Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day the books I read at story time at Miramar were all about nature and taking care of the Earth. I found several websites with some good rhymes and finger plays. (see Earth Day Poems and The Holiday Zone) and a few books that worked for young kids. Here is what we read:

Nibbles: A Green Tale by Charlotte Middleton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Not only is there a lot of green in here...the whole town loves dandelion greens...but it is also a story of living green, when Nibbles works to save his favorite food from extinction...I especially love that Nibbles, a charming Guinea Pig, goes to the library to learn all that he can about Dandelions. The illustrations are wonderful and the kids really loved how he repopulated Dandeville with Dandelions.

Who Will Plant a Tree? by Jerry Pallotta
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a gentle, beautifully illustrated book about animals scattering seed that eventually grow into trees. Beginning with a squirrel who buries an acorn the kids focused on each and every picture and began joining in on the repeated phrase, "He/she/they didn't know it but he/she/they planted a tree" Monkeys throwing figs at each other, a wild horse planting a cherry tree and a beaver who plants maple trees when he nibbles down a maple tree for his dam all got the kids attention. Warning: there is a page about a fish who "poops" seeds...that got some giggles from my audience. They couldn't believe that I would say "poop" at a story time. They however did pick up on the scat the elephant leaves behind on the last page...

The EARTH Book by Todd Parr
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book is a great book to teach toddlers about Earth Day and taking care of the Earth. It uses simple text and bright child-like drawings to talk about all the big and little things that kids can do to help make a big difference in protecting the environment. It does it in positive terms that even young kids can relate to. An example, "I use both sides of the paper and bring my own bags to the market because...(turn the page)...I love trees and I want the owls to have a place to live." The people and animals in this book are all sorts of bright colors - yellow orange and purple and the pictures just burst with childlike joy.

For the younger group, we read "just for fun":

Can't Sleep Without Sheep by Susanna Leonard Hill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
What happens when the sheep a young girl counts quit because she will not fall asleep? An hysterical tale about a competition to find a replacement animal! The horses were too beautiful, the chickens couldn't jump the fence no matter how hard they tried. This is a laugh-out-loud good time story with lovely illustrations. There are all kinds of animals that try to be the next great counting animal - from armadillos to penguins...there are pigs more interested in snacks than jumping the fence, and buffalo that just run right through the fence. Finally, Ava talks the sheep who, after all, "are fluffy and peaceful and perfect" to come back to work and she is finally able to fall asleep. My story time audience laughed, and also enjoyed identifying all the different animals who are lined for the audition. Definitely a story time winner!

While the older group (7-11 year olds) heard:

There's a Hair in My Dirt!: A Worm's Story by Gary Larson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
From the creator of The Far Side comes a very funny tail of nature loving gone wrong. Harriet loves nature...and spends the day "helping" her forest friends...while in reality she does more harm than good. The kids all agreed that her intentions were good, and that she really thought she was doing good. However, Papa worm shows us that her actions had a very negative impact on the environment. This tale make the kids think about their own actions while making them laugh about the funny pictures and descriptions of the worm family who tell this tale. We even find out where the hair came from that little worm found - to his horror - in his dinner of dirt. The text was a little long for story time even with a group of 7-11 year olds.

Going to the Dogs!

Today's story time had a dog theme. There are terrific animations available for powerpoint slides (see Heather's Animations for example) and there are so many great children's books featuring dogs that the most difficult thing about planning this session was limiting the books, songs, rhymes that we shared. We did a "Five Little Puppies" finger play, performed a couple of action rhymes "Call your Dog" and this one:

Some Dogs Bark
Some dogs bark,
Some dogs growl,
Some dogs yip
Some dogs howl,
And some dogs...
...Just wag their tail.

Where the kids supply the appropriate noise. It was a big hit. They also loved our dog version of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes:

Head, cold nose, floppy ears, floppy ears.
Head, cold nose, floppy ears, floppy ears.
Tail that wags, wet tongue and furry toes.
Head, cold nose, floppy ears, floppy ears.

