New picture books

Last week was a busy week for receiving new children's books.  There are two standout picture books I've received:  About a Bear by Holly Surplice and That's Not a Good Idea by Mo Willems.  There is also a fun picture book biography about James Naismith, the inventor of basketball.

About a Bear by Holly Surplice is a sweet, simple picture book that describes the emotions and motions a bear can feel or do.  The illustrations are bright, big and colorful, and the short sentences and rhyme scheme make a great step up for children who are getting a bit too old for board books, but too young to sit still for a narrative. 

That is Not a Good Idea by Mo Willems continues his unbroken streak of genius.  Formatted like a silent film with title cards, a fox convinces an innocent-looking white goose to accompany him home for dinner.  The baby geese pop up every few pages as members of the audience outside of the main action, frantically informing us, "That is REALLY not a good idea!"  As often happens in a Mo Willems plot, the ending has a bit of a twist that, while not entirely unexpected, still made me chuckle out loud at my desk. 

Hoop Genius:  how a desperate teacher and a rowdy gym class invented basketball by John Coy, ill. by Joe Morse.  Football was too rough to play inside and lacrosse was just a disaster!  James Naismith needed to find something for his class to do in gym.  He found a soccer ball and a basket and HELLO BASKETBALL!  I'm generally leery of picture book biographies because the subject matter is too sophisticated to be condensed into a 30 page illustrated format.  However, the story of how Mr. Naismith invented basketball is short, sweet AND informative without being stodgy.  The illustrations are wonderfully vintage-looking, while conveying movement brilliantly.

Check 'em out early and often!

W is for...

This week is "W" week for our pre-school storytimes.  We started our week with a discussion on words that begin with the letter W.  I have pictures of W words printed on card stock.  I show them to the kids and they'll shout out what it's a picture of!  This week, I had pictures of waffles, a wagon, a walrus, a worm and a whale.

The picture books I used were Wolf Won't Bite by Emily Gravett, Where's Walrus by Stephen Savage, I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry, Red Wagon by Renata Liwska, Bob and Otto by Robert O. Bruel and A Wonderful Week by Marjolein Varekamp.  I also did a flannel board story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf.  Our songs and fingerplays today were:

Today is Monday

Today is Monday, today is Monday.
Monday string beans.
All you hungry children, come and eat it up!

Today is Tuesday, today is Tuesday.
Tuesday spaghetti, Monday string beans.
All you hungry children, come and eat it up!

Today is Wednesday, today is Wednesday.
Wednesday soup, Tuesday spaghetti, Monday string beans.
All you hungry children, come and eat it up!

Today is Thursday, today is Thursday.
Thursday roast beef, Wednesday soup, Tuesday spaghetti, Monday string beans.
All you hungry children, come and eat it up!

Today is Friday, today is Friday.
Friday fresh fish, Thursday roast beef, Wednesday soup, Tuesday spaghetti, Monday string beans.
All you hungry children, come and eat it up!

Today is Saturday, today is Saturday.
Saturday chicken, Friday fresh fish, Thursday roast beef, Wednesday soup, Tuesday spaghetti, Monday string beans.
All you hungry children, come and eat it up!

Today is Sunday, today is Sunday.
Sunday ice-cream, Saturday chicken, Friday fresh fish, Thursday roast beef, Wednesday soup,
Tuesday spaghetti, Monday string beans.
All you hungry children, come and eat it up!

One Little, Two Little Wagons (To the tune of "One Little, Two Little Indians")

Hermie the Worm

Sitting on my fence, chewing my bubble gum

Play with my yo yo

When along came Hermie the Worm

and he was this big (hands six inches apart).

I said, "Hermie, what happened?!"

He said, "I ate my breakfast."

Oooooh

And away he went.

(Repeat two more times, replace breakfast with lunch, then dinner, with your hands getting wider apart.)

Last verse:

He was this big (fingers apart, teeny tiny worm)

I said, "Hermie, what happened?!"

He said, "I burped!"

We danced to the Kidz Bop version of the song Walking on Sunshine, on the CD Kidz Bop 80s Gold.

Our craft was little popsicle stick worms in a red card stock apple.  Fun stuff!  We listened to Captain Kangaroo's CD of Peter and the Wolf while we crafted.

