"C" Is For Cookie

I've toyed with the idea of a cookie-themed storytime for a while since I knew of several great books, and who doesn't like cookies, but I was hesitant out of fear that it would be cruel to talk so much about cookies and not give the kids any (allergy concerns as it was at daycare, not with parents). But after several people assured me they had done it without issues, and I came up with the idea of introducing it with the focus on the letter "C" instead of cookies, I decided to give it a try. I also made a rare discovery in the process (more on that at the end).

We started with our welcome song, then I told them we were going to talk about the letter "C" and showed them an uppercase and lowercase "Cc". I had them make a "C"-shape by curling their fingers and thumb, then by drawing in the air with their finger. We talked about the two sounds the letter "C" makes, the "s" sound as in "circle" and the "k" sound, like in "Colby" and "Carlton" (we actually used two names of kids in the class). Then I showed them examples of other "C" words, ending with "C is for Cookie".

"Hey, I know a song like that, and I bet you do, too! It's sung by my favorite monster, Cookie Monster!"

"C" Is For Cookie

"C" is for cookie, that's good enough for me.

"C" is for cookie, that's good enough for me.

"C" is for cookie, that's good enough for me,

Oh, cookie, cookie, cookie starts with "C"!

[followed by munching of many pretend cookies]

I didn't show them the video, but just in case you're not familiar with the song or *gasp* the character, here it is:

We followed that with our "story song" and then read our first book, Who Ate All The Cookie Dough? by Karen Beaumont and Eugene Yelchin (uncle of the late actor Anton Yelchin, who played Chekov in the latest Star Trek re-boot). I have to say, I love this book; it's the one that originally gave me the idea for a cookie theme the first time I read it. Mama Kangaroo made some cookie dough, but when she was ready to bake cookies, it was all gone! 

She goes around asking all the other animals if they know who ate it, but the culprit turns out to be closer to home. I like that this book is relatively short and simple, and has a nice rhythm with lots of repetition to encourage the audience to join in. This is a great book for the older toddler-younger preschooler crowd. Plus, I can definitely relate to eating cookie dough ;)

After that, we pretended to make cookies, using an action rhyme I originally found at Sunflower Storytime, but this time I modified it a little bit. I start by telling the kids we are going to pretend to make cookies, so to get out their bowls (hold arm out as if holding a big bowl) and first add butter, then sugar, and then crack two eggs and add them, but to be very careful not get the shells in! Then we proceed with the poem, continuing to act it out.

Making Cookies

          We are making cookie dough.          (hold out arms like a bowl)
          Round and round the beaters go.     (move hand around bowl, twirling finger)
          Add some flour; just 2 cups.            (dump in 2 cups)
          Stir and stir the batter up.               (stirring motion)
          Roll them, cut them nice and neat.   (rolling pin motion)
          Put them on a cookie sheet.            (place pretend cookies)
          Bake them, cool them on a rack,     (pretend to place on rack, blow)
          Serve them to my friends for snack!    (pretend to hand out & eat)

At the end, we compared what kind of cookies we each made, were they chocolate chip, sugar cookies, gingerbread men, oatmeal, peanut butter, etc.

The next book was Keisha Cane and Her Very Sweet Tooth by Ashley Foxx and April Foxx. Keisha Cane's love of sweets often gets her into trouble. One night, she sneaks out of bed and tries to steal some cookies out of the cookie jar, but accidentally breaks it! Knowing she will be in trouble, she tries to clean up the mess, but in the process makes one mess after the other!

I just happened to find this in our catalog when I searched for juvenile fiction with the subject of "cookie". It turned out to be a great book with humor and drama, lovely cut-paper collage illustrations, and entertaining but with a good message. Plus it featured a character of color, which was a great bonus. I also loved the way the author had Keisha's mother call her by just her first name when she found the first mess, first and last name when she found the second mess, and all three names when she found the last mess! Unfortunately this was the only copy in our whole system, and was coming apart. 

