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?

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.