Storytime Recap: New Books!

It may be a new season of storytime, but we started out with our old standard song, "Clap Everybody and Say Hello." We had a lot of new faces today, but everyone caught on to the song quickly. I chose to read only books from our new shelves today, which was a great reminder that while repetition is a great way for kids to learn, they also need to keep hearing new words and concepts to keep expanding their vocabularies.

I started everyone off with a nice action rhyme to wake everyone up.

Bend and stretch, (bend down) Reach for the stars (reach up) There goes Jupiter, (reach to the right) Here comes Mars. (reach to the left) Bend and stretch, (bend down) Reach for the sky. (reach up) Stand on tippy toes, (stand on toes) Oh-so-high! (reach up higher)

Then I shared our first story, Duck's Vacation by Gilad Soffer. We interrupt Duck on his vacation with each turn of the page. This interactive story breaks the fourth wall as poor, beleaguered Duck begs the reader not to turn the page.

Duck's bad luck at the beach was followed by a finger play rhyme where we all had bad luck with a fish.

One, two, three, four, five, (count to five on fingers) Once I caught a fish alive, (put hands together in front of you and sway them back and forth) Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, (continue counting on fingers) Then I let it go again. (spread hands in front of you)

Why did you let it go? (lift hands up in a shrug) Because it bit my finger so. (pretend to bite your finger) Ouch!

The next story we read was Wolfie the Bunny by Ame Dyckman. In a disaster waiting to happen a wolf cub is adopted by a family of bunnies, with only young Dot seeing the danger. However, when a bear threatens Wolfie, it is Dot who comes to his rescue. A winning combination of humor and sibling acceptance.

With Dot's catchphrase "He's going to eat us all up!" in mind, we stood up to do silly food action rhyme.

(Everybody wiggle) Jelly on a plate, jelly on a plate Wibble wobble, wibble wobble, Jelly on a plate.

(Everybody shake and jump) Biscuits in a tin, biscuits in a tin Shake them up, shake them up, Biscuits in a tin.

(Everybody hold out fingers and blow) Candles on a cake, candles on a cake Blow them out, blow them out, Candles on a cake

Our last story was So Cozy by Lerryn Korda, in which a sleepy dog just wants to curl up and sleep in his cozy bed, but keeps getting interrupted by other animals wanting to join him.

We finished up with one of my favorite funny songs. Five cows in the bed And the little one said, "Mooo-ve over, mooo-ve over." So they all mooo-ved over and one fell out.

Four cows in the bed And the little one said, "Mooo-ve over, mooo-ve over." So they all mooo-ved over and one fell out.

Three cows in the bed And the little one said, "Mooo-ve over, mooo-ve over." So they all mooo-ved over and one fell out.

Two cows in the bed And the little one said, "Mooo-ve over, mooo-ve over." So they all mooo-ved over and one fell out.

One cow in the bed And the little one said, "Heeheehee, all mine. Good night!"

Afterwards, we watched the animated movie based on the book Lucky Ducklings by Eva Moore. Then everyone received a duck stamp on their hand.

See you in two weeks.