Baby & Toddler Storytimes

      B o o k s Snappy Sounds , one of those noisy board books by Harwood, I introduced: "Now we will be quiet again and read a book. Reading books is such a nice, quiet thing to do." The moms really did get quiet at that point -- so that you could  almost  hear the barking and meowing and cheeping noises that came from this silly book -- except since when do bunnies go B-o-i-n-g? I pretty much just did the sounds, and the smarties called out the critters' names.   Quiet, Loud  by Leslie Patricelli. I love ALL Patricelli's books and this one is perfect for showing  quiet  and  LOUD! Roar BB by Litton. I'm not super crazy about this book. I did it with puppets and it was OK.  Then the babies stole all my puppets but that was OK too.  Noisy Breakfast  Big Book by Ellen Blonder.  Gooble Gooble Mooooo Tractor Book  by Jez Alborough.  Might need to shorten a bit for the very young ones, but Alzborough's created a perfect amalgamation here of animal sounds and mach

      Books: This line-up really works. Whose Mouse Are You?  by Robert Kraus. The babies were just a teensy tinsy bit young for all three "sections" of this book. Next time, I'll stop after the second part, where everyone's rescued, and skip the "third" part. But I do love this book. Maisy Goes on Vacation by Lucy Cousins. This is a fun and pleasant little tale, with lots going on -- riding a train, jumping on beds, going to the beach. Let's Play  by   Leo Lionni . This happy go lucky book is about a happy go lucky mouse ready for a good time: picking flowers, playing with a ball, swimming, eating cheese, and saying goodnight. A great book to read out loud, and I really appreciated the moms chorusing back the actions for me. I had some props and I acted out some of the actions. At the end, I pulled out my moon and we sang Zoom Zoom Zoom, going to the moon.   Songs: The Old Gray Cat . I gave my cat to one little girl to hold, and passed out my ten mice

   B o o k s Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me   by Eric Carle. They were a little antsy for this.  Luckily, I had my moon hanging up and I could hold the ladder right against it, which was kind of fun. And the babies liked the idea of playing with the moon, throwing it up in the air, hugging it, etc. Countdown with Milo , a goofy board book by Mike Austin.  Had all the actions of putting on your helmet, strapping down, pushing those buttons and then that thrilling countdown for BLASTOFF! Goodnight Moon  by Margaret Wise Brown. It's such a delicate, perfect classic. But the babies had heard it many, many times, and I wouldn't use it again without jazzing it up with a prop. Try Harper Collins book activities . Maybe download two copies of the book to make a magnet board.  One storyhour mom thought it was an analogy for death. I'm sure a case could be made for that, but I think more likely it's an analogy for going to bed after having had a full and wonderful day. I mysel