Celebration, August 17th 18th, 2012

This was the last storytime before school started, so all of storytime librarians participated so we could celebrated all of our storytime friends who would be leaving us to start school.

Bark George

Shake My Sillies Out – country version from the cd, Country Goes Raffi.

Book: (Deanna) – Bark, George by Jules Feiffer. Deanna has a puppet version that she tells in place of the actual book.

Song: (Debbie) Cowboy Riding Song Debbie sang this song using puppets for each of the various animals.  Paul accompanied her playing his wooden spoons.

Book: (Robyn & Paul) I’m the Best by Lucy Cousins.

Song: (Patrick) Rocketship Run from the Laurie Berkner cd of the same name.

Poem: (Paul) It’s Hot from A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein.  (We made a poster along with removable clothes that can be used along with a puppet to act out this poem.

Book: Dinosaur vs. the Library by Bob Shea.

Song: The Wheels on the Bus.

Book: Eddie Gets Ready for School by David Milgrim.

Activity: Storytime Graduation!

We gave each child a free book and graduation cap while we played Edward Elgar’s graduation staple, Pomp and Circumstance, in the background.

by everyone :)

Outdoor Extravaganza, August 10th and 11th, 2011

Prior to storytime we decorated the Story Room with “stars” (Christmas lights) and a campfire (a fan with crepe paper streamers).  We came dressed in our Hawaiian shirts and sunglasses.   

Dude: Fun with Dude and Betty

Begin by singing Raffi’s Shake My Sillies Out.

Book: Dude: Fun with Dude and Betty by Lisa Pliscou; illustrated by Tom Dunne.

Song: Swimming at the Bottom of the Sea from the Geof Johnson cd, The Sea, Beach, and Summer Stuff.

Book:  The Big Fish by Phyllis Root; illustrated by James Croft. We made paper cut-outs which can be used on a magnetic chalkboard in place of the actual book.

Puppet Show/Book: My Friend is Sad by Mo Willems. We used two fish puppets in place of Elephant and Piggie. We also slightly altered the story.

Song: Baby Fish from the compact disc, Dr. Jean Sings Silly Songs.

Book: We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen; illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. 

Book: Camping by Phyllis Root; illustrated by James Croft. We made paper cut-outs, which can be used on a magnetic chalkboard in place of the actual book.

Book: Just Me and My Dad by Mercer Mayer.

Activity: We put on our boots and backpacks and took the kids on a pretend hike. After we walked for a while we came to a campsite. It began to get dark and the crickets started chirping (cue cd) and the stars came out (turn off lights and plug in Christmas lights). We decided to roast marshmallows over a roaring campfire (turn on lantern under fan and cue fan). Each child was given a skewer with a marshmallow on the end. The cricket sounds were provided by the cd, Echoes of Nature: American Wilds. This was a delightful end to an already deee-lightful storytime!

Space, August 3rd and 4th, 2011

Begin by singing Raffi’s Shake My Sillies Out.

Puppet Show: Why? (Cowboys & Aliens Style) by Lindsay Camp and Tony Ross. We used cowboy and alien puppets as well as a spaceship prop to perform this story.

Moondogs

Poem: The Planet of Mars from the Shel Silverstein book, Where the Sidewalk Ends. We made some magnetic cut-outs which can be used along with this poem.

Book: Moondogs by Daniel Kirk.

Song: What Will I Take to the Moon from the cd, Parachute Express. We made pictures of each of the items to take to the moon which we hung on the wall.  While we sang the song we pointed at the particular picture and did the corresponding action.

Book: Astronaut Piggy Wiggy by Christyan and Diane Fox.

Story: Alien on the Move by Paul and Deanna. We made up our own shadow puppet show which can be used on an overhead projector.

Song: I Don’t Want to Live on the Moon from the Sesame Street CD Platinum: All-Time Favorites. We made some props, which we used along with an Ernie puppet to lip sync to the song while the cd played.

Activity: Blast Off! by Cynthia Holley.

            Jump into your spacesuit,

            Don’t forget your hat. (Imitate putting on suit and helmet.)

            Climb into the rocket ship

            On the launching mat.  (Climb in, sit down.)

            Buckle up for take off,

            Belts from head to toe.  (Buckle up!)

            Countdown from ten and blast off,

            Up to the moon we go!

