Tuesday Storytime: Thanksgiving Week

A set of classic Thanksgiving reads this year:

In November
Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Jill Kastner
ISBN: 0152010769
A lovely segue between the natural world settling down into winter, and the social world congregating for thanksgiving celebrations. Very soothing and pretty.

We Share One World
Jane E Hoffelt, illustrated by Marty Husted
ISBN: 0970190786
A short rhyming-couplet poem follows children from countries around the world as they interact with nature in their differing environments. Super sweet message without being cloying.

Bear Says Thanks
Karma Wilson, illustrated by Jane Chapman
9781416958567
I love the Bear books, and this one is no exception. Bear is worried because he has nothing to share with his good friends on Thanksgiving, but all his friends remind him that he's special and loved just for himself, not for his food.

Tuesday Storytime: fall fun

Last week's storytime was given by my co-worker.


Autumn: Leaves Fall from the Trees
Lisa Bell, illustrated by Emily Brooks
ISBN: 1632902605 
Lovely poetic nonfiction uses lyrical text and gentle illustrations to showcase the notable features of the season, both natural and social.

Leaves
David Ezra Stein
ISBN: 9780399246364
Young Bear has a fun adventure out in a forest full of leaves until autumn comes, and he begins to worry about all of the falling leaves. He tries his best to fix them, and to keep an eye on them and the trees, but he is getting soooo sleeeepy! When he wakes in the spring, he's in for a reassuring surprise.

One Leaf, Two Leaves, Count With Me!
John Micklos Jr, illustrated by Clive McFarland
Peculiar art style livens up this counting book following a deciduous tree through the seasons as we count leaves coming in spring, and going away again in fall. Older readers might twig to the notion that there's way more than four leaves per tree (even in the illustrations) but the younger ones will dig the progression of the seasons.

Tuesday Storytime: Monstrous families

I also had Amanda Noll and Howard McWilliam's fantastic I Need My Monster cued up, but the crowd was predominantly littles, so it would have been too long. Highly recommended. 

I Am A Witch's Cat

Harriet Muncaster

ISBN: 9780062229144

Looooooove this book so much. The miniatures/dollhouse/collage illustrations are fantastic, the story is cute, and the premise is perfectly executed. Really excellent.

Go Away, Big Green Monster!

Ed Emberley

ISBN: 9780316236539

Classic cut-out reveal book. Simple, no nonsense, super fast, super fun for the kids to see how the monster grows and disappears. 

Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters a lullabye

Jane Yolen, illustrated by Kelly Murphy

ISBN: 9780763642013

Slow and very sedate, but a welcome change in tone from most upbeat or quirky halloween/monster books. This one is sweet and gentle, and ramps down smoothly from the end of a school day to the nearly endless rituals of bedtime. Sweet.

Tuesday Storytime: Creeping towards Halloween!

This storytime was also done (last minute I might add) by my co-worker.

10 Trick-or-Treaters
Janet Schulman, illustrated by Linda Davick
ISBN: 9780385736145
Small format book is just the right balance of creepy and anticipatory, with bright colors and cheerful thrills as we count down the numbers from a fun night out through to bedtime.

Minerva Louise at Halloween
Janet Morgan Stoeke
ISBN: 9780525421498
Minerva Louise is everyone's favorite slightly addled chicken, and this time around she's bringing her Amelia-Bedelia observations to Halloween night. Cute and sweet and extremely light-hearted.

Little Blue Truck's Halloween (lift-the-flap board book)
Alice Schertle, Jill McElmurry
ISBN: 9780544772533
The character of the Little Blue Truck is cute in his own right, with a series of short stories that are all adorable, but this lift the flap book brings the character and the whimsical Dick-and-Jane illustrations over for trick-or-treating, and it's a great fun little short trip.

Tuesday Storytime: Super-Animals!

These were picked out by my co-worker, they're super cute, and a fun way to highlight the general superhero craze!

Super Duck
Jez Alborough
ISBN: 9781933605890

Super Duck vs The Kite. I think the kite wins. Bonus points for very long-suffering friends who still manage to enforce boundaries on their super (excitable) friend.


What Goes Up
Paula Bowles
ISBN: 9781589251199
Martin is a big-boned dragon with very tiny wings, which means that he hasn't managed to fly yet. This makes him very sad, but the village children are on-board with all of his silly schemes to get him up in the air, and even add a stealth exercise regime of their own. When Martin finally goes airborne, it's surprisingly touching.


Arnold the Brave
Gundi Herget, illustrated by Nicolai Renger
ISBN: 9781441326508
Arnold is a Super Sheep, and he's ready and willing to defend his flock against the Big Bad Wolf, but even a Super Sheep needs a little sneaky help from a good friend. The spirit is willing, and gravity provides a big assist for this spunky sheep with a brave heart.

 

Tuesday Storytime: October is here! Spooky Storytimes FTW

Halloween time is here again! My favorite holiday of the year, with my favorite month of fun storytimes about monsters and witches and good Halloween fun.

This week we're seeing monsters in three different fun environments.

Monster Chefs
Brian and Liam Anderson
ISBN: 9781596438088
Four monster chefs are caught off-guard by the monster king's demand for something different to eat besides eyeballs and ketchup, and three of them fail miserably, but the fourth finds a pastry chef, and starts a monster culinary revolution!

Boo-La-La Witch Spa
Samantha Berger, illustrated by Isabel Roxas
ISBN: 9780803738867
Cute walkthru of spas and their services and experiences, all with a witchy gloss. Skipped some sections because we have very small attendees this time, but it's spread-based so it's easy to skip past bits at leisure.

Monsters Love School
Mike Austin
ISBN: 9780062286185
The first day of school is fun for all, even little monsters!

Tuesday Storytime: Bedtime!

Bedtime Storytimes are always fun. I hope someday to actually do a "sleepover" storytime at night with pajamas and stuffies!

I'm Not Sleepy!
Jane Chapman
ISBN: 9781561487653
Little Owl is NOT sleepy, but Grandma Owl is patient, kind, determined, and just a bit sneaky. Even through Grandma Owl is the one who eventually gets put to bed, Little Owl is the one who (finally) drops off to sleep.

How to Put Your Parents to Bed
Mylisa Larsen, illustrated by Babette Cole
ISBN: 9780062320643
I normally don't like this sort of sloppy watercolor/comic/squiggly line drawing sort of art style, but it fits the theme so perfectly that I couldn't resist. The full spread illustrating the sleepy parents' faces is PRICELESS.

Bedtime!
Christine Anderson, illustrated by Steven Salerno
ISBN: 0399240047
One of my favorites, and gets used in rotation regularly. Melanie is FAAR to busy to head to bed, but someone has to get ready for bed, and Mom decides Bart the dog is it. Bart gets a nice bath, a lovely ribbon (Melanie's lovely ribbon) gets into pajamas (Melanie's pajamas) and even gets the traditional big good night kiss from Daddy before Melanie twigs to the fact that she's missing out and starts hustling to get herself back into the schedule before she misses her bedtime story.