StoryWalk

At our last spring storytime today I hosted a StoryWalk.
The original StoryWalk Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT.
I modified the idea for my use at my library.

We used Denise Fleming's fabulous

Our small small pond

In The Small, Small Pond.

After an abbreviated storytime inside, we walked around the pond outside while reading the 15 panels from the book, each one displayed on a blank lawn sign holder.

This entire project was extremely affordable -- I purchased two copies of the big book, had them laminated, purchased the blank lawn signs and lawn sign holders and mounted the pages of the book onto the signs. The beauty of displaying a StoryWalk this way is that we can re-used the signs to display a different book at a different StoryWalk in the future (I used double-sided tape which is very easy to remove from corrugated plastic). My attendees were thrilled with getting their kids outside and we had absolutely perfect weather. A success!


hover, shiver, wings quiver



sweep, swoop, swallows scoop



Perfect Partners

Sometimes I come across a book and flannel story that just go perfectly together.
Such is the case of this book-flannel combo.

What do you think???

I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean

by Kevin Sherry

... and the song "Octopus (Slippery Fish)" by Charlotte Diamond

from her CD titled 10 Carrot Diamond

... turned into a flannel!

Family Storytime : Children's Book Week Celebration

Happy Children's Book Week!

Today we had an extra special guest star visit storytime, local illustrator Mike Wohnoutka. Mike was kind enough to read two of his picture books, share drawing techniques with us, and had some kids help him create cool illustrations right at storytime.

Mike read :

Stay Close to Mama

and

Can't Sleep Without Sheep

Here are the cool illustrations he made just for us :

Thanks for visiting storytime, Mike!

Family Storytime : Birds Galore!

First off, I adore doing a bird-themed storytime. Why? Because I get to read one of my all-time favorite picture books ever ... Birds by Kevin Henkes illustrated by Laura Dronzek. This picture book has the best description of birds ever : "sometimes in winter a tree with one bird looks like a red leaf leftover". What a great depiction of a cardinal in winter. Hooray for Kevin Henkes!




In addition to the Henkes book, we also read the following :
Bring on the Birds  by Susan Stockdale
Birdsongs  by Betsy Franco
(and I included a CD with the songs of the birds in the book to play as I read and showed the illustrations)
Whose Chick are You?  by Nancy Tafuri

We also shared a flannel story of Charlotte Voake's
Tweedle-Dee-Dee
I love her take on the song "The green grass grew all around" -- plus, anytime I can sing at storytime makes me a happy camper.

Finally, we did the Rob Reid version of "Two Little Blackbirds" and I used my two raven finger puppets from Folkmanis. My favorite is ending with the two little blackbirds named Early and Late. Waiting around for "Late" to come back always puts the parents (and kids) in stitches.