Virtual Thanksgiving Storytime

Posted in Rhymes and songs, Storytime themes, Ukulele, Virtual Programs by worldsloudestlibrarian

My coworker Angela and I had a fun Thanksgiving-themed Interactive storytime this morning, with families and two preschools logging in via Zoom. Here’s what we did:

Introduction:

We opened by talking about Thanksgiving, and sharing this funny list of things that kids are thankful for from the Huffington Post, which includes gas, ceiling fans, and “Mommy wiping my poop”: 21 Things Kids Are Thankful For That Will Make You Laugh by Hollis Miller.

OPENING SONG: Do As I’m Doing

As usual, we asked the kids to find a cloth of some kind to wave the first time we sang this song. Then we asked for suggestions to do for the next few times we sang it. We ended up jumping (always a favorite), twirling, saying “I Love You” in sign language, and smiling.

[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.

SONG: The Turkey Jerky

So many Thanksgiving books are about unfortunate turkeys trying to escape ending up on the dinner table. I do enjoy some of them, especially Sometimes It’s Turkey, Sometimes It’s Feathers by Lorna and Lecia Balian, but they are sometimes a bit depressing. This time, we mostly avoided the turkey theme, but I couldn’t resist including this song, because it’s so much fun.

(To the tune of The Hokey Pokey)

You put your right wing in,

You put your right wing out,

You put your right wing in,

And you shake it all about.

You do the turkey jerky and you turn yourself around.

That’s what it’s all about!

Repeat with your left wing, your right drumstick (right foot), left drumstick, waddle (your chin, or a cloth hanging from your chin), and tail feathers!

BOOK: Benjamin Bear Says Thank you by Claire Freedman, illustrated by Steve Smallman

Angela read this cute story about a bear who always forgets to say “thank you.” We showed the kids how to say “Thank you” in American Sign Language. This book is available through both Hoopla and Overdrive.

SONG: If You’re Happy and You Know It

We taught the kids the sign for Happy in American Sign Language. Then we sang the song, but added in different emotions. Angela had several paper plates with faces depicting different emotions on them, so she up a different one for each verse. We sang:

If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands…

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

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

If you’re surprised and you know it, give a big gasp!…

If you’re angry and you know it, say “I’m mad!”…

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

BOOK: You Are My Happy by Hoda Kotb; illustrated by Suzie Mason

Short, sweet story with adorable illustrations, about a baby bear and his mother, sharing the things that make them happy. It made for a great read-aloud for toddlers and preschoolers because there were lots of opportunities for them to make the sign for Happy, as well as blowing kisses, giving themselves a hug, and other simple motions.

SONG: I Am Thankful

I couldn’t think of a good song for the theme, so I wrote this one. Feel free to use it however you like, or add in your own verses. We did it as a play-along, encouraging the kids to play whatever instruments or noisemakers they had on hand, or just clap or dance along.

[C] I am thankful for

The [F] colors that I see,

For [C] friends who play with me,

And for my [G7] loving family.

[C] I am thankful for [F] rainbows in the sky,

For the [C] taste of pumpkin pie,

And for a [G7] warm hug when I cry.

I’m thankful [F] for the sky above

I’m thankful [C] for the ones I love,

[D] My cozy bed at night,

And for [G] the summer sun so bright.

[C] I am thankful for the [F] monkeys at the zoo

But [C] most of all I’m [G7] thankful for [C] YOU!

[C] I am thankful for [F] bubbles in the air,

For a [C] cool breeze in my hair,

And for my [G7] snuggly teddy bear.

[C] I am thankful for [F] yummy things to eat,

For [C] ice cream cones so sweet,

And for a [G7] special birthday treat.

I’m thankful [F] for the sky above

I’m thankful [C] for the ones I love,

[D] My cozy bed at night,

And for [G] the summer sun so bright.

[C] I am thankful for the [F] monkeys at the zoo

But [C] most of all I’m [G7] thankful,

[C] I am so very [F] thankful!

[C] Most of all I’m [G7] thankful for [C] YOU!

CLOSING SONG: You Are My Sunshine by Jimmie Davis & Charles Mitchell (or possibly by Oliver Hood)

All in all it was a fun program! Some of kids held up favorite toys or books, and we talked about them here and there. One challenge with Zoom is that, while we muted the kids while we were reading or singing (because unfortunately music doesn’t sync well over Zoom), the kids can unmute themselves by hitting the space bar, which of course is the biggest button on the keyboard, so we did have to occasionally mute certain kids (even though they were adorable!). Luckily, we had another coworker, Kelly, managing the tech side of the program. Highly recommended if you have enough staff!

What are your favorite Thanksgiving books or songs? Please share them in the comments.

16Nov2014

Bedtime Stories

Posted in Rhymes and songs, Storytime themes, Ukulele by worldsloudestlibrarian

Worry Doll by Addie

Sorry for the lapse in my posts! I have a backlog of storytimes I need to write up, but I’ll start with the one I did last Wednesday, because it featured some of my favorite picture books. The theme was Bedtime. Here’s what we read:

The Napping House by Audrey Wood (Amazon.com link)

A fun, cumulative rhyme about a pile of sleepers that includes a granny, a child, a dog, a cat, a mouse, and a flea. I like to read it in a hushed voice until the dramatic turn in the middle, when the flea bites the mouse. The kids giggled as the pile of creatures grew bigger and bigger, and laughed when the bed broke.

The Squeaky Door by Margaret Read MacDonald; illustrated by Mary Newell DePalma (Amazon.com link)

Margaret Read MacDonald is a master at retelling old tales. Her picture books usually include lots of repeated words or phrases for kids to chime in on. A few weeks back, I read Pickin’ Peas, which one family enjoyed so much that they returned to the library later in the week to check out. This story is about a little boy who is sleeping over at his grandparents’ house. At bedtime, his Grandma says, “Now when I turn off the light, and close the door, are you going to be scared?” “NO! NOT ME!” says the boy. But when she closes the door, it makes an awful squeak, and the little boy cries. So Grandma brings in the cat to keep the boy company. But of course the door squeaks again. So Grandma brings in the dog. The story gets more and more absurd, as more and more animals crowd into the bed. The kids and parents laughed at Grandma kissing the pig goodnight, and dressing the horse in pajamas, and the kids loved saying the repeated, “No! Not me!” every time. Always a hit.

What! Cried Granny…An Almost Bedtime Story by Kate Lum; illustrated by Adrian Johnson (Amazon.com link)

This is one of my all-time favorite read-alouds. It works well for a wide range of ages. Like The Squeaky Door, it is about a little boy (whose name is Patrick) sleeping over at his Granny’s house. But when Granny tells Patrick to climb into bed, he informs her that he doesn’t have a bed there. “What?” cries Granny, and rushes out to cut down some trees and build Patrick a bed. But then she discovers he doesn’t have a pillow. This book is great for promoting print awareness (you can point out the word “What?!” which gets bigger and bigger every time it is repeated), and prediction (the kids enjoy guessing what Granny will have to make next. But it’s also just a funny story, with big, brightly colored illustrations.

Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late by Mo Willems (Amazon.com link)

Whenever I have a Mo Willems book in my storytime stack, the kids always spot it right away, and demand that I read it. So it was no surprise when someone shouted out, “Read the Pigeon book!” This one, like the other books about that naughty Pigeon, encourages the kids to say “No!” to the Pigeon’s constant wheedling, this time about why he should be allowed to stay up a little longer.

Let’s Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy by Jan Thomas (Amazon.com link)

Jan Thomas writes a lot of great read-alouds, full of humor and surprise. In this one, a cowboy is singing his cows to sleep, except “EEEEEK! Is that a huge hairy spider?” No, it’s just a flower. The kids love the repeated, “Eeeks!” and the dramatic irony of knowing when an actual danger appears. I use a tune my former manager, Thom Ball, came up with for the lullaby, which goes like this:

SONGS AND RHYMES

Five in the Bed

When I did this at storytime, I actually made it Ten in the Bed, which obviously takes about twice as long to sing. Click on the triangle for the tune:

There were five in the bed (hold up five fingers)
And the little one said,
“I’m crowded! Roll over!” (roll hands around each other)
So they all rolled over,
And one fell out,
There were four in the bed
And the little one said…
(Repeat, counting down until one.)…

There was one in the bed,
And that little one said,
“I’ve got the whole bed to myself!
I’ve got the whole bed to myself!
I’ve got the whole bed to myself!
I’ve got the whole bed to myself!”

