Monthly Archives: October 2023

G is for Ghost: A Storytime for the Letter G

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By a happy coincidence, we arrived at the Letter G in the week before Halloween, which allowed me to do my favorite Ghost book for both Outdoor Musical Storytime and Family Storytime.

As usual, I started by sharing several items that start with the Letter G: a pair of swim goggles, my glasses, and a guiro (a wooden instrument. Mine is shaped like a frog). I also asked the kids for suggestions. They came up with ghost, goat, girl, and gorilla.

Here’s a combination of the songs and books I used for both storytimes:

Books:

The Greedy Goat by Petr Horácek

I don’t know how I missed this one, but it was absolutely perfect for storytime, with large, bright, illustrations, a cute story, and even a plotline involving underpants, which always gets some giggles. The story is about a goat who gets bored with his usual meals and decides to spice up his diet with the dog’s food, the cat’s milk, the pig’s potato peelings, the farmer’s wife’s new plant, the farmer’s daughter’s shoes, and the farmer’s brand new underpants. Not surprisingly, the goat doesn’t feel well after that, and even changes colors (the kids loved calling out the color names).

Little Gorilla by Ruth Bornstein

The tricky thing about Family Storytime is that I never know exactly what age groups are likely to show up from week to week, so I usually try to have a range of options. I often have slightly older kids (up to age 6), so I had brought a couple of longer books (Gorilla! Gorilla! by Jeanne Willis and The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson), but in the end I had a couple of new families with toddlers, who were just settling in to storytime, so I read this one instead. It’s one of my favorites: a story about a gorilla who everyone in the great green forest loves, until one day he begins to grow and grow and grow into a BIG gorilla. And everyone still loves him.

Ghosts in the House by Kazuno Kohara

This is my favorite Halloween book for toddlers and preschoolers, since it’s more whimsical than scary. A girl moves into an old house at the edge of town, which happens to be haunted. Luckily, the girl is a witch, who quickly catches all the ghosts, puts them in the washing machine, dries them on the line, and puts them to work as cheerful looking curtains, tablecloths, and blankets. We had given out play scarves before we read this one, and I had the kids toss their scarves in the air and catch them on the pages where the witch catches the ghosts.

Go Away, Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley

This classic story also worked perfectly for both our letter G theme and Halloween. The book describes the multicolored features of Big Green Monster’s face (two big yellow eyes, a long bluish-greenish nose, etc.), and then makes them disappear one-by-one. The kids still had their play scarves, and I had them wave them in the air and say, “Poof!” every time I said, “Go Away!” to one of the monster’s facial features.

Songs & Rhymes:

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

We sang this one after The Greedy Goat. I asked the kids to suggest what Old MacDonald had on his farm for each verse. They came up with a robot, a cow, a pig, a sheep, and a unicorn.

[C] Old MacDonald [F] had a [C] farm,
E-I- [G7] E-I- [C] O!
And on that farm he [F] had a [C] goat,
E-I- [G7] E-I- [C] O!
With a maa-maa here, and a maa-maa there,
Here a maa, there a maa,
Everywhere a maa-maa.
[C] Old MacDonald [F] had a [C] farm,
E-I- [G7] E-I- [C] O!

Ten Candles on a Birthday Cake

I did this rhyme as a follow-up to Little Gorilla for Family Storytime.

Ten candles on a birthday cake (hold up ten fingers)
All lit up for me (point to yourself)
I make a wish and blow them out.
Watch and you will see! (blow on fingers and quickly close hands into fists)

After we did the rhyme with ten candles, I asked the ages of the kids, and we did it again with six candles, then four, then three, then two, then one. I usually joke about doing my own age, which, of course, would require much more than ten fingers.

We Are Scary Ghosts

We handed out play scarves before singing this one. I had the kids put them on their faces as we sang and pretended to “float” down the street, and then pull them off when we said, “BOO!”

