Preschool Storytime: Family

I've been doing so many preschool storytimes lately! Really, I had a drought for awhile with my other staff doing them and then my turn has come up at the end of our spring storytime session. Last week, I did a Family storytime and it was a HUGE HIT. Family is a topic that is familiar to all children and they all had something to share with me about their own families. Here's what we did:

Opening Song: My Hands Say Hello

Book: The Family Book by Todd Parr. I feel like librarians either love or hate Todd Parr and I love him. I love the colorful, silly illustrations and the welcoming and inclusive messages of his books (while they're still funny and engaging). The Family Book talks about all different kinds of families with the messages that all different families are okay and they all share love and help each other.

Book: Baby Danced the Polka by Karen Beaumont, illustrated by Jennifer Plecas. This is a really fun rhyming book with a great rhythm. It begs to be read aloud! Baby won't settle down for his nap, preferring to dance away instead. Hearing rhyming words is great to help children hear that words are made up of smaller sounds.

Song: If You Have a Brother... This is a song that I made up which follows the concept of If You're Wearing Red Today.

(Tune: Mary Had a Little Lamb)

If you have a brother
A brother, a brother
If you have a brother
Please stand up!

And I repeat with different family members. Today we also did: sister, mommy, daddy, cousin... and then I asked the kids what other family members we could include. The first suggestion was "dog"! We also did cat (just me!), grandpa, and grandma.

This song is a great way for kids to share something about their family. It is also great for practicing listening and following directions.

Felt Story: Mr. Pine's Purple House by Leonard Kessler. In this story, Mr. Pine tries to distinguish his house from his neighbors' but every idea he has is thwarted when his neighbor like them so much that they copy him! This is a great story for reinforcing the concept of same and different. We also talked about what kind of house (or apartment, etc.) our family lives in.

Book: You Can Do It, Too! by Karen Baicker, illustrated by Ken Wilson-Max. This is a fun story about a big sister and a little brother. Everything big sister does, little brother wants to do, too. As I read this story, I asked the kids if they do some of these things, too - picking up their toys, brushing their teeth, going down the slide, etc.

Felt Activity: Family members. I passed out a piece to each child and asked them to bring it to the board when I called the family member they had. After we have all the kids' pieces up there, we all count them together. This is good counting practice and - bonus! - helps me get a head count for my stats.

Closing Song: Do You Know What Time It Is?



Play Stations:

Family portrait craft. If you do a Google search for picture frame, you get lots of options and I printed some out and let the kids draw a picture of their families. This was a pretty popular activity and great writing or pre-writing practice for the kids.

- Blocks with family play set. We have a set of family figures in one of our theme kits and I brought these out to play with the blocks. This was another popular activity with kids acting out different scenarios or building houses for their play families.

- Floor puzzle. We also have a Richard Scarry house floor puzzle in our theme kit and I brought that out. A few kids worked together to put that together.

Additional Resources:

There are so many great books to choose from for a family storytime! You can find lots more great ideas here:

• ALSC Blog - A Family Storytime
• Mansfield/Richland County (OH) Public Library - I Love My Family!
• Storytime Katie - Family Storytime
• Storytime Secrets - Family Storytime

Ten Great School-Age Readalouds

Every year, we visit our 9 public elementary schools' afterschool programs with stories and crafts. Now that we're wrapping up our visits for this school year, I wanted to share some of my favorite books that I shared with the kids. Our groups are K-4th graders and the group sizes range from about 15-65 kids. Since they've been in school all day, engaging stories are a must. Here are some that worked best for me this year:

Beware of the Frog by William Bee (Candlewick Press, 2008). Old Mrs. Collywobbles lives on the edge of a dark, dark forest, so of course she needs something to protect her from the creatures lurking there. Is a frog up to the task? You'll be surprised what her guard frog can do... and of course there's a twist at the end!

Blizzard! by John Rocco (Disney-Hyperion, 2014). This story of an epic blizzard, based on a blizzard that John Rocco experienced as a child, captures the imagination as kids picture themselves buried in feet of snow. I especially like the fold-out spreads that show our young hero's wayward path around the neighborhood in search of groceries. And most kids seem to like a story about snow days!

