Hello, Goodbye Storytime

Hi! Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold
Oh No! Time to Go! A Book of Goodbyes by Rebecca Doughty
Say Hello to Zorro! by Carter Goodrich
Blue Chameleon by Emily Gravett
Hello Baby! by Mem Fox, Illus. by Steve Jenkins
Hello, Day! by Anita Lobel
Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker, Illus. by Tom Lichtenheld
There Are Cats In This Book by Viviane Schwartz
Cat the Cat, Who Is That? by Mo Willems

Songs and Action Rhymes:

Storytime Child's Here Today

Tune "The Farmer in the Dell"
Fill in child's name.

Donell's here today,
Donell's here today.
Let's all clap our hands and say,
Hip, hip, hooray!


The Goodbye Rap

Wave high, wave low,
I think it's time we gotta go.
Wave your elbows, wave your toes,
Wave your tongue and wave your nose,
Wave your knees, wave your lips,
Blow a kiss with fingertips.
Wave your ears, wave your hair,
Wave your belly and derriere,
Wave your chin, wave your eye,
wave your hand and say "goodbye."

Warm and cozy storytime

Hide and Sheep by Andrea Beaty and Bill Mayer
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Traditional, Illus. by Timothy Bush
Kiki's Blankie by Janie Bynum
Knitty, Kitty by David Elliott, Ilus. by Christopher Denise
Moo , Moo, Brown Cow, Have You Any Milk?  by Phillis Gershator, Illus. by Giselle Potter
One Little Lamb by Elaine Greenstein
Kiss Good Night by Amy Hest, Illus. by Anita Jeram
In November by Cynthia Rylant, Illus. by Jill Kastner
Soft House by Jane Yolen, Illus. by Wendy Anderson Halprin

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Baa baa black sheep
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full.
One for the master
One for the dame
And one for the little boy
who lives down the lane.

Baa baa white sheep
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir
Three needles full.
One to mend a jumper
One to mend a frock
And one for the little girl
With holes in her socks.

Baa baa grey sheep
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir
Three bags full.
One for the kitten
One for the cats
And one for the guinea pigs
To knit some woolly hats.

Fuzzy Wuzzy Blanket

(Tune: Oscar Meyer Weiner song)

Oh I wish I were a fuzzy wuzzy blanket
That is what I’d truly like to be
‘Cause if I were a fuzzy wuzzy blanket
Everyone would snuggle up with me!

Fuzzy Wuzzy Caterpillar
Fuzzy Wuzzy Caterpillar
Into a corner will creep
(creep fingers)
He'll spin himself a blanket
And then fall fast asleep
(rest head, close eyes)
Fuzzy, wuzzy caterpillar
Very soon will rise (wake up)
And find he has grown beautiful wings
Now he's a butterfly!

Hats Off to Storytime

Where's Mary's Hat? Barroux
The Hat by Jan Brett
Dog in Boots by Greg Gormley, Illus. by Roberta Angaramo (after boots comes hats)
Buy My Hats! by Dave Horowitz
Brownie and Pearl See the Sights by Cynthia Rylant, Illus. by Brian Biggs (includes a trip to the hat shop)
Caps for Sale by Esphr Slobodkina
Do You Have a Hat? by Eileen Spinelli, Illus. by Geraldo Valerio
A Hat for Minerva Louise by Janet Morgan Stoeke

Songs:

On My Head I Wear A Hat (Tune of "This Old Man")

On my head I wear a hat

It is such a funny hat

That my head will wiggle wiggle to and fro

Where else can my fun hat go?

On my foot I wear a hat

It is such a funny hat

That my foot  will wiggle wiggle to and fro

Where else can my fun hat go?

Repeat with different body parts

…

Where Has My Hat Gone? (Tune of “Where Has My Little Dog Gone?”)

Oh where, oh where has my red hat gone?

Oh where, oh where can it be?

I’ve looked up high and I’ve looked down low.

Did someone hide it from me?

Repeat with different colors...

