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?

Spring Fling Storytime 2012

Although the weather didn't cooperate (we had an unusually cold, gray, and rainy day here in San Diego) this week we read stories and sang songs all about the glories of Spring! We did finger plays about meeting rabbits, planting seeds and sang songs all about the wonderful things that can be found in the spring. The rainy weather didn't dampen our spirits one bit...although it did hold down attendance - the audience consisted of two very lively little boys. Both of which are regulars and today's level of participation showed how far we have come in building confidence and trust. You would never know that six months ago these boys wouldn't say a word and one was so shy he would barely make eye contact. What a great reward for me!

Here are today's books:


Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit: A Book of Changing Seasons by Il Sung Na
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a lovely introduction to the changing seasons. The illustrations are bright and bold - good for a large story time. The text is simple and there are lots of things for members of a story time audience to notice, and they will!

Spring Is Here by Will Hillenbrand
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mole wakes up one morning to find that spring has come. Wanting to share this great news with his friend Bear, he goes to great lengths to wake the snoring bear. Each of mole's attempts result in a giant "snore" from Bear and the text lends itself to some great sound effects. The illustrations are terrific and the kids loved it when they were asked to give me a big bear snore (lots of giggles) and they loved the twist at the end!


Spring Things by Bob Raczka
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a beautifully illustrated book about all things spring - told in sparse rhyming text. ("Budding...sprouting...trees leaf-outing" took three pages) My two/three year olds loved this book and insisted that we count butterflies and name all of the things in the pictures (warning there are lots of small details...like lady bugs and caterpillars everywhere.) All in all a very pleasant and engaging story time read.


My Garden by Kevin Henkes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What would a story time about spring be without a book about gardening? This book, at first reading. became my favorite toddler book about gardens. The young girl who narrates the story helps her mother in the garden and then tells the reader about what a wondrous place HER garden would be with huge tomatoes and invisible carrots (because she doesn't like carrots!) flowers in all colors and patterns and whenever you pick a flower another grows back in its place. There are chocolate bunnies and sea shell plants and - and this was the favorite of my story time audience - a jelly bean bush where the narrator is able to pick jelly beans by the bushel. With wonderful illustrations, this garden tale filled with imagination is a real audience pleaser.There are also lots of great opportunities for the audience to point out and count birds and butterflies.

Wear Your Green!

In honor of St. Patrick's Day which happens later this week our theme today was about all things green. Many of our songs and finger plays involved shamrocks and leprechauns. Including two flannel boards:



Five Little Shamrocks.
Five Little Leprechauns.



One of the favorites was Five Fat Peas:

Five fat peas in a pea pod pressed
One grew, two grew and so did all the rest.
They grew and they grew and they never stopped
They grew and they grew until that pea pod popped!

Here are the books we read:

St. Patrick's Day by Anne F. Rockwell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a nicely illustrated book all about the history and traditions surrounding St. Patrick's Day, in the context of information gathered and presented for a class project. My story time audience listened politely to this story and it did hold their attention, but it was not as engaging as most of the books that I read. I searched long and hard for a book about St. Patrick's day that would appeal to toddlers and this was the best one I found. The illustrations are fun and the story is solid and simple.

Where Is the Green Sheep? (Horn Book Fanfare List by Mem Fox
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was the highlight of story time! In simple rhyming text the reader is introduced to all sorts of wonderful sheep, but not the green sheep. The question "but where is the green sheep?" appears every few pages. The kids gathered around this book and identified all the sheep (the slide sheep, coming down a playground slide on skis was a special favorite) and would join in asking "but where is the green sheep?" Even the youngest member of my audience (14 months or so) happily talked about the sheep as he pointed to them! The children were happily engaged and couldn't wait for the moment when we found the green sheep. The illustrations are wonderful! Even the quiet, shy kids will get involved and interact with this book.

