Baby Lap Time, 10/5 & 10/6

Attendance is really dwindling from week to the week, to the point that the parents are beginning to comment on it. I'm not sure if it's me, or if that's just the nature of families with babies. I also just feel really boring during these story times. I don't think anyone else feels that way, but it makes me feel awkward. I'm already noting the changes I want to make for next season! Hopefully, I'll get more comfortable with the smaller groups as I have more practice.

Opening Song: Clap Along With Me 

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big  

Rhyme: Where Oh Where Are Baby's Fingers? 

Song: Brown Squirrel 

Flannel Board Rhyme: Five Little Apples
This was great! A bunch of the babies really came out of their shells for this one and let us all know how much they love the flannel board with lots of kicks and shrieks! 

Song: Tony Chestnut (a cappella) 

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: Bumpin' Up and Down in my Little Red Wagon (a cappella)

Shaker Egg Song: Shortnin' Bread

Book: What's On My Head? by Margaret Miller (1998)

Song: Mr. Sun (a cappella)

Song: ABCD Medley

Book: What Does Baby Say? by Begin Smart Books (2008) 

Goodbye Song: Open, Shut Them (Goodbye Version)

Baby/Toddler Story Time,10/4

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Book: A Good Day by Kevin Henkes (2007)
This is the best story time book ever. It has just the right amount of words, and just enough story to keep the interest of kids and adults.

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big

Rhyme: Blue is the Lake

Book: Fall is Not Easy by Marty Kelley (1998)
I love this book, but my audience was very young today - more than half babies - so it didn't quite have the response I expected.

Song: Shake My Sillies Out

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: Hands Are For Clapping

Flannel Board Rhyme: Five Little Acorns
I was sick of apples and leaves, so I kind of pulled lines from a few rhymes and songs to come up with this one. The rest of the month, I'll be doing pumpkins.

(Five) little acorns swaying in a tree,

Hanging from a branch as high as can be.

Along came the wind and blew one away.

(Four) little acorns are left to sway.

Song: One Little Finger 

Song: Tommy Thumb

Song: ABCD Medley

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

A full description of this, and all my weekly story time programs can be found here.

Cybils Nominations 2011

Cybils Nominations are open!

I have been making a mental list of titles I wanted to nominate for the last couple of weeks, and I got them all in there right away. No guarantees that each book is eligible, since this is my first year involved with the Cybils, and they haven't been approved yet, but here is my list, by category. (Category links are to the lists of nominated titles, title links are to my reviews.)

Easy Readers: Back in the Saddle by Catherine Hapka
Early Chapter Books: Invisible Inkling by Emily Jenkins
Middle Grade Science Fiction/Fantasy: Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu
Fiction Picture Books: Shoe-La-La by Karen Beaumont
Middle Grade Graphic Novels: True Things (Adults Don't Want Kids to Know) by Jimmy Gownley
Middle Grade Fiction: One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street by Joanne Rocklin
Middle Grade/YA Non-Fiction: How to Die of Embarrassment Every Day by Ann Hodgman
Poetry: Dear Hot Dog by Mordicai Gerstein
Young Adult Fiction: Back When You Were Easier to Love by Emily Wing-Smith

What will you nominate?

5th Grade Class Visit, 9/30

I have procrastinated all day on posting about my tenth and last library program of  the week. This was my biweekly visit from the 5th grade class at the Catholic school next door to the library. I'm planning to do more activities with them as the year wears on, but until I have some prep time, I've just been reading to them. And they love it.

Today, I started off with Chicken Cheeks by Michael Ian Black and Kevin Hawkes (2009), but it was not nearly as big a hit as I expected. The teacher thought it was hilarious and laughed with me, but the class - 9 boys and 2 girls - wrinkled their noses and told me I was gross. And let me tell you, there is a certain amount of shame that comes with fifth grade boys thinking my butt jokes are disgusting!

But we moved right on to the second book I picked out, Spot the Plot by J. Patrick Lewis, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger (2009), and they absolutely loved it! The book is a series of clues, written as poems, that suggest different well-known children's books. I made sure to have a copy of each of the books mentioned on hand, so that when they guessed right, I could hold up that title, and when they were stumped - as they were by Tacky the Penguin and Ferdinand  - they could see the books they didn't know. All of the kids were involved and engaged and the teacher loved the concept!

Next time, I'm hoping to introduce the group to some reader's theater. I've got a couple of scripts in mind, I just have to make sure they'll work for 11 kids. And I've got two weeks to work on that.