            10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 . . . . Blast off!

We then landed on the moon and did various activities such as space walking, jumping, and running.  Afterward we decided to return to earth and did the rhyme a second time, substituting the words “Back to the earth” in place of “Up to the moon.”  

by Deanna and Paul

Community Helpers, May 25th and 26th, 2011

Begin by singing Raffi’s Shake My Sillies Out

Cat up a Tree

Book: Cat up a Tree by John and Ann Hassett.

Poem: The Sitter from Shel Silverstein’s book, A Light in the Attic. We used a little girl and old lady puppet to tell this poem. We read the poem twice, the second time with the girl reciting the poem while being sat on.

Song: I Got a Job, from the CD, Growing Up with Ella Jenkins. We came up with a list of actions that the kids could do along with each community helper.

Book: Edwina the Emu by Sheena Knowles; illustrated by Rod Clement.

Story/Activity: Hello, My Name is Joe. 

Book: Bark, George by Jules Feiffer.  (We used puppets to tell this story in place of the actual book.) 

Poem: Examination from Shel Silverstein’s book, A Light in the Attic. We

used puppets and props to recite this poem.

Baker, Baker Cookie Maker

Song: The People in Your Neighborhood, a song from Sesame Street. We passed out the lyrics and all sang together. We brought in a variety of hats/props (fireman’s helmet, zookeeper’s hat, mailman’s bag, etc.) and had the children guess who the community helper was, before we actually sang about them.

Book: Baker, Baker, Cookie Maker by Linda Hayward; illustrated by Tom

Brannon.  We used a giant Cookie Monster puppet to help tell this story.

Treat: Cookies!!! After the last story about baking cookies, a librarian knocked

on the Story Room door and brought in a platter full of delicious chocolate chip cookies.  She was all decked out as Julia Child and even had flower covering her face, chest, and hands. This was a big hit!

by Patrick and Paul

Frogs, April 18th and 25th, 2012

Begin by singing Raffi's Shake My Sillies Out.

Book: Green Wilma by Tedd Arnold

Poem: A Princess’ Lament

Book: Once There Was a Bull… Frog by Rick Walton

Puppet Show: The Caterpillar and the Polliwog based on the book of the same name by Jack Kent.

Song: Jump, Jump

Jump, jump went the little green

frog one day,

Jump, jump went the little green

frog.

Jump, jump went the little green

frog one day,

And his eyes went blink, blink,

blink.

Blink, blink went the little green

frog one day,

Blink, blink went the little green

frog.

Blink, blink went the little green

frog one day,

And his tongue went glup, glup,

glup.

Glup, glup went the little green

frog one day,

Glup, glup went the little green

frog.

Glup, glup went the little green

frog one day,

And his legs went jump, jump,

jump.

Book: Jump! by Scott M. Fischer

Song: Five Green and Speckled Frogs

Can You Make a Scary Face?

Book: Can You Make a Scary Face? by Jan Thomas

Song: A Fly Is on My Toes sung to the tune of The Farmer in Dale. Pass out feathers that children can use as a fly.

A fly is on my toes,

a fly is on my toes.

Hi-ho watch me gulp. (Make frog tongue motion)

A fly is on my ___. (New Body Part)

Repeat with various other body parts.

by Patrick and Robyn

Spring Rain, April 11th and 12th, 2012

Begin by singing Raffi's Shake My Sillies Out.

In the Rain with Baby Duck

Book: In the Rain with Baby Duck by Amy Hest

Song: Springtime on the Farm by Geoff Johnson

Book: Stuck in the Mud by Jane Clarke

Song: Weather Rythmns adapted from the song of the same name from the music CD H.U.M. All Year Long by Carole Peterson.

Book: Rain by Manya Stojic

Fingerplay: The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Book: Soggy Saturday by Phyllis Root

by Debbie and Patrick

Puppets, Puppets, Puppets April 25th and 26th, 2012

Barnyard Banter

Begin by singing Raffi's Shake My Sillies Out.

Book: Barnyard Banter by Denise Fleming. This book can be sang to the tune of Skip to My Lou. Each time the book asks, “but where’s goose?” We had a goose puppet briefly pop out and then hide behind the book. At the end goose puppet comes out with a loud “Honk, honk, honk” and grabs the book away.

Fingerplay: Five Little Hot Dogs (with hot dog finger puppets).