Upon looking to buy a replacement, I discovered it was a unicorn! That rare, self-published book that was good, and had met the criteria to be included in the collection; all the others I've seen have been pretty bad. It was great to see a good self-published book, but sad that there are no more copies available for purchase anywhere. It was written by a Memphis kindergarten teacher who was frustrated at not being able to find many good books for her students with characters that looked like them. I hope this author finds a publisher and re-releases this book in hardback, and continues to write more.

After we read the last book, we sang our closing song and passed out stickers. [I had also brought If You Give A Mouse A Cookie by Laura Numeroff and The Duckling Gets A Cookie!? by Mo Willems, but decided two books was enough for today since the second was on the longer side.]

How It Went
Despite my initial qualms, this storytime went really well, and no one was disappointed I didn't have cookies for them; in fact, no one even asked! I think introducing the theme as being the letter "Cc" helped, and we made a big show of eating pretend cookies at the end of both the song and the action rhyme, both of which they really enjoyed.

Both books worked very well. As I expected, Who Ate All The Cookie Dough? was perfect for them. With it's short length and simple rhyming and repeating text, they couldn't help but start saying it along with me, and they liked seeing all the different animals. Most of them thought the monkey ate it, but I think one observant child noticed the joey's ears peeking out above Mama Kangaroo's apron. This is a must-have for a storytime collection.

Keisha Cane had just a little too much text on a few pages for some of them, but overall they really seemed to like this book, and recognized Keisha was just digging herself deeper and deeper in trouble. When she first reached into the cookie jar, once little boy said dramatically, "She's gonna get a whoopin'!" Some of them could hardly stand the suspense, knowing Keisha was eventually going to get caught, and all adults chuckled when Keisha's name got progressively longer each time her mother yelled it. We all know you're in BIG trouble when your mother uses all three of your names! 

I think the kids were relieved to see Keisha did NOT, in fact, get a "whoopin'," but rather her mother talked to her and helped her to see that it just made things worse to try to fix your mistakes by yourself, and that they still loved her even if she made mistakes, and even when they got mad at her. I think this is a good message for kids to hear. I am so disappointed to find I can't buy a hardback copy of Keisha Cane for myself, or to replace the paperback copy we have that is falling apart.

In The Jungle

We concluded our 2-week rotation of "Jungle"-themed storytimes with the Storytime-To-Go program this week. Like most animal themes, this one was well-received and had some great books and fun activities. I saw an average of 4-5 groups each day for a 20-30 minute storytime per group. Each storytime started with an introduction, the letter-of-the-day (Jj), and our "story song", followed by 2-3 book and 1-3 activities.

The Books 

(Click on picture for full-size image)

Tall by Jez Alborough, very little text, shows how "small" and "tall" are relative terms
Hide And Seek in the Jungle by Sean Callery, lift-a-flap with clues, mothers & babies
Tiny Little Fly by Michael Rosen & Kevin Waldrow, interactive, repetition
Do Crocs Kiss? by Salina Yoon, lift-a-flap, animal sounds, rhyming text
Count The Monkeys by Mac Barnett & Kevin Cornell, highly interactive, silly, very fun!
Splash! by Flora McDonnell, very short and simple, good for the younger kids
Five Little Monkey Reading In Bed by Eileen Christelow, little longer, but fun
Wild Child by Steven Salerno, adults will appreciate most, lots of sounds & actions
Just The Thing by Damian Harvey & Lynne Chapman, cute and funny, little long
What To Do If an Elephant Stands On Your Foot by Michelle Robinson & Peter Reynolds
Giant Pop-Out Safari! by Chronicle Books, short & simple, good for younger kids
If You're Happy And You Know It - Jungle Edition by James Warhola, to be sung

And I completely forgot to include my favorite book in the photo above because it wasn't with the others, It's A Tiger! by David LaRochelle & Jeremy Tankard. This is a great storytime book because it can be very interactive and include lots of movement in acting out the story: running, stooping down, climbing, swinging, jumping, and swimming.

