Storytime at Leena's

On Thursday, I held my first storytime at The Original Leena's Chocolate store. We have decided to do this on a monthly basis. For this first storytime, I geared it towards the 4-7 yr age range. The books I chose were The Parrot Tico Tango, The Animal Boogie, and Emily's Tiger and then we made paper bag tiger puppets.

The Parrot Tico Tango...

Since the book mentions different fruits, I printed out photos of each of the fruit mentioned in the book. I asked the kids if they liked to eat vegetables raise their hands. Of course, most of them were making faces but there was a cute little girl who yelled out that she likes to eat carrots. I then asked them if they liked to eat fruit raise their hands. Then we went around and shared what our favorite fruits were. I asked them if anyone knew what a mango looked like. One of the boys said yes but he couldn't describe what it looked like so I pulled out the picture of the green grapes and asked if that was a mango. They laughed and said no so I pulled out a picture of a lemon and asked if that was a mango; more laughs and no's. When I finally showed them the real picture of the mango, they all said that was a mango. I then showed them the picture of a papaya and asked if they knew what kind of fruit it was. None of the kids could guess it so Shawn (my 10 yr old) told them what it was. They weren't able to guess the fig or dates either. I think it would be really cool to have all the fruits so the kids could see them in person and even taste them but I was on a limited budget so they got pictures. The kids didn't seem that impressed with the book itself but I only had one four year old. The rest of the kids were six and up. I made sure to stop and ask them if they knew what contrite meant and they were very close with their answers. I also stopped before getting to the page where all the fruit dropped and asked them what they thought was going to happen. None of them guessed that the fruit would come crashing down so it was a surprise when we turned the page.

The Animal Boogie...

Before playing the music, I quickly went through the book and showed the kids the movements we would be using for each animal. This one went over a little better than Tico Tango. It was fun and the kids were participating (except one older boy who was embarrassed) and it got the attention of the other customers in the store.

Emily's Tiger...

I thought this book would be hard to keep the kids engaged but thanks to my friend Liz, the kids were interested the entire book! What did Liz tell me? She reminded me that in each scene there was a lady bug. Once I told the kids that, they couldn't wait to point out the lady bug when I was finished reading each page. Besides searching for the lady bug, I really do think they enjoyed the book. I asked the kids what they thought was making Emily turn into a tiger and heard from them they think she turns into a tiger when she doesn't get her own way. I told them that when we don't get our own way, we get angry and then asked them how they calm themselves down when they get angry. They had a little bit of trouble answering this and when I suggested that taking deep breaths could help them calm down, I was quickly told that taking deep breaths doesn't work, LOL. I think I might have had a few tigers at storytime : )

The tiger puppet was a big hit with all the kids (even the older ones)! I pre-cut all the pieces and put numbers on the back of the pieces so putting it all together would go smoothly. I also used orange paper bags that I got at the craft store. Here are the instructions and template for the tiger puppet: http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/mbagtiger.htm and here are our puppets...

Stories and craft lasted for one hour. All in all, I was happy with how the storytime went and can't wait to do another one!

Pairing a craft with a book can be really fun. Plus, there are benefits to introducing your child to art. Art can develop a child's creativity, imagination, cognitive skills, problem-solving abilities, fine motor skills, and much more. It also helps build self esteem as the child takes pride in the works of art they create. I love Pinterest and I am always looking for crafts that would pair well with Barefoot Books. I recently came across a cute lion craft that would be perfect for preschoolers and pair well with How Loud is a Lion so I enlisted the help of my 6 yr old who loves crafts. I precut the felt pieces and if I was doing this craft for younger children, I would also prepaint the paper plate. Our first step was to paint the paper plate.

After letting the paint dry, we then glued on the yellow felt piece to the center of the plate and glued on the googly eyes. 

Then we glued on the black felt piece that was the nose and mouth. 

 

Our last step was to make cuts around the edge of the plate for the lion's mane. 

Our finished project!

This was very easy for my six year old, especially since I precut the felt pieces but he still had fun making it. I think younger children could do this with a little help from their parent. I know preschoolers love using scissors but have difficulty cutting anything other than straight lines so this is a great way to practice straight cuts with the scissors. If you can get a free paint stick from your local paint store, you could use some duct tape to attach it to the back of the plate and have yourself a lion puppet. Also, I think next time I will make the lion some ears. If you want the original instructions for this craft project, you can find it at http://www.preschoolcorner.com/Preschool_Art_Craft_Packages_Animals.html. 

As I said before, this would pair well with Barefoot Books How Loud is a Lion?. What do you think?

How Loud Is A Lion?

I recently read an article that talked about whether your kids will inherit your books. Basically, it was about whether you keep your books or if you buy e-books and what will your kids inherit. While I don't have an e-reader, I'm not totally against them. I see their value. It would be great to take on vacations and it's also convenient to carry in your purse to have when you are unexpectedly waiting in a long line for something. The article did make me think though. While I'm not buying a ton of e-books, I have never really thought about saving my books for my kids. Taking a look at my book shelf, there's not a whole lot on it that I would be proud to pass down. Sure there's some best sellers but most of them are paperbacks. I don't have any classics. Well, maybe some of those best sellers will become classics. I'm on a mission now to find some of the classics that I loved reading as a child and as an adult and to build a book shelf worthy to pass down to my kids. I think a visit to the used book store is in order. What would be on your list of books that you would want to pass down to your children? Leave a comment below and let me know. You might mention a book that I forgot about and would love to have : ) p.s. You can read the article I was talking about here: http://www.npr.org/2012/06/21/155360197/will-your-children-inherit-your-e-books

The Barefoot Book of Classic Poems is illustrated by Jackie Morris and is suitable for all ages.  I often get asked what the age range for our books is. I usually answer that I think that most of our books are suitable for grade 5 and below with the exception of a few books. This is one of them. I strongly believe that this book should be in every child's home, every adult's home, and every classroom. This book contains 74 classic and enduring poems in the English language. Each page is beautifully illustrated by Jackie Morris. As a watercolor artist, Jackie Morris creates dreamy and rich illustrations that really do spark a child's imagination. I am in love with her artwork and would recommend the book solely on the art. The poems in this collection trace our journey through life from birth to old age. They touch on topics such as childhood, animals, love, war, and the stages of life. You will see all the familiar poets such as E.E. Cummings, Edgar Allan Poe, Yeats, Lewis Carroll, William Blake, William Wordsworth, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, William Shakespeare, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Robert Frost, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson just to name a few! I highly recommend this as a perfect baby gift, graduation gift, end of the year teacher gift, and really any gift giving situation! This is a book that will be passed down from generation to generation.