January Early Literacy Calendar of Activities

Theresa Dykes is our wonderful storyteller provided by the Delaware County Library System. Her programs are designed for children aged birth to 24 months, and consist of books, music, fingerplays, rhymes and puppets. Theresa is often our guest for Tuesdays during Bibs-n-Books. Theresa has created a wonderful resource an Early Literacy Calendar for you to use with your children! The calendar is geared toward toddlers (2 and 3) and encourages parents to read, talk, write, play, and sing with their child everyday.

 January Activities can be found using this link.

Theresa will be joining us for storytime Tuesdays in January, beginning January 6th! Stop by for fun stories, playtime and more!

Book Bites: The Storytime with No Theme

My "Infant/Toddler" Storytime has really morphed into more of a "Toddler/Whoever shows up" Storytime. I am not complaining; there have been days when it is me and an empty room or one or two children who wanted anything but me reading a book so a diverse age group is welcome. With my diverse age group, however, I find that I do need to think about mixing up what books we will share. The shorter books are best for a younger attention span while some of the older listeners are able to appreciate longer books. It's a struggle sometimes to find that magical combination of engaging story, fun for the audience (the listeners and their parents) and just right book.

Instead of stressing about a theme we shared some of my favorite books to read and among them was "Press Here" by Herve Tullet. This book was such a great way to allow the group to settle in, be a part of the action and quite frankly, I love this book!

Overview of "Press Here"

Press the yellow dot on the cover of this book, follow the instructions within, and embark upon a magical journey! Each page of this surprising book instructs the reader to press the dots, shake the pages, tilt the book, and who knows what will happen next! Children and adults alike will giggle with delight as the dots multiply, change direction, and grow in size! Especially remarkable because the adventure occurs on the flat surface of the simple, printed page, this unique picture book about the power of imagination and interactivity will provide read-aloud fun for all ages!

Today's group are my "regulars" and before sharing the book I informed them that I would need their help as we read. I did let everyone know that there would be opportunities for everyone to help. The book worked great with the four to six revolving helpers who volunteered. Those a little more reluctant to help and shied away from being near the book would act out some of the moves (lean to the left or blow away the darkness).

The reaction of the children was great! They were amazed that by following directions that their actions created something new throughout the book.






We also read
Naked! by Michael Ian Black.
For this book we passed out scarves and pretended they were our capes.

Pete the Cat by Eric Litwin and James Dean.
For this book we learned the signs for colors and sang Pete's song each time his shoes changed colors.

Hello, Day! by Anita Lobel.
We learned animal signs and had a chorus of quacks and moos and other animal sounds as we read.

The Snowy Day by Ezra jack Keats
We pretended the scarves were snow and played along with Peter as we celebrated a very UN-snowy day in Lansdowne.

Bibs-n-Books will be on hiatus until January 6th! You are invited to join us when we return and help us welcome Theresa Dykes!

Book Bites: Kisses and Dinosaurs!

Today during Bibs-n-Books we shared books about kisses and dinosaurs!
Wait, you are asking, HOW did you make the leap from kisses to Dinosaurs?
As I was pulling books today I found Nancy Tafuri's All Kinds of Kisses and then I ran across David Ezra Stein's Dinosaur Kisses and Dino kisses was born.

Here is a link to the books we shared:


 Bibs-n-Books takes place Tuesdays beginning at 10:30! Join us!

Who's Your Favorite? A Rally for Owl!

Today's Bibs-n-Books turned into a rally for Owlbert Owl as we explored "whoooooooo" thinks he has the best books and should be president of the Family Room!

Storytime began with our normal routine and warm ups.
Today we learned signs for owl, wow and the colors of the rainbow and used them to help us read our first book, "Wow! Said the Owl by Tim Hopgood.

We then read Hello Day by Anita Lobel and practiced animal sounds. This was followed by Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star with variations of the song for the star's GREAT BIG COUSIN and its teeny tiny cousin.

We shared our the finger play: Five Little Owls from A to Z Stuff

Five Little Owls

5 little owls,
On a branch by the shore,
1 fell off,
Then there were 4.

4 little owls,
High in a tree,
The wind blew hard,
Then there were 3.

3 little owls,
None of them knew,
A raven took one,
Then there were 2.

2 little owls,
Sitting in the sun,
A raccoon came along,
Then there was 1.

1 little owl,
In the setting sun,
Flew off to the forest,
Then there were none.

Lastly we last read I'm Not Sleepy by Jonathan Allen using our grumpiest voices to share Little Owl's disdain at being told he was sleepy.

We then stood to stretch our wings. We passed out bells and sang, If You;re an Owl and you Know it say, "Whooo"
(turn you head, flap your wings)

We ended with a call of Whoooo and passed out owl campaign posters.


Stay tuned for future rallies and debates during our regularly scheduled storytimes!

The Great Debate: Dinosaur vs Sheep

Today began the first of many exciting debates for President of the Family Room! Our storytime rally turned into a fun debate contest between Mr. Dino and Woolette Sheep.

VS

Mr. Dino went first in the debate, sharing the books Dinosaur vs the Potty written and illustrated by Bob Shea and Dinosaur Pet by Marc Sedaka, illustrated by Tim Bowers. 

He also lead a rally chant with 

Five Enormous Dinosaurs

Five enormous dinosaurs, letting out a roar,

One went away and then there were four.

Four enormous dinosaurs, munching on a tree,

One went away and then there were three.

Three enormous dinosaurs didn't know what to do,

One went away and then there were two.

