Totally Tots- Noise & Quiet

Today's theme was "Noise & Quiet" and we sure did make a lot of noise. The group is growing and the kids are starting to know each other and myself. They were ready to go with our "Let's Start Story Time!" song, which we repeat three times for good measure, another hit was "Shake My Sillies Out". Here is today's program:

Opening Song- "The More We Get Together"
Song: Let's Start Story Time!"
Book:

Clap Your Hands by Lorinda Bryan Cauley. The kids loved the story and were really good at following the directions- clap your hands, wiggle your nose, roar like a lion, etc. 

Song: "Shake My Sillies Out"
Rhyme: "Open, Shut Them"
Flannel: "What noise do they make" I got the idea from Katie's Story Time Secret blog. I used different pictures (truck, train, dog, cat, baby, sheep) pictures and had the kids do the different noises.
Book:

Meeow and The Pots and Pans by Sebastien Braun. Some of the kids weren't totally into the story while others were curious to know what Meeow and his friends were going to do with all the kitchen utensils.
Rhyme: "Where Are We"
Song: "If You Like Books and You Know It"
Book:

Toot Toot Beep Beep by Emma Garcia.  This was a fun book and one that could work with my Babies group as well.  I am actually going to create a flannel using the pictures of all the different cars and trucks. 
Song: "Hokey Pokey" with egg shakers- here is where they noise level got a little bit out of hand. They all loved the shakers granted there was very little singing. 
Fingerplay: "Here Is the Choo Choo Train"
Closing Song: "We Wave Goodbye Like This"

Overall it was a great session, specially since the room was packed and it was a bit to warm.  The kids were engaged and loved the songs and stories. 

Baby Bloomers- All About Babies

Today I had my first Babies programs, at our library we call this program  "Baby Bloomers". It is casual with no registration required since we know that getting ready and out the door on time with a baby is not an easy task.  I recognized some of the parents and babies from other programs or just from visiting the library as they are regular patrons.  I started with a quick introduction about myself and about how the program in general.  I decided to use a little "Curious George" to be my baby helper since he is easy to move around and the babies like him.  The program went like this:

Opening Song- "The More We Get Together"
rhyme: Wiggle, Wiggle, Wiggle
We started with

Itsy-Bitsy Babies by Margaret Wild

Fingerplay: Ten Fingers

Flannel- Babies Can Do. I used pictures from "I Can Do" to show babies clapping, dancing, stomping, bending, etc.

Then we read Here Are My Hands by Bill Martin Jr.
Rhyme: Me, /Complete

Song: Head & Shoulders, Knees & Toes

Our last book was Ten Tiny Babies by Karen Katz

Fingerplay/song: Where Is Big Toe? This one got a little confusing but we all had fun.

Our Closing song is "We Wave Goodbye Like This"

Totally Tots Story Time- All About Me!

Today was my fist Tot story time, I called them “Totally Tots”.  I must confess that I was very excited and a bit nervous, and of course today of all days I woke up with a horrible “frog” voice but it all worked out nicely and the kids had a great time. 

My theme today was All About Me.  I am using “The More We Get Together”  as my opening song  followed by a short “Let’s start story time” rhyme.  Wiggle rhyme.  

We read

Incredible Me by Kathi Appelt

Fingerplay:  Ten Fingers

Song: Shake My Sillies Out

Here Are My Hands by Bill Martin Jr.

Fingerplay: I Have a Nose

Song: Head& Shoulders, Knees & Toes

From Head to Toe by Eric Carle

Rhyme: Me, Complete

Our Closing song is “We Wave Goodbye Like This”.

 Kids loved to dance around with Shake My Sillies Out, the fingerplays were also popular and they adored the big picture book illustrations.

New YA Titles

Over the last few weeks I have enjoyed some new YA titles.

Waiting by Carol Lynch Williams. Simon & Schuster Books, 2012.  Grades 9 & up. Almost a year after the death of her older brother, Zach, London's loss and guilt are just as painful. Her mother's refuses to talk  to her and her father's inability to connect with her only intensifies the emptiness of their home. She is caught between  the guilt for her brother and the role she played and her need to feel alive. When a new handsome boy and his family move into town London starts to awake and fight to reveal what truly happened.  London will have to choose between her old boyfriend , Taylor, a painful reminder of her brother and what they used to have and Jesse the alluring stranger who doesn't know of her past. While religion has played a role in their lives, London's redemption is her own. I love Williams's free verse style, the short passages that moves you to find out why or what happened to this family, the tension and grief are palpable. Check it out at our library.

Unspoken (The Lynburn Legacy #1) by Sarah Rees Brennan. Random House Books, 2012. Grades 9 & Up. 

This is the first book on a new series and if you liked  Holly Black's  White Cats or Lish McBride's Hold Me Closer, Necromancer you will enjoy Brennan's Lynburn Legacy. In the English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale the supernatural and magical worlds have coexisted for centuries with the Lynburn family protecting the town. Kami has grown sheltered from this knowledge even though she has an unsual ability. She has been able to talk with a boy in her head all of her life. Kami and Jared have shared each others secrets, felt their pain and their happiness.  When the Lynburn family returns to town strange ritualistic deaths start to happen.  Kami will discover that Jared is not imaginary but quite real and part of the dangerous Lynburn family. They would have to trust of each to discover the secrets the Lynburn's andtheir little town are hiding including a murderer, sorcerers, and magic powers.  This is a fast pace read, the mix of supernatural abilities and everyday life is achieved through characters' voices and the believable settings. Check it out at our library.

