Tuesday Storytime: Fall Leaves

A last generic fall storytime before it's finally December and I feel obligated to move on to winter, despite whatever it's doing outside.

Fall Leaves: Colorful and Crunchy
Martha E. H. Rustad, illustrated by Amanda Enright
ISBN: 9780761385059
A really good junior nonfiction title with information about photosynthesis and plant growth and leaf formation. Illustrations are cartoony and clear and stylized in a slightly exaggerated manner. Interesting choice and a fun difference from the majority which use photographs. It has "chapters" of a few spreads each, which was a big hit for my little ones to be big enough to listen to a "chapter book."

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf
Lois Ehlert
ISBN: 0152661972
This book always surprises me that it is so narrative-heavy. The (unseen) narrator tells us all about her sugar maple tree and how it was grown and developed and nursery'ed, and talks about the colors of the leaves and the different types of trees and resulting leaf colors.

Fletcher and the Falling Leaves
Julia Rawlinson, illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke
ISBN: 9780061134012
Fletcher the fox kit is experiencing his first fall, and so he's worried when his favorite tree starts turning brown and then (oh horrors) losing it's leaves! He tries very hard to save them, but it's a lost cause. There's a beautiful surprise on the last pages of the now-winterized tree (love when books have just a smidge of glitter or fun printing tricks to them!) Amazingly evocative and sweet, and more than a bit sad, despite the happy ending.

Tuesday Storytime: Book Safety

Saving the ducks for next week when we have a daycare group descending upon us.

How to Read a Story
Kate Messner, illustrated by Mark Siegel
ISBN: 9781452112336
A boy and his blue dog journey through the process of storytelling/group reading.

This one came in new recently, and I set it aside because I knew it would work beautifully for a storytime with these other two that I've used several times before.  We have "Steps" (One through Ten, obviously) starting with "Step 1: Find a Story.  A good one.  It can have princesses and castles, if you like that sort of thing, or witches and trolls. (As long as they're not too scary.)" and ending with "Step 10: When the book is over, say, "The End."" Cute and a very simple guide to the process of reading, and how to make it entertaining to the audience.

Read It, Don't Eat It!
Ian Schoenherr
ISBN: 9780061724558
Various anthropomorphized animals illustrate what NOT to do to books.

Previously reviewed here.  Some of the advice goes over toddler heads, but the parents understand, and at this age, the parents are the ones who are really the target audience for this particular lecture anyway.

Book! Book! Book!
Deborah Bruss, Tiphanie Beeke
ISBN: 0439135257
The barnyard animals are bored and lonely when the kids go off to school, and head to the library for something to do.

Also previously reviewed here.  I like the slow build-up to the punchline with the various animal sounds, and that the librarian is a woman of color, and that there is a "stinger" at the end that always gets the adults to laugh.

Tuesday Storytime: "Love My Library" Month, Week 1

February is National "Love My Library" Month, so we're doing a whole month of Library and Book themed storytimes out here.

This first week, we're jumping in with three silly stories about book lovers.

The Girl Who Hated Books

Manjusha Pawagi, illustrated by Leanne Franson

ISBN: 1582700060

Meena has a rough life.  Her parents are book-crazy, and she's nearly drowning in a sea of the hated things.  Books on the table, books on the floors, books in piles in the doorways, books in chairs, even in the fridge!   Even in her own room - hundreds of the wretched things.  One day there's an awful crash, and the books go flying!  Out seep all of the myriad characters that Meena doesn't know (but most listeners will recognize) all stuck hanging out in Meena's house until she can read each of them safely back home into their own stories.  

Read It, Don't Eat It!

Ian Schoenherr

ISBN: 9780061724558

This delightful short rhyming romp has various over-excited animal children exhorting the reader to treat books correctly, with gleeful illustrations of what NOT to do contrasted with high-color pages with the enlarged white text prominently displayed.  Excellent advice, excellent attitude, excellent presentation.  All the stars.  

Book!  Book!  Book!

Deborah Bruss, illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke

ISBN: 0439135257

The barnyard gets into the fun here, as animals head into the library to request some reading materials, but sadly, the librarian is not multi-lingual, and each animal is sent home emptyhanded.  Until that is, the little red hen saves the day with an emphatic "book book book!" (bok, bok, bok) request, which satisfies everyone involved except the bullfrog, who claims that he already "read it, read it, read it" (ribbit).  Shut up - I like puns.