of a rhyme I wrote with Seven Valentine's Day Kisses. 

MEGHAN (@librarymeghan) also has a last-minute holiday post for Groundhog Day at Busy Crafting Mommy, which includes 5 Little Groundhogs and a shadow matching set. 

NICOLE (@nikarella) gets ready for St. Patrick's Day with Five Green Shamrocks at Narrating Tales of Preschool Storytime.

Finally, I'm KATIE, and I'm also looking ahead to Spring story times with a set of birds and a rhyme from Highlights High Five magazine.

Are you a Flannel Friday fan? Connect with us on Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook. Also be sure to check out Mel's Desk, the blog of our Flannel Friday founder, MELISSA, as well as the hosting schedule and archive at ANNE's blog, So Tomorrow.

Flannel Friday: Color Rhymes (with Birds)

My Flannel Friday contribution for this week has a very Spring theme - birds!

A couple of months ago, some parents donated their entire collection of Highlights High Five magazines to my children's room. Since we don't have a lot of shelf space for magazines, and we don't subscribe to Highlights High Five, I opted to use them for their rhymes and activities rather than make them available to the public. Many things in those issues lend themselves well to flannel boards, and I have no doubt there will be other High Five inspired posts in the coming weeks and months. But this one was so perfect, I actually cut up the magazine pages to make the flannel board pieces.

The rhyme is called Color Rhymes, and in the May 2009 issue of High Five, it is written as a guessing game, where the colors are left blank for the kids to fill in.(You can hear the audio version of the rhyme on the digital edition of the magazine here.)

Here's what the pieces look like. (The art is by Judith Moffatt and Bill Hoffman).

And this is the rhyme that accompanies them:

Robin has a very dark head,

but the feathers on his breast are red.

Goldfinch is a happy fellow.

On his breast, he's sunny yellow.

Sparrows hops around the town

in his suit of gray and brown.

Noisy Jay looks fresh and new

as if he'd just been painted blue.

Pigeon is a handsome sight

in blue and gray and sparkling white. 

Text by Marilyn Kratz

This rhyme would pair well with any of the following books/activities:

• Chickadee song by Lisa Monet, from My Best Friend
• Birds by Kevin Henkes, illustrated by Laura Dronzek
• Chickadee Tree action rhyme by Sandy Long, from Highlights High Five, November 2009
• Five Little Birds Flannel Board
• Did You Ever See a Turkey? puppets
• Let's Say Hi to Friends Who Fly! by Mo Willems

I am this week's Flannel Friday host. Click here to read the round-up!

7 Break-Up Books for Teens

	The Breakup Bible by Melissa Kantor High school newspaper staffer Jen gets dumped by her editor, then becomes obsessed with getting him back. It's only with the assistance of a self-help book given to her by her grandmother that Jen is eventually able to move on.
	Getting Over Garrett Delaney by Abby McDonald After realizing her affections are not returned, Sadie enlists the help of her fellow baristas in getting over Garrett Delaney once and for all.
	French Ducks in Venice by Garret Freymann-Weyr Seamstress Polina Panova grieves the loss of her handsome boyfriend Sebastian with the help of two ducks in this modern-day fairy tale.
	An Abundance of Katherines by John Green Colin Singleton has been dumped by nineteen girls named Katherine. Using math, he tries to predict the outcome of future relationships, the formula for which he tries to prove on a road trip with his best friend, Hassan.
	The Secret Life of Prince Charming by Deb Caletti All the women in Quinn's life have been hurt by men. Is she destined to resent them forever, or are there still some prince charmings out there?
	Breaking Up by Aimee Friedman Falling in love isn't as easy as Chloe expected in this Fashion High graphic novel.
	How I Broke Up With Ernie by R.L. Stine I read this book in middle school when RLStine was popular. I was afraid of his scary books, but this fluffy story about a girl who tries desperately to dump her annoying boyfriend became a favorite of mine.

Gettin' Crafty Post #15: Unity Rainbows

This craft project was part of my Martin Luther King Day story time. Unfortunately, the library was not very busy on that day, so not a lot of kids got to participate, but it was very well-received by the kids who did have the chance to make one.

