Baby & Toddler Storytimes

  B o o k s Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins.  A Big Book is ALWAYS a hit -- everyone can see the pictures. This is nice too because it's all adverbs -- you can use those motions. Farmyard Beat .   A board book by Lindsey Craig.  This book is a hit for either storytime or American Bandstand -- it's got great rhythm and you can dance to it. The moms all seemed to know the book and recited along with it. Moo by David Larochelle.  When you read a book the MOMS love, the babies listen up too! Larochelle tells the whole tale of an adventurous cow stealing a car with an inevitable disaster, using only the word MOO. You supply the drama.  Clip-Clop  by Nicola Smee. In Room on the Broom style, Mr. Horse gives all the farm animals a ride, (Clip-Clop, Clip-Clop) until Plop! Plop! Ploppity-plop! Stan taught me how to do the clip-clop sound by sort of squinching your jaws together into a vacuum and then applying pressure with your tongue.  A very impressive sou...

Please bring your cute little dudes in their Halloween duds! I so want to see them in their dress ups! This will be my last Halloween with them before I retire November 17! Halloween is a great time to teach babies a lot of new sounds, BOO and WHOOOO , and ROAAR, and all about pumpkins and owls and black cats. B o o k s: Peek-A-Boo by Marie Torres Cimarusti Owl Babies by Martin Waddell.  I used 3 little beanie baby owls and a big owl puppet and shortened the text. Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate. The first one said, "Oh, my it's getting late" The second one said, "There are witches in the air." The third one said, "But we don't care." The fourth one said, "Let's run, let's run!" The fifth one said, "Isn't Halloween fun?" Then Woooooo went the wind And OUT went the lights. And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight. I like to do this as a puppet show with 5 pumpkins, tipping them off the stage at the en...

We're going to be blowing on that long lonesome train whistle at storytime today, so plan on jumping aboard! Props:  Train whistle, Freight Train from Kizclub on clothesline.  We counted the cars but the babies were too young to do the colors. Stories: TRAINS GO  by Steve Light was a great, noisy storytime opener.  The moms could see the sounds the different trains made and joined it to help read this one aloud. Freight Train  by Donald Crews. I printed out all the train cars courtesy of the wonderful folks at  KIZCLUB  -- imagine making all the pictures of some of the greatest kids' classic available for download, what a great idea. I wish I could say that I then took the trouble of stretching up my clothesline and told the story that way, but I'm afraid that'll have to wait till Friday. I learned the hard way that the train is quite a long one and will NOT fit on top of my easel! Down by the Station by Vetter.  A great version; down by airport,...

Babies don't always get our jokes and they don't always get the point of the story but they love the sound of a good rhyme. We'll be doing rhyme time at storyhour today! Storytime 1 B o o k s Miss Mary Mack big book by Mary Ann Hoberman.  Kinda perfect clapping song. Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Eric Carle. I used the  I used  Kiz Club   Brown Bear figures and sang/chanted this the way Bill Martin does. Try out this readaloud style: JUMP! by Scott Fischer.  Still a Gorilla by Kim Norman  S o n g s Barnyard Dance by the immortal Sandra Boynton. Print out and do as chant.  Babies hard at work! Storytime 2 B o o k s Do Cows Meow? board book Salina Yoon.  V. good.  I put a lot of emphasis on All-I-Know-Is-____-Go-______ to turn it into a refrain. I Howl, I Growl board book Marcia Vaughan.  So this was a bit redundant.  I think I should have plugged a Sandra Boynton in here.  Sometimes I Like to Curl Up in a Ball  by Vicki Chu...

B o o k s Pet Shop Lullaby  by Mary Ann Fraser lets you read aloud with lots of animal noises, always a good ploy for this age group. This segues right into the turtle puppet poem. To make this work, try reading the book less and acting it out more. Turn off the lights, put the animals to sleep, do a big hush roomwide, and then have the hamster go crazy and make a lot of noise.  Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell. They loved it. An Octopus Followed Me Home by Dan Yaccarino. Unfortunately, babies don't get irony.  But at least there are a lot animals, and it's short. Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton. Cute. Really a little song. Fifteen Animals  by Sandra Boynton. I corralled 15 stuffed animals in my storytime bag, and while reading the book, pulled out the animal. This could really be done with ANY 15 animals. It's a nice little play -- pull it out and show off the animals for this group. They were really noisy by this time and the lapsitters didn't get involved as much as the ...