Take Me Riding in the Car Storytime

Mitchell's License by Hallie Durand, Illus. byTony Fucile
My Side of the Car by Kate Feiffer, Illus. by Jules Feiffer
Fast Food by Saxton Freymann & Joost Elffers
Toot Toot Beep Beep by Emma Garcia
In the Driver's Seat by Max Haynes
The Scrubbly-Bubbly Car Wash by Irene O'Garden, Illus. by Cynthia Jabar
Cars by Anne Rockwell
Cars Galore by Peter Stein, Illus. by Bob Staaks
Who Is Driving? by Leo Timmers
The Wheels on the Race Car by Alexander Zane, Illus. by James Warhola

Song:

Hunk of Tin

I'm a little hunk of tin
Nobody knows what shape I'm in
I've got four wheels and a running board
I'm not a Chevy, I'm a Ford

Honk honk rattle rattle rattle crash crash  beep beep
Honk honk rattle rattle rattle crash crash  beep beep
Honk honk rattle rattle rattle crash crash beep beep

Grandpa's beard is long and grey
It gets longer every day
Grandma eats it in her sleep
Says it tastes like shredded wheat

Honk honk rattle rattle rattle crash crash  beep beep
Honk honk rattle rattle rattle crash crash  beep beep
Honk honk rattle rattle rattle crash crash  beep beep

I'm a little acorn round
Lying on the cold, cold ground
Everybody steps on me
That is why I'm cracked you see

Honk honk rattle rattle rattle crash crash beep beep
Honk honk rattle rattle rattle crash crash  beep beep
Honk honk rattle rattle rattle crash crash beep beep

I'm a little hunk of tin
Nobody knows what shape I'm in
I've got four wheels and a running board
I'm not a Chevy, I'm a Ford

Honk honk rattle rattle rattle crash crash beep beep
Honk honk rattle rattle rattle crash crash beep beep
Honk honk rattle rattle rattle crash crash beep beep

Actions:

Honk: Pull your earlobe
Rattle: Shake your head back and forth quickly
Crash: Hit your chin with the heal of your hand
Beep: Hit your nose with your fingers

Grumpy, disagreeable storytime!

"I'm Not Cute!" by Jonathan Allen
No, I Want Daddy! by Nadine Brun-Cosme, Illus. by Michel Backes
Finn Throws a Fit! by David Elliott, Illus. by Timothy Basil Ering
This is the Baby by Candace Fleming, Illus. by Maggie Smith
Monsters Don't Eat Broccoli by Barbara Jean Hicks, Illus. by Sue Hendra
Pete's a Pizza by William Steig
Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard
Grumpy Cat by Britta Teckentrup
Misery Moo by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross

Songs:

If You're Ever Feeling Grouchy  (sung to Did You Ever See a Lassie)

If you're ever feeling grouchy, so grouchy, so grouchy,

 If you're ever feeling grouchy,

 Just flap both your arms.

 Flap this way and that way and this way and that way.

 If you're ever feeling grouchy just flap both your arms.

 If you're ever feeling grouchy, so grouchy,  so grouchy,

 If you're ever feeling grouchy,

 Just jump up real high.

 Jump this way and that way and this way and that way.

 If you're ever feeling grouchy just jump up real high.

 If you're ever feeling grouchy,  so grouchy, so grouchy,

 If you're ever feeling grouchy,

 Just spin on your toes.

 Spin this way and that way and this way and that way.

 If you're ever feeling grouchy just spin on your toes.

If you're ever feeling grouchy,  so grouchy, so grouchy,

 If you're ever feeling grouchy,

 Just wear a big smile.

 Smile this way and that way and this way and that way.

 If you're ever feeling grouchy just wear a big smile.

Original Words by Joe Stover

If You're Grumpy and You Know It  (sung to If You're Happy and You Know It)

 If you're grumpy and you know it say, "Grr, grr."

 If you're grumpy and you know it say, "Grr, grr."

 If you're grumpy and you know it,

 And you really want to show it,

 If you're grumpy and you know it say, "Grr, grr."

 If you're grumpy and you know it stomp your feet.