No More Monkeys

I sing the version by Asheba from Putumayo’s Animal Playground. Here are the lyrics, and ukulele chords (although actually in the recording, I’m playing the new banjolele my in-laws gave me for my birthday. Squee! Instant tiny banjo! So easy to play.) Click on the triangle to hear the tune:

Five monkeys were playing on the bed. (C)
One fell off and bumped his head. (C G7)
Mama called the doctor, and the doctor said, (C F)
“No more monkeys jumping on the bed!” (C G7 C)

“No more monkeys jumping on the bed! (C)
No more monkeys jumping on the bed! (C G7)
No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”(C F)
That is what the doctor said. (C G7 C)

Four monkeys were jumping on the bed…

(Repeat, counting down to one…)

One monkey was playing on the bed,
She fell off and bumped her head.
Mama called the children, and the children said,
“YES! More monkeys jumping on the bed!”

“Yes! More monkeys jumping on the bed!
Yes! More monkeys jumping on the bed!
Yes! More monkeys jumping on the bed!”
That is what the children said.

CRAFT: Worry Dolls

Worry Doll by Sarah

I was originally going to read Silly Billy by Anthony Browne to introduce the worry doll idea, but the copy I ordered over from another branch didn’t arrive in time. The kids loved making the worry dolls anyway. If you aren’t familiar with worry dolls (also known as trouble dolls), they are a tradition that comes from Guatemala, where kids are given tiny dolls to tell their worries to, and keep under their pillows at night. The book Silly Billy is about a boy who has so many worries that he makes worry dolls for his worry dolls.

For our worry doll craft, I gave the kids clothespins (the kind with the round top), markers to draw faces, pipe cleaners for the arms, and kids’ scissors and multicolored yarn to make hair and clothes. We used gluesticks to stick the hair on, and wrapped the yarn around the clothespins for the clothes. The kids needed some help securing the ends of the yarn (I tucked the ends under the wrapped part). But the parents seemed to enjoy helping with the dolls, and the kids were excited to take them home.

What are your favorite books about bedtime?

27Sep2014

On The Dot: A Peter H. Reynolds Storytime

Posted in Rhymes and songs, Storytime themes, Ukulele by worldsloudestlibrarian

Dot Art by Addie

This storytime was inspired by local mom and teacher, Laura Hoffmann, who shared pictures of her own wonderful Dot Party over the summer. Since I’ve been doing a series of author-themed storytimes lately, I decided to focus on the books of Peter H. Reynolds. The kids loved all the books, and the craft was so easy and fun!

The Dot (Amazon.com link)

When Vashti draws a simple dot on a piece of paper to prove to her teacher that she can’t draw, her teacher tells her to sign it. Later Vashti is surprised to see her dot hanging on the wall in a gold frame, and decides that she can make better dots than that. Soon she is making dots of all different colors and sizes, until she has an entire dot exhibit. And when a boy comes up to tell her he can’t draw, she makes him draw a line to prove it, and then tells him to sign it. The kids were mesmerized by this book, and it quickly disappeared as soon as I set it down.

Sky Color (Amazon.com link)

Marisol is an artist. When her class is assigned to paint a mural, she announces that she will paint the sky. The problem is that she can’t find any blue paint. All the way home on the bus, Marisol watches the sky, which is a brilliant yellow. That evening the sky is red and orange and purple as the sun sets, and she dreams of a sky filled with even more colors. The next day, a gray-green rainy one, Marisol mixes her own color and paints a beautiful sky. This is a terrific book for storytime. The kids loved the illustrations, and enjoyed naming the colors on each page. It was snatched up right away at the end.

So Few of Me (Amazon.com link)

This one was a departure from the art theme. Leo is overwhelmed by the list of things he has to do. He wishes that there were two of him, and, to his surprise, another Leo knocks at the door. Unfortunately, the other Leo has even more things to get done, so they need the help of even more Leos. But even ten Leos are not enough. The original Leo, exhausted, takes a moment to rest and dream. He decides that he can do less, and do his best, and all the other Leos disappear. Great book for busy Bay Area families, including my own. It got swooped up by a boy who seemed anxious to get hold of it before anyone else did.

Ish (Amazon.com link)

Ish, Sky Color, and The Dot all comprise an art-themed series called The Creatrilogy. In Ish, Ramon loves to draw, until his older brother laughs at his vase picture. Ramon becomes increasingly dissatisfied with all of his drawings, crumpling them up one by one. Just as he is about to give up drawing altogether, his little sister Marisol runs off with his crumpled drawing. Ramon is surprised to see that Marisol has covered the walls of her room with all of his discarded artwork. When he complains that his vase picture doesn’t look right, Marisol says it is “vase-ish.” Realizing he can make “ish” art sets Ramon free to draw whatever he wants, even feelings. He even writes “ish-poems.” This a wonderful book to lead off creative exercises for any age, and like all the other books, it was immediately checked out.

SONG:

Rainbow ‘Round Me

I learned this song from retired children’s librarian Connie Mills. I think it was composed by a songwriter named Ruth Pelham, although I’m not sure if the version I know is exactly the same as her original. We sang it after reading Sky Color, even though the words contradict the book’s message that the sky isn’t always blue (but for that matter, the grass outside my window is brown right now because of the drought). I asked the kids to suggest things they might see outside their window, and they went wild. We had a green dinosaur, a white polar bear, a gray narwhal, and a black-and-white zebra.

Here are the words as I usually sing them, along with the ukulele chords in parentheses. Click on the triangle to hear the song:

When I look outside my window, (D, A)
There’s a world of color I see. (A, D)
Fiddle-dee-dee, outside my window (D, G, D)
There’s a world of color I see. (A, D)

CHORUS:
Rainbow, rainbow, rainbow ’round me. (G, D, A, D)
Rainbow, rainbow, rainbow ’round me. (G, D, A, D)

And the sky outside my window,
Is as blue as blue can be.
Fiddle-dee-dee, outside my window
It’s as blue as blue can be.

Chorus

And the grass outside my window,
Is as green as green can be.
Fiddle-dee-dee, outside my window
It’s as green and green can be,
And the sky is blue as blue can be.

Chorus

And the flowers outside my window,
Are as yellow as yellow can be.
Fiddle-dee-dee, outside my window
They’re as yellow as yellow can be.
And the grass is green as green can be.
And the sky is blue as blue can be.

Chorus

CRAFT: Dot Art and Drawing

Drawing by Olivia

This was probably the easiest craft I’ve ever done, since I just gave the kids Do a Dot Art Markers, paint, crayons, pencils, markers, and white paper and told them to make whatever they wanted. Most of them made their own dot creations, but one girl decided to draw instead. They were all completely absorbed, and it was so much fun to see the variety of pictures they created.

Dot Art and Drawing by Shelby

Dot Art by Paxton

Dot Art by Joaquin

Dot Art by Millie

19Sep2014

Avast! A Pirate Storytime for Booklubbers

Posted in Rhymes and songs, Storytime themes, Ukulele by worldsloudestlibrarian

In honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19, we read books about pirates this week. I opened with some pirate words from TalkLikeaPirate.com, and told my favorite pirate joke: “What is a pirate’s favorite letter?” Inevitably someone guessed “R!” to which I replied, “Ah, yeh’d think it’d be R, but it’s really the C they love!” One dad responded to my joke with one of his own, “How do you know Olivia (his daughter) is a pirate?” “Because when she got her ears pierced, it cost a buck-an-ear!”

