Story Time Music: Extension Songs (and Rhymes)

Welcome back to my continuing series on story time music. All the previous posts in this series can be read here. Last week, my post was all about the opening sequence of story time. Today, I'll look at using songs and rhymes to extend the story time experience beyond the pages of a book.

Though it’s not always possible to find a song or rhyme to accompany every book I read at story time, I do like to find songs and rhymes that extend the reading experience whenever possible. If I read a book that introduces colors, I might then sing a song about a rainbow, or present a flannel board about coloring with different-colored crayons. If my book involves counting, I’ll follow it up with a song about “five little somethings” or a counting fingerplay. Not only does this help kids internalize the information they’ve heard in a given story; it also makes it easy for me to choose which of the many songs and rhymes in my archives I will use at a given session. While I think it’s great to repeat some songs at every story time, or at least regularly for a number of sessions, it’s also nice to have some variety and to match books with thematically related activities, even if the overall story time does not have a theme.

There are tons of extension songs and rhymes out there on the internet, and they can vary greatly in quality. The best ones seem to have the following:

• Natural-sounding rhythm and rhyme. Songs shouldn't attempt to squeeze too many syllables into a line and they shouldn't use particular words just because they rhyme. Each word should make sense and clearly belong to the song.
• Accurate and relevant information. Songs should reinforce correct information from the books, instead of making things up just to create a cute song. (Penguins don't fly for example, so a flying bird song doesn't work in a penguin theme.) 
• A catchy tune. Since audience participation is a key part of story time, it helps to find songs that have familiar tunes, or at least tunes that are easy to learn after just a few repetitions. Sometimes it might help to write your own piggyback songs based on the tunes your groups know best. (Check out my post on writing piggyback songs for more information!)
• Motions, sounds, or other ways to encourage interaction. Story time audiences stay engaged when their contribution matters! Find songs with simple motions for the kids to act out, and teach them how to make the movements. 
• Versatility. While it's great to find a perfect song that suits an obscure theme, it is much better to find a song that will suit a variety of themes so your groups can learn it once and sing it many times over. I like Chickadee, for example, because it works for multiple themes: birds, spring, flying, counting, and happiness.  

A long list of thematically organized extension activities that I have pulled from various sources can be found on my wiki.  Feel free to share your favorite resources for extension songs and rhymes in comments!

Next week, I'll be focusing on getting the wiggles out with movement songs and stretches.

LibraryAdventure.com: 7 Qualities of Awesome Children's Librarians

My latest post at The Library Adventure is dedicated to awesome children's librarians everywhere. Check it out - and give a shout-out to your favorite librarians in the comments!

Picture Book Review: Hooray for Bread by Allan Ahlberg and Bruce Ingman (2013)

The story of a loaf of bread is told slice by slice and crumb by crumb in this well-written rhyming picture book. Bruce Ingman’s pictures use an interesting color palette, wherein some parts of each image are pink, red, and white, and others are drawn in full color. The colors give the book an overall cheerful look, which matches its celebratory tone, and the cartoonish figures look a bit like a child’s own illustrations.

My favorite page in the whole book is when the baker’s wife and the baby visit the duck pond and throw breadcrumbs to the ducks. Ingman perfectly captures the frenzied movements of the ducks as they paddle excitedly toward the bread crumbs, and the paint strokes he uses to convey the rippling water are perfect. I also love the illustration of the interior of the entire house at night, showing every member of the family in his or her bed.

If your family, like mine, bakes its own bread, this book will be a natural choice for sharing as a read-aloud. The story will also appeal to fans of Ahlberg’s other books, written both on his own and with his wife, and those who like Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s Little Pea, Spoon, and Chopsticks.

9 Daddy/Daughter Picture Books

With Father's Day just a few weeks away, now is a great time to start reading these daddy/daughter picture books. (Check back next week for a list of father/son books.)

• Apples to Oregon
  by Deborah Hopkinson & Nancy Carpenter
  Delicious and her siblings travel across country in a covered wagon, doing everything they can to ensure the successful delivery of her father's fruit trees to their new home in Oregon. 
• Has Anyone Seen My Emily Greene?
  by Norma Fox Mazer & Christine Davenier
  It's time for lunch, but where is Emily Greene? Her father pretends not to see her as the two engage in a silly game of hide-and-seek. 
• Higher! Higher!
  by Leslie Patricelli
  A little girl climbs on the swing and asks her dad for a push. He pushes her so high, she flies all the way up to space. 
• Interrupting Chicken
  by David Ezra Stein
  Chicken loves listening to Papa read at bedtime, but she just can't help interrupting to add her own exciting endings to each of the stories.
• Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale
  by Mo Willems
  Trixie and her dad are having a fun time on their trip to the laundromat until Knuffle Bunny gets left behind. 
• Lola Loves Stories
  by Anna McQuinn & Rosalind Beardshaw
  Lola's dad takes her to the library every Saturday, inspiring a week's worth of make-believe play for his daughter.
• Owl Moon
  by Jane Yolen & John Schoenherr
  A young girl and her dad go owling together in the woods on a cold winter night. 
• Please, Papa
  by Kate Banks & Gabi Swiatkowska
  Alice's toy farm is missing a horse. When she says, "Please," her father happily becomes the horse himself. 
• Ten Nine Eight
  by Molly Bang
  A little girl and her father count down to bedtime as they go through their nightly routine.