 

Teeny Weeny Storytime

Teeny Weeny Storytime

Storytime at the Lower branch kicks off on Mondays with my Teeny Weeny Storytime, for babies aged 0-2.  Every week, I follow a specific format to ensure the children can anticipate and learn.  I have a purple storytime carpet, where I lay out various board books and encourage parents to read with their children for 5 minutes.  My favorites are very simple board books with a single picture and word on each page.  I highly recommend Spot's First Words by Eric Hill, Woof Woof by SAMi, or the DK series of Baby Touch and Feel board books.

After we're done reading, I sing our cleanup song, "Clean up, clean up, everybody clean up!  Time to put our books away!"  By the third week, those able to walk are collecting all the books and putting them in my hands.  As soon as the carpet is clear, we sing our Hello song, in the tune of Frere Jacques:  "Where is baby, where is baby?  Here I am!  Here I am!  I'm so glad to see you, I'm so glad to see you!  Peek-a-boo!  Peek-a-boo!"  

Dancing time!  Every child gets an egg shaker and we shake and dance to Old MacDonald Had a Farm, usually using the Wiggles version from  Sing a Song of Wiggles.  If your library does not have this CD, you should consider buying it.  It's perfect for use at Storytimes, children love the high-energy renditions!  I use music from our children's CD collection and encourage parents to check out our storytime music afterwards. After the song and shaking, time for the clean up song again, this time singing "Time to put our eggs away!"

After the dancing and shaking, I ask parents to sit their children on their laps and we do fingerplays.  Itsy Bitsy Spider, Round and Round the Garden, and Pat-a-Cake are my favorites to use, and I try to use at least one each week to give the kids a chance to learn it.  I do every rhyme twice.  I'm currently researching more simple fingerplays that I'll begin using and I'm happy for any suggestions! 

Dancing time again!  I give out dance scarves to our babies and put on a song.  I'm a Little Teapot is a favorite, we have 5 different versions to pick from at the library.  After the song, the scarves are see-through and great for playing Peek-A-Boo!  After 5 minutes of fun, it's time for the clean up song:  "Time to put our scarves away!"

I like reciting Nursery Rhymes next.  Children sit on their parents or grandparents' laps and I recite simple Mother Goose rhymes, with pictures and felts and my storytime mitt.  I, so far, have pictures or felts of Mother Goose, Hey Diddle Diddle, Little Bo Peep, Wee Willy Winkie, Humpty Dumpty, Little Miss Muffet and This Little Piggie.  I do two every week, usually repeating one we did the week before.

For our last activity, I either bring out our BIG BLUE SPIKY BALL or bean bags.  The kids tend to prefer the blue spiky ball, which is about six inches in diameter with a soft, spiky texture to make it a bit more interesting to touch and hold.   I take turns rolling it to each child, asking them to roll it back to me or to the other children waiting their turn. It's a good way to teach sharing and coordination.  When I don't bring the ball, I bring bean bags and say the Body Part rhyme to teach them coordination and parts of the body:  "Bean bag on my shoulder, bean bag on my knees/ Bean bag on my tummy, wiggle if you please.  Bean bag on my head, bean bag on my noes/ Bean bag on my fingers, bean bag on my toes."  Do the rhyme twice, then follow with the clean up song:  "Time to put the bean bags away!"

I tell the kids and adults that storytime is over.  I give any announcements about baby and toddler events at the library and then we sing our goodbye song:  If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands.  Every child gets an animal cookie if they have teeth, or a Zwiebeck. The entire program is only 25-30 minutes long, perfect for a baby's attention span.

I've been doing Teeny Weeny Storytimes since January 2013.  I've noticed how the regulars have grown so much in their socialization skills, coordination, sharing skills and confidence! 

A recap and a review

Hello!  As a quick introduction, my name is Vicki and I'm a children's and teen librarian with the Cape May County Library in NJ.  I'll be using this space primarily to review new books I found to be award-fodder, exciting, or a plain old guilty pleasure.  I will also discuss children's and teen programs:  what I've done, what I'm planning, what worked and what didn't.  The goal is to have another online resource for myself and others in my profession, as the internet librarians have provided me with a bounty of useful ideas!