E-Z Does It: A Storytime about the Letter Z

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Early Literacy Tip: When reading books with flaps, ask your child to predict what will be underneath each one before they lift it. Making predictions is a great way to keep kids engaged in the books they read, while also improving their comprehension.

We finally made it to the end of the alphabet! It’s been a fun challenge to revisit, especially since this time I was trying to be more intentional about modeling fun ways to engage kids around early literacy skills like recognizing letters and learning their sounds.

As always, we started by drawing an upper- and lower-case letter Z together in the air, and talking about any Z words we knew. The families suggested zebra, zoo, and zigzag. I pulled a few things out of a paper bag: a zipper, a toy zebra, and a zucchini (for Family Storytime, I also included a picture of a zebu, which is so much fun to say).

Here’s the rest of what we did:

Books:

Illustration of a red truck with a large white cargo area featuring the text 'TRUCKS ZOOMING BY.' Inside the truck, a smiling driver and two passengers enjoy the ride, while other trucks are seen on the road in the background.

Trucks Zooming By by Pamela Jane; illustrated by Barry Gott

There’s always one or two kids in every storytime audience who LOVE trucks, and immediately start pointing excitedly whenever they see one in a picture book. This rhyming story about a little boy traveling with his long-haul trucker parents was a big hit with those kids. Every page features different types of trucks that the family sees on their journey. There’s even one illustration of a trailer full of horses that drew exclamations from the horse-lovers in the crowd.

Book cover of 'Not Yet, Zebra' featuring a playful illustration of a girl with red hair in a blue striped shirt and a zebra, set against an orange background.

Not Yet, Zebra by Lou Kentzler and Julia Wolf

This is my favorite type of alphabet book–one that builds a story around trying to create an alphabetic list (another favorite title along the same lines is Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham and Paul O. Zelinsky). In this story, a little girl is painting animals in alphabetical order, but the zebra keeps trying to sneak into an earlier spot by dressing up as different animals. The kids enjoyed calling out the names of each animal.

A playful zebra character named Zee, wearing yellow pants, running joyfully with a small treat in its hand. The title 'Zee' is prominently displayed in blue, with the author's name 'Michel Gay' in a smaller font below.

Zee by Michel Gay

I’m pretty sure this book is out of print, but it’s a cute story that my Family Storytime families enjoyed (a couple of the grown-ups said, “That’s so sweet!”). A little zebra tries to wake his parents by bringing them coffee and breakfast in bed, but when he trips and spills the tray, he only has enough coffee left to fill a doll’s tea set, and it only wakes his parents enough to give him doll-sized kisses.

Cover of the book 'Dear Zoo' by Rod Campbell, featuring a red zoo cage with a sign that says 'FROM THE ZOO' and a cartoon depiction of a lion peeking out.

Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell

I had to include this one, even though it’s a board book. It’s such a classic, and it was a big favorite of my own kids. The narrator explains that they wrote to the zoo to send them a pet. Each page features a different animal that the zoo sent, hidden under a flap, and explains why they weren’t a good pet: the elephant was too big, the giraffe was too tall, etc. For my Family Storytime, which has a smaller group, I let the kids take turns opening the flaps. For Outdoor Musical Storytime, I asked them to guess which animal was under each flap.

Songs:

Wheels on the Bus

We sang this after reading Trucks Zooming By. It’s such a versatile song, and I love modifying it in silly ways: having the wheels go really fast, having the horn make silly noises, putting animals or favorite characters (Spiderman is a particular favorite) on the bus, and having the grown-ups cry “Waah! Waah! Waah!” It’s also one of the easiest songs to play on the ukulele.

[C] The wheels on the bus go round and round,
[G7] Round and round,
[C] Round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
[G7] All through the [C] town.

The horn on the bus goes “Beep! Beep! Beep!”…

The doors on the bus go open and shut…

The Sleepy Bunny Song

We sang this after reading Not Yet, Zebra, which ends with the zebra sound asleep in bed. This song is always a favorite, especially at the preschools I visit. For some reason, kids love to pretend to be asleep and then jump up suddenly.

[C] See the little bunnies sleeping (crouch or lie down and pretend to sleep)
[F]‘Till it’s nearly [C] noon.
[F]Come, let us [C] wake them [G7] with a merry tune?
[C]They’re so still.
Are they ill?
NO! Wake up little bunnies! (jump up)
[C]Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop! (hop!)
[F] Hop little bunnies,[C] hop, hop, hop!
[F]Hop little bunnies, [C] hop, hop, hop!
[G7] Hop little bunnies, [C] hop and stop!

Zoom Zoom Zoom

We sang this with the parachute for Outdoor Musical Storytime, lifting it up high when we got to “blast off!” The kids loved running underneath each time. For Family Storytime, I gave out play scarves to throw up in the air at the end.

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom,
We’re going to the Moon.
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom,
We’re going to the Moon.
If you want to take a trip,
Climb aboard my rocket ship.
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom,
We’re going to the Moon.
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Blast-off!

Going to the Zoo by Tom Paxton

We sang this as our instrument play-along at the end. I substituted Grandma for Mommy in the last verse, since we had a lot of grandparents at Outdoor Musical Storytime. It’s such a fun and happy song.

[C] Daddy’s taking us to the zoo tomorrow.
[G7] Zoo tomorrow, Zoo tomorrow.
[C] Daddy’s taking us to the zoo tomorrow,
And [G7] we can stay all [C] day.

CHORUS:
[F] We’re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo!
[C] How about you, you, you?
[G7] You can come too, too, too! (G7)
We’re [C] going to the zoo, [G7] zoo, [C] zoo!

See the elephants with the long trunk swinging,
Great big ears and a long trunk swinging.
Snuffing up peanuts with the long trunk swinging,
And we can stay all day!

CHORUS

See all the monkeys, they’re scritch, scritch, scratchin’.
Jumping all around and scritch, scritch, scratchin’.
Hanging by the long tails scritch, scritch, scratchin’,
And we can stay all day!

CHORUS

Well, we stayed all day, and I’m getting sleepy,
Sitting in the car getting sleep, sleep, sleepy.
Home already and I’m sleep, sleep, sleepy,
‘Cause we have stayed all day!

We’ve been to the zoo, zoo, zoo!
So have you, you, you!
You came too, too, too!
We’ve been to the zoo, zoo, zoo!

But Mommy’s taking us to the zoo tomorrow
Zoo tomorrow, Zoo tomorrow.
Mommy’s taking us to the zoo tomorrow,
And we can stay all day!

CHORUS

Stay & Play: Zig-Zag Collage

Colorful pieces of paper scraps in various shapes and sizes laid out on a white sheet.

This was a really simple process art activity, but the kids loved it because they got to use decorative edge scissors, which make different patterns. Honestly, they love any excuse to use scissors!

For the Stay & Play, I put out different colored sheets of origami paper, the decorative edge scissors, white paper, and glue sticks. I had also precut some pieces of origami paper, for any littles that couldn’t use scissors yet. They had a blast cutting different shapes and gluing them on the white paper.

Whew! Can’t believe it’s the end of the alphabet! What themes should I try next? Do you have any favorites? Or any you’ve wanted to try? Please let me know in the comments.

Y, Oh, Y? A Storytime About the Letter Y

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Early Literacy Tip: When reading a story like Yummy, Yucky, which features a particular pattern, make a game out of coming up with your own examples, like Tacos are yummy! Legos are yucky!

We’re almost at the end of our alphabetic journey through storytime! This week, we focused on the letter Y.

As usual, we started by singing the Alphabet Song up to the letter Y (I do finish the song after we cheer for the Letter of the Day). Then we drew upper and lower-case letter Y’s in the air together.

I asked the kids if they knew any words that started with Y. They suggested yogurt, yummy, yucky, and yellow. I also pulled out yard stick (at Family Storytime, I held it up so the kids could see if they were taller or shorter than a yard), some yellow yarn, and a yo-yo.

Here’s the rest of what we did:

Books:

Cover of the children's book 'Yummy Yucky' by Leslie Patricelli, featuring a smiling cartoon baby holding a spoon with a bowl of soup.

Yummy, Yucky by Leslie Patricelli

I don’t usually use board books for storytime, because the format is often small and hard to share in a large group. But I couldn’t resist reading this one, which was a favorite of my own kids when they were little. The illustrations are hilarious, but even if kids were sitting too far away to make them out well, they enjoyed calling out “yummy” and “yucky” on each set of pages: Spaghetti is yummy! Worms are yucky!, etc. Even the older kids were into it.

Cover of the book 'I YAM A DONKEY!' featuring a humorous blue donkey character with exaggerated features and a yam character looking discontent. The background is orange, and the title is in bold, playful letters.

I Yam a Donkey by Cece Bell

I read this one for Family Storytime, which had a number of older kids, including a fourth grader who found it absolutely hilarious. It features an argument about grammar between a donkey and a yam. Eventually several other vegetables show up, and the donkey says, “Oh, you is lunch!” and eats them all.

