Wuv the Ones

Jenny found my teddy bear flower puppet! Yippee!! Thanks to Gennie, the bluebird puppet is functional and I sang "Bluebird on my shoulder" two times. I like doing "Beehive" with the monkey mitt, but not with the bee hand puppet (too realistic probably). Lori's Baa Baa Black Sheep flannel rocked the house and the Where's Spot? big book never lets me down. Other thumbs up: Giddy Up-Let's Ride, The Baby Goes Beep. Thumbs down--Penelope the Piglet. Grownups like it, but kids really seem indifferent. Charlie the Chick is much better.

Since I haven't posted in so long--here are some surefire books for 2's: Who's on the Farm? lift-the-flap, Where's Your Smile, Crocodile, and Let's Play in the Forest (while the wolf is not around).

success with 2 new books, 1 old one

For an outreach ST for 4s and 5s this afternoon at Anderson Center, I grabbed 2 brand-new titles off the cart, and both worked really well. The first one, Are You a Horse? is kind of long, but the kids were really into it - the story features a rather clueless cowboy (Roy, of course) who receives a saddle for his birthday, but needs to find an equine partner to fully partake of his gift's possibilities. Unfortunately, he has no idea what a horse is. So, narrowing it down, step by animal step, he finally finds a trusty steed...but there's a great twist at the end that the kids really liked.

The other new book I tried, with similar success, was Harry Hungry. The titular baby develops one serious appetite; he starts with a small snack and quickly moves his way on up to the top of the food chain. After eating his father's car, the neighbors' house, and other delicacies, Harry is stopped only by an overwhelming need to nap. The illustration style is rather retro and idiosyncratic (Heather's not a big fan), but it is very colorful and the pictures show up well at a distance. The kids had no problem suspending belief for this monster baby book, and also didn't seem to have any issue with Harry instantly shrinking in size after burping.

Finally, I tried a book that's been around for a few years, but I had never done in a ST before - Little Pea. I had always liked the story, but had been concerned about the art being too small and plain to work in a ST setting. Well, the group was on the smaller side - 12 kids - and I could scoot up close to them to pan, and thus ensure a decent view for all. And it worked! The kids seemed downright stunned by a world in which a youngster has to finish his candy before he can dive into his dessert of....spinach! They were sort of quiet after I finished, until I asked, "Do you eat candy for dinner?" and they all kind of exploded with "NO!"s...

Dino-success!

Big props to our ST outreach interns, Amanda and Mandy, for doing a great job with their special Dinosaur storytimes at the 3 branches this past week. At Maze on Monday they had a total attendance of 47, and at Dole on Tuesday they had a total of 61 kids and adults. As good as those numbers are, though, they paled to the scene at Main on Wednesday...As you can see in the picture, the room was PACKED! I've never seen the ST room that full before, and I counted at least 90 people leaving at the end! Amanda and Mandy did a fantastic job with the huge crowd, and only made 1 child cry. ;-)