Being Thankful (and Thankful When It Was Over!)

Thanksgiving as a holiday all too often gets glossed over, and since it doesn't involve candy or presents, it doesn't make a big impression in the minds of young children. On top of that, the real purpose of Thanksgiving often gets lost amid the parades, football games, and tons of food, even though it's right there in the name. So I decided to try focusing more on that aspect, since we should all take time to appreciate all the good things and people in our lives. Sounds good, right? Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way.

We started with our welcome song, then talked a little about Thanksgiving traditions and being thankful, then sang our story song. For our first book I chose Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson & Jane Chapman because it shows all the friends getting together and sharing food in a big dinner party, much like Thanksgiving. I also like that it shows everyone contributes according to ability, as Bear was unable to contribute a dish due to being out of groceries, but he could share stories. Jane Chapman's artwork is just beautiful in this series, and the audience can fill in saying the "Thanks!" each time, as well as identifying animals and counting Badger's fish.

I followed that with a rhyme about being thankful, accompanied with using ASL signs for "thank you", "food", "friend", "sun", "tree", and "birds" which I looked up online.

Thank You

We are thankful for the food we eat.

We are thankful for the friends we meet.

We are thankful for the golden sun,

the trees, the birds, and everyone!

For the next book I chose Todd Parr's The Thankful Book. I wanted to mix things up a little with his bold, bright, primitive illustrations that are very eye-catching, and I like how this alludes to Thanksgiving, but doesn't mention it specifically, so it is not only more inclusive, but more versatile. In the book different children say something they are thankful for, and the audience is encouraged to think about something they are thankful for every day. (Another book along the same lines, but with very charming, realistic illustrations that I also recommend is Thanks for Thanksgiving  by Julie Marks & Doris Barrette.)

I was ready to call it a day after that, so we did our closing song and passed out stickers.

How It Went

To be honest, this storytime was an abysmal failure. OK, maybe it wasn't quite abysmal, but it definitely did not go well. I was tempted not to even write it up, but as "they" say, you learn more from your failures than your successes, so maybe someone else can learn from mine, as well.

The Bear book was absolutely the wrong choice for this group, and I should have known that. I LOVE the Bear books so much for the gentle rhyme and rhythm, the sweet friendships, and most of all, Jane Chapman's gorgeous artwork. But, they are just not engaging enough for storytime in many cases. I keep trying, but it's very hit-and-miss, and today was definitely a miss. 

This particular group is very wiggly and inattention, with some it's just immaturity, but there are definitely some developmental issues and possible ADHD I think, and they ONLY do well with VERY interactive, highly engaging books that are dramatic and/or funny. Bear Says Thanks is just too sweet and gentle for them. They were moving all over the place, talking, making noises, and complaining.

The same goes for the rhyme I used. Other groups have done fine with it, but this group was not the least bit engaged; they needed something with more excitement and large movements. They did do better with Todd Parr's book, and seemed to respond to the bright simplistic artwork and raising their hand or commenting in agreement to each thing someone was shown being thankful for.

I did get really frustrated today, which I usually don't, but the fault was mostly mine. The reason I chose such a "quiet" and gentle theme was that I somehow hurt my back a couple of days ago, and have been in a fair amount of pain. Not constant, but when I move a certain way it is pretty bad. So I was not up to doing anything with a lot of excitment and movement, but I forgot that's what this particular group has to have to stay engaged. I also thought once I was up and going my back would be better, but the pain just got worse. In retrospect, I really should have just canceled and rescheduled for next week instead. Live and learn!

So, the moral of this story is (1) know your audience, and (2) sometimes it really is better to cancel/reschedule rather than trying to power through.

Oh, My Gosh! It's Thanksgiving!

I decided not to write up my 2-weeks of Thanksgiving storytimes with the Storytime-To-Go program, since it was mostly the same as last year. I did try out a few other books, and used the ones that worked the best of those today in my regular storytime.

I walked in with my turkey puppet, and they were all intrigued. I told them we would talk about it after our welcome song. After the song, I first tried to see if anyone knew the puppet was a turkey, and after getting guesses of chicken, rooster, and eagle, someone finally said turkey. That led into talking about Thanksgiving, being thankful, and Thanksgiving dinner. 

I used talking about different foods we have at Thanksgiving dinner as an opportunity to introduce them to squash, which would relate to one of our books. Most children don't know what squash is, so I brought three different varieties (butternut, zucchini, and golden acorn) with varying shapes and colors to show how squash can have all kinds of funny shapes and can be orange like pumpkins.