I. Supplies 

• Rainbow Cereal (I used the store brand equivalent of Froot Loops)
• Plastic cups
• Paper plates 
• Crayons
• White glue

II. Prep

My library provides crafts on a walk-in self-serve basis. For this one, I took the trouble to separate out cups of cereal, so that each child could ask for a cup at the children's desk, and take it to a table to glue to their paper plate. I get nervous about things like cereal being ground into the carpet, so I though this was a good way to limit the mess. It also kept the adults from taking five cups of cereal for one child. I also provided an example, mainly so everyone would know the idea was to glue the cereal to the plate.

III. Process

It takes preschoolers a long time to glue small pieces, so a lot of the kids started before story time and finished up after. I saw rainbows of all different color schemes, which was great, and lots of creative coloring. I didn't do this, but you could punch holes in the paper plates, put ribbon or yarn through them, and  hang the rainbows up at home. I used the rainbow to represent unity and diversity, but it could also work nicely for a rain-themed story time, or for St. Patrick's Day.

Valentine's Day After School Story Time, 2/14/12

This program was really advertised for all ages, but attracted an age group very similar to the group I had last Thursday for Hugs and Kisses story time. I set up the tables again, this time with craft supplies for making Valentines.

While the kids colored, cut, and glued, I read the following:

3 Poems from It's Valentine's Day! by Jack Prelutsky (1983)

• I Made My Dog a Valentine
• Mother's Chocolate Valentine
• My Father's Valentine

This was one of my favorite books when I was a kid, and I couldn't resist sharing some of it! The kids are not used to me  reading poetry at story time, but a lot of them dropped everything to stop and listen. 

Book 1: Valentine's Day by Anne Rockwell, illustrated by Lizzie Rockwell (2000)
I love this picture book series about a diverse early elementary school class and its various holiday celebrations. This book focuses on the different Valentines the kids make for their friend Michiko, who has moved to Japan. I'm not sure the group really understood that each illustration depicts not just a Valentine, but a fond memory the Valentine's creator has of Michiko, but even so, they seemed to enjoy listening to the story. If nothing else, it related well to our craft!

Book 2: If You'll Be My Valentine by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Fumi Kosaka (2005)
A little boy gives Valentines to everyone in his family, including his teddy bear! The best thing about reading this book was that one little girl, who is usually very quiet during our crowded toddler story times on Tuesdays shouted right out loud, "I have that book!"

Book 3: Yours Til the Ice Cracks: A Book of Valentines by Laura Geringer, illustrated by Andrea Baruffi (1992)
The cover image for this book doesn't seem to be online anywhere, so what's pictured is the title page. I chose to share it at story time not for the text, which went over the kids' heads, but for the neat illustrations. Each page shows a heart made of something different - everything from ice to cows! It didn't resonate with everyone, but at least two little boys were totally engrossed.

I still need to work on feeling less awkward using this format, but it really works well for the time of day, and for the wide age range. I'll be trying it again tomorrow (Thursday) with books about U.S. presidents.

Baby/Toddler Story Time, 2/14/12

I felt very discouraged this morning. The groups were small, which immediately made me wonder if they've moved onto something else, and the spirit and mood of the entire program was just very dull and not at all like its normal, vibrant self. I think it's partly because it's the middle of February and I've been doing the same songs and rhymes since early January, but still, I felt kind of weird and out of it during all three sessions. But I don't think it really showed to the audience - I had to try a little harder to smile than normal, but managed to maintain my Miss Katie persona nonetheless. Here's my Valentine-inspired repertoire, which I did three times.  (I suspect doing three in a row also contributed to my feelings of blah.)

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Book: Where is Baby's Valentine? by Karen Katz (2006)
A word to the wise - the flap for the lamp will fall down if you do not hold it up with a finger. This will create a major spoiler, which only the nannies will notice. 

Rhyme: Five Little Valentines
I made stick puppets for these - and they were a big hit! I think I might try to do some more rhymes like this, with the text that the object "says" printed right on it. If I do, I'll make a post about it!

Rhyme: Wiggle Fingers

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big

Book: All Kinds of Kisses by Nancy Tafuri (2012)
This is my favorite Nancy Tafuri book to date. I love the animal sounds, especially "Eeep" for the mice and "Coo" for the doves.

