Book: AdoraBULL by Alison Donald
Nonfiction Book Bites: read/showed snippets from World’s Cutest Animals by Lonely Planet Kids, Animal Antics by David Harvey, How to Draw a Unicorn and Other Cute Animals by Lulu Mayo, and This Book is Cute! by Sarah Wassner Flynn
Book: Rot by Ben Clanton
Tag: storytime
Sick and Sneezy Preschool Visits
Opening Song: If You Want to Hear a Story
Book: Pigs Make Me Sneeze by Mo Willems or Barn Sneeze by Karen B. Winnick or Bear Feels Sick by Karma Wilson
Action Song: The Handwashing Song
Book: How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon? by Jane Yolen or Bear Feels Sick by Karma Wilson or What a Cold Needs by Barbara Bottner
Flannel Song: Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
Book: Barn Sneeze by Karen B. Winnick or Spunky Little Monkey by Bill Martin Jr.
(Song: “The Sneezing Song” from Jim Gill Sings the Sneezing Song)
Dancing Song: “Coconut Soap” from Frank Leto’s Time for Music or “Jumping and Counting” from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem
Closing Song: We Wave Good-bye Like This
Oh, What Winter Fun! Preschool Visit
Opening: If You Want to Hear a Story
Book: Snow! Snow! Snow! by Lee Harper
*Fingerplay: Snow Fell Softly
Book: Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London
Song: Silly Hat Song
Storytell: The Mitten (You can use beautiful visuals as props from Jan Brett’s website here.) (I also used Heather Forest’s musical refrain from her version on her Tales Around the Hearth cd.)
Book: Pick a Pine Tree by Patricia Toht
Dancing Song (with bells): “Jingle Bells” from Raffi’s Christmas Album
Closing: We Wave Goodbye
*The snow fell softly all the night.
It made a blanket soft and white.
It covered houses, flowers, and ground,
But did not make a single sound!
Snow Day First Grade Visit
Winter is here, and Snow Days are sure to come…
Picture Book: Straight to the Pole by Kevin O’Malley
Discussion: If school was closed for a Snow Day, what would you do?
Nonfiction Book Bites: read/showed snippets from Snow Play by Birgitta Ralston and The Story of Snow by Mark Cassino
Picture Book: Pizza-Pie Snowman by Valeri Gorbachev
Picture Book: Red and Lulu by Matt Traveres (also printed out and showed pictures of current 2019 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree)
Crazy Soup Preschool Visits
I sure do love some soup when the weather gets chilly. And it’s been pretty chilly here in Chicagoland! Luckily, I can warm up by jumping around and acting silly with preschoolers 🙂 We we especially enjoyed A Soup Opera!
Opening Song: If You Want to Hear a Story
Book: The Wolf’s Chicken Stew by Keiko Kasza or Every Color Soup by Jorey Hurley
Fingerplay: Open, Shut Them
Book: A Soup Opera by Jim Gill
*Flannel Song: Stir the Soup
Book: Is That Wise, Pig? by Jan Thomas
Dancing Song: “I Feel Crazy so I Jump in the Soup” from Laurie Berkner’s Victor Vito
Closing Song: We Wave Good-bye Like This
*Stir, Stir, Stir the Soup (from the fantastic website Jen in the Library. Lots of good soup storytime suggestions–and other themes as well!)
(To tune of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”)
Stir, stir, stir the soup
Stir it all day long.
Add some (insert food name here),
Take a taste (slurrrp!)
Soup will make us strong. (flex arm)
Zombies and… Veggies? Second Grade Visits
Another fun visit!