Here are the books we read:

Pirate Pete’s Talk Like a Pirate by Kim Kennedy; illustrated by Pete Kennedy (Amazon.com link)

Pirate Pete and his parrot are interviewing scallywags for their crew. Though many of them can fire a cannon, have eyepatches and are good at stealing treasure, not one of them can talk like a pirate. This one was fun to read aloud, since I not only got to “talk pirate” but trot out a lot of very “posh” voices too. The kids liked chiming in on the repeated line: “But you can’t talk like a pirate!”

Bubble Bath Pirates by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Amazon.com link)

This was the perfect follow-up to Pirate Pete’s Talk Like a Pirate, because it was short, and gave the kids a chance to talk like pirates themselves. Three pirate boys are ordered to take a bath by their pirate mom. “Arghh!” cry the little pirates. The bath time consists of lots of pirate phrases: “Blimey!” “Shiver Me Timbers!” and “Walk the Plank!” among others. The storytime kids also enjoyed counting down from 5 to 1 as the pirates pull the plug in the tub. And they liked the “treasure” at the end: chocolate fudge ice cream. This is one of the few pirate picture books that is short enough for toddlers, and it is always a hit.

Dirty Joe the Pirate by Bill Harley and Jack E. Davis (Amazon.com link)

I love this book, even though I can’t read it half as well as my former manager, Thom Ball, who does the best pirate voice. Dirty Joe is a dreadful pirate who roams the seas in search of dirty socks, until he tries to take on Stinky Annie, a pirate who steals underpants. The rhymed verse is clever and hilarious, and there’s a great twist at the end. The parents laughed at this one too.

How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long; illustrated by David Shannon

When pirates land on the beach, they invite little Jeremy Jacob to join them to help them bury their treasure. At first, Jeremy loves being a pirate: there are no vegetables, no manners, and no bedtimes. But there are also no bedtime stories and no one to comfort him when a huge storm threatens the ship. Fun, engaging story, with lots of opportunities for the kids to echo pirate phrases. It was the perfect lead-in to my treasure map activity.

SONGS:

When I Was One

I learned this song from my coworker Christina Olsen, and I’ve used it lots of times. I’ve even adapted it for space themes, and changed it to “When I was one, I had some fun, when I flew to outer space. I met a big green alien, with eight eyes on his face.” In any case, it’s a fun action song that gives the kids a chance to suggest rhymes. I usually sing it unaccompanied, but it’s easy to play on the ukulele with C and G7. Click on the triangle for the tune:

When I was one, I had some fun, (C)
When I travelled out to sea. (C G7)
I jumped aboard a pirate ship (G7)
And the captain said to me. (C G7)

He said, Go this way! (lean right) (C)
That way! (lean left) (C)
Forward! (lean forward) (C)
Backward! (lean backward) (C)
When you travel out to sea!” (G7 C)

I asked the kids to come up with a rhyme for “two” for the next verse. One girl suggested “Boo!” so I sang, “When I was two, a ghost said, ‘Boo!’ When I travelled out to sea!” For three we had “I climbed a tree,” for four “I slammed a door!” and for five “I took a dive!” Sometimes it takes a while for the kids to come up with rhymes, but this group was really quick.

Barges

I love this song. I learned it in Girl Scouts when I was a kid. At camp we would often make “barges” by melting birthday candles onto pieces of bark, then lighting them and sending them out into the lake while we sang the song. I suppose it might have been a fire hazard, but I always loved it. There are a lot of additional verses online, but here are the lyrics I use. Click on the triangle for the tune. On the ukulele, you can play it by cycling through C, F, and G7 all the way through the song:

Out of my window, looking through the night, (C F G7)
I can see the barges flickering light. (C F G7 C)
Softly flows the river to the sea (C F G7)
And the barges too go silently. (C F G7 C)

CHORUS:
Barges, I would like to go with you. (C F G7)
I would like to sail the ocean blue. (C F G7 C)
Barges, have you treasures in your hold? (C F G7)
Do you fight with pirates brave and bold? (C F G7 C)

Out of my window, looking through the night,
I can see the barges flickering light.
Carrying their cargo out into the sea,
How I wish that someday they’d take me.

CHORUS

ACTIVITY: Treasure Map

I had done this activity once before for a Map-themed storytime at our other branch. The picture above is actually from that library. I hand drew the map and copied it onto tan paper. I crumpled up each copy before spreading it out again to give it to the kids. I made signs to mark tables with names like Ship-Shape Shelter, Parrot Paradise, Mermaid Isle, and Dragon Isle.

The map included an instruction to “Stop and Say, ‘Arrrr!'” at the circulation desk (I don’t think I warned my coworkers about that, but they’re usually very forgiving of my weekly mayhem). I hid the treasure in the 910.4 area of the nonfiction section (the Dewey Decimal number for pirates and shipwrecks). I used my daughter’s Playmobil Pirate Chest (yes, I plundered her toy closet), and filled it with toy gold coins and spyglasses (extending telescopes) from Oriental Trading Company. Each child was allowed to take one coin and one spyglass.

The Treasure!

The innovation I added this week was throwing in a craft at the table near the “Storytime Cove,” for the kids to do while I hid the treasure and put the signs around the library to mark different landmarks. My coworker Angela Luis had given me an ice cream craft, with colorful pictures of different flavored ice cream for the kids to stack on paper cones (I don’t know where she got it, but it was very cute). It didn’t exactly fit the theme, although I labelled the table “Isle of Ice Cream” to tie it in. I think if I do it again, I will have the kids make hooks out of aluminum foil and plastic cups, a craft they have enjoyed in the past. (There’s an example of this, along with several other pirate crafts on the Summer Camp for Kids site).

Ice Cream Cone Craft on the Isle of Ice Cream

All and all, it was a fun evening, and the kids were excited about the treasure hunt. I think next year, I may add more “islands” with even more craft stations.

What are your favorite pirate books?

8Aug2014

I Scream, You Scream for Stories about Ice Cream

Posted in Rhymes and songs, Storytime themes, Ukulele by worldsloudestlibrarian

The ice cream mixture: milk, vanilla and sugar

This week we read books about ice cream, and made ice cream in a bag, something I learned from my very first job as a Children’s Librarian, at the North Regional Library in Raleigh, North Carolina. I was only there for a few months before my husband got a job that required us to move to the Bay Area, but I learned a lot from my coworkers there, and I’ll always be grateful to them.

I was actually debating about making the ice cream in coffee cans instead of plastic bags, since it would be more environmental, but my kids and I tried it three times at home (yeah, they hated being guinea pigs for this one), and we just couldn’t get it to work. The stuff in the middle would always be too slushy, and the stuff on the sides so frozen it was hard to scrape off. So I went back to the original plan. I did collect and wash all the plastic bags at the end. (Stores in our county no longer give out plastic bags, so I actually hoard them to dispose of my cat litter).

Here’s what we read:

Ice Cream Larry by Daniel Pinkwater; illustrated by Jill Pinkwater (Amazon.com link)

I hadn’t originally planned to read this one, because it’s a longer picture book, but right when storytime started, there was only one 6 year-old and her mom, so I decided to share it with her. It’s one of a series of books about Larry the polar bear, who lives at the Hotel Larry and serves as the lifeguard for the pool. In this book, Larry makes the news when he asks a local ice cream shop if he can cool down in their freezer, and then eats 1/8 of a ton of their ice cream. “I do not feel sick,” he says. Soon, the owner of the Iceberg Ice Cream company shows up at the hotel to meet with Larry. He ends up making him the spokesbear for his new line of ice creams, and the company’s new slogan, “I do not feel sick,” becomes a national sensation. Very silly, but lots of fun to read, and a hit with the kids.

Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal; illustrated by Jen Corace (Amazon.com link)

Other families with younger kids had come in during the first book, so I went with this one next. It’s not actually an ice cream book, but it tied in with my “Candy Corn for Dinner” song that I sang before I read it. It’s one of my favorite picture books, about a little pea who dreads having to eat his nightly dinner of candy. This one always gets laughs from both kids and adults.

