Holiday Drama...

Today's storytime theme was "Wild Winter Holidays" and our stories were all about animals and the spirit of the holidays. We sang about pine trees, reindeer and turned our hands into "Five Little Trees." I also tried out an almost wordless book....and it worked!

Here are today's books:
Snow Tree by Caroline Repchuk
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a very sweet book. Bear wakes up to a white and snowy world and all the forest animals work to return color to the world, by decorating a beautiful snow tree. The illustrations are breathtakingly beautiful and the text is wonderful, as each of the animals describe their gift to the snow tree and what that gift represents...blue jay contributes some of his blue feathers saying that they are "All I have to give, but these feathers are as blue as the summer sky and the rolling waters of the river." See what I mean? Just beautiful.

Small, Medium and Large by Jane Monroe Donovan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a charmingly illustrated book, about a young and lonely girl who only wants - and gets - best friends for Christmas. These friends take the form of a cat (small), dog (medium), and miniature horse (large). We see her write a lovely letter to Santa, open packages on Christmas day, and then spend a delightful day with her new friends - a day described only in beautiful pictures. Today's storytime audience enjoyed the pictures and even helped me fill in the details of the story. I was very pleasantly surprised at the level of interaction and the enthusiastic response of my audience to this book. They all loved the last page, where the girl writes a thank you note to Santa and asks for gifts for her new friends.

Ten Christmas Wishes by Claire Freedman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's a Christmas book...it's a counting book....it's a book about forest animals....it's all three! A variety of forest animals take turns wishing on sparkly silver stars. The illustrations are beautiful and filled with humor. The kids loved counting the stars! The rhyming text was very easy to read and complimented the charming illustrations beautifully and the kids identified with the wants and wishes expressed by the animals in the book.

Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This newest installment in the Llama llama series is a joyful look at holiday craziness and a reminder of what's really important during the holiday season. We should appreciate moments of closeness and always take the time to exchange hugs and kisses with those we love best. This is a fun read-aloud with marvelous illustrations and a bouncy rhyming text. The kids today all agreed that waiting for Christmas or Hannukah was one of the most difficult things about the season, and could identify with Llama llama and all that he felt in this book.

I think there are three main keys to a good storytime read: first, I have to like it so my passion for the story shines through. Second, the text and illustrations have to be engaging and, finally, the kids in the audience have to be able to identify with the characters, situation and/or the feelings expressed by the characters.

So, now I'm off to find that next great storytime read.

Moose and Deer, Oh My!

Monday's Storytime theme was "Antler Antics" and we sang "m-o-o-s-e" (Tune of "Bingo") and danced the "Loosie Moosey" (an idea I discovered on Karma Wilson's website). A "Five Little Deer" fingerplay and two other moose fingerplays/rhymes, filled in nicely between four books and a flannelboard. For a craft we made traced-hand antler head bands. I brought Maurice the moose puppet who welcomed the kids, and talked to both parents and the kids during craft time. Big hit.

Here are the "Antler Antics" books:
Ernest, the Moose Who Doesn't Fit by Catherine Rayner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love this book! Ernest the moose never gives up...and has a good friend who supports and helps him. It is an imaginative book, with great drawings of Ernest - or parts of him, anyway - as he tries desperately to fit on a page. The kids love all the silly sounds and seeing only part of Ernest - and the ending is very dramatic and is guaranteed to bring a smile to everyone in the storytime audience.

Moose Tracks! by Karma Wilson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is a mystery/guessing game with humor and rhyming text and great pictures. Who made all the moose tracks that are all over the house? The narrator tells us about a series of visits from friends, and the variety of things they leave behind, things that he remembers ("Bear hair" and "nutshells") but always ends with the refrain, "but WHO left all these moose tracks?" The kids really got into this book, They laughed at all the mess, marveled at all the interesting friends that our narrator invites over. They also noticed all sorts of great detail in the pictures...a frog catching a fly in the background or the frog taking a bath in the sink. The kids did eventually guess - after a few hints...

Dear Deer: A Book of Homophones by Gene Barretta

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is a wonderfully playful and imaginative book. After reading it, one will never again forget what a homophone might be! Aunt Ant, is writing a letter to her friend, Deer, about her new life at a zoo. Of course, she begins the letter "Dear Deer." The illustrations are wonderful and the the kids loved this book. I worried that it might not work as a read-aloud since it sounds like the reader is stuttering when reading about a fox that "blew blue bubbles." The pictures give the text more than enough context, and some of the pages come across as tongue twisters. My favorite was the Ewe who has "Been in a daze for days" and then Deer writes his response to Aunt Ant....

