Preschool Story Time: Reading is Magic!

This past week was National Library Week so I decided to do a storytime on reading and books. It had some highs and lows. I think I am getting the hang of storytime, but I still have some kinks to work out. Just a note, we go back and forth on video or craft for storytime. For my next few weeks, I will probably be doing a video each time. The craft usually goes well, but I think the kids and parents want a video as it is less chaotic than gluesticks and paint. So here is how it went! 

Welcome/Motion: If you’re happy and you know it

You know…to get those wiggles out and introduce everyone. 

Book: “Dog Likes Books” by Louise Yates

The kids loved this one. This was great opportunity to talk about how books take us on adventures and into our imagination. I thought Dog was so adorable too. Definitely will do again. 

Song: “Five Little Monkeys Reading in the Bed”
Five little monkeys reading in the bed
One fell out and bumped their head
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, 
"Turn out the lights, it's time to go to bed!" 

Book: “The Old Woman Who Wanted to Read” by John Finch

No one could pay attention to this one. And to be honest, I only chose this one because I thought the whole working-on-the-farm thing as distraction would interest the kids. The illustrations were cute and had lots of farm animals, but man the kids did not care! 

Motion: “This is the Way We…” (Tune: Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush)

This is the way we go to the library, go to the library, go to the library. This is the way we go to the library, all through the day. (Repeat with “read the books”, “turn the page”)

Book: “Lola at the Library” by Anna McQuinn

I love this one! This gave me the perfect opportunity to discuss our policies and talk  about the library. The kids liked this one and even took turns telling me what books they like to look for. It was successful! 

Song: Love, love, love your books (Tune: Row, Row, Row Your Boat)

Love, love, love your books,
Read them everyday,
Keep them somewhere safe and clean,
Don’t let them run away. 

Closing: Video “Wild About Books”

The kids who were between the proper ages of storytime (3-5), were able to sit quietly and enjoy this video. Kids who were younger…no dice. This can sometimes be a problem as families enjoy bringing all their kids to storytime no matter their age, but the storytime really is only geared towards kids between 3 and 5 years old. So then I have little 2 year olds and sometimes infants, who cannot sit still for anything longer than 2 seconds creating havoc. Well it is leaving it as is OR enforcing some age rules. I’d rather leave as is so that families still feel welcome, but when it comes to personal space, the death stare is coming.

Georgia: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It’s gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie’s estranged father—an elusive European warlock—only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it’s her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

Hello from California my peeps! This past week my husband and I have been in the sunny state of California. We went to Los Angeles to start off the trip and loved it! I have a few friends there from high school and they showed us around town, took us hiking, and let us eat all the delicious food we could handle. We are now in San Diego for a friend's wedding and I finally have time to discuss my most recent read…Hex Hall. 

I read most of the book on my 6-hour flight from North Carolina to Los Angeles then finished the last few chapters in little breaks from all the touring. My first impression was that this book is a more girly, dramatic Harry Potter. I have no idea if that is a good thing or bad thing, but in many ways it works. This is of course the first one in yet another YA series. I just can't catch a break with these. They all have these cliffhangers and it just feels like I will never have closure. 

Back to the Harry Potter esque plot, Sophie knew that she was a witch from an early age, but has a mother who is a (and I'm just gonna come right out and use it) "muggle." Sophie's spells tend to go horribly awry and after a major fiasco at muggle high school prom, land her in a reform school for magical beings (Prodigium). There are all these cliques among the magical beings and of course spiffy uniforms, but instead of awesome classes where they learn about magic, they have pretty much the History of Magic and Gym. I guess since they are in a reform school, they do not deserve to learn more about magic. Totes the lamest of punishments.

There is one thing I like about this story as oppose to many others in the genre, which is that this novel recognizes that there is potential for many magical creatures in one continuous universe. You have faeries, werewolves/shapeshifters, vampires, and warlocks/witches. Besides say the Sookie Stackhouse series, many books in this genre tend to stick to just one of these races of fantastical beings, but Hawkins brings us all of them. I believe it worked well considering the reform school scenery. 

The reform school aspect I have to admit I loved. Many books tend to do a private, college preparatory school,  but this is one where it felt like juvenile hall rather than elitist snobbery. There was definitely cliques and elitist feelings among the multi-racial students of Hecate Hall (its nickname among students being Hex Hall), but everyone there was in trouble for something. All the creatures had secrets and were also a bit untamed.

