Tuesday Storytime: Fun Clothes

It's getting to be VERY SLIGHTLY cooler weather, which means a lot of outfit changes and fraught clothing decisions to be made, so a storytime about all sorts of clothing conundrums is a fun take on the topic.

Ella Sarah Gets Dressed
Margaret Chodos-Irvine
Ella Sarah wants to wear a VERY SPECIFIC set of clothing, that, to be completely honest, is just totally over the top. Her family takes it in turn to suggest alternatives, but Ella Sarah remains insistent on her chosen outfit, which ends up working perfectly for her afternoon plans.

A Hat for Minerva Louise
Janet Morgan Stoeke
This series of books almost makes me like chickens. This time around, Minerva Louise is enjoying the winter weather, but it IS a little cold out. A hat would make it much more bearable to go exploring outside, but she keeps having troubles finding one that works out. Kids love identifying the various items, and parents enjoy that their kids can yell out stuff about the book without having to "shush" them.

Have You Seen My New Blue Socks?
Eve Bunting, Sergio Ruzzier
A cute little green duck(ling?) is wandering around pathetically looking for his new blue socks in this nearly-offensively rhyming story that thankfully is over before the rhyme scheme drives anyone utterly mad. There's a quite obvious twist ending, and other than the rhyming, it's sweet and cute and a familiar scenario to anyone with a toddler (or frankly anyone with too much on their mind or a forgetful nature).

Tuesday Storytime: Scaly Shenanigans

A fun trio of books featuring alligators, dragons, and dinosaurs, selected by my coworker.

Gator Dad
Brian Lies
Celebrates an anthropomorphic gator dad and his kids having a delightful summery "do nothing" sort of day, where somehow an awful lot of things get done, and memories get made. Really suprisingly sweet and innocent and wholesome-hearted.

Me and My Dragon
David Biedrzycki
A boy and his dragon go to the beach, where lots of things get all messed up, and of course it is always the dragon's fault. The shame-faced dragon reforms when things go a little bit too far, and peace is restored... or is it?

If You Happen to Have a Dinosaur
Linda Bailey, illustrated by Colin Jack
This is a very helpful how-to book on what you can do to keep your particular type of dragon happy and employed, or at least occupied, in a manner that suits both the dragon and you. There are dragons that like to blow leaves around, and ones who love to vaccuum, and ones who will scare away the neighborhood bullies, or conveniently eat your homework for you! Cute and tongue firmly in cheek.

Tuesday Storytime: Jungle Fun

Last week's storytime was a lot of fun as we interactively explored the jungle, and learned about friendship and conservation along the way.

The Rain Forest (Scholastic "First Discovery Book")
Gallimard Jeunesse, and Rene Mettler, illustrated by Rene Mettler
This transparency-flip book lets kids see scenes of the jungle from one viewpoint, and then reveals all the hidden mysterious creatures and life in the scene that may not have been obvious at first glance. It is a bit small, but we had mostly younger children, so they crowded around and we spent a lot of time examining all of the wonders of the rain forest.

What's in the Jungle? (lift the flap board book)
Renee Jablow, illustrated by Rosario Valderrama
A cute simple book with rhyming sets giving clues to what animals is hiding behind the flaps, easy enough for the youngest kids to guess. Very VERY short.

Explorers of the Wild
Cale Atkinson
A boy and a bear cub share a parallel story of solo exploration in a magical forest and mountain, until they encounter each other and after a brief moment of fear, realize what they have in common, and use their bravery and friendship to go further and explore more deeply than they ever did before. Very cute and I love the faux cartoon-rustic art style. 

Tuesday Storytime: Funny Animals

This storytime was compiled and given by a different co-worker, as both of us were on vacation at the same time! Cute and good books tho, very well chosen.

One, Two, Cockatoo!
Sarah Garson
Essentially a counting and tongue-twister book, it's a silly romp through an idealized jungle canopy where cockatoos (and eventually other animals) all get involved in counting and dancing and frolicking around being generally silly.

Llama llama mess, mess, mess
An Anna Dewdney book (by Reed Duncan (her former spouse?) and illustrated by JT Morrow)
The shine is a bit off of this continuing series, but it still manages to be sprightly and cute, and handle child-level concerns and thought-patterns quite well. This time around, Llama llama sees what happens when no-one cleans up, and he doesn't like the chaos as much as he thought he would. Maybe a BIT of cleaning might be ok?

Kiss Goodnight
Amy Hest, illustrated by Anita Jeram
Always a sweet ending book. Sam gets all the standard bedtime rituals, but he's still waiting! For the most important part of bedtime, of course.