If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Joffe Numeroff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you give a moose a muffin...be prepared for a lot of work. This is a charming book. I actually kept the book handy, but told the tale as a flannelboard. The text was simple enough that with the flannel pieces in hand to cue the order, I could get by without reading it. All moose wants is a muffin...and then a bit of jam...and suddenly the living room has become an artist studio/puppet theater...filled with humor and wonderfully engaging illustrations, this story was a hit with my storytime audience.

Making the Moose Out of Life by Nicholas Oldland
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The audience enjoyed this book much more than I thought they would and even the youngest in the audience seemed to understand and enjoy the humor. A very timid moose, who doesn't like rain or wind or cold, finds himself thrust into an adventure, which changes him. They understood that in order to enjoy life, moose needs to make the most out of everyday and embrace life fully...which he does with great - and hysterically funny - abandon.

Thankful for Storytime!

I really do feel very thankful that I am able to deliver my weekly storytime...I am also thankful that I have great kids that come and very supportive parents. I am also thankful that after a year of doing this, attendance is pretty consistent at around 10 children. For this particular library on a military base, this is a huge number. So, this Monday, our stories celebrated Thanksgiving. Our craft was little construction paper turkeys and we sang some of the same turkey themed songs and rhymes as last week and added some new ones. We even had a flannel turkey with multiple colored feathers.

Here's what we read:
A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of my favorite Thanksgiving book for toddler storytime...it has lovely pictures, animals, humor and a happy ending. When Mr. and Mrs. Moose are putting the finishing touches on their Thanksgiving table and she wistfully expresses a wish for Turkey for Thanksgiving, since everybody has a turkey, Mr. Moose sets out to find one for her. All the other guests join him and help him find the perfect turkey for Mrs. Moose - the kids, worried about Mr. Turkey, love the twist at the end.

Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book with its lovely pictures and simple rhyming text is a wonderful reminder of what Thanksgiving is really all about. It uses everyday images and simple text that even very young chlidren will understand and identify with and reminds them that play dates and piggy back rides and crisp apples are all things to be grateful for.

The Perfect Thanksgiving by Eileen Spinelli
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the tale of two - very different - Thanksgiving celebrations. The Archer family sits down to a perfect table, the family is well mannered, the food is delicious and after dinner there is no arguing and even the kids share all their favorite toys. Overnight guests find chocolates on the pillow of their perfectly made bed. The narrator's family has a very different kind of celebration - with gravy spills, raised voices and somewhat chaotic activity after dinner. That night loud snores can be heard from the sleeping bags that are laid out willy-nilly throughout the house. As much as I would secretly like to host a "Martha Stewart" Thanksgiving, my family celebration is closer to the narrators. What we find out though is that both families, like mine, enjoy their particular celebration just as it is.

This Is the Turkey by Abby Levine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This text is focuses on preparations for Thanksgiving with a rhythm and rhyme like "This is the House That Jack Built" The turkey "to shout about" is chosen by Max and goes into the oven on schedule. Dad works on preparing cranberries, ruby and red, while sister kneads bread...family and friends arrive adding to the story. When the moment finally arrives for dinner...well, lets just say that the picture made all the children at my storytime giggle and laugh! Max and his family have a marvelous dinner, in spite of the calamity.

This was a storytime enjoyed by all. On Monday our stories will be all about Moose and Deer. But that is for another post.

Food, Fun, and Family

As we continued to explore all that occurs in the month of November, today's storytime focused on food, fun and family - so much a part of November and Thanksgiving. Remember, I am delivering this storytime at a Marine Corps Base Library and so family can be far away - even deployed in some far away part of the world. Today we had eleven kids...many of them "regulars." There were also a few returnees and a couple of new moms who asked lots of questions about the storytime and indicated that they would be coming back. After working so hard to build this program, I feel as though I am finally having an impact on this mostly young and very transient community. It feels good.

We began today with out usual opening song (and many of the kids are actually singing now) which is "If you want to hear a story" to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It." We added a last verse in honor of the season which is, "If you want to hear a story, shout "Turkey!" - they DEFINITELY liked that. At our "Head, Shoulder, Knees and Toes" break, we did it a second time - singing the word gobble instead of naming the body parts and the kids loved that, too. Two and three year olds are the most amazing creatures, aren't they? We also sang a song about our favorite pie...doing a verse around each child's favorite pie...I was pleased that they all participated and it was great fun to see the smiles on their faces...

