 | The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll Two mice unknowingly care for the same pumpkin in preparation for a contest. |
 | Cranberry Halloween by Wende and Harry Devlin At Halloween, the residents of Cranberryport work together to restore a broken dock. |
 | Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman A witch wants pumpkin pie, but first she must get some help to pull her big pumpkin out of the ground! |
 | Oliver and Amanda's Halloween by Jean van Leeuwen Pig siblings Oliver and Amanda celebrate Halloween in another of their cozy easy readers. |
 | A Fairy-Tale Fall by Apple Jordan The Disney princesses and their friends celebrate Fall and Halloween in their own unique ways. |
 | Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin by Tad Hills Duck and Goose want pumpkins, but they have trouble figuring out where to look. |
 | The Witch Who Lives Down the Hall by Donna Guthrie A young boy is convinced his down-the-hall neighbor is a witch. |
Thursday, October 27, 2011
7 Picture Books About Halloween
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Baby Lap Time, 10/26 & 10/27
This is the last week of Baby Lap Time for the Fall, and I'm actually kind of sad to see it go. I will be glad not to be doing quite so many programs in a week, but this program was something I devoted a lot of time and energy to, and it went by much more quickly than I expected. Here's what we did today (and will do twice more tomorrow) for our last session:
Opening Song: Clap Along With Me
Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big
Rhyme: Where Oh Where Are Baby's Fingers?
Song: Tony Chestnut
Book: Hello, Toucan by DwellStudio (2011)
A nice, new lift-the-flap book about the rainforest. Bold illustrations and simple text which greets each rainforest animal at the start of a new day.
Song: Head and Shoulders
Song: Bumpin' Up and Down in my Little Red Wagon
Book: Dress Up Peekaboo! by Charlie Gardner, Dave King, and Rachael Parfitt (2007)
I thought this would work well in the week leading up to Halloween. This is one of my favorite baby books.
Shaker Egg Song: Shortnin' Bread
Flannel Board Song: Five Little Pumpkins
Song: Brown Squirrel
Song: The Itsy-Bitsy Spider
Song: Mr. Sun
Song: ABCD Medley
Goodbye Song: Open, Shut Them (Goodbye Version)
Check back tomorrow for my lap time wrap-up post!
Opening Song: Clap Along With Me
Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big
Rhyme: Where Oh Where Are Baby's Fingers?
Song: Tony Chestnut
A nice, new lift-the-flap book about the rainforest. Bold illustrations and simple text which greets each rainforest animal at the start of a new day.
Song: Head and Shoulders
Song: Bumpin' Up and Down in my Little Red Wagon
I thought this would work well in the week leading up to Halloween. This is one of my favorite baby books.
Shaker Egg Song: Shortnin' Bread
Flannel Board Song: Five Little Pumpkins
Song: Brown Squirrel
Song: The Itsy-Bitsy Spider
Song: Mr. Sun
Song: ABCD Medley
Goodbye Song: Open, Shut Them (Goodbye Version)
Check back tomorrow for my lap time wrap-up post!
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Baby/Toddler Story Time, 10/25
Story time attendance has been really strange these last few weeks. I had hardly anyone at 10:00 or 10:30, and then something like 50 kids at 11:00. This is today's repertoire:
Opening Song: Hello, how are you?
Book: Don't Climb Out of the Window Tonight by Richard McGilvray, illustrated by Alan Snow (1993)
This book is silly enough to avoid truly scaring kids, but scary enough to read at Halloween. I think my favorite part is when it rains monsters.
Rhyme: One Little Ghost
I have a school group that attends the 11:00 story time sometimes, and they absolutely love this rhyme.
Song: Itsy-Bitsy Spider
Book: The I'm Not Scared Book by Todd Parr (2011)
I feel somewhat awkward reading books with touchy-feely messages like this one, but I know a lot of other children's librarians who love Todd Parr, so occasionally, I read one of his books. I think the best part of this book for today's audience was the bright colored illustrations.
Song: I'm a Little Teapot
Song: Head and Shoulders
Song: Hands Are For Clapping
Book: Pumpkin Heads by Wendell Minor
I love Wendell Minor's illustrations, and this book has just the right number of words for toddlers.
Song: One Little Monster
Flannel Board Song: Five Little Pumpkins
Song: Tommy Thumb (sessions 2 and 3 only)
Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This
Opening Song: Hello, how are you?
This book is silly enough to avoid truly scaring kids, but scary enough to read at Halloween. I think my favorite part is when it rains monsters.
