Fall - Outreach Visit

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I had pulled several fall-themed books to use for this month's outreach visit, sure that by October 7th we would be having more fall-like weather. So needless to say, I was starting to wonder if I should pull a different selection when we were still having 95-degree weather all last week! But, over the weekend Autumn finally arrived, and I woke up to a cool, rainy, 53-degree day. The books I selected to take, to cover babies through pre-K were:

• Fall Is Not Easy by Marty Kelley
• When The Leaf Blew In by Steve Metzger & Kellie D. Lewis
• Hocus Pocus It's Fall by Anne Sibley O'brien & Susan Gal
• Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert
• Mouse's First Fall by Lauren Thompson & Buket Erdogan
• The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri
• Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin by Tad Hills
• Baa Baa Black Sheep by Jane Cabrera

Because the daycare decided to just have me visit the toddlers and 2-year olds today, I ended up only using a few of the books I brought.

Toddlers 

I've been visiting this daycare for about 8 months, and have always struggled with knowing what to do for the toddler group, as all my prior experience was with ages 3-5. While they respond very well to familiar songs that have motions to do with them, I had never had any success with books. No matter what books I tried, they would completely lose interest and all start wandering off or getting into my stuff. I really felt like doing storytime with kids this young in a daycare setting was rather pointless and that they were better off with a music program, but I still felt obligated to try at least one book each time.

Well, today was rather monumental in that I was able to get them to engage and pay attention to not just one, but TWO books! I was so thrilled! It may never happen again, but it was still a beautiful thing.

I was greeted with lots of big grins, and started off with my "Hello, My Friends, Hello" song, and followed up with "Hello, Everybody" which involves identifying different body parts doing motions. I didn't get the usual level of participation, so I then moved to one that I know they all know and love, "The Wheels On The Bus", which finally got them going.

While I had their attention, I quickly moved on to the fall book I brought specifically for them, a large board book version of Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin by Tad Hills. This is a very short story with very little text, showing the two friends looking in several unlikely places for a pumpkin, before their friend Thistle clues them in to the pumpkin patch. And much to my surprise, most of them stood or sat and looked at the book the whole time! They loved the Duck and Goose, and found the pictures very engaging. I really love the fall color palette of this book myself, with lots of pretty oranges, yellows, and golden tones.

I followed that up with a quick, simple pumpkin song:

Did You Ever See a Pumpkin?

(to the tune of "Did You Ever See a Lassie?")

Did you ever see a pumpkin, a pumpkin, a pumpkin?

Did you ever see a pumpkin that grows on a vine?

There are short ones and tall ones, and big ones and small ones.

Did you ever see a pumpkin that grows on a vine?

Then I decided to try Baa Baa Black Sheep by Jane Cabrera since they were doing so well. I had been meaning to try one of Cabrera's books that are based on songs and can be sung rather than read since this group responds so much better to music, but had forgotten the last couple of times. I pointed out the sheep and one child named it, then several knew it said "baa". That helped get their attention, and the repetition and singing helped keep it. They swayed along with me to the music, and nodded their heads with me to the "yes, miss; yes, miss, three bags full". 

Then I sang a quick "Goodbye" song, and got lots of grins, waves, and high-fives goodbye. Such a great way to start the morning!

Two-year Olds

I visited two different two-year old classes, one is slightly older than the other. Both times I started with the "Hello" song, then warmed them up with "Hello, Everybody" and led into the story with my "If You're Ready For a Story" song.

I read The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri to the first class. This is a short, simple book that is usually good for younger kids as they can identify each animal the squirrel encounters, make its sound, and identify the foods the squirrel is collecting, though they often need help with the corn and berries. 

We talked about how acorns are probably a squirrel's favorite food, which led to a rhyme about five little acorns and a squirrel:

Five Little Acorns

Five little acorns, laying on the ground.

The first one said, "I'm big and round!"

The second one said, "I think I'm getting fat."

The third one said, "I have a nice hat!"

The fourth one said, "There's a squirrel up there!"

The fifth one said, "But we don't care."

Down climbed the squirrel and took them all away,

Back up to his nest, for a cold winter's day!

Then we read Duck & Goose Find A Pumpkin followed by singing "Did You Ever See a Pumpkin", and our "Goodbye" song.