So, here are the books we read today:
I'm A Turkey! by Jim Arnosky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the perfect book to open a storytime about food, fun and family - because it is all about all three of these concepts. Immediately we meet Tom, a wild turkey, who in rhyme introduces us to his family and the other turkeys of his flock of 102. The illustrations are bright, the text has a great read-aloud rhythm and the humor is obvious even to my two and three year old audience. They giggled and one even stated, "Well, that's just silly" Very engaging storytime book. There was even an opportunity to count turkeys -don't do it on the two page spread of Tom's flock, but rather half-way through where there are six turkeys scattered around the meadow.

Thanksgiving With Me by Margaret Willey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

We continued storytime with this book about a young girl waiting for her five, larger than life, uncles to arrive for Thanksgiving Dinner. She begs her mother to help the time pass by telling her - again - about what it was like growing up with them. The illustrations are lovely and the text is told in rhyme. Most of the time I think that is a big plus for a toddler storytime book, but the text here is tortured a bit to make it rhyme. Even the kids (and these are 2 and 3 year olds) thought that some of the phrases were not-quite-right. This book does capture a child's anticipation as she waits for family to arrive for thanksgiving and the deep sense of family tradition, that is so much a part of this uniquely American holiday. We followed this book with a Thanksgiving Freeze Dance. Another big hit.

Duck for Turkey Day by Jacqueline Jules
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a great book to remind us that we "Americans" are often from other places in the world and that we are a culture of many traditions. Tuyet is a young Vietnamese-American girl, who enjoys all her class preparations for Thanksgiving. When her teacher wishes them all a "Happy Turkey Day" she excitedly comes home to talk to her mom about getting turkey for the big day...only to be told that at their house they would be serving duck in a spicy sauce. As the daughter of non-American parents, I could identify with Tuyet's desire for turkey, feeling that it was somehow wrong to eat anything else but turkey on Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving at Tuyet's house looks just like Thanksgivings across America - women in the kitchen, filling the house with wonderful smells, cousins playing, grandparent's reminiscing. The whole family sits down to a wonderful meal, even beginning it by stating what they are thankful for, and everyone leaves happy and full. Back in class, Tuyet's teacher invites all the children to share stories about each of their celebrations and Tuyet is, once again, embarrassed by her family's lack of turkey. She quickly feels much better when many of her classmates share what foods they ate on Thanksgiving: lamb, chicken and noodles, and even a tofu turkey. The message is clear: Thanksgiving isn't about Turkey, it is about a special time with family and about celebrating one's heritage, whatever that may be.

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed A Pie by Alison Jackson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is one of my favorite versions of "I Know an Old Lady..." as well as one of my favorite Thanksgiving books. The illustrations are wonderful, of this lovely lady, who eats everything in sight and grows bigger with every page turn. The book is a great read aloud, with rhythm and rhyme and just the right amount of repetition. The kids all noticed her changing figure, and looked forward to each page turn, commenting on how big she was getting and speculating about what she might eat next. This book was the perfect lead in to the song about favorite pies.

Next week, we'll be reading more Thanksgiving favorites.

November Fun

This week's theme was November Fun. We sang a special verse to our opening song, where we shouted "Turkey!" and sang other songs about falling leaves, squirrels with their acorns, and, of course, Mr Turkey. Our craft was handprint turkeys - the kids all made two: one to take home now and one which would decorate our children's room for the month of...November. We had ten kids join us...which was close to a record for this military base library. More importantly though, many of the little ones have come before, so the storytime is finally developing a core audience. Here are today's books:

In November by Cynthia Rylant
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Cynthia Rylant does a beautiful job "explaining" November in this book. The text is gentle and rich with description. (For example, "The trees are standing al sticks and bones.") The illustrations are perfectly matched with the text and are soft and gentle as well. We counted the cats "piled up in the corners of barns" (6) and the dogs lying before the fire (2) The foods of November with their "orange small" and all the warmth of Thanksgiving are captured between the pages of this book. A very special tribute to a very special time of year.
Go to Sleep, Groundhog! by Judy Cox
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I picked this book up originally while I was looking for some books for Groundhog Day. I decided that it was the perfect addition to this storytime. Rather than focusing on Groundhog Day, it is about a groundhog who goes to bed just after Columbus Day, setting his alarm for February 2, but suffers insomnia. When he looks at his clock the first time he wakes it is "only half past October." Deciding to take a walk to help make him sleepy he strolls out into the middle of Hallween and sees sights that he has never seen before. This happens again in November and December. This is a wonderfully imaginative book, and the kids loved it. So did the adults.