I always tell the kids, "You know how when we have stories I ask you to sit criss-cross applesauce and put your hands in your lap? Well, guess what! Our next story is NOT a sit-down-and-be-still story, it's a stand-up-and-move story!"

The Activities

There were a couple of other songs and rhymes I tried, but didn't really seem to go over that well, so I'm just going to include the ones the kids really liked and I used repeatedly, which were the two different "Five Little Monkeys" rhymes, and a song that allowed them to make animal sounds.

Five Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed

Five little monkeys, jumping on the bed.

(hold up 5 fingers, move hand up & down)

One fell off and bumped his head.

(Put hand to head)

Mama called the doctor, and the doctor said,

(hold hand to mouth & ear like phone)

"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

(point and wag finger at audience)

Four little monkeys....[continue down to zero]

________________________

Five Little Monkeys Swinging In A Tree

Five little monkeys, swinging in a tree;

(Hold up 5 fingers, swing hand from side to side)

Teasing Mr. Crocodile, "Can't catch me!"

(Waggle hands, use sing-song voice)

Along came Mr. Crocodile, as quiet as can be,

(move hands together slowly)

And SNAPPED! that monkey right out of the tree!

(clap hand loudly)

Four little monkeys....[continue down to zero]

No little monkeys sitting in the tree,

(shake head, make zero with hand)

Just Mr. Crocodile, as happy as can be!

(big smile, rub belly)

I had a storytelling glove and velcro monkeys and crocodile I used sometimes, but sometimes I just did the hand motions so I could do the big clap at the end.

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I Went To The Jungle One Day

I went to the jungle one day, 

Jungle one day, jungle one day.

Saw a  lion  on the way, 

And this is what he said: "Roar, Roar!"

Fill in the blanks with appropriate animals and sounds (or say "did" instead of "said" to incorporate actions). Suggestions are: monkey - "Ooo, ooo; eee eee", elephant - trumpet, crocodile - snap, snap, gorilla - beat chest, tiger - "Growl, growl", etc. I used the photos above to hold up so they would know what animal to say for each verse.

How It Went

The kids really enjoyed this theme. The books *I* enjoyed doing the most were Count The Monkeys and It's A Tiger!. They seemed to work well with all ages, and we all had a lot of fun with them. When I was giving my spiel about It's A Tiger! being a stand-up-and-move-around kind of a book, not a sit-criss-cross-applesauce-and-be-still kind of a book, this one boy started smiling. I asked him if that sounded good to him, and he smiled even bigger and nodded enthusiastically. This is a must-have book for any storytime collection, in my opinion.

What To Do If An Elephant Stands On Your Foot worked well with the groups that were a little older or more sophisticated who could follow the humor. The other kids still seemed to like it, but they didn't really get it or fully appreciate it. I further demonstrated the relativity of small and tall after reading Tall by first having two kids stand, and asking the group if the taller child was tall or small. Of course they all said "tall". Then I stood up and asked, "What about now?" and they all giggled. Wild Child is probably most appreciated by adults, or older kids with a colicky younger sibling at home.

They all loved doing both "Five Little Monkey" rhymes and already knew them, so I had great participation, and of course they never get tired of making animal sounds, especially roaring! I have learned to leave the roaring to the kids; after multiple storytimes roaring will destroy your voice! Same for the hard clapping, after a while, it starts to hurt.

Monkey Business!

I've been doing a "Jungle" theme on the Storytime Bus this week, and one of the books I've really enjoyed using is Mac Barnett's Count The Monkeys, so I decided to build my regular Friday storytime around it, with a "Monkey" theme, especially since most of the kids seem to know and really enjoy doing the "Five Little Monkeys" rhymes.