Should I Share My Ice Cream? by Mo Willems (Amazon.com link)

I had to to do this book, which is one of my favorite Elephant and Piggies. Gerald is just about to enjoy his ice cream cone, when he wonders if he should share it with Piggie instead. It is a terribly difficult decision, and one that takes him so long that his ice cream melts. Most of my regular storytime families are familiar with Gerald and Piggie, but there was one new family who had never heard of the series. I was happy to hear them laughing at the ending.

Frog and Toad All Year by Arnold Lobel (Amazon.com link)

Occasionally I like to share a chapter from an early reader book like this one, and I was reminded of the “Ice Cream” story in this book when my daughter was listening to the audiobook in the car. To my surprise, most of the kids had never heard of the Frog and Toad books, which I know are still asked for frequently at the library. In this story, Toad buys two ice cream cones for himself and Frog to enjoy. But on his way back to Frog, the ice cream melts, covering his face so he cannot see. Other animals run from him in alarm, and when he finally gets back to Frog, he looks like a scary monster with two pointy horns. This one got laughs too.

Nighttime Ninja by Barbara DaCosta; illustrated by Ed Young (Amazon.com link)

I should have asked ahead of time if the kids knew what a ninja was, because one of them raised the question. A ninja is stealthily creeping through a house, until he is discovered and unmasked for what he really is: a boy sneaking ice cream from the freezer. This is a short book that is fun to read aloud because you can build up the suspense in the early pages.

SONGS:

Candy Corn for Dinner

I wrote this song for the storytime, since I couldn’t find many that fit the ice cream theme. It needs another verse, which I’ll try to add sometime in the future, but the kids seemed to like it. I’m still too nervous to tell people at storytime when I perform an original song, but it’s a fun challenge to write them. It’s also not too hard if you know a few chords on the guitar or ukulele, which is all you need for most kids songs anyway. This one only has three chords: C G7 and F.

C G7 C
My mom and dad put me in charge of our dinner tonight.
C G7
They said I could make anything as long as we ate right.
C G7 C
I had to serve some vegetables, a salad, and a stew.
C G7 C
I thought a while and cooked a bit, and here is my menu.

F C
We’re having candy corn for dinner
G7 C
With a side of chocolate stew.
F C
A three jelly bean salad,
G7 C
And an ice cream sandwich too.

I don’t know why Mom and Dad say cooking’s such a chore,
‘Cause I had such a great time going to the grocery store.
My mom said we were out of milk, so I bought a big milkshake,
And since my dad likes cheese so much, I got him a cheesecake.

We’re having candy corn for dinner
With a side of chocolate stew.
A three jelly bean salad,
And an ice cream sandwich too.

If All the Raindrops

This is an old standby that I use for toddler and baby storytimes too. (I used to sing it to my daughter at toothbrushing time, and it became kind of a game to brush her teeth while we sang the “Aaahs.”) I asked the kids to suggest other things they would like the rain to be. One girl suggested chocolate marshmallows, and her mom suggested margaritas. Here are the traditional lyrics (click on the triangle for the tune):

C
If all the raindrops
G7 C
Were lemondrops and gumdrops
C G7
Oh, what a rain that would be!
C G7 C G7
Standing outside, with my mouth open wide
C G7 C G7
Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah!
C G7 C
If all the raindrops were lemondrops and gumdrops,
C G7 C
Oh, what a rain it would be!

If all the snowflakes
Were candy bars and milkshakes…

If all the sunbeams
Were bubblegum and ice cream…

CRAFT: Ice Cream in a Bag

Ice cream mixture sealed in a large bag of ice and rock salt

The finished product!

I printed out the directions on a half-page handout, in case anyone wanted to take it home. You can print your own here: ICE CREAM IN A BAG

Before we started, I went over each of the ingredients. We talked about the vanilla, and I let the kids smell the open bottle. I showed them the rock salt, and explained that it was important, because without it the ice cream wouldn’t freeze. (The milk and sugar freeze at a lower temperature than water, but the salt lowers the freezing temperature of water. When you put it on ice, the ice melts, but it turns into a slushy mixture that is actually colder).

I gave each kid a quart-sized plastic zipper bag (for what it’s worth, the bags I bought from Target claimed to be BPA-free, although I’ve read that the other chemicals plastic companies use aren’t necessarily safer). I had them hold their bags open, and I poured the 1/2 of whole milk in for them, since it was a large, heavy gallon of milk. Then I held the bag open for each of them as they scooped in two tablespoons of sugar. I pour in the 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Then I told them to seal their bags tightly, and make sure they were closed (I once had volunteers mix up the ice cream mixture in the bags ahead of time, and they forgot to seal the bags shut. There were a lot of disappointed kids left holding bags of salty milk).

Once they had their ice cream mixture sealed in the small bags, I gave them each a gallon-sized bag to half-fill with ice. Then we poured the rock salt in on top of the ice (the recipe calls for 1/2 cup, but I just estimated). They sealed their ice cream mix into the big bag, and shook the bags while I played some songs on the ukulele. It takes about 5 minutes for the ice cream to freeze.

Once the ice cream was frozen, I gave out spoons and straws for the kids to each it straight out of the bag. Some froze more solidly than others, but it has a pretty good flavor that they all seemed to like.

OTHER BOOKS ABOUT ICE CREAM:

I Scream, Ice Cream! a Book of Wordles by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Serge Bloch (Amazon.com link)

This book’s not actually about ice cream, but I was originally going to read it along with Little Pea, since it references that book at the end. It’s actually a series of phrases that can mean two different things, depending on how you read them. For example: “I scream! Two bucks!” (with a picture of someone running away from two angry deer), sounds just like “Ice cream, two bucks!” The phrases get increasingly complicated, and it’s fun to try and guess what the alternate meaning will be.

Ice Cream: the Full Scoop by Gail Gibbons (Amazon.com link)

Nice overview of the history of ice cream, and how it is made commercially. This one was a little long for my group, but would work well for a preschool or elementary school class.

Any other books about ice cream? I would love some more suggestions.

1Aug2014

For the Birds: Stories about our Fine, Feathered Friends

Posted in Rhymes and songs, Storytime themes, Ukulele by worldsloudestlibrarian

Goldfinch Feeder

Last night at Family Storytime we read stories about birds, and made a simple bird feeder for goldfinches.

I was happy because I got to open with one of my all-time favorite read-alouds:

The Baby Beebee Bird by Diane Redfield Massie; illustrated by Stephen Kellogg (Amazon.com link)

This book is perfect for storytime: it has large, colorful illustrations, lots of animal noises, and a funny, annoying repeated phrase the kids get to join in on. A quiet evening at the zoo is interrupted by the newly arrived baby beebee bird, who insists on singing, “Beebee Bobbi Bobbi!” over and over again all night long. The next morning, the other animals are exhausted, the zookeeper is worried, and the lion has a plan to get revenge. I’ve also seen this book performed as a reader’s theater, where it works beautifully because there are so many different parts.

The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog by Mo Willems (Amazon.com link)

One of the kids spotted this Pigeon book in my stack and got really excited. I had actually brought two Pigeon books along, and I asked the kids to vote for the one they wanted to hear: they all asked me to read both. I think this one got the biggest laughs though. In this book, the Pigeon is about to enjoy the hot dog he found, until an adorable, curious (and deviously clever) duckling asks him what hot dogs are like.

Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late by Mo Willems (Amazon.com link)

This one is more like the original Pigeon book, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, where the kids get to respond to the Pigeon’s wheedling demands by yelling, “No!” In this case, the Pigeon is angling to stay up past bedtime, by using the arguments and excuses that every parent has heard before.

Chickens to the Rescue by John Himmelman (Amazon.com link)

Fun, silly farm story about the Greenstalk family, whose chickens always swoop in to save the day. Wristwatch in the well? Chickens to the rescue! Too tired to make dinner? Chickens to the rescue! Dog ate your book report? Chickens to the rescue. This one is always a hit, and the kids love chiming in on the “Chickens to the Rescue!”