The Mitten by Jan Brett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is a beautiful adaptation of a classic Ukrainian Folk tale about a boy, his grandmother, snow white mittens, and eight animals. Jan Brett's illustrations are simply gorgeous. I told this as a flannel board story, with a ball of white yarn forming the mitten, but think that next time I might use the figures as finger puppets while an assistant holds the book...the illustrations are just too good to miss.

That Pup! by Lindsay Barrett George
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The entire room fell in love with this precocious little puppy and her game of finding acorns. The illustrations are gorgeous and the little puppy who "follows her nose" is too cute for words. When she encounters the squirrel who had hidden all the acorns she is so enthusiastically gathering, she quickly changes her game to "putting all the acorns back" and together squirrel (who is also very cute) and pup race around putting all ten (we counted them) acorns back in their hiding places. One little three year old sighed and said, "how sweet!" A very engaging book for all ages.

Halloween Spooktacular Party

This year Halloween fell on a Monday, which meant we hosted a storytime AND party. I had over 20 children, all in costume, arrive up to a half hour early for the event. I had a build-a-monster puppet with me, and so I used "Hal" to entertain the early birds. He was a big hit. After the stories, songs, etc we paraded through the library building complex and all the office staff handed out candy - and had almost as much fun as the kids! We then came back to the children's room and made ghost windsocks and ate brownies. It was exhausting but wildly successful. Here are the books we read:

Clifford's First Halloween by Norman Bridwell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Halloween, a cute blond girl, and a giant red dog - what more is there to say? I have a Clifford finger puppet and so, I had an assistant hold the book while I read the story and puppet Clifford added his personal comments. The kids loved it. When Emily Elizabeth settles on a ghost costume for Puppy Clifford, I pulled out one for the finger puppet that matched. I like Clifford books because of their simplicity and their great kids appeal.


When the Goblins Came Knocking by Anna Grossnickle Hines
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Written is rhyme, and touchingly illustrated this book captures the fear a very young child may experience on Halloween. A young boy tells the story of last Halloween when he was scared by all the ghosts, goblins, and monsters who trick-or-treated at his house. The little folks at my storytime nodded when asked if they had ever been scared by all the trick-or-treaters on Halloween and they shared a couple of their own stories. They also correctly guessed that this year would be different for the young boy and correctly predicted that this year he would be the scariest one on Halloween.


Pumpkin Trouble by Jan Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a bright and cheery book featuring three friends duck, mouse and Pig. Duck gets into trouble while trying to carve his Jack-O-Lantern. He goes looking for a little help from his friends with hilarious results. This is a little bit difficult as a group read aloud, because it is graphic novel-like with speech bubbles and conversation happening on multiple places on the page, but the humor and pictures and general silliness more than make up for this.


Moonlight: The Halloween Cat by Cynthia Rylant
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is such a gentle and beautifully illustrated book about Halloween told from the perspective of a black cat who loves the night, especially Halloween Night. The kids hung on every word of the simple text and studied the beautiful illustrations with great interest. This is an amazing book that presents everything that is Halloween in a non-scary and gentle manner. Great ending book for a storytime.

We all did Five Little Ghosts and Five Little Pumpkins as flannel board and fingerplays and then we danced the "Hookey Spookey" before heading out for our parade. Lots of fun!

Air show a hit!

I took a bit of time off from delivering storytimes at the base library I was busy getting kids off to school and celebrating the Labor Day Holiday. Last week, storytime celebrated "Talk like a pirate day" and so we did a modified reprise of my pirate storytime which I covered previously. There were four little ones at that storytime and they all seemed to enjoy themselves. One even left wearing her pirate hat that was our craft.

Which brings us to this week. The base where I work is holding its annual air show this weekend, so the theme for this week's storytime was "Come Fly With Me" After all the songs and rhymes and stories, 12 small children decorated, folded and flew paper airplanes. It was great fun to see all these paper airplanes soaring around the children's room! This particular group doesn't seem to enjoy songs as much as action rhymes and fingerplays (they loved to "be" planes and they make airplane noises with great glee and gusto!) So, here are the books:

Air Show! by Treat Williams

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This oversized book is filled with bright, busy pictures of airplanes - including a stunt plane that future pilot, Ellie, enjoys. Although I worried that all the jargon in this book - the characters go through a pre-flight check with workds like "avionics" and "directional gyro" - would be beyond most 2 year olds, they really enjoyed this book. There are large colorful pictures, which help and lots of planes to count (which we did). Using a funny "radio" voice helped too, I suppose. Ellie's ride in the stunt plane is very cleverly laid out and illustrated. The kids eyes got big and there were some giggles. All in all a very successful storytime read.