Egg Drop by Mini Grey (Red Fox Books, 2002). If only the egg had waited! If only he hadn't been so impatient! But the egg was determined to fly, so he took matters into his own hands. After he fell from the tall, tall tower, we tried to put him back together, but you can't fix a broken egg. If only he had waited!

If I Built a Car by Chris Van Dusen (Dutton Books for Young Readers, 2005). The bouncy rhyming text lends itself to reading out loud and the kids are always amazed by the crazy things our young protagonist includes in his dream car. Afterwards, I always ask the kids what they would include if THEY built a car and we get some really creative responses.

If You Happen to Have a Dinosaur by Linda Bailey, illustrated by Colin Jack (Tundra Books, 2014). There are lots of uses for a dinosaur - from trimming your trees to snowplowing to being a water slide at the pool - but there are also some jobs dinosaurs just aren't suited to... This book sparked a GREAT conversation with the kids about what they would do if they had a dinosaur.

Moira's Birthday by Robert Munsch (Annick Press, 1989). Friends, this one is readaloud gold. The rhythmic, repetitive text just super lends itself to reading aloud. This would very easily translate to an oral story if you want to ditch the book (say, if you were telling it to a very large group). When Moira has a birthday, she wants to invite 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade, aaaaand Kindergarten! Watch the fun unfold as Moira's birthday grows out of control!

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen (Candlewick Press, 2014). Oh, man, the kids loved to catch all the places where Sam & Dave just missed finding something spectacular! And then we had some great discussions about the weird ending.

Sausages by Jessica Souhami (Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2006). This funny folktale warns listeners to be careful what they wish for, especially if they have rescued an elf and now have three wishes to spend. Hungry and tired of thinking about what to wish for, the farmer foolishly wishes for some sausages. This upsets his wife so much that she impulsively wishes the sausages were stuck to the end of his nose! And then, of course, they have to use the last wish to get the sausages unstuck (but at least they have a nice dinner).

That is Not a Good Idea by Mo Willems (Balzer + Bray, 2013). Of course, anything Mo Willems is gold. Many of the kids were familiar with this one when I brought it and they were more than happy to chime in for the chorus of "That is not a good idea!"

This Book Just Ate My Dog! by Richard Byrne (Henry Holt & Co., 2014). This book gives readers a surprise as it eats the protagonist's dog! And when a brave soul goes in to rescue the dog... he disappears, too! Can anything be done to save the day?

These are my top ten school-age readalouds for this school year, and I see a problem here: I am greatly in need of diversity in my picks! I tend to gravitate towards books that are funny or have twists or surprise endings. Can you recommend great school-age readalouds featuring, written, or illustrated by people of color?

Preschool Storytime: Weather

Last week, I visited one of our local preschools and brought a storytime about weather. We certainly have been having crazy weather over the past few weeks, so this was a fun topic to explore. This is what I did:

Opening Song: My Hands Say Hello

Book: Kite Day by Will Hillenbrand. This is a cute, colorful story about friends Bear and Mole who build and fly a kite on a perfect, windy kite day. When a storm pops up, they lose the kite, but luckily it lands in a great place - in a tree, protecting a nest of baby birds from the rain. The text is very simple with lots of repeated sounds. We talked about what kind of weather you need to fly a kite (windy!) and that weather can change very quickly, especially in spring!

Felt Story: Hello Sun! by Dayle Ann Dodds. Speaking of weather changing very quickly - in this cute picture book, every time we try to leave the house, the weather has changed and we need to change our clothes! Miss T had made this into a felt story and it was perfect to relate to our changeable weather. We talked about what different clothing you need when it's sunny, cloudy, rainy, snowy, etc.

Book: Storm Song by Nancy Viau. We'd especially had some stormy weather the week I went to visit the kids, so this book was perfect. Short, rhyming text evokes the sounds and sights of a thunderstorm rolling in - the roaring thunder, the spark of lightning, leaves blowing past the windows. When the power goes out, mom calms the kids by singing songs, making a snack, and taking a nap.

