Early Literacy Tip: Books with repeated phrases that kids can easily remember (like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?) help them associate the printed word with the spoken one, and helps build their basic sight word vocabulary.

This week we continued our journey through the alphabet by focusing on the letter B in both Outdoor Musical Storytime and Family Storytime.

I’ve been trying to use this alphabet series as a fun way to focus explicitly on letter sounds and early literacy skills. As part of that focus, I’ve also started offering caregivers the opportunity to make a name tag for their child (I use small mailing labels) at the beginning of storytime. I tell them that it’s optional, but that we are trying to promote print awareness, and get their kids used to seeing their names written in print.

I started both of my storytimes by drawing a capital and lowercase letter B on a whiteboard and asking the kids what sound B makes. Then we drew the letter B (capital and lowercase) together in the air (I did silly sound effects while we did it: a descending pitch “woooo!” for the straight line down, and a “whoop!” for each curved line).

After that, I asked the kids if they knew any words that started with B, and wrote them on the whiteboard. They came up with “bird,” “banana” and “bat.” I also pulled some items out of a paper bag: a bag, a ball, a book, and a container of bubbles (I blew some for fun). For my Family Storytime (which is in the evening, and draws a much smaller crowd), I had kids take turns pulling the items out of the bag.

I had such a good time picking books for this storytime, because there are so many classic titles featuring the letter B, and the kids were excited to see some of their favorites.

Books:

I’m Bored by Michael Ian Black; illustrated by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

This is one of my favorite books to read aloud: a story about a bored little girl and her conversation with a potato. The girl is shocked to learn that the potato thinks kids are boring, even after she describes all the amazing things that kids can do. The kids loved joining in on the repeated “boring’s.”

Bark, George by Jules Feiffer

Another all-time favorite of mine. I’m always surprised to find families who haven’t read it yet, and delighted to share it with them for the first time. When George’s mother asks him to bark, he meows, quacks, oinks, and moos until she takes him the vet, who discovers a variety of animals inside of George. The surprise ending always gets a laugh.

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin; illustrated by James Dean

This is one of my favorite Pete the Cat books. Pete loves his yellow jacket with its four big colorful groovy buttons. He even has a song about it! But one by one his buttons pop off and roll away until he is left with just his belly button. The kids enjoyed joining in on the “Pop! Oh no!” each time.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle

There’s a reason why this book is a classic, and it made me happy to hear so many kids squeal, “I have that book at home!” when I held it up. It works well for so many reasons: the repeated pattern makes it perfect for beginning readers; the call and response structure makes it perfect for read-alouds. Plus, it teaches color and animal names. My only minor gripe is that I wish the teacher was a bit less frumpy looking, but at least teachers are in good company here, since librarians are usually portrayed the same way. At least she looks friendly!

Songs:

The Sleepy Bunny Song

I don’t know what it is about songs where you start on the ground and then jump up, but the kids always LOVE them! This one is a particular favorite.

See the little bunnies sleeping (crouch or lie 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! (hop!)
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop!
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop!
Hop little bunnies, hop and stop!

We Bounce and We Bounce and We Stop

One of my all-time favorite storytime songs because it’s so versatile and works for almost any age. You can substitute almost any other action for bouncing (clapping, leaning, twirling, running, etc.), slow it down or speed it up, add in extra bounces on the third line, and put in a long pause between the words (we…bounce). For Outdoor Musical Storytime this week, we sang it with the parachute. I put cotton balls on the parachute so the kids could watch them bounce, and added more each time we sang it.

[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!

I’m Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee

There are a lot of versions of this old camp song, including the disturbing one about killing and squishing the poor baby bumblebee. The version I use is closest to the one in this video by Dr. Jean. I always ask the kids to suggest other animals to bring home, and then we try to come up with a line (usually rhyming) to describe what “my Mommy” does, which is a fun, and sometimes hilarious challenge. This time we had “I’m bringing home a baby bunny…won’t my Mommy think that’s really funny;” “I’m bringing home a baby cat…what will my Mommy think of that.” I got stumped by “I’m bringing home a baby puppy.” All I could think of on the spot was “Won’t my Mommy turn into a guppy,” which got some laughs from parents.

I’m [C] bringing home a [F] baby [C]bumblebee.
[G7] Won’t my mommy be so proud of me?
‘Cause I’m [C] bringing home a [F] baby [C] bumblebee.
[G7 ]Ouch! It stung me!

Bananaphone by Raffi

We sang this as our instrument play-along at the end. It’s got some unusual chords and lots of lyrics, so I don’t do it often, but it’s always a big hit that gets stuck in my head for days.

[G] Ring ring ring ring [D] ring ring ring
[G] Bananaphone! [D]
[G] Ring ring ring ring [D] ring ring ring
[E7] Bananaphone
[Am] I’ve got this feeling, [G] so ap-[Em]pealing
[A7] For us to get together and [D7] sing, sing!

[G] Ring ring ring ring [D] ring ring ring
[G] Bananaphone! [D]
[G] Ding dong ding dong [D] ding dong ding
[E7] Donanaphone!
[Am] It grows in bunches. [G] I’ve got my [Em] hunches.
[A7] It’s the best! Beats the rest
[D7] Cellular, modular, interactivodular!

[G] Ring ring ring ring [D] ring ring ring
[G] Bananaphone!
[G] Ping pong ping pong [D] ping pong ping
[E7] Pananaphone
[Am] It’s no baloney. [G] It ain’t a [Em] phony,
[A7] My cellular [D7] Bananular [G] phone.

Don’t [F#] need quarters, don’t need dimes,
To [Bm] call a friend of mine!
Don’t [F#] need computer or TV
To [Bm] have a real good time!
I’ll [E7] call for pizza, I’ll call my cat
I’ll [A] call the white house, have a chat!
I’ll [A7] place a call around the world.
[D7] Operator get me Beijing-jing-jing-jing!

[G] Ring ring ring ring [D] ring ring ring
[G] Bananaphone! [D]
[G] Yin yang yin yang [D] yin yang ying
[E7] Yananaphone.
It’s a [C] real live mama and [C#dim7] papa phone,
A [G] brother and sister and a [E7] dog-aphone,
A [A7] grandpa phone and a [D7] grandmaphone too! [E7] Yeah!
My [A7] cellular, [D7] bananular [G] phone!

[G] Bananaphone, ring [D7] ring [G] ring!
[G] Bananaphone, ring [D7] ring [G] ring!

Stay & Play: Beaded Bracelets

This simple Stay & Play is always popular, and the kids get really into it. It’s always great for building their fine motor skills. I just put out bowls of Pony beads and pipe cleaners and let them thread away. The grown-ups usually have to help them connect the ends of the pipe cleaner to make it into a bracelet at the end.

Do you have any favorite books, songs, or activities featuring the Letter B? Or any early literacy tips? Please share them in the comments below.