Airplanes!: Soaring! Diving! Turning! by Patricia Hubbell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Simple rhyming text and wonderfully imaginative pictures make this a storytime winner. All the planes "in the big wide sky" are represented and the pages where you have to turn the book just add more interest. Be sure to look carefully at the illustrations they contain tons of humorous detail (like the hydroplane labeled "school but dropping little fish off at school or the buffalo sitting on a passenger plane beside the other passengers). Great fun!



Moon Plane by Peter McCarty

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


With beautiful, muted illustrations, this book starts out with a small boy looking up at an airplane in the sky...and we follow that boy as he imagines that plane flying him to the moon and back. Simple text helps take even the smallest reader up in that plane and all the way to the moon.


A Plane Goes Ka-Zoom! by Jonathan London

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Great book to end with. The simple rhyming text and brightly painted, kid-like illustrations are eye catching and easy for even a very young reader to follow. This books talks about all the things planes can do and be. We had fun counting planes and naming colors and enjoying the rhythm and the rhyme of this book.

Next week, we slither, crawl and hiss as we read stories about our friends, the reptiles!

You Just Never Know....

Well, last week I felt very discouraged - not a single child showed for our Monday storytime. When I arrived on Wednesday my supervisor had other tasks for me, so we didn't even try to set up for storytime. As a result I didn't post here last week. I prepared a flier, which we placed around the library announcing the storytimes, hoping that it might generate some interest. Well, it did! This morning I had two kids arrive - for storytime - just before it was time to start, and by the time we started the first book, there were ten! This is one of the largest groups they have had for a storytime at the Base Library!

Our theme was "Summer Fun" and I read four books about summer time activities and we did two fingerplays, sang three beach/summer songs and enjoyed a flannelboard rhyme all about ice cream. It was quite a sight to see ten kids all giggling as we got our wiggles out doing "Head, Shoulders, knees and Toes" In a space that was not much bigger than my living room! The kids were attentive, engaged and even participatory!

The first book we read was:
A Fabulous Fair Alphabet by Debra Frasier

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book has amazing illustrations and fully captures all the color and excitement of a day at the fair. The kids studied the pictures and reacted to their favorites (like "C" - cotton candy) As a storytime book, I felt it was a bit flat, in spite of the images. We all decided that using "Zucchini" as the last item was somehow wrong...and even the kids expected the last image to be sleeping children driving home with "Z's" circling their heads..."X" stood for exit, after all, and to follow that by Zucchini....well....

We sang about a chocolate ice cream cone (Tune: "Baby Bumble Bee") and then got out a felt ice cream cone and said a rhyme and counted the scoops. Then it was on to

Sheep Take A Hike by Nancy Shaw

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Nancy Shaw's sheep are such fun! This one didn't engage the children quite as well as her "Sheep in a Jeep" but the kids loved the illustrations and the rhyming text of this great hiking adventure where the sheep must deal with loss of a compass, getting lost and having to be rescued from the mud by a moose! I made up a song about taking a summer hike (Tune: "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush") which we sang after this book.


The last two books and songs and a fingerplay was all about one of my favorite summer activities...a visit to the beach:

Sea, Sand, Me! by Patricia Hubbell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


We all loved this beautifully illustrated book about a young girl's visit to the beach told in rhyme. It was great fun to read. The rhythm makes this a great read aloud and girl and her new friend have a very busy day doing everything you possibly can at the beach!


At the Beach by Anne F. Rockwell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Another day of activity at the beach! Lovely illustrations and simple text describes all sorts of beach activities. The kids expected the last page to describe the ride home, but this book only takes the reader through lunch! We followed this with the fingerplay, "Inchy Pinchy Crab" (based on "Itsy Bitsy Spider"), which the kids really enjoyed.

Everyone stayed for coloring sheets and I really enjoyed being able to spend a little time with the kids and their Moms, Oohing and ahhing over their great coloring and learning names. Hopefully, I will be able to build the sense of community that I have found lacking here. At a nearby public library, the storytime is done by volunteers, but they are amazing - it helps that one is a professional storyteller, another a retired teacher and another is a retired librarian. I was able to swap flannel tips with the retired teacher, and have picked up storytelling hints from the storyteller.