Felt Rhyme: Five Little Umbrellas. (I had a source for this once upon a time, but it looks like the site I linked to no longer exists...!)

Five umbrellas stood by the door,
The pink one went outside, then there were four.
Four umbrellas, pretty as could be,
The blue one went outside, then there were three.
Three umbrellas with nothing to do,
The green one went outside, then there were two.
Two umbrellas not having much fun,
The yellow one went outside, then there was one.
Just one umbrella alone in the hall,
The purple one went outside, and that was all.

Book: Duckie's Rainbow by Frances Barry. As we turn each page in this book, a rainbow forms with the colorful page edges. My favorite thing to do with this book is to read it and then have the kids help me retell it with our colorful scarves! So you know the next thing...

Scarf Activity: Retell Duckie's Rainbow with scarves. I passed out the scarves and asked the children to notice what color scarf they had. When I reached the page with their color, I asked them to hold their scarves up high and wave them. When we get to the end, we all waved our scarves together to make a rainbow!

Scarf Song: Toss Your Scarves. It's so much fun to play with scarves! This song is not only fun, but it gives the children practice following instructions and it builds gross motor skills. 

Source: Scarf Songs by Jean Warren

Tune: “Jingle Bells”

Toss your scarves, toss your scarves
Toss them way up high.
Toss your scarves up in the air,
‘til they reach the sky.

Wave your scarves, wave your scarves,
Twirl them ‘round and ‘round.
Twirl your scarves one more time,
Then let them, all fall down.

Book: Mr. Gumpy's Motor Car by John Burningham. All of the children and animals want to accompany Mr. Gumpy on his motorcar ride, but when it starts to rain and the car gets stuck in the mud, no one wants to help push! This is a silly story and the kids just love the name Mr. Gumpy. 

Closing Song: Do You Know What Time It Is? 

Preschool Storytime: Bugs

Last week, I visited one of our local preschool classes for a storytime on bugs. Here's what I did:

Opening Song: My Hands Say Hello

Book: I Love Bugs by Emma Dodd. The rhyming text in this large, bright book contains many great vocabulary words like "frilly" and "spiny".

(Another similar book you could read is Lenny in the Garden by Ken Wilson-Max, which is a great title for including children of color in your storytime books. Unfortunately, it was checked out at the time of my program!)

Flannel Rhyme:  Five Little Ladybugs. I have a couple of versions of this rhyme, but this is the one I used. I like it because we talked about aphids (vocabulary!) and that ladybugs eat aphids. Unfortunately, I do not have an original source for this one. It was in our storytime files and I see it in lots of places all over the internet.

Five little ladybugs, climbing on a plant,
Eating the aphids but not the ants.
The first one said, "Save some aphids for me!"
The second one said, "They're tasty as can be."
The third one said, "Oh, they're almost gone."
The fourth one said, "Then we'd better move on."
The fifth one said, "Come on, let's fly!"
So they opened up their wings and they flew through the sky.

I asked the children to hold up one finger for each ladybug and at the end, we made our hands fly through the sky.

Book: The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Pop-Up Book) by Eric Carle. This is a familiar story to most of our young listeners, but the pop-up format gives it some extra appeal! This is another great book for sneaking in a little STEM knowledge - what caterpillars really eat, that caterpillars turn into butterflies, etc.

Scarf Rhyme: Butterflies. This one comes from Scarf Songs by Jean Warren. I passed out scarves, we did a few intro activities (wave your scarf high, low, fast, slow, through your scarf up in the air) and then I asked each child to hold their scarf in the middle and flap it like a butterfly as we said our rhyme.

Butterflies, butterflies, flapping around.
Visiting flowers, not making a sound.
Flapping your wings, as you go.
Flapping your wings, up high, then low.
Butterflies, butterflies, flapping around.
Visiting flowers, not making a sound.

At the end, I asked the children to bring up their scarf when I called the color scarf each one had. It's fun to play with scarves and this play helps reinforce basic concepts like colors, etc. 

