Story Time Secrets: February 2017

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Preschool Story Time, 2/22/17 (Birds Theme)

Opening Song: Story Time is Starting

Book: Birds by Kevin Henkes
I was a little unsure about this book because it doesn't have a straight narrative, but this group really enjoyed it.

Song: Way Up in the Sky

Book: No Two Alike by Keith Baker
I really enjoying reading this aloud. It's really just about the concepts of same and different, but birds are the characters, so it was a good fit.

Rhyme: Two Little Red Birds

Book: North, South, East, West by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Greg Pizzoli
I borrowed this from the library for my three-year-old who has been learning about direction. When I first read it to her, I wasn't sure kids at story time would get it, but I decided to take the chance and I was pleasantly surprised. It did go over quite well.

Song: The Little Bird

Songs with Shaker Eggs:

Sing a Song of Sixpence
Shake Your Egg, Shake Your Egg and Sing a Happy Song
Can You Shake Your Egg with Me?

Song: Mr. Sun

Book: Hooray for Today by Brian Won
This is a good story time book because of its bold illustrations and repetitive structure. It's kind of predictable, but no one seemed to mind.

Rhyme: See See See

Book: Mockingbird by Allan Ahlberg, illustrated by Paul Howard
I have noticed that singable books do well with this audience, so I decided to end with this one. It worked very well, even though I think some people were puzzled by the changed lyrics to Hush Little Baby.

Song: Chickadee

Preschool Story Time, 2/15/17 (Hugs & Kisses Theme)

This story time was originally planned for the 8th, before Valentine's Day, but then that session had to be canceled because my kids were sick, so I saved it and presented it on the 15th instead.

Opening Song: Story Time is Starting

Book: All Kinds of Kisses by Nancy Tafuri
This went over best with my own kids, but everyone enjoyed making the animal sounds.

Rhyme: I Can Hug
I realized halfway through this that I was already sitting, so I wouldn't be able to sit down very slow like it says in the last line. I ended up changing the line to "reach down very slow."

Book: My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall
My daughter and another little girl near her age both loved this book. The younger kids (under 2) were a bit restless.

Song: There’s a Little Wheel a Turning in My Heart

Book: Little Gorilla by Ruth Bornstein
I was correct in my assumption that this would be a good story time book. It has just the right amount of plot for my audience.

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big

Songs with Shaker Eggs:

Can You Shake Your Egg with Me?
ABC Song

Song: Mr. Sun

Book: Can You Cuddle Like a Koala? by John Butler
There weren't really enough kids old enough to act out the motions, but everyone did seem to enjoy looking at the animals.

Song; Cuddly Koalas

Book: I Love You: A Rebus Poem by Jean Marzollo and Suse MacDonald
I had originally planned for the audience to do motions with me for each "I love you" in the text, but the group was pretty much done, so I zipped through it and called it a day.

Song: Chickadee

Monday, February 6, 2017

Preschool Story Time, 2/1/17

For this story time, I again planned without a theme, and I was very happy with the results. I think this is the best story time I've done for this group since starting back in November and maybe even the best I've done since leaving the library. There were nine kids in all: three 3-year-olds, three 2-year-olds, and three one-year-olds, and they all seemed to really enjoy themselves.

Opening Song: Story Time is Starting

Book: Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
There was one mom who seemed to really get this book and enjoy it. It was hard to tell what everyone else thought.

Song: Moon Moon Moon
The punchline at the end of this song about the moon looking like a pizza always gets a laugh and it did on this day as well.

Book: Hi, Pizza Man! by Virginia Kahl, illustrated by Ponder Goembel
I found this book at a used bookstore, and bought it for story time based on the recommendations of other librarians. This was my first time reading it, and it was everything I expected. The kids loved greeting the different pizza deliverers, especially the dinosaur.

Song: This is the Way We Make a Pizza

Songs with Shaker Eggs:

Can You Shake Your Egg With Me?
Shake Your Sillies Out
ABCs
If You Have a Shaker, Bring it Up to Me

Song with Puppet: Mr. Sun

During this song, my own daughter incited the other children to run and dance through the room. To calm them, I finished the song with a game of "Mr. Sun Says", in which I informed the children of actions Mr. Sun wanted them to take. It worked like a charm to get them all sitting down again.

Book: The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins

Song: One Little Finger

Song: Put Your Hands Up High

Book: Over in the Meadow by Ezra Jack Keats

Song: Chickadee