P l a y s  Props:  Pig, 5 little pigs metalboard, although I only do 3 for the babies. B o o k s Olivia's Opposites , a board book by Ian Falconer. Opposites are always fun with babies, esp. Olivia's.  The concepts of in and out and up and down amuse me and them endlessly. I had an especially good time doing up and down: I throw Olivia up in the air and she landed down on the ground.  For my finale, I brought her in to see everyone and then throw her out the door. I always try to astonish the babies. Let's Dance, Little Pookie  by Sandra Boynton. I really shimmied to this for the audience. Busy Piggies  by John Schindel.  This board book series has jusssst enough rhyming text, and jusssst the right pictures. I love this series esp. because it emphasizes verbs, which can be acted out and grab the babies' attention.    Happy Pig Day! by Mo Willems. The babies listened very well to this fairly long book. Five Little Piggies , a board book by Ter...

B o o k s The Wheels on the Bus Office lift the flap. The words are a bit different than what I usually sing, so brush up on it! Old MacDonald Had a Farm  Office lift the flap. I pulled the animals out as we went. Small crowd so I let the babies hold them. The Lady with the Alligator Purse Board Westcott.  Love this so much. The Itsy Bitsy Spider board book Trapani.  Lots of new lines make this favorite fun. If You're Happy and You Know It  by Raffi.  I must say, Raffi's words are a bit odd.  If you're banana and you know it? If you're beautiful and you know it? I kind of like just  happy -- clap, happy -- stomp, happy -- hurray.  It's never wrong to sing out about how happy you are. Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed Board Book by Christelow.  We did 5 Little Speckled Frogs instead because Genevieve has just given me such a lovely frogs-on-a-log set. But the monkeys would have done just as well. Row, Row, Row Your Boat by Jane Cabrer...

        S o n g s We sang Wheels on the Bus right after our Hello Song, and I thought I'd set the mood by having my dinosaur t-rex puppet ride the bus with a GRRR but I was a bit overenthusiastic and one usually cheerful puppy burst into tears. So THEN we had the babies on the bus (who usually go peek-a-boo) go waaa waaa waaa and it was pretty darn funny. B o o k s Snappy Little Dinosaurs  -- pop-up book. Just read  How Do Dinosaurs Go Up and Down by Jane Yolen.  There's something a bit off about this book.  Sometimes the text applies to the fold out and sometimes it isn't.  Either read it all through, be quick, or pick a different one.  She has so many. Duck, Duck, Dinosaur  by Kallie George. I always reading a book in different voices, and this simple trick seems to work on the babies too.   I'm a Dirty Dinosaur  by Janeen Brian .   Rhymes AND the dino goes over the names of all his parts of the body! Quite the meg...

B o o k s The Pigeon Wants a Puppy by Mo Willems.  I intro'ed storytime by asking who had a dog.  Emma immediately said she didn't have ANY pets and she REALLY wanted one, which was the perfect set up.  Then I read the title and said, "Huh? A pigeon is a BIRD?  And it wants a DOG?"  Dog's Day by Jane Cabrera.   Her bright illustrations make her books great pix for babies.  Spot's First Walk,  by Eric Hill.  I'm boycotting  Where's Spot . The vocab includes a grandfather clock, a grand piano, a door under a staircase, a mirrored armoire... But  Spot's First Walk , which I actually did at the end, was the only book to work for this group today.  Maybe next year I'll try just doing Spot books.  Lift the flap, simple vocab...  Doggies by Sandra Boynton.  A very fun read aloud, as you repeat with each finger (hold up your fingers as dogs) the different sounds they make. And in the end they all go Awroooooo! together. ...

There was a rumble in the jungle at storytime and no mistake!  After our flying monkey did his things, the babies started LISTENING up. Books The Pop-Up Rumble in the Jungle by Giles Andreae.  Love to turn the pages of this big, colorful pop-up, roar, hiss, clomp and snap the jaws of the book by turns. Good start. ROAR bd bk Litton.  OK. Tiny Little Fly Michael Rosen.  Excellent readaloud, and the kids really liked it. Busy Monkeys board book by Schindel. This series rhyme, has great pictures, and you can act out the motions as you read text which has quite a bit of sense to it.   Jazzy in the Jungle by Lucy Cousins. I love this book, but choose a couple of pages to read -- not the whole thing.   Songs Five Little Monkeys Teasing Mr. Crocodile Itsy Bitsy Spider (Great Big Mama Tarantula) Wheels on the Bus Through the Jungle Row row row your boat, gently down the stream If you see a crocodile, don't forget to SCREAM! Down in the jungle... played on my Tha...

