Our school police officer came by and showed us his uniform and talked to us about his job. We found all of the above on his uniform. Our vocabulary word: We found our police officer’s patch! If we ever get lost, we can find a police officer to help us. They will find our family. … More Community Helper Month Continues with A Day with Police Officers by Jodie Shepherd
We are celebrating community helpers this month. This week we are thanking our firefighters. Our local firefighters came to our school to show us their truck and all of their equipment. You must be pretty brave to be a firefighter. Our vocabulary word. (We talked about some of the skills we are working on.) The … More FIRE SAFETY IN THE LIBRARY WITH FIREFIGHTERS by Katie Daynes, illustrated by Christyan Fox
October is spooky month. Everywhere we look we see spooky things. Even our hallway is becoming a little creepy. And guess what? The children love it! And they love this story. Is he seeing them or is it his imagination? Our vocabulary word: Who has not looked under the bed, in the closet or in … More CREEPY CARROTS FOR A CREEPY MONTH! By Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Peter Brown
It is hard not to read Jack and the Beanstalk when I have this in the library: Every year I think I’m going to take “Jack” down, but then the children start asking me about it. They love this story so much that I just can’t resist reading it again. So, I keep finding new … More MORE FEE, FI, FO, FUM FUN WITH JACK AND THE BEANSTALK by Kidsbooks
We have been celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month! A school wide celebration that included a fiesta and some taco eating for all of the families at our school. At our fiesta, the children broke the piñatas that they made in Maker Space. Parents also got to see all of the cute art projects the children created … More I WANT MORE! QUIERO MAS! By Angela Dominguez
Did you know that this past Tuesday was International Dot Day? We have been celebrating dots all week! And we have had so much fun with this book. I love this book for preschoolers. It has something for all ages, and of course the children love to participate in the story. For the younger children, … More PRESS HERE by Herve Tullet
When the children came into the library, we looked at a video of slugs (from the projector). Interesting that their eyes are at the very end of their top tentacles. I also showed them this snail. Take away the shell and it is basically a slug. (I don’t seem to have a nonfiction book with … More HOW TO TEACH A SLUG TO READ by Susan Pearson, illustrated by David Slonim
We are all so happy to be back to school. I thought this might be a fun story to read for the first week of school. Dinosaurs go to school?? I do like that he is reading a book. A dinosaur takes a lunch to school – just like we do. We wondered about these … More HOW DO DINOSAURS GO TO SCHOOL? By Jane Yolen, Illustrated by Mark Teague
Happy Mother’s Day! We have been celebrating all of the moms this week at school. What better story to read than this one — a beautiful reminder that love, care, and kindness make a mama – human or animal! To all the mamas of every kind… we celebrate you. 💕 Steven Kellogg’s illustration include other … More IS YOUR MAMA A LLAMA? By Deborah Guarino, illustrated by Steven Kellogg
The end of the year brings a special kind of chaos — high energy and excitement is in the air. This book seems like the perfect antidote: simple, gorgeous, and quietly calming amid all the buzz. We started this book by listening to this robin singing near the window. Even the older children liked to … More BIRDS by Kevin Henkes, illustrated by Laura Dronzek
It was Farm Week. Our chicks hatched for us on Monday – perfect timing. “Farmer Library” told the story this week. The Grumpy Morning? Another Grumpy book? (Last week we read Grumpy Monkey). What is going on? Oh – they are just hungry!? The children identified the farm animals they saw on each page. I … More The Grumpy Morning by Pamela Duncan Edwards, Illustrated by Darcia Labrosse
At this age, many children are still figuring out what “grumpy” really means. They can recognize the mood—they feel it, they see it—but they don’t always have the vocabulary or emotional awareness to name it in themselves. That’s what makes Jim such a lovable and relatable character. The children have no trouble spotting his grumpiness, … More GRUMPY MONKEY by Suzanne Lang, illustrated by Max Lang
We had fun reading this book this week. For the younger ones, we talked about or reviewed the colors. For my older ones I like to say the wrong color to see if they are listening – which they love. After I do it once, they really start paying attention and are thrilled when they … More BAD KITTY DOES NOT LIKE EASTER by Nick Bruel
Another Aesop fable! (If you are not familiar with Aesop, please see link at the end of the blog). This is a nice story to talk to preschoolers about the difference between the country and the city. I also liked this story because I could ask questions, and have the children really look and think. … More THE TOWN MOUSE AND THE COUNTRY MOUSE retold by Susanna Davidson, illustrated by Jacqueline East
Featuring Mother Goose and Friends by Ruth Sanderson. Mother Goose began by reading the story of Humpty Dumpty. She truly believed that once he fell, he was never put back together again… but she was wrong! In the end, Humpty was put back together—and that’s where this wonderful story begins. How Humpty Dumpty got back … More MOTHER GOOSE READS AFTER THE FALL by Dan Santat
