STORYTIME FOR: Dowagiac District Library (In-House)
Hello/Goodbye Song
We Say Hello/Goodbye Like This (with ukulele)
(Tune: The Farmer in the Dell)
D A7
We wave hello like this… with our friends in storytime, we wave hello like this.
D A7
We clap hello like this…with our friends in storytime, we clap hello like this.
D A7
We stomp hello like this… with our friends in storytime, we stomp hello like this.
Why These Books?
Hug Machine by Scott Campbell. One of the things that drew me to this story is how it tries to defy stereotypes, putting a boy in a pink book. And did I mention he loves giving hugs? He hugs his parents, his pets, and even random objects on the street. I think that’s what made this book such a big hit, even with the little boys (correction: ESPECIALLY with the little boys). It’s silly, and it also makes you feel great. This is a great book for valentine’s day…or any day, because it’s all about sharing love and joy!
Love Monster by Rachel Bright. This is another book that puts two opposing ideas together. Love and monsters? Monster lives in a world filled with cute things, which makes him stand out, and not in a good way. So he goes searching for someone to love him. This worked well for storytime, because we did actions with monster (he looked high, he looked low), and also, even though the author tells you differently, monster is adorable. He really tugs at your heart strings. He even wears a little purple heart. This is sure to be a storytime favorite.
My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall. We ended storytime by getting back to basics. Who doesn’t love the zoo? Animal books are always a hit with my storytime kids, and all the animals in this book are made up of heart shapes! The text is simple, so we spend more time enjoying the illustrations and talking about sounds that animals make.
Extensions
The More We Get Together (sign language song)
The more we get together, together, together,
the more we get together, the happier we’ll be.
When your friends are my friends, and my friends are your friens.
The more we get together the happier we’ll be!
See my awesome mentor for Skokie Public Library, Holly Jin, teach this song in sign langauge.
Skinnamarink (ukulele song)
Skinnamarink-y-dink-y-dink, skinnamarink-y-doo, I love you.
Skinnamarink-y-dink-y-dink, skinnamarink-y-doo, I love you.
I love you in the morning, and in the afternoon,
I love you in the evening, underneath the moon,
Skinnamarink-y-dink-y-dink, skinnamarink-y-doo, I love you.
If You’re Happy and You Know It (Egg shakers)
If you’re happy and you know it, shake your egg.
If you’re happy and you know it, shake your egg.
If you’re happy and you know it, and you really wanna show it,
If you’re happy and you knot it, shake your egg.
How It Went
We had a good balance of boys and girls today, who really got into the books and songs. I was a little wary of using Hug Machine, because I thought it might be too long or too pink, especially for the boys, but they really engaged with it. We talked a little before storytime started about what you do on Valentine’s Day, like giving presents or hugs, which lead nicely into Hug Machine. The shaker eggs were a hit, and the parents and kids also loved the sign language song. I did it once at the beginning and once at the end, and the kids picked it up quickly. Those who didn’t just clapped their hands, which was totally ok!
Crankenstein. Samantha Berger, illus. Dan Santat.
Skeleton Hiccups. Margery Cuyler, illus. S.D. Schindler.
Pumpkin Eye. Denise Fleming.
Ghosts in the House! Kazuno Kohara.
Big green monster has big scary green face,
A young boy lives all alone by himself literally at the end of the world. His days are filled with wonder as he explores the wilderness and plays with extraordinary creatures, but the boy begins to reevaluate things when an old man shows up, promising to bring fun without end. The old man, Mr. Constantine Shimmer, stays true to his words, building an amusement part at the end of the world which brings tourists all year round. The boy makes friends and enjoys the amusement park like everyone else…until he starts to miss nature and quiet time. Kevin Hawkes’s water color and acrylic illustrations perfectly compliment M.T. Anderson’s rich, natural prose, which give the world a texture that makes this otherworldly setting seem very old, lived-in, and real.
Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt each made their own mark on history, so it only makes sense that they would have been friends. And in fact, they were! One night, the two women go for a flight from Washington, D.C. to Balitmore and back, despite the protests of the secret service. Based on a true story, Pam Munoz Ryan and Brian Selznick team up to show the truly independent spirits behind these two women. Though rendered in black and white, Brian Selznick’s illustrations evoke a magical tone and depicts history with vivid texture.