Edward the Emu by Sheena Knowles; illustrated by Rod Clement (Amazon.com link)

Edward the emu is sick of the zoo. When he hears someone say that the seals are his favorite animal, Edward hops the fence into the seal pool and tries being a seal instead. But then he overhears someone else saying the lions are best, and has to try that too, until another person raves about the snakes. Finally, someone says they like the emus best, but when Edward returns to his old enclosure, he finds a new emu in his place. The illustrations in this rhyming story, showing Edward emu-lating the other animals, are hilarious. The kids also enjoyed making animal noises along with Edward.

SONGS:

Two Little Blackbirds

One of my favorite songs/fingerplays. I usually sing it a cappella, so I can do the hand motions. Click on the triangle to hear how it goes:

Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill, (Hold up both thumbs)
One named Jack, and the other named Jill.
Fly away, Jack! (Put one thumb behind your back)
Fly away, Jill! (Put the other thumb behind your back)
Come back, Jack! (Bring the first thumb out in front).
Come back, Jill! (Bring the second thumb out in the front).

Two little blackbirds sitting on a cloud,
One was quiet, and the other was loud (I make my voice as loud and obnoxious as possible each time I sing the word “Loud!”)
Fly away, Quiet!
Fly away, Loud!
Come back, Quiet!
Come back, Loud!

Two little blackbirds sitting in the snow.
One flew fast!
And the other f-l-e-w s-l-o-w!…

Two little blackbirds sitting on a gate.
One was early,
And the other was…late!… (I like to drag the pauses out as long as possible before saying “Late!” until the kids are all yelling it out.)

Six Little Ducks

I’ve done this song for years, and it’s a popular favorite at toddler and baby storytimes. Last night, I had several 6 year-olds in the group, so for an extra challenge, I asked if any of them could squat down and waddle like a duck (it’s surprisingly tiring, but they had fun). Here are the lyrics, with the accompanying ukulele or guitar chords:

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

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

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

Chorus

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

Chorus

Little Bird

I actually meant to do this song, but I forgot about it completely, and sang Brush Your Teeth instead (to go along with Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late). It’s perfect for a bird theme though, since the kids can suggest different types of birds, so I’m including it here. I originally heard it performed by Elizabeth Mitchell on her album, You Are My Little Bird, which is one of my favorite kids’ albums. Here’s how it goes:

C
Little Bird, Little Bird,
C
Fly through my window.
G7
Little Bird, Little Bird,
G7
Fly through my window.
C
Little Bird, Little Bird,
C
Fly through my window.
G7 C
Find molasses candy.

Chorus:
G7
Fly through my window, my sugar lump!
C G7 C
Fly through my window, my sugar lump!
G7 C
Find molasses candy!

Jay bird, Jay bird, fly through my window…etc…

Chorus

Repeat the verse and chorus, asking kids for the names of different birds (robin, parrot, etc.) to sing in place of “Little Bird” each time. You can also do this song as a dance, where a pair of kids put their hands together over their heads to make a “window” and the other kids “fly” through the window in a line.

CRAFT: Goldfinch Feeders

Goldfinch Feeder by Sarah

I found this easy goldfinch feeder on Do-It-Yourself N Save: http://diynsave.com/?p=337. I was really happy, because we get a lot of goldfinches here on the coast, and they are beautiful, and fun to watch. Also, I had originally thought of doing one of the typical kids bird feeder projects, where you put peanut butter on a pine cone and roll it in bird seed, but one of my regular storytime kids has a severe peanut allergy, so this was a much safer alternative.

It is super easy to make (although a bit messy, since the thistle seed tends to spill). After showing the kids a picture of a goldfinch, I gave each of them a knee-high stocking or the foot of a regular pair of stockings (one of my coworkers brought me some old ones from her mom, and I had also picked some up at Goodwill). I also had a variety of old jar lids, a chopstick, some yarn, and a bag of thistle (Nyger) seed. The kids each stuffed a lid into the bottom of their stocking, then filled the stocking with thistle seed (I gave them little plastic cups to scoop and pour). Then they tied them shut with the yarn, and stuck the chopstick through the stocking just above the lid. The chopstick makes a hole for the goldfinches to reach the seed, while also giving them a place to perch. One dad wisely waited on sticking the chopstick through the stocking until they got home, to keep the seed from spilling out all over the car (and the library!). All in all, it was easy and fun. I hung one on a tree in my backyard at home, and I’m eager to see if the goldfinches find it.

OTHER BOOKS ABOUT BIRDS:

There are so many great books about birds, especially once you factor in all the duck, penguin, and chicken books out there. Here are some others that I considered:

Penguin by Polly Dunbar (Amazon.com link)

This one is super-quirky, and a little dark, but I love it, and it’s always been a hit at storytime. Ben is frustrated with his new penguin, who refuses to talk. He tries everything from tickling it, to trying to feed it to a passing lion, but the lion eats Ben instead. Luckily, Penguin saves the day, rescuing Ben, and finally speaking, in a language of his own.

One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo; illustrated by David Small (Amazon.com link)

When Eliot secretly brings a penguin home from the aquarium, his father seems oblivious to all of Eliot’s attempts to make his new pet feel at home, until the surprise at the end. I’ve read this one to a wide range of ages, including a few second grade classes, and they loved it.

Owl Babies by Martin Waddell; illustrated by Patrick Benson (Amazon.com link)

This has always been one of my favorite books for toddler time. A sweet story about three baby owls whose mother has left them alone in their nest. As time passes, they grow increasingly worried, and wish their mother would come back, and of course, she does. The illustrations are beautiful. I have a personal copy of this book that I’ve read many, many times to my own kids. It is perfect for a snuggly bedtime story.

What are your favorite books about birds?

21Jul2014

Yes, Uke Can! A Ukulele Workshop for Kids

Posted in Ukulele by worldsloudestlibrarian

Yesterday, my coworker Nicol Cassidy-White and I led our first ukulele workshop at the library. We had advertised it for kids aged 5-10 and their parents, and required registration to keep the group small.

Most of the kids brought their own ukuleles, but we had a few to lend out to those who didn’t, thanks to a grant from the Mockingbird Foundation, a wonderful volunteer-run foundation for music education (it was founded by fans of the band Phish). I had originally asked Mockingbird for $300 to buy new rhythm instruments for the kids to play at musical storytime, since our old instruments had gotten ragged and broken. To my surprise, they actually gave us $500, enough to buy 6 ukuleles with cases, which we are hoping to use for future classes and possibly even lend out to library patrons.

Our class consisted of 9 kids and a few parents who actively helped their children. They covered our whole age span: one five year-old, one six, three seven year-olds, an eight year-old, two nine year-olds, and one ten year-old. As you can imagine, our class was a bit, well, loud, especially in our tiny library. In between exercises, there was a lot of random strumming, so we started using the command “Ukes Up!” and holding our ukes upright in front of us whenever we were explaining the next step.

Here was the structure for our class:

TUNING AND BASICS:

As soon as we had the group all together in a circle, we did a brief overview of the parts of the ukulele (body, fretboard, tuning pegs). We asked the kids if they knew why the strings made noise, and had them strum a string and watch it vibrate. We talked about the hole in the body and why it was there (I had them sing into the hole so they could hear how it made their voices louder). And then we talked about the tuning pegs, and how they made the strings tighter (and the sound higher) or looser (and lower).

After that, Nicol and I went around the circle to help everyone tune up. This took a little while. Nicol had a ukulele tuner, and I had the GuitarToolkit app on my iPhone (I love this app, by the way. It comes with a digital tuner, a metronome, and diagrams for all of the guitar and ukulele chords). When everyone was tuned up, we had them play the open strings to hear how each note sounded, and that this made a tune called “My Dog Has Fleas.” I also told them the names of the notes for each string (from the top string to the bottom: G C E A), and that I remember them with the silly phrase, “Good Cats Eat Apples.” (I should probably come up with something that makes more sense, like Great Cockroaches Eat Anything).

We also talked about the different ways of holding the uke: either down in your lap, or close to your chest. We showed them how to cup the fretboard in their open left hands, with their right hands coming across the sound board. We actually had two left-handed kids in the group, a statistical anomaly (but then both my kids are left-handed, and my husband and I are righties, so go figure). This definitely made it harder for them to play, and I suggested that they get their ukes restrung upside down at a local music store.