Two enormous dinosaurs having lots of fun,

One went away and then there was one.

One enormous dinosaur afraid to be a hero,

He (she) went away and then there were zero.

Woolette presented her case with No Sleep for the Sheep by Karen Beaumont, iluustrated by Jackie Urbanovic and Story time for Lamb by Michael Dahl, illustrated by Oriol Vidal.

Woolette led a rally chant with Counting Sheep:

(sung to “This Old Man”)

Counting sheep,   (point and pretend to count)

Counting sheep

Helps my mommy

Go to sleep.   (stretch and yawn)

One sheep, two sheep,   (hold up appropriate number of fingers)

Three sheep, four

Soon my mommy

Starts to snore.  (snore)

Repeat with "daddy."

~from Sing a Song of Storytime

The overwhelming opinion was that Mr. Dino was the winner of this debate!
Stay tuned for future rallies and debates during our regularly scheduled storytimes!

V is for Violin

The Lansdowne community is rich with talent and we were lucky enough to have some of that talent share storytime with us! For Tuesday's Bibs-n-Books, we had special guest reader Noele, lead vocalist for the band Reilly. She brought her violin, introduced the group to the orchestra, shared her wonderful playing and even gave the children an opportunity to try the instrument themselves!

Noele warming up

Introducing herself

Reading Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin! by Lloyd Moss

Accompanying us while we sang Old MacDonald,

Itsy Bitsy Spider and other familiar tunes

Everybody gets a turn!

Even some of the parents played!

Afterwards she shared pictures of violins for the group to color!

We were very excited about her visit and wish her luck with her upcoming tour.

We have many resources available for your own musical exploration. Available at the library, the Grandkit for music which includes instruments, cds and books.

Books about music:

Boom bah! / [Phil Cummings, Nina Rycroft].
I like the music / Leah Komaiko ; pictures by Barbara Westman.

Mole music / by David McPhail

Bibs-n-Books meets every Tuesday beginning at 10:30 with a play time following.

Whole lotta shakin' going on!

What do you get when you mix books, music, bean bags and sign language?
A whole lotta shaking!

Today was our first Bibs -n- Books of the new year and we had a rockin', roarin' time! We explored a new format for the new year.

Books shared:

The Glerp written and illustrated by David McPhail

The Z was Zapped written and illustrated by David Catrow

I Ain't Gonna Paint No More written by Karen Baeumont, illustrated by David Catrow

Music shared:

Shrug Your Shoulders

Hands Go Up and Down

Make Your Eyes

These three songs are from the Kimbo album It's Fun to Clap

Mr. Knickerbocker from the Barney Album Barney's Colorful World (Live)

Buffalo Girls and Boys from The Backyardigans

This A Way That A-Way by Ella Jenkins from her album Songs Children Love to Sing

A-You're Adorable from John Lithgow's Album Singin' in the Bathtub

Baby 1,2,3 by Peter & Ellen Allard from their album Sing It, Say It, Stamp It, Sway It Volume 3

Whole Lotta Shakin from Georgiana Stewart's album Bean Bag Rock & Roll

The Hammer Song by Greg and Steve from the album Fun and Games

A Sailor Went to Sea by Peter & Ellen Allard from their album Sing It, Say It, Stamp It, Sway It Volume 3

Program:

Welcome-Introduction (for new and old storytime friends)

Housekeeping

1: Where the B-A-T-H-R-O-O-M is. Bathroom is always spelled out as little bladders seem to get full upon mention of a toilet!*

2. What to expect. If a child doesn't want to sit still for storytime it's OK, I just ask that they keep the story area clear.

We moved with our first few songs to stretch and get moving after all of the holiday treats we have shared for the past few months.

*Reach for the ceiling

Reach for the Ceiling

Reach for the floor

Stand up again

Let's do some more!

Hands on your head

Hands on your knees

Hands on your belly

Like this, you see? (I always exaggerate and rub my belly)

Reach for the Ceiling

Reach for the floor
Stand up again

There is no more

We followed the motion with our first few songs

Shrug Your Shoulders
Hands Go Up and Down
Make Your Eyes

Jungle bells were then passed out and we listened, played our instruments and danced to the next set of songs:

Mr. Knickerbocker

Buffalo Girls and Boys
This A Way That A-Way

The bells were collected and we read The Glerp with audience participation (GLERP!).

This was followed by an alphabet book: The Z Was Zapped. After reading this book we practiced using American Sign Language to form the letters of the alphabet and then we signed the letters while we listened to A-You're Adorable.

Bean bags were then passed out for Baby 1,2,3, Whole Lotta Shakin.

They were collected and our final story was read I Ain't Gonna Paint No More!

We stretched with two songs:

The Hammer Song

A Sailor Went to Sea

We closed with two rhymes:

A Counting Stretch

Number 1: Touch your tongue

Number 2: Touch Your Shoe

Number 3: Touch Your Knee

Number 4: Touch the Floor

Number 5: Do a Jive

Number 6: Pick up Sticks

Number 7: Point towards heaven

Number 8: Close the gate

Number 9: Touch Your Spine

Number 10: That's the end!

Two Little Hands

Two little hands go clap, clap, clap

Two little arms lie in my lap

Two little feet go bump, bump, bump

Two little legs give one big jump

Two little hands reach oh so high

Two little hands wave bye, bye, bye

Afterward the instruments and bean bags were made available for the children to play with.

Like what you've read?

Join us Tuesdays beginning at 10:30 for Bibs-n-Books!

-r