We are scary ghosts floating down the street,
Walking down the street,
Walking down the street.
We are scary ghosts walking down the street,
We’ll scare you…BOO!

Have You Seen the Ghost of John?

This is a deliciously creepy Halloween song, which also works really well as a round if you have two or three strong singers to lead it.

[Dm] Have you seen the [Gm] ghost of [Dm] John?
[Dm] Long white bones with the [Am] skin all [Dm] gone.
[Dm] Oooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh…
[Dm] Wouldn’t it be [G m] chilly with [Am] no skin [Dm] on?

Stay & Play: Cotton Ball Ghosts

For our Stay & Play, I put out black construction paper, cotton balls, glue sticks, googly eyes, and dot markers for the kids to make cotton ball ghosts. I was amazed by the different designs they came up with. In my example, I had made a ghost shape out of the cotton balls, and then put the googly eyes on top, but many of the kids opted to put their eyes directly on the paper, with cotton balls scattered across the page in different ways. Several of them had ghosts with lots of eyes as well. Spooky fun!

Do you have favorite books or songs featuring the Letter G? Please share them in the comments below.

F is for Fall: A Storytime About the Letter F

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I’m still enjoying the challenge of our storytime adventures through the alphabet. This week we did the letter F in both Outdoor Musical Storytime and Family Storytime. I started by asking the kids to suggest words that started with the letter F. They came up with finger, fall, flower, frog, and fox. I wrote them down on my whiteboard and then we all drew the letter F in the air. I also demonstrated a few notes on my flute (an instrument I rarely get to play, since I can’t sing while playing it.) The kids were intrigued by the way you make sound by blowing across the hole, rather than into it.

Here’s a combination of the books, songs, and activities I used for both storytimes.

Books:

Foodie Faces by Bill & Claire Wurtzel

This is such a cute book, featuring faces made out of fruits, vegetables, oatmeal, whipped cream, bagels, and lots of other foods. The text is a simple rhyme, which describes different feelings. The kids loved calling out the feelings, and also the different types of foods.

In the Middle of Fall by Kevin Henkes; illustrated by Laura Dronzek

A beautiful book about the Fall, featuring squirrels, apples, pumpkins, and of course, falling leaves. Before we read it, I had handed out play scarves for the song Leaves Are Falling to the Ground, and I asked the kids to hold on to their scarves and then throw them on the page where all the leaves blow off the trees. It was a bit hit!

I’m a Frog by Mo Willems

Adorable Elephant and Piggie book where Gerald is shocked when Piggie tells him she is a frog. He worries that he might turn into a frog too, until she explains that she is just pretending. For Outdoor Musical Storytime, Claire read the part of Gerald and I read Piggie. The kids especially loved the page where they argue, “Yes, you can!” and “No, I can’t!”

Is Everyone Ready for Fun by Jan Thomas

Jan Thomas is one of those authors that really understands what makes a great storytime book: humor, repetition, and opportunities for kids to take part in the story. In this one, three cows declare that it’s time to jump, dance, and wiggle on Chicken’s sofa, with Chicken objecting every time. I did this one for Family Storytime, and the kids loved it!

If You Find a Leaf by Aimée Sicuro

I used this one in place of In the Middle of Fall for Family Storytime, which gets a slightly older audience. It’s a beautiful book about all of the things you can do with fall leaves: pretending they are hats or Halloween masks or parachutes. I had given out play scarves before I read it, and I had the kids pretend they were leaves, as we acted out the different ideas in the book. It would be fun to hand out actual leaves as well.

Songs:

If You’re Happy and You Know It

I did this one to go along with the book Foodie Faces, since it’s all about feelings. I usually add in verses about other emotions:

[C] If you’re happy and you know it, clap your [G7] hands! (clap, clap)
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your [C] hands! (clap, clap)
If you’re [F] happy and you know it, and you [C] really want to show it,
If you’re [G7] happy and you know it, clap your [C] hands! (clap, clap)

If you’re sad and you know it, cry, “Boo hoo!”…

If you’re angry and you know it, say, “I’m mad!”… (stomp feet while saying, “I’m mad!”)

