Scary Stories!

Posted in Books for Second Graders, Rhymes and songs, Storytime themes by worldsloudestlibrarian

Q-tip Skeleton by Sophia

I love Halloween. The only thing that frightens me about the holiday is that I know the instant it’s over, it will be Christmas. And not just in the stores, because Christmas has already begun its red and green invasion across our local Rite Aid. No, I mean, that as soon as October ends, that whole eight weeks between November 1 and December 25 will vanish like a pepperoni pizza in a room full of teenagers.

But for now, I get to enjoy the huge variety of great picture books about monsters, witches, pumpkins, and ghosts. The only challenge is gauging the scariness level for the wide range of ages I read to. This week, I did Halloween-themed storytimes for two groups of toddlers, two groups of preschoolers, two second grade classes, and my family storytime group (mostly Kindergartners). This post is mostly about my family storytime, but I’ll list some of my favorites for the other age groups below:

When a Monster is Born by Sean Taylor and Nick Sharatt

“When a monster is born, there are two possibilities: either it’s a Faraway in the Forests Monster or it’s an Under Your Bed Monster.” This book explores all the different things that might happen with each decision a monster might make, each with hilarious twists: it might eat the principal, it might meet a kitchen girl and fall in love. The kids love joining in on the repeated line, “There are two possibilities.” This one was quickly snatched up by one of my family storytime kids. The parents enjoyed it too, especially the line, “Hey, I’m a monster. You’re a monster. Let’s get married!”

The Monster Who Ate My Peas by Danny Schnitzlein and Matt Faulkner

I love this book. It’s rare to find a long story in rhymed verse that reads so well all the way through, and is easy for the kids to follow. When a boy doesn’t want to eat his peas, a horrifying monster appears to offer a trade: he’ll eat the peas in exchange for the boy’s new soccer ball. The boy accepts, but the next time he has to eat peas, the monster returns asking for his bike. I had read this to two classes of second graders the morning before my family storytime, and I thought it was really interesting that, when I asked them if the boy should give up his ball or his bike, most of the older kids said, “Yes.” (The Kindergarten kids at family storytime said, “No” every time.). But when the monster demands the boy’s puppy, all the kids were emphatically against the deal, and also worried about what was going to happen to the dog. Luckily, the boy decides to eat the peas himself, and the monster disappears in a deliciously satisfying ending. A couple of the Kindergartners thought this one was scary, which surprised me because I remembered reading it to them a year or so before. But then I know from my own kids that they find different things frightening at different ages. The second graders loved it.

Crankenstein by Samantha Berger; illustrated by Dan Santat

This one was recommended by my friend Kerri, on her blog What is ML Reading? It’s a fun read-aloud because the kids get to make that Frankenstein “Mehrrr!” noise all the way through. It describes all the things that can turn a normal kid into Crankenstein: waiting in long lines, running out of maple syrup, getting ready for school, and bedtime. It would pair well with another of my favorite books: What are You so Grumpy About? by Tom Lichtenheld. This one got snatched up too.

Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds; illustrated by Peter Brown

Always a hit! As I told the kids: this one’s only scary if you’re a rabbit. But it has all the hallmarks of a horror movie: dark shadows, creepy breathing, things that aren’t there when you turn around. In this case, the monsters are three creepy carrots, who stalk poor Jasper Rabbit until he decides to take matters into his own hands. It’s a fun read, with a funny twist at the end, and it works for a wide range of ages.

SONGS:

Jack-o-Lantern (For the tune, click here)

Jack-o-lantern, Jack-o-lantern,
You are such a spooky sight!
As you sit there in the window
Looking out at the night.

You were once a yellow pumpkin
Growing on a pretty vine.
Now you are a jack-o-lantern,
Let your candlelight shine!

1 Little, 2 Little, 3 Little Witches

1 little, 2 little, 3 little Witches (hold up three fingers)
Fly over haystacks, fly over ditches (fly your hand around)
Fly over moonbeams without any hitches
Hey ho! Halloween night! (Clap!)

1 little, 2 little, 3 little witches
Flew over barbed wire, tore their britches
Had to go home and get some stitches (mime sewing)
Hey ho! Halloween night! (Clap!)

On Halloween (to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus)

The ghosts in the house go, “Boo! Boo! Boo!”
“Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo!”
The ghosts in the house go, “Boo! Boo! Boo!”
On Halloween!

The witches in the house go “Hee hee hee!”…

The bats in the house go “Eee eee eee!”…

The kids at the door say “Trick or treat!”

I asked for suggestions from the kids for other spooky Halloween things, or things they plan to be for Halloween.

Five Little Pumpkins

Five Little Pumpkins sitting on a gate (hold up five fingers)
The first one said, “Oh my! It’s getting late!”
The second one said, “There are witches in the air!”
The third one said, “But we don’t care!”
The fourth one said, “Let’s run and run and run!”
The fifth one said, “It’s Halloween fun!”
Then “OOOOOOH” went the wind,
And out went the light! (Clap)
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight. (roll hands)

Q-Tip Skeleton by Olivia

CRAFT: Q-Tip Skeletons

I am grateful to the Crafts Ideas website for including a printable template for the skull. I cut those out ahead of time and broke up the Q-Tips into different sizes. One thing I learned the hard way: it’s much easier to break Q-tips with your hands than to cut them with scissors. With the scissors, I was wearing out my hands, and Q-tip bits were flying across the reference desk like tiny cotton missiles!

The kids used glue sticks to glue their skeletons to black paper. If you do a search for Q-Tip Skeletons online, you’ll see an astounding variety of styles. Some of them get pretty elaborate, and include fingers and toes.

OTHER HALLOWEEN BOOKS (with recommended ages):

Babies and Toddlers:

Halloween Countdown by Jack Prelutsky; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

Wonderful counting rhyme in a board book format. The ghosts are adorable, and there’s a “Boo!” at the end. This one really works well for any age.

Five Little Pumpkins by Dan Yaccarino

A classic board book of the fingerplay, Five Little Pumpkins (see above). Most of the kids knew this one already.

Tucker’s Spooky Halloween by Leslie McGuirk

Tucker is an adorable white dog who would like to be something spooky for Halloween, but his owner has other plans. Simple, cute story in a board book format.

Preschool:

Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman; illustrated by S. D. Schindler

A witch grows a pumpkin for pumpkin pie, but is unable to pull it off the vine. One by one, different Halloween creatures try their hand until a bat suggests the solution. Fun, repetitive story with great illustrations.

Pumpkin Trouble by Jan Thomas

When Duck gets his head stuck in a pumpkin, his friends Mouse and Pig think he is a monster. Short, funny read-aloud with a lot of visual humor. This is one of my daughter’s favorites.

Leonardo, the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems

Leonardo is a terrible monster. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t scare anyone, until he meets Sam. This is a sweet story, and perfect for storytime because of the large pages with lots of white space. You have to take a big breath when you get to the page where Sam explains why he’s crying. I love everything Mo Willems writes.

Elementary Grades:

The Skeleton in the Closet by Alice Schertle; illustrated by Curtis Jobling

Another wonderful rhyming story. I have actually read this one to younger kids, but I point out the cuteness of the skeleton and tone down the spookiness in my voice. A skeleton climbs up the stairs of a little boy’s house, saying it’s “Coming to get some skeleton clothes!” In the end, it raids the little boy’s closet and comes out fully clothed.