(The butternut squash actually grew in my backyard, courtesy of my neighbor's 

vine that wandered through the fence. 

We sang our story song, incorporating a couple of turkey

gobbling and wing flapping verses for fun, then read our first book, Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Merkes and Doris Barrette. 

This is a short, sweet story about all kinds of things that kids might be thankful for and can relate to, like playgrounds and playdates, puppies and kittens, and family. After I read each page, I asked them to raise their hands if they were thankful for that, too, and we talked a little more about various things we were thankful for afterward. The whimsical watercolor illustrations are bright and detailed.

Next, I used my turkeys from the "Five Nervous Turkeys" flannel set to do a "Five Silly Turkeys" rhyme, based on the book of the same name by Salina Yoon. I wasn't able to get a copy of the book, but I was able to find a video of it on YouTube to get the words. Due to copyright, I can't include them here, but it has turkeys twirling away, being stung by a bee, falling asleep, and getting sunburned, then regrouping for a Thanksgiving feast.

Our second book was The Ugly Pumpkin by Dave Horowitz, an absolutely adorable retelling of The Ugly Duckling that works well for both Halloween and Thanksgiving themes. Our protagonist is an oddly shaped pumpkin that nobody wants and everyone is being mean to. He feels ugly and lonely and starts to cry. 

But, upon taking shelter in a nearby garden, he discovers, "O my gosh! I'm a squash!" and finds were he fits in. The kids don't always get the ending, but they understand that he's happy, no longer sad and alone. This story provides a good opportunity to talk about appreciating everyone's differences and being kind.

After that it was time for a little fun and movement with "If You're a Turkey":

If You're a Turkey

If you're a turkey and you know it, flap your wings!

If you're a turkey and you know it, flap your wings!

If you're a turkey and you know it, and you really want to show it,

If you're a turkey and you know it, flap your wings!

Additional Verses:  wobble your head, shake your tail, say "Gobble, gobble," do them all...

I saved the best for last with Run, Turkey, Run! by Diane Mayr and Laura Rader. This one is similar to Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano, but is much shorter, so it is great for the younger kids! Plus it has the repeated "Run, turkey, run!" that the kids can say with you. 

It's the day before Thanksgiving, and Turkey sees the large roasting pan in the kitchen, and knows what the farmer intends to put in it, so he must "Run, turkey, run!" He tries to disguise himself as a pig, a duck, and a horse, to no avail, before finally escaping to the forest. Is Turkey safe at last? Yes!......Or is he??

Afterwards, we ended with our closing song, and passed out stickers.

How It Went  

When I got there, I was greeted with lots of hugs and the teacher warned that the kids were pretty wound up, which I could see for myself. It took a little longer than usual to get them settled on the rug, but after that they were okay for the most part. After we got going I noticed one little girl was sitting nicely, but with a mad, sulky look on her face. I decided to just ignore it and hoped she perked up eventually. Then when we sang the verse in our story song that goes "If you're ready for a story, nod your head," she would shake her head "No" each time, being quietly passive-aggressive. I'm not sure what her issue was, maybe just in a bad mood or maybe I interrupted something she was invested in, but I figured it was best just to ignore it as long as she was not being disruptive.

Previous groups have enjoyed Thanks For Thanksgiving, but this class seemed a little bored with it. They were very empathetic with the poor Ugly Pumpkin, though, to the point I was afraid one little girl was going to tear up. Introducing them to squash earlier seemed to help them follow the ending a little better than previous groups have; kids that age aren't very familiar with squash. One boy had a hard time accepting that the golden acorn squash was not a pumpkin though. They all loved Run, Turkey, Run! Both the "Five Silly Turkeys" flannel board and "If You're a Turkey" song & dance went over well and were enjoyed by all.

And I got more hugs as I left :)  

Flannel Friday - Five Nervous Turkeys

This is my first "Flannel Friday" post in quite a while! I just haven't had the time or inspiration lately, but I did manage to finish this one finally.

I was inspired to create this set by a post I saw on the slc book boy blog. I've seen this rhyme done before, but with all five turkeys disguising themselves as ducks. I loved how he changed it and had each one put on a different animal costume, and made up corresponding verses of the song. I modified it a bit and replaced his lion with a horse as I preferred to have all farm animals, and added another verse at the end as it seemed to need some closure.