While working at one of the local public libraries, I also performed the annual periodical review for the branch, weeded the reference section and explained how to use e-readers and our e-book catalog to an ever increasing number of library patrons. The format may be different, but the desire to access library materials is still very much the same.

A Midsummer Knight's Festival and other parties

Life is interesting when you work have two part-time jobs in two very different library settings. At my military library, this week we celebrated the end of the summer reading program, while in my public library job, I'm still passing out prizes to finishers and chaperoning a "Teen-after- hours-lock-in" this Friday. Until the day comes when I have one full time employer, I will continue to juggle different themes, calendars and patrons!

So, at the military library, this last Monday was the big end-of-SRP-party: Our Midsummer Knight's Festival. We had 40 kids or so, make Prince/Princess swag bags (to collect all their small prizes) and crowns (for the photo opportunities this created) They were entertained by a celtic harpist dressed in Renaissance garb and an abbreviated storytime, a prize drawing and a dragon egg hunt. All of this in just under two hours. Everyone left happy with plenty of swag, a big prize and a crown. It just doesn't get any better for a toddler/preschooler.

We got the kids attention with our usual opening storytime song: "If you Want to Hear A Story" (Tune: "If You're Happy and You Know it") and opened with a Castle fingerplay. We did two other fingerplays with flannel board pieces: "Five Royal Knights" and "Five Green Dragons" sang "The Noble Duke of York" recited "The Queen of Hearts" with flannel board pieces and read the following three books:

Hush, Little Dragon by Boni Ashburn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A dragon version of "Hush Little Baby," what could be better? The kids loved the rhyme, the lovely illustrations and the love between the mother dragon and her baby. The warmth and the humor comes through loud and clear and as I closed the book on the lovely last image a number of parents and children let out an "Ahhhh"

Glubbery Gray, the Knight-Eating Beast by Beth Kander

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The illustrations in this clever, funny counting book are appealing to even the youngest child...and older children like it for creative ways that Glubbery Gray eats one knight after another. The youngest kids had fun counting the ever decreasing band of knights...and the older kids in my audience had fun guessing which knight would be old gray's next victim. Humorous with rhyming rhythmic text this was a great read-aloud with a large group ranging in age from 2 to about 7 as it engaged all of them.

The Egg by M.P. Robertson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was the perfect lead in to our final activity which was a "dragon egg hunt" Ok, so everyone played along and pretended not to notice that our dragon eggs looked suspiciously like plain old plastic easter eggs! This book starts strong and has great illustrations, is funny and sad in places...but as a read aloud, it doesn't flow as smoothly as some of the other books I have read. Maybe the book tries to cover too much in too short a time, but I almost feel like I have skipped a page here and there as the story takes an unexplained jump. Overall, it is great fun when a boy hatches a mysterious egg, which turns out to contain a dragon.

Then, today I was back for the Wednesday storytime - today the theme was "Knights vs. Dragons" and we read "Glubbery Gray" again, did the knight and dragon fingerplays/Flannelboards and sang "I'm a Little Dragon" (Tune: "I'm a Little Teapot"). After we made dragon finger puppets. Once again, the kids reacted to the books, differently than I expected (enjoyed them more than I expected, always a good thing!) and everyone enjoyed themselves. We read:

Do Knights Take Naps? by Kathy Tucker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

We started with this one, as it provided a great overview of a knight's life, in a way even young kids could relate to. Although the rhyming text was not as tight and rhythmic as I would have liked, the story and pictures were very sweet and informative. The kids enjoyed it more than I thought they would - always a pleasant surprise.

Don't Forget the Knight Light by Tina Gagliardi

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Everyone loved this twist on Knight vs. Dragon - Carly is a dragon with a deep fear of knights. A special "knight light" and an imaginary - human - friend are needed to help her overcome her fear when her class visits the dragon museum with it's dreaded "Knight room."

Dragon Pizzeria by Mary Morgan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a wonderfully creative book, which combines a number of children's favorite things: pizza, dragons and fairytales. When two dragon friends, Bebop (who likes to cook) and Spike (who likes to go fast) open a pizzeria in fairyland, they receive call in orders from such celebrities as the Giant from "Jack and the Beanstalk", the Three Bears, and Hansel and Gretel. The kids loved making the phone ring noise and guessing who was ordering the pizza - like when the order was "three porridge pizzas - one large and very hot, one medium that is cold and one small that is just right." Spike zooms through fairyland making his deliveries using various modes of transportation from hot air balloons to roller skates, which only adds to the fun. The kids loved this book!

