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.