Royal Reading "Knight"

Last Thursday evening I had the pleasure of doing a special storytime for Longfellow school's Royal Family Reading "Knight". It was a blast. I was amazed at the turn-out-- especially for a cold, snowy night. I estimated at least 150, if not 200 people were in attendance, most in royal attire. (Kudos to school librarian Sharon Pearce!) Parents and kids spent about 15 minutes at three separate "stations" which included a skit in the auditorium, quiet reading in the library, and my storytime in the "pod." I wore my "Fancy Nancy" crown, and read Princess Penelope (Todd Mack) which was a huge hit. The kids were very enthusiastic and yelled along to the "I am a PRINCESS!" refrain. My other book was de Paola's The Knight and the Dragon. I encouraged the kids to explain out loud what was happening in the wordless parts of the book. They were very well-behaved and took turns describing the action, although one boy threw me for a loop when he claimed that the jousting scene "probably looked a lot like the fighting going on in Iraq." (!)
Needless to say we moved on to the BBQ scene hastily!
All in all, it was a very positive outreach experience...

Monday Twos

My Monday 9:30 ST kids really did have a case of the Monday Blues. There was no singing along, no attempts at finger movements, no facial expressions or reactions of any kind to what I was reading. Of course, then I really ramped it up. Even the stickers and turtle kisses fell flat. Luckily, I had a 10:30 ST to try and regain a bit of self-esteem.

This session was packed and also had several older siblings in it which is always good to get things rolling. The energy was great. Snowbaby Could Not Sleep, in particular, was solid, and they enjoyed my new flannel snowman face that I made to go along with "Two Little Eyes." Yes, I'm back in love with my twos--at least my 10:30 twos.

One love

I'm happy to have a storytime break, but I think having this long stretch of storytimes really helped me to build relationships with my Wonderful Ones. The last few weeks have been particularly joyful as the kids seem to light up with recognition at some of the routine activities we do.



Liam learned how to point to his cheeks and Sadie through up her arms and shouted Hooray during If You're Happy and You Know It, Braden and Michael gently rocked their stuffies during Rock a Bye Your Bear, and Cameron made sure everyone cleaned up and brought the box to me. Most of my Ones would smile big, when I would say their name during Hickledy Pickledy Bumblebee, and moms, dads and tots seemed to perk up whenever we did Open them Shut them.



If you've done Ones before, you know how the littlest thing is worth celebrating. They start off so deadpan, that you're sure that everything you're doing is just wrong and you're the worst storyteller ever. So when they start to imititate Where is Thumbkin by putting their whole hand up and trying to make their fingers move one at a time, it's immensely gratifying. Twos have always been my favorite, but now I love my Ones.

Preschool Storytime

Snowman fun! That was the general idea anyway. I read Snowmen at Night, alot of the kids had read it already or owned it. They all seemed to like it! I also tried the glove puppet for the first time with the snowman rhyme "Five Little Snowmen". I tried to get them to stand up and then melt each time but to no avail. One little guy did come and stand and stare at the snowmen on the glove though. I also read One Winter's Day and The Jacket I Wear in the Snow. I ended with the Mitten Song and I definitely had kids who had done it before. Graduates from one and two year old storytimes perhaps? It's great to have this record of what we've done. I've tried handouts and nobody takes them, although I do have them in an electronic folder.

Enchanted part deux

I had a particularly fab Terrific Twos today...
It was packed-- 30 kids/ 22 adults! I got a little weak-kneed looking out at the massive audience right before I began, but I must have picked up some of Rory's recent mojo, because I can honestly say that it was one of my best. storytimes. ever.
The kids were riveted during the stories-- I read "What A Treasure" by Jane and Will Hillenbrand, which is darling and the perfect length for Twos. I shared the pop-up "Says Who?" we growled, hissed, and roared along with all the animals. I also read a terrific new book by Jeff Mack called "Hush Little Polar Bear." This was a real hit-- it is sweet without being cloying, has wonderful illustrations, a great rhythm and a cozy ending. Perfect for this cold day.
Thanks to Rory for her suggestion to use the "This Old Man" felt. Kids loved it, and nearly all the parents sang along.

Feeling aglow from all the toddler hugs I got today (and still humming the mitten song)....

Running out of gas

So, it's week 13, and I was having a difficult time choosing books this week. I decided to nudge my Ones into beginning Twos by reading Clip, Clop, Raise the Roof, and Slide Already, forgetting that I had told myself never to pair Clip Clop and Slide Already, because they both encourage reckless fun. We'll see how many of my group return next week with new bumps and bruises, if they return at all.

Random Thoughts on Subbing

Okay, so I have been subbing for a few of you (Andy, Rory). And after reading Jennifer's post, I was reminded of my first time subbing for Rory's babies. A mom approached the ST room and saw me greeting: "You mean MISS RORY's not HERE?!" It went downhill from there... I learned my lesson--next time I subbed for Andy, I asked him to PLEASE let them know that there would be a sub the following week. It seemed to work because no one sobbed when they saw me. (Sorry, Jennifer!) I seriously do think it helps, and as a sub, I appreciate it. These people are true creatures of habit. Don't mess with their storytellers.

I did "Owl Babies" with his group and they were mesmerized, especially with the Mama Owl puppet and her blinking eyes. They also enjoyed "Five Fat Sausages" clapping chant and Jim Gill's "Silly Dance Contest" with scarves.

I love reading all your ideas, triumphs and flops. I'm so happy to belong to such a creative and collaborative group.

QUESTION--Is it possible to get an RSS feed for this blog? I would be able to read it more readily. Thanks.

Enchanted

Folks, sometimes it just all comes together. Even when you're not particularly feeling it ("Kaaaate, couldn't you do just one more PJ Storytime?"), and even when it's the evening of the first big, fluffy snowfall of the season, and even when your prep isn't particuarly fantastic.

To follow a trend, I'll credit Andy. He didn't give me any ideas for the actual storytime but he did tidy the Storytime Room so darn well after his Twos this morning. And you all know how tidyness positively affects me.

I read "Some Dogs Do," which I think is a perfect ST book. Rhyming, fun, sweet, a twist--and it's so easy to read. The voices come naturally (at least, I think it's easy to do a snotty voice and a disbelieving voice and a full-of-wonder voice). Also, you can ask the kids whether they have a dog at home...and whether it can fly or not. They love that.

I also introduced Schnorgle the Cat Puppet to them; we tried passing him around but he's so cute that a few spats broke out. Still, because I was under a spell of Storytime Success Enchantment, I managed to keep the sharing going. I also did something new--used the ready-made felt for "This Old Man." It was fun! I showed them how to knick-knack on their knees and roll at the end.

La-di-dah. It was great.