 If you're grumpy and you know it stomp your feet.

 If you're grumpy and you know it,

 And you really want to show it,

 If you're grumpy and you know it stomp your feet.

If you're grumpy and you know it cross your arms.

 If you're grumpy and you know it cross your arms.

 If you're grumpy and you know it,

 And you really want to show it,

 If you're grumpy and you know it cross your arms.

If you're grumpy and you know it say, "Gimme that!"

 If you're grumpy and you know it say, "Gimme that!"

 If you're grumpy and you know it,

 And you really want to show it,

 If you're grumpy and you know it say, "Gimme that!"

If you're grumpy and you know it do all four.

 If you're grumpy and you know it do all four.

 If you're grumpy and you know it,

 And you really want to show it,

 If you're grumpy and you know it do all four.

Original Words by Joe Stover

Storytime: Bats, Rats, Black Cats and a Frog

Halloween-friendly animals in unscary situations.

Reading to choose from:

Meeow and the Little Chairs by Sebastian Braun
That Pesky Rat by Lauren Child
Batty by Sarah Dyer
The Red Hen by Rebecca Emberley and Ed Emberley (Rat character)
Copycat by Olivia George, Illus. by Brett Hudson (Orange cat main character, but includes black cat)
The Croaky Pokey! by Ethan Long
Hooway for Wodney Wat by Helen Lester, Illus. by Lynn Munsinger
Kittens! Kittens! Kittens! by Susan Meyers, Illus. by David Walker
Baby Bat's Lullabye by Jacqueline Mitchard, Illus. by Julia Noonan

Activity:

"Draw and color a picture of a cat for each of the following colors: green, blue, red, yellow, orange Tell the following story: Scat the Cat
Scat the cat was a black cat. Everyone in his family was black. But Scat the Cat was tired of being like everyone else. So he said (snap fingers) "I'm Scat the Cat I'm Sassy and Fat I change my colors just like that."
So Scat the cat changed into a (name of color). He was as (green as the grass; blue as the sky, red as an apple, yellow as a lemon, orange as an orange,). Scat the Cat enjoyed being a (name of color) for a few days. But then he got tired. So he said: (Repeat Scat the Cat Verse) *After naming last color: Well Scat the Cat had changed his colors many times. He found out that it wasn't so bad being a black cat. So he said, (Repeat verse) "

from http://www.perpetualpreschool.com/halloweensongs.html

Storytime: Creepy-Crawlies

Reading possibilities:

The Spider and the Fly by Tony Deterlizzi, based on a cautionary tale by Mary Howitt
Arabella Miller's Tiny Caterpillar by Clare Jarrett
Creepy Crawly Calypso by Tony Langham, Illus. by Debbie Harter
Ten Little Caterpillars by Bill Martin, Illus. by Lois Ehlert
Aaaarrgghh! Spider! by Lydia Monks
Centipede's 100 Shoes by Tony Ross
I'm a Shark by Bob Shea (shark is afraid of spiders)
The Bugliest Bug by Carol Diggory Shields, Illus. by Scott Nash
Caterpillar Dreams by Jeanne Willis, Illus. by Tony Ross

Storytime: Hair!

Our storytime celebrates the hair we wear, even on bad hair days.
Here are some reading possibilities:

• Hairs/Pelitos (English and Spanish) by Sandra Cisneros, Illus. by Terry Ybanez
• The Hair Scare by Jeffrey Fisher
• Crazy Hair by Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean
• Big Bouffant by Kate Hosford, Illus. by Holly Clifton - Brown
• Happy to Be Nappy by bell hooks and Chris Raschka
• Very Hairy Harry by Edward Koren
• The Pig in a Wig by Alan MacDonald, Illus. by Paul Hess
• Don't Cut My Hair! by Hans Wilhelm
• Ruby's Beauty Shop by Rosemary Wells
• There is a Bird On Your Head! by Mo Willems
• Green Boots, Blue Hair, Polka Dot Underwear by Deborah Zemke

Barber, Barber, Shave a Pig (Sung to "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star")

Barber, Barber, shave a Pig

How many hairs will make a wig?