We started our annual Dr. Seuss Week off with our parade — and the children always love it. It’s such a festive way to kick off the week. Dr. Seuss spirit fills the air! Every day has a different theme, which makes the week so much fun! The excitement really engages the children — and … More GREEN EGGS AND HAM…YUM! DR. SEUSS WEEK
The Three Little Pigs is one of my favorite stories to read to the children. This well-known tale helps them grow as early readers. The repeating text gives children confidence. They begin to anticipate the words, join in with the phrases, and quickly memorize key parts of the story. Before long, they aren’t just listening — … More THE THREE LITTLE PIGS by Mara Alperin, illustrated Ag Jatkowska
Jerry Pinkney is a Caldecott Award–winning author and illustrator, and his illustrations are stunning. His version of The Tortoise and the Hare is set in the desert, which allowed us to explore deserts and cacti. We also talked about the difference between a turtle and a tortoise, and a rabbit and a hare. I personally think we all … More THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE by Jerry Pinkney
Happy Lunar New Year! It is the year of the HORSE! We started our celebration at our preschool by taking a “flight to China”. We visited some famous sites and learned more about China. We also had a big parade to celebrate. The kindergarten class made this beautiful dragon, and the TK class made the … More THE TRUTH ABOUT DRAGONS by Julie Leung, Illustrated by Hanna Cha
Years ago, I installed this into the library. It is certainly looking a little worn, but the children still love it and want to know all about it. So of course, I had to find yet another version of Jack and the Beanstalk. This is my 6th version of the story! I love this story … More JACK AND THE BEANSTALK by Katie Daynes, illustrated by Paddy Mounter
I like to start this book asking about this picture. What season is it? How do you know? Do you see footprints in the snow? Who could they belong to? Is that a cave? Could a bear be sleeping in it? And then we can talk a little about hibernation. Our vocabulary word: It would … More BEAR SNORES ON by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman
Did you know that even a wordless book helps a preschooler learn? I love wordless books—there is something so satisfying about simply taking in beautiful illustrations. When we read wordless books with young children, they are still following a story, but they are creating it in their own minds. Some children already have the words … More THE SNOWMAN by Raymond Briggs
We continued to celebrate our community helpers this month by reading this book and learning about fire safety. Fireman Small saved the cat! We all put up our hands and shouted “hooray” too! This book has wonderful rhymes and repeats, so the children can say it with me. (They don’t need to know rhyming and … More FIREMAN SMALL by Wong Herbert Yee
We’re so lucky to have dear friends and family who help us navigate life when things go awry. We might talk about it, shout about it, remember it, laugh about it, hide from it, even think about throwing everything away or making someone else suffer. But often, what we really need is someone to simply … More THE RABBIT LISTENED by Cori Doerrfeld
We have been celebrating Mothers all week! Happy Mother’s Day! You know this illustration makes me happy. Is there any better way to spend time with your child? We identified the mommies and their babies. And of course all the wonderful things our mothers do with us and for us. Come on moms, let your … More I LOVE MY MOMMY BECAUSE… by Laurel Porter-Gaylord, illustrated Ashley Wolff
A growth mindset is the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication, effort, and learning, rather than being fixed traits, encouraging individuals to embrace challenges and learn from setbacks. Every once in a while, people give me books by friends or family. This is one of them, and look how cute it is. … More THE YET PET by Theresa Tan
In this version she is taking Brussels sprouts soup to her grandmother. Hahah. Of course, we needed to look at the rules of the woods. 1. Keep to the path 2. Don’t talk to wolves. Oh no! She forgot one of the rules. (Our children felt confident they would never forget that one). What a … More LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD, retold by Susanna Davidson, illustrated by Mike Gordon
This book is a 2018 Caldecot Medal winner. The illustrations are amazing. There are very few words in this book, and really none are needed. The children (even the 2 year olds) were all enthralled. (Notice the Little Red Riding Hood similarity). This reminds me of Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey. Who is more … More WOLF IN THE SNOW by Matthew Cordell
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
It is Hispanic Heritage Month! What is more fun than a well known bilingual fairytale? Our vocabulary word this week was lobo (wolf in Spanish): Flamenco dancers on the projector: During my afternoon classes, we looked at a few more Three Little Pigs books. We also acted out the story. We made wolf puppets: And … More LOS TRES CERDITOS/THE THREE LITTLE PIGS, adapted by Luz Oriheulo, illustrated by Maria Ruiz