Storytime Goes to the Zoo, and Summer Reading Prizes

This week I've been doing Zoo-themed storytimes with our Storytime-To-Go program, and when pulling one of my favorite books to use, Wild About Books, I discovered one by the same creative team that the kids liked even better, Zoozical. I decided to use both of these, along with a book with photographs of animals today for my regular storytime.

We started with our welcome song, then I gave them clues about what our theme was for the day, and they soon guessed it. We all shared what our favorite animal at the zoo was, then we sang our story song to help us settle down and get ready for our first book, Wild About Books by Judy Sierra and Marc Brown.

This is a really cute story about a librarian who drives the bookmobile to the zoo mistake, and soon has the animals all reading books. They like reading so much that they decide to try writing their own stories. Soon they have enough books to build their own zoobrary. This is great for older kids and/or family storytime as there are several inside jokes and puns that add humor, and it is written is Seussian rhyme as an homage to Dr. Seuss.

After that, we needed to burn off some energy, so we did several verses of "If You're A Zoo Animal And You Know It", so the kids could imitate animal sounds and movements. Some of the verses we did were:

If you're a lion and you know it, give a roar...

If you're a bear and you know it, give a growl....

If you're a penguin and you know it, give a waddle....

If you're a snake and you know it, give a hiss....

If you're an alligator and you know it, snap your jaws....

If you're a monkey and you know it, say "Oooh, ooooh; eeee, eeeee"

For our second book I chose one with photographs of real animals, Z for Zoo by Roger Priddy. This book is a large board book with short, simple text and a couple of flaps to lift, so it is very good for younger kids, and I thought would give a nice break betweeen the two longer books in Suessian rhyme.

We ended up not really reading the text, but letting the kids identify each animal, and then I'd tell them one or two interesting facts.

Since our final book incorporates several typical storytime songs, I didn't stop to do an activity, but went on to the last book, Zoozical, also by Judy Sierra and Marc Brown and clearly inspired by the musical Seussical. In this fun story, the animals are all bored and grumpy because it's wintertime and no one is coming to see them, and it's too cold to be outside. A young hippo and kangaroo start hopping around dancing and soon all the other animals are drawn by the hip-hop beat. They are having so much fun, the animals decide to put on a musical show, a "Zoozical". The animals all sing familiar songs, changing some of the words slightly to fit them.

After that, we sang our closing song and passed out stickers, then I got to do one of my favorite things, give the kids books that they get to keep and take home as part of our summer reading program! At the beginning of the summer, we pass out reading logs to each class, and they check off boxes for every time they read for 20 minutes or visit the library, with a goal of 30 for the summer. Then at the end of the summer, we deliver prize books to everyone that participated as a reward. 

We have board books for babies and toddlers, picture books from preschool through kindergarten, and early readers and beginning chapter books for any school aged kids. I bring a large selection and spread them out on a table so the children can look over them and pick out one they like. Some are very decisive, some agonize over picking the perfect book, and the little ones are a bit overwhelmed and don't quite understand, so the teachers have to guide them, or choose for them most of the time, but everyone gets a book!

How It Went

When I arrived, the kid were all sitting on the floor waiting for me, so still and quiet it was almost eerie; that didn't last long, LOL! Though they were enthusiastic about the topic, Wild About Books didn't seem to hold their interest at all. I think it was just a little bit too sophisticated for them, but groups with just slightly older kids have really enjoyed it in the past. Zoozical fared a bit better, since it had snippets of a number of songs they were familiar with and they sang along with some of them. The first group I read this book to on Wednesday actually applauded at the end, cheering "Bravo, bravo!". They did really like the photographs in Z is for Zoo and getting to imitate animals with the song we did.

They were very excited about getting to pick out their very own book to keep, and the staff was very appreciative as well. It is so rewarding to see their faces light up when they find the right book. This group was so engrossed in looking at their books, I had a hard time getting them to look up at the camera and hold them up!

My Storytime Is A Zoo!

Last week I finished up our two weeks of zoo-themed storytimes on the Storytime Bus. Animals of any kind are always a hit with kids, especially if they get to imitate their movements and sounds! I ended up using a wider range of books than usual, as a couple of my favorites were a little long or sophisticated for most of my groups. Each storytime started with our opening story song and letter-of-the-day (Zz), then we read 2-3 books and sang 1 or 2 songs, depending on time and the mood of kids.

The Books

Wild About Books by Judy Sierra & Marc Brown was the perfect zoo story for the storytime bus! In this story the librarian accidentally drives the bookmobile to the zoo, and the animals soon find they love reading, then build their own branch "zoobrary"! Older kids and adults will appreciate the references to well known literature. It's a little too long for the younger kids.