Five Nervous Turkeys

(to the tune of "My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean")

Five turkeys were getting quite nervous,

Thanksgiving soon would be back.

So one turkey put on a DUCK suit,

And now he says, "Gobble, quack, quack!"

Four turkeys were getting quite nervous,

Thanksgiving was coming, not going.

So one turkey put on a PIG suit,

And now he says, "Gobble, oink, oink!"

Three turkeys were getting quite nervous,

Thanksgiving was in just a week.

So one turkey put on a MOUSE suit,

And now he says, "Gobble, squeak, squeak!"

Two turkeys were getting quite nervous,

So one of them knew just what to do.

That turkey put on a COW suit,

And now he says, "Gobble, moo, moo!"

One turkey was getting quite nervous,

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day!

So he put on a HORSE suit,

And now he says, "Gobble, neigh, neigh!"

The farmer was getting quite nervous,

Today is Thanksgiving Day!

But he can find no turkeys,

Only hears "Quack, oink, squeak, moo, and neigh!"

I thought this would be a great activity to follow reading either Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano & Lee Harper, or Run, Turkey, Run! by Diane Mayr & Laura Rader. Both books feature a desperate turkey trying to avoid becoming Thanksgiving dinner by pretending to be other animals. Turkey Trouble is longer and good for older kids, while Run, Turkey, Run! is shorter with more simple text and better for younger kids. It also has the repeating "Run, turkey, run!" that you can have the kids say. Both of these are usually big hits with the kids.

I will warn you, this set was pretty time-consuming to make; I started it last year and ran out of time, so saved it for this year. If I were to have to make it again, I'd be very tempted to just use laminated clip-art! To make a pattern for the turkeys, I just copied book boy's picture and enlarged it, then outlined in marker for patterns. For the animal costumes, I just free-handed it since they didn't have to be too realistic.

I took one shortcut and did not bother with trying to line up the heads and eyes and cut out eyeholes in the "costumes" as I thought that would be very tedious and frustrating, and I didn't want to have to worry about each costume only working with one specific turkey. So I just put more eyes on the costumes.


To see more Flannel Friday posts from other bloggers, go to this week's Flannel Friday Round-Up hosted by Anne at So Tomorrow. Visit the Flannel Friday Pinterest Board for past Round-Up's and tons of inspiration. For more information about Flannel Friday and how to participate, visit the Flannel Friday site.

And Even More Thanksgiving Stories....

During the two-week rotation on the Storytime Bus, I tried many different Thanksgiving books, but found I ended up using the same 3 or 4 because the others just didn't work as well.  There is definitely a shortage of good Thanksgiving books that work well as a group read-aloud, and I really found myself needing shorter books for the younger kids in particular. 

 I avoid the whole history and origins of Thanksgiving; for one, it's too complicated to try to explain to 3-year olds in a 20-minute storytime, and for another, there really aren't any good children's books that address it in anything close to an accurate and balanced way.  I focus on just being thankful for what we have in general, as that can work for any culture or religion, and the big dinner with family, food, and turkey.  With any given group, I read 2 or 3 books and did 1 or 2 songs/rhymes, in addition to our introduction, letter-of-the-day (Tt), and story song.  These are the books I used at some time during the two weeks (approximately 29 classes altogether):

Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano was my go-to book; it's not too long, very funny, cute pictures, and works well with a broad range of ages.  Everyone loved it!  In this story, poor Turkey is trying to avoid becoming Thanksgiving dinner and attempts a variety of animal disguises, with limited success.  But in the end he comes up with a great idea and manages to make in through Thanksgiving in one piece. 

10 Fat Turkeys by Tony Johnston was my other go-to book, especially for my younger, more wiggly groups since it is not too long and is repetitive and very silly.  Count down from 10 as the fat (and very goofy) turkeys fall off the fence one by one due to their crazy hijinks.  It has rhyming verses with the repeating line, "Gobble, gobble; wibble, wobble" and bold, cute illustrations that keep the kids engaged.

This Is The Turkey by Abby Levine tells the story of a family's big Thanksgiving feast with rhyming verses in the style of This Is The House That Jack Built.  It has a funny twist in the middle when the mother trips and the turkey goes flying off the platter into the fish tank, but Max learns that the most important part of Thanksgiving is spending it together with family and friends.

Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson is a sweet, simple story about sharing and saying thanks.  Bears friends arrive one by one with treats to share, and the gather for a picnic feast.  At first Bear is upset because he has no food to share, but his friends remind him that he has stories and friendship to share.  Jane Chapman's illustrations are beautiful.  This book works with quieter groups, but is not engaging enough for some.

