9 Father/Son Picture Books

Last week, I shared a list of Daddy/Daughter picture books in preparation for Father's Day. Here is a companion list, featuring books about fathers and sons. 

• Daddy Makes the Best Spaghetti
  by Anna Grossnickle Hines
  Corey and his dad get dinner ready while they wait for Mom to come home.
• Enemy Pie
  by Derek Munson & Tara Calahan King
  When a boy appeals to his dad looking for help dealing with an enemy in the neighborhood his father suggests making enemy pie to take care of him once and for all.
• Hush, Little Digger
  by Ellen Olson-Brown & Lee White
  A father sings a lullaby filled with construction vehicles to his young son.
• The Impossible Patriotism Project
  by Linda Skeers & Ard Hoyt
  Caleb find's inspiration for his class's patriotism project in his father, who is deployed.
• Mitchell’s License
  by Hallie Durand & Tony Fucile
  Mitchell's father gives him a license to drive him to bed each night, but he draws the line when Mitchell wants to fuel up at the cookie jar.
• Papa, Do You Love Me?
  by Barbara Joosse & Barbara Lavallee
  A Masai boy repeatedly asks if his father loves him, always receiving a reassuring response.
• Pete’s a Pizza
  by William Steig
  Pete and his dad play a fun game where Pete gets turned into a pizza.
• There, There
  by Sam McBratney
  A father bear helps his son when injuries and other problems disrupt their daily routine.
• Your Daddy Was Just Like You
  by Kelly Bennett & David L. Walker
  A grandmother informs her grandson of all the ways his father was just like him growing up.

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.