Snip Snap! What's That? by Mara Bergman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is a great read aloud! My story time audience got up and gathered around the book to find out what happens when three children are stalked by a big mean alligator who comes "creeping...creeping...creeping up the stairs." The kids gathered around the book in order to point out all the wonderful details to be found in the illustrations. The colors are bright and the text is filled with wonderful sounds and the repeated phrase, "Were the children scared? You bet they were!" It didn't take long for the kids to pick up on that and they giggled as they joined in. The alligator comes closer and closer and and scarier and scarier until the children decide they have had enough of that scary old alligator. In the end, as a tribute to the urban legend, the alligator is seen slinking home - and the last illustration shows just the tip of his tail disappearing into a man-hole with the cover pushed aside. "Snip snap! The end."

Tweedle Dee Dee by Charlotte Voake
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is a fun, rhythmic variation on "The Green Grass Grew All Around" This cumulative story focuses on the finest tree you ever did see in a wood.
On this tree there is a branch...on the branch there was a nest....well you get the picture - and the green leaves grew all around. The illustrations are simple and fun, and in addition to birds in a nest and leaves the reader meets other residents of the tree including a pair of squirrels and a family that has a picnic under the tree. It was a nice touch to have the birds in the nest say "Twiddle Dee Dee" - my story time audience enjoyed it so much more than a simple "Tweet, tweet."


After our closing song we colored cut and glued "Shamrocks on a Stick" puppets and learned a bonus song:

I'm a little shamrock look at me
Oh what color can I be?
If you said that I was the color green
Stand right up and yell, "Yippee!"

Hamsters and Guinea Pigs, Oh My!

One of my great regulars at story time is a lovely young girl who has a guinea pig as a pet, and she loves stories about hamsters and guinea pigs. As I had recently purchased a hamster and a guinea pig puppet on Ebay, I felt as though this would be a good time do do a story time around these cute and furry critters. Lots of fun stories, but not too many rhymes and finger plays. Not a problem. I have been doing this just long enough to feel secure in making them up! We did a variation of "Hurry, Hurry, Drive that Firetruck" (Hurry, Scurry, Little Hamster...running on your wheel...munching on your food....it's time to say good night). We also did the following finger play:

Five Little Guinea Pigs (Fingerplay)
Five Little guinea pigs having lots of fun;
This one fell asleep in the warm spring sun.
This one was a pig and ate all the food
Which put this one in a very bad mood!
This one raced around and around
The last one was so quiet
She never made a sound.

I found a Hamster song to the tune of "Wheels on the Bus" which was a great hit.
The Hamster on his wheel goes round and round....in his little cage. Then he munches on his food and, finally, he goes to sleep each night. All accompanied by appropriate actions. We also did a guinea pig version of "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes":

Guinea Pig Head Shoulders Knees Toes
Head, shoulders twitchy nose, twitchy nose
Head, shoulders twitchy nose, twitchy nose
Eyes and ears and whiskers and toes
Head shoulders twitchy nose, twitchy nose

Here are the books (we didn't read all of them, but they are all great):
Little Whistle by Cynthia Rylant
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a sweet story filled with wonderful illustrations. Little Whistle, the guinea pig, loves his home in Toy Town, especially at night when all the toys come to life. The story is very imaginative and the characters the author creates, all friends of Little Whistle are just marvelous. At night, Little Whistle wakes up and puts on his blue pea coat (a gift from a long since sold toy sailor) and visits all of his friends: a bear that likes hats, a soldier that loves to read books to babe, a lion that loves vanilla cookies. Some nights he takes the train to the other side of the store and some nights he just walks...well you get the picture. It was a tad long for my two-year-olds but they paid attention all the way to the end of this gentle story.

Hot Rod Hamster by Cynthia Lord
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Little Hamster wants to enter the big hot rod race, but needs to find a car. In rhyming text with big, bold illustrations the junkyard dog helps Hamster put together his hot rod racer. There are many choices to be made and the text asks the reader to help hamster make them...which color, fat tires or thin?....and there are plenty of opportunities for a story time audience to not only chime in with answers but to make all sort of car/racing sounds. This is a thoroughly enjoyable read-aloud.

Glamsters by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a very cute book about two hamster sisters waiting in a pet shop for someone to adopt them. On the eve of the big sale, Harriet can't sleep and finds herself reading about making oneself over in order to get noticed. She takes a quiz and then works to turn herself into a Glamster. When her sister wakes up she doesn't recognize Harriet right away! But convinces her that Harriet really doesn't need all that stuff to be adoptable - she just needs to be herself.

