Tuesday Storytime: Back to School

It really feels like fall today - the air is crisp and cool, the breeze is blowing, and the muggy haze of summer is melted away.

Smaller group, but fun as always.  One of our books (Go Home, Mrs. Beekman!) this week was a teeeeensy bit of a stretch for my group; it's a little long, and we have a lot of babies) but I did two really short ones to compensate, and I think everyone comported themselves quite well.


Go Home, Mrs. Beekman!
Ann Redisch Stampler, illustrated by Marsha Gray Carrington
ISBN: 9780525469339
Brightly colored busy scenery with colorful (but mainly white) students.

Emily does not want to go to school on her first day, so she extracts a promise from her mother to stay at school with her for a "million gazillion years" and keep Emily safely on her lap the whole time.  Mom gamely lives up to her promise even though after noon on the first day, parents aren't allowed.  This simply means Mrs. Beekman has to get creative, disguising herself as a coatrack, an oversized hat, a large green dog (a possible wink to the Emily with the big RED dog), a flying yellow bird (brought in on a helicopter) and a hula-hoop.

Emily, on the other hand, begins to realize that her promise wasn't too well-thought out after the end of the first day - she wants to start playing with her new school friends, and to do interesting new school things, but she's stuck on her mom's lap, as promised.  Emily spends a few days passively hoping that her mom will "forget" about the promise, but on the hula-hoop morning, she finally bites the bullet and informs mom kindly that her services aren't required any longer.

Clever mom, lovely progression of emotions for our little Emily, and a very longsuffering school teacher makes for a fun inversion story, which makes it a great pick, even if it's a touch on the long side.


The Bus for Us
Suzanne Bloom
ISBN: 0563979322
Hugely diverse city-kids build up at a bus-stop, waiting for a school bus while a progression of other interesting vehicles pass by.

I partly like this one for the totally non-textual diverse kids that build up - the actual words are really limited and repetitive "Is this the bus for us, Gus?" "No, Tess, this is a(n) X" - but the scenes are dynamic and filled with lively and varied kids and pedestrians and drivers, and a whole unstated story involving a dog, cat, and turtle.  Love showing it off to the kids, and the super-quick progression makes it perfect for my middle read.


 
llama llama misses mama
Anna Dewdney
ISBN: 9780670061983
Series books with a llama child and mother, this time dealing with new-school anxiety and separation.

I flat out love the llama llama series.  The facial and body expressions are just amazing, the rhymes are cute and fun to read without usually feeling labored or reached-for, and the issues are just spot-on.  All of them are good, and model excellent validation of feelings while still requiring appropriate behavior, within age-appropriate parameters.  In this one specifically, I like that they make a careful note that it's ok to feel sad or miss people, but that it is also ok to try to distract yourself from your sad feelings, and that sometimes the distraction can actually help you feel better.  Good "moral" for teaching kids how to self-regulate.

Next week is a holiday for me, and then after that I think we're going to read about mice.  I like mice.