On the level of relatability, I would give it a meh. Sophie being the new student, but also feeling like a freak among freaks can be relatable on many levels, but it just feels so over-the-top to me. This book is clearly for fun and excitement and would be a great series for the summer. I would recommend it for the YA collection of a library.

That's 10 down, 40 to go! I am 1/5 of the way there!

Preschool Storytime: Rain, Rain Go Away!

Hey guys! I know it has been awhile since I have discussed library stuff with you peeps, but it has been a crazy few weeks. I am hosting next book club and wanted to get ahead on the book. So NOW I am finally starting Georgia’s Hex Hall. 

I want to talk about my Preschool Storytime today, which went….meh. The theme I chose was to read and sing about rain and clouds. I thought it would be fun, but again it went meh. My kids were not at all focused and wanted to chat the entire time. I could not get them calm even after doing several songs and motions. Just not in the cards I guess? Well here was my plan for today’s storytime, but again kids were not into most of these. 

Welcome/Intro: Rain, Rain Go Away. (Child’s Name) wants to play today.
 *I actually loved this. I saw it on someone’s blog (blanking on it right now) and thought it would be great to have as an introduction to me and learn the kid’s names. I used a duck puppet and went around to each child. Then we all sang to that child to make them feel special. It went very well.

Book: “Rain Drop Plop” by Wendy Lewison 
*I loved this book and this was the one book that I could keep kids interested in. I did lots of counting with them on each page and it rhymed. The pictures were quite vibrant and fun, so I totally approve. 

Song: If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops, oh what a rain that would be! Standing outside with my mouth open wide, ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah. If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops, oh what a rain that would be!

*I thought the kids would love this song, but they kind of just stared at me as we sang. I did get at least one kid to do the ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah...tongue out and everything. I will have to scrap this one for the future.

Book: “Mr. Gumpy’s Motor Car” by John Burningham

*This book is a classic and I saw this on Storytime Katie's blog. She said it went very well with her group, but my group was just not in the mood. At this point, I should have just scrapped everything else and gone straight to the craft.

Felt Board: Itsy Bitsy Spider

*Luckily, the kids knew all the fingers so I did not have to explain that. What worked for me was that I did the feltboard once and then did the fingers with them. I felt this helped those children who perhaps did not grow up with these nursery rhymes. Our storytimes can be dynamic. Between stay-at-home moms, babysitters, and mentors helping families, we get a variety of children with very different backgrounds and experiences. 

Book: “Little Cloud” by Eric Carle

*I thought this one was going to be a hit. All the different shapes Little Cloud makes and connecting cloud shapes we see with the object Little Cloud turns into. Yet, no dice. The kids were almost beyond help. One child started to talk to the rest, while another kept saying how he didn't like the book. Oh well. I am still learning. 

Song/Motion: The Puddle Song (Row, Row, Row Your Boat)
Jump, jump, jump in puddles jumping all day long

Jumping’s what we do when we sing the Puddle Song.(Spinning and stomp)

*I had to do this one. Fortunately, the kids got tired out which was my secret plan (mwhahaha). In trying to keep the kids engaged, I asked them for further opinions, but apparently no one had anything additional to jumping or stomping. 

Craft: I used this craft to help the children connect to the Little Cloud book. I had the kids create their own cloud scene including rain. With blue card stock paper the kids can glue on cotton balls for clouds and pom poms for rain, or anything in between.  

Supplies:Blue cardstock paper, glue sticks, bowls of pom-poms and white cotton balls, dye cuts of colorful umbrellas, and markers. 

*This craft was a hit! The lone hit of the day. The kids got super creative with the pom-poms and cotton balls. So many colors were represented and one little girl attempted a scene from Mary Poppins. I had to make the one and most important rule...no cotton ball fuzzies on the glue sticks. I said very clearly and specifically that all glue must go on the paper and not on the object. This is because the glue sticks are literally the only ones we have and I couldn't have the kids destroying them with fuzzies. Thank goodness they listened and I had no problems with fuzzies. That all being said, I loved this craft and the kids did too. 

Talk to you peeps soon with hopefully a Reading Across America with YA soon.