Rhyme: One Little Ghost
I have a school group that attends the 11:00 story time sometimes, and they absolutely love this rhyme.
Song: Itsy-Bitsy Spider
I feel somewhat awkward reading books with touchy-feely messages like this one, but I know a lot of other children's librarians who love Todd Parr, so occasionally, I read one of his books. I think the best part of this book for today's audience was the bright colored illustrations.
Song: I'm a Little Teapot
Song: Head and Shoulders
Song: Hands Are For Clapping
I love Wendell Minor's illustrations, and this book has just the right number of words for toddlers.
Song: One Little Monster
Flannel Board Song: Five Little Pumpkins
Song: Tommy Thumb (sessions 2 and 3 only)
Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This
Monday, October 24, 2011
Preschool Story Time (Bats Theme), 10/24
What a disaster. This story time worked really well for a few weeks, so I thought the issue was resolved, but today was terrible! I don't even know what to attribute it to, except that the intended audience was preschoolers, and the audience that actually participated was mostly babies and toddlers. This meant that at the last minute, I had to alter my entire repertoire to suit the age group, and it looked like a mess. I also didn't have an extra book on hand to fit the theme (which is why I always insist that I don't do themes), so I ended up reading at least one book that was in no way appropriate for the age group. In any case, in the interest of someone maybe finding it useful, here is my bat story time. I'll include what I intended to do, and then some notes on what I actually did.
Opening Song: Hello, how are you?
Song: If You'd Like to Read a Book
Book: Bats at the Library by Brian Lies (2008)
I don't know how anyone could have no reaction to this book, but that's what I got. Blank faces.
Rhyme: One Little Ghost
Book: Hello, Bumblebee Bat! by Darrin Lunde, illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne (2007)
I would definitely use this book again. It got the most attention of any of the three I read today.
Song: Flap, Flap, Flap Little Bats
(I looked at the group and realized most of them couldn't even stand up yet. So I reverted to a toddler story time favorite and did Shake My Sillies Out instead. No one - neither child, nor adult - did the motions with me.)
Song: Horns and Fangs, Knees and Claws
(There was no way babies were doing this one, either, so we did Hands Are For Clapping.)
Book: Stellaluna by Janell Cannon (1993)
It was really masochistic for me to read this, knowing what the outcome would be. Most people in the room didn't even notice that I was reading, and I had to compete with conversations, crying babies, and at least one mom who was reading a different book to her child. But I kept reading, with as much enthusiasm as I could muster for the one little boy in the front row who seemed engrossed, and to prove the point that the age limits exist for a reason. By the end, most of the nannies with babies seemed to get the idea, but it was a total waste of a story time session, and I never want to have another one like it ever again.
Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This
With the correct age group, I have no doubt this would have been a great story time. In fact, I'm now considering revamping my story time schedule to eliminate this session altogether and instead shift to a preschool/school-age story time on Thursdays, similar to the Halloween one I did last week.
Find more bat story times on these other sites:
A full description of this, and all my weekly story time programs can be found here.
Opening Song: Hello, how are you?
Song: If You'd Like to Read a Book
I don't know how anyone could have no reaction to this book, but that's what I got. Blank faces.
Rhyme: One Little Ghost
I would definitely use this book again. It got the most attention of any of the three I read today.
Song: Flap, Flap, Flap Little Bats
(I looked at the group and realized most of them couldn't even stand up yet. So I reverted to a toddler story time favorite and did Shake My Sillies Out instead. No one - neither child, nor adult - did the motions with me.)
Song: Horns and Fangs, Knees and Claws
(There was no way babies were doing this one, either, so we did Hands Are For Clapping.)
It was really masochistic for me to read this, knowing what the outcome would be. Most people in the room didn't even notice that I was reading, and I had to compete with conversations, crying babies, and at least one mom who was reading a different book to her child. But I kept reading, with as much enthusiasm as I could muster for the one little boy in the front row who seemed engrossed, and to prove the point that the age limits exist for a reason. By the end, most of the nannies with babies seemed to get the idea, but it was a total waste of a story time session, and I never want to have another one like it ever again.
Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This
With the correct age group, I have no doubt this would have been a great story time. In fact, I'm now considering revamping my story time schedule to eliminate this session altogether and instead shift to a preschool/school-age story time on Thursdays, similar to the Halloween one I did last week.
Find more bat story times on these other sites:
A full description of this, and all my weekly story time programs can be found here.
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