Baby & Toddler Storytimes

B o o k s This is Not a Book by Jean Jullien.  Hoooo, what a perfect book for this theme! I think I'll skip the butt crack page for this group though. It's a Little Book  by Lane Smith. This book is fun for acting out -- pretending to chew it, quacking with it, etc.  But the joke is based on sarcasm, and babies just don't get that.  Short & fun though. Might cut a few pages.   Bring a Big Book for contrast. I used Noisy Breakfast. Good and short. Dinosaur vs. the Library   by Bob Shea is about as perfect for a set of babies as any book could be. I didn't use puppets.  I turned my head in one direction and roared for Dinosaur, then turned my head in the other direction and mooed confusedly, or was shy turtle, or was sad owl. But I might leave out that sad owl.  It makes me too sad. Clap Your Hands starring ELMO!  I just grabbed the goofiest book from my office shelf that doesn't get used very often....

B o o k s Pop-Up Commotion in the Ocean by Andreae Silly Faces Board Book -- the kids were a bit shy about this. Deep Sea Dive by Salina Yoon.  Luckily, I had a lot of the puppets for this. Bedtime Kiss for Little Fish by Lorie Ann Grover P l a y s I gathered up all my sea creature puppets and put them in my Old MacDonald bag.  "Let's go fishing!" I told the kids. "Let's throw out our hook!  Reel it in, and see what we caught!" Then I pulled a creature out of the bag.  No! We don't want to keep him! The octopus had too many legs; the shark too many teeth; the dolphin was too nice; the sea turtle was endangered; the sea horse was too beautiful; and finally we caught a fish. (Use the crab too!!!) (Sung to the melody of Wheels on the Bus.) I passed out the scarves and we practiced being waves first. 1. The waves on the sea go up and down, up and down, up and down, the waves on the sea go up and down all day long. 2. The shark in the sea goes snap snap s...

Book : Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?  I used Kiz Club   Brown Bear figures. In earlier years, I had hung them randomly around the room, but this year I hung them on the clothesline and, very repetitively, recited, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?" taking each one down by turns and introducing them to the audience.  That worked a lot better -- they actually knew what to look for and say. Play:  Either Five fuzzy teddy bears are in their bed. "Now go to sleep!" their mama said. But one escaped and down the hall he fled! Now 4 fuzzy teddy bears are ready for bed.   "Five bears in the bed and the little one said, roll over, roll over."  The babies seemed to prefer the teddy bears on the wall today -- maybe the idea of so many bears falling helplessly to the ground unnerved them.   Book:   Where's My Teddy by Jez Alborough.  A tiny bit hard for them. Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson.  The moms tried to help out, and quite...

  And how kind all you mamas and daddies are for sharing your A-one babies with me very week.  That roomful of cuteness is overpowering! Books:   I Like It When  by Mary Murphy. Perfect for babies. I used the new board book.. How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You by Jane Yolen. Even if I was reading this mostly to the moms, the babies seemed to enjoy the giant dinosaur puppet I had, and the rhyming text was charming. This is one of Yolen's better books in the dinosaur series. (I didn't use the dino puppet this year, and had to cut the reading short for lack of interest. I don't know if I'll use this book next year.) A Good Day by Kevin Henkes .  (Don't forget your yellow feather!) Very nice. How Kind!   by Mary Murphy.  I love this pay-it-forward in the barnyard telling.  It's a real celebration of happiness and good nature -- and a great readaloud too, because you can do animal voices. I used props for all the actions. When you read "flower", it's n...

So many great songs go with this storytime, and the babies will love them.  When are babies old enough to start learning their numbers? As young as 12 months old! But shapes are important too. Introduction: Open by counting everyone.  Good attention getter.  If patience is there, count heads, and then count feet. Today we counted feet, heads & hands. Good for body parts vocab too. Books: Rooster Goes Off to See the World by Eric Carle.   Big Book.  I didn't really read this.  I turned the pages, pointed to the creatures on each page, and counted them.  Great to do the animal motions (instead of sounds: cats walk (prance) turtles crawl, fish swim, etc.   Countdown with Milo board book by Austin.   Read this book through (segues in nicely after Motor Boat if you include Rocket Ship) going through the motions of putting on your helmet, pushing buttons, buckling up, etc., THEN do the countdown and BLAST OFF. Big Fat Hen by Kevin Baker. All t...

B o o k s Animal Opposites  by Peter Horacek is a beautifully engineered board book. I pick a few favorites to share from these lovely pages. Up! Tall and High! early reader by Ethan Long.  Also with lift the flaps and about as short as they come. Big Little by Patricelli. How Do Dinosaurs Go Up and Down?  by Jane Yolen  is about dinosaurs AND it's a lift the flap. But I ended up not using it because it has so much text. S o n g s (to Frere Jacques)This is little, this is little, this is big, this is big, etc. Motor Boat (fast and slow) Hop Little Bunnies (the opposite of sleep) Itsy Bitsy Spider Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands Pat a cake (or anything) fast and slow)   P l a y s Magic Box.  I cut a slit in a pretty little gift book, tied all my beautiful scarves end to end, and crammed them in there with one tiny edge poking out.  "Oh, what could be in this TINY little box?" I asked, and pulled the scarves out one by one.  Like a magician. A baby ma...

Well the weather outside finally feels a bit more like winter. Maybe not snow exactly, but at least we can wear our sweaters, and our babies are so cute bundled up! B o o k s Frosty the Snowman (reference) Intro: this is a book that makes music. Listen! And then model your shock and amazement at the sound that comes out when you open the book up. (And then get ready to shut it again because there's no stop on it! That's Not My Snowman board book Watt.  Small group in a circle, so I got down with them so they could all touch scarves, etc. Snow by Manya Stojic. Nice book about snow coming and how it affects all those woodland animals the babies love so much -- owls and bunnies, etc. Many puppets Didn't get to: Hello, Snow  by Hope Vestergaard. Short rhymy book; I emphasized the getting dressed part of it and cut it short. Bear Snores On , board book by Karma Wilson.    I did this as a little play, complete with big bear, mouse, badger from PPLC, crow from Halloween, a...