Baby & Toddler Storytimes

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...

   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 wond...

Games    We had to start off with my turtle puppet and the Vachel Lindsay, " There was a little turtle ," puppet.  How I enjoy circling the room and snapping and nibbling at all those babies!  Monday the Bullfrog makes a better puppet than a book for babies. Just show him off and show them the bugs.                                         Books Wide-Mouthed Frog by Keith Faulkner headed our storyhour. This beautifully designed pop-up really caught the attention of all the lapsitters. Even the toddlers drew closer to inspect all the very large mouthed critters in this book. Big Frog Can't Fit In by Mo Willems. The premise of this book is really kind of dopey, but I always present it in terms of a study in Bigness. I read this book every year, and the kids watch in astonishment. I Don't Wan't Want To Be a Frog by Dev Petty.  I love this book absolutely, but short...

As if there weren't enough grasshoppers and ants and beetles in our lives already... Books My Bug Book   by Melissa Stewart, a board book. Just the right choice of the most familiar bugs. Great pix. Butterfly, Butterfly by Petr Horacek. VERY small group (it was raining, so I sat right with them and they took in every page.   Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle. I did this using a very small but powerful flashlight in the disco light box, turning off the lights first (It's night!) At the end, I turned on my disco lights for the cloud of fireflies and that was a nice hit.  I did shorten the book to just the animals. And rephrased a bit: after I turned the disco lights on, it was a firefly party! Bounce  by Daniel Kirk .   An enormous board book about a pretty cute... baby spider . Very Hungry Caterpillar  Not available 2015  by Eric Carle, of course.   I had the big book, the puppets, and the story cards.  I didn't attempt audience participation...

  Books Silly Faces See Me...Go!  This dopey board book has a big opening in the middle so that as I turn the pages (Flying on a plane is fun! I can fly high in the sky!) I can hold it up to toddler faces for a little audience participation.  Beep Beep  by Petr Horacek The Babies on the Bus by Karen Katz.  The babies on the bus bounced, cried, slept and waved goodbye! Usually I don't vary the favorites with this group because the babies love repetition so much more than originality or a challenge, but Karen Katz, as usual, was right on target. Toot Toot Beep Beep   by Emma Garcia. Sounds + types of vehicles + colors = perfect storytime starter.  This year I used it at the end of the book, rolling different colored cars down a ramp I made from a half sheet of foam board. Moo! by David Larochelle.  Even though this is my all time favorite, and everyone listens, I don't think the babies get the irony.    Diggers Go  by Steve Light. ...