7 Tween & Teen Novels About Liars

	My Fake Boyfriend is Better Than Yours by Kristina Springer Tori's best friend Sienna returns from summer vacation with a new personality and tales of her new boyfriend. To compete, Tori invents a fake boyfriend of her own.
	The Secret Identity of Devon Delaney by Lauren Barnholdt Devon lies to a new friend over the summer, then gets stuck keeping the lie going when the friend moves to her school.
"	Liar, Liar by Gary Paulsen Kevin Spencer is a very good liar, so he tells a lot of lies. Unfortunately, he doesn't always realize the consequences until it's too late.
	Fake Me a Match by Lauren Barnholdt Avery's in charge of the class matchmaking project. What will happen if she meddles with the results?
	Rumors by Katy Grant New camper Kayla's standoffish nature leads the other Middler girls to make up stories about who she really is.
	Change of a Dress by Maya Gold Diana Donato takes advantage of her family's laundry business, "borrowing" a dress that doesn't belong to her and sneaking out against her parents' wishes.
	Liar by Justine Larbalestier Micah lies about everything. This time, she claims, she's telling the truth about everything, but can we really believe her?

Gettin Crafty Post #12: Sticker Scenes

For an introduction to this series of Gettin' Crafty posts, visit Post #1.

I. Supplies

• Sticker sets from Oriental Trading

• So far, we have tried these two:
• Bake Shop
• Fire Fighter

II. Prep

The sticker scenes come in plastic, so they need to be unwrapped, and I usually separate the stickers from the paper scenes to make two piles. There are more stickers on each sheet than can fit on one firehouse or bake shop, so sometimes the leftovers can be used for a second craft on another day where  the kids draw their own background.

III. Instructions

The stickers can be a bit tedious to peel from their backings, but aside from that, kids of all ages are able to do this craft with very little help or direction. It's a nice one for a rainy day when lots of kids of varying ages are crammed together in one place! I used the firehouse scene for a community helpers story time, and the bake shop when I read about cookies.

Baby/Toddler Lap Time, 1/20/12

If there were 70 children at this story time, I would not be surprised. I counted about 60, but they're always moving around and there were some people who didn't fit into the room, so I easily could have missed some.  It was a HUGE group, and I have to admit, it was somewhat intimidating. But I didn't let it get to me too much, since this is traditionally a very good group. I just went with my usual routine, and it went quite well. I don't have time to make any commentary right now, as I have a cart of books to shelve and various other tasks waiting for me, but here is a quick list of what we did.

Opening Song: Hello, how are you? 

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big

Rhyme: Wiggle Fingers

Book: Let's Say Hi to Friends Who Fly! by Mo Willems (2010)
I added in some animal sounds to get the crowd involved. Worked like a charm!

Song: Did You Ever See a Penguin? 

Song: Bumpin' Up and Down on My Little Blue Sled 

Book: School Bus by Donald Crews (1984)

Song: The Wheels on the Bus (a cappella)

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: Shake My Sillies Out

Song: There's a Little Wheel a-Turnin' in my Heart 

Flannel Board Rhyme: Five Little Snowflakes Falling All Together
Two things: 1. God bless the one dad who said the entire rhyme with me. 2. One little snowflake can't fall "all together." Major flaw in my rhyme! 

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

Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider (a cappella)

Song: One Little Finger (a cappella)

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

Let's All Go to the Circus! After School Program, 1/19/12

Yesterday was National Popcorn Day. Initially I wanted to have a popcorn day story time, but that quickly proved impossible (seriously, there are no books!), so then I opted to do a circus story time instead. And yes, there are plenty of books about the circus, but not so many rhymes, songs, or activities that work with a  circus theme. So I wrote my own. And that was mostly okay, except that my group didn't really participate very much. I did get some older kids - first graders - because of the promise of popcorn at the end of the program. (Our craft was popcorn bags.) But something still felt off. Never again for this theme. I'm already working on making my themes more general for Spring.

Opening Song: Roll Your Hands
I had great luck with this song during my class visits these past two weeks, so decided to stick with it. It went pretty well, though I think the first graders could have done something more complicated. 

Book: Circus by Lois Ehlert
I don't enjoy Lois Ehlert, but I tried so hard to show enthusiasm for this book anyway. Alas, the room fell silent. 

Action Rhyme: Under the Big Top 
I wrote this less than an hour before the program started. Creative juices flow so well at the last minute!

Book: Tree Ring Circus by Adam Rex (2006)
This book is a lot like Stuck. And Stuck is better.

Action Rhyme: Circus Clown, Circus Clown
I wrote this one based on Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear Turn Around. 

Book: Olivia Saves the Circus by Ian Falconer (1994)
This book is strangely plotted and doesn't have a very satisfying ending.  I chose it for the popular character, but wished I had skipped it.

Book: You See A Circus, I See... by Mike Downs, illustrated by Anik McGrory (2005)
I loved this book a lot, but the kids didn't "get" the entire gimmick. There aren't enough cues in the text or illustrations to help the  reader understand that the circus persona and the true identity underneath are connected in any way. A lot of the kids thought they were each separate people, instead of two sides of the same person. I think for that reason it would have worked better one-on-one. But it's also a nice read-alike for The Little Bit Scary People by Emily Jenkins, which is a favorite of mine. 

We didn't sing a goodbye song. Instead, I handed out popcorn. I had planned on doing a popcorn action rhyme, but decided it wasn't worth subjecting them to anymore torture. They wanted their popcorn, so that's what they got!