I started with our welcome song, then introduced myself since this was only the first or second time most of the class has had me for storytime. Then to introduce the topic we did the "Five Little Monkeys Jumping In Bed":

Five little monkeys, jumping in bed.

One fell off and bumped his (her) head.

Mama called the doctor, and the doctor said,

"No more monkeys jumping in bed!"

[Repeat, counting down to zero. Hold up fingers for the number of monkeys, put hand to head for the bump, and use hand to imitate talking on the phone, wag finger when the doctor says no more jumping on the bed]

We talked a bit about why you shouldn't jump on the bed, and then sang our story song to help us get settled for our first book.

Kiki's Blankie by Janie Bynum is a cute story about a little monkey who is very attached to her blankie, which most kids can relate to because they remember having a blankie or stuffed animal they were attached to (or still are). Kiki takes her blankie everywhere, and uses it as a napkin, a bandana, a superhero cape, and more. But then one day the wind blows it away, and she must rescue it from a scary crocodile! Will she ever get it back?

Since Kiki had to climb the coconut tree to rescue her blankie, I decided to transition into singing a song about a monkey climbing a coconut tree.

Itsy Bitsy Monkey

(to the tune of "Itsy Bitsy Spider")

Itsy, bitsy monkey climbed up the coconut tree.

(pretend to climb)

Down came a coconut and bopped her on the knee.

(hold fist up, then bring down & hit knee)

Out came her mommy and kissed away the pain,

(hug self, bend down and make kiss sound)

And the itsy, bitsy monkey climbed up the tree again!

(pretend to climb)

*Source: Library Village

Next we read the book that was the inspiration for today's theme, Count The Monkeys by Mac Barnett and Kevin Cornell. This book is so much fun to do in storytime! It has everything: animals, counting, unexpected twists, silliness, and a surprise ending. 

We start out to count the monkeys, only to find a king cobra has chased them all away. Luckily, two mongooses (or is it mongeese??) chase him off. But then three crocodiles show up! It's one thing after another, and we fear we are never going to see those monkeys! The story prompts a lot of interaction with the audience; it reminds me a lot of Tap The Magic Tree, only sillier and with counting!

Since we had crocodiles in both of our stories, it only made sense to do a rhyme with monkeys and a crocodile (this one is more often said as an alligator, but I use either alligator or crocodile, depending on what goes best with our stories).

Five Little Monkeys Swinging In A Tree

Five little monkeys swinging in a tree,

(hold up 5 fingers, swing hand back and forth)

Teasing Mr. Crocodile, "Can't catch me!"

(move hands & head in teasing gestures, use sing-song voice)

Along comes Mr. Crocodile, as quiet as can be,

(move hands together)

And SNAPS! that monkey right out of that tree!

(Clap hand together loudly like jaws snapping)

[Continue counting down to zero monkeys]

No little monkeys swinging in a tree,

(shake head sadly)

Just Mr. Crocodile as happy as can be!

(Grin and rub belly)

For our last story I read one I've used before in a "Shark Week" storytime, The Monkey Goes Bananas by C. P. Bloom and Peter Raymundo. This book tells the story of a monkey stuck on one island, who spies a banana tree on another island. Sadly, the waters in between are patrolled by a fierce shark. Will he ever get the delicious bunch of bananas?

This story is simply told with only one or two words on each spread, relying on the narrator's expression and the illustrations to tell the tale of the best laid plans going awry, and narrow escapes. In the end, the audience will be surprised by who ends up with the banana.

I had thought about doing the "Go Bananas" chant before we closed, but the group was already getting a bit wound up, so I decided against it, and just went ahead and concluded with our closing song and stickers. This week I had extra special scratch-'n-sniff stickers! And no, they did not smell like monkeys, but like bananas, and the kids were very amazed.