In My School's A Zoo! by Stu Smith & David Catrow, a boy wakes up to find his family, bus driver, and whole school have turned into zoo animals! He is understandably shocked and upset, and tries to figure out what is going on, only to fall asleep on the bus home. The next thing he knows, his bus driver is waking him up and everything is back to normal.

Stop Snoring, Bernard! by Zachariah Ohora is a funny story about Bernard, an otter who loves everything about living at the zoo, especially naptime. Unfortunately, Bernard has a snoring problem which disturbs the other animals. Kids enjoy making the sound effects, and saying the repeated line, "Stop snoring, Bernard".

Zoo Ah-choooo by Peter Mandel & Elwood Smith is based on a cute story idea, but the writing definitely leaves room for improvement. But, the kids find it funny, and love saying all the "ah-choo"s. This is one book I break my rule about reading as written and do a little editing to make it flow more smoothly, and leaving out some of the confusing or oddly repetitive phrases.

ZooBorns! by Andrew Bleiman & Chris Eastman is a great "awww"-inducing book with photographs of baby zoo animals from all over the world. It's a little long, so I find I end up not reading all the text. There is a paragraph of information about each animal at the end, including where it's from and it's status on the endangered list.

Eric Carle's 1, 2, 3 To The Zoo is a simple counting story with his usual wonderful illustrations. The animals are riding a train to their new zoo, with each car carrying a different type and number of animal, so you can work on counting, number recognition, animal identification, and colors. See if the kids notice the little mouse on each page.

Z Is For Zoo by Roger Priddy is a large board book with lift-a-flaps and beautiful color photographs of zoo animals. The text is very short and simple; good for 2-3 year-old's.

A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip & Erin Stead is a modern classic about a loyal and kindly zookeeper who goes to work every day and takes excellent care of the animals. But, when one day Amos is sick and doesn't show up, the animals decide to take care of him.

That's Good! That's Bad! by Margery Cuyler & David Catrow is a fun story with lots of twists and turns as a young boy accidentally floats away from his parents with a balloon. He ends up having many animal adventures, and with each new development, the audience can decide whether they think it's good or bad. Adults will appreciate the tongue-in-cheek ending of the stork dropping him back in his parents' arms.

Felicity Floo Visits the Zoo by E. S. Redmond tells the unfortunate tale of how all the zoo animals got sick when a young girl with a cold wiped her snotty nose on her hands and then touched all the animals, spreading her germs everywhere, illustrated by green handprints. This would be a great book for a program about germs and good hygiene!

In Il Sung Na's latest book, The Opposite Zoo, a cheeky monkey slips out of his cage after closing time and explores the rest of the zoo. Several pairs of opposites are illustrated as he visits the other animals. The characteristic charming illustrations are vaguely impressionist, and the text is short and simple.

The Activities 

I ended up just doing songs this time, focusing mostly on imitating the animal sounds and/or movements. I definitely need to come up with a couple of additional activities using the flannel/magnetic board next time.

The Animals At The Zoo

(to the tune of "The Wheels On The Bus")

The lions at the zoo go Roar, roar, roar;

Roar, roar, roar; Roar, roar, roar.

The lions at the zoo go Roar, roar, roar,

All day long.

[I let the kids suggest other animals and sounds/movements, 

prompting if needed. Some of the others we came up with are below.]

The tigers at the zoo growl, growl, growl....

The snakes at the zoo go hiss, hiss, hiss....

The kangaroos at the zoo go hop, hop, hop....

The penguins at the zoo go waddle, waddle, waddle....

The wolves at the zoo go howl, howl, howl....

The seals at the zoo go bark, bark, bark....

_________________________

If You're An Elephant And You Know I[

(to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It")

If you're an elephant and you know it, raise your trunk.

If you're an elephant and you know it, raise your trunk.

If you're an elephant and you know it, 

Then your trunk will surely show it.

If you're an elephant and you know it, raise your trunk.

[Again, I tried to let the kids suggest the animals & actions, but prompted if needed]

_________________________

Animal Fair

Oh, I went to the animal fair;

the birds and the beasts were there.

The old baboon, by the light of the moon,

Was combing his auburn hair.

The monkey climbed and jumped,

And sat on the elephant's trunk.

The elephant sneezed - ACHOO! - and fell to his knees,

And what became of the monk, the monk, the monk?

[I was surprised that none of the kids thought the monkey got squished,

as I had always thought when I heard this song as a child.]

How It Went 

Overall, it went well. Of course with it being summer the kids are a little more restless and a little harder to keep engaged since they are out of their normal school year routines at the daycares and have so many special activities going on, like going to the pool. Storytime is *almost* a lost cause if it's pool day! They are just soooo excited about going to the pool, they can't stand it!  So, with those groups I try to pull the shortest, yet most engaging and interactive books, do more songs, and do a slightly shorter storytime. I would rather shorten it, than try to force it and have everyone leaving frustrated!

