Baby Lap Time, 4/8

Baby Lap Time did not have a theme this week.  I just picked some books, and basically stuck with the same songs as last week. Not too many babies actually attended, and we had a lot of preschoolers who lingered after the 10:00 preschool story time and came to this one as well. In all, there were around 15 children, each with an adult.

I'm learning that babies pay much more attention to the books than toddlers. I think I could have read three more and they'd have been just as happy.

Opening Song: If You're Happy And You Know It

Song:  Clap Along With Me

Book: I Love Trucks by Philemon Sturges, illustrated by Shari Halpern (2001, Harper Collins)

A little boy playing with toy trucks in a sandbox sings the praises of every kind of truck imaginable. His favorite truck? The ice cream truck, of course! Bold colors against a  white background make this book a really appealing thing for babies to look at. And of course, the toddlers in the group can't  resist trucks, especially after many of them attended my transportation-themed Baby/Toddler story time on Tuesday.

Song: Open, Shut Them

Wee Sing for Baby has a version of this, but it's a little bit different than the one I know, so I just sing it on on my own. 

Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider

Another sing-along. The moms and nannies know this one well, so I use it to really get them involved.

Rhyme: Here is the Beehive

Book: Big Fat Hen by Keith Baker (1999, Sandpiper)

I have become such a fan of 1, 2, Buckle My Shoe lately. I love Anna Grossnickle Hines's version, but it was checked out, so I went hunting for another one, and now I think I love Big Fat Hen even more. The illustrations are huge and inviting, which is great for baby eyes, and there is actually a lot going on in the pictures that would also make it a good title for one-on-one reading with slightly older kids. The numbers in the rhyme correspond to the number of various insects, as  well as the number of eggs waiting to hatch on each page. And at the end, we get to see a big fat hen, all of her friends, and their many, many chicks. A great twist on the original nursery time, and definitely my favorite of the three books we did today. And I remembered to linger over each page, and let the babies take everything in, which is something I've been working on, so that made me feel good.

Song: Old MacDonald Had a Farm

We have a recording that I use on Tuesdays, but for this one I just sang and used puppets. We sang about the cow, horse, chicken, cat, and dog.)

Song: Where is Thumbkin?

Book: Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett (2008, Simon & Schuster)

I am new to Emily Gravett's books, but they're growing on me. Despite the grammar issue in this book (it should really be Monkey and I!), the repetitive story of a girl and her stuffed monkey going to see various other wild animals, such as penguins, kangaroos, and elephants, is very sweet. I especially love the subtle way the illustrations set us up for the animals - in every other illustration, the little girl mimics the behavior of  the animal that is then shown on the next page. Perfect for babies - and toddlers, too.

Song: One, Two, I Love You (Numbers Are Our Friends)

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes

Song: The Wheels on the Bus

Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

6 Diary Books for Kids

 

I used to keep a pretty detailed journal, from age 13 to about 21. I've always been fascinated by what people write in a diary, and there are so many children's and YA books written in that format. Here are some of my favorites:
  

• A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal 1830-32
  (Middle Grade)
  by Joan W. Blos
  Fourteen-year-old Catherine Cabot Hill relates the events of a pivotal year in her life, when her father remarries and her best friend dies. I remember very few of the details of this book, since I read it only once, when I was 12, but I'm including it today because I remember it as one of the most readable historical fiction novels, and the one that got me interested in the genre, when previously I wouldn't touch them. 
• Dear Dumb Diary: Let's Pretend This Never Happened
  (Middle Grade)
  by Jim Benton
  This is the first volume in a series about middle schooler Jamie Kelly. She uses sarcasm and a sense of humor to battle the usual dramas of preteenhood. It's hard to find funny books for girls, but this series fits the bill. 
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
  (Young Adult)
  by Sherman Alexie
  Junior, a 14-year-old Spokane Indian who was born with water on the brain explores his cultural identity after he is given the opportunity to attend a white school off the reservation where he has grown up. This book is funny and heartbreaking at the same time. Great little drawings illustrate Junior's sense of humor as he relates the events of his life. Sherman Alexie is a brilliant writer, and I recommend this semi-autobiographical book very highly. 
• Kindergarten Diary
  (Picture Book)
  by Antoinette Portis
  Five-year-old Annalina, who is nervous about starting "Big School," keeps a diary during the month of September that shows how she slowly gets used to her new routine in kindergarten. Her class's mantra is "We are room 2K. We are fine!" This is a really good book for playing up the positive side of going to school and calming the nerves of nervous newbies. 
• Diary of a Fly
  (Picture Book)
  by Doreen Cronin; pictures by Harry Bliss
  Written from a fly's point of view, this book gives us an idea of what it might be like to be an insect. It's laugh-out-loud funny, even for adults! 
• Keena Ford and the Secret Journal Mix-Up
  (Chapter Book)
  by Melissa Thomson
  After Keena accidentally leaves her journal at Tiffany Harris's house, she is forced to switch over to a notebook borrowed from her teacher. Tiffany refuses to give back the journal and instead blackmails Keena into doing favors for her by threatening to share Keena's secrets with their classmates. A good one for readers just starting to get into chapter books.

Baby/Toddler Story Time, 4/5

I had a lot of transportation books hanging around my desk this week, so I combined them into a themed story time. Both sessions were identical with the exception of one song. Session one had about 20 children, and session two had 32.

Opening song: Hello song
For the verses, we clapped our hands, tapped our heads, and wiggled our fingers.