Zombie in Love by Kelly DiPucchio; illustrated by Scott Campbell

I’ve read this one for Valentine’s Day too. Poor Mortimer tries everything to meet the girl of his dreams: giving out chocolates (full of worms), hearts (the organ kind), and even diamond rings (with the finger still attached). But nothing works until he places a personal ad in the paper, and meets Millicent, who loses her shoe (and her foot) at the ball. This one got lots of appreciative “Ews!” and “Yucks” from the second grade, both for the gruesome bits and the romantic ones.

The Book that Eats People by John Perry; illustrated by Mark Fearing

The second graders and I had fun acting scared of this book, because IT EATS PEOPLE! Deliciously gruesome, but not for younger kids unless they have a high tolerance for horror.

Next week I will be doing Halloween books again, probably sticking with the lighter, funnier ones. I would love suggestions, so please send me your favorites and I’ll list them below.

18Oct2013

You Be the Judge! The California Young Reader Medal

Posted in Books for Second Graders, Storytime themes by worldsloudestlibrarian

Star Wand by Ramona

This week I read the nominees for the 2013-2014 California Young Reader Medal for Primary Grades. Every year, a committee composed of members from four different reading and literacy organizations selects five books in five age categories: Primary (grades K-3), Intermediate (grades 3-6), Middle School/Junior High (grades 6-8), Young Adult (grades 9-12) and Picture Books for Older Readers (grades 4 and up). Kids all over the state have all year to read or listen to the books and vote for their favorite before the winning books are announced on May 1.

I had shared these books last week with two second grade classes, and was curious to see if I got the same result from my evening storytime group, which has a number of Kindergarteners. They enjoyed all the books, and they scrambled to check them all out at the end, but there was definitely a clear favorite.

The five books were:

Children Make Terrible Pets by Peter Brown

When a bear named Lucille finds a little boy in the woods, she names him Squeaker, and begs her Mom to let her keep him. But Squeaker proves to be a challenging pet, especially when he disappears. Although this one only got one vote, the kids enjoyed it thoroughly. I love the author’s note on the back jacket, where he says that as a kid he found a frog and asked his mom if he could keep it. She asked him if he would like it if some animal took him home to be it’s pet. His reply, “Absolutely!”

Bats at the Ballgame by Brian Lies

Great book for baseball fans. This is a rhyming story about a baseball game between two rival teams of bats. The illustrations of the bats are adorable, and the writing conveys the tension of watching a close game. This one didn’t get any votes from my storytime group, but a couple of the second graders chose it as their favorite.

Stars by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Marla Frazee

This is a quiet book about the wonder of stars of all kinds: stars in the sky, stars in moss, snowflakes, pumpkin flowers. The illustrations are large and lovely, and the language is beautiful. I love the idea of keeping a star in your pocket, just to know it is there, for days when you don’t feel so shiny. It’s a different style of book from the other four, and even though none of the storytime kids chose it as their favorite, several of them clamored to check it out, and it did get a couple of votes from the second grade.

Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein

This one was the big winner with my storytime group, as well as with one of the second grade classes. It’s one of my favorite read-alouds. Little Chicken won’t go to bed without a story, and she promises her father not to interrupt. He caves, and reads her Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, and Chicken Little, but every time he gets to the most exciting part of the story, Little Chicken can’t help jumping in to save the main characters: “Out jumped a little red chicken and she said, ‘Don’t go in! She’s a witch!’ So Hansel and Gretel didn’t. The End!” This would be a great book for fairy tale units as well.

Press Here by Herve Tullet

This one surprised me. I had read it before, but never shared it with a group of kids. They LOVED it, especially in the second grade, where it was the overwhelming favorite with the first class, and a close contender in the second. It got a few votes from my storytime group too. It’s a simple, interactive book that reads a lot like an iPad app (and in fact, there is an app based on it). Each page shows a series of different colored dots, with instructions like “tap five times on the yellow dot,” or “turn the book to the left.” The instructions appear to change the dots in different ways, causing them to move, change color, or multiply. Towards the end, it instructs you to clap once. The dots get bigger. Clap twice. They get even bigger. In both the second grade classes, the kids were practically screaming each time I turned the page to show the bigger dots. They were so excited! It was astonishing and hilarious, and I had such a good time reading it with them. I could imagine lots of ways to use this book in a classroom, to accompany lessons on color, number, pattern, or direction. It would also be fun to have kids experiment with making their own dot books.

CRAFT: Star Wands

Star Wand by Claire

I have very forgiving coworkers. The storytime ended just before the library closed, and there was glitter everywhere! But it couldn’t be helped. We had to make the star wands described in the book Stars, because if you wave a magic wand, you might see a wish come true. Who could pass up that possibility?

I cut out stars on yellow card stock ahead of time, and gave each child a chopstick and some tape to make the wand. They decorated their stars with glitter (of course!), as well as stickers and markers. Each one was unique.

Which book would you vote for? This year’s California Young Medal Award winners won’t be announced until May, although the nominees for 2014-2015 will be revealed in February. To learn more about the award, visit: http://californiayoungreadermedal.org/

4Oct2013

Going to the Dogs

Posted in Storytime themes by worldsloudestlibrarian

Envelope Dog Puppet by Olivia

I decided to do a dog-themed storytime this week. For once I was faced with the problem of having too many great books to choose from! The kids loved the four I read, and they all got checked out at the end, but there were so many others I didn’t get to:

How Much is That Doggie in the Window? by Iza Trapani (based on the song by Bob Merrill)

This is my daughter’s current favorite book, and one of my all time favorite read-alouds. Parents often ask me if it’s the full version of the original song (which actually hit #1 on the Billboard charts in 1953). It’s not. The original song is about a woman leaving on a trip to California, who wants to buy a dog to protect her sweetheart from burglars. The version in this book is by Iza Trapani (author/illustrator of the classic, The Itsy Bitsy Spider). It’s about a little boy who hopes to raise $60 to buy the adorable puppy in the pet shop window, but ends up spending all his money to help his family. The illustrations are adorable, and I still get choked up at the happy ending. This one is always a hit. Tonight it got snatched up immediately!

Dog Breath by Dav Pilkey

Poor Hally Tosis, a cute, friendly dog with horrible breath. When Mr. and Mrs. Tosis decide to find her a new home, their kids try everything they can think of to solve her bad breath problem. Nothing works, until two burglars creep into the house one night. Can Hally save the day, along with her place in the family? Filled with groan-worthy puns, and lots of visual jokes, this one appeals to both kids and adults. It was quickly claimed by one of the kids as well.

The Doghouse by Jan Thomas

Jan Thomas is a master of storytime read-alouds, always finding some way to interact with the audience. In this one, several animal friends lose a ball IN THE DOGHOUSE!! One by one, they venture inside to get it…but never come out! The story is short, suspenseful, and funny, and the kids loved joining in on the phrase “IN THE DOGHOUSE!”

Dog Blue by Polly Dunbar

Bertie has always wanted a dog. A blue dog. He wants one so badly that he often pretends to be a dog himself. But then a real dog shows up: a perfect, beautiful, spotted dog who needs an owner. But the new dog isn’t blue at all. This is a sweet, funny story with Polly Dunbar’s characteristic quirky surprises. (I also love her book Penguin).

SONGS: I did B-I-N-G-O with a dog hand puppet, who licked all the kids faces. We barked the missing letters instead of clapping them.