Book: The Itsy Bitsy Spider (Pop-Up) by Richard Egielski. Here's another fun pop-up book I brought today! Again, this is a familiar song to kids, so I asked them to sing with me as I turned the pages of the book. We sang it twice, since it's short and that gave them a chance to see the pictures again. 

Felt Rhyme: Little Miss Muffet. I brought this one from a set of nursery rhyme felts we purchased many years ago. Saying nursery rhymes is a great way to include some vocabulary that you don't hear in normal conversation (curds & whey, tuffet, etc.). 

Fingerplay: Here is the Beehive. Again, I don't have an original source for this one. I have used it for many years!

Here is the beehive (hold out one fist)

But where are the bees? 

Hiding inside where nobody sees (point to fist)

Watch as the bees come out of their hive

1...2...3...4...5! (count on fingers)

Buzzzzz!

Felt Activity: Bugs set. I passed out one bug to each child and as I called their bug, they came up and put the bugs "in our garden" (on the felt board). I like to do participation activities like this because they get kids used to approaching and interacting with a new adult. It also helps children practice listening and following directions. And the kids love putting stuff on the felt board. 

Closing Song: Do You Know What Time It Is? 

Since this was an outreach storytime, we didn't do any play activities afterwards. 

More Ideas:

Here are additional ideas for bugs storytimes: 

• Here's my bug storytime from 2012 with some different books and songs
• Jbrary's Pinterest Board for Bugs & Insects Storytime
• Madison Public Library (WI) - Storytime Starter: Bugs
• Small Town Storytime Lady - TONS of songs and rhymes about bugs!
• Storytime Katie has several bug storytimes and this is her latest!
• Sunflower Storytime: Bugs, Bugs, Bugs

AND REMEMBER......... 

"Bees are good!" (And if a bee shows up at your storytime, keep your cool like Barack Obama did!)

Reading Wildly: Sports

This month, we met for our Reading Wildly discussion about sports books. April is a great time for sports since lots of our families are starting baseball and March Madness has just ended. The article that we shared this month was Bringing the Game to Kids: Sports Books 2014 by Sally Lodge (Publishers Weekly, March 14, 2014). We talked about the appeal of sports books, especially books written by sports players and authors who are knowledgeable in the field. We also mentioned that both boys & girls like sports books and not all boys like sports. It's important not to make assumptions!

Here are the books we shared together at our meeting:

• Arcady's Goal by Eugene Yelchin
• Being Sloane Jacobs by Lauren Morrill [teen selection]
• Cheer Challenge by Jake Maddox
• The Crossover by Kwame Alexander [teen selection]
• Fantasy Baseball by Alan Gratz
• Hockey Meltdown by Jake Maddox 
• Maximilian & the Mystery of the Guardian Angel by Xavier Garza
• My New Team (Little Rhino) by Ryan Howard & Krystle Howard
• Nobody Wants to Play with a Ball Hog by Julie Gassman (Victory School Superstars)
• The Only Game by Mike Lupica
• The Rookie Bookie by Jon Wertheim & Tobias Moskowitz
• Sasquatch in the Paint by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• Stealing the Game by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

We also did a sports month last year, so check out that post for even more suggestions!

Our two teen librarians joined us this month and will hopefully be frequenting our meetings and bringing some teen/tween titles to share. As you can see from this month's list, lots of our titles could fall into that tween range, which is important for both departments to know about!

Next month, we're talking about Science Fiction (Superheroes optional to tie in with our Every Hero Has a Story summer theme). Got any favorite science fiction titles you'd suggest to me???

The Honest Truth

The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart. Grades 4-7. Scholastic Press, January 2015. 229 pages. Review copy provided by publisher.

Book talk: Mark has cancer. He was first diagnosed when he was a little kid.. and he got better, but now the bad headaches are back again and a call from the doctor confirms that the cancer is back. And this time might be for good. Having been through rounds of treatments and the dread of not-knowing before, Mark decides to do something different. He wants to make sure that he lives before he dies. And more than that, Mark needs to take control of something.

