Early Literacy Tip: Engage children in the books you read together by inviting them to mimic sounds and actions from the story, and asking them questions about the pictures and what they think will happen next. Interactive picture books are a fun and easy way to get kids involved in the story.

Interactive picture books (the kind that asks the reader to do different actions) are so much fun to share at storytime. They are also a great way to model the kinds of interactions that caregivers can use to encourage kids to engage with the books they read aloud. For this week’s storytimes, I decided to feature several of these types of books, and briefly explain to caregivers that they provide an easy way to give kids a way to participate in the books they read together, even before they learn how to read for themselves.

Here’s what we did:

Books:

Is Everyone Ready for Fun? by Jan Thomas

Jan Thomas is one of my favorite storytime authors. In this one, a trio of enthusiastic cows announce that it’s time to bounce on Chicken’s sofa. When Chicken tells them there will be no bouncing on his sofa, the cows dance, wiggle, and eventually nap on the sofa instead. The kids enjoyed doing the actions along with the cows. This is a great book for restless toddlers.

Bunny Slopes by Claudia Rueda

One of a series of Bunny Interactive books, this one asks the reader to help Bunny go skiing by shaking the book (or your arms) to make it snow, tilting the book (or your body) to make a ski slope, and more. The kids enjoyed following the bunny’s instructions.

Don’t Wake the Dragon by Bianca Schulze; illustrated by Samara Hardy

This was my first time reading this book, but it worked really well. A naughty dragon is finally asleep, and the narrator asks you to help keep her that way by saying “Shhh!” three times, rocking the book (or your body), and quieting a noisy group of knights by participating in their birthday party celebration until you can finally get their attention. The illustrations are bright and eye-catching, and the kids really seemed to enjoy all of the actions.

Count the Monkeys by Mac Barnett; illustrated by Kevin Cornell

I read this one for Family Storytime. It’s time to count the monkeys! There’s just one problem: a bunch of other animals (and people) keep showing up and scaring the monkeys away. You can help by giving high fives to the lumberjacks, moving your hand in a Z to confuse the crocodiles, saying thank you to the beekeepers, and more. This book got lots of laughs from both kids and grownups.

I Say Ooh, You Say Aah! by John Kane

I didn’t actually end up reading this at storytime, because it seemed a bit too complicated for the toddlers and preschoolers to follow. But I read it to a group of Kindergartners and T/K (Transitional Kindergartners), and they loved it so much, I ended up reading it twice (they even begged me to read it a third time!). The book asks the reader to follow a series of silly instructions: say “Aah” when the narrator says, “Ooh;” say “Underpants” when you see a picture of an ant; pat your head when you see the color red, etc. It then introduces a donkey named, “Ooh” with an ant on his nose, and things get very silly.

Songs:

We Bounce and We Bounce and We Stop

We sang this to go with the book Is Everyone Ready for Fun? This is one of my all-time favorite storytime songs, because it’s so versatile. It works for almost any age (as a lapsit song for babies, and an action song for toddlers on up). You can add in age-appropriate actions like clapping, jumping, spinning, etc., and ask the kids for suggestions. You can sing it fast or slow, or add in long pauses to make them wait for the action (“We…bounce and we bounce and we stop!”). Or repeat the third line to keep them guessing when the “stop” will come. It’s always a hit!

[C] We bounce and we bounce and we stop!
[C] We bounce and we bounce and we stop!
[C] We bounce and we bounce and we bounce and we bounce,
[C] And we bounce and [G7] we bounce and we [C} stop!

The Sleepy Bunny Song

We sang this after reading Bunny Slopes. This is another long-time favorite, which I learned from a daycare provider. The kids LOVE pretending to sleep on the floor, and then jumping up at the end.

For Outdoor Musical Storytime, we sang it twice, doing the actions with our bodies. Then I brought out the big parachute and put cotton balls on top to look like little bunnies. The kids loved watching them fly in the air.

See the little bunnies sleeping
‘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!
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop!
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop!
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop!
Hop little bunnies, hop and stop!

Monkey See and Monkey Do

I wish I could remember who taught me this song, because it’s one I’ve used for my whole career. It’s another really versatile song with a catchy tune, and you can ask the kids to suggest other actions for the monkey to do.

When you clap, clap, clap your hands,
The monkey clap, clap, claps his hands,
Monkey see, and monkey do,
The monkey does the same as you!

Repeat with other motions: when you jump up and down; make a funny face; turn yourself around; and sit back on the ground.

Down By the Bay

We sang this as our instrument play-along at the end. Each time we sang it through, I asked the kids to suggest different things that the mother might ask. Some kids were familiar with the original song, and suggested, “Did you ever see a llama wearing pajamas?” but another kid suggested, “Did you ever see a whale wearing pajamas?” which everyone thought was really funny.

[C] Down by the bay, where the watermelons [G7] grow,
Back to my home, I dare not [C] go,
For if I [F] do, my mother will [C] say,
“Did you ever see a whale with a polka dot tail
[G7] Down by the [C] bay?”

Stay & Play: Marble Painting

This was really messy, and had nothing to do with the theme, but I had been wanting to try this process art activity ever since one of my coworkers found a big box of marbles in our craft closet. Before storytime, I traced the bottom of a pie tin onto white paper, and cut out a circle for each child.

For the Stay & Play, I gave each child a pie tin with a paper circle inside, and put a few dollops of different colors of tempera paint on the paper. I let them choose a marble (or two or three), and then they tilted the pie tin back and forth to roll the marble through the paint. One little girl discovered that she could make a more understated painting by taking the paint-covered marble from her first attempt, and rolling it across another white paper. You can see both paintings in the photo above.

Do you have any favorite interactive picture books? Please share them in the comments below.