This year, our library staff has been expanding our outreach efforts to reach people in our communities who may not be able to come to the library. One of the approaches we have been trying is to create Satellite Libraries in different locations, including local preschools, special needs classrooms for teens, senior centers, rehab facilities, food banks, and school aftercare sites.
For each location, we create a separate library account, and provide a plastic bin (we’re currently using heavy duty plastic transit bins that were retired when our system switched to a different type). We stock the bins with 30 to 40 books that we swap out once a month or so.
The books we supply are often duplicate copies, or low-circing items that might otherwise have been weeded. It’s been a great way to circulate some of our world language books to communities who will get the most use from them: for example, we bring picture books in Tagalog in Spanish to one of the local preschools where a number of the children come from families where those languages are spoken at home. We will also take requests for particular types of books if possible.
We make it clear to the staff at each location that they do not need to keep track of the books in the bin. People are welcome to bring the books home, and we are not overly concerned if they don’t get returned. In my experience though, most of the books have come back.
The kids at the school aftercare sites are always especially excited whenever we bring new books for the bin. They immediately start pulling books from the bin, which is always fun to see.
If you have any questions, or if you’ve tried a similar program you would like to share, please let me know in the comments.
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.).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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).
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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):
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.
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.
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.
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.
As I’ve been planning my Storytime Journey through the Alphabet, I’ve been getting a little nervous about the last few letters, especially X. But the letter W has been a lot of fun!
As usual, we started by asking the kids to suggest words that start with the letter W. They came up with water, wet, weevil, and wolverine. I also brought out my puppy slide whistle, which is always a hit.
Here are the books, songs, and activities we did (a combination of my Family Storytime last week, and Outdoor Musical Storytime today).
This is such a charming, simple book in the vein of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? The kids loved joining in on the “What did you see?” line every time I said “I went walking,” and enjoyed trying to guess which animal would appear on the next page.
This book was a little longer than I ones I usually read, but my Family Storytime (in the evening) has been getting a few early elementary-aged kids, who really enjoyed it. Super sweet story about a mouse named Wemberly who worries about everything, especially starting school, until she meets another worrier. A lot of the story revolves around Wemberly’s stuffed rabbit, so I had the kids each choose one of our storytime puppets to hold as I read the story.
Very cute story about a crocodile who loves watermelon, but worries that the watermelon seed he swallowed will sprout in his stomach. I had given out play scarves before I read this one, and I had the kids throw them in the air on the page where the crocodile burps out the seed.
I couldn’t resist reading this classic about Max’s adventures with the Wild Things. The kids LOVED roaring and gnashing their teeth, and the story had them mesmerized.
Songs & Activities
Color Wheel
One of my coworkers recently brought in a large color wheel, so for Family Storytime, I made up a little chart of activities to go with each color: red = clap, orange = stomp, etc. The kids took turns spinning the wheel, and we all did the motions together.
If You’re Happy and You Know It
We did this song as a follow-up to Wenberly Worried. I like to add additional verses about different emotions:
[C] If you’re happy and you know it, clap your [G7] hands! (clap, clap) If you’re happy and you know it, clap your [C] hands! (clap, clap) If you’re [F] happy and you know it, and you [C] really want to show it, If you’re [G7] happy and you know it, clap your [C] hands! (clap, clap)
If you’re sad and you know it, cry, “Boo hoo!”…
If you’re angry and you know it, say, “I’m mad!”… (stomp feet while saying, “I’m mad!”)
If you’re shy and you know it, hide your face… (cover your eyes, and then uncover them and say, “Peek-a-boo!”
If you’re sleepy and you know it, yawn and stretch…
If you’re happy and you know it, shout, “Hooray!”…
Way down in the valley where nobody goes, There’s a wishy washy washer woman washing her clothes. She goes “Oooh! Ahhh! Oooh! Ahhh! Oooh! Ahhh!” And that’s the way she washes her clothes.
Repeat with drying her clothes (blowing on the scarves), folding her clothes, and wearing her clothes.
Waves on the Ocean
We did this one with the parachute, and put a toy cat on top to go up and down with the waves. It’s to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus:
The waves on the ocean go up and down, Up and down, Up and down. The waves on the ocean go up and down, All day long!
Home Again
This was a song I wrote several years ago about Where the Wild Things Are and several other books by Maurice Sendak, so it seemed like a fun way to follow our reading of Where the Wild Things Are for our instrument play-along at the end.