This is wolf’s version of the “Three Little Pigs.” When he goes to borrow a cup of sugar from his neighbor, the first little pig who built the house of straw, and accidentally sneezes the house down, things progressively go from bad to worse. Mr. Wolf claims he was framed, but was he? Scieszka’s conversational prose pairs with Smith’s muted illustrations to add nostalgic character to the wolf’s tale.
A boy gives a imaginative narrative of what he did last summer, phrased by sets of rules. Starting with some seemingly practical rules, such as “Never leave leave a red sock on the clothesline,” the rules become gradually more and more sinister. Shaun Tan’s accompanying illustrations paint a dual story of the relationship about the young narrator and his brother, monsters and horrors they face, and the dire consequences when the narrator does not follow his brother’s rules. Tan’s abstract oil paintings,more fully realized by the contrast of light and shadows and stark reds, add a layer of suspense that sparks emotion of both menace and wonder.
Based on Jewish legend, a rabbi molds a giant called Golem out of clay, tasking him to protect the Jewish people from those who persecute them. Golem dutifully fights against his enemies, though he yearns to simply enjoy being alive and watching the sunset. But when his task is done and the Jews are safe, the rabbi returns the Golem to clay even though the Golem begs him to “Let me live!” Fashioned by color aid, coral, and bark cut papers, David Wisniewski’s illustrations depict a vividly majestic, yet shadow-hung Prague. Contrasting the stately Prague Castle with the earthly Golem and humble Jewish ghetto, Wisnewski portrays the drama between cultures and the desperation of the Jewish people.
While on a trip to the museum, Flinn and his friends tumble through a magical closet and find themselves on the deck of a pirate ship. They rescue a pirate captain, and quickly embark on a quest to retrieve his stolen gold from pirate dinosaurs. Illustrations in water color and ink, cut and jagged framing, and dramatic staging work together to create an exciting adventure for young readers.
A young girl named Annabelle finds a box filled with yard and begins to knit things for everyone in town, and then knits for actual things in the town. People start coming from all over to meet her, until an Archduke tries to buy her box of never-ending yarn. When Annabelle refuses to sell, he steals her box only to discover that the box is mysteriously empty. He hurls the box into the sea, cursing her to never be happy again, but…”it turned out she was.” Klassen’s reserved and delicate illustrations rendered ink, gouache, and digital perfectly compliment Barnett’s tongue-in-cheek language and story.
A girl creates a robot for her science fair project, but things quickly escalate when a “rampage” starts. The robot terrorizes the town with his superclaw, laser eye, and ability to control dog’s minds. The girl tries to stop her invention-gone-wrong, but unfortunately forgot to program the robot to communicate. To rectify things, she goes back to her lab and creates a giant toad to fight her robot. She saves the day, only to realize that she may have created another monster.
Stellaluna, a baby bat, gets separated from her mother and lands in a nest of baby birds. She tries and struggles to be like the birds, eating bugs, sleeping right side up, and flying during the day. One day, she happens along some other bats and learns that bats can eat fruit, sleep upside down, and fly best at night. The best part of all–she finds her mother. Stellaluna hurries to tell her bird friends about all she’s discovered. Cannon’s beautiful Liquitex acrylic and Prismacolor pencil illustrations add to the sweet tone of the story, perfectly capturing the calm, natural glow of both dusk (for bats) and dawn (for birds).
When Princess Lenore falls ill from eating too many raspberry tarts, she claims ones things will make her better: the moon. Accordingly, the king calls in his advisors to discover how to get him the moon. But the Lord High Chamberlain, the Royal Wizard, and the Royal Mathematician, tell him that such a task is impossible, though they do not seem to agree on how far away the moon is or what it is made of. At last, the jester simply suggests that they are all right and all there is to do is ask the princess how far away she thinks the moon is. When he learns that it is no bigger than her thumb, he has a necklace with a tiny gold pendant made. But what will happen when Princess Lenore finds the moon in the sky? The Lord High Chamberlain, the Royal Wizard, and the Royal Mathematician, each have different answers, none to the king’s satisfaction, but once more the jester comes up with the solution of simply asking the princess. Her answer…as everything in nature grows back when you pick it away, so it makes sense that another moon would grow in the night sky.
The Journey Librarian 