Baby & Toddler Storytimes

B o o k s Stories: Where's Boo by Salina Yoon.   I hid the black cat and staged the book by putting props around the room: a pumpkin, a broom, etc., although I did switch some, a basket for the cookie jar. I was careful to put everything up high. Mama Cat has three kittens by Denise Fleming. Perform the kittens' names -- maybe a squeaky soprano Fluffy, Skinny and pull out the Boooooris in a deep bass. Thumpy Feet by Betsy Lewin.   All about the sounds Thumpy Feet makes. Props: ball of yarn, toy mouse, bowl of food There are Cats in This Book  by Viviane Schwarz. IF I HAD GOTTEN MY PROPS TOGETHER, this would be a great finale, only read the book backwards. First get out your fish, then the cardboard boxes, and then throw a lot of balls of yarn half way unwound around the room.  Then the babies could play with the boxes and the yarn. P l a y s Have You Seen My Cat  made a very good impromptu play, with some, but not all of the puppets. S o n g s  This is th...

P r o p s  Backpack. B o o k s Rooster's Off to See the World  by Eric Carle.  Big Book.  Off to see the world, but he's soooo disorganized! Shorten. In the Driver's Seat   by Max Haynes.  Turn your chair around and rock this book! So much action in this book, and the moms zoomed along too. Seals on the Bus. We sang Wheels on the Bus at the very beginning of storytime. I thought it might be overkill for the Wheels, but the Seals was such a great switcheroo everyone liked it. S o n g s Wheels on the Bus Motor Boat 6 Little Ducks (sort of went along with Rooster) Fire Truck Row, row row your boat

Games Brown Rabbit's Shape Book by Alan Baker. So easy to create all the props for this story: a beautiful green box with a big red ribbon and a cylinder (TP roll) inside filled with balloons. I carefully counted out the balloons by turns, and then, one by one, blew them up and let them go winging around the room. Unfortunately, the second one hit me in the face, and the third nicked Amanda. One of the babies began to cry! Note to self -- point the balloons away from the babies! Flannelboard of Teddy wore a red shirt, red shirt, blue pants, blue pants , etc. Books Red Truck, Yellow Bus. Board Book.  Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Martin with critters downloaded from kizclub. Cat's Colors by Jane Cabrera Butterfly, Butterfly by Petr Horacek. Remember the rule of 6! Songs (Sung to one little, two little, three little Indians) One little, two little, three little crayons, Four little, five little, six little crayons, Seven little, eight little, nine little crayons, Ten litt...

   We were riding the storyhour train at Gulf Beaches today!   P l a y s Train whistle Train on a clothesline. B o o k s Clickety Clack, Clickety Clack by Rob and Amy Spence. This rhymy readaloud reads like a train ride. Start off slow and steady, and gradually, as talking yaks and ducks go quack, pick up the speed and the sound level until by the time those mice light their fireworks, you're really zooming! Your voice rising and speeding up is enough to fascinate even the babies, but it never hurts to stomp on some bubble wrap for those fireworks. Down by the Station. Moms all sang along beautifully.  Jennifer Riggs Vetter   has a very fun version out about different vehicles:  "Down by the bus station, airport, etc. Trains Go board book Steve Light Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo by Kevin Lewis. Day in life of toy train, lots of rhymes. Dinosaur Train by John Steven Gurney. Short with bright illustrations, but by this time, storyhour needed a little more actio...

If You're a Robot and You Know It pop-up by David Carter. The motions were a lot of fun and the moms played along beautifully. Swing Otto, Swing! early reader by David Milgrim. Used the clothesline for this one. Hung an Otto robot on it and two monkeys.  A silly little story, but it does give us the up down whoopsie concept. Rolie Polie Olie by William Joyce. Wonderful readaloud -- the words roll off your tongue.

      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 ...

      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 mic...