Five little hotdogs frying in the pan.
The pan got hot, and one went BAM!
Four little hotdogs… 
Three…       
Two…         
One…     
No little hotdogs frying in the pan.
The pan got hot and it went BAM!

Puppet Show: The Viper adapted from the book of the same name by Lisa Thiesing.

Rhyme: Monkey See, Monkey Do with Monkey Puppets!

When you clap clap clap your hands,

The monkey clap clap claps his hands

Monkey see, Monkey do

The monkey does the same as you!

            Stamp your feet.

            Turn around.

            Jump up high.

Shadow Puppet Show: Based on The Hungry Hen by Richard Waring

Poem: I Ate Too Much by Jack Prelutsky. We dressed a puppet in an oversized t-shirt, which we draped over a balloon connected to a bicycle pump. As the puppet recited the poem we pumped up the balloon. So funny!

The Monster at the End of This Book

Book: The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone with a Grover puppet.

Final Activity: Jokes with puppets. We told a few jokes with puppets at the end of the storytime, easy laughs!

by Patrick and Paul

Just a Little Bit Spooky, April 23rd, 2012

Book: Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems

Song: Five Ugly Monsters, like 5 little monkeys, but with monsters.

Book: Frank Was a Monster Who Loved to Dance by Keith Graves

Song: If You’re a Monster and You Know It sung to the tune of if you're happy and you know it.

If you're a monster and you know it groan and growl

If you're a monster and you know it groan and growl

If you're a monster and you know it and you really want to show it.

If you're a monster and you know it groan and growl

Flail your arms
Stomp your feet
Make a face
Do all four

Book: Ghosts in the House by Kazuno Kohara

Puppet Show: Go Away Big Green Monster

Book: Creepy Things Are Scaring Me by Jerome and Jarrett Pumphrey

Craft: DVD UFOs

by Patrick

Creepy Crawlies, May 11th and 12th, 2011

Begin by singing Raffi’s Shake My Sillies Out.

(Prior to reading our first story, We pretended that our pet spider had gone missing [using fishing line we attached a tarantula puppet to my back]. We looked all over for the spider until finally it crawled up my back and onto my shoulder.

Book: Aaaarrgghh! Spider! by Lydia Monks.

Poem: What to Do When a Bug Climbs in Your Mouth, from the Rick Walton book, What to Do When a Bug Climbs in Your Mouth and Other Poems to Drive You Buggy. Robyn recited this poem using a plastic spider which she subsequently put in her mouth and pretended to chew.

Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider.

Puppet Show: Hey, Little Ant by Phillip and Hannah Hoose; illustrated by Debbie Tilley. We performed this story as a puppet show in place of the actual book.

Song: Spider on the Floor from the Raffi CD, Singable Songs for the Very Young. We passed out rubber spiders and we used a tarantula puppet for this song.

Book: Donald and the . . . by Peter F. Neumeyer and Edward Gorey. Because the pictures are so small, we made transparencies which we used with the overhead projector.

Poem: Slug Bug Cheer, from the same Rick Walton book as before. We usedour boy and girl puppets with movable hands as well as the letters that spell out “S-L-U-G. The second time we did the rhyme, on the last sentence we substituted the word “HUG” for “SLUG.”

Book: The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle. We told this story using a spider, string, wooden frame, and plastic fly, along with some animal pictures on the magnetic chalkboard.

Book/Activity: The Croaky Pokey by Ethan Long. We had the kids get up and dance while we sang this song.

by Paul and Robyn

Little Golden Books Storytime, May 4th and 5th

Begin by singing Raffi’s Shake My Sillies Out.

Book:The Little Red Hen illustrated by J. P. Miller. (We passed out pictures of the animals so that each child could say the part of a character. As we held up a particular animal picture, the children with that animal would say, “Not I.” The narrator used a red hen puppet.)

Song: I Know a Chicken, from the Laurie Berkner CD, Whaddaya Think of That? We passed out egg shakers while we sang this song.

Book: I Can Fly by Ruth Krauss; illustrated by Mary Blair.

Rhyme: Can You Be?

Can you be an elephant?

Stomp, Stomp, Stomp. (Stomp feet on ground.)

Or a big green alligator?

Chomp, Chomp, Chomp. (Snap arms together.)

Can you be a tiny mouse?

