It was all about bugs at Monday's storytime. I read lots of colorful books about bugs - there are some great ones out there. We sang "The Bug Song" and "Have you Ever Seen A Caterpillar?" (from the great King County Public Library site: http://wiki.kcls.org/tellmeastory/index.php/) and we did three or four fingerplays, such as "Here is a Beehive" and "Five Marching Ants." We read:
A worm keeping a diary....hysterically funny account of typical worm activities, from dodging hopscotch playing feet and scaring girls on a playground to learning about manners (greeting one ant will tie up an entire day as you must say good morning to the next 600 ants in line as well) to dealing with friends and family. The day he describes eating his homework got the biggest laugh from the group.
This is a very colorful large board book The rhyming text counts down from ten to one - who flies home. The ladybugs are in 3-d. This is just a fun book for a baby/toddler storytime. I had the kids all using fingers to help with the countdown. Then we did a variation of the action rhyme "Two Little Blackbirds" - turning Jack and Jill sitting on a hill into two little ladybugs. One little girl couldn't wait until I read this book - probably in reaction to the cover with the little plastic ladybugs showing through.
This is another Karma Wilson read-aloud winner! The rhyming text has a great rhythm, so good for building that phonemic awareness. The illustrations are beautiful and the kids enjoyed the repeated phrase "the frog grew bigger." They also love the surprise at the end, when frog discovers that there is something strange about the log he's been sitting on - and it is a great device to allow all the bugs crammed into the frogs stomach to escape. In the end, no one is eaten and everyone learns a lesson.
Big colorful illustrations and simple text take fear out of bugs for even the youngest listener. There are plenty of opportunities to get the kids involved in the book, like counting particular bugs on a page. Short, sweet, engaging - this book is a great introduction to the world of bugs.
Really good story about a plain caterpillar who turns into a plain butterfly - who turns into a respected hero. There is a great potential to use fun voices for the eager boy caterpillar in the story and the catty and egotistical Catisha who looks down on Clara and makes mean comments every chance she gets. There are many "c" words used in the story, so it is a good resource for teaching phonemic awareness.
We ended our time together by coloring a ladybug sheet, cutting it out and attaching a craft stick so that the kids could take home their very own Jack or Jill.
Now to decide between "Pirates" and "Books/Reading" as themes for the next storytime adventure....
ad stories about spring gardens and baseball. They included 
ell as the personalities of Piggie and Elephant and the interaction between them. We also read 
cks home plate...he calls the ump a nasty name and gets ejected from the game.) This is a book that appeals to very young kids because of the rhythm and rhyme, dinosaurplayers and bright, colorful illustrations. Because of the vocabulary and game descriptions it appeals to the adults in the group as well as preschoolers. Overall a verysuccessful storytime!