If you’re shy and you know it, hide your face… (cover your eyes, and then uncover them and say, “Peek-a-boo!”

If you’re sleepy and you know it, yawn and stretch…

If you’re happy and you know it, shout, “Hooray!”

Aiken Drum

For Family Storytime, which draws a smaller crowd, I did this song to go along with Foodie Faces. I brought out a basket of play food, and asked the kids to come up and pick foods to be the parts of Aiken Drum’s face. We laid them out on the floor. In the end he had eyes made of lemons, a nose made of grapes, a mouth made of corn, and ears made of eggs.

[C] There was a man lived [F] in the moon,
[C] In the moon, [G] in the moon.
There [C] was a man lived [F] in the moon,
And his [C] name was [G] Aiken [C] Drum.

Chorus:

[C] And he played upon a [F] ladle, [C] a ladle, a [G] ladle,
He [C] played upon a [F] ladle, and his [C] name was [G] Aiken [C] Drum.

[C] And his eyes were made of [F] lemons,
[C] Lemons, [G] Lemons.
His [C] eyes were made of [F] lemons,
And his [C] name was [G] Aiken [C] Drum.

[C] And he played upon a [F] ladle, [C] a ladle, a [G] ladle,
He [C] played upon a [F] ladle, and his [C] name was [G] Aiken [C] Drum.

And his nose was made of grapes… etc.

Leaves are Falling on the Ground

To the tune of The Wheels on the Bus. I got this one from PreschoolExpress.com, who credits Jean Warren as the author. We handed out play scarves before we sang it, and pretended they were leaves falling through the air, then swished them in the air like rakes for the second verse:

The leaves on the trees are falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
The leaves on the trees are falling down,
All through the town.

Let’s rake the leaves into a mound,
Into a mound, into a mound.
Let’s rake the leaves into a mound
All through the town.

The kids in the town jump up and down,
Up and down, up and down.
The kids in the town jump up and down,
All through the town.

Five Green & Speckled Frogs

For Outdoor Musical Storytime, we sang this with the parachute. I had the kids shake the parachute in rhythm as I sang the song and held up toy frogs. Each time we got to the line about the frog jumping into the pool, I threw a frog onto the parachute. For Family Storytime, I had a frog puppet and a fly toy that I let the kids take turns feeding to the frog.

Five green and speckled frogs
Sat on a speckled log.
Eating the most delicious bugs! Yum Yum!
One jumped into the pool,
Where it was nice and cool,
Now there are four green speckled frogs!

Four green and speckled frogs…etc.

You Are My Flower

This is a classic bluegrass song that’s really simple to play. We did it as our instrument play-along at the end. Here is a link to the YouTube video for the version by Elizabeth Mitchell:

[C] The grass is just as green, the sky is just as [G7] blue.
The day is just as bright and the birds are singing [C] too.

You are my [C] flower, that’s blooming in the mountain for [G7] me.
You are my flower, that’s blooming there for [C] me.

The [C] air is just as pure, the sunlight just as [G7] free,
And nature seems to say, it’s all for you and [C] me.

You are my [C] flower, that’s blooming in the mountain for [G7] me.
You are my flower, that’s blooming there for [C] me.

So [C] wear a happy smile, and life will be worth-[G7]while.
Forget your tears, but don’t forget to [C]smile.

You are my [C] flower, that’s blooming in the mountain for [G7] me.
You are my flower, that’s blooming there for [C] me.

When [C] summertime is gone and snow begins to [G7] fall,
Just sing this song and say to one and [C] all.

You are my [C] flower, that’s blooming in the mountain for [G7] me.
You are my flower, that’s blooming there for [C] me.

Stay & Play: Paper Fans

It’s actually been hot this week in the Bay Area, so this simple activity turned out to be a nice gift to the families, especially at Outdoor Musical Storytime. I pre-folded paper fans accordion style out of different colors of paper. For the Stay & Play, I told the kids to flatten the paper and draw whatever designs they wanted with markers. Then they refolded them to make them back into fans.

