• Activities

    Story Time Theme: Bunny Rabbits

    I know many librarians who cringe when they have to work around a “theme” for story time.  I find it easier to focus on a theme and find great books surrounding an idea, color, letter, number, or object.  Most of my themes this session really focus on spring and what…

  • Reviews

    Plant a Kiss

    Plant a Kiss by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Peter H. Reynolds is an adorable story about the power of love.  Little Miss plants a kiss and to her amazement it turns into something so much bigger than she ever imagined.  With very simple sentences that span pages and adorable illustrations with just…

  • Reviews

    Open This Little Book

    This book is such a fun surprise when you open it.  I have seen this title flit across the blogs and book reviews, but I didn’t realize its structure until I opened it up and began to read.  Inside you’ll find the first on many “little” books, this one being…

  • Activities

    1,000 Books Before Kindergarten

    If you do a search online a number of libraries around the country have created their own version of 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program.  My boss came to me sometime in early January, I believe, and thought that this would be a great program for our library to offer.  After a…

  • Activities

    Story Time Theme: Clap, Tap, & Drum

    This was a new theme for me… Clap, Tap, and Drum and I was hesitant when I began planning this because I tried some new books and I wasn’t quite sure how they’d turn out.  I had a little trouble with my younger kids and the first book.  They did…

  • Reviews

    Do Crocs Kiss?

    This is an absolutely adorable story with lift-the-flaps and great rhymes!  Salina Yoon may be one of my new favorite children’s authors.  She also wrote Penguin and Pinecone which I fell in love with this winter and have use for multiple story times. Each page spread asks two questions about…

  • Activities

    Story Time Theme – Sniffles & Sneezes

    It’s that time of year when no matter how much orange juice I drink, if I take my vitamins religiously every day, and wash my hands constantly – I still get a cold.  I’ve had a sore throat (turned into a sinus infection) for a few weeks now and it…

  • Reviews

    The Goldilocks Variations

    First let me say, pop-up books can be the bane of my existence as a librarian because they never last long on the regular shelf, but if we keep them just for story times, they don’t get used regularly.  This week we decided to place our pop-up books with our toy…

  • Activities

    Story Time Theme – Penguins Everywhere!

    I absolutely adore penguins – they’re cute, fun to watch and make a great story time theme!  I chose to use penguins and focus on letter knowledge, after my first story time this week, I realized my error.  The letter “p” can look similar to “b”, “d”, and “q”.  I…

  • Activities

    Story Time Theme – Hugs & Kisses

    Being that Valentine’s Day is this week, I chose a “Hugs & Kisses” theme with some of my favorite stories about love.  I’ve already posted about a couple of these books this week, so to spare you, my story time plan is below.  I also gave the kids valentines this…