Opening Song: Story Time is Starting
Book: May I Bring a Friend? by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, illustrated by Beni Montresor
The four-to-seven-year-old crowd loved this book the most. They laughed at the different animals that the narrator brought to the castle, and they loved the various ways the royals accommodated the unexpected visitors.
Rhyme: The Queen Commands
I found a rhyme with this title through the King County Library System, but ended up writing my own version that made the actions a little more complicated for my very movement-oriented big kids.
The queen commands that you clap your hands.
The queen decrees that you pat your knees.
The queen proposes that you pinch your noses.
The queen insists that you do the twist.
The queen desires that you reach up higher.
The queen implores that you make loud roars.
The queen directs that you fly like insects.
The queen wishes that you swim like fishes
The queen prefers that you bow to her.
The queen requests that you take a rest.
Book: King Bidgood's in the Bathtub by Audrey & Don Wood
This is one my all-time favorite books to read aloud. A few of the kids (including my five-year-old daughter) spent the entire book speculating on where King Bidgood was keeping all the props for the various scenes before he put them in the tub.
Song: There is Clapping in the Castle (originally by Nancy Stewart)
I couldn't master the ukulele chords for this one, so I did it a cappella. Even when the kids did other motions, I kept clapping to keep the beat, which was a new approach to this song for me, and I liked it better than doing the exact motions the kids were doing.
Song: Stop and Go (originally by Ella Jenkins)
This has become a staple of this story time. The kids love to come up with movements - even some of the twos and threes!
Book: The Foggy Foggy Forest by Nick Sharratt
I've never had a group actually try to guess what the pictures portrayed, but most of the elementary-age kids called out guesses, and it was fun to see them surprised by the fun little twists, like the fact that the witch had a motorized broom. Even the oldest kid in the room (a ten-year-old who was accompanying younger siblings) was into this book.
Song: There was a Princess Long Ago
I saw this mentioned on some story time blogs, tracked down a few versions on YouTube and cobbled them together. The linked version is the one closest to what I sang.
Book: The Missing Tarts by B.G. Hennessy, illustrated by Tracey Campbell Pearson
I threw this book in for the toddler crowd, but the big kids loved filling in the names of the nursery rhyme characters to match the rhymes at the end of each sentence.
Song: Moon Moon Moon
The Missing Tarts ends with Hey Diddle Diddle, so I segued quickly into this song, which I had not planned, but which fit well.
Closing Song: Story Time is Over