Cover of the children's book 'I Dare You Not to Yawn' by Hélène Boudreau, illustrated by Serge Bloch, featuring a young boy with orange hair and a blue sweater, making a playful expression.

I Dare You Not to Yawn by Hélène Boudreau; illustrated by Serge Bloch

I’m pretty sure this book is out of print, but we still have several copies in the library system. It was a fun one to do for Family Storytime, since it’s in the evening, and a lot of the kids come in pajamas. A little boy shares his advice for not yawning, since yawning always leads to bedtime. The text and illustrations are designed to make you yawn.

Cover of the children's book 'You Are a LION! And Other Fun Yoga Poses' featuring an illustrated lion roaring and a child in casual clothes sitting in front of it.

You Are a Lion: And Other Fun Yoga Poses by Taeeun Yoo

I read this one for Outdoor Musical Storytime, and demonstrated the poses as I read (with the exception of the lying down ones). It’s a cute book, providing basic instructions on how to do several animal-based yoga poses, like Lion, Frog, and Downward-facing Dog. The kids enjoyed trying to guess which animal went with each one.

Cover of the book 'Blue vs. Yellow' by Tom Sullivan, featuring a blue circle character and a yellow circle character facing each other with playful expressions.

Blue vs. Yellow by Tom Sullivan

Blue and Yellow argue about which is the best color, based on the different items represented by each one. When they take the form of blue and yellow vehicles that crash into each other, they discover that they both enjoy being green. The book ends on a little bit of a cliff-hanger, with Red entering the argument.

Songs:

If All the Raindrops

I know I do this song a lot, but it’s only because the kids seem to enjoy it so much. They especially love suggesting foods that they would like to fall from the sky for each verse. This time we had blueberries and strawberries, and pizza and chocolate eclairs.

[C] If all the raindrops were [G7] lemon drops and [C] gum drops,
Oh, what a rain it would [G7] be.
[C] I’d stand out- [G7] side with my [C] mouth open [G7] wide,
[C] “Ah, Ah, Ah, [G7] Ah, Ah, Ah, [C] Ah, Ah, Ah, [G7] Ah!”
[C] If all the raindrops were [G7] lemon drops and [C] gum drops,
Oh, what a [G7] rain it would [C] be.

If all the raindrops were cookies and ice cream…

Love Somebody, Yes I Do!

We sang this with the parachute at Outdoor Musical Storytime. I put tiny pompoms on the chute so they would bounce up and down as we sang. It’s part of a much longer song, but I only used the first verse.

Love somebody, yes I do!
Love somebody, yes I do!
Love somebody, yes I do!
Love somebody and it’s you, you, you!
You, you, you! You, you, you!

You Sing a Song, and I’ll Sing a Song by Ella Jenkins

We sang this with the play scarves at Family Storytime. I asked the kids for different motions to do with the scarves for each verse.

[C] You’ll sing a song, and [Am] I’ll sing a song,
And [C] we’ll sing a [Dm] song toge-[G]ther.
[C] You’ll sing a song, and [Am] I’ll sing a song,
In [G] warm or [C] wintry [G] wea-[C]ther.

You’ll wave a scarf, and I’ll wave a scarf, and we’ll wave our scarves together…

You’ll peek-a-boo, and I’ll peek-a-boo… (put the scarf over your face, then pull it away)

Can You See the Color Yellow?

We sang this after reading Blue vs. Yellow at Family Storytime. The kids had fun pointing out different things around the room to match each color, and suggesting which colors to sing about next.

Can you [C] see the color yellow,
The [F] color yellow, the [G7] color yellow?
Can you [C] see the color yellow,
[F] Right here [G7] where you [C] are?

Can you see the color blue… etc.

Yellow Submarine

We sang this as our instrument play-along at the end. I did the first two verses, and then repeated the chorus several times, in different ways (quiet, loud, etc.).

In the [D] town where I was [G] born,
Lived a [Am] man who sailed to [D] sea.
And he [D] told us of his [G] life
In the [Am] land of [D] submarines
So we [D] sailed up to the [G] sun,
Till we [Am] found the sea of [D] green.
And we [D] lived beneath the [G] waves,
In our [Am] yellow [D] submarine.

Chorus:
[G] We all live in a [D] yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, yellow [G] submarine.
We all live in a [D] yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, [G] yellow submarine.

And our [D] friends are all a-[G]board.
Many [Am] more of them live next [D] door.
And the [D] band begins to [G] play
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo,
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo.

Chorus:
[G] We all live in a [D] yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, yellow [G] submarine.
We all live in a [D] yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, [G] yellow submarine.

As we [D] live a life of [G] ease.
Every-[Am] one of us has all we [D] need.
Sky of [D] blue and sea of [G] green,
In our [Am] yellow [D] submarine.

Chorus:
[G] We all live in a [D] yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, yellow [G] submarine.
We all live in a [D] yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, [G] yellow submarine.

Stay & Play: Yarn Painting

A hand holding an opened card featuring blue and purple painted flowers, surrounded by other blank cards.

The caregivers were blown away by the results of this process art project, and so was I. Before storytime, I folded letter-sized pieces of white cardstock in half, like a greeting card, and cut pieces of different types of yarn, about two feet long.

For the Stay & Play, I put out the cardstock, yarn pieces, and several different colors of tempera paint. When I did this project for Outdoor Musical Storytime, I put a drop of each color of paint inside each folded paper, and showed the kids how to lay the yarn in the paint so one end was hanging off of the paper. Then they folded the paper, and squished it down, while pulling the yarn out (the caregivers helped with this part).

One woman was so into the process that she and her toddler made five or six yarn paintings. I noticed that she was reusing the paint-covered yarn instead of putting the drops of paint inside the folded paper. That worked better and was less messy. So, for Family Storytime, I put out a paper plate with big blobs of each paint color, along with a spoon. I showed the kids how to use the spoon to dip their piece of yarn in the paint. Then they put their paint-covered yarn in the middle of their unfolded paper before squishing it closed and pulling the yarn out. The finished yarn paintings were kind of astounding.

Do you have any favorite picture books or songs featuring the letter Y? Or any other storytime themes you’re interested in exploring? Please share them in the comments below.

X-traordinary Books! A Storytime About the Letter X

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Early Literacy Tip: Play the alphabet game, either while you’re out in the world, or reading books together. Challenge your child to find a particular letter, or look for each letter of the alphabet in order.

This week we reached the letter I have been dreading ever since I started my storytime journey through the alphabet: X! There are so few words that start with the letter X, and even fewer picture books that feature those words. So instead, we focused on words with X in them.

As usual, we started by drawing an upper and lower-case letter X in the air together, and then talking about words that started with that letter. The caregivers mostly supplied the few we came up with (X-ray and xylophone, although one little boy suggested expert). I pulled a few items out of a paper bag: a xylophone, a candle (made of wax), and a box.

Here’s the rest of what we did:

Books:

Book cover for 'Tyrannosaurus Rex vs Edna: The Very First Chicken' featuring a cartoon chicken with big eyes standing between the legs of a T-Rex.

Tyrannosaurus Rex vs. Edna, the Very First Chicken by Douglas Rees; illustrated by Jed Henry

This book had one little boy in my Family Storytime literally cackling, and he quickly snatched it up to check it out after storytime. Very cute story about a T.Rex who bullies all of the other dinosaurs, until he meets a chicken who stands up to him. Warning: the chicken does get eaten, but only very briefly!

Illustration of a tea party featuring a friendly T-Rex in a whimsical setting, with two children enjoying snacks and tea at a table.

Tea Rex by Molly Idle

A cute, funny picture book depicting a little girl’s attempts to host a giant T. Rex at her fancy tea party. I read this one for Outdoor Musical Storytime, since it’s a less violent T. Rex title than Tyrannosaurus Rex vs. Edna, the Very First Chicken, and that crowd tends to skew younger.

Cover of 'The Mixed-Up Truck' by Stephen Savage, featuring a smiling blue cement truck with a red and white striped drum in front of a red brick building with a neon sign.

The Mixed Up Truck by Stephen Savage

This book was a big hit at both storytimes (I can still hear one of the preschoolers at Family Storytime whispering “There’s an excavator!” reverently to his Mom, while pointing at one of the trucks in the illustrations). It’s a funny, simple story about a cement mixer who keeps mixing the wrong white powder with water, and ends up making a giant cake with frosting instead of cement for a building. In the end, he mixes up a bunch of soap for a giant bubble bath.

Cover of the board book 'Mix It Up!' by Hervé Tullet, featuring colorful paint splashes in red, yellow, green, and blue with the title prominently displayed in black.

