Story Time Music: Saying Hello

For the past few weeks, I have been sharing my experiences using music at story time. I have posted about recorded music, a cappella singing, and live music, but I have yet to say very much about the specifics of choosing story time songs. Today, I'd like to share my thoughts on the hello songs (and rhymes) librarians use to open a story time session.

Whether you start story time with a song or a rhyme, the opening activity is a crucial part of the session. Your opening routine represents the first impression you make on your audience, and also your opportunity to set the tone for story time and get everyone’s attention. In my opinion, a great hello song or rhyme includes a greeting to the audience and a set of simple motions for the audience to imitate. The greeting lets everyone know that this song marks the start of story time, and also welcomes the group to the library. The motions encourage everyone to begin paying attention, and to look to you to lead them through the story time experience. I also think it’s important to repeat the same hello song week after week so the audience becomes conditioned to associate it with the start of story time.

Here are some of my favorite hello songs:

• Hello, How Are You? is great for really large groups, classroom visits, and mixed age groups. I always have the kids wave during the first verse, then I choose motions for subsequent verses based on the age and activity level of the kids. I have had many families tell me that this hello song has become their children's favorite song.
• Say Hello is a good choice for small groups where there is time to greet every child by name. I used to use this song quite a lot in baby story times, until the groups got a bit too large, and the hello song started taking up half the session. If you're new to your library, or just have a new group of kids, this song will help you learn names quickly.
• This is the Way We Wave Hello is a short and sweet hello song that works really well with babies and toddlers. For this one, I never vary the motions I ask the kids to do. I find that repeating the exact same motions week to week encourages the kids to learn them and perform them along with me. 
• Say Hello to Your Toes is another short and sweet opening song that works best with babies. Parents and caregivers can hold the kids in their laps and point to each part of the body as it is mentioned. I like this song because it sets a tone for lap time wherein parent/child interaction is the central focus.

With preschoolers, and at class visits, I also like to sing a second song after the opener, which is usually If You’d Like to Read a Book. While the hello song signals that we have started, this song reminds the kids that we’re about to hear a story, and, because I ask them to “whisper hooray” at the end of the song, it gets them into that quiet place where they’re ready to hear what I’m about to read.

How do you open your story time sessions? Share your favorite hello songs and rhymes in comments! Check back next week for my thoughts on extension songs.

8 Mother/Son Picture Books

Last week, I shared a list of mother/daughter picture books in anticipation of Mother's Day. Here is the companion list, featuring books about mothers and sons.

• Are You Awake?
  by Sophie Blackall
  At bedtime, Edward asks his mother a million questions instead of going to sleep.
•  I Wanna Iguana
  by Karen Orloff & David Catrow
  Alex and his mother write a series of notes back and forth debating over whether Alex should have an iguana.
• Llama Llama Mad at Mama
  by Anna Dewdney
  Llama Llama has a tantrum during a trip to the grocery store.
• Mother Mother I Want Another
  by Maria Polushkin Robbins & Jon Goodell
  A young mouse asks his mother for another kiss, but she thinks he wants another mother, so all the animal moms in the neighborhood drop by to say goodnight.
• Pig Pig Grows Up
  by David McPhail
  Pig Pig's mother wants him to start growing up, but Pig Pig is pleased to continue being the baby.
• Please Baby Please
  by Spike Lee, Tonya Lewis Lee, & Kadir Nelson
  A mother pleads with her busy toddler to slow down and calm down as their busy day goes by.
• Runaway Bunny
  by Margaret Wise Brown & Clement Hurd
  A rabbit mother explains to her son that no matter where he goes, she will always love him, and will always find a way to be with him.
• Tell Me The Day Backwards
  by Albert Lamb & David McPhail
  At bedtime, a little bear and his mother recount the events of their day, all the way back to the moment they awoke from hibernating all winter long.

Library Adventure.com Interview: Meet Sharon Chastain, Children's Librarian

The Library Adventure has launched a new series of monthly interviews with library professionals. In today's post, I interview Children's Librarian Sharon Chastain.

Story Time Music: Live from Story Time!

This is my third post in a series on story time music. The first post was all about recorded music, and the second one focused on a cappella singing. Today, I'll take things a step further with my reflections on playing live music at my story time sessions.

One of the things I have learned about myself in this profession is that I am always eager for a new challenge and always interested in outdoing myself. When my husband gave me a ukulele for my birthday in 2011, I knew it was only a matter of time before I'd bring it to story time. It took me about 9 months to feel comfortable actually performing in front of a group, but from the very first ukulele story time I did, I could tell it was a great idea. Here's what I observed when I began to play the ukulele in story time.

• Adults were more likely to listen because they respected my singing and playing as a performance, rather than just another routine part of story time.
• The ukulele was a great attention-getter in story times where my audiences were losing focus.
• Kids were drawn to the ukulele, and often pretended to strum along with me, or even tried to touch my strings. They also lined up to see the ukulele after story time.
• I didn't need to have a set of motions for every song because listening to me strum was entertainment enough.
• I could still adjust songs to suit my needs and use piggyback songs, but there was something a little bit more special about playing the ukulele, instead of just singing on my own.

I didn't replace every a cappella song with a ukulele performance, because that would be overkill, but I found that a blend of a cappella singing and ukulele strumming worked best for my story time groups, and if I were doing a story time right now, that is likely to be the approach I would take.

Though not every children's librarian is musically inclined, it is important for each of us to find a way to share songs with our story time audiences. Whatever music you ultimately decide to use, I recommend trying different approaches, pushing yourself to new limits, and working on overcoming the fears that might keep you from singing your heart out.

Next week, I'll start to get into the process I use to select story time music with a post on choosing hello songs.