Tag Archives: picture-books

A Month of Favorite Picture Books

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Sorry for the long gap between posts. Since Children’s Book Week is in May, I decided to ask local families to share their favorite picture books, and build my weekly storytimes around them.

At the end of April, I asked my storytime audiences for book suggestions, and also posted the question on the Facebook page for our local Families Club. I got a LOT of recommendations, including many standard favorites, but also some titles I wasn’t familiar with.

It was a really fun month, and the families were excited to have their favorite books shared at storytime. I mostly stuck to a lot of traditional songs and rhymes as well (Old McDonald, The Wheels on the Bus, etc.).

The Babies on the Bus by Karen Katz

Adorable adaptation of The Wheels on the Bus, featuring a busload of babies.

Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson & Jane Chapman

Beautifully illustrated, rhyming story about a bear who wakes up hungry after hibernating all weekend. I taught the kids the ASL signs for Bear and More, so they could sign along with the repeated “Bear wants more!” line.

Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell

One of my own kids’ favorite books, this simple pop-up features different animals that the zoo sends as potential pets for the narrator: an elephant, a giraffe, a lion, etc. The kids loved guessing the animals and lifting the flaps.

Don’t Worry, Little Crab by Chris Haughton

I loved this picture book about a crab who is worried about leaving the tide pools to go into the deep ocean. I ended up bringing it to all of the preschools that I visit too. The illustrations are adorable.

Dozens of Doughnuts by Carrie Finison; illustrated by Brianne Farley

Cute, rhyming story about a bear who makes lots doughnuts to prepare for hibernation, but keeps being interrupted by hungry friends. The kids enjoyed joining in on the “Ding Dong” sounds on each page.

Grace and Box by Kim Howard; illustrated by Megan Lötter

Sweet, colorful picture book about a little girl and her friend Box, who can become whatever she imagines: a house, a rocket ship, a skyscraper, and more.

I Say Please and Thank You by Rachel Isadora & Robie Rogge

This was one of my favorite recommendations: a lift the flap about what to say in different situations. The illustrations are charming, and the book even covers what to say when you accidentally fart in public, which was huge hit!

The Hike by Alison Farrell

A story about a group of kids who hike to the top of a mountain together, and notice lots of animals and other natural sights along the way.

It’s a Tiger by David LaRochelle and Jeremy Tankard

An adventure story about journeying through the jungle and constantly being surprised by a tiger. The part where the sea captain ends up being a tiger always gets a laugh. It’s a fun book to pair with the traditional Going on a Bear Hunt rhyme (I substituted a tiger).

Leonardo, the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems

Such a fun read-aloud about a monster who can’t scare anyone. The kids always laugh at the ending when Leonardo says, “Boo!”

Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

Most of the families were already familiar with this one, but they loved hearing it again. A cute, rhyming story about a friendly Little Blue Truck, whose many friends come to the rescue when he gets stuck in the mud while trying to help a self-important dump truck. The kids enjoyed all of the animal sounds.

No More Naps by Chris Grabenstein; illustrated by Leo Espinosa

This one was a bit too long for my Outdoor Musical Storytime crowd, but worked well for the older kids at my Family Storytime. When a little girl refuses to take a nap, everyone around her asks to take one instead until all of the naps are gone. The kids liked joining in on the “Waaaaaaaa’s.”

The Scariest Book Ever by Bob Shea

This is technically a Halloween book, but my Family Storytime kiddos loved it anyway. A timid ghost warns the reader not to go into the scary woods, and is skeptical when he hears that it is full of friendly animals.

Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson

This is such a beautiful, interactive picture book that follows an apple tree throughout the year, asking readers to do help things along by blowing the tree a kiss, touching the blossoms, etc.

Where Is My Nose? by Lucas Zanotto

I’ll admit that this book caught me by surprise because (spoiler alert!) the dog never finds his nose! Instead he learns to love trying out different types of noses (clouds, trees, etc.) and wondering what he will find next. The kids enjoyed guessing what his nose was going to be each time, based on the piece of the picture you can see on the previous page.

Who Has Wiggle Waggle Toes? by Vicky Shiefman; illustrated Francesca Chessa

Very cute action book for toddlers and preschoolers, asking them to move different body parts.

Wow! Said the Owl by Tim Hopgood

When a curious owl stays awake all day, he is astonished by all of the different colors he sees. The kids enjoyed joining in on the “Wow’s!” and calling out the colors.