Mix It Up by Hervé Tullet

My Family Storytime is in the evening, and tends to draw a smaller crowd. The kids there loved playing along with this interactive picture book, which asks you to “mix” different colors together by rubbing one colored spot and then another, to see what color it makes on the next page.

A colorful children's book cover titled 'Grace and Box' featuring a young girl with curly hair, a friendly dog, and a cartoonish cardboard box with a smiling face against a vibrant rainbow background.

Grace and Box by Kim Howard; illustrated by Megan Lötter

Very cute story about a little girl named Grace, and a refrigerator box, who transforms into all kinds of things: a rocket ship, a city, a house, etc. When Box starts to sag, Grace doesn’t know what to do, until she figures out how to work with Box’s changes, and keep the imaginative play going.

Songs:

We Are the Dinosaurs by Laurie Berkner

We sang this after reading Tea Rex in Outdoor Musical Storytime and after reading Tyrannosaurus Rex vs. Edna, the Very First Chicken in Family Storytime. Always a hit!

[Dm] We are the [C] dinosaurs marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs. [A] Whaddaya think of that?
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs [C] marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the [A] dinosaurs. [Dm] We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.
We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.

[F] We stop and eat our [C] food, [F] when we’re in the [C] mood.
[F] Stop and eat our [C] food on the [Dm] ground.
[F] We stop and eat our [C] food, [F] when we’re in the [C] mood.
[F] Stop and eat our [C] food, and [Dm] then we march [A] around.

[Dm] We are the [C] dinosaurs marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs. [A] Whaddaya think of that?
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs [C] marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the [A] dinosaurs. [Dm] We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.
We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.

[F] We stop and take a [C] rest, [F] over in our [C] nest.
[F] Stop and take a [C] rest at the end of the [Dm] day.
[F] We stop and take a [C] rest, [F] over in our [C] nest.
[F] Stop and take a [C] rest, and [Dm] then you’ll hear us [A] say…

[Dm] We are the [C] dinosaurs marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs. [A] Whaddaya think of that?
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs [C] marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the [A] dinosaurs. [Dm] We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.
We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.

[A] And then we RO-AR-OAR!
[A] Because [Dm] we [C] are the [Dm]dino-[D]saurs!

Can You See the Color Red?

We sang this after reading Mix It Up. The kids always love pointing out different colored objects all around the room.

 To the tune of Do You Know the Muffin Man?

Can you [C] see the color yellow,
The [F] color yellow, the [G7] color yellow?
Can you [C] see the color yellow,
[F] Right here [G7] in this [C] room?

Can you see the color blue… etc.

We’re Making Veggie Stew

Similar to a song I came up with for letter V a few weeks ago. This time I wanted to incorporate the word “mix,” so I adjusted it a little. We threw plush veggies on the parachute for Outdoor Musical Storytime, and shook the chute in time with the song.

To the tune of The Farmer in the Dell:

We’re making veggie stew!
We’re making veggie stew!
Throw veggies in and mix them in,
We’re making veggie stew!

A carrot’s in the stew!
A carrot’s in the stew!
We’ll throw it in, and mix it in,
A carrot’s in the stew!

Some peas are in the stew…etc.

X Marks the Spot

I was having trouble finding a good letter X song, so I wrote this one. I actually ended up just singing the first verse and repeating the chorus several times. Each time, I asked the kids what “treasures” they would like to find in the chest, and we replaced the “chocolate coins” with their suggestions. They came up with apples and diamonds.

[C] We found an ancient [Am] treasure map
[F] Inside a hollow [G] tree.
[C] Showing landmarks [Am] far away
[F] In a land across the [G] sea.
[F] We climbed aboard our trusty [C] ship
[F] Our sails high and [C] unfurled,
[C] Sailing towards that [Am] letter X
[F] On the [G] far side of the [C] world.

CHORUS:
X marks the [G] spot
Where we’ll [F] find what we have [C] sought.
Don’t [G] know what riches there may be
But I [F] hope that it’s a [G] lot!
[F] Perhaps we’ll find some [C] chocolate coins (replace with treasures of your choice!)
And [F] gold and [G] emeralds too,
But the [C] greatest treasure [G] I have found
[F] Is the [G] time I’ve spent with [C] you.

We’ll [C] sail through wild and [Am] stormy seas
Where [F] dragons prowl the [G] deep,
Where [C] waves roll high
And [Am] mermaid songs will [F] lull us all to [C] sleep.
At [F] last we’ll find the [C] desert isle
And [F] dig until we’ve [C] found
That [C] shiny golden [Am] pirate chest
Of [G] treasure under- [C]ground.

CHORUS:

Abstract watercolor painting featuring vibrant swirls of blue, green, purple, and pink on a white background.

Crayon resist is one of my favorite process art activities. For Outdoor Musical Storytime, I put out white construction paper, watercolor palettes, cups of water, paintbrushes, and white crayons.

For Family Storytime, I actually decided to put out waterbrush brush pens (leftover from a Chinese calligraphy program years ago) instead of regular brushes. They are brushes with a built-in compartment that you can fill with water, so it comes out when you squeeze it. The kids LOVED the brush pens, and they ended up being a lot less messy than cups of water that often end up spilling.

I initially suggested that the kids or their caregivers could write a letter X or a word or drawing on the paper with the white crayon, and then paint over it with the watercolor paints to see it magically appear. A lot of the caregivers ended up writing their child’s name. It always takes kids a few minutes to learn how to wet the paint first when working with watercolor, but once they start painting, they are always very engaged.

Do you have any favorite books or songs featuring the letter X? Please share them in the comments below.

Senior Moments: Library Outreach to Older Adults

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A group of seniors gathered in a courtyard, sitting in a circle and playing drums. The facilitator, Jane Gerughty from Music Mends Minds, leads the group.
Jane Gerughty (gray shirt) leading a drum circle at Avenidas Rose Kleiner Center in Mountain View, CA in 2024

Today, I got to participate in a sound bath at a skilled nursing facility, led by Jane Gerughty, a facilitator from Music Mends Minds.

If you’re not familiar with Music Mends Minds, it’s a nonprofit organization that provides musical support groups to adults with dementia, Alzheimer’s, and other neurological disorders. Their programs are based on numerous studies showing the many benefits of musical experiences, especially for those with neurodegenerative conditions. These include improvements in memory, mood, mobility, attention, and executive function.

The executive director of Music Mends Minds, John Kander, is passionate about the power of music. When we originally hired Jane to lead of series of drum circles at our library, he reached out to let me know that he is always happy to seek out funding from local Rotary Clubs and even insurance providers to bring similar programs to senior facilities of all types. Our Friends of the Library had already agreed to pay for Jane to lead a program at the skilled nursing facility every other month, but it was nice to know that there were alternative funding options.

One of my coworkers usually accompanies Jane, but she wasn’t able to go today, so I got to cover for her. I was already familiar with the facility, because I lead a ukulele sing-along there once a month with the help of a retired former coworker. The sound bath was held in the dining room, and I was happy to recognize a lot of the residents.

Jane started by handing out a variety of percussion instruments, including maracas, bells, and chimes. She asked one of the staff members to dim the lights, and then she played instrumental music on a small speaker. She herself played several different singing bowls and a vibra-tone, sometimes carrying them around for people to feel the vibrations.

At first, the residents seemed a little hesitant and curious, especially the ones who were new to the facility, but within the first couple of minutes, they almost all started to play along on whatever instrument they had in front of them. The music started out slow and quiet, and gradually became faster and more rhythmic.

I was astounded to look at the clock and realize that 45 minutes had already passed, and everyone was still happily shaking their maraca, tapping their güiro, or playing their chimes. It didn’t matter what or how they played. It all somehow magically fit. At one point, Jane led everyone in a sort of percussive conversation: she tapped a wooden instrument three times, and we all tapped or shook our instruments back three times, over and over for the length of a song.

The whole hour-long experience was incredibly relaxing, and everyone seemed engaged. This was wonderful to see, especially because the community at the facility is extremely diverse, with people from all different backgrounds. When we do the monthly sing-alongs there, we try to accommodate requests (my favorite was the woman who asked us to play Purple Rain on the ukulele!), and I am often moved to tears to hear people singing along to the old songs they love. But we can’t perform a favorite song for everybody. There’s a friendly man from Tonga with limited knowledge of English who always says “Happy! Happy!” when we play. I would love to include a song for him, but I don’t even know how to ask him for a title. But the music we made together in the sound bath was for everyone.

Afterwards, Jane told me that this was the third or fourth time she had led the residents there in a sound bath. She typically brings djembes and other drums for them to beat out patterns together in a drum circle, but she said, this group especially likes the maracas and other small instruments.

Our library outreach to the skilled nursing facility isn’t limited to musical events. One of my coworkers also leads a monthly “storytime” there. She usually brings a slideshow of photos and videos related to a particular topic, and invites the residents to share whatever memories the slideshow invokes with her and with each other.