Books Show Me, a board book by Tom Tracy. Head to Toe  by Eric Carle. This is a classic act-it-out with animals, and it is lot of fun. But they were really young today, and not into the major motions or animal recognition. Here Are My Hands   board book by Bill Martin. This little board book is juuuuust right for babies, short & sweet. I love acting out the motions and had the best luck with it on a rowdy day. Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes  by Mem Fox. Good for this group, and with a nice chorus the moms joined in on, but perhaps not the best opener. Not this year. How to Brush Your Teeth with Snappy Croc   board book Clarke. I think this is the cutest of the series. Songs Pizza, Pickle Pumpernickel Clap Your hands This Is the Way We Wash Our Face  (to Mulberry Bush), nose, neck, whatever Dance Your Fingers Up , Dance your fingers down, dance your fingers up and down, all around town.  Dance them on your shoulders, dance them on your head...

Books: Silly Faces...See Me...In the Ocean! The babies were a little wary about being Silly Faces for me. When I modeled the sea creatures, they were OK with it. Don't Splash the Sasquatch by Redeker. The moms were kinda bewildered by this weird book, but the kids listened. The Pop-up Commotion in the Ocean by Giles Andreae. This beautiful big pop has great sea creatures and fun rhymes. Next year:  At the Beach.  A board book The Three Fish and the Big Bad Shark.    Get PPLC shark and three fish. The shark is so big that it MIGHT grab them! Special Songs: We sang the Wheels on the Bus and then did the  Waves on the Sea : Lots of sounds and movement make this fun for this crowd. Next time:  Don't forget to use the scarves for the motions. Slippery Fish 1 little, 2 little, 3 little fishies, 4 little, 5 little, 6 little fishies, 7 little, 8 little, 9 little fishies, ten little fish swimming in the big blue sea. 9 little, 8 little, 7 little fishies, 6 littl...

P l a y s   Bullfrog Puppet from backroom, or Turtle with Vachel Lindsay poem. B o o k s Yummy YUCKY by Leslie Patricelli. This may be the most ingenious of Patricelli's wonderful series about this bald headed baby troublemaker. Certainly the kids enjoyed it -- although a few moms were grossed out by the burger-booger page as well as the egg-earwax page. I don't know why. It's like they don't associate with the babes 24/7. Big Hungry Bear BB Wood.  Great opener. Noisy Breakfast by Ellen Blonder.  Big Book.  Lotsa sounds. Baby Cakes by Karma Wilson.  Sweeet. Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar , a Piggy Toes boardbook by Wang.  Love this book. It's got all the charming rhyme of the jump rope song and all the right characters implicated -- cat, dog, etc., -- so that I can act it out with puppets. How to Feed Your Cheeky Monkey   board book Clarke. OK  S o n g s 1 potato, 2 potato chant Pizza, pickle, pumpernickel Pat a cake Mashed Potatoes...

Enter with umbrella! Bring rainstick! B o o k s Rain by Manya Stojic.  This has everything: animals, sounds, and senses: "hear, see, smell," etc. Bring your lion puppet! Very well received. Duckie's Rainbow  by Frances Barry.  This book might amaze me more than the kids, as the beautiful rainbow unfolds in the end. To get a little more interaction, ask them what color is going to be on the next page and then shout it out when you turn the page. The almost twos will get it. Ducks Like to Swim by Agnes Verboven.  Again, a book that gives you plenty of opportunity to quack like a duck, moo like a cow, and bray like a donkey. Plus, it gives you a lead in to all those great duck songs and books we love so much. I pulled each puppet out and had the kids (and moms) by turns moo and meow etc. and then handed them off to them. S o n g s The Rain  (to Frere Jacques) I hear thunder, (stomp floor) I hear thunder, Hear it CRASH. Hear it CRASH. But I don’t fear the thunder ...