For the second, slightly older group of 2-year olds, I read Hocus Pocus, It's Fall, having the audience say all the magic words. This book was a little long and the illustrations a bit too abstract for this age, so I started loosing them towards the end. I pointed out again the page with apples and all the different colors of apples, then we sang this apple song:

Did You Ever See an Apple?

(to the tune of "Did You Ever See a Lassie?")

Did you ever see an apple, an apple, an apple?

Did you ever see an apple, that grows on a tree?

There are red ones and yellow ones, and pink ones and green ones.

Did you ever see an apple, that grows on a tree?

Did you ever eat an apple, an apple, an apple?

Did you ever eat an apple that grows on a tree?

There are sweet ones and tart ones, and crunchy ones and juicy ones.

Did you ever eat an apple that grows on a tree?

I could tell they'd had enough by then, so I decided to go ahead and stop there with a "Goodbye" song, even though there were a few minutes left.

How It Went

Overall, it went well. It is rare that all classes on an outreach visit do well, so if I get one really good one and no really bad ones, I count it as a win! I was absolutely thrilled at finally being able to get the toddlers to pay attention to a book! I will probably try another book that can be sung rather than read next time. I just wish I had time to visit each class every month, but I'm only given an hour and there are 5 classes, so I have to rotate. It makes it harder to build rapport and have any continuity, but I do the best I can.

Fall On The Farm

I did my last Fall-themed storytime today, and even after postponing it two weeks, the trees are just now starting to show some colors; it seems I can never time it just right to coincide with when the leaves reach their peak colors and are starting to fall. I did manage to find a few red and yellow leaves to show, though.

We started with our welcome song, then discussed the seasonal changes of fall and brought out my adorable squirrel puppet to greet them and lead us in our story song and first book, The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri.

This is a short, simple story with repetitive phrases the audience can say with you, plus animals to identify and give sounds for. The charming illustrations show our little squirrel scampering around to gather different kinds of food to store for winter, too busy to stop and play with the friends he sees along the way.

I lead into our next activity by asking them where they think the squirrel was, if there were apples, pumpkins, corn around, and eventually they came up with a farm. Then we took a pretend trip to the farm, where we picked apples and pumpkins, and helped rake leaves. We acted out each part, and struggled to lift the huge pumpkins we picked!

Then I read our second book, Mouse's First Fall by Lauren Thompson and Bucket Erdogan. In this story big sister Minka takes Mouse outside to play on a beautiful fall day where he discovers beautiful autumn leaves and all the ways to play in them.

This book does not have the guessing game format of many of the Mouse's First books, but it does have colors, minimal counting, shapes, and trying to find Minka in the leaves to test their powers of observation. It is short and sweet, good for the younger audiences.

The kids were restless today, but had finally settled down for the most part by the end of Mouse's First Fall and I was hesitant to disrupt them with an activity, so I decided just to go right into the last book, Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. 

This is a beautiful book illustrated with photographs of real leaves that have been put into collages, forming various figures. We start with the Leaf Man, then see various animals as the wind blows Leaf Man across the countryside.

I've used it once before (in my very first storytime ever, in fact), and while the pictures are wonderful, the text leaves something to be desired. It doesn't have any rhythm or rhyme, and just doesn't flow well or engage the kids at all. I decided this time not to read it, but just show the pictures and see it the kids could pick out the various creatures in the collages.

I ended by telling them they could go home and collect leaves and make their own collages. Then we sang our ending song and passed out stickers.

How It Went
I'm not sure why, but the kids were much more restless this week, and I saw a few faces I had not seen before, either because they are new or typically arrive late. Though The Busy Little Squirrel usually works well, there were several kids that were not engaged at all and only a handful really paying attention. They did enjoy pretending to visit a farm, and finally started to settle down during Mouse's First Fall. They seemed to like that the little mouse was with his big sister, and one eagle-eyed little girl spotted Minka's tail right away when she was hiding in the leaf pile; no one else has spotten it that quickly.

However, I started losing them again with Leaf Man. They had a really hard time seeing the different animals and things in the collages, even after I pointed them out. I think I'm just going to have to accept that as I much as I like the book, it just doesn't work with this age group and I'll have to save it for the 5-6 year olds. I would like to do a program for older kids using this book and Zoe Hall's Fall Leaves Fall, taking the kids for a nature walk to collect leaves, then have them make their own collages, but I had a little too much going on in the last month to put one together. Maybe next year!