How It Went 

While they were not the perfect little angels that they were last time (which I expected), they were still pretty good, especially considering most of them have only just turned 3, only their second storytime with me, and it was a larger group today (16 compared to 12 last time). There was some wiggling, talking, and getting up, but overall I still think they were very engaged most of the time. 

They seemed to like all of the books and songs/rhymes we did, and since most (if not all) knew both "Five Little Monkeys" rhymes, I had excellent participation, both with saying the words and doing the motions. They laughed at Kiki's falling asleep on top of the washer and dryer while waiting for her blankie to get dry, loved the silliness and the inter-activeness of Count The Monkeys, and the drama of The Monkey Goes Bananas. They LOVED telling me they saw the monkeys in the end-papers of Count The Monkeys, after we had given up on ever seeing them.

I got quite a few hugs at the end, and one boy in particular said he had to give me a BIG hug. This is my third school year coming to this classroom (where I got my start doing storytime), and they always remind me of how much I love my job!

And, of course I can't talk about monkeys and not include this video:

Pets, Pets, and More Pets!

When I started with the Storytime-To-Go program, several kits had already been developed, including one for "Cats" and two for "Dogs". I really didn't want to spend an entire two weeks reading stories JUST about cats, or JUST about dogs, so I pulled a few good books from each and added several books that were about all kinds of pets and some with unusual pets.

I saw an average of 5 groups each day, starting each session with our "story song" and Letter-Of-The-Day (Pp), then reading 2-3 books and doing 1-2 songs/activities with each. Each session runs 20-30 minutes, depending upon whether the class arrives on time or not.

The Books 

(Click on picture for full-sized image)

Widget by Lyn Rossiter McFarland & Jim McFarland (very cute, counting & imitation)
Ah-Choo! by Lara Wayne Koehler & Gloria G. Adams (pet allergies, lots of sneezing)
Melissa's Octopus and Other Unsuitable Pets by Charlotte Voake (dark humor)
The Doghouse by Jan Thomas (suspense, surprise twist)
Come Out and Play, Little Mouse by Robert Kraus, Jose Aruego, & Ariane Dewey (repetition, days of the week)
Hieronymus Betts and His Unusual Pets by M. P. Robertson (funny, surprise ending)
Cats Are Cats by Valeri Gorbachev (short, but funny, unexpected results)
I Don't Want A Cool Cat! by Emma Dodd (lots of different cats, good rhythm)
Kitty's Cuddles by Jane Cabrera (short and sweet, good for younger audience)
The Grumpy Pets by Kristine Lombardi (cute story, identify expressions & feelings)

*For older kids I would also suggest Dr. Seuss' What Pet Should I Get?, and Emma Dodd also has one called What Pet To Get I wanted to use, but was checked out.

The Activities 

Being a Big Bang Theory fan, of course I had to do "Soft Kitty", the song Sheldon wants when he's sick:

Soft kitty, warm kitty;

Little ball of fur.

Happy kitty, sleepy kitty,

Purr, purr, purr.

*Source: Willis Music

_________________________

I also had an action rhyme that lets the kids get some movement in, imitating different animals, and ends with them sitting down, ready for the next story.

"Can You?"

Can you hop like a rabbit?

Can you jump like a frog?

Can you waddle like a duck?

Can you wag your tail like a dog?

Can you fly like a bird?

Can you swim like a fish?

Can you sit back down and be still like this?

_________________________

"B-I-N-G-O"

There was a farmer had a dog,

and "Bingo" was his name-oh.

B - I - N - G - O!

B - I - N - G - O!

B - I - N - G - O!

And "Bingo" was his name-oh!

I did a little twist on the traditional version. We would repeat the song 5 more times, and with each verse I would remove a letter, starting with "B". But instead of clapping in its place, I would replace the letter with a dog on the board and have the kids bark instead.

_________________________

In addition to the above activities, I used the tunes to "Wheels On The Bus" or "If You're Happy And You Know It" to have them do songs with different animals and their sounds or motions on the first day, but the kids seemed a little bored with them as we do use them fairly often, so I avoided them and only used the other activities the rest of the rotation.

