Some storytime leaders are committed to themes; some aren’t. I fall into the latter camp, for some of the reasons articulated by Kary Henry on the ALSC blog, and Lindsey Krabbenhoft at Jbrary (“Storytime themes vs. storytime flow”). However, sometimes a theme emerges naturally, which happened this week.
There was an unusually small group at storytime this week, all regulars, so it was actually nice and cozy. As usual, we started with our “Hello, Friends” song with sign language, and it’s so cool to see the toddlers signing along. We read four books this week, with song cube songs and the Little Mouse flannel board activity in between:
- Dancing Hands: a story of friendship in Filipino sign language, by Joanna Que and Charina Marquez, illustrated by Fran Alvarez, translated by Karen Llagas (a Schneider Family Honor Book)
- Song in the City by Daniel Bernstrom, illustrated by Jenin Mohammed
- I Can See Just Fine by Eric Barclay
- Mel Fell by Corey R. Tabor
All of these books, in their own way, are about ability. Perception and communication also emerge as themes.
Dancing Hands worked well because it has minimal text, but shows readers how to make the signs the girls in the story are making (signs are also illustrated on the endpapers!). Dancing Hands feels a lot like My Best Friend by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki, another favorite storytime book.
Song in the City is a little bit longer, but the illustrations are super bright – featuring that warm yellow from the cover – the text rhymes, and there are a lot of sound effects. This was definitely the book that the adults in the room loved best. We all paused in the middle to close or cover our eyes, as Emmalene helps Grandma Jean do in the book, to focus on what we could hear.
I would love I Can See Just Fine based on its title alone, but the execution is just perfect. A little girl named Paige has trouble seeing the board at school, reading her sheet music, and even identifying animals (she picks up a skunk and calls it a kitty). She is not excited to go to the eye doctor, or when they tell her she needs glasses, but when she stands in front of the huge array of frames to choose from on the wall, you can just feel her wonder and awe. She tries on lots of frames and chooses the right ones for her. I showed the group my own glasses, identifying the different parts (frames and lenses). I also shared with the group that the eye doctor is my favorite one to go to – they never give shots!
We wrapped up with Mel Fell, which is about confidence and ability in a different way: a baby kingfisher’s first flight/dive. The orientation of this book is unique (in the photo above, the spine is actually on top), and there’s a fun rotation required part of the way through the story. We see community members – other residents of Mel’s tree – attempt to help, but ultimately, Mel was right about their readiness to fly!
After stories, songs, and Little Mouse, we sang and signed “Goodbye, Friends.” Our craft wasn’t connected to the books, though I did mention that peeling and placing stickers is good fine motor practice. And, as a kid, how often do you get to use as many stickers as you want? (I’m lucky in that my predecessor spent years hoarding stickers from various sources, so we have an entire box to choose from.)
Next week, we’ll be hosting a group from The Family Center, reading Hugs from Pearl by Paul Schmid, and making valentines.
Those of us who do storytimes for little kids know that we shouldn’t expect them to sit quietly, hands folded in laps, listening ears on – not at all! The best storytimes I’ve attended or led incorporate movement, singing, and plenty of wiggling. (Directed movement is better than chaotic movement: one of the best tips I got when I was new to leading storytimes was that if things got rowdy, to sing “Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star” – with motions – because it’s soothing and works as a good reset. You can also sing any short rhyme three times: first regular, then loud, and finally very softly.)
Jenny Arch 