Toddler Storytime Bookworm Part 3

Bookworm Festival is this Saturday, February 8th... I can hardly wait! Authors of books for young children are so special and create a unique bond with their audience through their quirky, fun storytelling styles. Seeing the interaction between the authors and children will be so much fun.

Today I am highlighting books by author/illustrator duo Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri:
 Dragons love tacos - who knew?! But NOT spicy salsa!

 Secret Pizza Party - will raccoon ever get his pizza?

We sang these songs and watched these videos:
Miss Nina: "The Bear Went over the Mountain"
"How do you make a pizza?"
Sesame Street: "Humongous"

I hope to see lots of little friends at the Bookworm Festival at Pine Shadows on Saturday, February 8th from 9:30-11:30 AM. Until then, keep reading!

Wrapped books make library abuzz!

Recently I saw a pin on Pinterest for a "Blind date with a book" and I loved the idea of kids picking a book and being surprised by their choice. The only thing is that I teach at an elementary school, so I didn't think dating would go over well with my little guys. I thought about it and thought about it until I had a brilliant idea! I would pull book-alike books from my shelf that were similar to books I get asked about all the time, like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Harry Potter, Wonder, Magic Treehouse, Dork Diaries, and Junie B. Jones. Then I would put a heart-shaped tag on each of them that says "If you liked Diary of a Wimpy Kid, then you'll LOVE this book!"; it was brilliant! Next I had to figure out a system to check the books out to the students, but the catch was I wanted them to have to leave the library with their book wrapped. This would eliminate them unwrapping the book and immediately changing their mind, as well as stir up interest from the other students in their class. So, I created a spreadsheet that assigned each book a number that I put on the book's tag as well as recorded the barcode of the book (thank God for scanners!) for check-out purposes. The students tell the circulation desk attendant the number of their book and their lunch number so it can be checked out to them after they leave the library. Today I discovered that I needed more book-alike types and added fairy tales, Rainbow Fairy series, sports, animals, and teacher faves.

This morning I announced the surprise book project on our morning announcements, and the response was overwhelming! Before I could get a picture of my cute wrapped books on my library shelves, students were grabbing them up and taking them away! I even convinced a group of fifth grade boys to walk away from the technology and choose a wrapped book to take to class.

I loved hearing students saying to each other: "I can't wait to unwrap it!" "I wonder what book I got!" "I think mine and yours are the same. They are exactly the same size!" "That's our timer! Let's go back to class and unwrap our books!"

There was some confusion, as I had to repeatedly answer the questions "Which one of these wrapped books is the green Wimpy Kid book?" (answer: none, they are all similar, but none were the actual book.) and "Do I get to keep this book?" (answer: I will check it out to you, but you have to return it just like a regular library book.). But mostly the excitement over the mystery of a wrapped book was contagious and brought a smile to my face and the faces of my teachers and students all day! I just hope I can keep up with the demand for the rest of the week!

Book Lovers Rule the school!!

Toddler Storytime: Bookworm 2

I just love that there are such wonderful authors who write fun books for young readers! We will have the opportunity to hear from several of those authors next weekend! We can see them at the Bookworm Festival on Saturday, February 8th from 9:30am-11:30am at Pine Shadows Elementary.
("I love Reading" image from www.zazzle.com)

Today we read three fantastic books by Bob Shea:

 Unicorn thinks he's pretty great

 Don't play with your food!

 Dinosaur vs. the Library

Today we sang and watched these songs:

Between the Lions: "Read a Book Today"
Between the Lions: "Reason to Read"
New Socks! by Bob Shea:



I love having the opportunity to read aloud such wonderful books! Parents, be sure you take time to build the love of reading in your children everyday too. Find a book and take time everyday to read with your children. Here's a few words from John Lithgow:


Until next time! Keep reading!

Toddler Story Time- Bookworms

Today we started becoming little bookworms!

Sesame Street "I'm a bookworm, baby" 

Did you know that SBISD and Blue Willow Bookstore are hosting an emergent reader book festival?

It will be on Saturday, February 8th from 9:30-11:30am at Pine Shadows Elementary. For more information go here:  http://www.bookwormbookfest.com 

The next few weeks I am going to introduce the authors who will be visiting for the festival. 

We started with the keynote speaker, Judith Viorst.

We read these books by her:

The good-bye book: Will the little boy say good-bye to his parents when they leave for a date night?

 Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day: (Alexander was named after one if Judith's sons.) Boy does he have a rotten day! But, some days are just like that!

Then we watched a book that students made that showed what might have happened if Alexander had changed his attitude. It was called "Alexander and the Fabulous, Brilliant, Fantastic, Really Awesome day". 

We also watched this Miss Nina video that had 3 songs in one!

"Twinkle, twinkle/Baa Baa black sheep/ABCs"

Thanks for joining me today! Until next time, keep reading!

Happy New Year 2014!

Happy New year to all of my little reading buddies! Today we read and learned about the seasons and the months of the year.



The books we read today were:

 Snowmen All Year by Caralyn Buehner

 A Bear for All Seasons by Diane Marcial Fuchs

Little Raccoon's Big Question by Miriam Schlein (click here for a book trailer of this sweet story)

Our new song today was:
"You are my sunshine" by Miss Nina because I love when the sun shines, no matter what the season!

Do you have a favorite season or month of the year? Or do you have a reason to love every season like the friends in our stories today? (I think I have an answer to both!)
Until next time, keep reading!

Toddler Story Time: Snowy Days

Texas doesn't get much snow, but it is fun to think of what fun we could have when the temperature dips below freezing!

The books we read today:
The First Snow by David Christina

 The Snowman Storybook by Raymond Briggs

 One Snowy Night  by Nick Butterworth

The songs we shared today:
"Walking in the Air" (from "The Snowman")



"Snow Song" (from Thomas and Friends)

"Little Snowflake" by Super Simple Songs

Stay warm and snuggle up with a book this week! Until next time!

If you are in need of books for gifts, please shop at Blue Willow Bookstore (14532 Memorial Dr) and mention "Meadow Wood" to help us raise money for the Meadow Wood Library.

Toddler Storytime: Holidays are coming!

Can you believe it is December? That holiday feeling is in the air, even though it is not very cold this week! I just love the anticipation and joy that children share during the holiday season.  What better way to experience that with your child than with a great holiday book? 

Today's books:
 Little Miss Spider: A Christmas Wish by David Kirk

 llama llama holiday drama by Anna Dewdney (also found on We Give Books online.)

 Bear Stays Up for Christmas by Karma Wilson

Today's songs:


"Let you light twinkle" - Click "Browse", then click on "Topic", and then "Winter Holidays" (Under Holidays) to find Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood: "Let your light twinkle" song.

Need more books to read? Here are a couple more to check out from The Children's Book Review blog.




Please support the MWE Holiday Book Fair at Blue Willow December 9-13! You can find lots of great reads there, and the proceeds will go to support new books at Meadow Wood!
Until next time, my little readers!