I made a flannelboard of Dogs Colorful Day by Emma Dodd. Although a pattern was available in Storytime Magic by Kathy MacMillan and Christine Kirker, I simply traced "Dog" from the cover and cut out appropriate spots:



Here are the books we read:


What Puppies Do Best by Laura Joffe Numeroff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

With simple text and adorable illustrations this book covers everything that Puppies do - the really good (wake you up in the morning, climb onto your bed and give you a kiss) and the really bad (dig holes in the yard, track mud into the house and make a big mess). There are plenty of cute kids and even more cute puppies in this book. This is a small book, so it would be difficult to read in front of a large audience, because you definitely want to take in the detail of the illustrations - especially the last two pages, devoted to what puppies do best of all: give you lots and lots of love.


Good Boy, Fergus! by David Shannon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As one of my family's favorite children's book, I looked forward to reading this one at a story time but wondered if it would go over as well with an audience. It did! All the kids fell in love with Fergus, a happy-go-lucky West Highland terrier, who is the star of this book. As Fergus progresses through his day the refrain "Good boy, Fergus!" is repeated over and over again...in spite of the fact that Fergus rarely ever minds. The illustrations are bright and big and filled with humor and the text is simple and very funny. Kids and parents were both laughing out loud at story time especially when they see his new "hairstyle" after a car ride. This book was a BIG hit with my story time audience.

See Me Run by Paul Meisel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The text of this book is very simple and repetitive as it is really designed to be a first reader. (The opening page: "See me run. I run and run.") The real beauty of this book - as a story time read aloud - are the fabulous illustrations and the giant surprise the dogs receive when they, "dig and dig and dig and dig." One dog leads and amazing pack of a dozen dogs on an adventure through a meadow, mud puddle, and joyous bath in a river (this is the only book out of four where the dogs enjoyed a bath!) The dogs then dig up an amazing treasure, that makes them "run again!" We had lively discussions and counting sessions during the sharing of this book, so the kids didn't seem to notice any limitations of the text. Great fun.

Bark, George by Jules Feiffer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book has everything you could want in a story time read: A lovable star, animal sounds, humor in abundance and a mother who experiences frustration, worry and joy because of her puppy. The story opens with George's mother asking him to bark. When he says, "Meow" she corrects him and has him try again and again - each attempt finds a new animal sound coming out of George's mouth, and mom becoming increasingly frustrated. Every mom at story time today smiled and nodded at being able to relate to George's poor old mom. She takes George to the vet, who manages to find the source of George's problems and George finally does bark...everyone is happy. There is also a nice twist at the very end, that flew over the toddler heads but made the moms laugh. Definitely a story time winner!

Doggone Dogs by Karen Beaumont
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Bouncy rhyming text and joyous illustrations make this book, about a ten dogs who take a wild romp through a park, a marvelous story time read. My story time audience loved this book (in spite of having heard three and a flannelboard story already!) They were counting dogs and pointing out their favorites. They also make a point of noticing the dogs' owner follow the dogs, leashes in hand, in a futile chase. Everyone does eventually make it home, including the slightly-worse-for-wear owner (still in his pajamas!) clearly exhausted after such a fun day out.

Baseball Season Starts!

At our house, one of the surest signs of Spring is the day that Spring Training starts. Surrounded by males in my house, sports in general, and baseball in particular, dominate the conversation and television viewing! So, is it any wonder that one of my spring story times has to be devoted to baseball? I found a couple of finger plays and songs...and then made up several more:

If You Want to Play Baseball
(Tune: “If You’re Happy”)
If you want to play baseball throw the ball (2x)
If you want to play baseball.
Be a batter, run the bases
If you want to play baseball throw the ball…
Swing the bat
Run to first
Yell out, “Safe!”

I’M A LITTLE BASEBALL
(Tune: “I’m a Little Teapot”)
I’m a little baseball
round and white
You can see my stitching
nice and tight
When the pitcher throws me from the mound
The batter hits me and I fly around.