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

E is for Elephant: A Storytime About the Letter E

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I had a lot of fun focusing on the Letter E in both my Outdoor Musical Storytime and Family Storytime this week. We started by talking about the sounds that E makes, and I asked the kids if they knew any words that started with E. They came up with Elephant, Eagle, Eye, Ear, and Egg. I wrote those on my portable whiteboard, and then we drew the letter E in the air together.

Here’s a summary of the books and songs I used in both storytimes:

Books:

We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins

My family storytime on Wednesday nights has been bringing in some older preschoolers and early elementary school students, and this book was a big hit with them. It’s an hilarious story about Penelope the T-Rex who can’t help but eat her human classmates, even though her teacher always makes her spit them out again. But when Walter, the class goldfish, bites her finger, she realizes what it’s like to be someone’s snack, and finally learns to enjoy her classmates as friends, instead of meals.

Elephants Cannot Dance by Mo Willems

In this Elephant and Piggie book, Piggie tries to teach Gerald to dance, even though he tells her that elephants can’t dance. Although he struggles and eventually gives up trying to follow her instructions, some squirrels ask him to teach them to dance “The Elephant.” In my Outdoor Musical Storytime, I had the kids stand up and try to follow Piggie’s instructions along with the book.

Do Your Ears Hang Low? by Jenny Cooper

Adorable version of the classic song. For both of my storytimes, I handed out play scarves, and had the kids pretend that the scarves were long ears as I read the book. The last page features a mirror, which I carried around so that each of the kids could see themselves “in the book.” They all loved it!

The Odd Egg by Emily Gravett

Very cute, simple story about a duck who finds an huge egg. He thinks it’s the most amazing egg in the world, but the other birds, who each have their own eggs, disagree. Gradually all of the eggs hatch into baby birds, except for duck’s, which hatches into an alligator. The kids all laughed at the alligator calling duck “mama.”

Songs:

I Like to Eat Apples and Bananas

We sang this in Family Storytime after We Don’t Eat Our Classmates. It was a great fit, because it not only featured the E word “Eat,” but also emphasizes the long E sound. I started by teaching the kids the ASL signs for Apple, Banana, and Eat, so they could sign along with the song while I played it on the ukulele. Each time you sing the song, you change the vowels to A, E, I, O, or U, using the long sound of each (the one that sounds like the name of the letter).

I like to [C] eat, eat, eat, apples and ba-[G]nanas.
I like to eat, eat, eat, apples and ba-[C]nanas.
I like to [C] eat, eat, eat, apples and ba-[G]nanas.
I like to eat, eat, eat, apples and ba-[C]nanas.

Ay lake to ate, ate, ate, ayples and baynaynays…

Ee leek to eat, eat, eat, eeples and beeneenees…

I like to īte, īte, īte, īpples, and bīnīnīs… (the ī symbol is for the long “i” sound, which sounds like “eye”)

Oh, loke to oh-te, oh-te, ohte, oh-pples and boh-noh-nohs…

 Ū lūk to ūte, ūte, ūte, ūpples and būnūnūs… (the ū symbol is for the long “u” sound, which sounds like “ooh)

Elephants Have Wrinkles

There are different versions of this song, but this is the one that I use. As we sang each verse, I asked the kids for suggestions of where elephants have wrinkles (they came up with eyes, ears, mouth, legs, ears, tails, and bellies), and we sang the song faster each time.  Click on the triangle for the tune:


Elephants have (pat legs on each syllable)
Wrinkles, Wrinkles, Wrinkles (clap hands on each syllable)
Elephants have (pat legs on each syllable)
Wrinkles (clap hands on each syllable)
Everywhere! (stomp feet on each syllable)
On their nose! Oh-oh! (touch your nose, and mime a trunk)

Repeat

Elephants have wrinkles…

On their legs! On their nose! Oh-oh!

Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes

I did one to go along with Do Your Ears Hang Low. We sang it three times, getting faster and faster each time. I always start by asking the kids if they remembered to bring their heads, which usually gets a laugh.

Head and shoulders, knees and toes,
Knees and toes.
Head and shoulders, knees and toes,
Knees and toes.
And eyes and ears, and mouth and nose.
Head and shoulders, knees and toes.

I Know a Chicken by Laurie Berkner

We did this as our instrument play-along at the end. Laurie Berkner’s video is below:

[C7] I know a chicken, (I know a chicken)
And she laid an egg. (And she laid an egg)
Oh [F7] I know a chicken, (I know a chicken)
And she [C7] laid an egg. (And she laid an egg)
[G7] Oh my goodness! (Oh, my goodness)
It’s a [C7] shaky egg! (It’s a shaky egg!)

Now shake them [C7] fast!
Shake them [F7] fast!
Shake them [C7] fast!
[G7] Shake your eggs!
[C7] Shake them [G7] fast!

[C7] I know a chicken, (I know a chicken)
And she laid an egg. (And she laid an egg)
Oh [F7] I know a chicken, (I know a chicken)
And she [C7] laid an egg. (And she laid an egg)
[G7] Oh my goodness! (Oh, my goodness)
It’s a [C7] shaky egg! (It’s a shaky egg!)

Now shake them [C7] slow!
You know how it [F7] goes.
Shake them [C7] slow,
[G7] Because you know how it goes.
[C7] Shake them [G7] fast! Oh, shake those eggs!

[C7] I know a chicken, (I know a chicken)
And she laid an egg. (And she laid an egg)
Oh [F7] I know a chicken, (I know a chicken)
And she [C7] laid an egg. (And she laid an egg)
[G7] Oh my goodness! (Oh, my goodness)
It’s a [C7] shaky egg! (It’s a shaky egg!)

Now shake them [C7] in a circle.
Shake them [F7] round and round.
Don’t let them touch the [C7] ground.
[G7] Now shake them up and down.
[C7] You’ve got to shake them up and [G7] down.

Stay & Play: Googly Eye Monsters

Super simple, but fun. I just put out large and small pom-poms, glow-in-the-dark googly eyes, and glue sticks for the kids to make their own monsters. The kids were especially excited about the glow-in-the-dark eyes, and it was a good activity since it’s close to Halloween.

What are your favorite Letter E books, songs, or activities? Please share them in the comments below.

D is for Duck: A Storytime for the Letter D

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I’m enjoying my storytime journey through the alphabet. This week we did the letter D in both Outdoor Musical Storytime and Family Storytime. I started by showing the kids a drum (a djembe), a dog puppet, and for fun, a didgeridoo (an instrument that I once received as a birthday gift, which I recently learned is actually called a mago by the Australian Aboriginal peoples who play it). We talked about the letter D and the sound it makes. I drew the letter on my little whiteboard, and then we drew it together in the air.

Here’s a combination of the books and songs I used for both storytimes:

Books:

Truck Full of Ducks by Ross Barach

Funny book about a service run by a dog who provides a “truck full of ducks” on demand. But when one of his ducks eats the paper with the customer’s address, he ends up asking everyone he meets if they need a truck full of ducks. He meets animals who have requested an ice cream truck, a pirate seeking a cracker truck for his parrot, an alien who requested a tow truck, and even someone who called for a duck removal service, before he makes his way into the deep dark woods to his actual customer: a fox who wants ducks for his bath. The kids especially loved the picture of all the ducks stopping at a rest stop, with all of their little duck feet showing underneath the restroom doors.

Dalmatian in a Digger by Rebecca Elliott

Cute book with lots of sound effects for the kids to join in on, like “Dugger Dugger Digger,” and featuring a variety of animals driving construction vehicles: a camel in a crane, a duck in a dump truck. It was a big hit with the kids who love trucks and big machines.