CRAFT: Envelope Dog Puppets

Envelope Dog Puppet by Joaquin

I found this craft on the Twiggle Magazine web site, and was very happy because the instructions included a template you could print out for the ears, eyes, and nose. Basically you fold a business-sized envelope in half down the middle, then cut it along the fold (I found it worked better if I sealed the envelope first). Then you tape the inner halves of the cut envelope together (on the side where the seal is), so that you can slide your hand into the outer part of the envelope to make a puppet. I cut out the ears, eyes, and noses ahead of time, and the kids glued them on, along with some wiggle eyes. I gave them crayons to add spots and other decorations. It’s always fun to see how differently everyone’s craft comes out.

OTHER BOOKS

Katie Loves the Kittens by John Himmelman

I wish I could have gotten hold of this one in time. When Sarah Ann brings home three adorable kittens, her dog Katie loves them so much she can’t help but howl, scaring the kittens and upsetting her owner. The illustrations in this book are priceless, and the howling makes it so much fun to read.

Harry, the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham

This one of my childhood favorites, about a dog who gets so dirty, his family no longer recognizes him. I read it often at storytime.

Angus and the Ducks by Marjorie Flack

I remember my grandmother reading this to me, and I still have the copy she gave to me on my birthday when I was 3. Angus is a curious Scottish Terrier who wonders about a strange noise he hears on the other side of the hedge, until one day he gets the rare opportunity to explore. The illustrations are wonderful, and I’ve always loved the way Flack uses sound effects, capital letters, and pacing. Great storytelling.

Bertie Was a Watch Dog by Rick Walton and Arthur Robins

One of many, many dog books about pets thwarting burglars, but this one is a lot of fun. Bertie is a Watch Dog, but not because he is big, or mean, or scary. It is because he is the size of a watch. But of course, he still finds a way to save the day when a nasty burglar comes to call. I can never read this book as well as my boss, Thom, who portrays the burglar with an hilarious heavy Cockney accent. But I still love it as a read-aloud because the kids get to join in on all the barking.

Chewy Louie by Howie Schneider

Love this one, and not just because my own black lab ate not only the siding of our house, but also my 11th grade teacher’s copy of The Epic of Gilgamesh with all of her teaching notes inside. As a puppy, Louie eats everything: sticks, toy trains, his dog dish. His family hires several trainers, but nothing seems to work, and they fear they’ll have to give Louie away. Of course, it all works out in the end. The wry sense of humor is what makes this book, but the illustrations are hilarious too.

The Hallowiener by Dav Pilkey

Recommended by Thom Ball, branch manager of the Pacifica Libraries. I wish I had remembered this one, since it is also perfect for Halloween. Oscar the dachshund has enough problems with being called “Wiener Dog!” by the other dogs, and then his mother expects him to spend Halloween night dressed as…a hot dog. Filled with Pilkey’s characteristic puns and visual humor, this is one of my favorite October read-alouds.

Walter the Farting Dog: Trouble at the Yard Sale by William Kotzwinkle

Recommended by local Mom Ria Tajbl. When Walter ruins the family yard sale by driving away all the customers, his owner sells him for $10 to a clown with a secret plan to use Walter’s gas to inflate noxious balloons he plans to use to help him stun guards so he can rob banks. Gotta love Walter! Ria also recommended the classic easy reader Go, Dog, Go! by P.D. Eastman.

Stanley’s Party by Linda Bailey

Recommended by school media specialist Linda Anderson. When Stanley the dog discovers that he can get away with lying on the forbidden couch while his people are out, he wonders what other liberties he can take. Soon he is throwing a wild party with all the dogs in town!

Old Mother Hubbard by Jane Cabrera

Recommended by Christina Olson, who says it was one her kids read to pieces. Funny extended version of the classic nursery rhyme with bright, whimsical illustrations.

Carl’s Afternoon in the Park by Alexandra Day

Recommended by Tanya Scoville. The Carl books are sweet, beautifully-illustrated, mostly wordless adventures about a baby and a kind Rottweiler. In this one they spend the day in the park together, riding on a carousel and going to a zoo.

No Roses for Harry by Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham

Recommended by Barbara Beyer. In this sequel to Harry, the Dirty Dog, Harry tries desperately to get rid of his new present from Grandma: a sweater with big roses all over it.

What are your favorite picture books about dogs?

28Sep2013

Down on the Farm

Posted in Rhymes and songs, Storytime themes by worldsloudestlibrarian

Construction paper farm by Joaquin

This week’s storytime was lively and a lot of fun, even though I was fighting laryngitis, which always makes things a bit interesting. A coworker commented that I sounded like Peter Brady singing “Time to Change.” But the kids hung in there with me anyway.

The theme for this week was farm stories and farm animals. Here are the books we read:

Farmer Duck by Martin Waddell and Helen Oxenbury

This was an interesting read-aloud. An unfortunate duck is forced to slave away every day while the farmer lies in bed and eats chocolates, until the other animals stage a rebellion and scare the lazy farmer away. It’s basically Animal Farm without all that unpleasant allegorical aftermath, and I was amused to see that a couple of horrified reviewers on Amazon declared it was “dangerous” Communist propaganda. That interpretation would never have occurred to me (and all the other Amazon reviewers loved the book). My storytime kids enjoyed the repeated line, “How Goes the Work?” and getting to yell out, “QUACK!” each time.

Farm Flu by Teresa Bateman and Nadine Bernard Westcott

This one worked really well. It’s a rhyming book about a boy who is left in charge of his family’s farm when the cow comes down with the flu. He tucks her into bed and coddles her just like his Mom would do, but then all the other animals on the farm mysteriously come down with the flu as well. The kids love chiming in on the sneezes in different animals voices, and the pictures are colorful and hilarious.

Serious Farm by Tim Egan

I wasn’t sure how this one would go over because it was a bit lengthier than the other books, but the kids liked it a lot. Farmer Fred is always very serious, much to the dismay of his animals. They try everything they can think of to make him laugh: Edna the cow stands on the fence and tries to crow like a rooster; the pigs bark like dogs; and all the animals try on Farmer Fred’s clothes and dance around the farm yard. But nothing works, and the animals finally decide to seek out a more humorous place to live. In the course of their escape, they finally manage to make Farmer Fred lighten up, a little, but he still doesn’t think there’s anything funny about corn.

Cowlick by Christin Ditchfield; illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw

This is a funny book that works well for toddlers as well as older kids. It describes in rhymed verse how a sneaky cow invades a little boy’s bedroom and leaves him with an unexpected gift. Always a hit.

SONGS:

Old MacDonald: One of the kids requested that we choose animals in alphabetical order, like we did the previous week. Our farm included an alligator, a baby(!), a cat, a dog, and an Ella (one of the storytime participants).

If You’re Happy and You Know It: We did this as a follow-up to Serious Farm. We added other emotions, and I asked the kids what they do when they felt that way. We ended up with, “When you’re sad and you know it, cry ‘Boohoo!'” “When you’re angry and you know it, go ‘ERRRRRRRR!'” and “When you’re shy and you know it, hide your eyes…peekaboo!'”

Baby Bumblebee: As usual, I asked the kids to suggest other animals they might bring home, which is always a fun challenge. We came up with: “I’m bringing home a baby skunk. Won’t my Mommy fall into a funk?” and “I’m bringing home a baby killer whale. Won’t my Mommy turn so very pale?”