We also provide a satellite library, a small collection of books and other materials checked out an account tied to the facility. One of my coworkers refreshes the collection once a month, often bringing items that the residents request, and we don’t require the facility to keep track of them.

Several of my coworkers also provide outreach to other locations that serve older adults, including our local Senior Center, and two other senior-living facilities. One of our library aides plays classical pieces on the violin, while her grandfather accompanies her on the cello. Other staff bring books, DVDs, laptops and hotspots for people to check out, and teach small groups how to access e-books and audiobooks with their library cards through Libby and Hoopla.

Public transportation is a huge issue in our coastside town, so bringing programs and resources to the places where seniors are feels especially important. I also just finished reading the book Being Mortal by Atul Gawande, about how aging and dying are managed in our culture. I was deeply inspired by all of the people he profiled who found ways to support older adults in meaningful ways.

I’ve often thought there is so much more we could offer, especially for residents of skilled nursing facilities. I would love to help them video chat with loved ones, or set-up a program where volunteers could read to them individually. Partnerships with other local organizations, like local performing arts groups, crafting groups, Humane Society volunteers with therapy animals, or even something like an adopt-a-plant program sponsored by the community garden would also be amazing.

I would love to hear about what libraries and organizations are doing to support older adults in other communities, so please share any programs or services you’ve been offering in the comments below.

What a Wonderful World: A Storytime About the Letter W

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Early Literacy Tip: Find ways to incorporate your child’s name or the names of family members into favorite songs and rhymes, the sillier the better (For example: Justin on the bus goes Up and Down, or Suzy Had a Little Lamb). Songs are one of the most effective and fun ways to teach phonemic awareness (the different sounds that make up words). Encouraging kids to play with song lyrics makes them even more powerful and memorable as teaching tools.

We’re getting close to the end of our alphabetic storytime journey (I’m already dreading X!). This week, we focused on the letter W.

Lately, I’ve been introducing the week’s theme by singing The Alphabet Song and stopping just before we sing the letter of the day, so the kids can fill it in. Then we finish the song together (I like to end by changing the last word –me– to something silly, like “Next time won’t you sing with Spiderman?”).

After The Alphabet Song, we drew upper- and lower-case letter W’s together in the air, and brainstormed W words. The kids suggested wheel, witch, and watermelon. I pulled some other items out of a paper bag: a toy wagon, a bright orange costume wig, and a small atomizer full of water, which I sprayed at any kids who asked me to.

Here’s the rest of what we did (Note: my Outdoor Musical Storytime crowd has been skewing younger lately, now that the four and five-year olds have mostly started transitional Kindergarten. So, I’m reading much shorter, simpler books for that crowd than for Family Storytime):

Books:

Cover of the children's book 'Where Is the Green Sheep?' featuring three colorful sheep on a grassy hill.

Where Is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox & Judy Horacek

I read a big book version of this for Outdoor Musical Storytime (I have a really hard time turning pages in the big books, but they work so well for large crowds). This is a classic, simple, rhyming story featuring lots of different types of sheep, with the repeated phrase, “But where is the green sheep?”

Cover of the children's book 'Worm Makes a Sandwich' by Brianne Farley, featuring a cartoon worm in compost surrounded by plants and flowers.

Worm Makes a Sandwich by Brianne Farley

This is one of my favorite picture books from the past two years (it was published in 2025). An adorable worm offers to make you a sandwich “all by myself.” But first, the worm needs one thing: garbage! The worm eats the garbage and then poops to make dirt to help a tomato grow for your sandwich. The kids always laugh at the page where the worm gets frustrated waiting for the tomato to go: “Why did you ask a worm to make you a sandwich in the first place?” This is so much fun to read aloud (I love using my “worm voice”) and is a wonderful example of embedding an informational topic into an entertaining story.

Cover of 'Today I Will Fly!' by Mo Willems featuring a happy pink pig and a gray elephant, with colorful text.

Today I Will Fly! by Mo Willems

I love reading Elephant and Piggie books for storytime, especially if I have a coworker to read one of the parts. But I enjoy the challenge of doing the different voice myself too. This is one of the original books, where Piggie announces “Today I will fly!” and Gerald insists that she will never fly. To Gerald’s surprise, Piggie does fly with the help of a friendly pelican. For Outdoor Musical Storytime, I had given out the play scarves before reading this one, and I had the kids flap them up and down like wings and join in on the parts where Piggie says, “Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly!”

Cover of the children's book 'Who Has Wiggle-Waggle Toes?' featuring a group of diverse children happily playing together, with the title prominently displayed at the top.

Who Has Wiggle-Waggle Toes? by Vicky Shiefman; illustrated by Francesca Chessa

I read this one for Outdoor Musical Storytime, and had the kids stand up to act out the different motions. It’s a cute, action book that asks questions about different body parts (Who has wiggle-waggle toes? Who has a big bold bottom?) and then gives a different motion to do with each one (Can you shimmy your big bold bottom?).

Cover illustration of the children's book 'Wednesday Is for Wiggling!' featuring a mother and daughter embracing, surrounded by colorful blankets and toys, with a cartoon lion in the background.

Wednesday Is for Wiggling by Eva Wong Nava; illustrated by Holly Sterling

I read this one at Family Storytime, which was great because it’s on Wednesday nights. The book features a little girl describing how she spends each day of the week doing different activities with different people (tiptoeing on Tuesdays in dance class with her babysitter, visiting the community garden with Grandpa on Saturdays). It’s implied that her parents are separated, since she describes different days with each of them, which is a nice, subtle way of representing different family arrangements. My only regret was not reading this at the beginning of storytime instead of the end, since it is a bit longer than most of the books I share, and the kids were already a little restless because it was an unusually hot evening.

Songs & Rhymes:

Little Bo-Peep

We did this rhyme with play scarves at Outdoor Musical Storytime after reading Where is the Green Sheep? I like the JBrary demonstration below, although I usually have the kids stand up, and we wave the scarves behind us like tails on the line “wagging their tails behind them.”

Little Bo Peep
Has lost her sheep, (hide scarf)
And doesn’t know where to find them.
Leave them alone,
And they’ll come home,
Wagging their tails behind them. (wave scarf in front of you, or behind you like a tail)

The Wishy Washy Washerwoman

This is one of my favorite play scarf songs (see the video below for the tune and the motions). We sang it as part of our usual play scarf set in the middle of Family Storytime.

Way down in the valley where nobody goes,
There’s a wishy washy washer woman washing her clothes.
She goes “Oooh! Ahhh! Oooh! Ahhh! Oooh! Ahhh!”
And that’s the way she washes her clothes.

Repeat with drying her clothes (we blow on the scarves), folding her clothes, and wearing her clothes.

The Waves on the Ocean

We sang this with the parachute at Outdoor Musical Storytime, raising the chute up and down with the song. I put a small fish puppet on the parachute, so it would move with the waves.

To the tune of The Wheels on the Bus:

The waves on the ocean go up and down,
Up and down,
Up and down,
The waves on the ocean go up and down,
All day long.

Bumpin’ Up and Down in My Little Red Wagon by Raffi

We sang this as our instrument play-along at the end. Like Raffi, I called out the names of a couple of the kids to fix the wagon for the third verse. We sang it through a couple of times.

[C] Bumpin’ up and down in my little red wagon,
[G7] Bumpin’ up and down in my little red wagon,
[C] Bumpin’ up and down in my little red wagon,
[G7] Won’t you be my dar-[C]lin’?

One wheel’s off and the axle’s broken (lean right)
One wheel’s off and the axle’s broken (lean left)
One wheel’s off and the axle’s broken (lean right)
Won’t you be my darling?

Henry’s going to fix it with a hammer…

Bumpin’ up and down in my little red wagon…

Stay & Play: Washi Tape Hearts

Two decorated heart-shaped papers on a textured surface, one featuring yellow tape and a school bus sticker, and the other adorned with patterned tape and colorful designs.

I love Washi Tape! You can buy it in so many patterns and colors, and for kids, it’s a lot like decorating with stickers. I got this idea from SimpleFunForKids.com.

Before storytime, I precut hearts out of white cardstock. For the Stay & Play, I put out the paper hearts and a wide selection of Washi Tape. The tape is really easy to tear into pieces, but sometimes younger kids struggle to tear it without it crumpling, so for Family Storytime, I put out some kid-friendly scissors. But several of the kids ended up cutting their hearts into pieces, because they loved using the scissors so much!

For Outdoor Musical Storytime, I didn’t bother putting out scissors, and the caregivers helped any kids who had trouble ripping the tape. It ended up being a wonderful shared experience.

Do you have any favorite picture books or songs featuring the letter W? Please share them in the comments below. Also, please let me know if you have any storytime theme ideas you are interested in exploring. I’m getting close to the end of the alphabet, and am looking forward to some new themes.