 

Picture Book Biographies

I came accross this great post on Abby the Librarian and wanted to make sure I would share it with all of you. Like her I am working on my own picture book biography section, specially when we continue to get requests for easy and visually appealing biographies.  Enjoy!

"At Nerdy Book Club, Alyson Beecher posted about ten awesome picture book biographies. I love, love, love picture book biographies, so this is a list not to be missed! (I might have to come up with a list of my own favorite picture book biographies soon.)"

In case you have a school project coming up...

This week we are going back to some sort of normalcy at our home- holiday decorations have been put away and kids are back to school , which means school projects are now coming home.  This got me thinking about some of the projects students would be doing over the next couple of months. Of course there is the always reliable science fair, which I would explore in another posting, for this week I went with Government and Presidents.  One thing I really wanted to do was to look for alternatives to the traditional biography books on presidents and found this nice picture book.

Looking at Lincoln by Maira Kalman, published by Nancy Paulsen Books, 2012. K-2. One of the many facts you will learn about Lincoln when reading this book is that there are over 16,000 books written about our 16^th president -Abraham Lincoln. Kalman’s passion for everything Lincoln is hard to miss. She shares with the reader personal details of Lincoln's life, his upbringing, his beliefs, fears, likes and dislikes- did you know that he loved his dog Fido, an classical music in particular Mozart’s The Magic Flute opera.  The illustrations are done using gouche in a mix of realism/surrealism styles using vibrant colors for backgrounds and pictures. The text itself is a mix of typed print and free hand writing. I personally liked the combination of personal facts with historical ones. This could be an interesting source for a book report or biography project.Check it out at our library.  

While I love picture books I understand that our readers would need different type of sources and the Searchlight Book Series is a great way to explore a variety of topics. They are full of beautiful photographs, short chapters, and additional resources in the glossary.

Searchlight Books Series- The President, Vice President, and Cabinet by Elaine Landau, published by Lernel Publications, 2012. 2-5 Grade.  This series provides a great overview of different topics, in this case a look at the executive branch and how it works.  Full of photographs, the quick chapters contain facts and information that young readers would enjoy. Throughout the text there are text boxes inserted with interesting bits of information. The additional resources are comprehensive and appropriate for the audience. Check it out at our library.

And here is my shout out to picture books for this week. 

 

Hello! Hello! By Matthew Cordell published by Hyperion, 2012. K-2.  Lydia, the cute red hair is hyper connected to the Whole Wide World and at the same time she is lonely. Mom is at the computer, dad on his cell, and her little brother is just playing away on the tablet- no one pays attention to her until she decides to venture out into the world. What started by just following a little leaf turns into a while race of animals- horses, buffalo, dinosaurs, chickens, and octopus!  Her imagination is running wild, until her cell phone rings and she has to return home. Would she change her parents and brother? Would they disconnect? You have to read this amazing picture book. This is one of those books that remind us to slow down and enjoy the little things like a flower or a ladybug.  I loved the author’s clever use of different fonts from the text, robotic “hello” to a free hand “hello”  when Lydia is exploring the world.  The watercolors are also limited to our character with the rest of her family grayed out until they follow Lydia into a full colorful world. Check it out at our library.

New books for the New Year

Happy New Year!

Like most everyone I have spent the last few days thinking about my new year's resolutions, this year one my resolutions is to keep up my reading and reviews, along with starting a Storytime Themes section on this blog.  I have also decided that I need to venture out of my comfort zone and explore our informational text (aka non-fiction books). My library has a growing collection and try really hard to find books that would appeal to a wide range of readers.

As I was browsing the new books shelves I came across this very interesting  biography.

  Noah Webster and His Words by Jeri Chase Ferris, illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch.  It caught my eye for several reasons- first it fit my new resolution, it is also a biography-double reward, and the illustrations are a unique combination of watercolors, oversized characters, and black outlines. As I read it I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't read as a biography, Ferris has done a great job at including some humor and personal anecdotes on Webster's life while ensuring the facts are there.  Throughout the text there are short definitions such as "CON-VINCED [verb: overcame by argument]" adding a sense of urgency, action, or simply humor.  The book includes a nice timeline on Webster's life and accomplishments.  Check it out at our library.


I couldn't abandon picture books and since we still haven't had any significant snow this year this book just called my name. If you are like me missing the white backgrounds check out our latest display of winter books- everything snow and winter there.

A Perfect Day by Carin Berger. This book reminds me of Snowy Day by Ezra, the perfect snow day to share with friends playing, sledding, throwing snow balls and much more on their snowy hillside village.  Berger’s snowman characters are full of color to pop through the white snowy backgrounds. The  illustrations on this book are unique cut-paper collages made out of old books, letters, catalogues, and ticket stubs.  I enjoyed finding the small details on each collage. You can check out this come at our library.

You’re Finally Here! By Melanie Watt. This little bunny is so excited to have you (the Reader) finally here. Where have you been all of this time? Waiting has been so hard but now that you are here you two will have the greatest time reading this book…as long as you have canceled all of your plans, that is. The large print and animated illustrations would capture the attention of young readers.  I loved reading this book to my 5 year old, granted some of the settle humor was lost on him.  The super sized pictures are great to capture the attention of readers plus it lends itself for some dramatic reading.  Come check it out at our library.