I got a couple of funny comments; when I first brought out my squirrel puppet and asked them what he was holding, one boy called out "coconut!". That is the 4th time during this theme someone has said coconut instead of nut or acorn, and I find that interesting. I wonder what is making coconuts so prevalent in their minds? Also, at the end of Leaf Man, when the Leaf Man comes back together and is joined by a Leaf Woman, one little boy said the Leaf Woman looked mad. Curious as to their thought processes, I asked them why was she mad? One little girl quickly said "At him!" point at the Leaf Man. I again asked them why, and while no one really came up with a good reason, they were all quite sure she was mad at the man ;)  

They all had to give Mr. Squirrel good-bye hugs, and I got a few today, and some wanted Mr. Squirrel to kiss them, too. He is pretty adorable, I have to admit, though my cat does not like him at all!

Fall Storytime

We were still having summer weather when autumn officially started; luckily, by the time I started my "Fall" rotation on the Storytime Bus the following week we had some nice crisp fall weather. I saw around 28 classes, doing 2 or 3 books and 1 or 2 activities for each, following our introduction, letter-of-the-day ("Ff"), and story song.

The Books 

(Click on image for full-size picture)

Animals In Fall by Martha E. H. Rustad, non-fiction with photographs 
Fall Is Not Easy by Marty Kelley, everyone's favorite, gets lots of laughs
Fall Leaves Fall by Zoe Hall, collage illustrations, shows all different kinds of leaves
Sleepover with Beatrice & Bear by Monica Carnesi, cute story about friendship
Leaves by David Ezra Stein, short and simple, Bear worries when leaves fall
When The Leaf Blew In by Steve Metzger & Kellie Lewis, fun, cause and effect
The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri, short, simple & repetitive; good for ages 2-3
Hocus Pocus It's Fall! by Anne Sibley O'Brien & Susan Gal, participatory, fold-out pages
Oliver Finds His Way by Phyllis Root & Christopher Denise, lost bear, good lesson
Mouse's First Fall by Lauren Thompson & Buket Erdogan, cute, good for younger kids

The Activities

With so many squirrels in our stories, it was only fitting to greet the kids with our adorable squirrel puppet, and bring it out for our "Five Little Acorns" rhyme. First I showed the kids some real acorns, pointing out the round nut and the cap.

(Folkmanis Squirrel Puppet)

"Five Little Acorns"

Five little acorns, laying on the ground.

(hold up 5 fingers, gesture to ground)

The first one said, "I'm nice and round."

(hold up 1 finger, then hold arms out in front)

The second one said, "I think I'm getting fat."

(hold up 2 fingers, hold arms out to sides)

The third one said, "I have a nice hat!"

(hold up 3 fingers, pretend to put on hat)

The fourth one said, "There's a squirrel up there!"

(hold up 4 fingers, point up)

The fifth one said, "I don't care."

(hold up 5 fingers, shake head)

Then down came the squirrel and took them all away,

(make climbing motions down, scoop up acorns)

Back up to his nest, for a cold winter's day!

(making climbing motions up)

_________________________

When we needed more movement, or an additional activity, we pretended to be scarecrows with this song:

"Scarecrow, Scarecrow"

(to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star")

Scarecrow, scarecrow, turn around.

Scarecrow, scarecrow, touch the ground.

Stand up tall and blink your eyes.

Raise your hands up to the sky.

Clap your hands, then tap your knees.

Turn around and stomp your feet.

Scarecrow, scarecrow, touch your toes.

Scarecrow, scarecrow, tap your nose.

Swing your arms so very slow,

Now really fast to scare the crows!

Touch your head, jump up and down.

Now sit down without a sound.

I like how this ends with them sitting down, ready for the next story; after first checking for crows and complimenting them on being such good scarecrows.

_________________________

Leaf Sorting

Sorting activities are great as they work on so many skills: identifying colors, shapes, attributes; analytical reasoning (pre-math and science skill), and expressive language. I had a large assortment of foam leaves, some of which are pictured above. There were green, orange, brown, red, and gold leaves. There were maple, oak, and aspen leaves. Some leaves were plain, and some were sparkly. 