How It Went

Kids love animals and any animal theme is usually a hit, and this was no exception. The kids all loved sharing about their pets, and it was very interesting to hear about some of the unusual pets they had. While most of them had dogs or cats, there was an occasional rabbit, bird, frog, or turtle, and I had one little girl insist she had a pet penguin and a couple of other kids who were adamant they had a pet elephant at home!

All of the above books worked really well, but some of the favorites were Ah-choo!, The Grumpy Pets, The Doghouse, and Hieronymus Betts and His Unusual Pets.  Hieronymus Betts is a particular favorite of mine as well, and those of us with little brothers especially appreciate the humor. I was slightly surprised that a couple of kids correctly predicted that one of the fish in Cats Are Cats was going to turn out to be a big shark, and they all had fun sneezing along with Ah-Choo! Some of the kids were familiar with "Soft Kitty", and all enjoyed acting like all the different animals in "Can You?" and barking like dogs with "B-I-N-G-O".

I had one really sweet girl compliment me on my skirt and earrings when she first came in, then sidle up to me before she left and tell me I was "really pretty", which of course made my day. On the last day one little boy cracked all the adults up as I was reading Melissa's Octopus and Other Unsuitable Pets. When I got to the chameleon, he broke out with "Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon..." For you youngsters, that's a song by Boy George and Culture Club from the 80's; I have no idea how this 4-year old knew it!

Things That Go

[Last week I officially started my MLIS program, which is going to take up a significant amount of my free time, so in order to keep blogging somewhat regularly, I'm going to have to simplify things a bit. The posts that summarize my 2-week rotations with the Storytime-To-Go program have been taking a significant amount of time to write because I use so many books. So I've decided I'll have to drop the descriptions of each book and just list the titles and authors.]

This rotation was "Things That Go", featuring stories about cars, trucks, trains, boats, firetrucks, construction vehicles, and more. I saw an average of 5 groups a day, and read 2-3 stories and did 1-2 songs/activities with each group, in addition to our "story song" to begin and our Letter-Of-The-Day. This week I chose to use the letter "Gg" since in both the words "things" and "that" start with the "th" digraph rather than a simple "t" sound.

The Books 




(Click on the picture to see the full-sized version.)

The Bus Is For Us by Michael Rosen & Gillian Taylor, (after all, we were on a bus)

Maisy's Book of Things That Go by Lucy Cousins, (pull-tab pictures that move)

Zoom! by Diane Adams & Kevin Luthardt, (roller coaster)

Mr. Gumpy's Outing by John Burningham, (a classic, lots of animals)

Giant Pop-Out Vehicles by Amelia Powers, (good for ages 1-3)

Bunnies On The Go by Rick Walton & Paige Miglio, (rhyming text gives clues)

Row, Row, Row Your Boat by Jane Cabrera, (a book you can sing)

Go-Go Gorillas by Julia Durango & Eleanor Taylor, (repetitive line, rhyming text)

Ducky's Key Where Can It Be? by Jez Alborough, (lift-a-flap, good for younger kids)

Night Light by Nicholas Blechman, (lift-a-flap, guess the vehicle by its lights)

I'm Dirty! by Kate & Jim McMullan, (did not seem to flow very well)

Machines At Work by Byron Barton, (did not hold interest, too simple)

Sheep In A Jeep by Nancy Shaw & Margot Apple, (fun, good for younger crowd)

Off We Go! by Will Hillenbrand, (cute, but needs a little more text to flow well)

Mighty Truck by Chris Barton & Troy Cummings, (superhero truck)

Supertruck by Stephen Savage, (not pictured, another superhero truck)

The Activities

All the activities I used this time ended up being songs, though most of them had a fair amount of movement. I still need to develop some some flannel board or other activities to go with this kit in the future.

