Baby & Toddler Storytimes

Books My Dad Loves Me by Marianne Richmond. Nice. Just as with Cabrera's Carry Me , the baby critter is shown doing things with dad that babies can identify with. This is a terrific storytime choice. Baby Lion  by Shively Didn't get to: Pete's a Pizza by William Steig. Roll out your babies and dust them with cheese while you read!

Do WE know any naughty little monkeys? Nah, we only know GOOD little monkeys. Except, according to all the stories, there really only are naughty little monkeys, teasing the crocodiles, jumping on the beds -- you know who I'm talking about. Come on down to storytime and sing some songs and jump around together! Books: Busy Monkeys by John Schindel.  Curious George's Opposites .  I always love an opposite book. From Head to Toe by Eric Carle Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins.  Great rhythm. Songs: 5 little monkeys, of course!

The babies were far from sheep-ish at our sheep storyhour today! My storytelling chair was full of them! I felt like the Three Bears confronted with that Goldilocks person. Books:  Where is the Green Sheep by Mem Fox was a major hit.  I looked up at one point and the babies were all listening! I don't expect this to happen again any time soon, but a roomful of attentive toddlers is kind of amazing. This book is short, rhymes, works on colors, but most important, I think, is that its them is where is it. We love object permanence , don't we? So reassuring when we find that sheep asleep. Time to Sleep, Sheep the Sheep  by Mo Willems.  Shows the animals doing activities kids understand, bath etc. Baa-Choo!  by Sarah Weeks (easy reader) about a sheep who can't finish his sneeze. This cute book was a bit long for the babies. Songs:   I was so amazed to discover that all the mamas knew Mary Had a Little Lamb AND Baa Baa Black Sheep!  From Kathy Reid-Naiman...

All the babies liked the theme of storyhour so much this week, Playing , that they wanted to PLAY WITH ALL MY TOYS!!! Every time I turned around, another fat little groping hand was reaching for a shovel or a gold tiara or a red flower! These babies are way too curious! Book: Clap Your Hands by Lorinda Bryan Cauley was so great that I read it twice!!! After "Close your eyes and count to four" say "That's all there is, there isn't any more," (so you won't have to somersault). Then you can use the last half later in the storytime.  Next year: get the PPLC Big Book. Book: Let's Play by Leo Lionni. I love this adorable little board book. It's very interactive, but next time, I'll stow my props in one tall basket. Those babies really have no self discipline at all and the sight of their playtime balls peeking over the tops of the buckets was really too much for them. Try: The Big Book of Happy board book. Book:   Baby Danced the Polka by Karen...

We will be closed for the holidays, Wednesday, Christmas 24 and Wednesday, December 31 .   See you January 7 , same time (10:30 am), same place (HERE)!!!

We'll be signing again tomorrow: bird, cat, dog and cow, reading those books and singing those songs. Please join us!

Exciting Announcement:  Oleshka (Oleg) and his mother Anna have gotten me fired up to introduce baby signing to storytime.  We'll start slow, with a few signs each week and a lot of repetition.  I'm thinking we'll do "Hello", "Mother" and "More".   Play:   Blow up a balloon and release -- always an attention getter. Paint red from a red paintpot onto a big white piece of paper. Wear your red clown bow and red & white Cat in the Hat hat. Little Red Wagon. Book: Little Monsters by Jan Pienkowski claimed the attention of 20 babies at once!  Yay, little monsters! Play: Red Ladybug puppet Book: Dinosaur vs. Bedtime by Bob Shea.  This big red dinosaur was jussssst  right for this group. He did a lot of roaring and the kids did a lot of listening. At the end, I read myself right down to the ground and stuck my thumb in my mouth and 'went to sleep.' Very fun. Christmas performance: Dinosaur vs. Santa.  Not so good.  None of these babies ...