I Bought Me a Rooster: My CD player broke last week, so I had to play my uke and sing for our instrument play time. This is a fun cumulative song, where the kids suggest animals and the sounds they make. The trick is remembering all the animals in order, as the song gets longer and longer.

CRAFT: Construction Paper Farm

Construction paper farm by Jonas

I adapted this craft from the one on Lines, Dots, and Doodles. I cut out the barns and grass ahead of time, and gave the kids a choice of adding cotton ball sheep and feather chickens (see Joaquin’s example at the top of the page). It was cute to see all the different ways they each constructed their farms.

OTHER BOOKS:

I had a stack of books to choose from, and let the kids pick the ones I actually read. Here are some of the ones we didn’t get to:

Duck on a Bike by David Shannon

You can’t go wrong with David Shannon. When a curious duck decides to test out a little boy’s bicycle, the other farm animals are intrigued. The illustration of all the animals on bikes always gets a big laugh.

Mrs. Wishy Washy’s Farm by Joy Cowley; illustrated by Elizabeth Fuller

I’ve always been impressed by Joy Cowley. She’s a New Zealand author who writes literally hundreds of books for the very beginning reader, including many of the Story Box and Sunshine Books (we have these in the library, but they are uncatalogued, so you just have to look for the collection of tiny paperbacks near the Easy Reader section). The beauty of these books is that they have basically the same sentence structure on each page, so kids can easily learn the pattern and read the book, building their confidence and sight word vocabulary at the same time. But somehow Cowley still manages to make these incredibly simple books entertaining, by throwing in a little twist at the end. Mrs. Wishy Washy’s Farm is a more typical picture book, but it’s a cute rhyming story about some farm animals who get fed up with their owner’s constant bathing, and run away to the city. The illustrations are adorable, especially the cow in the washtub. It would also work well for a bathtime theme.

Click Clack Moo! Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin; illustrated by Betsy Lewin

I couldn’t do a list of farm books without including the Click Clack Moo series about Farmer Brown and his scheming duck. I think Dooby Dooby Moo is my favorite. The humor in this one appeals to adults (who will understand the labor dispute references), as well as kids.

Two friends of mine, Neely Dean and Tanya Scoville, both pointed out a classic I forgot to mention: Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown (author of Goodnight Moon). A joyful, soothing poem about the sights and sounds of a cheerful farm.

Kim Day, a children’s librarian at the Burlingame Library, also recommended The Cow That Laid an Egg by Andy Cutbill, illustrated by Russell Ayto, an adorable story about Marjorie, a cow who wishes she had some special talent, and then one day appears to have laid an egg. You can watch the book being read aloud on Youtube here.

What are your favorite farm books?

Now I Know My ABCs: Books About the Alphabet

I’m often struggling to come up with themes for storytime each week (and would love suggestions…hint, hint…), so this week I just decided to be lazy and copy the themes from my daughter’s preschool class. This week she was learning about the alphabet, and therefore, so was I.

Luckily, there are some fun, and funny alphabet picture books out there, many of them new. All of the books I read this week were snatched up immediately and checked out at the end, always a good sign!

The first one I read was recommended by my friend Kerri, on her wonderful blog: What is ML Reading? Kerri is a children’s librarian in North Carolina, who chronicles the books that she reads with her own daughter. And that’s where I learned about:

123 versus ABC by Mike Boldt

Number 1 is pleased to introduce this book about numbers until Letter A shows up arguing that it’s really an alphabet story. The argument is complicated by the arrival of 1 Alligator, 2 Bears in 3 Cars…you get the picture. The illustrations are hilarious (the kids all loved the picture of the geese eating hot dogs and ice cream), and there’s a funny twist at the end that calls both their arguments into question.

Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham and Paul O. Zelinsky

This is probably my favorite alphabet book. It starts out very simply, and it’s fun to have the kids chime in on the opening letters: A is for Apple, B is for Ball, C is for Cat. But then the eager Moose butts in, begging to be featured, and interrupting all the other letters. When Zebra (who is running the show) decides to go with Mouse for M instead, Moose throws an enormous tantrum and starts putting his name (and drawing antlers) on everything. Hilarious!

I Stink by Kate and Jim McMullan

This is terrific read-aloud that works great as both an alphabet book, and a book for kids who love big trucks. This truck is big and tough and eats your trash for breakfast. Burp!! The alphabet part comes in when we find out all the things the truck eats, a list that includes Dirty Diapers, Puppy Poo, and Ugly Underpants. Oh, how the kids loved that part! Ewwww City!

Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel

This was my son’s favorite book when he was three, and he has loved every Bad Kitty book since (Bruel now has a series of Bad Kitty chapter books that are hilarious. They are wonderful for second and third graders to read on their own, but with enough illustrations to read aloud to preschoolers. I read them with my daughter when she was three, and she begged to hear them over and over again).

This first Bad Kitty book opens with the line, “She wasn’t always a bad kitty,” and goes on to tell about the terrible day when Kitty’s owners ran out of cat food and tried to feed her vegetables. There are four alphabetical lists: first the foods that Kitty hates (Asparagus, Beets, Cauliflower, etc.); then all the things she does when she turns bad (Ate my homework, Bit Grandma, Clawed the Curtains…); followed by the foods that make Kitty happy (An Assortment of Anchovies, Buffalo Burritos…); and finally, all the things that Kitty does when she turns good again (Apologized to Grandma, Bought me new toys, Cleaned her Cat Box, Drove me to School…). It’s a bit long, but the kids hung in there, mostly because the illustrations and ideas are so funny (my favorite is the cat washing the car with her tongue). This one got snatched up immediately, and other kids were sad I didn’t have extra copies.

SONGS:

Big A, Little a, (spread hands wide apart, then bring them close together)
Bouncing B (bounce up and down)
The cat’s in the cupboard
And he can’t see me (cover your eyes with your hands)
Peek-a-boo!

We also sang Old MacDonald, and I challenged the kids to name animals starting with different letters of the alphabet: Alligator, Bee, Cat, etc.

INSTRUMENT PLAY WITH A CD: Man Gave Names to All the Animals by Tim O’Brien, from Sing Along with Putumayo. I’m sure there’s probably a fun alphabet song I could have done, but I didn’t have time to look for one. Any suggestions?

CRAFT: Alphabet Soup

Alphabet Soup by Sarah

I printed the letters from Crayon Action Coloring Pages (I’m always grateful for sites with free coloring pages!), then traced out red and yellow circles out of paper, and improvised a paper spoon. The kids glued it all together, using whatever letters they liked. To be honest, it was crazy at the reference desk before storytime, so I didn’t have time to trim the letters as much as I liked. It would have been nice to have plastic spoons to stick on too, and alphabet shaped pasta would have been even more fun.

OTHER BOOKS:

One I meant to do was the classic Chicka, Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr., John Archambault and Lois Ehlert. In fact, my daughter did an adorable craft in preschool last week, where the teacher wrote the letters of each child’s name on coconuts, and the kids got to paste them on the tree. Several friends of mine also listed this as their favorite alphabet book, including children’s librarian Barbara Amberg, and Tina Williams, who remembers reading it to her daughter all the time.

Max’s ABC by Rosemary Wells

Cute story that works well as a read-aloud for toddlers and preschoolers, even if you don’t mention the alphabet. Max’s Ants escape from the ant farm and Bite Bite Bite, until Max’s sister Ruby finds away to get rid of them. All of the events of the story are in alphabetical order, but Wells manages to make this work without seeming forced. Max and Ruby are always a big hit.