I would give each child one or two leaves, then place a few different ones on the board for a starting point. I first called the teacher to model how to make observations and reason out where their leaves belonged, then called each child up one at a time to put their leaves up where they thought they belonged. I would try to get them to explain their choices, but if they were too shy I would ask them yes or no questions about it, that they could answer by just nodding or shaking their heads.

How It Went 

We had a lot of fun talking about all the changes of fall. Fall Is Not Easy was the biggest hit, as always, and my personal favorite. When The Leaf Blew In was also a great book with all ages, with the chain reaction of events and all the animals to name. The Busy Little Squirrel worked well with all ages, and was perfect for the younger kids, along with Mouse's First Fall. I used Oliver Finds His Way to show kids that if they get lost they should just stay where they are and wait for a trusted adult to find them, rather than running around and getting even more lost.

We had a lot of fun with the rhymes and song, and the leaf-sorting activity worked well with the older kids. I think it needs to be simplified a little with the younger kids, so there are not so many different characteristics to consider. Several were too shy to explain their reasoning, or too unsure, but most would at least identify the color. The squirrel puppet was a huge hit with everyone!

My Very First Storytime & What I've Learned Since

Exactly one year ago today I did my first storytime ever, starting as a volunteer at a local daycare every other week, with no formal training but lots of "mom" experience and casual observation of co-workers' storytimes.  I have learned a lot since then!  After about 9 months, my volunteer experience helped me land a promotion at the library to a position where I am now paid to do storytimes in our "Storytime-to-Go" outreach program.  I went from doing 2 storytimes a month to doing an average of 50 storytimes a month!  So, being in a reflective mood, I thought I'd present that very first storytime, and what I learned from it, and since.

In The Beginning
I did not have much time to plan my first storytime, as the daycare didn't give me much notice of when I could start volunteering.  As they had asked me to do seasonal themes, I decided to start with "Fall" then do "Thanksgiving" the next time.

So when I got there, I introduced myself and explained I would be coming every other week to read them stories, and had them tell me their names.  I started off by talking about what season it was, and all the different things that happen in fall, like harvesting apples and pumpkins, the leaves turning colors and falling off, animals preparing for winter by eating or storing extra food, etc.

Then, I led off with an activity incorporating movement and imagination: taking an imaginary trip to the farm and acting out all the motions.  So first we pretended to be sitting on the bus, fastened our seatbelts, then drove out of town, past the library and other downtown buildings, past the suburbs, up hills and around curves, and into the country where we saw cows and horses.  We arrived at the farm, walked off the bus and greeted the farmer.  Next we walked to the orchard and picked baskets of apples, and sampled a few.  After that we walked to the pumpkin patch and tried to see who could pick the biggest pumpkin.  Then the farmer asked us to help rake the leaves, and gave us apple cider to drink while we sat on the ground and relaxed and listened to a story.

For the first book, I chose Lois Ehlert's Leaf Man.  Although the text leaves a little to be desired, the creativity of the illustrations more than make up for it.  I love fall, and fall leaves in particular, with all their beautiful colors and the crunch, crunch as you walk through them.  Ehlert uses photographs of real leaves to make creative collages, starting with one that looks like a man.  I love the imagination and creativity of this book.  If I had the opportunity and location, I would love to plan a whole program around this book, starting with talking about fall and reading this book, then going on a nature walk to collect leaves, and finally an art project making collages with the leaves they collected.

I pointed out the squirrels in the book, and used that to segue into talking about squirrels gathering nuts for the winter and a cute little action rhyme, "Five Little Acorns": 

     Five little acorns, laying on the ground.                (hold up 5 fingers, then gesture to floor)
     The first one said, "My, I'm getting round."           (hold up 1 finger, then hold arms in circle)
     The second one said "I think I'm fat."                   (hold up 2 fingers, then arms out at sides)
     The third one said "I have a nice hat."                  (hold up 3 fingers, pretend to adjust hat)
     The fourth one said "I see a squirrel up there!"    (hold up 4 fingers, point up, act scared)
     The fifth one said, "I don't care."                           (hold up 5 fingers, shrug, shake head)
     Down climbed the squirrel                                    (make climbing motions down)
     And took them all away,                                       (pretend to grab acorns)
     Back up to his nest for a cold winter day.             (make climbing motions back up)

We did this at least twice, until they were able to join in with saying the words as well as making the motions.