This was one week where I felt I really got it right with my storytimes. Kids and parents left happy and everything worked just as it should. I hope I feel the same at the end of Friday's Teen Lock-In. More about that later.

Long May They Reign!

The summer reading program theme for the Department of Defense is "A Midsummer Knight's Read" and so our storytimes this summer have been themed around knights and dragons, royalty and castle life. I received lots of smiles as I walked through the library building wearing a crown purloined from my sons' stash of Halloween costumes and accessories and have read through countless - wonderful - children's books before deciding on specific weekly storytime themes and deciding which books will make the final cut and be read out loud. I have also spent the last several weekends experimenting with creating flannel board figures and working out the stories. I have also discovered the world of felt and flannel available on E-Bay.

So, far it has been a mixed summer for storytime...this Monday morning, no one showed up. Since I am now providing TWO weekly storytimes now, hopefully we'll have a better turn out for Wednesday morning's session. One day, the audience will be several new kids who refuse to sing, the next session will be filled with kids who can't get enough of those fingerplays and songs. I've even had sessions where the kids keep asking for more books!

Anyway the themes have been "A storytime fit for a King...or Queen" and we did a repeat-after-me-chant, "I've Got a Crown on My Head" (hence the purloined crown). Unfortunately, this was for the group of kids that refused to participate, so some of the fun was lost! I also used some beautiful felt royalty puppets to present a felt board version of "The Queen of Hearts" The kids loved it so much that we did it twice. We learned "Old King Cole" and did a fingerplay about a castle, garden and drawbridge. Here is what we read:

Ten Big Toes and a Prince's Nose by Nancy Gow

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a great read for a toddler storytime. There are beautiful illustrations that held the kids' attention, a recurring chant to encourage the characters to feel good about who they are and enough humor to make kids smile and laugh. The rhyming text allows the reader to get a good rhythm going, although, curiously, the chant about being yourself is not quite as tight. The kids loved it...we had fun with it and everyone is a sucker for a happy ending!

The Prince Won't Go to Bed! by Dayle Ann Dodds

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a great hit at storytime today! Who couldn't love a book with the refrain, "WAA! WAA! WAA! I will not go to bed!" the teeny-tiny, itty-bitty, little Prince said happening every couple of pages? This book was very engaging for many reasons - rich illustrations and subtle humor - as the entire staff of the castle tries to put the Prince to bed. After each attempt, more and more people tip toe down the hall and the Prince's wail just gets louder and louder. There are many opportunities to ask questions of the readers. Questions like, "do you think he is really asleep now?" and "What do you think he is really missing?" In the end, we learn what it is that the Prince really needed to send him off to dreamland and everyone sleeps happily-ever-after.

Over at the Castle by Boni Ashburn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was also a great hit with my storytime audience! It is a counting book, it has a mother dragon and her impatient and adorable baby dragon, it has beautifully rich and detailed illustrations. It has a wonderful ending. This provided a great visual for young kids about life in a medieval castle and we had great fun counting and discussing just what the baby dragon was waiting to do.

Round Is a Pancake by Joan Sullivan Baranski

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was a great one to end a storytime with. Simple rhyming text - which swirls around the illustrations on each page allowed me to show the book to the youngsters while still finishing the last line of the text. A medieval festival is brightly illustrated and all of the round items are highlighted. We had great fun spotting and naming them, counting them and squealing with joy when we found our favorites...one girl couldn't get enough of the dog faced hot air balloon. This is a marvelous read-aloud!

The following week the theme was fractured fairytales...there are so many great books based on a standard fairytale. Most of them seemed too long and complicated for my young toddler audience. I was able to find some real winners, though. I read one "straight" tale: The Princess and the Pea, having found an older, simple well illustrated version and used some illustrations from an old version of "Rapunzel" to do a felt version of the story - I just couldn't find a version of the story that would be right for this group...so I created my own. I wanted to contrast a traditional telling with my favorite of the "fractured" tales we read today,

Falling For Rapunzel by Leah Wilcox

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a marvelous read-aloud laugh-out-loud book. The rhymes and illustrations are hysterically funny and appeal to both the very young and young at heart. It kept the attention of even the youngest in my audience and had every child giggling and pointing. Quite a contrast to the original, even if the telling is adapted for a younger audience. This is a book I will read again for storytime and it will never get old!