The kids all had fun twirling around like flying baseballs. Fortunately, this is a pretty small story time audience!

We had a flannel board "game" where we had eight little gloves, each labeled a different color and the kids had to match the colored baseballs to the appropriate glove.

We read four books:

My Padres Baseball Game by Jenny Werner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a fun baseball book, all about our "home team," the Padres. The narrator is a young girl attending a game with her dad. They begin their experience at the "Park at the Park" and then pick up snacks and watch most of the game from seats inside the stadium. The text at times, was a little too commercial for my taste. The book is a nice introduction to Padres Baseball and the features of our local stadium and it made it easy to discuss what it is like to attend a game with my story time audience.

Dino-Baseball by Lisa Wheeler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Kids love dinosaurs and kids love baseball - so they adored this rhyming book about the plant eating dinosaurs of the Green Sox vs the carnivores of the Rib-eye Reds, played at Jurassic Park, of course! With colorful illustrations and lots of baseball action (even a team manager who "throws his hat and kicks 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, dinosaur players and bright, colorful illustrations. Because of the vocabulary and game descriptions it appeals to the adults in the group as well as preschoolers.

Quacky Baseball by Peter Abrahams
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thumby Duckling is nervous about his first game on the Webbies baseball team. The text can be read in an "announcer" voice, which the kids at storytime enjoyed. At several points in the story, "the crowd goes wild" and the kids and their moms provided the cheering crowd noices. The illustrations are bright and colorful and the humorous nature of the pictures and text had both moms and kids laughing out loud.

B Is for Baseball: Running the Bases from A to Z by Chronicle Books
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

We had a ball (no pun intended) with this book at story time. With breathtaking old photos on bright, almost scrapbook like backgrounds, this alphabet book was a big hit with my story time audience. Beginning with "autograph" and going through field positions and famous players and even hot dogs ("One of the favorite snacks found at baseball parks") through "Zinger" ( "A nickname for a grounder") this book is wonderful for all ages.

Rabbits and Eggs

So the theme for this week's story time was "Rabbits and Eggs" and we enjoyed lots of wonderful stories, two flannelboards (Four Little Chicks and Five Little Rabbits) We sang several songs and did a number of finger plays. After we made bunny ears to wear we had hunted to easter eggs, hidden among the books in the children's room.

Here are the books we read:

Wake Up, It's Spring! by Lisa Campbell Ernst
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a wonderfully illustrated book with simple text. Sun wakes the earth with the news that Spring is here - and the word passes from character to character. My story time audience loved that each new character opened one eye at a time, when told to wake up, it's spring. When all the characters are dancing in the warm spring sun, the kids all pointed out the characters. This was a very engaging story time read.

Quiet Bunny by Lisa McCue
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I fell in love with Quiet Bunny. The character is so adorable - hats off to Lisa McCue for her wonderful illustrations! This adorable little guy loves the all the sounds of the forest he lives in but there is one problem: when he tries to contribute he opens his mouth but only silence comes out. He tries everything to copy the sounds he hears. Finally, wise old owl advises him to find his own sound...which he does - by accident - and very happily joins in all the other forest animals and the cacophony they make each night. The joy that Quiet Bunny feels comes across so clearly that everyone, young and old, broke out in big smiles.

Hop! by Phyllis Root
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This board book has lovely illustrations and simple rhyming text that was very popular with my story time audience. We stopped often to count the rabbits or discuss what they were doing on many of the pictures ("hungry bunnies in a bunch (5) find some clover and nibble lunch") The pictures are big and bright enough that even with a good sized story time audience this book worked.

Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

With repeated sounds and a chorus of "Muncha, Muncha, Muncha!" this book, documents the battle between Mr. McGreely and three mischievous rabbits over his newly planted vegetable garden. There is no stopping these rabbits - although Mr. McGreely tries his best. Just for a moment, it looks like he has won the battle - but has he?