• Activities

    Storytime Theme: Ice Cream

    ice cream

    Who doesn’t love ice cream? This is a perfect storytime to share during the hot summer months when nothing tastes better than cool, creamy ice cream! Enjoy! Check out my extensive list of storytime themes and fun books to share with PreK kids. Opening & Closing Opening: “Put Your Hands…

  • Activities

    Toddler Storytime Theme: Balloons

    This was probably the first week this summer that went really well in terms of storytime.  We cut our storytime schedule down during summer and I’ve had over 30 kids on average for toddler storytime.  I know that for some libraries this is all in a day’s work, but I was frazzled,…

  • Activities

    Toddler Storytime Theme: Spring Animals

    Opening: “Put Your Hands Up In the Air” Puppet Meet & Greet: Meet Woolly (monkey puppet) Early Literacy Tip: “Read at least three stories a day: it may be the same story three times.  Children need to hear a thousand stories before they can begin to learn to read.  Or…

  • Lists

    25 Summer Reads from Picture Books to YA Novels

    The Raft by Jim LaMarche Come On, Rain! by Karen Hesse Summer Days and Nights by Wong Herbert Yee To the Beach by Linda Ashman The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach by Melanie Watt Pool by Chi-hyŏn Yi One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab by…

  • Lists

    Top Ten Tuesday: Book Set Outside the U.S.

    This Top Ten Tuesday topic couldn’t have come at a more perfect time as I’m trying so hard to find words to describe how I’m feeling about all that has been happening in the news – race relations in the U.S., terrorist attacks around the world… I feel so much…

  • Lists

    15 Books to Keep You Cool This Summer

    Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester The Adventures of a South Pole Pig by Chris Kurtz Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett Flora and the Penguin by Molly Idle Polar Bear Night by Lauren Thompson Penguin and Pinecone by Salina Yoon Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara Joosse Frozen Secrets: Antarctica…

  • Activities

    Toddler Storytime Theme: Making a Mess

    messy kids

    This is one of those lesson plans that I was super excited about!  Most small children LOVE making a mess!  Then, I had 33 toddlers in my program… and after taking a look at the amount of energy in the room, I realized that my lesson plan wasn’t going to fly.…

  • Activities

    Family Storytime Theme: Noses

    Nose Storytime Opening: “Hello” with sign languageHello, friends. (x3)It’s time to say hello. Puppet Meet & Greet: Meet Woolly (monkey puppet) Early Literacy Tip: Rhyming books are awesome to share with kids, especially when they can start figuring out the rhymes themselves! Book 1: Whose Nose is This? by Peg…

  • Lists

    It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 7/11/16

    I missed reporting last week as it was the 4th of July, so here’s a two-week update.  I’ve been trying to read fairly regularly as I can tell when I’m not reading enough – I get extra stressed out and cranky.  And with summer reading in full force, the less…

  • Lists

    10 Books to Celebrate America’s Birthday

    One Nation: America By the Numbers by Devin Scillian A is for America: An American Alphabet by Devin Scillian Grandma Drove the Garbage Truck by Katie Clark This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie The Night Before the Fourth of July by Natasha Wing Hats Off for the Fourth of…