Hurry, Hurry

Hurry, hurry, drive the firetruck!

Hurry, hurry, drive the firetruck!

Hurry, hurry, drive the firetruck!

Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding!  

Hurry, hurry, climb the ladder!

Hurry, hurry, climb the ladder!

Hurry, hurry, climb the ladder!

Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding! 

Hurry, hurry, spray the water!

Hurry, hurry, spray the water!

Hurry, hurry, spray the water!

Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding! 

[I would start by saying we were going to pretend to be firefighters, and we were at the firehouse and got a call that there was a fire. Then I would ask them what we needed to do next to lead into each verse, acting out each action. Once the fire was out, we would often get another call, as they loved this song and wanted to do it over and over.]

_________________________

Down By The Station

Down by the station, 

early in the morning.

See the little puffer-bellies all in a row.

Hear the station master, 

Calling, "All aboard!" now.

"Puff, puff"; "Toot, toot!"

Off they go!

[Follow up with the children pretending to be trains, going in a circle, 

saying "Chugga, chugga; chugga, chugga, Whoo-whoooo!]

_________________________

Driving Around In My.....

Driving around in my little red car,

Driving around in my little red car,

Driving around in my little red car,

Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep!

[Repeat, saying saying different colors, types of vehicles, and sounds. 

For example, "Driving around in my big yellow bus....honk...." or "Driving 

around in my little blue police car.....whoo-whoo-whoo-whoo".]

_________________________

The Wheels On The Bus

(of course we HAD to do this one since we were on the Storytime Bus!)

The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round,

'Round and 'round, 'Round and 'round.

The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round,

All through the town.

The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish....

The doors on the bus go open and shut....

The driver on the bus says, "Move on back"....

The babies on the bus go "waaa, waaa, waaa"....

The mommies on the bus go "shhh, shhh, shhh"....

The daddies on the bus say "I love you"....

[Act out each motion with your hands]

How It Went 

Overall, it went well, although I found that I got a little bored with it by the end, which is an occupational hazard with doing outreach and doing so many storytimes with the same theme. I liked using the books that showed various types of things that go the best, and Maisy's Book of Things That Go, Bunnies On The Go, and The Bus Is For Us seemed to be the most well-liked by the kids. They especially appreciated The Bus Is For Us since we were on the Storytime Bus! They also really liked Zoom! and noticed right away how at first the dad was excited and the boy was nervous, but then Dad started getting scared and/or sick, and the boy started to enjoy it. They appreciated the humor in this turn of events and liked the dramatic descriptions of the roller coaster movements.

Some books that just didn't seem to work as well, at least for me, were Machines At Work, Night Light, Off We Go, Might Truck and I'm Dirty! (which was a surprise as I really like using her dinosaur books I'm Big! and I'm Bad!).  For the most part, these just didn't seem to flow well enough to keep the audience engaged. Night Light became frustrating and many lost interest as they almost never guessed right. 

They liked all the songs, but the ones they seemed to really enjoy the most were "Hurry, Hurry" and "The Wheels On The Bus". Most groups would ask to do "Hurry, Hurry" over and over, and I even heard one little boy singing it this week when we had moved on to the next theme of "Pets". I think they like the faster pace and pretending to be a firefighter, particularly spraying the water. Some of them would get a kick out of "spraying" me or their teacher. They all knew "Wheels On The Bus", so that really boosted participation, and of course they appreciated the relevancy since they were on the Storytime Bus.

Colors - The New Class

Today was my first day with a new group of three-year olds, and I was eager to see what this year's class would be like. I decided to stick with a basic theme that I knew always worked well, but was not likely to get them overly excited, like "Dinosaurs" or "Jungle Animals" might. So I chose "Colors", knowing it's a basic concept that 3-year olds should know fairly well, but possibly not completely mastered yet, and that I had books and activities that always worked well. 