Fiction Book: Zombies Don’t Eat Veggies! by Megan and Jorge Lacera
Nonfiction Book Bites: read/showed snippets from Zombie-Gut Chili and Other Horrifying Dinners by Ali Vega, How to Carve Freakishly Cool Pumpkins by Sarah L. Schuette, and What Makes a Monster? by Jess Keating (zombie ant fungus!); also said we have books about zombies at the library and showed the cover of The Legend of the Zombie by Thomas Kingsley Troupe
Storytell: Now I’ve Gotcha (I learned this “boo baby” story from storyteller Priscilla Howe)
Fall Fun Preschool Visits
Opening Song: If You Want to Hear a Story
Book: Hocus Pocus, It’s Fall! by Anne Sibley O’Brien
Rhyme: Apples
Book: The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri or Aw, Nuts! by Rob McClurkan
(Rhyme: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star)
*Flannel: 5 Little Acorns
(Book: Ol’ Mama Squirrel by David Ezra Stein or Pumpkin Heads! by Wendell Minor or Boo! Haiku by Deanna Caswell)
(**Fingerplay: Scary Eyes)
(***Flannel/Rhyme: Pumpkin Pie)
Dancing Song: Hip Hop Body Rock” (with shakers) from Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael’s Rockin’ Red
Closing Song: We Wave Good-bye Like This
*5 Little Acorns (adapted from “5 Little Apples”)
(Chanted to Five Little Monkeys Teasing Mr. Crocodile)
Five little acorns hanging in a tree,
Teasing Mr. Bushy Tail “you can’t eat me”,
Along comes Mr. Bushy Tail as hungry as can be…
and…CRUNCH!
(Chant with 4,3,2,1)
(Used tree flannel, 5 acorn flannels and a squirrel flannel or puppet)
**Scary Eyes
See my big and scary eyes? (Form circles around eyes with fingers.)
Get ready for a big surprise. (Cover face with hands.)
Boo! (Uncover face peek-a-boo style.)
***Pumpkin Pie
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
A witch flew by…
“Ahhahahahaha, I’m going to make you into pumpkin pie!”
Four little pumpkins… (and so on)
Bunnies!!! Preschool Visits!!!
My last outreach visits of the year!!! I’ve had so much fun visiting various preschool classes (and having some visit me at the library) this year. I’m sad this school year is coming to a close. I’ll miss these little guys.
I’ll be keeping busy, though, with summer school visits to the library as well as visiting Ontarioville Elementary School in our new library Van Mobile Monday nights 6-6:45 from June 3rd to August 5th. We’ll be bringing books available to check-out, registration materials and prizes for the Summer Reading Challenge (Reading: the True Superpower!), and registration forms to be able to get a library card onsite at the school. Hopefully, I’ll be able to read or tell some stories and have some dance parties and other fun as well. Should be an exciting summer!
Opening: If You Want to Hear a Story
Book: Bunnies!!! by Kevan Atteberry
Action Song: Little Bunny Foo Foo
Book: Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming OR Conejito by Margaret Read MacDonald (Conejito is fairly long, so I had to cut out the flannel and extra book for those groups. BUT Conejito was a big hit with my PreK dual language classes.)
(Flannel: The Enormous Turnip)
(Book: Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal)
Dancing Song: “Jumping and Counting” from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem
Closing: We Wave Goodbye
Dogs are Groovy Preschool Visits
Opening: If You Want to Hear a Story
Book: Is There a Dog in this Book? by Viviane Schwarz OR The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! by Mo Willems OR Bertie Was a Watchdog by Rick Walton and Arthur Robins OR Dog’s Colorful Day by Emma Dodd
Flannel Song: BINGO
Book: Bark, George by Jules Feiffer
Prop: Swallowing “George” Puppy (with finger puppets inside; I put on latex gloves and removed the animals from inside George)
Song (with finger puppets): Old MacDonald
Book: Groovy Joe: Ice Cream and Dinosaurs by Eric Litwin and Tom Lichtenheld
Dancing Song: “Dance, Freeze, Melt” from Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael’s Rockin’ Red
Closing: We Wave Goodbye
Cute Second Grade Visits
Book: Rot by Ben Clanton
Nonfiction Book Bites: read/showed snippets from 125 Cute Animals by National Geographic Kids, Cute as an Axolotl by Jess Keating*, and How to Draw Cute Animals by Angela Nguyen
Storytell: “Chickens!” (I learned this “boo baby” story from storyteller Priscilla Howe)
*Jess Keating has a fun “draw your cutest critter” handout on her website that I gave to the teachers to distribute to the kids
When I repeated this visit in 2020, I replaced the Nonfiction Book Bites with World’s Cutest Animals by Lonely Planet Kids, How to Draw a Unicorn and Other Cute Animals by Lulu Mayo, and This Book is Cute! by Sarah Wassner Flynn