Crictor by Tomi Ungerer

Recommended by Kim Day, a children’s librarian in Burlingame, California. Wonderful book for your reptile lover, about a fabulously long snake who comes in handy when two burglars come to call. The alphabet part comes in when Crictor demonstrates the shapes of different letters.

Dr. Seuss’ ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book by Dr. Seuss

The favorite of my friend Neely Dean’s daughter. How can you go wrong with Dr. Seuss? Funny illustrations, wacky ideas (a Camel on the Ceiling), and a catchy rhyme. Plus it shows both the capital and lower case letters, as well as giving multiple sounds for the same letter.

26 Letters and 99 Cents by Tana Hoban

Recommended by Michael Lambert, Deputy Director of Library Services for San Mateo County. This is an alphabet and counting book in one, with bright, colorful photographs of both capital and lower case letters next to an object that begins with that letter. I’ve noticed that a lot of alphabet books try to draw the letters in clever or artistic ways that are fun, but aren’t necessarily the best way to introduce them. This one is both appealing to kids, and very clear. The counting side of the book shows how to represent the numbers from 1 to 99 using different groups of coins: perfect for teaching addition or money values.

The Sleepy Little Alphabet by Judy Sierra; illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Recommended by Ashley Waring, a children’s librarian in Reading, Massachusetts. I had never seen this one before, but it is oh so cute! It’s bedtime for the lower case letters, but of course none of them want to go to sleep. “Uh oh! a is wide awake. And b still has a bath to take.” The illustrations are goofy and fun.

LMNO Peas by Keith Baker

This one was recommended by both Ashley Waring and Kim W., who directs a preschool in Alabama, so I will have to add it to my repertoire! Adorable alphabet peas demonstrate their amazing skills for every letter: “We’re acrobats, artists, and astronauts in space. We’re builders, bathers, and bikers in a race.” Definitely a more exciting take on the usual “A is for Apple” style books.

Alphabet Mystery by Audrey Wood and Bruce Wood

Another favorite of Kim W., and by one of my all-time favorite authors, so I’ll definitely be getting this one too. Every night at bedtime, Charley’s alphabet says their names, just for fun. But one night, little x is missing. The letters must fly on a pencil to look for their friend, and find him in the castle of Master M. To their surprise, they find he is happier there because Charley never used him. But one of the letters knows a secret to bring him home.

ABCDrive! A Car Trip Alphabet by Naomi Howland

Wonderful recommendation by Barbara Bruxvoort, a children’s librarian in San Bruno, California. This one works great for car fans and Bay Area locals. Each letter represents something a child might see while out on a drive: an Ambulance, a Bus, a Cement Mixer. Set in San Francisco, it might make for a fun game to take out on the road and see how many of the objects you can find in real life.

The Dangerous Alphabet by Neil Gaiman; illustrated by Gris Grimly

Recommended by Veronica Meade-Kelley, a science writer who described it as “How I Taught My Kids to Never Leave Home without a Grown Up.” Two children and their pet gazelle run away on an adventure in the sewers in search of treasure. Not for young children, unless they have a high tolerance for creepiness, but great for fans of darker fiction like Roald Dahl or Edward Gorey: E’s for the Evil that lures and Entices, F is for Fear and its many devices.

What are your favorite alphabet books?

5Sep2013

Autumn Leaves: Stories about Fall

Posted in Storytime themes by worldsloudestlibrarian

Torn Paper Tree by Olivia

Last night we read books that were loosely related to Fall.

I have the same issue with seasonal books that I do with holiday ones. The ones that are purely about the seasons are often pretty dry. Also, I always feel a little funny reading seasonal books in the Bay Area, especially here on the coast. We have spring, summer, autumn and winter several times a week. This morning it was clearly autumn and I had to wear a jacket when I dropped off my son at school, but by 10 it was spring, so I took it off. This afternoon it was definitely summer. For all I know, tomorrow there will be a winter rainstorm. I’ve given up trying to figure it all out. I just try to keep a flexible wardrobe.

But we never get snow (a shame, because so many great picture books take place in snow). And only a few embarrassed trees drop their leaves here. The eucalyptus and cypress defiantly keep theirs all year. So the picture book versions of the seasons don’t really apply.

What does the autumn mean here? Mostly school, and pumpkins. Huge pumpkins! Also apples, pomegranates and persimmons. And, just because I love this book, squirrels:

Ol’ Mama Squirrel by David Ezra Stein

I’ve only discovered David Ezra Stein in the past year or so, but I love his books, especially Interrupting Chicken (such a fun read-aloud!) This one’s about a tough old Mama Squirrel who will scold anyone and anything who threatens her babies, even a great big bully of a bear. The kids enjoyed chiming in on the “Chook! Chook! Chook!” of the Mama Squirrel, and this book was quickly snatched up at the end.

A New House for Mouse by Petr Horacek

Cute story about a mouse searching for a new home that will hold both him and his apple. As he goes along throughout the day, snacking, and asking different animals if he can share their homes, the apple gets smaller and smaller until he winds up right back at his own hole, which is now a perfect fit. This one has cut-out holes in the pages, which always seem to fascinate kids. They all seemed to enjoy this one, and it got snatched up too.

Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper

I’ll confess that I had only skimmed this one before story time, and wasn’t planning to read it, but one of the kids grabbed it from the pile and asked if I could read it next. It’s the story of a duck, a cat, and a squirrel who each have a particular job to do to make the pumpkin soup they eat every night. They live together peacefully, until one day the duck decides he would like to try stirring the soup. They all have a tremendous fight, and duck leaves. The kids were all mesmerized, waiting to see if Duck would come back. (I was too, since I wasn’t 100% sure of how it was going to end). But of course, they all learn to be more flexible, and everything is happy again, until the Duck decides he wants to try playing Cat’s bagpipes… This one got checked out at the end too.

Leaves by David Ezra Stein

This was the one book that was clearly related to Fall. It’s a simple story, but sweet, about a young bear who is alarmed to see the leaves falling, and tries to put them back on the trees. The kids were intrigued by the way the bear curls into a leaf-filled hole that is buried by snow in the winter, and how he is hidden there until spring. This one would work well for younger kids too.

SONGS:

I only did a couple of songs because after I read A New House for Mouse there was a raging debate between one girl who wanted me to sing “Hickory Dickory Dock” and a boy who just wanted me to read more stories (he asked very politely. It was sweet). So I did do “Hickory Dickory Dock,” but I cut out some of the other songs. Here is the version that I do:

Hickory Dickory Dock (clap hands in rhythm)
The mouse ran up the clock (run fingers up arm)
The clock struck 1 (jump up quickly, then sit down)
The mouse ran down (run fingers down arm)
Hickory Dickory Dock (clap hands)

…the clock struck two (jump up and sit down twice)
The mouse went “boo!” (cover eyes with hands, then peekaboo)

…the clock struck three
The mouse went “whee!” (slide fingers down body)

INSTRUMENT PLAY WITH A CD: I’ve had several requests for Bananaphone by Rhonda Vincent from Sing Along with Putumayo, so that’s the one we did. But a more appropriate one would have been What Falls in the Fall? by Laurie Berkner from her Whaddaya Think of That album.

