Saturday Story Time: Chicks & Bunnies, 4/9

Saturday Story Time is not a regular occurrence in my library branch, since we are often so short-staffed, but we have a lot of demand for it, so I'm trying to commit to doing one a month. This was our first one, with a theme of Chicks & Bunnies. I planned two sessions, thinking that this would be a really popular program, but I had two small groups: eight kids in session one at 10:00am, and ten kids in session two at 11:00am.

Opening song: Hello song
For the verses, we clapped our hands and made bunny ears with our fingers.

Rhyme: Flowers Tall and Small

Rhyme: Here is the Beehive

I'm getting tired of these two; it might be time for some new five-finger rhymes.

Song: Monkeys on the Bed

Song: If You'd Like to Read a Book (session 2 only - session 1 was mostly babies, and they seemed restless, so I skipped it)

Book: Wee Little Chick by Lauren Thompson, illustrated by John Butler

This book is adorable. I know it's lame to say books are cute and not say anything more constructive about them, but this one really is absolutely adorable. The wee little chick is the littlest chick in his family, but that doesn't stop him from walking tall, peeping loudly, and finding the biggest seed in the farm yard. I chose this book not only because it went with the theme, but because of the warm and gentle depictions of the various farm animals - especially the pig. Illustrator John Butler manages to humanize the animals without making them look like people, which seems like a really impressive feat to me. If you like this one, also try Wee Little Lamb and Wee Little Bunny by the same author.

Song: Old MacDonald Had a Farm

Flannel Board Rhyme: I went to visit the farm one day...

My cow for the flannel board mysteriously disappeared between sessions, so I was sans cow for session two. I hope she resurfaces, as she is the first animal mentioned on our CD's version of Old MacDonald!

Book: Whose Chick Are You? by Nancy Tafuri



I really like Nancy Tafuri's books because she draws from a really neat perspective, making me feel like I'm right inside whatever setting she depicts right along with the animals. In this book, an unidentified egg hatches and neither the chicken nor the duck nor the goose nor the bird can figure out who the gray little chick inside belongs to. But the swan mother knows, because it's her baby! This is a toddler-friendly version of The Ugly Duckling, with a theme similar to P.D. Eastman's classic Are You My Mother?

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

Song: Where is Thumbkin?

Rhyme: Hop Your Bunny
I adapted this from a rhyme called Dance Your Fingers.  I first heard it on Wee Sing for Baby.

Hop your bunny up, 

Hop your bunny down,

Hop your bunny to the side,

Hop him all around.

Hop him on your shoulder,

Hop him on your head,

Hop him on your tummy,

And then put him to bed.
(Make bunny ears with two fingers, then follow the rhyme's directions. For "put him to bed" I just lay the "bunny" down on the palm of my opposite hand.)

Book: The Golden Egg Book by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Leonard Weisgard




I couldn't resist this oldie but goodie. I loved the Golden books as a kid, and once I found out this book didn't mention Easter, I realized it was perfect to share in a public library story time. It's a bit on the long side for babies and toddlers, but they seemed to like it anyway. A rabbit finds an egg and just knows there is something inside it. All attempts to make it come out are unsuccessful, so the bunny falls asleep. Then the egg hatches, and the duck who pops out wonders why this bunny won't wake up. A sweet story of friendship, which got an "awww" from a couple of moms. This would have been perfect with a preschool audience. It also reminded me somewhat of The Poky Little Puppy.

Song: The Wheels on the Bus

Closing song: Skinnamarink

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