Tuesday Storytime: Switching Gears to incoming baby siblings

New babies can be a fraught experience, and we've got several storytimers who are going through that process right now, so a small break from Halloween gives us some cute takes on new siblinghood.

The Baby Tree
Sophie Blackall
A cute compilation of all the different prominent American cultural myths about "where babies come from" from storks to cabbage patches to hospitals (vaguely) to the baby tree of the title and cover. At the end, the confusion is cleared up by a medically accurate but child-appropriate explanation of how the baby is made from a seed and an egg, and grows inside the mom until it's old enough to be born. Cute AND useful!

Baby Can
Eve Bunting, Maxie Chambers
Sibling rivalry starts early, and here we have an older sibling who is just a mite jealous of all the attention baby is getting for accomplishments that he can do just fine, but doesn't seem to get noticed or praised for! An attentive and complimentary (and distracting) family good-naturedly accomodate his need for attention in a positive and child-centered way, and by the end, the baby and brother are celebrating their successes together.

Bobo and the New Baby
Rebecca Minhsuan Huang
Bobo is an adorable dachshund, and he lives very happily with the Lees, until they bring home a baby. Suddenly everything Bobo wants must take second place to the baby - all the time! Despite that, Bobo is determined to be helpful and tries to kill a bee in the house, and initially gets yelled at, but when the Lees realize Bobo was trying to protect the baby, they formally introduce the two, and Bobo once more feels like an integral part of the family. (Hardcore echoes of Lady and the Tramp here, but that's probably because it's in the news with the new movie right now.)

Tuesday Storytime: More Creepy Fun

These were picked out by my coworker for a morning of spooky sillyness.

Click, Clack, Boo!
Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Betsy Lewin
The book sticks to the classic format, but here we're substituting creepy and silly halloween sounds into the mix. Funny and light.

Me and My Dragon: Scared of Halloween
David Biedrzycki
The irrepressible boy and his bright red pet dragon (who may or may not be imaginary) navigate the sometimes scary rituals and proceedings of a traditional American-style Halloween, and discover the fun behind the scary costumes and dark nights out.

Little Blue Truck's Halloween
Alice Schertle, illustrated by Jill McElmurry
A cute "lift-the-flap" book features Little Blue Truck and friends as they head into a cozy Halloween night. Very good for kids hesitant about the whole deal, or parents trying to navigate the line between religion and culture.

Tuesday Storytime: Pumpkin Time

It's October and that means Halloween! Getting into the spirit early with a trio of pumpkin-related stories.

Ten Orange Pumpkins
Stephen Savage
A fun, slightly spooky, counting book - watch out for the enormous spider towards the end!

Pumpkin Cat
Anne Mortimer
Cat and Mouse prepare all spring and summer for a pumpkin, and when it's finally grown in the fall, Mouse has a final surprise for Cat.

Boo! Haiku
Deanna Caswell, illustrated by Bob Shea
This "guess who" format is fun with the haiku rhythms, and the guesses aren't too hard, as long as the adults are willing to offer additional clues - even then "skeleton" was a bit over their heads. Overall tho, very satisfactory as a creepy fun call and response book.