Down by the Station by Will Hillenbrand

Adorable adaptation of the traditional song, featuring lots of baby animals all rising the train to the children’s zoo. Each verse adds a new animal sound.

Dinosaur Stomp by Paul Stickland

This book seems to be out of print, unfortunately, which is sad, because it was a big hit with my family storytime kids. It’s a simple, rhyming pop-up, featuring large colorful dinosaurs. We have it on a small shelf of non-circulating books for storytime. One preschooler was so taken with it that she spend twenty minutes flipping through it after storytime, and cried when she had to leave.

Is There a Dog in This Book? by Viviane Schwarz

A fun sequel to There Are Cats in This Book, where the three colorful cats are frightened by the arrival of cute, purple dog, but soon discover that it is scared too. We had a small enough group for Family Storytime that I was able to let each kid take a turn opening one of the books many flaps, and petting the dog.

Songs:

When Ducks Get Up in the Morning

This is an old-standby of mine. The kids always enjoy suggesting animals for each verse. We sang about pigs, cats, dinosaurs, turtles, and whales.

[C] When ducks get up in the morning,
[G7] They always say, “Good [C] day!”
[C] When ducks get up in the morning,
[G7] They always say, “Good [C] day!”
[C] They say, “Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack!”
[G7] That is what they [C] say.
[C] They say, “Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack!”
[G7] That is what they [C] say.

Six Little Ducks

Another favorite duck song.

[C] Six little ducks that I once [G7] knew,
Fat ones, skinny ones, [C] fair ones too.But the one little duck with the [G7] feather on his back.
He led the others with his [C] “Quack! Quack! Quack!”

Chorus:
[G7] “Quack! Quack! Quack! [C] Quack! Quack! Quack!”
[G7] He led the others with his [C] “Quack! Quack! Quack!”

[C] Down to the river they would [G7] go,
Wibble-wobble, wibble-wobble, [C] to and fro.
But the one little duck with the [G7] feather on his back.
He led the others with his [C] “Quack! Quack! Quack!”

Chorus

[C] Home from the river they would [G7] come,
[C] Wibble-wobble, wibble-wobble, ho hum hum.
But the one little duck with the [G7] feather on his back.
He led the others with his [C] “Quack! Quack! Quack!”

Chorus

We Are the Dinosaurs by Laurie Berkner

Most of the families were familiar with this song, which always gets the kids up and stomping. Laurie Berkner’s original video is below.

[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!

Do As I’m Doing

I gave out play scarves before we sang this one, and demonstrated different motions each time we sang it: twirling the scarves, throwing them in the air, playing peek-a-boo, etc.

[C] Do as I’m doing, follow, follow [G7] me.

[C] Do as I’m doing, follow, [G7] follow [C] me.

[C] Follow, [G7] follow, [F] follow [C] me.

[F] Follow, [C] follow, [G7] follow [C] me.

Follow, [G7] follow, [F] follow [C] me,

[F] Follow, [C] follow, [G7] follow [C] me.

Dee Dee Dee by Jeff Moss

An old, but very catchy song from Sesame Street. We sang it as our instrument play-along at the end.

[Bb] Dee, dee-dee, dee-dee, dee-dee, dee-dee, dee-dee, [C7] doggy.
Dee-dee, dangerous [F] dragon.
Dee-dee, dee-dee, [Bb] donkey, duckie,
[F] Dinosaur!
Oh, [Bb] dee, dee-dee, dee-dee, dee-dee, dee-dee, dee-dee, [C7] dinner.
Dee-dee, dee-dee, [F] De-licious.
Dee-dee, dee-dee, dee, [Bb] don’t drop dishes
[C7] Down on the floor!
Oh, [Cm7] do a dance.
Dig some dirt.
Dunk a [Bb] doughnut for dessert.
Draw a [C7] daisy that’s dee-de-lightful to [F] see
When “D” is handy, it’s fine and dandy.
Dee, dee-dee, dee
[Bb] “D” is such a very nice [C7] letter.
Each day I like it [F] better,
That lovely letter called [Bb] “D!”
Having fun!
But [F] now I’m dee, dee, dee, [Bb] done!