The books all worked pretty well, though as much as I love Wild About Books, I only used it with a couple of groups that I knew had the attention span and the familiarity with some of the other books mentioned to be able to pay attention and really get it.  But those that did really liked it, and thought we should take the Storytime Bus to the zoo some time and have storytime for the animals. I was also pleasantly surprised the group I read My School's A Zoo! to did figure out it was all a dream; I was afraid that would go right over their heads.

And since kids always like imitating animals, most of them loved participating in the songs, except the ones that were tired, hot, and cranky from playing outside. Sometimes it was a challenge to come up with a suitable sound or movement for the animals they suggested, but we always managed to come up with something!

We're Going To The Zoo

This week begins a series of summer fun storytimes.  One thing many families do during the summer is take a trip to the zoo.  We started with our usual opening song, introductions, and lead-in song.  During the introductions we discussed our favorite zoo animals. 

Our first story was Zoo Ah-Choooo by Peter Mandel.  This story begins with a sleepy zoo day, interrupted by a loud sound, which turns out to be the snow leopard sneezing.  One by one, the sneeze spreads to the other animals.  I chose this book because I thought the kids would enjoy all the different sneezing sounds, and I could tell them my story about being sneezed on by the elephant at the zoo when I was about their age.  The story is cute and funny, but I do think the text could have been written a little better; it is a bit awkward in some places.

Elephant sneezes also remind me of the classic "Animal Fair" song my mom used to sing when I was a kid, so I had to include that (though I modified the line about the monkey getting drunk):

          I went to the animal fair,
          the birds and the beasts were there.
          The big baboon by the light of the moon
          was combing his auburn hair.

          The monkey climbed and jumped,
          and sat on the elephant's trunk.
          The elephant sneezed, and fell on his knees.
          What became of the monk?  The monk, the monk....

And of course you can't mention monkeys without doing one of the "Five Little Monkeys" rhymes, and I chose to do the one where they are swinging in a tree and taunting the alligator:

          Five little monkeys swinging in a tree.               (hold up 5 fingers, wiggle)
          Teasing Mr. Alligator, "Can't catch me!"            (put thumbs in ears & waggle hands)
          Here comes Mr. Alligator slowly as can be,       (put hands together, horizontal)
          snatched that monkey right out of the tree.        (snap hands together)

          Four, three, two, one.....No more monkeys swinging in the tree.

For our second story we read Karen Beaumont's latest book, Wild About Us!  I chose this first because I fell in love with the smiling crocodile on the front cover, but all of the illustrations are very well done, fairly realistic, yet also with a cute, cartoon-ish quality.  The text has a great rhyme and cadence, which makes it fun to read.  At first I thought the message of being proud of what makes you different, and not judging people by appearance was a little heavy-handed, but after I read it a second time out loud, I changed my mind.

We followed that up with a rousing round of "If You're An Animal And You Know It," using several different zoo animals and their corresponding sounds or actions to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It".  The kids always love doing these type songs, and can be expected to get a little loud and rowdy, but it's all in good fun.

          If you're an elephant and you know it, swing your trunk.
          If you're an elephant and you know it, swing your trunk.
          If you're an elephant and you know it, your trunk will surely show it.
          If you're an elephant and you know it, swing your trunk.

          Lion....give a roar, monkey....go "Ooh, ooh", snake...say "hissssss",
          hippo....wiggle your behind, crocodile...snap your jaws.

For our last book I chose Zoo Borns! by Andrew Bleiman because everyone loves cute baby animals, and the kids could try to guess what they were.  Some are pretty easy, but there were some animals in there even I would not have known, like the okapi.  The book has beautiful up close photographs with the name of the animal and a little blurb.  At the end of the book, it gives more information about each animal and what zoo they were from.  Then we ended with our closing song followed by a hand stamp.

How It Went
Today ended up being rather frustrating.  I got to the daycare to find that my regular kids were gone, attending VBS at one of the churches that sponsors the center.  I really wish they had let me know, and I would've just saved it for next time, but they wanted me to go ahead and do storytime with the group of stragglers that were still there, kids that didn't get to daycare in time to go with the group to VBS.  These were all kids I had not had before and didn't know the routine, and were on the younger side.  If I had known, I would have prepared a different storytime and I was kicking myself for not having any shorter books.

As it was, I had a very hard time keeping them engaged in the first book and the first song and rhyme.  However, they did really like Wild About Us! and listened much better with that one.  I think the bold illustrations of just a single animal on each page attracted and held their attention much better, as well as the rhyming text.  They also liked doing the "If You're an Animal and You Know It" song and imitating all the animals.  By the time we got to Zoo Borns! I didn't even try to read the text, just told them the animal's name and let them guess what kind of animal it was.

Lesson Learned - ALWAYS bring at least one shorter book, even if you know your group can handle longer.  You never know what might come up.....