Four and twenty, that's enough

Give the barber a pinch of snuff  (original line)

or

Then pat the pig with a powder puff... (alternate version)


Michael Finnegan

There was an old man named Michael Finnegan,

He had whiskers on his chinnegan,

Along came the wind and blew them in again,

Poor old Michael Finnegan.

Begin again!

(Repeat, fast, slowly, etc.)


Here is the tune, with slightly different words:

Storytime: Clothing and Getting Dressed

• Whose Socks Are Those by Jez Alborough
• Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing by Judi Barrett, Illus by Ron Barrett
• Daisy Gets Dressed by Clare Beaton
• Shoe-La-La! by Karen Beaumont, Illus. by LeUyen Pham
• Princess Bess Gets Dressed by Margery Cuyler, Illus by Heather Maione
• Under My Hood I Have a Hat by Karla Kuskin, Illus by Fumi Kosaka
• Chamelia by Ethan Long
• Little Mouse Gets Ready by Jeff Smith

If You're Wearing...(Red, Black, etc.)
(Tune: "Happy and You Know It")

If you are wearing red, shake your head
If you are wearing red, shake your head
If you are wearing red
Then please shake your head
If you are wearing red, shake your head

If you are wearing blue, touch your shoe
If you are wearing blue, touch your shoe
If you are wearing blue,
Then please touch your shoe
If you are wearing blue, touch your shoe

If you are wearing green, bow to the queen
If you are wearing green, bow to the queen
If you are wearing green,
Then please bow to the queen
If you are wearing green, bow to the queen

If you are wearing yellow, shake like Jell-O
If you are wearing yellow, shake like Jell-O
If you are wearing yellow,
Then please shake like Jell-O
If you are wearing yellow, shake like Jell-O

If you are wearing black, pat your back
If you are wearing black, pat your back
If you are wearing black,
Then please pat your back
If you are wearing black, pat your back

If you are wearing brown, turn around
If you are wearing brown, turn around
If you are wearing brown,
Then please turn around
If you are wearing brown, turn around

Days of the Week Storytime

• Today is Monday pictures by Eric Carle
• The Adventures of Max and Pinky: Best Buds by Maxwell Eaton III (Saturday is Adventure Day)
• Diary of a Baby Wombat by Jackie French, Illus. by Bruce Whatley
• Monday is One Day by Arthur A. Levine, Illus. by Julian Hector
• Meow Monday by Phyllis Root, Illus. by Helen Craig
• Thirsty Thursday by Phyllis Root, Illus. by Helen Craig
• Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp by Carol Diggory Shields Illus. by Scott Nash
• Saturday Night Jamboree by Lee Wardlaw, Illus. by Barry Root
• Every Friday by Dan Yaccarino

Here are the songs we will use:

"Today is Monday"  See the cute YouTube video that I watched to teach myself the tune below.




These are from the super helpful blog: Storytime Source Page :

Days of the Week (Tune of "Adams Family")
There's Sunday and there's Monday,
There's Tuesday and there's Wednesday
There's Thursday and there's Friday
And then there's Saturday.
Days of the Week (clap clap)Days of the Week (clap clap)
Days of the week, days of the week, days of the week (clap clap)

Mulberry Bush: Days of the Week(Nursery Rhyme Time by Georgiana Stewart)Here we go round the mulberry bush,
Mulberry bush, mulberry bush
Here we go round the mulberry bush
So early in the morning

This is the way we wake up and stretch…
So early Monday morning

This is the way we wash our hands…
So early Tuesday morning

This is the way we brush our teeth…
So early Wednesday morning

This is the way we comb our hair…
So early Thursday morning

This is the way we put on our shoes…
So early Friday morning

This is the way we eat our food…
So early Saturday morning

This is the way we read a book…
So early Sunday morning

Fall Storytime begins: Cows!

