Awesome New Books - Virtual Storytime

March 10th is the "International Day of Awesomeness", which I decided to use as a segue to introduce some awesome new picture books. (In reality they weren't brand new, both having been published in 2020, but with the pandemic shutdowns and changing jobs I didn't see them until the end of the year, and hadn't had a chance to use them until now.)

As always, I started off with a hello song, and introduction, and a lead-in song before reading the first book, Bunny Overboard by Claudia Rueda. This is the third book in her series of interactive "Bunny" books, and I love using these kind of interactive books in storytime where the narrator of the story directs the reader to do things to help move the story along. 

In this story, bunny is going out for a day of sailing, and the audience is directed to do things like blow to make wind for the sails and rock the book to make waves. It's not only fun, but also introduces some nautical vocabulary, like bow & stern and port & starboard. I do wish the colors in the illustrations were a little more saturated; I don't feel the softened, almost pastel, tones work as well for a group read-aloud.

I followed that with a flannel board counting rhyme using bunnies:

Five Little Bunnies

One little bunny, wondering what to do,

another bunny came along, then there were two.

Two little bunnies, hopping like me,

Another bunny came along, then there were three.

Three little bunnies, jumping around outdoors,

Another bunny joined them and then there were four.

Four little bunnies, so fluffy and alive,

Another bunny joined them, then there were five.

Five little bunnies, ready for some fun,

Hopped away in the warm, spring sun.

I then had the bunnies hop away one by one in order to provide the opportunity for counting down as well, and then did the rhyme one more time.

The second book, The Button Book by Sally Nicholls and Bethan Woollvin, is another great interactive book that presents different colored and shaped buttons that will prompt different actions from the audience, such as beeping, clapping, singing, bouncing, and hugging. 

This would be great for a movement storytime, or anytime you have a group with some wiggles to work out, or a sluggish group that needs waking up. I also like the addition of color and shape concepts.

I then ended with closing announcements and reminders of the next week's storytime, other youth programs, and to pick up early literacy kits, followed with a good-bye song.

How It Went 

I did get some views, but no likes or comments from anyone other than staff, so as I always I'm left wondering if anyone is really watching and feeling a bit of a let-down. It is hard to stay enthusiastic and motivated for these virtual programs when there is no interaction and no feedback from viewers. I know this would've been a great storytime if it had been in-person, as these were both really good storytime books. I will likely repeat a lot of the virtual storytimes once we are able to do in-person programming again, because I know they would be so much fun.