[F] Darling, when you [C] feel afraid, For [Bb] you can plainly [F] see, The world is full of [C] monsters Who look [Bb] just like you and [F] me. Just [F] jump aboard your [C] tiny boat Fol-[Bb]low the falling [F] star. You’ll sail away through [C] night and day, To [Bb] where the wild things [F] are.
And you will dance and [C] then Let the [Bb] wild rumpus be-[F]gin. But I will love you [C] best of all When [Bb] you come home [F] again.
And darling, when the goblins come, And no one seems to care, Climb out your bedroom window Into outside over there. Bring your horn, and play a jig, And charm them with a song. They’ll set you free, and you will soon be Home where you belong.
And you will dance and then, Let the wild rumpus begin. But I will love you best of all, When you come home again.
[C] And if you fall into the [F] Night Kitchen, [C] Just fly your plane up to the [F] Milky Way. [C] Our world is full of dark and [F] strange visions, But I [C] know that you will find a [A] way.
And when the moon is in a fit, And you are in the dumps, Lost in the rye with one black eye, And diamonds are all trumps. I will come and buy you bread, One loaf or maybe two. And I will bring you up Cause happy endings can come true.
And we will dance and then, Let the wild rumpus begin. And I will love you best of all Until the very end.
Stay & Play: Watercolor Painting
The kids always love painting of any kind, and their caregivers usually talk about how grateful they are to have someone else deal with the set-up and clean-up. The beauty of watercolor is that it is much less messy than most other forms of paint.
For the Stay & Play, I put out white construction paper, small cups of water, paint brushes, and watercolor sets. It was a challenge for some of the younger kids to learn to dip their brush in the water before dipping it in the paint, but they all eventually got the hang of it, and had a wonderful time!
What are your favorite picture books or songs featuring the letter W? Please share them in the comments below.
Okay, so it wasn’t really Superman (although I have had a lifelong crush on 1978 Christopher Reeve). That was just a tease to hide a much more embarrassing secret: my love affair was actually with Sonic the Hedgehog, and Garfield the Cat.
Twice in the past two weeks, I’ve heard well-meaning adults say something about “REAL books, not graphic novels or comics!” In one case, it was a teacher telling me what books she lets her students check out in her school’s library. The second time, it was a parent. In both cases, I was privately horrified.
As a parent, I read to my son constantly throughout his preschool years, bringing him books on whatever his current obsession was: deep sea fish, reptiles, creepy crawly things, Star Wars. I read him all my favorite childhood picture books, and many of my favorite chapter books too. He was always an eager listener, but it was Sonic, the obnoxious speedy blue hedgehog from the planet Mobius, who made him want to READ.
My son got his first Sonic comic at Coastside Comics on Free Comic Book Day when he was six. We read it together that night. Personally, I found it challenging. There was a lot of back story I didn’t know, and the characters were mostly new to me (although I knew Sonic and Tails from the old Sega video games). But my son was hooked. He worked at reading the comic on his own until he mastered it.
It wasn’t an easy read. Comic books, on average, have about 53 rare words per 1000, as opposed to 30 rare words in a children’s chapter book (and 52 in an adult novel). That means comics challenge kids with vocabulary they may never have heard, much less seen, before. Luckily, the pictures help them decipher the meaning.
Once my son got hold of that Sonic comic, he had to have more. Soon he was reading Scooby Doo, Garfield, Calvin and Hobbes, and then racing through chapter books in school. Yes, Garfield isn’t the best role model, and we had to explain why it’s probably for the best that no one else can hear what that cat is thinking, or why we shouldn’t refer to Daddy as “Captain Obvious” (although kudos to Garfield for teaching him the word “obvious.”) I was happy when he discovered Baby Blues because they sometimes let him see things from a parents’ point of view (plus they are hilarious!).
Three years later, my son is now hooked on the newest craze in children’s publishing: the hybrid cartoon/chapter books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Stick Dog, and Big Nate. He still loves Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes, but he’ll read almost anything that comes his way. Meanwhile, my four-year-old daughter and I are enjoying the My Little Pony comics, and I’m happy to see the ways that comics and graphic novels are growing and changing.
At the library where I work, we now have graphic novels for every level of reader, from preschool through adult. And teachers are now exploring the benefits of using comics in the classroom, finding that they make information more memorable and easier to understand: http://www.readingwithpictures.org/2012/04/why-teach-with-comics/
Personally, I will always be grateful to comics for making my son want to read. Reading is such a powerful tool for understanding the world and other people, and finding out what you need to know. But it’s also so much fun.
The Loudest Librarian! 