We are back at school! I really love summer, but I am excited for a new school year. This year, we are going to have lots of adventures in the library. After all, each book is really an adventure, right? We had fun by putting on safari/explorer hats and adding binoculars. What will we find… More READ IT, DON’T EAT IT! By Ian Schoenherr
This is always a big “crowd pleaser”, the children love this book. Most children love pizza, but did you know they might prefer to be made into one? We had just as much fun as Pete. We kneaded the dough: And stretched it this way and that: Hahahah, we did NOT whirl and twirl! But… More PETE’S A PIZZA by William Steig
This book was introduced to me by my “neighbor” at school, Miss Maker Space aka Miss Liz. It is so cute, colorful and funny – how could you not love it? The children certainly did! #makelearningfun! My personal favorite: After the story, we listened to this song. It is a wonderful song for the children… More THE VERY IMPATIENT CATERPILLAR by Ross Burach
WE’RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT by Micheal Rosen, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury The first video of the story above is from 3 years ago during Covid(filmed at my house)!! I have not read the story in person since the year before that! It is an absolute favorite. The children will ask about it the… More LET’S GO ON A BEAR HUNT!
We have a spring science table at our school. It is wonderful for hands on learning. The children can watch the caterpillars turn into butterflies, tadpoles turn into frogs, dig for worms, watch the ladybugs, and count the days until the baby chicks hatch. What a wonderful way to show the children the science and… More FIRST THE EGG by Laura Vacarro Seeger WAKE UP, IT’S SPRING! by Lisa Campbell Ernst
Spring is always an exciting time. Everywhere you look there is new growth, beautiful blooms, birds singing and frogs croaking. This book is funny and so well illustrated. The children love it. The perfect book to segue way into talking about spring, nests and eggs. We just put seven chicken eggs into our incubator too!… More THE BEST NEST by P.D. Eastman
Told and sung by The Good Fairy, Illustrated by Paul Brett Johnson There is a reason this is a classic. When you can take a story, and combine it with a song and movements, the children have no idea how much they are learning. It is just pure fun! We wondered what a Good would… More LITTLE BUNNY FOO FOO
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” ― Albert Einstein This book is a simple reminder that books can take us anywhere and teach us. I love thinking about the… More I LOVE MY LITTLE STORYBOOK by Anita Jeram
Reading from her favorite book Mother Goose and Friends by Ruth Sanderson Yes, Mother Goose rode her goose to school! Her Elf fairy snuck in her pocket and now is missing! Did he sneak into someone’s backpack and go home with them? Mother Goose lives in a tree. Beautiful isn’t it? The children “played” London… More MOTHER GOOSE IS BACK AGAIN!
It was pirate week in the library. Children love to be pirates, and I love to see them using their imaginations . How fun is it to imagine being a pirate on a pirate ship, and then going on a treasure hunt? It is even better with a sweet book like this one. Did someone… More “I’M BRAVE! I’M QUICK! I’M INDEPENDENT! AND I’M FUN! By Isaac Fitzgerald, illustrated Brigette Barrager
GREEN EGGS AND HAM by Dr. Seuss We had another really fun Dr. Seuss week! We had a parade on Monday with a large cake for Dr. Seuss: Tuesday was stripes and favorite hat day, Wednesday was “Wacky Wednesday”, Thursday “Green Eggs and Ham” day, and Friday was crazy socks day (Fox in Sox): The… More I DO NOT LIKE GREEN EGGS AND HAM. I DO NOT LIKE THEM, SAM-I-AM
“Caps! Caps for sale! Fifty cents a cap!” I love this book because it is full of teaching treasures. There is a reason that this book is a classic, not to mention it is fun! Vocabulary: what is a peddler? I also had a child ask me what “refreshed” meant. Money: How much is fifty… More CAPS FOR SALE by Esphyr Slobodkina
The library was filled with love, hearts and kindness this week: Children understand kindness, even the 2 year olds understand that it is not kind to laugh at someone like this: How can we be kind? What if all of our acts of kindnesses spread across the world? After the story we talked about how… More BE KIND by Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrated Jen Hill
You can never go wrong with a classic. I like to read the story first, because the recording can be a little scary for young children. Usually once we have talked about it, and acted it out (especially the wolf), it seems to diffuse the scariness of it. The children love being the wolf, and… More PROKOFIEV’S PETER AND THE WOLF Retold by Ian Beck
If you know me, you know I love The Three Billy Goats Gruff. I love it because the children love it. No matter what version I read (see two links below of the others), they are always entranced, and eager to act the story out. It is a simple story, and easy for them to… More THE THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF, retold by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen
We really enjoy learning about other cultures at our school. Learning about the Lunar New Year is especially fun . What better excuse to celebrate!? Red is a lucky color during the Lunar New Year. It is bright and festive and really makes our school come alive. It is also a wonderful time to talk… More MAISY’S CHINESE NEW YEAR by Lucy Cousins
Think back to the excitement of snow when you were a child! Did you sleep with your pajamas inside out? Or with a spoon under your pillow? All in the hopes that it would snow. I love this book because it captures the magic of a child’s excitement about snow, despite the world around saying… More SNOW by Uri Shulevitz
By Angela DiTerlizzi, illustrated by Lorena Alvarez “By framing low grades or mistakes as an opportunity to improve, instead of a final result, we provide ourselves and others with the confidence to continue learning — “yet” provides a path to the future.” -Carol Dweck I am a big fan of the Growth Mindset by Carol Dweck.… More THE MAGICAL YET
By Tara Lazar, illustrated by Ross MacDonald Detective Library showed up for this one: This book is brilliant! “As a Private I, I’m used to his type–numbers. They’re always stuck in a problem. But I knew this 7 fella. He was odd.” Yes, most of that goes right over the children’s head, but as an… More SEVEN ATE NINE
This is a beautifully illustrated and calming book. The children sang this song for the Christmas program, so they were excited to be able to sing along! I would like to jump into this picture and ice skate! Want to come with me? After the story we played with the nativity set: Projector image: Merry… More AWAY IN A MANGER, Illustrated by Thomas Kinkade
Look at Miss Library dancing as a ballerina…(totally not me, but I convinced at least a few of the children – hahahah): When I was a child, our family went to the Nutcracker every year. I did not know there was a story until I was much older, which is why I love this book.… More THE NUTCRACKER by Susanna Davidson, illustrated by Anna Luraschi
Just look at this cute little Stick Family… Another wonderful book by Julia Donaldson, with bright illustrations by Axel Scheffler. Wonderful rhyming, humor and heart, and fantastic vocabulary words make this book a winner. I like to stop and ask the children what happened to the snowman: When Stick Man ends up in the fireplace,… More STICK MAN by Julia Donaldson, Illustrated by Axel Scheffler
This is a silly and fun book for Thanksgiving. Another cumulative rhyming story, that repeats itself. This makes it easier for the children to remember it for retelling and is wonderful for language development. I like to point out the following illustration. The “Old Lady” is making her pie, but look at her cat. Ummm… More I KNOW AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A PIE by Alison Jackson, Illustrated by Judith Byron Schachner
It was raining in the library too: The text builds upon itself, and the children are always surprised when the flea bites the mouse and everything unfolds into pure fun: Retelling the story: “Snoring Granny”: Granny was “baking” a pumpkin pie: For my afternoon class we made “napping houses”, cut out the characters from the… More THE NAPPING HOUSE by Audrey Wood, Illustrated by Don Wood
This book seemed like the perfect choice for Halloween and the rest of the week. The book has a calming cadence to it, which is nice around Halloween time when children are either exhausted or so excited they can barely sit still. It also gave us a chance to talk about spiders. After the story,… More THE VERY BUSY SPIDER by Eric Carle
This book not only has wonderful rhymes, but the vocabulary is remarkable. I just love the amount of words in this book that a far from everyday words, but are used in perfect ease in this story. What a fantastic way to introduce children to new words. Our broom is looking pretty heavy…. Oh no….… More ROOM ON THE BROOM by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler
I use sounds from Spotify to add to this story. A fire alarm, the sound of a fire engine, the sound of a dog barking and the sound of glass breaking (when he uses his ax to break the window). It really seems to pull the children into the story. They especially love to follow… More FRED THE FIREFIGHTER by Felicity Brooks, Illustrated by Jo Litchfield
Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler, Illustrated by S.D. Schindler. The Teeny Tiny Woman by Paul Galdone. We watched this on the projector: We then read The Teeny-Tiny Woman (Just a teeny tiny bit scary). This story is an old English ghost story: Each child received a “teeny-tiny” bone – what will they do with them?… More Spooky, Scary, Skeletons and Bones….Skeleton Hiccups and The Teeny-Tiny Woman
A Caldecott Medal book from 1996. It seemed like a fun pick for “police week”. Safety tips… We decided to write up our own safety tips: We watched police cars on the projector: October smells: We made police officer badges, and solved a crime during my after school class: Another Beatrix approved book…. For ideas… More OFFICER BUCKLE AND GLORIA by Peggy Rathmann
By Roseanne Thong, Illustrated by John Parra This is a colorful book. Full of culture, Spanish vocabulary and shapes. Perfect for preschoolers, and fun for Hispanic Heritage Month. I like to play the Mexican Hat Dance song after ” Round are the trumpets that blare out a tune”. It is fun to imagine being there… More ROUND IS A TORTILLA: A Book of Shapes