Creep, Creep, Creep. (Tiptoe in place.)

How about a little chick?

Peep, Peep, Peep. (Pinch hands.)

Can you be a little frog?

Hop, Hop, Hop. (Hop in place.)

Now it’s time for quiet so

Stop, Stop, Stop. (Hold hands out with palms raised.)

Book: The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone; illustrated by Michael Smollin.

Song: Monster’s Jubilee, from the CD, Scream Factory Favorites, featuring Riders in the Sky.

Book: The Boy With a Drum by David L. Harrison; illustrated by Eloise Wilkin. We told this story using the book along with some animal pictures on the magnetic chalkboard.

Final Activity: We had the children march around the room with musical instruments while we listened to Raffi’s Let’s Make Some Noise.

by Paul

Bedtime, October 19th and 20th, 2012

Book: The Woods by Paul Hoppe

Poem: Sleeping Sardines from the Shel Silverstein book, Where the Sidewalk Ends. We used a sardines in can puppet that we made.

Activity: Everybody Sleeps magnet board. We matched people and animals to the proper bed, i.e., bird with nest, baby with crib, Ernie with bed.

Book: Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney

Song: Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed!

Book: Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! by Mo Willems

Song: Sleeping Bag Chant from H.U.M. All Year Long by Carole Peterson.

Book: Dinosaur Vs. Bedtime by Bob Shea

by Debbie

Friends, October 5th and 6th, 2011

Begin by singing Raffi’s Shake My Sillies Out.

Book: Hello, My Name Is Bob by Linas Alsenas

Song: If You’re Friendly and You Know It

Book: Here Comes the Big Mean Dust Bunny by Jan Thomas

Song: The More We Get Together by Raffi with instruments!

Puppet Show: I’m Invited to a Party

Book: The Little Little Girl with the Big Big Voice by Kristen Balouch

Final Activity: Shake Hands with Friends song by Ella Jenkins – with puppets.

by Debbie and Patrick

Cats vs. Dogs, October 12th and 13th, 2011

Begin by singing Raffi’s Shake My Sillies Out.

Book: A Dog Is a Dog by Stephen Shaskan

Rhyme: Scat the Cat

Book: If You Give a Dog a Donut by Laura Numeroff

Song: B-I-N-G-O

Book: What Will Fat Cat Sit on? by Jan Thomas

Song: Old McDonald Had a Farm

Book: Rrralph! by Lois Ehlert

Final activity: Puppy Puppy Rhyme

Puppy, puppy, when I say “go!”

Wag, wag, wag your tail just so. “Go!”

Kitty, kitty, when I say “go!”

Stretch your body high and low. “Go!”

Puppy, puppy, when I say “go!”

Jump, jump, jump, up high, just so. “Go!”

Kitty, kitty, when I say “go!”

Chase a mouse, it’s fun you know. “Go!”

Puppy, puppy, when I say “Go!”

Bark out loud to say “hello!” “Go!”

Kitty, kitty, it’s time to nap.

Meow and purr and curl up in my lap. “purrr…..”

by Debbie and Robyn

Art!, April 2nd, 2012

Song: "Baile de las Manos"
Welcome to Bilingual Family Storytime! Let's get warmed up by learning the words for up, down, fly and much more, en Español!


Book: The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds
Vashti thinks that she can't draw anything, until her teacher shows her that even a simple dot can become a work of art.

Song: "If Your Clothes Have Any..." (to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It")
If your clothes have any red, touch your head! If your clothes have any blue...

Book: El Artista Que Pintó un Caballo Azul by Eric Carle
Different animals, different colors, all in Spanish!

Activity: Practicing Colors in English and Spanish
Rojo, verde, azul, negro...how many colors can YOU name in Spanish?

Book: I Ain't Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont
A young boy turns his own body (and his dog!) into a messy masterpiece!


Activity: Making Shapes With Streamers
What kind of shapes do you know in Spanish? Can you make una estrella with your colorful ribbon? How about un círculo? Un corazón?

Book: Oooh! Matisse by Mil Niepold
What shape did Matisse draw? Is it a finger? A ray of sun? Ooh! It's a leaf!

Craft: Painting in Frames and On Tables
Use watercolors to create your own one-of-a-kind work of art. You can paint on paper with a fancy frame, or right on the paper tablecloth!