For the second and last book, I wanted to close with something that would be a sure hit.  My co-worker had recently read Marty Kelley's Fall Is Not Easy to three different groups, getting huge laughs each time, so I decided to us it.  At first glace, this book looks like a typical, if slightly boring, book about seasons, with sweet illustrations. But then, you turn the page and see all kinds of silly pictures as the poor tree tries and tries to get his fall colors right, but ends up with all kinds of crazy patterns, like cow print, rainbow stripes, a smiley face, and more.  By the time the tree finally gets it right, its almost winter and all the leaves fall off.

After that, we did the closing song that I still use:

          Hands go up, and hands go down.          (raise hands, then touch toes)
          I can turn myself around.                         (turn around)
          I can jump upon two shoes.                     (jump)
          I can clap, and so can you.                      (clap hands)
          I can wave, I'll show you how.                 (wave)
          Storytime is done for now.                       (hold hands outstretched)

How It Went
I had about 14 three-year olds that first morning that were excited to have me there, but did not have well-developed listening skills.  Some kids could not stay engaged, while some kids were "overly engaged":  jumping up in front of the book to point at things, interrupting, talking over me about the book, etc.  But some listened fairly well. 

They really liked the pictures in Leaf Man, but I really wish the text was more engaging.  It just doesn't quite come together with a good rhythm.  If it had a rhyming text with a nice cadence, I think the kids would have been more engaged.  They particularly liked the pictures that were supposed to be chickens and a turkey, and how the Leaf Man appeared again at the end of the book.  One unexpected result was that they found Leaf Man to be hysterically funny, but Fall Is Not Easy did not get the big laughs I expected, though they still liked it.  They really enjoyed the pretend trip to the farm, the action rhyme, and the closing song, and participated well in all of them.

At the end, they all rushed me in a big mob hug, and I was hooked!

What I Learned
I realized after this that they really needed more songs and rhymes, and a regular beginning routine with repeating elements that they could predict and would help cue them to settle down, so after this first storytime, I developed a regular beginning routine that I still do with my regular storytimes, and over time I gradually lengthened it from a 20 minute storytime with 2 books, to a 30-minute storytime with 3 books as they matured and got used to the routine.  Of course, I had to start over when they moved up to the next class in August and I got a new crop of very chatty 3-year olds.

I have taken what I have learned with this group and applied it to my new job running the Storytime-to-Go program. I have introduced an abbreviated version of my beginning routine to provide more consistency that was desperately needed, and am working on adding more age appropriate books to the collection, as many are just too long for preschoolers.  I think I have gotten really good at reading aloud with gestures, sounds, movements, questions, etc., to get the kids really engaged in the story, and a good feel for what books will work well for a preschool storytime.  I probably still could stand to improve my "classroom" management skills a bit, but I have learned not to be afraid of cutting in short if it just isn't working, or changing books/activities in the middle.  Previously, I liked to plan every detail way in advance, but with my new job, I have learned to wing it and to adjust my plan on the fly because we never know what groups we're going to get, what ages they will be, or how they will be behaving on any given day.  So I've learned to be more flexible and not let things faze me, and that's a good thing!

I love doing preschool storytime, but I would like to eventually get some experience with baby, toddler, and kindergarten storytimes and other programs, even tween and teen programing.   I have a lot that I still want to accomplish in my current position, but my long-term goal is a position where I would be back in the library providing customer service, as well as more varied programming, such as a Children's Associate or Youth Services Programmer position.  I really prefer to do a little bit of everything and work with all ages.  But until then, you can find me on the Storytime Bus!

Fall Into Autumn - Outreach Storytime

This week on the Storytime Bus we talked about Fall.  Last week was the first official day of autumn and the leaves have just started changing and there is a slight chill in the air.  We talked about all the changes we observe in fall, how the animals are preparing for winter, and fall activities.  As always, we had number of books to choose from, and read 2-3 to each group, along with 1-2 songs/activities:

Fall Is Not Easy by Marty Kelley is classic and tells the story of a tree's struggle to get it's fall colors right.  The text is very straight and simple, but the illustrations are hilarious and unexpected as the tree tries to change colors, but ends up with crazy patterns and designs.