CRAFT: Torn Paper Trees

I cut out the trunks freehand from brown paper, then tore bits of colored paper for the leaves. It was fun to see the different ways the kids approached gluing on the leaves. Some scattered them in handfuls, while others applied each leaf individually.

If I did this craft again, I might print out the template at the bottom of this post from The Crayon Box Chronicles (she also has a neat way of making tree trunks out of brown paper bags). I just found this site, and I’m already in love with it. LOTS of different kids art ideas and they all look like great fun! Check it out!

Torn Paper Tree by Sarah

OTHER BOOKS:

One book I meant to do, which is one of my favorites for fall, is Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. In this one Ehlert uses autumn leaves to create a wonderful assortment of animals and scenery. I’ve actually used it several times as a craft idea too, and brought in leaves for the kids to glue together to make their own creations.

What are your favorite picture books about Autumn?

31Aug2013

Tuning In: Books about Music and Songs

Posted in Storytime themes by worldsloudestlibrarian

Paper Plate Maraca by Ella

First off, I was thrilled to see most of my favorite kids at this week’s storytime after their very first day of Kindergarten. So exciting! And everyone (parents included) seemed to have weathered the experience well. (I know I was a wreck on my son’s first day, so kudos!)

Anyway, a lot of my favorite picture books feature songs and rhythm, so tonight I decided to feature some of them. They were:

Miss Mary Mack by Mary Ann Hoberman; illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott

This is one of the best picture book adaptations of a children’s song I know. It extends the clapping rhyme story about Miss Mary Mack and the elephant who jumped the fence. The song is catchy, the illustrations are hilarious, and it works for almost any age. I had the kids pat the rhythm as I read, and afterwards a brave Mom helped me demonstrate the clapping rhyme (since I have the coordination of a drunken tree sloth, I found it a bit challenging, but it was fun).

The Gunniwolf by Wilhelmina Harper; illustrated by Barbara Upton

Wilhelmina Harper was a librarian in Redwood City, California. I wish I knew more about her, because this is one of my all-time favorite read-alouds. It’s essentially a less grim version of Little Red Riding Hood, where a little girl disobeys her mother by going into the jungle, and runs into the dreaded Gunniwolf. Thankfully, nobody gets eaten or chopped up with an ax, but the language of the story is unforgettable: the Pit Pat, Pitty Pat of the little girl running, mixed with the Hunker-CHA! Hunker-CHA! of the pursuing Gunniwolf. Plus there’s an eerie song that goes, “Kum-kwa-khi-wa, kum-kwa-khi-wa.” I have a soft spot for the original version, with illustrations by William Wiesner, but this version is bright and colorful, and the Gunniwolf looks more like a big friendly dog, which makes it less scary. Some of the kids sat mesmerized while a couple were frightened, and several of them wanted to check it out at the end.

Charlie Parker Played Be-Bop by Chris Raschka (which I just found out is pronounced Rosh-Ka)

I don’t know how many times I’ve read this book to my own kids, who have both loved it since toddlerhood. It’s a sound poem about Charlie Parker, the legendary jazz saxophone player, and it’s a blast to read, with lines like “Be bop. Fisk, fisk. Bus stop. Zznnzznn” and my kids’ favorite: “Never leave your cat alone.” It’s based on Parker’s performance of A Night in Tunisia, and I try to convey some of the melody of that song when I read it. It’s a wonderful way to introduce the idea and spirit of jazz music.

Mama Don’t Allow by Thacher Hurd

No one in town wants to hear Miles and his Swamp Band perform, except for the sharp-toothed alligators who ask them to play on their riverboat. When the band learns that they are on the dinner menu, they have to use their wits and their music to escape. I love the colorful illustrations and the humor of this book, and it was quickly snapped up for check out at the end. I usually follow this one with the song “Mama Don’t Allow” and ask the kids to suggest things their Mom’s don’t let them do, which is always entertaining.

Lizard’s Song by George Shannon; illustrated by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey

Another one of my long-time favorites, this is the story of a lizard who likes to make up songs. He is happy singing about his home on the rock until Bear decides he wants Lizard’s song too. The kids usually join in on the simple “zoli zoli” song.

INSTRUMENT PLAY WITH A CD: Little Liza Jane by Elizabeth Mitchell from her You Are My Little Bird album. Rhythmic and catchy.

CRAFT: Paper Plate Maracas

I gave each child two paper plates and some rice and/or beans to put in the middle. The parents helped staple the plates together, and the kids decorated the outsides of their new instruments with stickers, gems, and crayons. There was some little trails of rice leading out the door of the library that night, so I think next time I’ll just go with the beans, but it’s always fun to give the kids free-rein on how to decorate something, because each instrument was so different from the others.

OTHER BOOKS:

One that I wish I had been able to read/sing tonight was Iza Trapani’s How Much Is that Doggie in the Window? It’s one of my favorites, although I’m embarrassed to admit I sometimes get choked up at the end (I’m a terrible sucker for a happy ending). In this variation of the song by Bob Merrill, a little boy tries to save up to buy a puppy from a local pet shop, but ends up spending all his money to help his family instead.

I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont; illustrated by David Catrow

Love this one! It’s a funny version of It Ain’t Gonna Rain No More, where a kid decides to paint all the different parts of his body. The kids like to guess which body part comes next based on the rhyme, and the ending is a gleefully naughty surprise. I usually pair this with the song Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes, and repeat it faster and faster. (It’s also fun to try it backwards: Toes and Knees, Shoulders and Heads)

What are your favorite books about music and songs?

22Aug2013

School Days

Posted in Storytime themes by worldsloudestlibrarian

Graham Cracker School Bus by Ella

For the past few years, I’ve been lucky enough to know a wonderful group of parents and kids who meet for dinner every Wednesday night, then come to the library for my Family Storytime. Most of those kids will be starting Kindergarten next week, and to me it feels almost as bittersweet as it did when my own son started school.

The little group has become like a second family, and I’ve enjoyed seeing the kids each week as they fight like siblings over who is going to get to check out the book I just read (or am about to read), suggest wild new original verses for songs, and glue dozens of googly eyes to whatever craft project we’re doing. It’s been so much fun to see them get taller, and more expressive, and skilled with crayons and glue sticks and scissors. They are definitely ready for Kindergarten, and I’m excited for them.

But I know life gets much busier once kids go to Kindergarten, especially with homework and class projects and after school activities. So I hope they’ll keep coming on Wednesday nights, but I know it may be hard.

Last night I had planned to read stories about school and Kindergarten to celebrate their big day next week. But first, because a number of the Moms in the group crochet, I had to share:

The Surprise by Sylvia van Ommen

My coworker Gail B., who runs our library knitting group, showed me this one. It’s an adorable wordless picture book about a sheep who measures her own wool, drives to the store on her motor scooter for some dye, dyes herself red, shears off her wool and takes it to a very French poodle to be spun into yarn. And then she knits a surprise. One of the Moms commented that she wished more books were about crocheting rather than knitting (there are quite a few knitting books now including The Red Wolf by Margaret and Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen). So children’s authors and publishers, take note!

I Am Too Absolutely Small for School by Lauren Child

The kids loved this Charlie and Lola story, where Charlie explains why Lola needs to go to school to learn how to count (in case eleven elephants want a treat), write letters (so Santa Claus’ elves don’t get her Christmas wishes mixed up), and read (in case a very angry ogre demands to have his favorite bedtime story read aloud). The kids especially enjoyed the pages that featured Soren Lorenson, Lola’s invisible friend, who appears ever-so-faintly in the pictures. A fun read-aloud about all the worries kids might have about starting school.

Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort and G. Brian Karas

Okay, so this one wasn’t actually a school story either, but I had a couple of toddlers in the audience, and my craft was about buses. Hilarious version of The Wheels on the Bus, about a bus full of animals. My favorite are the “vipers on the bus” that go “Hiss Hiss Hiss.” Buh-dum-bum. I actually read this one again this morning for a toddler storytime, and one little boy was so fond of it that he cried every time his caregiver put it down.

The Pirate’s Guide to First Grade by James Prellar; illustrated by Greg Ruth

This book is written entirely in “pirate,” which makes it fun to read aloud, and perfect for Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19!). The illustrations show a boy going about all the usual routine of the first day of school, except that he is accompanied every where he goes by faint line drawings of pirates (his invisible crew), and he talks like a pirate. Librarians will appreciate that the “treasure” he finds at the end is the book Treasure Island.

SONGS AND RHYMES:

Twinkle Twinkle/ABCD: These were by request. After we sang Twinkle Twinkle and ABCD, one of the kids suggested that we hum the song, so we did. Then we quacked it like a flock of noisy ducks. Great fun.

Baby Bumblebee: I had a big bumblebee puppet, so we actually sang “I’m bringing home a giant bumblebee,” and then I “stung” all the kids with the puppet. After that, I asked the kids for suggestions (it’s always a fun challenge to come up with a rhyme on the spot). We brought home a baby giraffe (“won’t my Mommy really start to laugh”); a crocodile (“won’t my Mommy cry for quite a while”); a bunny (“won’t my Mommy really think that’s funny”) and, the stumper, a baby person (“won’t my Mommy think that’s worse and worsen” –best I could do).

INSTRUMENT PLAY WITH A CD:

Skip To My Lou by John McCutcheon from 20 Great Kids Songs. Great, lively version of this traditional song, where McCutcheon presents some of his own verses like “There’s a hole in the doughnut and a fly flew through.” This is one of my favorite albums for kids.

CRAFT: Graham Cracker School Buses

Mini bus by Sarah

I added yellow food coloring to some whipped cream cheese in advance, then gave each kids a plate with a graham cracker, 2 Oreo cookie “wheels,” square cereal pieces for windows, a dollop of yellow cream cheese and a plastic knife. It was quick to assemble, and surprisingly not terribly messy. I think a number of the buses didn’t made it out of the station. This craft appears on a number of websites, including Juggling With Kids, where they made it to accompany a Mo Willems book reading event (they added the pigeon from the Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus series).

OTHER BOOKS

There were so many books I didn’t get to, but here are a few of my favorites about going to school:

Tom Goes to Kindergarten by Margaret Wild and David Legge

Cute story about a panda who is nervous about starting Kindergarten until his parents are allowed to stay with him for the first day. They all have a wonderful time, singing songs and painting and making things. The next day, Tom goes off happily to school on his own, but now his Mom and Dad are sad they aren’t allowed to go to Kindergarten too.

Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard and James Marshall

This is such a classic. It has everything: drama, mystery, and a larger-than-life villain, Miss Viola Swamp. I love that the book gives just enough clues for the kids to figure out what really happened to Miss Nelson without stating it outright. I once read that James Marshall loved to draw as a kid, but stopped when a horrible teacher in elementary school made fun of his artwork. He gave up drawing altogether until he was an adult, and that teacher became the basis for Miss Viola Swamp. That story makes me incredibly sad because among my favorite books as a child were Marshall’s George and Martha series, and I hate to think that the world could have lost out of those altogether because of the nasty comments of one person. I tell Marshall’s story to my son a lot to remind him never to give up doing the things he loves, no matter what anyone else says.

The Grandma Cure by Pamela Mayer and John Nez

This one was written by a local librarian, and, while it’s not actually set in school, the heroine of the story gets to act like a teacher. When Becky stays home sick from school, her two grandmothers come to take care of her. The trouble is that they have very different ideas about the proper things for a sick girl to eat and drink, and they argue all the time. Becky tells them that they are acting like they are in preschool, and teaches them the rules for taking turns and sharing she knows from Kindergarten. It’s an adorable, funny story that would also work well for a storytime about grandparents.

What are your favorite books about going to school?

15Aug2013

Books You Can Count On

Posted in Storytime themes by worldsloudestlibrarian

Colorful spotted dog created by Claire

Last night we read stories about numbers and counting.

I’m embarrassed to say that I originally chose this theme because of the book Five Little Monkeys Play Hide and Seek by Eileen Christelow, which my daughter absolutely loved. It’s my favorite of the Five Little Monkeys series (with Don’t Wake Up Mama as a close second), and it features the five monkeys tricking their babysitter by hiding in the one place she would never think to look–in bed. It also has lots of counting to different numbers, even 104 (I probably wouldn’t go that high for storytime, unless the group seemed really into it). Anyway, in the end I went off to work and left the book beside my daughter’s bed–one of the perils of being both a children’s librarian and a mom.

Luckily, there are lots of other great counting books. Here are the ones we read:

Doggies by Sandra Boynton

This simple board book involves counting dogs from 1 to 10, adding in a new doggie sound each time. Even though it’s meant for toddlers, it works well for almost any age because the kids love joining in on the various barks and whines. It made for a great opening book tonight.

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

My second favorite Pete the Cat book (after I Love My White Shoes). In this one Pete keeps losing his groovy buttons, but does he cry? Goodness no! The kids liked the clever twist at the end, when Pete discovers he still has a button, even after all the ones on his shirt have rolled away. Always a hit.

Hippos Go Berserk by Sandra Boynton

Another book by Sandra Boynton. This one’s a counting and rhyming book about a lonely hippo who invites forty-four friends to her house for a party. The best page is where “All the hippos go berserk!”

Zero by Kathryn Otoshi

I was glad I had this book in the mix because there were several elementary school aged kids in the group, and the other books I had were primarily for younger children. This is the sequel to Otoshi’s One, a powerful but remarkably simple picture book about bullying, with the message that everyone counts. In Zero, the number zero worries that she has no value, until she realizes that if she works together with her friends, they can count to much higher numbers than they ever had before. Like One, this book works on multiple levels.

Dog’s Colorful Day by Emma Dodd

A simple, vibrant counting story about a dog who gets covered in spots of different colors (orange juice, jam, mud) etc., throughout the day. The kids get lots of opportunities to count and name the colors. This one works really well as a flannel board.

SONGS AND RHYMES:

B-I-N-G-O: To go along with the book Doggies, we barked the missing letters instead of clapping them. I asked the kids to suggest different types of dogs for each verse, which got interesting. We had a poodle (“oui, oui! woof woof!”), a puppy, a big dog, and a cat dog (meowff?!).

The Hippopotamus (I learned this one years ago from my friend Barbara B.)

The hip, the hip, the hippopotamus (clap or pat rhythm)
Got on, got on, got on the city bus
And all, and all, and all the people said
You’re squishing us! (squeeze cheeks together with your hands)

INSTRUMENT PLAY WITH A CD: Down Down Baby by Laurie Berkner from her Whaddaya Think of That album.