Fairly Fairy Tales by Esmé Raji Codell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book didn't grab me right away, but by the time I read it at today's storytime, it had grown on my and it was certainly a big hit with my toddler audience. I wasn't sure the text format, ask a couple of questions about a well known fairy tale with answers (Straw? Yes. Sticks? Yes. Bricks? Yes.) and then through in a question that doesn't belong - "Solar Panels?" No. Then say, well, maybe and turn the page for a whole new take on that fairytale - colorfully illustrated and filled with humor. The kids loved it. They had a great time guessing the fairytale, and saying no...and then anticipating the "maybe" version of the story. There was a great response to this creative book. Great giggles and participation!

An Undone Fairy Tale by Ian Lendler

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was one of my favorite books that we read this week, but it was a little too long and complicated for some of the younger children. As we read this book - too fast - the poor illustrator can't keep up...and the harried publisher begs us to slow down. When we don't, well Ned the illustrator has to improvise, so the handsome prince attempts fight a dragon (who is still in the shower when he arrives) in a tu tu. A creative book filled with mayhem and silliness, probably best read by a school age child who will revel in the asides about what a good, and fast reader he/she is.

On Wednesday, the theme is Knights vs. Dragons. We will be making dragon finger puppets and have both a "Five Royal Knights" and "Five Green Dragons" fingerplay/felt rhyme and will be reading Boni Ashburn's other marvelous dragon book, "Hush Little Dragon" and Tina Gagliardi's "Don't Forget the Knight Light" as well as others. Stay tuned!

Arrrr! Ahoy Mateys!

It has been a couple of weeks since I posted here...because it has been a couple of weeks since I have performed a storytime. But today we came back strong with "It's a Pirate's Life for Me!" We practiced a spot of "Pirate Speak" which helped us sing a special pirate verse of our opening song. Then we launched into

How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This imaginative book is a great read-aloud if you are comfortable with Pirate-Speak. Captain Braid Beard and his crew have a lot to say and do...and a young boy loves their pirate lifestyle (no vegetables, no baths, no bedtimes) until it is bedtime and there is no one to tuck him in, read him a story, or give him a goodnight kiss - besides he has to get home for soccer practice. David Shannon' illustrations kept the kids eyes glued to the pages and had them laughing out loud.

Pirates, Ho! by Sarah L. Thomson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The colorful cast of Pirate characters in this book - which include a GIRL pirate - are brave swashbucklers during the day. Doing as the things that Pirates do. But when darkness falls it is a different story altogether. Told in rhyme, with great illustrations this book delighted the kids at storytime today. We sang "If You're a Pirate and You Know it." (Tune: "If You're Happy and You Know It") and modified the verses to match some of the same pirate activities described in the book.

Pirates Don't Change Diapers by Melinda Long

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one sequel that is almost better than the original! In this second Melinda Long/David Shannon pirate book, Jeremy Jacob is visited by his old pirate crew, ready to dig up their treasure. Jeremy's baby sister though has other plans for the pirate crew and they have to change, feed and calm her before they can get to digging. The illustrations are just hysterically funny and the kids today loved them.

Shiver Me Letters: A Pirate ABC by June Sobel

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a creative, well illustrated concept book, and the kids really enjoyed the pirates' quest to steal all the letters of the alphabet for their Captain who decides that "R is not enough.......we need other letters to help make us tough." Did I mention that the Captain is a crocodile and the crew consists of a pig, a cat, a rat, and a mouse? The kids loved many things about this book, including the fact that the parrot on the Captain's shoulder wore a pirate hat and that the captain has a duck flotation device around his waist that wears an eyepatch.

Pirates of the Sea! by Brandon Dorman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thought this book might be too long for my mostly toddler audience, but I was wrong. The kids loved this book laughing and commenting on the illustrations, especially when among the pirate treasure there was a teddy bear and a pair of purple pirate underwear. Great rhyming book, great illustrations just the right amount of pirate-speak to make this book a great read-aloud that will appeal to all ages.

Peg Leg Peke by Brie Spangler

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a charming book about a cute little pekingese with a "boo boo." An unseen companion, helps the little guy imagine that instead of a cute dog with a broken leg, he is an adventurous pirate with a peg leg. With some help, he sails away and finds a treasure which makes him feel better. The illustrations are sweet and the text, told in a Mo Willems' like dialog is engaging and funny.

We closed with a Pirate version of "Row, Row, Row, your boat":

Sail, sail, sail your ship

Gently o'er the sea.

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,

A pirates life for me!

The kids all stayed to color a pirate ship coloring sheet and it was great fun to have some time to interact with the kids and their parents informally. I did however learn that talking like burly, swashbuckling pirates is very hard on the throat and takes a toll on my voice. Even so, this storytime was worth it.