The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri shows a little squirrel busily scurrying around gathering food to store for winter and has a repeating line the kids will enjoy saying.

Leaves by David Ezra Stein tells of a little bear cub experiencing his first fall and his confusion and concern about the falling leaves, which he tries to put back on the trees. 

When The Leaf Blew In by Steve Metzger is a funny little cause-and-effect story that starts with a simple leaf blown into the barn by the wind.  The kids can name the animals and the actions, add animal sounds if you like.

Mouse's First Fall by Lauren Thompson shows Mouse and Minka observing and playing in the autumn leaves.  Children can try to find Minka, hiding in the leaf pile.

Fall Leaves Fall by Zoe Hall is a nice, basic book about fall leaves and shows the different colors and shapes and names of various leaves.

Oliver Finds His Way by Phyllis Root is not so much about fall as set during fall, as little Oliver begins chasing a windblown leaf and gets lost.  But eventually his parents hear his "Roar!" and find him.  Kids will enjoy roaring with Oliver, and the story offers a lesson in not wandering off, but also the best thing to do if you do find yourself lost.

Penguin and Pumpkin by Salina Yoon has Penguin and friends returning to a warmer clime in order to experience fall, but Penguin's little brother Pumpkin is too young to go.  How can Penguin help Pumpkin to know what fall is really like?

It's Pumpkin Time! by Zoe Hall shows the life cycle of a pumpkin, from planting the seed to carving the jack-o'lantern with charming illustrations.

We had various fall leaves, as well as the leaves and acorns from two different oak trees that differed greatly in size, to show the kids, and an adorable squirrel hand-puppet to great them with, which they all loved.  We had a few different activities we used with various groups, including the following action rhyme:

                                                        Five Little Acorns

          Five little acorns laying on the ground          (hold up 5 fingers, gesture to ground)
          The 1st one said "My, I'm getting round!"     (hold up 1 finger, hold arms out in circle)
          The 2nd one said "I think I'm fat."                 (hold up 2 fingers, hold arms out to side)
          The 3rd one said "I have a nice hat."           (hold up 3 fingers, pretend to pull down hat)
          The 4th one said "There's a squirrel up there!"   (hold up 4 fingers, point up)
          The 5th one said "I don't care!"                    (hold up 5 fingers, shake head)
          Down came the squirrel,                              (pretend to climb down tree)
          And took them all away.                              (pretend to grab acorns)
          Up to his nest, for a cold winter's day.         (pretend to climb back up)

We also had a leaf-sorting activity, which is a great pre-math skill.  We had a bunch of foam leaves with magnets on the back, of varying shape, color, thickness, some sparkly, some not, so there were several different characteristics to sort by, and the difficulty and complexity could be adjust for each group.  Each child was given two leaves to place on the board in the appropriate group, and older children were asked to explain their choices.  At the end we would count and discuss which categories had the most, and more than, less than.

And the final activity was to act out a pretend trip to the farm where we picked apples and pumpkins, helped rake leaves, and sample apple pie.  I like this activity because you don't have to have an exact script and can just make it up as you go along.  This is a good one to do if you have a wiggly group that needs to work off some energy.

How It Went
My personal favorite of the books we used was Fall Is Not Easy, and the kids all liked it as well.  The Busy Little Squirrel is very short and simple, but the kids really seemed to enjoy saying "he was too busy" each time.  Oliver Finds His Way was also a favorite; hello, it has roaring, after all.  I like the opportunity it presented to discuss the importance of not wandering off in the first place, but also what to do if you do get lost (stay put & yell!).  Penguin and Pumpkin was the perfect book for the daycare we visited today as they are having people from the aquarium come to talk to them about penguins tomorrow.  The other books were all fairly well-received, too, but not many really stood out this time.

Today we had several groups that were really squirrely and having trouble settling down, so we ended up spending more time re-directing and re-focusing and didn't get to read as many stories.  I think the change in the weather and the recent blood moon had something to do with it.

The kids liked the leaf-sorting activity more than I expected, and I really like how it encompassed several different math skills, including sorting by recognizing similarities and differences in shape, deductive reasoning, counting, and the concepts of more than and
less than.

In case you're wondering why there weren't any books on apples, we did a whole theme just on apples the week prior.

I'm really looking forward to the next theme, "Monsters".  We have some great books for that and it should be a lot of fun!