A Be-V of Books: A Storytime About the Letter V

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Early Literacy Tip: Point out any sound effects or animal sounds written in the books you read together (the book Animals Go Vroom! has a lot), and have fun saying them with your child. Onomatopoeia (words meant to represent sounds) are wonderful for helping kids learn the sounds that letters make.

This week we celebrated the letter V in storytime. It’s not the easiest letter to work with, but we still had a lot of fun.

As usual, we started by writing an upper- and lower case letter V in the air together, and then talking about words that started with V. The kids suggested violin and vase. I also pulled some items out of a paper bag: a toy vehicle, a toy van (actually a Mystery Machine!), and a bottle of vanilla, which I carried around for the kids to smell.

Here’s the rest of what we did:

Books:

A playful illustration of a broccoli wearing red underwear, standing with one leg lifted, alongside a happy green vegetable character holding a leaf.

Vegetables in Underwear by Jared Chapman

This book was too small for Outdoor Musical Storytime, but the kids at Family Storytime thought it was hilarious! It features a variety of vegetables wearing different types of underwear, with rhyming text. The kids enjoyed naming the veggies.

Cover of the children's book 'Animals GO VROOM!' by Abi Cushman, featuring two cartoon dinosaurs inside a yellow car with a turquoise background.

Animals Go Vroom! by Abi Cushman

This was a fun, simple picture book featuring different animals driving a variety of vehicles. Small cut-outs reveal the animal on the next page, and a sound that relates to them, but really refers to something happening to the vehicle on the next page. For example, the HISS on the page with the cutout showing the snake turns out to be a flat tire on the next page. The kids enjoyed calling out the different animal names.

Illustration of a caterpillar from 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by Eric Carle, featuring vibrant green segments and a red head with large eyes.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

This one caused a stir at Outdoor Musical Storytime, because so many of the kids recognized it. It’s the classic story of a caterpillar who eats through different foods every day, until he finally transforms into a butterfly. I like to pause every time I say, “But he was still…” and let the kids say the word “HUNGRY!”

Illustration of a penguin on a beach, holding a colorful beach ball and a suitcase, wearing a floral necklace, with a crab nearby and the ocean in the background, titled 'Penguin on Vacation' by Salina Yoon.

Penguin on Vacation by Salina Yoon

I love this sweet story about a penguin who gets tired of the snow and decides to go on vacation on a tropical island. At first, he doesn’t know what to do on the sand, but then he meets a friendly crab who shows him how to have fun at the beach. When he returns to his icy home, the crab tags along, and the two friends enjoy playing in the snow together until the crab has to return home. The illustrations are adorable.

A colorful illustration of a whimsical van with flowers and peace symbols, driven by an elderly man and featuring a woman waving from the passenger side, accompanied by a dog and a stuffed purple animal.

This Old Van by Kim Norman; illustrated by Carolyn Conahan

I handed out the egg shakers before I read this one, and the kids played along as I read/sang. It’s a cute, colorful adaptation of This Old Man, about a charming old van that encounters lots of different types of vehicles on the way to a derby.

Songs & Activities:

If All the Raindrops

I sang this song after reading Vegetables in Underwear, because it’s my go-to food song. I always ask the kids to suggest different foods they would like to fall from the sky, and we make up our own verses for those.

[C] If all the raindrops were [G7] lemon drops and [C] gum drops,
Oh, what a rain it would [G7] be.
[C] I’d stand out- [G7] side with my [C] mouth open [G7] wide,
[C] “Ah, Ah, Ah, [G7] Ah, Ah, Ah, [C] Ah, Ah, Ah, [G7] Ah!”
[C] If all the raindrops were [G7] lemon drops and [C] gum drops,
Oh, what a [G7] rain it would [C] be.

If all the raindrops were cookies and ice cream…

Dinosaurs in Cars by Nancy Stewart

We sang this after reading Animals Go Vroom. I learned it from a librarian in San Francisco who covered storytimes for me long ago. It’s such a cute, catchy song!

[C] There were five dinosaurs, [F] driving in cars,
[C] Having a really good [G7] time.
They said, [C] “We’ll step on the gas, and [F] go really fast!”
And they [C] did…until one [G7] had a flat [C] tire.
Ka-thunk! Ka-thunk! Ka-thunk! Ka-thunk!
She said, “Go on without me!”

Then there were four dinosaurs…

Repeat, until the last dinosaur has a flat tire, then say,

“She said, ‘I know! I’ll fix the tire! and then I’ll pick up all my friends!”

Then there were five dinosaurs,
Riding in a car, having a really good time.
They said, “Step on the gas, and go really fast!”
And they did, and down the road they went flying.

ROAR!

Playscarf Snowball Fight

After reading Penguin on Vacation at Family Storytime, we had a “snowball” fight with the play scarves. I let the kids each take several scarves, and then we all bundled them up into balls and threw them at each other for a few seconds. The kids mostly threw them at me, and occasionally at their caregivers.

Veggies in the Pot

I came up with this one to sing with the parachute at Outdoor Musical Storytime. We have a few random plush vegetables (carrots, corn, and peas) that I threw onto the parachute each time. You could also print out pictures of different vegetables or cut them out of felt.

(To the tune of The Noble Duke of York)

Veggies in the pot!
Veggies in the pot!
They’re in the pot
And nice and hot.
Veggies in the pot!

Carrots in the pot!
Carrots in the pot!
They’re in the pot
And nice and hot.
Carrots in the pot!

Corn in the pot…etc.

Victor Vito by Laurie Berkner

We sang this as our instrument play-along at the end. The lines in parenthesis are meant to be echoed by the audience, but with my younger kiddos, I just sang the song without them. It’s a really fun song.

[C] Victor Vito and Freddie Vasco
[G7] Ate a burrito with Tabasco.
[C] They put it on their rice, they put it on their beans,
[G7] On their rutabagas and on their collard [C]greens.

CHORUS:
[C] Hey, Victor! (Hey, Victor!)
[G7] Hey, Freddie! (Hey, Freddie!)
Let’s eat some (Let’s eat some)
[C] Spaghetti! (Spaghetti!)
Hey, Victor! (Hey, Victor!)
[G7] I’m ready (I’m ready)
To eat some spaghetti with [C] Freddie!

Victor Vito and Freddie Vasco
Moved from El Cerrito all the way to Alaska.
Oh, they ate their rice, they ate their beans,
They ate their rutabagas and they ate their collard greens.

CHORUS

Victor Vito and Freddie Vasco
They like to eat slow, they never eat fast.
Oh, they ate their rice, they ate their beans,
They ate their rutabagas and they ate their collard greens.

CHORUS

Victor Vito and Freddie Vasco
They like to eat fast, they never eat slow.
Oh, they ate their rice, they ate their beans.
They ate their rutabagas and they ate their collard greens.

CHORUS

[C] Hey, Victor! (Hey, Victor!)
[G7] Hey, Freddie! (Hey, Freddie!)
Let’s eat some (Let’s eat some)
[C] Spaghetti! (Spaghetti!)
Hey, Victor! (Hey, Victor!)
[G7] I’m ready (I’m ready)
To eat some spaghetti with [C] you!

Stay & Play: Rubber Band Guitar

A hand holding a paper cup secured with several rubber bands, set against a blue patterned background.

Before we did this craft, I talked about vibrations and showed the kids how the strings of my ukulele vibrate when I strum them to make the sound.

For the Stay & Play, I put out paper cups, markers, a variety of rubber bands, and a wide selection of washi tape. The kids decorated the cups with the markers. Their caregivers helped them stretch the rubber bands around the cup, and together they put different colored pieces of washi tape around the bottom to hold the rubber bands in place. They enjoyed plucking the rubber bands to make different sounds.

Do you have any favorite picture books or songs featuring the letter V?

Books for U! A Storytime About the Letter U

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Early Literacy Tip: Before you read a book together, ask your child what they think will happen in the story. For example, for the book You Don’t Want a Unicorn? you could ask if they would like a unicorn, and why it might not be a good idea to have one. Making predictions about a text is an important skill for building reading comprehension, and also a great way to engage kids in the story, to see if their predictions come true.

This week we had fun celebrating underpants and unicorns in our Letter U Storytime.

As usual, we started by writing an upper and lower-case U in the air together, and then talking about the different sounds that the letter U makes. When I asked the kids if they could think of any letter U words, they suggested us, up, and usually. I also pulled a few things out of a paper bag: a toy unicorn, a utensil (spoon), and a paper drink umbrella.

Secret Words: At the end of storytime, I had the kids pick a slip of paper with a “secret word.” They included: up, underwear, unicorn, and umbrella.

Books:

Polar Bear’s Underwear by tupera tupera

This is a cute, funny book featuring a polar bear and his friend mouse who are trying to find polar bear’s missing underwear. They find many different types of underwear, but they all belong to different animals. Finally, polar bear realizes that he’s already wearing his underwear. He just can’t see them because they are white. The kids at Family Storytime enjoyed trying to guess the animal who owned each pair of underwear.