So, he decides to climb a mountain. It may sound crazy - Mark's sick, he's weak, he knows this could possibly be the last thing he ever does. But he needs to do one heroic thing on his own, with nobody's help, before whatever is going to happen to him happens.

He leaves a note for his parents and one for his best friend and he trickily buys a bus ticket headed the wrong way before taking the train to Seattle, towards Mount Ranier.

Half-chapters tell the story of the folks left behind - Mark's parents who are distraught and frantic with worry and Mark's best friend Jess. Jess knows where Mark is headed, she figures it out from the note he left her. But she also knows that Mark trusts her to keep his secret, that he would not want her to tell anyone. And as a freak storm approaches the mountain, Jess has to decide how much Mark's trust means to her. Should she keep his secret even if it puts him in danger?

My thoughts: I took this one to work, intending it to be my on-my-lunch-break read that I keep at work, but after I started it, it was so compelling that I had to take it home and finish it that night. I was drawn in to Mark's story from the beginning and I just had to know what happened to him. When I read this passage about Mark's dog defending him from some teen muggers, I sat up and took notice:

Beau came out of that duffel bag like hot burning justice. Like all the right kinds of anger. Like everything the world ever needed. He came out into the darkness and the blood of that cold city street fast and loud and hard, all teeth and bark and bravery. (page 44)

There is some really great writing here, and I always felt like it was true to Mark's character. Having been through an illness like Mark has experienced, it made sense that he would look at the world in this detailed, introspective way. And although there are definitely poignant moments, it never slid into sappiness. I found it a little over-dramatic in some parts, but it's all in the interest of creating a suspenseful and exciting story.

This is a story of a sick kid, of a brave kid who does not want to go gently into that dark night. But it's just as much a story of friendship - between a kid and his dog and between best friends who trust each other implicitly.

It's something of a tear-jerker (although the parts I personally found the most gut-wrenching were the half-chapters told from his parents' and Jess's perspective, which may resonate differently with child readers).

Readalikes: 

Press this into the hands of kids who are interested in The Fault in Our Stars by John Green but who are not yet ready for the young adult content of that book. I wonder if the cover design purposefully evokes TFIOS's cover for this reason.

This would also be a great one for kids who are intrigued by the story of a kid facing his own mortality, such as Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nichols.

I might also try this on kids who enjoy character-centered, introspective survival stories like My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. This story definitely features a main character who's interested in challenging himself and figuring out how to make it up the mountain.

Preschool Storytime: Big & Little

This morning, I did a preschool storytime about big & little. Here's what I did:

Opening Song: My Hands Say Hello

Book: Big & Little by Steve Jenkins. This nonfiction title was a great introduction to the concept of big and little, showcasing related animals that differ in size (example: house cat and tiger, python and coral snake). I paper-clipped some of the pages together, so we didn't look at every spread, but the kids enjoyed helping me identify animals and which were bigger and which were smaller. 

Song: The More We Read Together. We've been using this special library verse in baby storytime for awhile now, and I thought it'd be a nice addition to this storytime since it talks about big books and small books. Thanks to Jbrary for teaching me this song!!

Book: I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry. I love this book for the bright, large pictures and humor. Parents and kids were definitely laughing along with me when we reached the twist in the story. Kids also had fun helping me identify ocean animals. All these animal books are great for introducing and reinforcing vocabulary!

Book/Song: The Itsy Bitsy Spider by Richard Egielski. Since we read a book about something big, I wanted to share a book about something small. This pop-up book is a fun one to share and the kids sang along and did the motion as I turned the pages in the book. Singing songs is a great way to help children hear that words are made up of smaller sounds and doing hand and arm motions help increase fine and gross motor skills.

Action Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big. This one comes to me from Melissa Depper at Mel's Desk and just fit right in with our theme today! This was a good point to get everybody standing and do a little action rhyme.

Book: Big, Bigger, Biggest by Nancy Coffelt.  Vocabulary, vocabulary, vocabulary! This book shows a variety of animals compared to each other - big, bigger, biggest; fast, faster, fastest; etc. It also includes a TON of synonyms for each word - large, humongous, etc. which makes this a great book for exposing kids to lots of new words.