Pet Shop Lullaby by Mary Ann Fraser
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The entire pet store is awakened by one small hamster who can't sleep. All of the animals take turns doing everything they can think of to put him to sleep - they give him a bath and tell him a story and tuck him in. Of course by then it is morning and now all of the sounds of the pet store keep him awake. There are lots of great read aloud sounds and wonderful pictures. Be sure and look at all the details!

Then there were my two favorites:

Guinea Pig Far and Near by Kate Duke
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is just lovely. Kate Duke's amazing illustrations of Guinea Pigs are amazing and capture the essence of these cute, furry critters. The simple text is really just a caption for the pictures - near, far, apart and together. Great concept book and a fun book about Guinea Pigs.


The Guinea Pig ABC by Kate Duke
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Not only does this book contain all of Kate Duke's amazing guinea pigs - which convey so much emotion and life - but there is great humor present in this Alphabet book. "A" shows a smug drumming guinea pig beneath a clearly startled guinea pig with night cap flying off his head and the word, "Awake." "C" stands for clean and shows a young guinea pig scrubbing himself, but not looking very happy. Every letter is a joy, almost all are guaranteed to bring a smile.

Happy Valentine's Day

The theme for this morning's storytime was "Hugs and Kisses" and featured four books, 3 songs 2 fingerplays and a flannelboard counting song. We had a record thirteen kids of all ages and they were all engaged and participatory. Lots of smiles, which makes it really a joy for me! There was even something of a major victory today - one of my regulars usually sits near the back with his mom and is a bit hesitant to participate - this morning he walked in a bit late, and I welcomed him and invited him to sit in the circle of kids...or he could pull up a chair, the choice was his...after hesitating a bit, he came right into the circle. I even caught him singing a long a little! We made Valentine's Day cards for our craft. Easy, inexpensive and the kids (and adults) got very creative with some paper doilies, heart shapes cut from scrapbook paper I'd probably never use, rickrack, ribbon and, of course, glitter.

Here is what we read:
The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Chester the raccoon is off for his first day of school, and he isn't sure he wants to leave his friends and his toys and his mother. When he asks her, "Please can't I just stay here with you?" this mom shares a great secret (which I wish I had known when my kids were starting school!) She kisses the palm of his hand and assures him that whenever he wants to feel close to her, he can simply hold the palm of his hand to his cheek and he will be able to feel her love. Such a touching and charming story, with lovely pictures. But wait there is more...as Chester is leaving for school, he gives his mom a kissing hand so that she will always be able to feel his love, too. The theme for today's storytime was "hugs and kisses" but this book would work just as well as a Mother's Day book or first day of school read.

How Do You Hug a Porcupine? by Laurie Isop
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a charming book, told in rhyme advising the reader on how to hug all sorts of animals (even a yak!). The phrase "But how do you hug a porcupine?" is repeated several times and the kids at storytime would say it with me, taking their cue from the rhyming word on the page before. The illustrations are very cute. In the end the reader does learn exactly how to hug a porcupine.

Something Special by Terri Cohlene
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

On each page of this delightful, mysterious book the reader is given a clue about what was in the mysterious present frog receives when the book opens. It contains something special, but what is it? It can be silent, or loud, planted, blown,,,is best when given away....sugary ones come from Grandma and sticky ones from little brothers. Can you guess? The kids today at storytime had great fun offering up special things, cookies, soccer balls and strawberries... which usually worked fine for a clue or two but then it was clear that this something special was something else. We reviewed each clue for each suggested object, and the kids would chime in yes or no depending on whether the item fit or not. Great storytime read, this book very naturally becomes very interactive and very engaging even with a group.

The Ballad of Valentine by Alison Jackson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a book that is a fun, rhyming story or a song to the tune of "Clementine." I didn't want to subject my audience to more of my singing voice, so I just read this book, about a girl named Valentine and her suitor. Her suitor is one unlucky man - who tries desperately to send her a Valentine, but is thwarted at every turn. The mail train gets derailed, a tornado blows away his smoke signal message and it goes on and on. The rhyme and rhythm of this book make it fun to read out loud and the pictures and text are filled with humor.

