Pets are Great

So, for preschool story time this week the theme was Pets are Great.   This theme is serendipitous, chosen because of some random books that happened to come across my desk at the same time. A new Dr. Seuss (published 24 years after his death), a cute new book and one book that I had  requested from another branch - for another reason.  I do happen to think that pets are great and so did my audience.

Here are the books we read:
Who Wants Broccoli? by Val Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Broccoli is a fun loving dog, who has spent most of his life in the Beezley's animal shelter.  Oscar is a young boy who wants a fun loving dog for a pet.  Will the two find each other and prove that "there is a lid for every pot and a pot for every lid?" This is an incredibly heartwarming story filled with humor and love. The illustrations are truly awesome and my story time audiences immediately fell in love with Broccoli, and the other incredibly cute animals in the shelter.  This one is a story time winner - when Broccoli does indeed"find his lid" against all odds my entire story time audience said "Ahhhh."

What Pet Should I Get? by Dr. Seuss
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is unmistakably a Dr. Seuss book - bold colors, the wonderfully whimsical illustrations that are such an unforgettable part of each of his stories, and text that just bounces along.  This one is a bit strained, however.  The story of a brother and sister at a pet store having to choose just one to take home is funny, but a little flat.  Maybe it is the two double page reminders to "MAKE UP YOUR MIND" that interrupted the rhythm and the story...or maybe it was the ending that made me feel slightly disappointed.  Don't get me wrong, this is a fun and well illustrated story, and my two story time audiences seemed to love it.   Both groups seemed to enjoy the ending more than I did, and it turned out to be a  point of great engagement with the kids as I encouraged them to use the imagination...which they did with great enthusiasm.

Not Norman: A Goldfish Story by Kelly Bennett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The illustrations are bright and bold and beautiful and the text simple.  This is a wonderful story about a boy and his dog...um fish and the growing affection between boy and pet.  When the boy receives Norman as a birthday gift, he is disappointed -he didn't want a stupid fish, he wanted a pet that could play catch and curl up on his bed at night.  The story contains a number of very funny attempts to trade Norman for a "good" pet which are laugh-out-loud good.  When the boy does get a chance to trade Norman for another pet, he finds that he really does have the perfect pet, after all.  In addition to good messages and plenty of humor, the main character in this book is dark skinned, and he is surrounded by other diverse characters.

This was a well received theme and the books complemented each other nicely.  Two out of the three books elicited a spontaneous "Ahhhh" from my audience - clearly they were touched by the tenderness of the stories.  Another good thing about this theme:  there are lots of great songs and rhymes and lots of great easy crafts as well.

Baby Bookworms and Moms

My Baby Bookworms story time fell on the Monday after Mother's Day, but is it ever wrong to celebrate Mothers?  At the library, we have a "Mommy and Me" yoga class that runs about thirty minutes and then after about a fifteen minute break, I present a Baby Bookworms story time.  We have a great group of regulars and it has been great fun to see the babies and their moms bond and make friends in this group.

Here are the books:

Five Minutes' Peace by Jill Murphy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I discovered this book many years ago when I was home raising three young children and wondering if I would ever enjoy a hot meal or converse with an adult in full sentences ever again.  Mrs. Large yearns for just 5 minutes peace.  So she sneaks off to the bathroom to enjoy a soak in the bath with tea and the paper...and enjoys about  a minute of "heaven" before, one by one, her three youngsters invade the bathroom, and finally end up in the tub with her.  She sneaks back down to the kitchen where she enjoys three minutes and forty-five seconds of peace before her three wet young find her, wrapped in towels.  This is my mother's day gift for the moms in my story time audience, and every single one can identify with Mrs. Large and her desire for just a few minutes of peace.  But they can also identify with the love and humor that fills this book about that very special bond between mothers and their children.


Benjamin's Bugs by Mary Morgan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is a sweet little book -  that is not so much about bugs as it is about a boy and his mother...and her love for him.  Chosen for a bug themed storytime, I used it instead for my Mother's Day storytime. This is a small book, with tiny, detailed illustrations so it would not work well for a large group.  Benjamin spends most of the book being a youngster (The characters are porcupines) and being distracted while taking a walk with his mother.  He also tries out some independence - climbing trees and trying to catch fish in a pond....finding out the hard was that it is a good thing that his mom is nearby.


Seven Hungry Babies by Candace Fleming
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
While the rhythm isn't perfect, the humor in the illustrations make up for anything lacking.  Seven chicks hatch with a mighty crack and immediately demand to be fed.  Mom does her best buy by the time she feeds all seven she is exhausted.  There is a nice twist at the end, that made all of the moms in my story time audience laugh out loud.  Great read for Mother's day or to add to a bird themed story time.


Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
With wonderful read-aloud rhyming text and adorable illustrations the parents in my story time audience smiled in recognition of a bed time routine.  Mother Llama reads a story, kisses her little llama good night and turns out the light and heads downstairs to finish the dishes and her evening routine.  Llama llama has other ideas, though, and spends much of the rest of the book creating "bedtime drama" that sends mother back to comfort her panic stricken little llama.


The Moms in my audience loved the books…and don't tell anyone, but that is the real target audience for a baby-lapsit story time.