STRUMMING:

Earlier this summer, when I was showing my son how to play the ukulele, he complained about the strings hurting his fingers when he strummed. For the class, I ordered some felt picks from Amazon.com, and handed them out to the kids. Many of them opted to use the pick for the rest of the class, although we did show them all the different ways to strum otherwise: with the fleshy part of their thumb, or their index fingers. I often use all of my fingers.

We talked about how you can strum down across the strings, or up, or alternate between the two. And then we had them practice strumming together as a group. I was surprised at how quickly they picked this up. (I volunteer to teach music at my son’s school, and getting the class to play anything together is usually the hardest part).

CHORDS:

After practicing strumming together, it was time to talk about chords. I explained that chords are two or more notes that are played at the same time, and that most chords on the ukulele are made of four notes, because of the four strings. Then we showed the kids how to hold their fingers on the fretboard to make a C chord. We had little white dot stickers to put on the spot where their fingers should go.

For the C chord, you usually hold your ring finger on the third fret of the bottom string. This is obviously really hard for kids to do, since they don’t usually use their ring fingers independently. I showed them a trick I learned from Alfred’s Kid’s Ukulele Course 1, which suggests that you can put your index finger on the first fret, and your middle finger on the second, to give your ring finger more support on the third. Mostly though, we just let the kids hold the note however it felt the most comfortable (a lot of them used their index or middle fingers).

There are lots of songs you can play with just the C chord. We had them try three: Row, Row, Row Your Boat, Are You Sleeping? (Frère Jacques), and The Itsy Bitsy Spider (Nicol had the great idea to have them play the Itsy Bitsy Spider softly at first. Then we did the Great Big Hairy Spider, and had them play loudly). Again, I was really surprised at how well this went. Yes, some of them were having a hard time holding the note, and many of the ukes (being new) were slipping out of tune by this point. But for the most part, they were strumming together and singing.

At this point, we had been going for about 40 minutes, and I could see that some of the kids were starting to lose focus. I wanted them to have some idea of where to go from this point though, so we showed them how to read a chord chart, by imagining that the ukulele is standing upright, and lining up the chart with the strings to see where their fingers should go. For example, here is the chord chart for a C chord:

We briefly showed them how to make an F chord, which was really hard, especially for the younger kids with small hands, since they have to reach all the way to the top string. For the five year-old, I suggested that his dad hold the chord while he strummed. A few of the older kids were able to manage it on their own.

We briefly had them practice switching between C and F, and then we tried a song, just for fun. The song was Everything is Awesome from The Lego Movie. Here’s how it goes with the chord changes:

Everything is awesome!

F C F

Everything is cool when you’re part of a team.

F C F C

Everything is awesome when we’re living our dream.

Admittedly, this part of the class sounded less than awesome. The chords themselves are challenging, and switching between them even more so, but at least it gave them the general idea. (In retrospect, it might have been easier for them to learn G7, and play something like The Wheels on the Bus, but I was kind of hoping to use something current and popular).

So that was the end of our class, although one 7 year-old, who was the only one with experience playing, asked it she could perform a song, and she did! She sang Go Tell Aunt Rhody, which she played with F and C7 (C7 is actually even easier than C, because you put your index finger on the first fret of the bottom string). I thought she did really well, and told her it took me years to work up the nerve to play my ukulele in front of a group, which is true.

We sent them home with their picks, and a handout I made up (you can print it from here: BEGINNING UKULELE (.doc) or BEGINNING UKULELE (.pdf, along with a chord chart of 8 basic chords from ukulele-chords.com. We also had them fill out a contact sheet to be notified of future classes. In the future, we are hoping to offer four-week sessions for very small groups (no more than 4 at a time), and group them by age (kids, tweens, teens, and adults).

Overall I was happy and relieved with how well the class went, since I had no idea how much kids under the age of 10 could pick up in one class. But I was really pleased with how receptive the kids were, and how hard they tried, especially on a sunny, summer Saturday afternoon. I’m excited about teaching more, and supporting the Ukulele Revolution! (Ukuleles are everywhere nowadays. If you don’t believe me, just listen to the music on most TV commercials). Plus, I just read an article yesterday about all of the many positives ways learning an instrument affects the developing brain: http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2014/07/music-language-brain.

I’ll leave you with a joke that one of the boys described to the class (I found this cartoon version later on Modern Life Is Awesome):

If you have any questions or suggestions, please write them in the comments below. In the meantime, happy playing!

23Jun2014

A Day at the Beach

Posted in Rhymes and songs, Storytime themes, Ukulele by worldsloudestlibrarian

Beach scene by Indy

In honor of the last day of school in our coastal town, I did stories about the beach. At first it seemed like it was going to be a challenging storytime: there were toddlers who were vastly more interested in the wooden food in our play kitchen in the kids area than listening to stories, and an older girl who was upset from something that had happened earlier in the day. But once I started reading Rattletrap Car, they all settled in, bringing their wooden snacks to the carpet, and it ended up being such a fun evening. Here’s what we read:

Rattletrap Car by Phyllis Root; illustrated by Jill Barton (Amazon.com link)

The sounds and rhymes in this book make it a lot of fun to read aloud. Plus I get to revisit my Georgia roots by laying on the Southern accent. On a hot day, Junie, Jakie, Papa and the baby set off for the lake in their Rattletrap Car, “it doesn’t go fast, and it doesn’t go far.” Then “Boomssssssss!” They get a flat. Not to worry: Junie replaces the wheel with her beach ball, and sticks it on tight “with chocolate marshmallow fudge delight,” and off they go…until the floor falls out. As their troubles (and solutions) mount, the car makes sounds like, “flippita fluppita/ fizzelly sizzelly/ wappity bappity/ lumpety bumpety/ clinkety clankety/ bing bang pop!” The kids were mesmerized, and this one was quickly snatched up at the end.

Bebé Goes to the Beach by Susan Middleton Elya; illustrated by Stephen Salerno (Amazon.com link)

Cute rhyming story about a toddler and his mother at the beach. The text is interspersed with Spanish words, with clues to help kids decipher their meaning. The curious, busy little boy keeps his mother on the run as he darts from one activity to another. This one was a hit too.

Sally Goes to the Beach by Stephen Huneck (Amazon.com link)

Sally the dog is excited to go on a ferry with lots of other dogs to visit an island. A simple story told from Sally’s perspective, with humorous touches in both the text and the woodcut illustrations. Sally imagines the ferry captain must look like a dog, and in one picture, it looks as if Sally is driving the car. The kids especially liked the picture of Sally with a starfish stuck to her nose. Two girls both wanted this one at the end.

Dude: Fun with Dude and Betty by Lisa Pliscou; illustrated by Tom Dunne (Amazon.com link)

This one got a lot of laughs, especially from the parents. The style parodies the old Dick-and-Jane-style books, but with surfer lingo. Dude and Betty have an excellent day cranking waves, until Bud (the dog) eats Dude’s nachos: “Bud is harshing on Dude’s mellow.” I wish I could read this as well as my boss, Thom Ball, does, but I still had a lot of fun.

SONGS:

Bumpin’ Up and Down in My Little Red Wagon

I sang this song to go along with Rattletrap Car. The toddlers were making a beeline back to the play kitchen, so I decided to sing it the way I heard it once on a Raffi recording, with lots of silly “tools” to fix the wagon. I used the kids’ names and whatever wooden food they were holding at the time. It worked beautifully for pulling them back in. Yay, Raffi! I played it on the ukulele, which is easy because you just alternate between C and G7. Click on the triangle for the tune:

Bumpin’ up and down in my little red wagon. (C)
Bumpin’ up and down in my little red wagon. (G7)
Bumpin’ up and down in my little red wagon. (C)
Won’t you be my darlin’? (G7 C)

One wheel’s off and the axle’s broken!
One wheel’s off and the axle’s broken!
One wheel’s off and the axle’s broken!
Won’t you be my darlin’?

Ella’s going to fix it with a banana…

Bumpin’ up and down in my little red wagon.