First Nothing and then Groundhogs

Did you know that January 16 is officially National Nothing Day? Thanks to http://www.brownielocks.com/ I have a calendar listing all sorts of known and lesser known holidays (read bizarre). In honor of Nothing Day, I did "Story time About Nothing." filled with high energy and humor I found some great picture books to read, we did some great fingerplays/songs that count down to nothing and Everyone chanted along to a flannel of "Five Little Monkey's Jumping on the Bed." Everyone had a great time!

Here's what we read:
Let's Do Nothing! by Tony Fucile
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Filled with humor and bright illustrations this book is about two boys, who having done everything, decide to try doing nothing for 10 seconds. With the help of an over-active imagination - perfectly illustrated - they find that doing nothing is much more difficult than it looks. The audience at storytime (toddlers) loved it and laughed in all the appropriate places.

Five Little Monkeys with Nothing to Do by Eileen Christelow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

With great illustrations and the repeated phrase of "we have nothing to do", the famous (infamous?) five little monkeys get into trouble again. Mama comes up with a number of activities (like cleaning their room, and scrubbing the bathroom) to keep them occupied, and this works well - until she sends them down to pick some berries for Grandma Bessie's arrival...and they return dirty, muddy messes. In getting ready for Grandma's arrival they undo all their hard work and mess up the lovely clean house! After reading this book I pulled out a "Five Little Monkey's Jumping on the Bed" flannel and we chanted it together. The kids and Moms loved it and participated with great enthusiasm.


The Emperor's Cool Clothes by Lee Harper
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a cutting edge, very modern retelling of The Emperor's New Clothes. The pictures and text are bright, colorful and edgy. The Emperor hands over a platinum card to pay for his cool new clothes and the tailors (the Rogue Brothers) take his money and buy things on the internet. Funny, colorful - the kids at storytime loved the pictures. I really liked this book until the very last page...where nothing happens in spite of a little girl in the crowd pointing out that the emperor is naked. When there is no message, this fairy tale really loses something! At storytime I closed the book, and took a poll of the kids and asked what the emperor should do...even these toddlers voluteered some good choices for the emperor.


The Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonnell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

From the creator of the comic strip "Mutts" this book features the the strip's two stars: Mooch the cat and Earl the dog. In this charming story, Earl's birthday is coming and Mooch wants to get something special for his friend but finds it difficult since Earls has everything already - a bed, bowl, ball and even a chewy toy. What do you get someone who has everything? Nothing, of course! The adventure begins when Mooch sets off to buy his friend's gift. His mistress always complains that there is nothing to buy whenever she shops so that is where he starts - but finds only lots of something! He finally decides to give Earl and empty box...then deciding that Earl deserves more, he wraps the biggest empty box he can find. When Earl opens his gift, and finds nothing, he looks surprised and disappointed until Mooch explains that his gift is nothing but his friendship but he wanted Earl to have a package to open. The two friends are last seen sitting in front of the setting sun with their paws wrapped around each other. There was a collective "ahhh" when I closed the book.

We did "Five Little Kittens" and blew out pretend candles while we counted down by two as we did "Ten Little Candles" and had fun making Three Little Sausages fry in a pan. A fun story time for all.

The following week, the theme was "Celebrating Groundhog Day" I found a great craft and lots of songs and rhymes about groundhogs, but had to struggle a bit to find books that I thought would work for a toddler story time. We began the story time with the tongue twister, "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" and after we stopped giggling I asked if anyone could guess why....no one could but they all received the answer in our first book, which was:

Groundhog Day! by Gail Gibbons
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was the first nonfiction book I read at a storytime. With colorful illustrations and simple text this book covers everything you ever wanted to know about Groundhogs and the history and tradition of Groundhog Day. The kids loved it! It also proved the old adage that you learn something new everyday - since I didn't know that wood chuck was just another name for groundhog. We followed this with the action rhyme "Pop Up, Little Groundhog" and the fingerplay "Five Little Groundhogs."


