New Blog Features Coming Monday, October 7

As many of you have heard here and on Twitter, today was my last day of work as a children's librarian for the foreseeable future. I have resigned from my position in order to be a stay at home mom to my own little one, who is due on or about November 30. Though I will no longer be performing weekly story times, I have every intention of keeping this blog going. In fact, as my work duties have been winding down, I have been very busy writing up and scheduling a whole backlog of posts. Beginning on Monday, October 7, you will see a series of brand-new features here at Story Time Secrets. Here is a sneak preview of what you can expect.

On Mondays, I'll be sharing various posts about my experiences as a children's librarian, in the hopes that some of the lessons I have learned will be useful to others, especially those just starting out in children's services. These posts will fall into a number of categories:

• Reflections on Library Service
  Each month, I'll provide hints and tips for serving a particular segment of the typical population that visits a public library's children's room.
• At the Children's Desk
  In these posts, I will share various questions I have heard at the reference desk, sometimes with advice on how I would respond to them.
• In the Story Room
  These posts will talk about how I approach story time and why and how I do things the way I do them. As summer approaches, these posts will focus on story time starters for the Fizz Boom Read summer reading theme.
•  Ten Things
  In "Ten Things" posts I will share lists of books, story time activities, and crafts for specific themes, occasions, and/or audiences. 

On the third Monday of each month, instead of posting here, I will be posting at a new collaborative blog, The Library Adventure, where I am a library resources writer. My posts will encompass a variety of topics from crafts, to playing the ukulele, to summer reading printables, and they will be aimed specifically at librarians.

Every Thursday, I will post a review of a picture book. These reviews will include brief summaries, comments on the illustrations, story time suggestions, and reader's advisory information.

As of right now, I have an uninterrupted schedule of posts running from October through early March, so even after the baby comes and I disappear into Mommyland for a bit, you'll still get to hear from me twice a week. I hope you will continue to read, comment, and email me feedback even as the content here changes, and that you'll enjoy all the new posts! Thanks!

Flannel Friday: Knock Knock! Trick or Treat!

Though I am officially no longer employed as a children's librarian as of 5:45 p.m. this afternoon (Friday, 10/4), I still have a flannel board idea to share today. I hope some of you who are doing Halloween story times will be able to use my original rhyme and let me know how the kids enjoy it!

The rhyme goes like this:

Knock knock! Trick or treat!
Behind this door, who will we meet?

Ask the kids to help you choose a door. Behind each door is hidden a Halloween creature. When the creature is revealed, all chant:

A [ghost]! A [ghost]! A spooky spooky [ghost]!

Repeat for as many doors as you'd like. 

Because I have no immediate reason to use this idea, I opted to make it into a Google Drive presentation, rather than a traditional flannel board. The presentation is embedded below. To find out who is hidden behind a given door, click on that door. This will take you to a new slide showing a ghost, witch, mummy, spider, or bat. To return to the doors, click on the individual creature.


Those of you who use iPads or a projector in story time might want to use this presentation as is, but if you'd prefer to adapt it to the traditional flannel format, here are links to the clipart images I used.

• Bat
• Door
• Ghost 
• Mummy
• Spider
• Witch

 This week's Flannel Friday Halloween Extravaganza is hosted by Kay Leigh at Storytime ABC's.

Shoes Preschool Story Time, 9/27/13

Shoes Preschool Story Time, 9/27/13

Last Friday afternoon's Preschool Story Time was my last story time for the foreseeable future. It's still so weird to  think that I won't be planning or performing formal story times for any children other than my own when he or she arrives, but I'm happy to say that this last preschool story time was one of the best. The theme was shoes, and nine kids came with their parents!

Book: Whose Shoes? by Stephen R. Swinburne
The kids were very hesitant to name who wore the ballerina slippers, but by the end of the book, they were throwing out guesses both serious and silly.  (And one adorable little girl kept saying, "I don't know!" and laughing, which was fantastic.

Book: Shoes from Grandpa by Mem Fox
This cumulative story does go for a bit, but the kids seemed mostly into it, and the adults laughed out loud at the somewhat surprising ending. 

Song: Hat Coat Pants and Shoes 
Pregnant ladies should not do this song. That is one reason why I'm glad there are no more story times in my immediate future. Bending over is just not happening!

Clothesline Story: The Case of the Missing Shoe
This rhyming story pretends that the storyteller has lost her shoe. She must look behind various household objects to find it, but each time the shoe found is the wrong color. Finally, the storyteller realizes the shoe has been on her foot the whole time. I told this as a clothesline story, and it went over very well. I plan to share the whole concept in an upcoming Flannel Friday post.

Book: Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes by Eric Litwin
We had  a family of Pete the Cat fans in the room, which made this book even more fun to read than usual. Another family snatched it up after story time and the older son, who is five, had a great time pointing out different things in the illustrations to his mom. 

Coloring Page: Who wears these shoes?

I use the same hello and goodbye songs at almost every session. Click here for the tunes and words. For descriptions of each of my story times, click here.

Rainbow Drop-In Story Time, 9/27/13

 Rainbow Drop-In Story Time, 9/27/13

Friday morning's session was my last drop-in story time before my resignation goes into effect on October 4. Though I am excited for my next chapter in life as a stay at home mom, it was still bittersweet to realize I was doing all of these familiar things for the last time. The theme was colors, and to keep the kids interested, I hid each book behind its corresponding color until it was time to read. Maybe it was because they knew it was my last one, but this group was respectful and quiet, and  they actually listened to every book and participated in every song and rhyme. I'm glad to have ended on such a high note.

Song with ukulele: I Can Sing a Rainbow  
I practiced and practiced this song, but then got nervous and didn't perform it as well as I would have liked. Still, I am proud of myself for trying since it was probably the most complicated song I've tried playing in story time, and it was my last chance to give it a shot!

Book: The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood
I have had mixed results with this book over the years, but today it ended up being a great choice. 

Song: Bumpin’ Up and Down in My Little Red Wagon
I have always liked this song, and the kids got really into the motions. 

Book: Little Green by Keith Baker
I wasn't sure about this book, but I decided to try it and I was glad I did. This seemed to be the book with which the kids were most engaged.

Song with Puppet: I’m a Little Green Frog 
I almost forgot the words to this song, but once I got started, they just kind of came back to me. This is the advantage of doing story time multiple times a week for three years  - some things become second nature!

Book: Have You Seen My New Blue Socks? by Eve Bunting
This book seemed longer than it actually is, which is never a good sign. No one seemed to like it that much, even though I put as much personality into the reading as possible. It's not a good a story time book as I guessed.

Rhyme: Blue is the Lake

Book: This is NOT a Pumpkin by Bob Staake
Since I won't be here for Halloween, I wanted to sneak in just one favorite pumpkin book. I originally intended to tell it with a prop, but decided against it when I realized I had taken all my flannel board pieces home and didn't want to bring just one item back. No one seemed to get the punchline, which was too bad, because they were all paying attention and it usually gets a big laugh. Maybe it's just too early for jack o'lanterns. 

Song with Puppet: Mr. Sun 
This has kind of become my signature song. I will miss the sun puppet - hopefully, I'll be able to buy or make one of my own! 

Song: The Wheels on the Bus

Song: ABCs / Twinkle Twinkle Little Star / Baa Baa Black Sheep


Song: If You're Happy and You Know It

Song: Chickadee
I asked the group to sing this with me because it's one of my favorite story time songs. No one was that into it, which was a disappointment, but I couldn't resist singing it one last time. 

I use the same hello and goodbye songs at almost every session. Click here for the tunes and words. For descriptions of each of my story times, click here.