Song: The Wheels on the Bus

Song: Drive, Drive, Drive Your Car (session 1); If You'd Like to Read a Book (session 2)

Book: The Bus for Us by Suzanne Bloom

The text on every page of this story is the same. A little girl named Tess asks, "Is this the bus for us, Gus?" The illustration shows just the bumper of a vehicle, and the audience has the chance to guess whether they think it's a bus or something else. After a taxi, a garbage truck, an ice cream truck, and various other vehicles pass by, the bus finally arrives and Gus says, "Let's go!" During the first session, there wasn't much of a reaction to this book, but the second group applauded when the bus arrived.

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

Book: Trucks Go Pop by Bob Staake

This is a really short pop-up book with not many words, but it was neat and a great crowd-pleaser. Some of  the details - like the slow truck being labeled "molasses" and the "green" truck being used for recycling - would be better viewed up close, and only funny for the adults or older kids, but it's fun to share a pop-up book every now and then. I was very careful to hide it between sessions, and afterwards, though, because toddlers and pop-up books don't mix up close.

Song: Five in the Truck
This song was a bomb the first session, and a wonderful hit during the second. I brought out my stuffed hen both times, and that seemed to get the kids' attention, but I wish I'd had a truck or a feltboard to go with it. If I keep using this one, I'll have to make one.

Song: Old MacDonald Had a Farm

Book: Down by the Station by Jennifer Riggs Vetter, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz

This book takes the traditional "Down by the Station" song and extrapolates it to include all other types of transportation, from buses, to trucks, to construction vehicles, to airplanes, and rockets. Animals take the place of people as drivers, passengers, and workers. I sang the entire book, and really enjoyed the positive reactions people had to it.  I would definitely do it again.

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: One, Two, I Love You (Numbers Are Our Friends)

Book: Window Music by Anastasia Suen, illustrated by Wade Zahares

I never do 4 books, but this week we had the pop-up, and one book that was more like a song with pictures, so I went for broke. This book shows what a passenger on a train might see from her window, and also introduces some of the sounds associated with travel by train. One little girl in the first session loved it so much, she  repeated every line after me - for that alone, it was worth it. 

Song: Monkeys on the Bed

Closing song: Skinnamarink

Baby Lap Time, 4/1

I had never worked with babies at all before this job, so even though I have been doing this program for a month now, I still get pretty nervous beforehand. Previously, I was handing out song sheets and adhering pretty strictly to the order they were printed in, but this week, I changed things a little bit and used a format similar to my Baby/Toddler Story Time on Tuesday. It worked very, very well, and I felt a lot more at ease.

Opening song: If You're Happy and You Know It
This is a really great, upbeat version of this song, but our CD player started skipping so we had to ditch the recording halfway through and finish singing on our own. Thankfully, I remembered the last two verses - beep your nose, and shout hooray.

Book: Pots and Pans by Patricia Hubbell, illustrated by Diane DeGroat

I love Patricia Hubbell books for babies and toddlers, and this one is especially great because of all the wonderful crashing and banging sounds. The book is a lot more fun than listening to actual banging on pots and pans!






Song: Open, Shut Them

Open (hold up hands)
Shut them (close hands)
Open (hold up hands)
Shut them (close hands)
Give a little clap, clap, clap (clap three times)
Open (hold up hands)
Shut them (make two fists)
Open (hold up hands)
Shut them (make two fists)
Lay them in your lap, lap, lap (pat knees three times)
Creep them, creep them, (creep fingers up to your chin)
creep them, creep them
right up to your chin, chin, chin (tap chin)
Open wide your little mouth (open mouth)
But do not let them in (hide fingers behind back)

Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider

Rhyme: Here is the Beehive

Here is the beehive (make a fist)
Where are the bees?
Hidden away where nobody sees. (shake head)
Wait, and  you'll see them
Come out of  the hive
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (hold up one finger at a time)
Bzzzzz! (wiggle fingers and/or tickle baby)


Book: I'm a Baby, You're a Baby by Lisa Kopper

This book is older (1995) but was absolutely perfect for this group. The refrain "I'm a baby, you're a baby" repeats on every other page. Facing pages show various animal babies. We made the sounds for each animal, and every baby in the room was clearly engaged. 









Song: Old MacDonald Had a Farm (no CD, just me singing!)


Song: Where is Thumbkin?

Song: One, Two, I Love You (Numbers Are Our Friends)

Book: Sleepy, Oh So Sleepy by Denise Fleming

Different wild animal babies are oh so sleepy, but where is mommy's sleepy little baby? She's hiding at the end of the book, with a big yawn and a stuffed monkey. Some more really good repetition in this one, and beautiful, colorful illustrations that drew the kids right in. Some of  the moms got into it, too, and started to read the repeated parts along with me.






Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: Clap Along With Me


Song: Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes


Song: Tony Chestnut Knows I Love You
This is a song I've been wanting to do forever, and I finally got the guts today. Some of the moms said it was cute, so I think we'll probably do it again next time. 

(Point to each body part as it is said.)
Toe, knee, chest, nut
nose eye love you.
Toe knee nose.
Toe knee nose.
Toe, knee, chest, nut
nose eye love you.
That's what toe knee nose.


Song: ABC's
I have been looking for a good recording of  the alphabet song for a long time, but finally decided we'd just sing it all together. Next time, I might include ASL signs for the letters, if I get really brave.

Song: Goodbye

We wave goodbye like this.
We wave goodbye like this.
We clap our hands for all our friends.
We wave goodbye like this.