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!