CRAFT: Colorful dog

To go along with Dog’s Colorful Day, I printed out a dog picture from Coloring Pages for Kids (in the process, I found this wonderful storytime web site called Public Library Program Ideas, which had suggested this activity as part of a Spots and Stripes theme. The kids colored in the dog with crayons and then glued dots of different colors on it.

OTHER BOOKS:

A new book I just discovered and absolutely LOVE is The Boy Who Loved Math by Deborah Heiligman and LeUyen Pham. It describes the life of Paul Erdos, a Hungarian mathematician, who from early childhood had an astounding talent for and interest in math. Like many geniuses, he was a bit eccentric. For instance, until he was 21, he had never buttered his own bread (his mother and his nurse had always done everything for him). The book briefly touches on prime numbers and negative numbers, not in depth, but enough to pique the interest of young math enthusiasts. It’s an exuberant, fun, fascinating story, and it’s clear that the author loves math as much as Erdos did. An excellent biography, especially for elementary school kids. I’m looking forward to using it for class visits.

Any other favorite counting and number books?

8Aug2013

Gorilla! Gorilla!

Posted in Storytime themes by worldsloudestlibrarian

There is a new baby gorilla at the San Francisco Zoo, born on July 17, 2013. She’s not out in the gorilla enclosure yet. I’m sure both she and Mom need a while to settle in (I know I wouldn’t have wanted to be on public display during my first few months as a new parent. The horror!) But I enjoyed showing my storytime kids the pictures from the zoo web site. They found her both adorable and frightening, which kind of sums up a lot of the picture books about gorillas too. And there are many! Here are the ones I read:

Little Gorilla by Ruth Bornstein

One of my all-time favorite books for toddlers, this is a sweet story about a little gorilla, and all the animals who love him. But then one day he begins to grow and grow and GROW, until one day he is big. And everybody still loves him. I have the kids sing Happy Birthday to Little Gorilla on the page with his birthday cake. This book seems to appeal to a wide range of ages, and is perfect for storytimes about birthdays and jungle animals. Even though the color scheme is very 1970’s, this book is timeless, and is always a hit.

Gorilla! Gorilla! by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross

I love Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross. One of my secret evil picture book favorites is The Tadpole’s Promise, even though it horrifies my son, and I’ve only had the nerve to read at a storytime once. (The kids loved it.) In Gorilla! Gorilla! a mother mouse is searching for her baby when a giant gorilla begins to chase her…all over the world. The desperate chase ends when the exhausted mouse finally stops running, and realizes the gorilla was trying to help her all along. This book really builds the drama, exaggerating the scariness of the gorilla and the fears of the mouse. I remember reading this to my daughter when she was two, and it terrified her (although after that first read, she loved it), so I tend to do it more for preschool-aged kids and older. There was an 8 year-old in my group tonight who said, “That was a really good story!”

No Fits, Nilson by Zachariah OHora

This one was new to me, but it worked really well. Amelia and Nilson the gorilla do everything together, but sometimes the smallest things make Nilson upset. Amelia has to remind him not to have “fits,” especially when they are out running errands with Mom. But when the ice cream vendor runs out of banana ice cream, it is Nilson who helps Amelia remember to stay calm. This was a fun read-aloud that gave the kids the chance to join in on the angry “Gaarrrghhs!” when Nilson has his fits. On the last page, Nilson is revealed to be a toy gorilla, a surprise that the kids enjoyed. This book would pair well with Llama Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney, or Mouse Was Mad by Linda Urban and Henry Cole for other stories about coping with anger and life’s daily frustrations.

Little Beauty by Anthony Browne

Anthony Browne clearly likes gorillas (in fact, I almost read his book One Gorilla, a counting book about primates). This story is about a signing gorilla, who is given an adorable pet kitten named Beauty. The two become inseparable (the favorite page for the kids, of course, is of the gorilla on the potty, while the kitten sits next to him in her litter box). Then one day the gorilla sees a movie (King Kong) that makes him so angry that he smashes the TV, and the keepers threaten to take Beauty away. But Beauty surprises them all with a sign language of her own. The ending is a bit wacky, but the large illustrations are wonderful, and it was fun to talk to the kids about Koko the Gorilla, who lives in Woodside, not too far from here. I wish I had thought to show them one of the books about Koko and her kittens. A lovely one is Koko-Love! Conversations with a Signing Gorilla by Francine Patterson.

SONGS AND RHYMES:

Freight Train

Although I love the original version of this song by Elizabeth Cotten, I use the more kid-friendly one by Elizabeth Mitchell and ask the kids for suggestions of where to go. Luckily one of them wanted to go to the zoo, which worked perfectly for my theme.

Ten Candles on a Birthday Cake

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)

I asked the kids how old they were, and we did the rhyme a few times with different ages. I even asked the parents if they wanted their ages represented, but sadly nobody volunteered.

Hickory Dickory Dock

Hickory Dickory Dock (clap along to the beat)
The mouse ran up the clock. (run fingers up arm)
The clock struck 1: BONG! (hold up one finger)
The mouse ran down. (run fingers down arm)
Hickory Dickory Dock! (clap beat)

…the clock struck 2, the mouse went “BOO!”…
…the clock struck 3, the mouse went “WHEE!”
…the clock struck 4, the mouse said, “No more.”

Boom Diddy Boom

Boom Diddy Boom Diddy Boom Boom Boom (pound on chest)
Boom Diddy Boom Diddy Boom Boom Boom
Down in the jungle where nobody goes,
There’s a great big gorilla washing his clothes.
With a scrubba dubba here, (scrub hands back and forth)
And a scrubba dubba here.
That’s the way he washes his underwear!

INSTRUMENT PLAYALONG WITH A CD: Gorilla Song by Sha Na Na from Blue Moo by Sandra Boynton

CRAFT: Gorilla Masks

Olivia holding her gorilla mask (with two adorable teeth)

I got this craft from a site called Noah’s Ark Preschool. There wasn’t a template, but it was pretty easy to draw the faces and heads freehand on construction paper. I cut out those and the eyes (white circles) and bows ahead of time. The kids glued the faces and eyes on and drew in their own mouths, pupils, and eyelashes. We used tape to hold the popsicle sticks on the back. It was amazing to see how different each child’s gorilla was.

OTHER BOOKS:

The book I wish I had gotten in time was Goodnight, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann, the classic nearly-wordless story about a naughty gorilla who follows the zookeeper around on his evening rounds and lets the animals out one by one. My son and I always enjoyed looking for the mouse and the balloon on every page.

Another one I almost read was My Friend Gorilla by Atsuko Morozumi. This is a bittersweet story about a little boy whose family takes in a gorilla. They have a wonderful time together, until some people come to take the gorilla away to a preserve where he will be happier. I remember reading this to my son when he was little, and he was sad that the gorilla had to go away, which made for an interesting discussion about animals in the wild versus in captivity.

I had also considered doing books about other primates, which might have included Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina (always a hit!), but also the more recent Me, Jane by Patrick McDonnell, a lovely simple story about the childhood of Jane Goodall.

Any other favorite gorilla or ape books?

The Loudest Librarian!

Weekly library storytime themes, book recommendations, songs, crafts, and other library programming ideas

Category Archives: Storytime themes

Scary Stories!

You Be the Judge! The California Young Reader Medal

Going to the Dogs

Down on the Farm

Now I Know My ABCs: Books About the Alphabet

Autumn Leaves: Stories about Fall

Tuning In: Books about Music and Songs

School Days

Books You Can Count On

Gorilla! Gorilla!