Finding books that work well with a large group of kids is always a challenge. They need to have large, clear illustrations, and a text that kids can follow, even if they can’t see all of the details in the pictures. The text also needs to grab and hold their attention. This is especially true for preschool and school-aged classes, where the kids are all sitting together (without a parent or caregiver right next to them), and can be easily distracted by the kids around them. Finding a book that meets all of these criteria is rare, so I was excited to come across The Future Book by Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris.
The premise of the book is that the narrator is sharing surprising facts from the future. For example, in the future, instead of saying “thank you,” you put a fish on the other person’s head, and instead of saying, “Goodbye,” you say, “You smell like a baby!” After sharing a list of different things to know about the future, the narrator shares a simple story about going to the supermarket (now known as the “bolly bolly hoo hoo”) to buy some fruit for one bazillion dollars.
Originally, I wasn’t sure if this book would work for preschoolers, and only intended to try it with the second grade classes I read to regularly. But, on a whim, I ended up trying it with a transitional Kindergarten class, and they were practically shrieking with laughter from the very beginning. I don’t know if they all fully understood the idea of the book being set in the future, but I forgot how much kids that age love unexpected words or sounds (like when George the dog says “Meow” in the book Bark, George by Jules Feiffer). The “you smell like a baby,” line had them in hysterics.
I’ve since shared the book with several preschools (one of the teachers just asked me for the title, because the kids were still talking about it month later), as well as Kindergarten, first, and second grade classes. They have all loved it, and I love how it has become an inside joke when I run into any of those kids (they’ll say “I put a fish on your head!” or “you smell like a baby!”).
As a side note, I’ve been lucky enough to attend events with both Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris, and I love to tell kids about how they were childhood friends who ended up writing books together as adults. They also both still live in the Bay Area, and are wonderful with kids.
What are your favorite new picture books? Or your favorite books to share with classes? Please let me know in the comments.
Early Literacy Tip: Ask your child to guess what will happen next in a story. This is a great way to make sure they understand what’s happening, and keep them engaged in the book.
This week’s storytime focus was the Letter I. We started by drawing a capital and lower case letter I in the air together (I also wrote them on my whiteboard), and then we talked about the two main sounds that the letter I makes, and some words that start with I. The families suggested igloo, ice cream, and ice. I also pulled three items out of a paper bag: an insect (honeybee puppet), an instrument (a rainstick), and an ink pad.
Cute, rhyming book about waiting for the ice cream truck, but seeing lots of other trucks instead. When I read this in Family Stortyime, one of the kids started pointing to different animals on each page, and saying, “That one’s me, and that one’s my Dad.” And then other kids started joining in. It was so funny and sweet that I think I may ask kids to point to the animal they would like to be in future books with different animal characters.
Many of the kids were familiar with this book, which I read in a big book format for Outdoor Musical Storytime. It’s a fun one for asking the kids to guess what the mouse will ask for next (my early literacy tip for the week).
Different types of animals argue about which trait is the most important (long neck, spiky quills, tall ears, wings, etc.), and they all imagine what they would look like if they had that trait. The kids really enjoyed the pictures showing all the animals with wings or long necks, etc.
This is an older book, but the ideas and illustrations are imaginative and unforgettable. Each page depicts a different hypothetical scenario, ranging from the magical (if cats could fly) to the creepy (if teeth were toes). The kids were mesmerized by the illustrations (and so were the grown-ups).
Songs:
If You’re Happy And You Know It
Full disclosure: I also sang this song for the letter H last week (as well as Hickory Dickory Dock (below), but it works for both! Plus, it’s the kind of classic song that the kids are usually excited to sing with me.
[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!”
The Itsy Bitsy Spider
We sang this with the play scarves in Family Storytime. I had the kids pretend the scarves were spiders that they “crawled” up their arms, and then threw into the air on the “down came the rain” line.
The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout. Down came the rain and washed the spider out! Out came the sun and dried up all the rain, And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.
Hickory Dickory Dock
This was a repeat from last week that we did with the parachute. I put a mouse puppet in the middle of the parachute, and we shook the parachute in time to the song, and lifted it up and down to go with the lyrics.
Hickory Dickory Dock (clap hands in rhythm) The mouse ran up the clock (run fingers up arm) The clock struck one: BONG! The mouse ran down (run fingers down arm) Hickory Dickory Dock (clap hands)
Hickory Dickory Dock (clap hands in rhythm) The mouse ran up the clock (run fingers up arm) The clock struck two: BONG! BONG! The mouse went, “BOO!” (cover your face and then uncover it when you yell, “BOO!”) Hickory Dickory Dock (clap hands)
Hickory Dickory Dock (clap hands in rhythm) The mouse ran up the clock (run fingers up arm) The clock struck three: BONG! BONG! BONG! The mouse went “Whee!” (run fingers down body quickly) Hickory Dickory Dock (clap hands)
If All the Raindrops
I do this traditional song a lot because it works well for so many ages, and gives the kids a chance to suggest their favorite foods for each verse. We sang it as our instrument play-along at the end.
[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 ice cream and carrots… etc.
Stay & Play: Stamps & Inkpads
This was one of the easiest Stay & Play’s I’ve done, but the kids really enjoyed it. We have a huge collection of different types of stamps and inkpads, so I just put them all out, along with white paper and markers. They had a great time trying out all of the different stamps. One of the caregivers pointed out that stamping is a great way to practice different types of motor skills, because it takes a while for kids to get the hang of pressing down hard on the inkpad, but also being careful to make sure the ink covers the whole surface, and then using enough force and care to make sure the whole image gets imprinted on the paper.
Do you have any favorite picture books or songs featuring the letter I? Please share them in the comments below.
The Loudest Librarian! 