I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Pie by Alison Jackson puts a Thanksgiving twist on the old "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly" song.  It has a fair amount of text, but the rhyme and rhythm help keep the kids engaged, and the kids love the how it grows it absurdity with each verse, and how big she gets at the end.  Many of them don't get the part about her being made into a parade float, since many have never seen one, but it isn't necessary.  I also change the line "perhaps she'll die" to "perhaps she'll cry" for the younger ones, and the kids like joining in. 

The Great Thanksgiving Escape by Mark Fearing is a good, funny story best for slightly older kids, who will appreciate things like the importance of escaping all the hugging and cheek-pinching from the older relatives as Gavin and Rhonda attempt to sneak out to the backyard to play.

I love 'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey, which tells the story of a class of kids on a field trip trying to save the doomed turkeys in the style of the famous Christmas poem by Clement Moore.  I also liked that some of the illustrations are reminiscent of Van Gough's A Starry Night, which is my favorite work of art.  This is a little long, so better for the older kids.

In Sometimes It's Turkey; Sometimes It's Feathers by Lorna Balian, Mrs. Gumm is thrilled to find a turkey egg, and plans on fattening it up in time for Thanksgiving dinner.  But, in the end he turns out to be a guest instead of the main course.  A little long for the younger/wigglier groups.

Thank You, Thanksgiving by David Milgrim is a simple book with little text that shows a little girl being thankful for various things on Thanksgiving day as she walks to the store to buy whipping cream to go with the pumpkin pie. This was the only other short book I had that I hoped would be good for the younger kids, but it was a little too boring for most.

I am a huge fan of the Snappy Little... pop-up books and they are usually a guaranteed hit, but the Snappy Little Thanksgiving fell flat and just wasn't as good or engaging as all the others I've used.  The pop-up pictures just didn't excite the kids like usual, and the text was a little blah.  I think Thanksgiving is just a difficult subject to make exciting.

For activities, we did the rhyme "The Turkey" and the songs "If You're Thankful And You Know It", "The Turkey-Lurkey", and "I'm A Little Turkey":

                                                         I'm a little turkey,
                                                         My name is Ted.
                                                         Here are my feathers,
                                                         Here is my head.
                                                         Gobble, gobble, gobble
                                                         Is all I say.
                                                         Quick, RUN; It's Thanksgiving Day!

How It Went
I'm not sure what it was, but almost everyone seemed more restless and wiggly during the two weeks for this theme.  I don't know if it was the theme or what; I know Thanksgiving isn't as exciting as Halloween or Monsters, but I really tried to pull some fun books and songs.  Maybe there was just something in the air...  I was pleasantly surprised by several kids saying they were thankful for their brothers and sisters;  I certainly wasn't thankful for my siblings when I was that age!  There were also a number of kids who didn't know what a turkey was (thought it was a duck or chicken) and a couple of classes with kids from other cultures who weren't really familiar with Thanksgiving.  One class surprised me with a performance of "Over The River and Through The Woods", complete with actions, and they did a great job.

I was once again made aware of how hard it is to find books related to Thanksgiving that are engaging and aren't too long, and especially books short enough for the 2-3 year olds.  I definitely need to find a couple more short ones before next year.  Turkey Trouble and 10 Fat Turkeys were by far the biggest hits and worked for all ages.  This Is The Turkey and I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Pie were also pretty well received.  I was disappointed that Bear Says Thanks didn't go over better as I think it is a sweet story and I love the pictures.  The Great Thanksgiving Escape and "Twas The Night Before Thanksgiving are really good, but geared more for ages 5-8, so I only used them with 1 or 2 groups.  Since I ended up relying heavily on the same 3 or 4 books, I did find I was getting a bit burned out by the last day or two. 

Although the songs and rhyme I used worked well, I did get a little bored of them as well, so I plan to add a couple of new activities by next year.  I was working on a cute felt board story that I had seen on another blog that would have been a great complement to Turkey Trouble (and can be said as a rhyme or sung to the tune of "My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean"), but it proved to be more time-consuming than I expected and I couldn't get it finished it time, so I will have to save it for next year.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Gobble, Gobble, Wibble, Wobble - Thanksgiving Storytime

I struggled a little with deciding which books to take for my Thanksgiving storytime today.  There are not a whole lot of good Thanksgiving books suitable for storytime, and the ones I like best are a little on the longer side.  I also didn't want to do exactly the same thing as I did last year.  After this group was so out of control the last time, I wasn't sure what to expect today.  I took several books home with me, and went back and forth before finally making a decision.