I've begun my new fall morning Family Storytime with a cow theme. About 22 people showed up, but my audience dwindled as time passed. The kids were pretty small, some from the Babytime group. We went 25 minutes with books and songs. I suppose this will stretch out as the kids become less shy and I chat more with the families.

Book suggestions:

We started out with the book/sing-along Comin' Down to Storytime by Rob Reid.

Cow tales:

The Cow Who Clucked by Denise Fleming


Cock-a-Doodle-Moo! by Bernard Most


Millie Waits for the Mail by Alexander Steffensmeier

Sakes Alive! A Cattle Drive by Karma Wilson, Illus. by Karla Firehammer

The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson, Illus. by Marcellus Hall

And a buffalo story for good measure:

Teach Your Buffalo to Play Drums by Audrey Vernick, Illus. by Daniel Jennewein

I found this cute song too, on NIEHs Kids' Pages :

Old Mother Leary (or "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow" or "There'll be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight")

---

Original version; written by: Unknown, copyright unknown
Late one night
When we were all in bed
Old Mother Leary
Left a lantern in the shed

And when the cow kicked it over,
She winked her eye and said,
"There’ll be a hot time
In the old town, tonight."

Spoken:
"FIRE, FIRE, FIRE!"
Expanded version, most familiar in Chicago:
5 nights ago,
when we were all in bed
Old Mrs. Leary left the lantern in the shed
and when the cow kicked it over,
she winked her eye and said
it'll be a hot time, in the old town, tonight!
FIRE FIRE FIRE!

4 nights ago,
when we were all in bed
Old Mrs. Leary left the lantern in the shed
and when the cow kicked it over,
she winked her eye and said
it'll be a hot time, in the old town, tonight!
FIRE FIRE FIRE!

3 nights ago,
when we were all in bed
Old Mrs. Leary left the lantern in the shed
and when the cow kicked it over,
she winked her eye and said
it'll be a hot time, in the old town, tonight!
FIRE FIRE FIRE!

2 nights ago,
when we were all in bed
Old Mrs. Leary left the lantern in the shed
and when the cow kicked it over,
she winked her eye and said
it'll be a hot time, in the old town, tonight!
FIRE FIRE FIRE

1 night ago,
when we were all in bed
Old Mrs. Leary left the lantern in the shed
and when the cow kicked it over,
she winked her eye and said
it'll be a hot time, in the old town, tonight!

FIRE FIRE FIRE!

Note -- other "rounds" can be concluded with:

• Water, Water, Water!
• Jump, Lady, Jump!
• Save my Child, Save my Child!

We weren't going to yell "Fire!" in a public building, so I went with Moo! Moo! Moo! ;)

Rhinos for Lunch and Elephants for Supper!

Rhinos for Lunch and Elephants for Supper! A Maasai Tale by Tololwa M. Mollel. Illus. by Barbara Spurll, 1991.


When little hare returns to her den for a nap, she is driven away by the booming voice of a monster. Before she even enters, she needs to turn tail and flee. A number of her animal friends try to help her, but each time they are menaced by the voice of the one who craves rhinos and elephants for its meals. Finally, a grumpy frog who has been trying to sleep through the noise takes on the monster. Larger creatures have failed, but this froggy is calm and confident. She is sure to get results!

Spurll’s pictures are bordered by geometric patterns in black, red, blue and green. Her animals are fanciful and rubber faced. An elder leopard in reading glasses shares a book with three wide-eyed cubs. Our heroine, the frog, boldly chews on a pipe and brandishes a walking cane. And the red cheeked, many legged monster cracks a one sided grin as he moves on. Little creatures such as snakes, birds and lizards watch the proceedings at the cave’s mouth.

The Name of the Tree

The Name of the Tree: A Bantu Folktale retold by Celia Barker Lottridge. Illus. by Ian Wallace, 1989.


The animals are in the midst of a great famine, so they decide to band together and search for a source of food. They find a wonderful tree with colorful fruit that smells like all the fruits of the world. The problem is they are unable to eat any until they know the tree’s name. King lion knows, but he doesn’t like to repeat himself. They must send an animal to him that is willing to make the journey and is able to remember the precious name.