Song: Shake My Sillies Out 

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: There's a Little Wheel a-Turnin' In My Heart 

Flannel Board: I Have Five Kisses
The kids loved this, but the nannies kept stealing my thunder and saying the next line before I was ready!

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

Song: The Wheels on the Bus (a cappella)

Song: Tommy Thumb (sessions 1 and 2 only)

Song: ABCD Medley (session 3 only)

Song: One Little Finger

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

After writing all of that out, I've figured out my problem. I need more variety not just in content, but in types of content. My group used to skew a lot older, and many threes joined us, even though they were past the 36-month cut-off age. Now the group is made up of lots of one-year-olds, so I could probably do more of the simpler stuff I really like and cut back on the more complicated movements. Something to ponder as we move into Spring.

Hugs & Kisses After School Story Time, 2/9/12

Today, I threw out the rule book for my after school story time and started over from scratch. What I've been doing all along is more of a traditional story time format like what I might do on a Pre-K class visit or in a morning preschool story time. But this group is much more diverse, and much less interested in singing and dancing than my morning groups. Plus, they've been in school all day and are much more tired than the wide-awake little ones we see on Tuesday morning. So, with an eye toward re-structuring this as a read-aloud program rather than a story time, I turned today's program into an experiment.

My original plan when I set up my Winter schedule back in November was to read chocolate-themed books and play Bingo with Hershey's kisses. I quickly realized there aren't very many quality children's books on chocolate. So I started brainstorming other ideas. I considered candy, then expanded that to sweet treats. I still couldn't find anything  I considered high enough quality to share at a story time. So I brainstormed some more, this time focusing in on the actual Hershey's kisses I'd be using as Bingo markers. And, well, bingo! It hit me. Kisses and hugs would be the perfect theme for the week before Valentine's Day.

But I didn't want to find a bunch of lame songs and rhymes on an already somewhat borderline cheesy topic. So I gave myself permission to forgo the songs and instead borrowed a suggestion another librarian gave me a few months ago. I decided to set up tables in the story room and let the kids color while I read. They started coloring their Bingo cards (which came from DLTK) whenever they arrived - from about 3:45 - and then at 4:00, I introduced my first book and started to read. Here are the three books I shared:

Book 1: A Hug Goes Around by Laura Krauss Melmed, illustrated by Betsy Lewin (2002)
This book is kind of random, but in a style similar to All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon and Marla Frazee, it explores concepts like family, friendship, weather, peace, and comfort.

Book 2: Won't You Be My Kissaroo? by Joanne Ryder (2004)
I felt really cheesy reading this book, but it ended up being at the right level for most of the kids who attended this program. It's most appropriate, probably for threes and fours.

Book 3: Hug Time by Patrick McDonnell (2007)
Jules the kitten tries to hug the world and encourages us to do the same. It's not quite as touchy-feely as it sounds, though, and the kids laughed at the kitten's efforts to hug large animals like elephants and giraffes.
When we finished reading all three books,  I transitioned right into the Bingo game. When I printed the cards from DLTK, I selected the Valentine's Day design and chose to have capital letters appear in the squares rather than pictures or numbers. Then when I called out each letter, I also called out a word that started with that letter. I also went around to each table to show the letter so kids who were a little shaky on their letters could have that additional help. Most of the kids also had a parent or caregiver with them to help them place the Hershey's Kiss or Hug on the correct space. (One parent actually played along, and won, and made a big deal out of it, which was weird, but she was the exception.)

Each time a winner called Bingo, that person got to keep the five Hershey's kisses marking the winning squares, and then everyone removed their candies from their board and played with them for the next game. At the end of the second game, we were getting restless, so I decided not to play a third. I invited each child to check with their grownup about how much candy was okay to take home, and everyone took some from the bowls before we cleaned up.

This was a huge success. I always have in mind that I want at least ten kids at a program, and I had exactly that number, and it was probably the least hectic and stressful program I have ever done. For next time, I want to worry less about themes and more about good quality books, and I'll need an activity less complicated than Bingo, but otherwise, the structure and concept worked much better than expected.