Of course we started with the usual welcome song, and then talked a little about what Thanksgiving is all about.  It is really hard to get younger kids to focus on Thanksgiving; they will invariable start talking about what they dressed up as for Halloween and the candy they got, or jump ahead and start talking about Christmas and Santa and presents.  I would have liked to talk a little more about the meaning and traditions of Thanksgiving, but I could sense I was about to lose them, so we quickly moved to a song.

Since our "story song" and "If You're Thankful And You Know It" are both based on the classic "If You're Happy And You Know It", I just combined them into one long medley.  For the first part, we sang:

          If you're thankful and you know it, clap your hands.

          If you're thankful and you know it, clap your hands.

          If you're thankful and you know it, then your face will surely show it.

          If you're thankful and you know it, clap your hands.

           ....stomp your feet.....say "I am"......"do all three"

Then went right into:

          If you want to hear a story, have a seat.

          If you want to hear a story, have a seat.

          If you want to hear a story, a Thanksgiving story,

          If you want to hear a story, have a seat.

          ....clap your hands.....say "gobble, gobble"......flap your wings......

          ....tap your knees........say "shhhhh".....

After that, they seemed pretty ready for a story, and I reminded them how they were expected to behave (sit on bottom criss-cross applesauce, ears listening, eyes looking up front, hands in lap, lips zipped) and warned them (gently) that if they couldn't listen I would not keep reading and they would miss out on the stories.

We started with one that was just a little long, but I hoped would keep them engaged with it's silly fun.  Wendi Silvano's Turkey Trouble begins with Turkey having a nightmare about being Thanksgiving dinner, followed by him trying to disguise himself as different farm animals, with only moderate success.  The kids like picking him out on each page, and love the surprise ending.  You can also let them name the different animals and say their sounds, if you like.  This is a fun book that everyone seems to like.  The cover art really hooks them, with the poor turkey's freaked out, scared expression.

They did so well with that story, and still seem pretty settled, I decided to just go straight into the next story, 10 Fat Turkeys by Tony Johnston, since it was fairly short and also fun and silly.  This is a repeat from last year, but I really needed a short book, and could not find one as good or better.  I like that this book is fun, has rhyming verses, and counts down rather than up, which is trickier for kids this age.  I also like that it has a repeating line of "Gobble, gobble, wibble, wobble" the kids can say along with you. 

After that, it was definitely time for a song with lots of movement,

and this time of year that could only mean "The Turkey-Lurkey":

 

          You put your wattle in,        (head)

          You put your wattle out.         
          You put your wattle in, 

          And you shake it all about.
          You do the turkey-lurkey

          And you turn yourself around,
          That's what it's all about.        (clap on each beat)

          Other verses:  wings (arms), drumsticks (legs), tail feathers (bottom),

                                 stuffing (stomach), & whole turkey (whole body).

 

Since they had been doing pretty well, I though they might be able to handle a third book this time, so I asked them if they thought they could sit still and listen to one more story, or were they done.  The majority said they wanted another story, so I proceeded with This Is The Turkey by Abby Levine.  It tells the story of a family's Thanksgiving dinner with rhyming verses and a rhythm similar to This Is The House That Jack Built.  It is a little long in text on a couple of pages, but the repetition and rhythm helps keep them engaged, plus the funny twist in the middle.  I like that this story has humor, but has the message that having everyone together is the most important part of Thanksgiving dinner, and it can be a great day even if the turkey has an unfortunate mishap.f

Then we finished with our closing song, and turkey stamps.

How It Went
Today went much better than last time!  I was pleasantly surprised to find them already sitting in the floor waiting for me when I got there.  Though I still had a few individuals who I had to keep redirecting because they couldn't sit still, were turning around, bothering their neighbors, overall the group did much better as a whole and I felt like I was able to maintain control this time.

They all loved Turkey Trouble, and finding Turkey on each page and critiquing his disguise, and they really loved the ending.  This is a really cute, fun book that seems to work for everyone, from as young as 3 on up.  The also liked the incredibly silly and goofy turkeys in 10 Fat Turkeys.  While they weren't as exuberant about This Is A Turkey, because it is a calmer story to begin with, but they seemed to be listening, and though they started drifting in the middle, the dropped turkey flying off the platter and into the fish tank definitely regained their attention.  They really had fun with "The Turkey-Lurkey" song and all the movement.