Closing Song: Do You Know What Time It Is?

Play:

I set up tables where kids could make big pictures (11"x 17" paper) or little pictures (quarter sheets) with big crayons or small crayons. 

I set up our magnifying equipment for kids to explore. We have the Can Do Magnification Discovery Kit from Lakeshore Learning and I put out additional magnifying glasses and some random bits from our craft supplies for kids to look at. 

I set out our wooden blocks, which are always a big hit. And, of course, I had a book display!

All in all, it went pretty well. I only had a couple that stuck around for our stations, but the ones that did stayed for about 20 minutes and had a great time building and exploring. 

More Storytime Ideas:

Here are more ideas for Big & Little storytime: 

• ALSC Blog - Big & Little Storytime
• hushlander - Big & Little Toddler Time
• Mansfield Richland County PL (OH) - Big & Little Storytime Starters
• Storytime Katie - Big & Little Storytime
• Verona Public Library (WI) - Big & Little Baby Storytime

What are YOUR favorites for Big & Little?? 

Hold Tight Don't Let Go

Hold Tight, Don't Let Go: A Novel of Haiti by Laura Rose Wagner. Grades 9+. Abrams, January 2015. 264 pages. Review copy provided by my local library.

Cousins Magdalie and Nadine are inseparable best friends. Ever since Magda's mother died when she was little, Nadine's mother has been manman to both girls, raising them as sisters. But when an earthquake strikes Haiti, Manman dies and the house in which the family lived is destroyed. With no resources, the fifteen-year-old girls move to a ramshackle camp where they live with an uncle. The camp is horrifying, but as long as she has her cousin by her side, Magda knows she can survive anything. When Nadine's father in Miami sends for her, Magda is left alone for the first time in her life, and although Nadine promises to get her cousin a visa and bring her to America, Magda soon realizes that this may be an impossible dream.

I ask myself if I am jealous... She is leaving. She is going to a better place - to a place I have only seen in photos and in films, to a place where everyone has money, everyone has a car and a lawn and a flush toilet, where the streets are straight and flat and clean. To a place where she will go to university, and she can have a good life, where it will be easy to accomplish whatever she sets her mind to... I search the darkest places in my heart, but the truth is, I don't feel jealous at all. I just feel sad. [page 43]

This is a vivid portrayal of Haiti after the earthquake. Magda's life has changed in an instant. Suddenly, she has no real home. She doesn't have money for school fees, she sometimes doesn't have money for food. This survival story is an account of Magda's day-to-day life after the disaster and her journey to gain power over her own destiny.

Several times bystanders and folks on the street remark "Look at this country" as if they still can't believe the situations they're seeing in their own country. People are devastatingly aware of a need for change, but just as devastatingly powerless to create change.

This is also a portrait of a country and a people picking up the pieces after a terrible disaster. At one point Nadine remarks that in America people thought she was crazy for running out of a store when she thought she felt the ground shake, even though Miami is not on a fault line. She says people in Haiti would have understood, it would have been normal.

But although this is a story set in an impoverished country, Laura Rose Wagner has also created a love letter to Haiti here. This book is a sensory experience - the sounds of the language and the tastes of the foods drawing the reader in. Magda returns to her birth village in the southern mountains of Haiti to bury her Manman, showing the reader the seemingly paradisiacal farm where Magda's relatives live.

And just as Wagner paints a picture of Haiti, she paints Magda's emotions. This is, above all, a story of Magda's emotional journey from denial of her situation to acceptance and the ability to move forward and create a new plan for herself.

Readalikes:

For more on Haiti and Haitian women, definitely check out everything by Edwidge Danticat. Her books are published for adults, but I started reading them in high school and I think they have crossover appeal.

Lost Girl Found by Laura M. DeLuca and Leah Bassoff is another story about a strong teenage girl surviving after a devastating event costs her her home. In this case, it's soldiers destroying her Sudanese village.

For teens who are more into the close female friendship between Magda and Nadine, I kept thinking about Sister of My Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni while I was reading. That's another book that's published for adults, but I think has high school crossover appeal.