This is a widely popular book with our students. It is brightly illustrated and funny. It seems to get their attention instantly. You know I love to make reading and learning fun – this book does that! Our vocabulary word. I also had a basket of leaves to show what rustling leaves sound like. (Sorry… More THE LEAF THIEF by Alice Hemming, illustrated by Nicola Slater
Last spring I attended a preschool education conference. A very talented and inspiring speaker, https://playtolearnpreschool.us, was giving away literacy sets from https://rallyfeltco.com, via numbers under our seats. How thrilled was I to win this!? You know it is one of my favorites. Retelling a story is so important for our emerging readers. I have not… More THE THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF by Mara Alperin, illustrated by Kate Pankhurst
In music class at our school, Miss Jennifer told me she likes to incorporate a German-Octoberfest theme. She plays polka music for her students. I thought it would be fun to do the same in the library! What better story than Grimm’s classic of Hansel and Gretel? (This James Marshall version makes it fun and… More HANSEL AND GRETEL by James Marshall
Jack and the Beanstalk, retold by Carol Ottolenghi, illustrated by Guy Porfirio As long as I have “Jack” still hanging down from the library ceiling, I have to read this story. The children love it. We have so much fun, stomping and acting out being the giant in the book. Five magic beans! Fee, fi,… More Jack and the Beanstalk Returns to the Library!
A classic fairy tale, originally written by Hans Christian Andersen. I love the illustrations in this book. It is also simple and easy for the children to follow. After the story we looked at a real pea. How did the princess feel this under twenty mattresses? Each child then got to see if they were… More THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA retold by Harriet Ziefert, illustrated by Emily Bolam
Earth Day was on Monday, but we know everyday should really be Earth Day, right? We celebrated our Earth all week long. How perfect that our chicks hatched this week too! This is our 7th year hatching chickens. It is truly such a wonder, and never gets old. The children have been so engaged -but… More OUR EARTH by Anne Rockwell
Miss Library’s Sister, Mother Goose is always happy to see all of the children! Each child jumped over a candlestick to get into the library (and took home this card so they could jump at home!): Mother Goose reminded the children how she gets around (on her goose of course) and where she lives(in this… More Mother Goose reading LITTLE LUMPTY by Miko Imai
It is Spring! Have you heard the birds? Have you seen any nests? It is a short week for us (conferences), so I thought this Mo Willems book would be perfect for the first week of spring. My favorite thing to do for this book is to have the children tell me the title of… More THERE IS A BIRD ON YOUR HEAD by Mo Williams
GREEN EGGS AND HAM by Dr. Seuss. We started our Dr. Seuss week with a wonderful parade. The Kindergarten class made a large birthday cake and Trufulla trees, and the TK class made a Dr. Seuss Hat (all made in maker space): Every year, I swear I am going to choose another book for the… More I DO SO LIKE GREEN EGGS AND HAM. THANK YOU! THANK YOU, SAM-I -AM
Happy Lunar New Year! The year of the DRAGON! The dragon represents power, strength, good luck and wisdom. I love learning and teaching about other cultures. The Lunar New Year is a fun one. The Lunar New Year is celebrated in many Asian cultures but this story takes us to China. They “sweep, mop and… More DRAGON DANCE by Joan Holub, illustrated by Benrei Huana
Another classic tale, this story is repetitive and easy for the children to remember. Wonderful for language, pre-literacy skills, brain development, creativity AND just fun! After the story we used this cute little set to retell the story (and they will stay in the library for the next few weeks for the children to continue… More THE THREE LITTLE PIGS by James Marshall
This book was a Caldecott Medal winner in 1964. There is a reason children still love this book. I love this book. It captures emotions and imagination so well. “Let the wild rumpus start”…best line ever. Personally, I think we all need a little more rumpus in our lives. 🙂 …and it was still hot!… More WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE by Maurice Sendak
Did you know that reading fiction to children develops empathy? You will find an article about this at the end of this blog. How do you not fall in love with this book? It is a 2011 Caldecott Medal winner. Beatrix has snuck into yet another book: Kindness! Our vocabulary word this week was “concern”:… More A SICK DAY FOR AMOS MCGEE, by Philip Stead, illustrated by Erin E. Stead
This classic fable is meant to show children the importance of work and helping others. Find these cute printable puppets for the story here: Before the story, each child received a character puppet to hold. They had to listen and hold up their character when they heard it in the story (a great exercise to… More THE LITTLE RED HEN by Paul Galdone
We celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at our preschool! It is really fun. This book weaves all of these Spanish words into the story seamlessly. The children can follow along easily: Instead off butting the troll of the bridge, in this story the biggest billy goat helps the troll. A sweet, nice twist on the story.… More THE THREE BILLY GOATS BUENOS by Susan Middleton Elya, Illustrated by Miguel Ordonez
I suppose as long as I have “Jack” trying to escape the “Giant” in the library, I will have to find another version of this story! But, it never fails to enthrall! So here we are again, just another version! 🙂 This version is retold by Mara Alperin, and illustrated by Mark Chambers. Look at… More JACK AND THE BEANSTALK…AGAIN!
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!
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
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
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 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
Illustrated by Gabhor Utomo. Yes, another Jack and the Beanstalk story. I still have a “Jack” “climbing down the beanstalk”, and the Giant looking down in the library. The children love it, they want to know everything. So of course I have to read Jack and the Beanstalk….again… but it is a different version than… More FEE, FI, FO, FUM…AGAIN!
By Laura Numeroff, Illustrated by Felicia Bond It is so fun to be back at school! B and I are both well rested after a wonderful summer and are ready to get back to the important business of reading to children! 🙂 It can be hard to get up early again and go to school…… More IF YOU TAKE A MOUSE TO SCHOOL
Mother Goose flew in on her big goose to fill in for her sister, Miss Library, this week. (Miss Library went to Hawaii to surf). Mother Goose introduced the children to some of her many geese: The illustrations in this book are so beautiful: So many good stories and rhymes! Mother Goose gave the children… More MOTHER GOOSE AND FRIENDS by Ruth Sanderson
By Janet Schulman, illustrated by Linda Davick Did you know that Beatrix and the Easter Bunny are best friends? The children were able to see the Easter Bunny (on the projector): It is fun to look for the hidden eggs in this story. Can you find the two hidden eggs on the following pages? Hahah… More 10 EASTER EGG HUNTERS – A HOLIDAY COUNTING BOOK
Here is a short movie of our week: I believe in imagination. I believe in creative play. Good thing the children love it. We always have so much fun acting out a story after we read it. We are very lucky to have a room across from the library that we can use for stories… More GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS by James Marshall
We had such a fun Dr. Seuss week. How do you not love these t-shirts all of the children received? We kicked everything off with a Dr. Seuss parade! We had “wear stripes and/or your hat day”, Wacky Wednesday, green eggs and ham day (wear green) and crazy socks day (Fox in Socks): We had… More “WHY FIT IN WHEN YOU WERE BORN TO STAND OUT!” -DR. SEUSS