Those Are Not My Underpants by Melissa Martin; illustrated by Troy Cummings

I read this one at Outdoor Musical Storytime in place of Polar Bear’s Underwear (mostly because the outdoor group is so large and spread out, and this book relies slightly less on the illustrations). In this story, a baby bear is trying to find the owner of a pair of underpants that was hanging on a tree. He asks lots of different animals, who each explain why it couldn’t be their underpants (it’s not smelly enough for Skunk; Snake only wears long underwear, etc.). In the end, his mother points out that they are HIS underpants. The kids laughed at several of the animals in underwear.

Upside Down Animals by Danielle McLean and Matt Hunt

I don’t usually read board books, but this one worked well for Family Storytime. Each page features an animal that appears to be doing one thing until you flip the book upside down. The sleeping cat turns into a leaping one; the swimming duck appears to be diving, etc. The kids enjoyed naming the animals on each page.

You Don’t Want a Unicorn by Ame Dyckman; illustrated by Liz Climo

I love Ame Dyckman! In this story, the narrator warns a boy dropping a coin into a wishing well that he shouldn’t wish for a unicorn. When he wishes for one anyway, he finds out for himself that they shed, scratch the furniture, and poop cupcakes everywhere. Worst of all, they get lonely and invite all of their friends to a unicorn party. The kids at both storytimes really enjoyed this one.

The Big Umbrella by Amy June Bates & Juniper Bates

I read this book years ago for a Welcoming Week Storytime. It’s a lovely allegory about an umbrella that welcomes literally everyone, and always has room for more. The illustrations are quirky and sweet.

Songs:

A Hunting We Will Go

We sang this at Family Storytime after reading Polar Bear’s Underwear. I asked the kids to suggest different animals we could catch (I always put out animal puppets at that storytime, so they mostly named those), and we brainstormed rhymes for each one: we’ll catch a mouse and put it in a house; we’ll catch a cat and put it in a hat, etc.

Oh, [C] a-hunting we will go!
A-[F]hunting we will go!
We’ll [G7] catch a fox and put it in a box,
And then we’ll let it [C] go!

Repeat with other animals…

Merry-Go-Round

This is one I used to use a lot when I was leading baby storytimes, because it’s a fun lapsit song. For Family Storytime, I had the kids each choose one of our storytime puppets to lift up and down.

(To the tune of This Old Man)

Merry Go Round (lift stuffed animal up and down, or stand up and squat down)
Merry Go Round
We all ride on the merry-go-round
Now we’re UP
And now we’re DOWN!
We all ride on the merry-go-round.

Down to town, down to town
We go riding down to town
Better be careful you don’t fall DOWN (lower stuffed animal to the floor or pretend to fall down)
We go riding down to town.

Rain is Falling

I made up this song to use with the parachute for Outdoor Musical Storytime. It’s to the tune of Are You Sleeping, Brother John?

Rain is falling, (shake the parachute in time to the song)
Rain is falling,
From the sky,
From the sky.
Get under the umbrella, (lift up the parachute and have the kids run under)
Get under the umbrella,
Where it’s dry!
Where it’s dry!

Under a Shady Tree by Laurie Berkner

We sang this as our instrument play-along at the end of both storytimes.

[C] Under a shady tree, you and me.
Under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.
Under a shady tree you and me.
Lying under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.

Can you [G7] feel the breeze blow by?
Can you [C] feel it on your face?
This is our [F] special [G7] place.

[C] Under a shady tree, you and me.
Under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.
Under a shady tree you and me.
Lying under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.

Can you [G7] feel the soft cool grass?
Can you [C] feel it with your toes?
We can [F] sit here while it [G7] grows.

[C] Under a shady tree, you and me.
Under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.
Under a shady tree you and me.
Lying under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.

If you want to [G7] close your eyes,
And [C] sleep beneath the tree,
You can [F] rest your head on [G7] me.

[C] Under a shady tree, you and me.
Under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.
Under a shady tree you and me.
Lying under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.

Stay & Play: Paper Umbrellas

There are a lot of variations of this craft online. Before storytime, I had one of our interns cut out a pie-wedge shape out of white paper, and cut a selection of pipe cleaners in half.

For the Stay & Play, I put out white construction paper, the cut-paper shapes, the cut pipe cleaners, glue sticks, tape (to tape the pipe cleaner down), and markers. The kids had fun decorating their paper umbrellas and drawing the rain and other details around them.

Do you have any favorite books or songs featuring the letter U? Please share them in the comments below.

T-riffic Reads: A Storytime About the Letter T

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Early Literacy Tip: Point out that letters can make different sounds when combined with other letters (for example, Tr), and can change one word into another. For example: tee becomes tree, tail becomes trail, and tap becomes trap. Make a game out of having your child cover up the letter r with their finger and then uncover it, while you say each word. How fast can you switch back and forth between the words?

This week, we celebrated the letter T, which allowed me to share some of my favorite picture books. As usual, we started by drawing an upper and lower-case T in the air together, and then came up with words that started with the letter T. The kids suggested turkey, tree, and toothbrush. I also pulled some items out of my paper bag: a troll doll, a tambourine, and a triangle (the kids enjoyed playing the tambourine and triangle at the end of storytime).

Secret Words: As usual, I gave out slips of paper with a “secret word” on them at the end. Our words this time were: tiger, train, tree and turtle.

Here’s the rest of what we did:

Books:

It’s a Tiger by David LaRochelle; illustrated by Jeremy Tankard

This book has been a favorite of several of my storytime regulars, and it’s a lot of fun to read aloud. The reader is invited along on a story adventure that begins in the jungle where the monkeys swing from vine to vine. But everywhere you go, there’s a tiger hiding there! RUN! The book features lots of fun twists, including a boat captain with a tail, and a treasure chest with two glowing eyes peering out. Luckily, the tiger just wants a belly rub.

Leonardo, the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems

I love performing this book, which is so perfectly executed, hilarious, and sweet. Leonardo is a terrible monster. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t scare anyone. Until one day, he sneaks up on Sam, the most scaredy-cat kid in the whole wide world, and makes him cry. But when he finds out the long list of reasons why Sam is sad, he decides to stop being a terrible monster and become a wonderful friend instead. The page with all of the reasons why Sam is sad is so much fun to read. I always try to get through the whole thing in one breath.

Towed by Toad by Jashar Awan

Cute story about a toad who drives a tow truck, helping all kinds of animals all day long. But when his tow truck breaks down, he learns that even he needs help himself every now and then. My vehicle-obsessed storytime kiddos loved this one.

I Like Trains by Daisy Hirst

Sweet book about a dog who loves trains and train rides, especially when they involve a trip to see Grandma. The large format and illustrations, and simple language make this a great book for toddlers.

Songs & Activities:

Brush Your Teeth by Raffi

This Raffi song is an old standby of mine, and always goes over well with toddlers and preschoolers. I usually start by telling the kids to imagine their finger is a toothbrush. Then we all mime squeezing our imaginary toothpaste onto our fingers (I often ask them to share their favorite flavor of toothpaste).

When you wake up in the morning,
It’s a quarter to one,
And you want to have a little fun,
You brush your teeth,
Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch!
You brush your teeth,
Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch!

When you wake up in the morning,
It’s a quarter to two,
And you just can’t think of something to do,
You brush your teeth…

When you wake up in the morning,
It’s a quarter to three,
And your mind starts humming,
“Fiddle-dee-dee,”…

When you wake up in the morning,
It’s a quarter to four,
And you think you hear a knock on the door,
You get a little scared,
And then you brush your teeth…

When you wake up in the morning,
It’s a quarter to five,
And you just can’t wait to come alive!…

Going on a Tiger Hunt

Instead of the usual bear hunt, we went on a tiger hunt after reading It’s a Tiger.  I like to ham it up by pretending to get a grasshopper stuck in my shirt, wiping the mud off my feet, and shaking myself dry from the lake.  There are lots of variations, but this the script I use, with the kids repeating every line:

We’re going on a tiger hunt!
(We’re going on a tiger hunt!)
It’s a beautiful day!
(It’s a beautiful day!)
We’re not scared!
(We’re not scared!)

We’re coming to some grass.
(We’re coming to some grass).
Can’t go over it.
(Can’t go over it.)
Can’t go under it.
(Can’t go under it.)
Have to go through it.
(Have to go through it.)
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! (Rubbing hands together)

We’re coming to some mud.
(We’re coming to some mud.)
Can’t go over it.
(Can’t go over it.)
Can’t go under it.
(Can’t go under it.)
Have to go through it.
(Have to go through it).
Squilch! Squelch! Squilch! Squelch! (Clapping hands together).

