At the Children’s Desk: “Can you find me this Rainbow Magic fairy?”

Who can resist those beautifully colored Rainbow Magic paperbacks? Though they are beginning chapter books intended to be read independently, they are just as popular with the preschool set as with second graders, even though the preschoolers can’t read a word of them. Now and then, one such excited preschooler will come running to the children’s desk, plop down a book, point to one of the fairies on the back cover and say, “Do you have her?”

The first time I got this question, I was stricken like a deer in headlights. All the fairies look the same! I thought. How am I supposed to know if we have her?! I could have sent my little patron back to the shelf and forced her to look through every book until she found the fairy wearing the exact outfit that had struck her fancy. But even a four-year-old with a fairy fascination deserves good library service, so that’s not what I did. Instead, I asked my little friend if I could see the book. I flipped it over to find out which of the many groups of fairies the one she was looking for belonged to.

Thankfully, the Rainbow Magic series is pretty clearly labeled, so the front cover makes it clear which series we’re talking about. I’m equally thankful that Rainbow Magic has such a visual website. The next thing I did was type in rainbowmagiconline.com and find the series we were interested in. I allowed the preschooler to stand beside me while I looked so she could see the fairies as well. As soon as I found the right set of fairies, she pointed at the one she had in mind. I typed her name into the catalog and from there, we were able to locate the correct book.

I really wish I had a good enough memory and enough time to memorize the hair color, wand, and style of dress of each of the hundreds of fairies created by the pseudonymous Daisy Meadows, because nothing would make me more popular with preschoolers than the ability to name them on demand, but until that day comes, this system is pretty foolproof, too.

Flannel Friday: Who is Tapping at my Window?

This week, I am sharing another flannel board idea based on a poem I recently read to my daughter. It is entitled "Who is Tapping at my Window?" and was written by A.G. Deming. It can be found in A Child's Book of Poems by Gyo Fujikawa, and thanks to Google Books, you can read it online.

I like this poem as a read-aloud because it's very repetitive and has a strong rhythm that becomes really obvious when speaking the words out loud. It also reinforces kids' understanding of familiar animals (dog, cat, hen), but also introduces a few that kids might not know about (hare, cony, wren).

The clipart images I used in the Google Drive presentation below all come from kizclub.com. Many were in the flashcards and clipart sections, but for a few, I had to comb through the story props section. Also, they didn't have a wren or a cony, so I used a generic bird and a rabbit. I added in speech bubbles as well, but I would definitely consider those optional.


This poem works well for an animal theme or weather theme, or just as an easy way to slip some poetry into story time. Find my animal-themed story times here, and my rain-themed story times here.

Today's Flannel Friday round-up is hosted by Lisa at Thrive After Three. For more on Flannel Friday, visit the official website.

Ten Valentine's Day Activities for Beginning Readers

One of my favorite holidays to celebrate in library programs is Valentine’s Day, especially with elementary students. Today’s “Ten Things” post focuses on Valentine’s Day themed activities to share with beginning readers.

• Read It’s Valentine’s Day by Jack Prelutsky.
  The poems in this book are short, funny, clever, and easy to read. They celebrate the fun of Valentine’s Day without being too sappy, and they focus on the day-to-day events that are important in the lives of early elementary kids.  
• Make a Valentine word cloud.
  Ask kids which words they associate with Valentine’s Day and make a list on a posterboard heart. If they’re slow to open up, start the list for them, then watch as their brains begin to make connections. Soon, they’ll be shouting out everything from “Ew, kissing!” to “I have a boyfriend!”
• Write conversation hearts.
  Provide a sheet of blank hearts and have the kids write messages to their friends, family members, even their pets. For added fun, provide some actual candy hearts to eat while they write.
• Do a choral reading of Will You Be My Valentine? 
  Provide each child with a copy of this wonderful printable easy reader created by Kathy Romano and Christina Murphy. Read it aloud as a group, using the illustrations as clues to help decode each animal’s name. Have the kids add to the story using their own favorite animals.
• Draw a Valentine portrait.
  Ask the kids to choose who would they like to be their Valentine, and have them draw a picture of that person. Help them write a few sentences describing their Valentine. 
• Write messages in Valentine cards.
  There’s always room for making good old-fashioned Valentines! Provide lots of art materials, if that’s your style, or simply provide plain paper and colored pencils. Be on hand to help kids spell the names of their friends, or to help kids brainstorm what they’d like to say to the people they love. 
• Read Valentines from fictional characters.
  Write up a set of Valentine cards addressed to well-known characters from their friends. Have the kids guess who each one is from. (Some suggestions for fictional pairs who might exchange cards can be found here.)
• Match rhyming words - one on each half of a heart.
  Create a set of hearts in Word or Publisher. Print rhyming words onto both halves of each heart, then cut them apart and laminate. Have the kids try to match up the broken hearts by finding matching rhymes. 
• Make a love list.
  Kids can practice writing with this simple list activity from Apples and ABCs, which provides an opportunity for the child to write the names of everyone he loves. (I originally found the idea via Pinterest.)
• Play Bag of Verbs (Hearts Edition).
  One of my favorite activities to do with beginning readers is “Bag of Verbs.” This is just a brown paper bag filled with action words. Kids each have a turn to draw from the bag, and everyone acts out each motion. To make it more festive for the holiday, simply print your verbs on paper hearts, or write them on foam hearts with a Sharpie.

LibraryAdventure.com: Ten Passive Library Programs for Tweens

Having trouble getting attendance for your tween programs? Try one of the ten passive program ideas I'm sharing today at The Library Adventure.