I started by introducing myself and explaining that I was from the library and would come every two weeks to have storytime, and that we would read stories, sing songs, and other fun activities, then I went around and said all their names (the teacher had thoughtfully put nametags on them). 

We started with our welcome song, and I introduced our "color" theme with an activity I've used before, a color "magic" trick. I had a small gift bag with a rainbow already inside it, and several pictures of different colored items (mine happened to be mostly food). Then I held up each one, let them identify the item and color, then placed them in the bag (I went in proper ROY G BiV order). Then I closed the bag, shook it up, and had them all say "Abra cadabra!" and pulled out the rainbow.


Next we sang our "story song" to lead into our first book, the classic Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle. 

I like to use classics that children are likely to be familiar with at the beginning of a new school year for two reasons: (1) they are often apprehensive about being in a new situation and a familiar story can be comforting, and (2) they are often more engaged in a familiar story, especially one like this that is repetitious and has a nice rhythm that encourages them to join in and say the words along with you.

I followed this with the song "If You're Wearing..."

If you're wearing red today, red today, red today,

If you're wearing red today, please stand up!

[Use different colors based on what the audience is wearing, and you 

can try different actions, such as "sit down", "turn around", etc.]

For our second book I chose another sure hit, Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by James Dean and Eric Litwin. Pete is a very popular character, and this book in particular is very engaging with the repetition and catchy song, and gives the audience a chance to predict what color Pete's shoes will turn each time he steps in something, as well as identify what he steps in. 

To hear the story and song as told/sung by the author, go to the Pete the Cat website. This is a definite must-have, go-to storytime book.

After Pete the Cat I brought out a flannel board activity that is always a hit with the preschool crowd, "Little Mouse". Hide the mouse behind one of the felt houses, then say the rhyme below, naming the color of one of the houses then looking behind that house.

Little Mouse

Little mouse, little mouse, are you hiding behind the ____ house?

The set I inherited also had a felt orange, apple, cookie, and piece of cheese, so I hide those as well, placing the mouse behind the apple. Then as we check each house, I really ham it up, building suspense. First I peek behind, and say I see something, then finally reveal what is underneath. When we get to the one with the mouse and the apple, I play dumb like I just see the apple, and let the kids point out that the mouse is there.

For our last book I chose Lemons Are Not Red by Lara Vaccaro Seeger. I like this book because it is short and simple, but requires more thought that simply identifying colors. Each item/animal is first shown in a nonsense color, such as a red lemon, the audience must name the correct color (though they will often catch on that the background color gives them the answer). 

When you turn the page the item is revealed in it's correct color, and the first color is shown on an appropriate item, such as a red apple.

We ended with our closing song and I passed out stickers.

How It Went

It went extraordinarily well, especially for the first time with a new group of kids. When I first arrived I asked the teacher what kind of crew they had this time, and she said this group was much quieter than last year's (very chatty & wiggly) class, but they were very young. I took a quick look around the room and saw that they all looked like they had probably just barely turned three.

When I first start with a new group I usually just plan on a 20-minute storytime with two short books, and gradually work up to a 30-minute storytime and three longer books. Last year's class took a few months to get to the point I could consistently do three books. But the kids today were such good listeners, engaged and well behaved, that I was able to do a full 30-minutes and three books right off the bat! I was very pleasantly surprised.

Most of them knew Brown Bear, Brown Bear and joined in right away, and quickly caught on to Pete the Cat so that by the end most of them were singing along with me. They really liked my little "magic" trick and wanted me to do it again, and LOVED the "Little Mouse" flannel board and asked to do it again as well, and some even wanted to do it a third time. They had a little more trouble with the "If You're Wearing" song, and some wanted to stand up for every color whether they were wearing it or not, but they still seemed to have fun. I was amazed when it came time to pass out stickers that there was no pushing, cutting or arguing.

I'm really curious to see if they keep up the model behavior, or if they were just more subdued because it was the beginning of the school year.