Stay & Play: Complete the Drawing

This was a really simple activity, but I justified it because the word drawing also starts with the letter D. I printed out several of these Finish the Drawing pages from Finish the Picture Drawing Prompt Worksheets for Kids – Free Printable (thesavvysparrow.com). The kids could choose from the astronaut picture shown above, a pair of glasses that they could add a face to, a scene outside a window, or a picture of what a group of people are looking at. Then I just put out markers for them to draw whatever they liked. Some of them got really caught up in creating their drawings.

What are your favorite books or songs featuring the letter D? Please share them in the comments below.

The Emerald City: A Song Inspired by The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

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As a kid, I was obsessed with The Wizard of Oz, to the point that on my first day of Kindergarten, I insisted that my name was Dorothy. Every year, I looked forward to watching the movie on TV with a heady mixture of excitement and dread. I was terrified of the Wicked Witch and the flying monkeys, but also thrilled at the prospect of travelling to a world full of magic and talking animals.

As I got older, I became equally obsessed with the Oz books by L. Frank Baum, which were full of fascinating characters and new ways for Dorothy to find herself back in the magical land.

As a kid, I think my love of the Oz stories was largely about the dream of escaping to a place where magical things could happen. But lately I’ve been thinking about how the world is already pretty magical. At the touch of a few buttons, I can listen to almost any song, watch thousands of movies and TV shows, have incredible food appear right outside my door, and have whole boxes of random items fly across the country just for me. I know I often take all of these things for granted, but I’m sure to someone from an earlier time (even L. Frank Baum himself perhaps), it would all seem like sorcery.

But when I wrote this song, I wasn’t thinking about the magic of Oz, but about the Wizard. At the time, I was frustrated by all of the bigwigs in the news who get so much attention, just for having money and celebrity. And it reminded me of how one of the big lessons of the first Oz book is that the “Wonderful Wizard” Dorothy goes to for help turns out to be a man who ended up in Oz by accident, just like she did– a man who got very good at projecting a larger-than-life persona while hiding behind a screen.

The Emerald City

We travelled to the Emerald City
Through the land of Oz,
Hoping the Wizard would take pity
And rally to our cause.
But despite his booming voice
And shining riches,
He was just a man behind a screen.
Just a man pretending he had all the answers,
In his palace made of green.

We don’t need witches,
And we don’t need wizards.
They cause more problems in the end.
The true magic lies in what we have together
In the company of friends.

When the cyclone came, I was tossed around and twisted,
My whole life was torn away.
Waking up to things I never knew existed,
And colors brighter than the brightest Kansas day.
And strange new people
Who joined me on the journey.
They felt just like my family.
We were wiser, kinder, braver all together
Than any “magic man” could be.

We don’t need witches
And we don’t need wizards.
They’re nothing special in the end.
The true answers lie in fighting for each other
In our company of friends.

There may be golden roads
But they will never lead you home,
They only lead to humbugs
Who are not what they pretend.
And though you may be quite impressed
By witches North, South, East, or West.
Their claims will not hold water in the end.

When we arrived at last
And told him our position,
The Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion and me.
The Wizard sent us on a deadly mission,
To fight his greatest enemy.
And when the witch was washed away
Her monkeys had a lot to say:
They were taking orders just like me.
The wizard floated off in his big balloon to nowhere.
And the land of Oz was free.

We don’t need witches
And we don’t need wizards.
They are only serving their own ends.
We will find we have everything we ever needed
In our company of friends.

Thanks for listening! If you have any favorite childhood books you would like me to write a song about, please tell me in the comments below.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=l+frank+baum+wizard+of+oz+books&crid=1A5M5FXFRL31D&sprefix=oz+books+l+%2Caps%2C144&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_11