One wheel’s off and the axle’s broken!…

Sarah’s going to fix it with a sandwich…

B-I-N-G-O

I sang this one after Sally Goes to the Beach. We have a lot of stuffed animals in our storytime area, and somehow, in the course of singing this song, I ended up changing Bingo into a killer whale, which one of the girls was holding. Then other kids started holding up animals, so Bingo became a polar bear, a lion, and Tigger (instead of a farmer, we would sing, “There was a zookeeper had a lion,” etc. It made it much more interactive and fun. I will definitely try it that way again.

Two simple songs that I meant to do were Sandcastle and Sand in My Sandals. I learned both of them years ago when I taught Kindermusik, and they appear to be original Kindermusik songs (here’s a link to the album they came from). Sandcastle is especially fun, because you can give the kids three or more paper or plastic cups to make a small tower, and then let them knock it down. Here are the tunes:

Sandcastle:

Sand in My Sandals:

CRAFT:

Beach Scene

Beach scene by Ella

I got this idea from Family Spot-Blog: http://familyspotblog.co.uk/easy-summer-crafts-for-kids/ It was perfect because I had some blue paper plates left over from my son’s birthday party last year, and some white Model Magic for the sand. I also had some multi-colored foam sheets (although cloth or construction paper would have worked just as well), so I cut those into rectangles for the towel. I did buy some cocktail umbrellas, (which made my daughter very happy because she is obsessed with umbrellas). For the trees, I cut rectangles out of brown construction paper, which I rolled and taped together ahead of time, and I cut thin strips of green construction paper for the palm fronds. As usual, each child made their scene a little differently, by adding extra umbrellas or towels, or making extra things out of clay, like Ella’s seagull above.

OTHER BOOKS ABOUT THE BEACH:

Three Bears in a Boat by David Soman (Amazon.com link)

A new book that I read about in my friend Kerri’s blog, What is ML Reading?, and had to get for myself. It’s about three bears who accidentally break their mother’s precious blue seashell, and set off in a boat to find a replacement. The illustrations are gorgeous, and while the text is a bit lengthy, it’s a fun story with a great last line.

Bats at the Beach by Brian Lies (Amazon.com link)

One of the series of Bats at books by Brian Lies, in this one the bats head off to the beach with their moon tan lotion and “bug-mallows.” The illustrations are adorable.

Ladybug at the Beach by David Soman and Jacky Davis (Amazon.com link)

My daughter loves the Ladybug Girl books, about a little girl named Lulu, who wears ladybug wings to become a superhero. In this one, Lulu visits the ocean for the first time, and is frightened by the power of the waves, until she has to rescue a lost pail.

What are your favorite books about the beach?

9Jun2014

The Great Outdoors! Stories about Adventure

Posted in Rhymes and songs, Storytime themes, Ukulele by worldsloudestlibrarian

Foam Shape Boat by Shelby

Last week, Ella, one of my regular storytime patrons, asked if she could read a Bob book about Outdoor Adventures at storytime. So I based last week’s Family Storytime on that theme. Unfortunately, Ella wasn’t able to come, but I still had fun sharing outdoor adventure books.

The Day Louis Got Eaten by John Fardell (Amazon.com link)

When Louis gets unexpectedly eaten by a Gulper, his sister, Sarah, sets out to rescue him. Unfortunately, just as she gets close, the Gulper is eaten by a Grabular, who is eaten by an Undersnatch. Sarah is undaunted. Pursuing the creatures on a bike that magically transforms to suit the terrain, she saves the day with the help of a hiccup frog. The whimsical illustrations in this book are always a hit.

Mr. Gumpy’s Outing by John Burningham (Amazon.com link)

Fun, simple story about a man whose boating outing is complicated by all the animals who want to come along. The kids enjoyed joining in on the animal noises. This one is also fun for kids to act out.

Frog by Susan Cooper; illustrated by Jane Browne (Amazon.com link)

Sweet story with beautiful illustrations. When a frog gets trapped in their swimming pool, Little Joe, who can’t swim, watches as his family tries frantically to get it out. But it is Little Joe who quietly comes to the rescue, and, inspired by Frog, finally learns to swim.

That’s Good! That’s Bad! by Margery Cuyler; illustrated by David Catrow (Amazon.com link)

While visiting the zoo with his parents, a little boy is carried off by a red balloon to a perilous adventure in the jungle. Each page reveals a new part of the story followed by a refrain of “That’s good! No, that’s bad!” Or, “That’s bad! No, that’s good!” which the kids quickly learned to repeat.

SONGS:

I wish I had thought to do “Going on a Bear Hunt,” since that’s a kind of interactive adventure all its own. Instead we sang:

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

I added in these two verses. This song is super easy on the ukulele, since you can play the whole thing with just a C chord:

Row, row, row your boat
Gently to the shore.
And if you see a lion,
Don’t forget to roar! ROAR!

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream,
And if you see an alligator,
Don’t forget to scream! AAAAAHHHH!

Five Green and Speckled Frogs

I have a rude toy frog that burps when you put your hand in its mouth. I passed that around when I sang this song, but it’s just as fun to pretend your hand is the frog’s tongue, and pretend to catch flies on the kids’ heads. Click on the triangle for the first verse:

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.

Going to the Zoo

I do this one on the ukulele too. Click on the triangle to hear the tune:

Daddy’s taking us to the zoo tomorrow (C)
Zoo tomorrow, Zoo tomorrow. (G7)
Daddy’s taking us to the zoo tomorrow, (C)
And we can stay all day. (C G7)

CHORUS:
We’re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo! (F)
How about you, you, you? (C)
You can come too, too, too! (G7)
We’re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo! (C G7 C)

See the elephants with the long trunk swinging,
Great big ears and a long trunk swinging.
Snuffing up peanuts with the long trunk swinging,
And we can stay all day!

CHORUS

See all the monkeys, they’re scritch, scritch, scratchin’.
Jumping all around and scritch, scritch, scratchin’.
Hanging by the long tails scritch, scritch, scratchin’,
And we can stay all day!

CHORUS

Well, we stayed all day, and I’m getting sleepy,
Sitting in the car getting sleep, sleep, sleepy.
Home already and I’m sleep, sleep, sleepy,
‘Cause we have stayed all day!

We’ve been to the zoo, zoo, zoo!
So have you, you, you!
You came too, too, too!
We’ve been to the zoo, zoo, zoo!

But Mommy’s taking us to the zoo tomorrow
Zoo tomorrow, Zoo tomorrow.
Mommy’s taking us to the zoo tomorrow,
And we can stay all day!

CHORUS

CRAFT: Foam Shape Boats

Foam Shape Boat by Kiley

I got this simple craft idea from DLTK-kids.com: http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/transportation/mhalvesboat.html I had some colored foam sheets that I used to cut the shapes out, but you could do it just as easily with construction paper or card stock. I made a mix of colors for the kids to choose from, and gave them markers to decorate if they wanted. They each made their boats a little differently.

OTHER BOOKS:

So many other books fit this theme. Here are just a few:

Journey by Aaron Becker (Amazon.com link)

I don’t often “read” wordless books at storytime, but I have shared this one several times and the kids always love it. A beautifully illustrated story about a lonely girl with a magic red crayon who draws her way into another world to find adventure and a new friend. Reminiscent of Harold and the Purple Crayon, which would also fit the theme.

Fortunately by Remy Charlip (Amazon.com link)

An older book I love that reminds me of That’s Good! That’s Bad! This one is about a boy who is trying to get to a surprise party. Unfortunately, the party is in Florida and he is in New York. Fortunately, he borrows a plane from a friend. Unfortunately, the engine explodes. Fortunately, he has a parachute. You get the picture.

My Friend Bear by Jez Alborough (Amazon.com link)

The third book in the picture book series about Eddie, his teddy Freddy, and the big bear who lives in the woods. They are all funny rhyming stories with large colorful illustrations, but this is the sweetest one, where the bear thinks his teddy bear can talk (because Eddie is hiding behind it), and Eddie and the bear end up becoming friends.

