Chirping, Buzzing, Croaking

I am very fortunate to have a professional collection of books at the library to use exclusively for story time. Sometimes these are duplicate copies of books in the children’s room which ensures I will have one at my fingertips when I need it. Other times, they are books that for one reason or another might not stand up well to circulation. Although I find a number of books to use in both my personal library and our circulating collection, I always take a peek at the professional collection before I make my monthly lesson plans. I found a few gems this month!

 

Children love pop-up books. It is so much fun to interact with the story by pulling tabs or spinning wheels or just watching incredible pictures unfold just by turning the page.

I took off my shoes and sat on the floor so the children could really see the pictures. It was wonderful watching their eyes grow wide when the big flower surrounded by bees bloomed in front of them. They giggled at the tangle of worms that was creeping off the page. One little boy even knew what the dung beetles were rolling, and he and I had a private chuckle! We also talked about colors and numbers. We counted animal legs and imitated the animal sounds.

Don’t shy away from pop-up books. They aren’t as fragile as we adults assume them to be---and the wonder children express as those books spring to life is well worth the care we take in showing them.

Be sure to look for pop-up books in the collection!

 

 

The Very Busy Bugs by Jack Tickle

How Many Legs?: A Counting Book by Lori Foreb

Little Cricket’s Song by Joanne Barkan

 

Songs

“”Five Green and Speckled Frogs

“Five Little Monkeys”

“The Ants Go Marching”

Busy Bees: Cancelled Monday, March 21

Due to an unexpected out-of-town appointment, I must cancel the Busy Bees program scheduled for Monday, March 21 at 1PM. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and invite you to attend the Tuesday, March 22 program at 11AM if you are available. We may have a full house, but I am certain it will be fun. Thanks for your understanding.

Tis a Big Day for the Wee Folk!

I carry an Irish gene that cannot be denied. I like red hair and an Irish jig, a good argument and an imaginative yarn, and potatoes…any kind of potatoes. I had a favorite uncle I was sure was a leprechaun but I never had the chance to ask him. I have a gift of blarney and hope someday to improve it by kissing the blarney stone. Until then, I will make do with what I possess.

We celebrated St. Patrick’s Day this week. Mr. Pinkfish, who is quite unpredictable and wanted to be called Mr. O’ Pinkfish, arrived sporting a lovely leprechaun hat he made himself. He is unpredictable but quite talented. We read a couple of sweet St. Patrick’s Day stories and learned two new songs. My favorite part of the day was when I pointed out to the children that the dog in the story was singing with the family.

“What do you think it sounds like when the dog sings? I think I know,” I said.

I then proceeded to howl a long, loud Irish dog yowl and encouraged the children to join in. They did. I can only imagine what the patrons downstairs thought.

Stories and Songs:

The Night Before St. Patrick’s Day by N. Wing

Hurray for St. Patrick’s Day by Joan Holub

An Eensy, Weensy Leprechaun (Eensy Weensy Spider)  

An eensy, weensy leprechaun came out St. Patricks day (two fingers about 3 inches apart)
To look for the gold that was hidden far away. (shade eyes: look left, look right)
Over the rainbow was where he was told (use your arm to draw a big rainbow)
So with the wink of his green eyes, (wink)
He ran for the gold. (pretend to run)

I’m a Little Leprechaun ( I’m a Little Tea Pot)                                                       

I’m a little leprechaun (hands on hips)
Dressed in green, (point to shirt)
The tiniest man (hold thumb and index finger about an inch apart)
That you’ve ever seen. (point to the other people)
If you ever catch me, so it's told, (make a motion like you're grabbing at a leprechaun)
I'll give you my pot of gold. (make a motion like you're giving something away)

Leprechaun Stew                                                                                                           

Leprechaun stew, Leprechaun stew, (rub tummy like you're thinking about something yummy)

If I don't get some, (clap hands to both sides of your face in an 'Oh No!' action)

 I don't know what I'll do. (keep hands by the sides of your face and shake your head in a No motion)

Give away my pot of gold (Hold out your right hand like you're giving something away)

Give away my shoe. (Hold out your left hand like you're giving a second thing away)

But don't give away my Leprechaun Stew. (shake finger and shake head in a NO motion, a little louder)

Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog?

 

We continued celebrating Dr. Seuss’ birthday this week by reading several more stories. I am never quite sure how a story will be received. Some that I think are wonderful do not lend themselves well to story time. Others that I fret over become instant hits. That was the case this week. I tried to find some more obscure titles that the children may not have heard before. The library has many of them, but I must admit to having even more. I joined a Dr. Seuss book club when my daughter was born and loved getting a new Seuss each month…for many, many months!

This week we read Wet Pet, Dry Pet, Your Pet, My Pet. It is an adorable touchable library book with fur and feathers and pull tabs. We touched and pulled and enjoyed the silly animals. I knew this book would be popular. Then we read Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog? This is a delightful story to read one-on-one with a child, but I worried that it wouldn’t work with a group. I couldn’t have been more wrong. When I asked the children if they would rather be a dog or cat, I got definite answers. When I asked if they would rather be a bullfrog or a butterfly, most chose the bullfrog. When I chose butterfly, one boy said, “Then we will eat you!” And that started it…they decided to be things that would chase me, eat me, sting me…it was a rough day to be the librarian!

We all had the giggles by the time we finished, parents included.

I love my job!

Stories by Dr. Seuss:

Wet Pet, Dry Pet, Your Pet, My Pet

Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog?

Song:

Five Green and Speckled Frogs

Five green and speckled frogs
Sitting on a speckled log
Eating some most delicious bugs
Yum! Yum! Yum!

One jumped into the pool
Where it was nice and cool
Then there were
Four green and speckled frogs
Glub! Glub! Glub!
(Repeat in descending order.)

What is That Big Yellow Thing in the Sky?

Monday was such a rainy, stormy day that I wasn’t sure anyone would brave the weather and today was so sunny and nice that I wasn’t sure anyone would want to be inside. Yet, both days we had full story times! It was terrific!

We read several Eric Carle stories. His books are easily recognizable because of the bright, colorful, geometric illustrations. His books can be used to teach colors, numbers, animal names, animal sounds, and much more. Some even contain additional information about the animals mentioned in the stories.

You can find a lot of information about him and his books as well as a newsletter and some activities at this official website:                    www.eric-carle.com .

Below are listed the stories and songs/fingerplays we did this week.

See you next week!

The Mixed Up Chameleon

“Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” said the Sloth

The Very Lonely Firefly

The Very Busy Spider

Fingerplays:

The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout.

Down came the rain, and washed the spider out.

Up came the sun, and dried up all the rain,

and the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.

Song:

“If You Are Happy and You Know It”