Our next book was A Garden For A Groundhog by Lorna Balian
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a cute book, with colorful illustrations about life on a small farm. There is a farmer and his wife and a small collection of animals that belong to the farm. There is also a groundhog that belongs to himself. We see all the characters as they go through the winter planning for spring and longing for it, while groundhog dreams about all the lovely vegetables that he will find in the garden. As the humans set out their garden when spring does arrive, they have a plan for Mr. Groundhog - and plant zucchini which they clearly label as his. The problem is, groundhogs don't read signs! The picture on the last page is just marvelous.

Gregory's Shadow by Don Freeman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Gregory the groundhog is a charming character, who always feels braver and happier when his best friend shadow is with him. The night before Groundhog day, when all the farmers wait for his prediction about the arrival of spring weather, disaster strikes when Gregory and Shadow get separated.
Both experience great anxiety while they are separated, but they are reunited in time for the big day...and they vow never to be separated again. The kids related to feeling braver with a best friend and they laughed when Shadow scared Gregory, who thought he was seeing a ghost. The illustrations are soft and appealing and the story was enjoyed by the toddler audience.


We closed with the very funny Groundhog Weather School by Joan Holub
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When Mr. Groundhog gets a complaint about incorrect weather predictions he decides he needs to hire a regional team of groundhogs so groundhog day predictions will be much more accurate. So, he advertises for a team and sets up a weather school for training. Then his team - three groundhogs and one skunk - sets off to sleep through the fall and winter, rising on groundhog day. (Well, all but one...) Their reporting varies widely in style and, in spite of everything, the team is no more accurate than Mr. Groundhog alone. The illustrations are big and bold and the book overflows with humor. There are lots of things going on, and lots of side remarks, signs and speech bubbles, so there is almost a graphic novel feel to this book. I worried that it would be too difficult to read aloud because of these things and I also worried that it might be too involved for toddler/preschoolers. The kids loved it. Fortunately I was reading to a small group - a half dozen or so - and they just all gathered around and pointed to things in the pictures and talked about all the silly things that were going on in this story. Lots of giggles and happy children.

Holiday Fun....

Our December Holiday Storytime at the base was great fun. We had treats, acted out "Five Little Trees" and had a very special visitor. The room was packed with excited children and their parents and everyone had a marvelous time. Oh, and I even managed to read a few stories:

Merry Christmas, Splat by Rob Scotton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Splat is one of my favorite modern children's characters. He is wonderfully illustrated, and kids can easily identify with his fears and insecurities and wants and desires. In this book, Splat wants a very special present but isn't entirely sure that he has been good enough to deserve such a gift. He tries desperately to be extra helpful and demonstrate his very best "good" with less than perfect success. This book is humorous and beautifully illustrated and the kids at storytime enjoyed it. I was bothered a bit by the focus on the somewhat crass materialism, but this book does have a happy ending.

Reindeer Christmas by Mark K. Moulton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a charming book with beautiful illustrations about a family who cares for the animals that live in the forest near the family home during the winter, making sure they have seed and berries and apples. One day they stumble upon a magical visitor and nurse him back to health. The visitor turns out to be Donner who got lost in a blizzard. All turns out well, when Donner recovers after a nap by a warm fire and a bucket full of food fit for a deer. The family receives a beautiful letter of gratitude written by Santa himself (I invited our library director read the letter from the back of the room, which was very effective!) and the book has a very happy ending, which the assembled audience enjoyed.


Hoppy Hanukkah! by Linda Glaser
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a very endearing and fun book about a family of rabbits preparing for their Hanukkah celebration. I conducted a pretty thorough search to find a book for toddler/preschoolers that would capture the fun of Hanukkah and teach them a little about the holiday, while still holding their interest. This was the best book I found.

Three days later I delivered a Winter Holiday Storytime at the branch of the public library where I was substituting. I read these last two books there also and the "Snow Tree" which I discussed in my last post. Again the books were well received, the audience engaged and everyone had a good time. They participated enthusiastically in the rhymes and fingerplays and songs that were a part of this storytime.