I only had one real negative experience today.  They have gotten spoiled by me giving them either hand stamps or stickers at the end, and often interrupt during storytime to ask about them (sometimes I wish I hadn't ever started it!).  Today, after the second story, one little girl jumped up and rushed up to me and demanded "Now give me my sticker"!  I've never seen any of them act like that, and was quite honestly very shocked at her rudeness, and so was her teacher!  I told her sternly, "Victoria!  That was not nice at all," and her teacher immediately called her over and told her how rude that was, then at the end when it was time to give out stickers she had to wait until everyone else got theirs first.  



TBT Thanksgiving

This is my Thanksgiving storytime from a year ago, before I started my blog, and only my second storytime ever.  Since the kids weren't used to me yet, and we hadn't had a chance to establish a regular routine, I kept it short and sweet.

After my first storytime I realized the importance of a beginning routine with repeating elements that the kids can recognize as cues to settle down and get ready for stories, so I planned a routine, with a welcome song (which we sang twice), then introductions of both myself and the theme, followed by what we have come to call our "story song", which is based on the song "If You're Happy And You Know It".  I like this song because you can add as many verses as you need, and change up the actions or included theme-related actions; I start with bigger motions and work down to much quieter ones, always ending with them seated.  Then we went over the rules of storytime, like sitting "criss-cross applesauce", ears should be listening, eyes up front, hand in our laps, and lips zipped.

For the first book, I chose Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson.  While this is not a Thanksgiving book per se, it certainly shows the Thanksgiving spirit with all of Bear's friends bringing food for them all to share.  I wanted to be sure to have at least one book that focused on being thankful, without incorporating any religion.  This is a sweet, simple story with loveable characters and absolutely beautiful painted illustrations by Jane Chapman. 

After that, a couple of action rhymes for a little movement (doing each twice).  The first uses ASL signs for the motions.  There are several sites online for ASL that will not only describe the sign, but show video, which makes it much easier to learn.

                                                        "We Are Thankful"

          We are thankful for the food we eat.            (make sign for thank you & eat)
          We are thankful for the friends we meet.     (make sign for thank you & friends)
          We are thankful for the golden sun,             (make sign for thank you & sun)
          the trees, the birds, and everyone.              (make sing for tree, bird, and everyone)

 
                                                      "The Turkey"

          The turkey is a funny bird,
          His head goes wobble, wobble.          (wobble head from side to side)
          All he knows is just one word,             (hold up 1 finger)
          "Gobble, gobble, gobble." 

 After that, we were ready to settle back down for our second story, this time a silly turkey story.  I thought it best to stick with stories about turkeys, family, and generally being thankful.  There are not a lot of good Thanksgiving books suitable for preschool storytime, but 10 Fat Turkeys by Tony Johnston is mercifully short, silly enough to entertain the kids, has counting down from 10, rhyming verses, and a repeating line for the kids to say along.  The illustrations are really funny and cute.  (For even younger ones, Salina Yoon has a somewhat similar Five Silly Turkeys board book.)

Then we closed with a rousing round of "The Turkey-Lurkey":

You put your wattle [head] in, you put your wattle out.
You put your wattle in, and you shake it all about.
You do the turkey-lurkey and you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.        (clap on each beat)

Other verses:  wings (arms), drumsticks (legs), tail feathers (bottom), stuffing (stomach), & whole turkey (whole body).

Though I had brought another book (The Night Before Thanksgiving by Natasha Wing), I decided not to bother with it, and we ended with our closing song.

How It Went
I had about 10-12 kids, and it went really well this time, better than the first time.  Most of the kids did a great job listening this time, and there was no jumping up.  I think having the opening routine, especially the "story song", really helped get them more settled and ready to listen.

The kids really enjoyed the songs and rhymes, asking to do the welcome song again and participating really well with the signs and motions.  They liked the stories, especially the silly turkeys in 10 Fat Turkeys and enjoyed counting them.  The one thing that surprised me is I thought they would really get into saying the "Gobble, gobble; wibble, wobble" line that repeats in each verse, but they didn't. 

Of course they LOVED doing the "Turkey-Lurkey" with it's silly turkey names for body parts and all the movement. They asked for another story, but we were out of time and I wasn't sure they could really handle another one.  Always better to leave them wanting more, rather than extend it past their attention span, right?