We’re coming to a lake.
(We’re coming to a lake.)
Can’t go over it.
(Can’t go over it.)
Can’t go under it.
(Can’t go under it.)
Have to swim across it.
(Have to swim across it.)
Splish! Splash! Splish! Splash!

We’re coming to a cave.
(We’re coming to a cave.)
Can’t go over it.
(Can’t go over it.)
Can’t go under it.
(Can’t go under it.)
Have to go inside.
(Have to go inside.)
Tiptoe…tiptoe…tiptoe…tiptoe…
It’s dark in here…
(It’s dark in here…)
It’s cold in here…
(It’s cold in here…)
Two yellow eyes…it’s a tiger!

Run!
Swim across the lake!
Run through the mud!
Run through the grass!
Into the house!
Slam the door!
Lock it!
We’re never going on a tiger hunt again!

We Wave Our Scarves Together

We sang this with the play scarves at Family Storytime. It’s a fun, versatile song that you can extend by adding a verse about any other actions you can think to do with the scarves. It’s to the tune of For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow. Jbrary does a nice job of demonstrating it in the video below.

We wave our scarves together,
We wave our scarves together,
We wave our scarves together,
Because it’s fun to do.

We hug our scarves together…

We wear our scarves together…

We peek-a-boo together…

We throw our scarves together…

Ducks are on the Trampoline (Parachute Song)

I made this one up, using the tune to The Wheels on the Bus. I have lots of little animals that came with some Monkey Mitt sets and I threw different ones on the parachute each time we sang it. The kids loved watching them bounce up and down.

Ducks are on the trampoline, trampoline, trampoline,
Ducks are on the trampoline, bouncing up and down.

Dogs are on the trampoline… etc.

Freight Train

We sang this as our instrument play-along at the end. It’s one of my all-time favorite songs, and it has an incredible back-story. The original version by Elizabeth Cotten is beautiful, but sad, so I use this kid-friendly version by Elizabeth Mitchell. I ask the kids for different destinations for each verse.

[C] Freight train, Freight train [G7] going so fast.
[G7] Freight train, Freight train, [C] going so fast.
[E7] Please don’t tell what [F] plane I’m on,
So they [C] won’t know [G7] where I’ve [C] gone.

Going to Hawaii, going so fast!
Going to Hawaii, going so fast!
Please don’t tell what train I’m on,
So they won’t know where I’ve gone.

Going to the park, going so fast! etc…

Stay & Play: Tissue Paper Paintings

I love this simple process art activity. For the Stay & Play, I brought a box of colored tissue paper cut into small pieces, some white construction paper, and some small atomizers filled with water.

The kids had a great time arranging the tissue paper pieces on the construction paper and then spraying them with water. One nice aspect of this project is that as the tissue paper dries, you can peel it off and see the imprint it’s left behind on the paper, so the kids get to enjoy a second version of their artwork a few hours later.

Do you have any favorite picture books or songs featuring the letter T? Please share them in the comments below.

S-ential Reading: A Storytime About the Letter S

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Early Literacy Tip: Ask your child to point out particular letters in the titles of the books you read (example: can you find the word that starts with S?). This is a great way to introduce the idea of how individual letters make up the words that they see every day.

This week, we had a great time celebrating the letter S in storytime. As usual, we started by drawing the letter S in the air together, and talking about the sound it makes. I asked the kids if they could think of any words that started with S. They suggested: sun, snake, sky, and slug. I also pulled out some items from a paper bag: a snake puppet, a straw, and a slide whistle (my favorite!).

Secret Words: I’ve been enjoying having the kids pick a slip of paper with a secret word featuring the letter of the day at the end of storytime. This week, we had the words strawberry, sun, star, shoe and snake.

Here’s the rest of what we did:

Books:

Sleepy Sheepy by Lucy Ruth Cummins; illustrated by Pete Oswald

The kids LOVED this book. I’m not sure if it was the name “Sleepy Sheepy” or the phrase “was not sleepy!” but they giggled almost every time I read that sentence. It’s a very simple story about a sheep who doesn’t want to go to bed, but the language and the illustrations are a lot of fun.

Smelly Peggy by Helen Stephens

I read this book at several preschools recently, and some of the kids were practically on the floor laughing. A little girl named Pie describes her naughty dog named Peggy, who likes to wake Mom up with a lick, and Dad up with dog butt! She also steals Mom’s frilly undies, and rolls in all kinds of poop. But the family loves Peggy anyway. This is an author who knows her audience!

How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers

Sweet, whimsical story about a little boy who wants a star of his very own. He tries every way he can think of to find one, until he finally discovers one at the edge of the sea. This book resonates with me particularly, because my family has always loved to visit the tide pools here along the California coast, and recently we’ve been so relieved to see the sea stars, which are finally coming back after a long struggle with wasting disease. I also love it because it reminds me of Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, which is one of my all-time favorite fantasy novels. The kids at Family Storytimes seemed taken by the idea of having a star of their own.

Aarrgghh! Spider! by Lydia Monks

I try really hard not to hoard books in my house, but I do have a small personal collection of favorite picture books. This is one of them. It’s an older title about an adorable spider who wants to be a family pet, but keeps getting put outside. The kids love joining in on the repeated “Aarrgghh, Spider!” line, and they love the page with the sparkly webs. The ending, where the spider invites all of her friends into the family’s house, always gets lots of laughs.

Kat Writes a Song by Greg Foley

This is another old favorite of mine: the story of a cat who writes a song to make everything better. She thinks her song is magic, because it seems to make the sun come out, and helps turtle find his missing sock, and keeps dog from barking at her. But when it doesn’t fix her friend Bunny’s broken skateboard, she begins to doubt that it’s magical after all. But then, her friend Bird comes to cheer her up with a bunch of friends singing her song. The kids enjoyed singing along with the song, which is simply “Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow.”

Songs & Rhymes:

Sleeping Bunnies Song

This is a repeat from last week, but it fit so well with Sleepy Sheepy that I couldn’t resist doing it again at Outdoor Musical Storytime. The version I use is closest to the one in this LittleBabyBum video.

See the little bunnies sleeping (crouch down and pretend to sleep)
‘Till it’s nearly noon.
Come, let us wake them with a merry tune?
They’re so still.
Are they ill?
NO! Wake up little bunnies! (jump up)
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop! (jump up and down)
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop!
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop!
Hop little bunnies, hop and stop!

Little Bo Peep

I did this rhyme with the play scarves for Family Storytime. I had the kids stand up, and then we pretended the scarves were tails for the last line. Jbrary does a nice demo of the rhyme in the video below.

Little Bo Peep
Has lost her sheep, (hide scarf)
And doesn’t know where to find them.
Leave them alone,
And they’ll come home,
Wagging their tails behind them. (wave scarf in front of you, or behind you like a tail)

Shake My Sillies Out

This old Raffi song was my opening song for years when I first started as a children’s librarian. For Outdoor Musical Storytime, we sang the first verse with the parachute. I put a few small stuffed animals on the parachute, so they would fly up and down as we shook the chute in time with the song.

I’m gonna shake, shake, shake my sillies out,
Shake, shake, shake my sillies out,
Shake, shake, shake my sillies out,
And wiggle my waggles away.

There’s a Spider on the Floor

To the tune of If You’re Happy and You Know It. This is another Raffi song, although I usually change the lyrics a little. I acted it out with a spider puppet, and told the kids to pretend their hands were spiders.

There’s a spider on the floor, on the floor.
There’s a spider on the floor, on the floor.
Who could ask for any more than a spider on the floor?
There’s a spider on the floor, on the floor.

Now the spider’s on my leg, on my leg.
Now the spider’s on my leg, on my leg.
Oh, he’s really, really big, this old spider on my leg.
There’s a spider on my leg, on my leg.

Now the spider’s on my tummy, on my tummy…
Oh, I feel so very funny with this spider on my tummy!…

Now the spider’s on my neck, on my neck…
Oh, I’m gonna’ be a wreck, I’ve got a spider on my neck!…

Now the spider’s on my face, on my face…
Oh, I’m such a big disgrace. I’ve got a spider on my face!…

Now the spider’s on my head, on my head…
Oh, it fills my heart with dread to have this spider on my head!…

Spoken: But it jumps off!

Now the spider’s on the floor, on the floor…

Who could ask for any more than a spider on the floor?…

Sing a Song by Joe Raposo

We sang this as our instrument play-along at the end. It’s an old song from Sesame Street that I have always loved. I really like the version by The Carpenters in the video below.

[G] Sing, sing a [Am7] song [D7],
Sing out [G] loud, sing out [Dm7] strong [G7].
[Cmaj7] Sing of good things, not [G] bad,
[Em7] Sing of [A7] happy, not [Am7] sad [D7].

[G] Sing, sing a [Am7] song,
Make it [G] simple to [Gmaj7] last your whole life [Dm7] long [G7].
Don’t [Cmaj7] worry that it’s not [B7] good enough,
For [Em7] anyone else to [A7] hear.
Just [Am7] sing, [D7] sing a [G] song.