What are your favorite picture book adventure stories?

16May2014

We Are in a Book: Storytime with Elephant and Piggie

Posted in Book reviews, Rhymes and songs, Storytime themes, Ukulele by worldsloudestlibrarian

Paper Bag Gerald and Piggie Puppets by Nina

A few weeks ago, one of my storytime Dads asked if his son could come with his Boy Scout troop for a tour of the library and to read books at storytime (it happened to be the night that one of the Kindergarten girls read a book to the group at the beginning of storytime, and inspired several other kids to want to do the same). We arranged for the troop to come to Family Storytime this week, and I pulled a bunch of Mo Willems’ Elephant and Piggie books for them to read.

Elephant and Piggie books are perfect for kids (or adults) to read in pairs, because the text is simple, and usually involves a conversation between the two main characters, Gerald (the elephant) and Piggie (sometimes other characters have a few lines too). The parts are color-coded, making it easy to figure out who is speaking. The stories and illustrations are hilarious, and entertain everyone from toddlers to adults. Plus the kids love looking for the pigeon from Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, who always shows up somewhere on the end pages at the back of the book.

We ended up with six Scouts, who read three books. I made simple pig and elephant noses out of paper and taped them onto the boys’ noses to indicate which part they were reading. In order to keep the rest of the kids engaged, I also made a few cue cards for some of the words or phrases that were repeated a lot in each book, so they could join in on those. The boys did a wonderful job reading, and didn’t seem to have any qualms about having an audience. Some of them even took on different voices for Elephant and Piggie. The hardest part was getting them to remember to hold up each page slowly for the audience to see, but then I’ve seen adults who struggle with that too. Here is what they read:

I Am Going! by Mo Willems (Amazon.com link) Gerald is horrified when Piggie says she is going, and begs her to stay, until he finds out she is only going to lunch. This book has a page where Gerald chants, “Why?” and I wrote that word on a cue card that I held up on that page so the other kids could join in.

I am Invited to a Party! by Mo Willems (Amazon.com link)

Piggie is excited to receive an invitation to her very first party. Gerald wonders what kind of party it is: a fancy party? A fancy pool party? A fancy costume pool party? They must come prepared! The cue card I made for this one was the word, “PARTY!” which both characters chant together throughout the book. The kids really liked that.

I’m a Frog by Mo Willems (Amazon.com link)

Gerald is shocked when Piggie says that she is a frog, until she explains she is only pretending. I wrote the word “Ribbit!” on a cue card because Piggie says that throughout the book. There’s also a page where Gerald and Piggie get into an argument consisting solely of: “No I can’t!” and “Yes you can!” I made cue cards for those two phrases too, and the kids enjoyed chanting them back and forth. The adults liked the part where Gerald asks if even grown-ups pretend to be something they’re not, and Piggie says, “All the time,” with a knowing look.

My Friend is Sad by Mo Willems (Amazon.com link)

I got to read this one myself, which I was happy about because it was the first Gerald and Piggie book I ever read, and it will always be one of my favorites. When Piggie sees that Gerald is sad, she tries to cheer him up by disguising herself as a cowboy, a clown, and a robot. But Gerald seems sadder than ever. For this one, I made a cue card for Gerald’s repeated, “Ohhh…’s”

SONGS:

Elephants Have Wrinkles

After each verse of this song, I ask the kids where else elephants have wrinkles and we add in a new body part, while singing the song faster and faster. This time the kids suggested teeth (we clicked our teeth together), feet (we stomped our feet), and faces (we patted our cheeks). 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!

I Bought Me a Rooster

We have a variety of stuffed animals in the children’s area, so I passed those out, and we sang a verse of the song about each one. I play it on the ukulele in C.

C
I bought me a rooster and the rooster pleased me
C G7
I fed my rooster on the bayberry tree
C F
My little rooster goes, “Cock-a-doodle doo!
C F G7 C
Dee Doodle, Dee Doodle, Dee Doodle, Dee Doo!”

No No No No No! I think this song is also called The Argument. It’s basically the tune to Reverie, but you sing, “No, no, no, no, no” all the way through the first half, while shaking your head, then “yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,” for the second half while nodding. If you have an older group, you can divide them up and have them sing both parts at the same time.

INSTRUMENT PLAYALONG WITH A CD: Old MacDonald Had a Farm by Rufus Thomas, from Sing Along with Putumayo.

CRAFT: Gerald and Piggie Paper Bag Puppets

Gerald Paper Bag Puppet by Chloe

Piggie Paper Bag Puppet by Chloe

I got this idea and the templates from Three Little Birds: http://threelittlebirdsnorth.blogspot.com/2012/04/elephant-and-piggie-party.html. I copied and pasted the picture of their template into a blank Word file, then printed it out, and made copies. The Gerald one worked out well just on white paper, because it ended up looking gray in the copies. For Piggie, I copied it onto pink paper. I did all the cutting ahead of time, so the kids just had to glue the pieces onto paper bags.

OTHER BOOKS BY MO WILLEMS: Okay, so I have a huge librarian crush on Mo Willems. He’s definitely one of my favorite children’s authors, and although he has an astounding number of books, they are all perfect for storytime. Here are some of my other favorites:

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems (Amazon.com link)

Before Trixie has learned to talk, she goes with her Dad to the laundromat along with her beloved stuffed animal, Knuffle Bunny. But on the way home, she realizes that Knuffle Bunny is missing. She tries everything she can to tell her Dad, but he just doesn’t understand. Of course, as soon as Trixie’s mom opens the door, she says, “Where’s Knuffle Bunny?” The whole family races back to the laundromat to look. A book that resonates with both kids and parents. I love Trixie’s attempts to communicate, including going boneless (a phenomenon familiar to anyone with a toddler). The illustrations are equally hilarious. Followed by two sequels: Knuffle Bunny Too and Knuffle Bunny Free (this one makes me cry).

City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems; illustrated by Jon J. Muth (Amazon.com link)

A departure from Willems’ usual funny, cartoonish style, featuring paintings by Jon J. Muth. When a city dog visits the country, he meets a frog who teaches him to play frog games. The two have a wonderful time throughout City Dog’s visits in Spring and Summer. By Autumn Country Frog has grown tired, and in Winter, when City Dog comes, he can’t find his friend, but ends up making a new one. A lovely and bittersweet story about the seasons and friendship.

Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs as Retold by Mo Willems (Amazon.com link)

Hilariously dark take on Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In this one, three dinosaurs prepare bowls of chocolate pudding at varying temperatures and go…uh…someplace else, where they are definitely not lying in wait for brazen little girls. The kids love to spot the Pigeon hidden in the cookie jar, and the rejected title ideas on the back, including Goldilocks and the Three Major Networks, Goldilocks and the Three-Foot-Long Hoagies and more.

Cat the Cat, Who is That? by Mo Willems (Amazon.com link)

Very simple easy reader that introduces Cat the Cat and her friends Fish the Fish, Duck the Duck, Mouse the Mouse. But then she meets someone entirely new: a strange creature who says, “Blargie! Blargie!” This is a fun read-aloud for toddlers, and a great book for beginning readers. Followed by several sequels.

The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog by Mo Willems (Amazon.com link)

I like the Pigeon, but I love the clever, manipulative Duckling even more. Pigeon is excited to find a hot dog, until a wistful Duckling who claims to have never tried a hot dog asks him to share. There are lots of great Pigeon books, and a fun iPhone/iPad app as well, which allows kids to create their own Pigeon story and learn how to draw the Pigeon (both my kids love it).

What are your favorite Mo Willems books?

The Loudest Librarian!

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

Category Archives: Ukulele

Virtual Thanksgiving Storytime

Bedtime Stories

On The Dot: A Peter H. Reynolds Storytime

Avast! A Pirate Storytime for Booklubbers

For the Birds: Stories about our Fine, Feathered Friends

Yes, Uke Can! A Ukulele Workshop for Kids

A Day at the Beach

The Great Outdoors! Stories about Adventure

We Are in a Book: Storytime with Elephant and Piggie