Stay & Play Activities:

In keeping with our month of favorites, I did some of my favorite easy process art activities for the Stay & Plays each week. They were:

Flower Painting

Flower Painting is so easy and fun! You just bring flower petals (preferably nontoxic ones like nasturtiums and geraniums) and the kids squish them into the paper.

Tissue Paper Painting

Another super easy (if messy) activity. The kids arrange pieces of tissue paper on cardstock and then lightly spray it with water until the color bleeds onto the page.

Sticky Note Resist Art

For this one, I put out sticky notes, dot markers, and white paper. The kids arranged sticky notes of different sizes on the white paper, and then covered the page with the dot markers. The fun part was peeling the sticky notes off to reveal the white space.

Beaded Bracelets

Beaded bracelets with Pony beads and pipe cleaners are always a huge hit!

Your turn: what are your favorite picture books? Or favorite process art activities? Please share them in the comments below.

X is for X-Ray: A Storytime About the Letter X

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At last, the letter I have been dreading through my whole alphabet storytime: the Letter X! It actually wasn’t too bad, even though I had to focus on words that included the letter X, rather than words that started with it.

We started our storytime by asking the kids if they knew any words that contained the letter X. After a few examples, they actually thought of quite a few. Some of the older kids were suggesting words like exoskeleton and excavator, and even phoenix. I also showed them a xylophone, just to have an example of something that actually starts with the letter X, and we talked about how the smaller bars make higher sounds.

Here’s the rest of what we did (this is a combination of Outdoor Musical and Family Storytime):

Books:

My Mom Has X-Ray Vision by Angela McAllister; illustrated by Alex T. Smith

This was my only book featuring a word that started with the letter X, and it was a big hit at Family Storytime. Matthew is convinced that his Mom must have X-ray vision because she always seems to know when he’s getting into trouble, and so he decides to test her. The kids really enjoyed guessing how the Mom knew what Matthew was up to, based on details in the illustrations.

Mix It Up by Hervé Tullet

Several of the kids were familiar with this book, but they all enjoyed following along by tapping the different colors on the page and pretending to mix them together (in my Outdoor Musical Storytime, which gets a bigger crowd) I just had them pretend to tap the pictures by tapping the air. They loved guessing what color each combination would make.

Not a Box by Antoinette Portis

This is one of those really simple books that works well for lots of ages. A little rabbit is asked why he is sitting in a box. “It’s not a box!” the rabbit insists, and the next page shows him driving a race car. The kids loved guessing what the rabbit is imagining the box is on each page.

Hattie and the Fox by Mem Fox; illustrated by Patricia Mullins

A simple story, but full of suspense. When Hattie the hen sees a nose poking out of the bushes, the other animals are not impressed. But then she sees two eyes, two ears, two legs, and a body, until finally a fox leaps out of the bushes. Luckily, the cow scares it away with a loud, “MOO!” (the kids enjoyed joining in on that part).

Songs:

Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes

I did this one to go along with My Mom Has X-Ray Vision for Family Storytime. We sang it through three times, getting faster and faster.

Head and shoulders, knees and toes,
Knees and toes,
Head and shoulders, knees and toes,
Knees and toes,
And eyes and ears and mouth and nose.
Head and shoulders, knees and toes,
Knees and toes.

Do You See the Color Blue?

This song always gets the kids excited, as they look around the room pointing to things that match each color. It’s to the tune of Do You Know the Muffin Man?

Do you [C] see the color blue,
The [F] color blue, the [G7] color blue?
Do you [C] see the color blue
Right [F] here [G7] in this [C] room?

Do you see the color red… etc.

The Jack-in-the-Box

Few things are as gratifying as demonstrating a jack-in-the-box at storytime. I brought one out today, and the kids LOVED it! They begged for me to play it over and over again. Then we sang this song together with the parachute.

The jack-in-the-box jumps up!
The jack-in-the-box goes flop.
The jack-in-the-box goes round and round.
The lid comes down with a plop!

A Hunting We Will Go

Oh, [C] a-hunting we will go!
A-[F]hunting we will go!
We’ll [G7] catch a fox and put it in a box,
And then we’ll let it [C] go!

Stay & Play: Letter X Brush Pen Resist Art

I adapted this activity from themeasuredmom.com, only I had the kids use brush pens instead of watercolors. Before storytime, I made X’s out of removable tape on pieces of cardstock. For the Stay & Play, I gave each child a paper with a taped letter X, and a variety of brush pens. They had fun decorating the paper, and then pulling away the tape to reveal their letter X.

Do you have any favorite books or songs featuring the letter X? Please share them in the comments below.