Wallace’s illustrations are very softly tinted, and play with shadow and light. The barren land is filled with cracks and rocks, and a pale sun hangs in the sky, illustrating the animal’s dire circumstances. The beasts are drawn realistically, with chimpanzees, gazelles, zebras, elephants and hero tortoises sharing the pages.

Imani in the Belly

Imani In The Belly by Deborah M. Newton Chocolate. Illus. by Alex Boies, 1994.

In this retelling of a Swahili folktale, Imani’s children are swallowed up by Simba, the King of Beasts, and she must have faith enough to reclaim them. Every day wild animals race through her village and one afternoon when she returns from the marketplace, she finds that her children are gone. Grieving, she falls asleep, but her mother comes to her in a dream and tells her to have faith and go after the beast. She outfits herself with supplies and goes out to save her family and her village. With support from the villagers and belief in herself, she does just that.

The vivid colors and simple shapes of Boies’ cut-paper illustrations make striking artwork. The layouts are obviously carefully planned for best effect. Palm trees of purple, hot pink and bright green seem to pop off the pages. The cutouts add drama to the story, such as the black silhouette of Imani’s face and her wagging finger as she warns her children, a lavender outline of her floating mother providing comfort as Imani cries streams of soft green tears and incomplete shapes representing the villagers caught inside Simba. Seemingly disembodied eyes follow Imani as she heads through the jungle toward the large black lion. An especially vibrant picture shows Imani climbing out of Simba’s stomach as the villagers cheer her on in lettering that reads, “Faith be to Imani”.

Strange Happenings by Avi

Strange Happenings: Five Tales of Transformation by Avi, 2005.


I have read many of Avi’s books and really liked most of them. Reading Strange Happenings with the child audience in mind, I enjoyed it too. Avi gives us five short stories that feature transformation. Frequently, things don’t go well for the characters, even if they get what they want. Tom is twelve years old and bored with life. When he meets a friendly talking cat, his life turns upside down and is very exciting…for a while. Simon is a selfish guy who wants what he wants and doesn’t care who pays the price for him to get it. Soon, he is the one suffering. Jeff thinks that his town baseball mascot is great and becomes obsessed with finding out who’s behind the costume. This could be a mistake. A shoemaker strikes and breaks a bargain with a cat with lemon colored eyes, only to be confronted by the devil himself. And everyone agrees that Princess Babette is simply ravishingly beautiful, but have they ever really seen her? Avi’s collection is creepy fun and would make fine, mild Halloween reading.

Other outstanding books by Avi:

Fairy Tales set in Africa by Rachel Isadora

  Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm. Retold and Illus. by Rachel Isadora, 2009.


The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen. Retold and Illus. by Rachel Isadora, 2007.

 The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen. Retold and Illus. by Rachel Isadora, 2009.

Isadora stays true to the plots of these familiar German and Danish fairy tales, but smoothly moves the settings to the forests, farms, and palaces of Africa. Accordingly, the human characters are people of color, often dressed in handsome regional clothing. In this version of The Princess and the Pea, the prince searches for his bride all over Africa and the reader learns to say hello in Amharic (Ethiopia), Somali and Swahili (Kenya). Hansel and Gretel are abandoned in a wood full of giraffes, snakes, zebras, etc. The awkward gray duckling grows up to be a beautiful black swan, but first he is rejected by other animals of the farmyard, including a baboon, a warthog and a meerkat.

The books are vividly illustrated with collages of oil paints, printed paper and palette paper. The resulting pictures have much pleasing texture and many colorful shades. The princess’ twenty mattresses come in as many patterns, from animal skins, to stripes to florals. The green skinned witch in the candy house is dressed in a raggedy cloak that gives her the appearance of a frightening wild creature. Hansel’s cage is hung with spiders, and alive with crawling and hopping reptiles. And a sun in fiery tones peers through a flowering tree to shine down on six yellow ducklings, their mother and one newly hatched misfit. These glorious illustrations are everything you hope for in a fairy tale.