[G] La la do la da, [Gmaj7] la da la do la da,
[Cmaj7] La da da la do la da.
[G] La la do la da, [Gmaj7] la da la do la da,
[Cmaj7] La da da la do la da.

Stay & Play: DIY Stickers

This was really simple, but a lot of fun. Before storytime, I cut some large shipping labels into squares about 2″ x 2.” For the Stay & Play, I just put out the squares, along with markers and some small stamps. The kids really enjoyed making multiple stickers and then wearing them home. If I had time, I would have loved to use the circle cutter that came with our button machine to make round stickers too.

Do you have any favorite books or songs featuring the letter S? Please share them in the comments below.

Fine Rts: A Storytime about the Letter R

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Early Literacy Tip: Talk about the sounds that individual letters make, and make a game out of coming up with words that start with that sound. Paying attention to the sounds that make up words is a critical part of phonemic awareness, an important skill for learning to read later on.

This week, we focused on the Letter R in storytime. As usual, we started by drawing an upper- and lower-case letter R in the air together (I also wrote it on my whiteboard). I talked about the sound the letter makes (we said it together), and asked the kids if they knew any words that started with R. They had several suggestions: rain, run, rabbit, rat, and rhinoceros. I also pulled some items out of my paper bag: a ruler, a ribbon wand, and some rosemary (I broke off pieces to hand out to the kids so they could smell it).

For our secret words at the end, I handed out slips of paper with some basic letter R words written on them, including robot, rose, rabbit, raspberry, and rocket. This has been a fun addition to storytime, and the kids seem to enjoy the surprise of seeing what word they will get. It’s always nice when someone has a particular connection to the word, like “Oh, raspberries are your favorite fruit!”

Here’s the rest of what we did:

Books:

The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld

I love this sweet story that conveys the power of simply sitting with someone who is having a hard time, instead of trying to fix their problems. When Taylor’s block tower gets knocked over by a flock of crows, different animals stop to offer advice, telling him he should shout, or laugh, or ruin someone else’s tower. None of their advice makes Taylor feel any better, until the Rabbit comes and sits beside him, taking the time to listen to all of his feelings.

Rainbow Hat by Hong Hai

Cute, colorful story about a bear whose rainbow hat blows away. It lands on a turtle, and then a duck, and then a frog, and finally gets carried off by a large bird, who drops it right back on Bear’s head.

My Rhinoceros by Jon Agee

I love this book, especially because the author lives in the Bay Area, and has visited some of our local schools. When a boy buys a pet rhinoceros, he is disappointed to learn that rhinoceroses only do two things: pop balloons and poke holes in kites. Neither of those seem particularly useful, until the boy comes across two robbers escaping in a balloon and a kite. When his rhinoceros helps the police catch the robbers, the boy discovers his rhinoceros can also fly! The page with the flying rhinoceros always gets delighted gasps and giggles.

Singing in the Rain by Tim Hopgood (based on the song by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown)

I gave out the egg shakers before I read this book, and we sang the song together at the end of both Family and Outdoor Musical Storytime. I also pulled out my thunder stick (which makes a loud rumbling sound) and shook it whenever we got to the line about the stormy clouds. The illustrations are colorful and charming.

Songs:

The Sleeping Bunnies Song

For some reason, toddlers and preschoolers love songs where you sink down to the ground, and then jump up. This is one of my all-time favorites (I stole it from a local daycare provider years ago). There are lots of different versions, but the one I use is closest to the one in this Little Baby Bum video:

See the little bunnies sleeping (crouch down and pretend to sleep)
‘Till it’s nearly noon.
Come, let us wake them with a merry tune?
They’re so still.
Are they ill?
NO! Wake up little bunnies! (jump up)
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop! (jump up and down)
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop!
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop!
Hop little bunnies, hop and stop!

Rainbow ‘Round Me by Ruth Pelham

I don’t remember where I first learned this song, but I love it because it gives kids a chance to suggest things that they might see outside their window. We sang this with the ribbon wands at Outdoor Musical Storytime. I told the kids to wave the wands back and forth on the verses, and then spin around in a circle during the chorus. They suggested a red cat, a white garbage truck, and a green duck.

When I [C] look outside my [G7] window,
There’s a world of color I [C] see.
Fiddle-dee-dee, [F] outside my [C] window 
There’s a [G7] world of color I [C] see.

CHORUS:
[F] Rainbow, [C] rainbow, [G7] rainbow ’round [C] me. 
[F] Rainbow, [C] rainbow, [G7] rainbow ’round [C] me. 

And the [C] cat outside my [G7] window,
Is as red as red can [C] be.
Fiddle-dee-dee, [F] outside my [C] window 
It’s as [G7] red as red can [C] be.

CHORUS:
[F] Rainbow, [C] rainbow, [G7] rainbow ’round [C] me. 
[F] Rainbow, [C] rainbow, [G7] rainbow ’round [C] me.

And the [C] garbage truck outside my [G7] window,
Is as white as white can [C] be.
Fiddle-dee-dee, [F] outside my [C] window 
It’s as [G7] white as white can [C] be.
And the cat is as [G7] red as red can [C] be.

CHORUS:
[F] Rainbow, [C] rainbow, [G7] rainbow ’round [C] me. 
[F] Rainbow, [C] rainbow, [G7] rainbow ’round [C] me.  

And the duck outside my window…etc.

Roll the Ball to You

I used to work at a library that hosted a weekly Kindermusik class. The teacher would always sing this song in a really operatic style, which always struck me as funny. It is a really simple, catchy song though, and it stuck with me. For Family Storytime, we sang it while rolling a plush ball back and forth between me and each of the kids. For Outdoor Musical Storytime, I put a plush ball on the parachute and we rolled it around together (I wish I had brought a lighter ball though, because the plush one didn’t roll very well on the parachute).

I roll the ball to you,
And you roll the ball to me.
I roll the ball to you,
And you roll the ball to me.
I roll the ball to you,
And you roll the ball to me.
I roll the ball to you,
And you roll the ball to me.

Rocketship Run by Laurie Berkner

We sang this as our instrument play-along at the end. I had the kids crouch down and jump up during each countdown.

[Am] 5-4-3-2-1 [C] Blast off! Another rocket [E7] ship [Am] run!
[Am] 5-4-3-2-1 [C] Blast off! Another rocket [E7] ship [Am] run!

[C]Take me [G7] to the [F] Sun,
[C]Take me [G7] to the [F] Sun,
[C]When I [G7] get there [F] I’ll be spinning everywhere.
[C]Spinning [G7] round the [F] Sun.

[Am] 5-4-3-2-1 [C] Blast off! Another rocket [E7] ship [Am] run!
[Am] 5-4-3-2-1 [C] Blast off! Another rocket [E7] ship [Am] run!

[C]Take me [G7] to the [F] Moon,
[C]Take me [G7] to the [F] Moon,
[C]When I [G7] get there [F] I’ll be dancing through the air,
[C]Dancing [G7] on the [F] Moon.

[Am] 5-4-3-2-1 [C] Blast off! Another rocket [E7] ship [Am] run!
[Am] 5-4-3-2-1 [C] Blast off! Another rocket [E7] ship [Am] run!

[C]Take me [G7] to the [F] stars,
[C]Take me [G7] to the [F] stars,
[C]When I [G7] get there [F] I’ll be jumping everywhere,
[C]Dancing [G7] from star to [F] star.[Am] 5-4-3-2-1 [C] Blast off! Another rocket [E7] ship [Am] run!
[Am] 5-4-3-2-1 [C] Blast off! Another rocket [E7] ship [Am] run!

[C]Take me [G7] to the [F] Earth,
[C]Leave me [G7] on the [F] ground,
[C]When I [G7] get there [F] I’ll be [C] home.

[Am] 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

[C] Blast off! Another rocket [E7] ship [Am] run

Stay & Play: Straw Rockets

I got this idea from BuggyandBuddy.com, which also provided the rocket templates. Before storytime, I had our summer intern cut out the paper rocket templates.

For the Stay and Play, I put out the paper rocket templates, along with markers, tape, paper straws, and small pieces of larger plastic straws (our county has a policy of not purchasing disposable plastics if possible, so I cleaned a few used regular sized drinking straws and cut them into 2″ pieces. You can also roll up squares of paper and tape them into tubes instead, but there’s a little more friction, which makes it harder for the kids to blow the rocket off of the paper straw).

The kids enjoyed coloring their rockets with the markers. Then we helped them tape a piece of plastic straw to the back, making sure that the tape fully covered the hole at the top of the straw. When they inserted the paper straw into the plastic one, and blew, their rocket launched into the air.

Do you have any favorite books or songs featuring the letter R? Please share them in the comments below.