Happy Earth Day/Week/Year! Because really Earth Day should be everyday right? I want to give a big shoutout to Eleanor who brought this book to my attention. The beautiful illustrations of our Earth, combined with the sweet emotions of compassion and love make this an ideal book for Earth Day. Especially during a time where … More BENEATH by Cori Doerrfeld
A simple fun Easter book. I had planned this book months ago, and surreptitiously it was the book I needed for B’s transition (to becoming the Easter Bunny). Just like Santa, we know The Easter Bunny needs help as well. There go the helper bunnies to our houses! Our vocabulary word: After we read the … More THE BERENSTAIN BEARS MEET THE EASTER BUNNY by Mike Berenstain
This week, we read another classic Hans Christian Andersen story. This book is a simplified version of the story. Older children can grasp some of the lessons from this book. These include not judging others by how they look. Also about self-acceptance and just treating others nicely, no matter what we look like or do. … More THE UGLY DUCKLING by Mara Alperin, illustrated by Sue Eastland
Bonjour! For French week, what better book than the classic Madeline? A Caldecott Honor Book from 1940! The rhymes are wonderful. The older children were thrilled to point them out to me. Notre Dame and The Luxembourg Gardens: I will give you once guess why the children rolled around laughing after I read this page. How our … More MADELINE by Ludwig Bemelmans
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
Miss Library’s sister was in town again this past week to share her rhymes and stories. She loves to show the children her home. And also how she gets around. She also read this book by Paul Galdone, featuring one of her rhymes, Three Little Kittens. Vocabulary word: Mother Goose, as usual, read this rhyme. … More Mother Goose Reads Rhymes and Stories!
We started our week with a rousing parade. The children built our big Dr. Seuss cake in Maker Space. What they didn’t know…was that Ms. Liz was going to jump out of it at the end… it was pretty fun. Watch a little of the parade here: We played this song: The Kindergarten and TK … More DR. SEUSS WEEK!
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
Love is in the air…or is it? Crankenstein does NOT like Valentine’s Day! Vocabulary word: The children find this story hilarious. Who doesn’t like Valentine’s Day? Friends are the best. I showed these two pictures to see how many noticed the difference. When they did notice, why do they look different? There was lots of … More A CRANKENSTEIN VALENTINE by Samantha Berger, illustrated by Dan Santat
Argh Mateys! “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere” – Einstein Pirate week was full of fun and imagination! Each child received a pirate patch from Captain Library. They then had to “walk the plank” (over the sharks) onto the “library ship”. The pirate ship was projected on the … More ON A PIRATE SHIP by Sarah Courtauld and Benji Davies
Retold by Susanna Davidson, Illustrated by Mike Gordon Queen Library here. This is a story about my great, great grandfather. In preschool, our job is to provide building blocks. One of these blocks is introducing the children to classic stories. They may not understand all of the lessons from these stories now. But if they … More THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES by Hans Christian Andersen
In a world of globalization, it is important that our children learn about other cultures. This week we celebrated Italy. The food, the historical sites, and the language. How fun! In the library, we read Pasta Pasta Lotsa Pasta. We looked at all the pastas from the book. Do you know them all? Do you … More PASTA PASTA LOTSA PASTA by Aimee Lucido, illustrations by Mavisu Demirag
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
The last week before Christmas break is always busy. Christmas concerts, parties and all sorts of activities. So I thought I would keep it simple and have some Pigeon fun! The children always have fun saying NO to the pigeon. Not to mention some good ole’ belly laughing! Our Vocabulary word: NO Pigeon! The Easter … More DON’T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE SLIEGH! By Mo Willems
This is an old Brothers Grimm story that highlights helping, giving and receiving. Our vocabulary word. What a great word, and to hear the children (at least try to) say it is priceless. Which shoes do you want? Elves! Giving AND receiving, both make us happy. Are the elves going to your house? On the … More THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER by Jim LaMarche … More THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER by Jim LaMarche
It is a simple theme this week. Thanksgiving, and remembering to give and say THANKS! My favorite page of this book: This colorful picture book has some wonderful rhymes (remember: rhyming is a building block of reading). Our vocabulary word – perfect for Thanksgiving! Beatrix has so many cousins: Lots of empathy. On the projector … More BEAR SAYS THANKS by Karma Wilson, Illustrated by Jane Chapman
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
There were ghosts in the library this week as we celebrated Halloween and The Day of the Dead. The Day of the Dead is celebrated mostly in Mexico. It honors loved ones who have passed away. The children loved this book. It is cute, colorful and just a little spooky. I think almost every child … More GUSTAVO THE SHY GHOST, by Flavia Z. Drago
We wrapped up our community helper month with a fire truck visit and a book to go with it. Our vocabulary word was handline. If you watch the video above, toward the end, you will see the firefighter showing us their handline. We talked about fire safety. Do we touch a hot flame of any … More A FIRE TRUCK’S DAY, by Lily Schell, Illustrated by Mike Byrne
Did you know I like monster books? Probably because the children do. This one is so cute and interactive, they loved it! You know Miss Library is not happy. This monster is eating the book! Yes B eats paper too – but not from a book. I especially like these next few pages because the … More THERE’S A MONSTER IN YOUR BOOK, by Tom Fletcher, illustrated by Greg Abbott
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
Look at this brightly colored and beautiful illustrated book. It brings art, music and culture together. Our vocabulary word: “You can always make something out of nothing” This book is based on a song: Here is the version of the song I played: We danced like Joseph might have danced at his nephew’s wedding (to … More JOSEPH HAD A LITTLE OVERCOAT by Simms Taback
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
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!
How could I not bring a real chicken into the library with this story? I had to explain what a light bulb means to most of the children (see page below). Our vocabulary word for this book was flock. Looks like fun to me! We colored and glued feathers on a chicken during my after … More CHICKEN STORY TIME by Sandy Asher, illustrated by Mark Fearing
We are so happy to be back! 🙂 Children love the “misbehaving” David. Probably because we can all relate to him! 🙂 Our vocabulary word for this book is tardy. How do we know this is the library? What will David do now? Will he play nicely with his friends? I love David Shannon. On … More DAVID GOES TO SCHOOL by David Shannon
The end of the year always comes upon us, fast and furious. And as always I am ready, but not ready. I am never ready to let go of the students leaving. This week I thought we would just have some plain old simple bubble fun! Parents, don’t be mad at me, but I did … More BUBBLES, BUBBLES EVERYWHERE by Dwight Kuhn and Melvin Berger
A few months ago, I asked my director if she would consider “flying” the children at our school to Paris, because I had this cute book about Paris that I wanted to read. (When she she taught, she would usually take a “trip” somewhere with her children). She said yes! In my mind I had … More EVERYBODY BONJOURS by Leslie Kimmelman, illustrated by Sarah McMenemy
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