Lunar New Year and Valentine's Day

Normally I don't combine these two holidays, but next week I have my monthly presenter coming, so I decided to whip something together that combined both.

I started with singing "Can't Wait to Celebrate" by Jim Gill.

Then I launched into New Clothes for New Year's Day by Hyan-Ju Bae. I personally really like this story, but the kids at my story time weren't so into it. The girls liked the clothes and talking about it, one boy ran out of the room. Oh well.

He came back in time for the next part, which was a flannel board about how the Chinese zodiac came to be. I adapted a story from Jean Warren's Preschool Express called "Little Mouse's Big Trick." The kids got to put the animals up on the flannel as I read the story and called out the names. Then we talked about which animals we were and whether we felt like we were similar to the characteristics. Most were pretty happy, although one ox worried that it meant she would never be an artist. It helped her to know that I am also an ox, and I'm not a surgeon or a hairstylist. For this part, I was using the descriptions in the book Moonbeams, Dumplings and Dragonboats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities and Recipes by Nina Simonds.

Next we read Froggy's First Kiss by Jonathan London, which continued the kiss conversation from last week. After that book we got out the scarves and danced to "Skidamarink", which I sang and one child suggested I not sing again.

Finally, we wrapped up by reading Happy Valentine's Day Mouse! by Laura Joffe Numeroff. I had three kids, so the board book format worked in this situation. We also did one last fingerplay, which I got from the Take Your Child to the Library Day handout  where we put a scarf in our pocket, said the fingerplay and blew the scarf out of our hand as a kiss. This was the best thing I did all day for those kids.

Our craft was from that same handout. We did a heart-y mouse and then I had some pre-printed Valentines from DLTK crafts for them to color.

Groundhogs and Weather

Every Tuesday after school I do a program called Try-It Tuesday. I have various things that I do--mostly crafts or science experiments.  On Groundhog Day, I decided we should concentrate on the topic at hand.

I started by reading Groundhog Weather School by Joan Holub. My program is aimed at grades 2-5, and I mostly get second graders, so this went over pretty well.

Next, we made homemade barometers similar to the one at this link. https://www.sercc.com/education_files/barometer.pdf

This went okay. The kids didn't really understand what I was doing, and they were more interested in squabbling with each other ("Girls rule!" "No, boys rule!")

After this, we played a game with beanbags that I called "Groundhog Toss" which got some of the energy out. I put a basket on the floor at various distances and they had to get as many bean bags in as they could. We played this for about 15 minutes, then we switched to groundhog Bingo for fifteen minutes.

I don't know that I would repeat this program again. I've had other programs with this same group of kids that held their interest more.

Dinosaur Story Time

So clearly, I'm doing a great job at blogging this year. Most of my posts are linked from Goodreads. Well, here I go starting again.  Here's my thoughts about last week's story time, which was about dinosaurs. This disappointed a few children, as they expected me to talk about groundhogs. I had to explain to them that groundhogs weren't really going to work for our story time, in which I have a majority of 2-3 year olds.

I used the basic outline of the storytime for Take Your Child to the Library Day. I made the dinosaur feet and encouraged kids to put them on (few of them did.) I guess they found them to be troublesome, or just weren't in the mood. I was happy wearing them!

I read the four books mentioned in the outline

• Dinosaurumpus by Tony Mitton
• Dinosaur Roar! by Paul and Henrietta Strickland
• Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp by Carol Diggory Shields
• How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? by Jane Yolen

Overall, these were good choices, although Dinosaur Roar! and How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? were the most popular. Yolen's book led to a long discussion about goodnight kisses, and which ones were okay and which ones weren't.

We did the "If You're a Dinosaur" song mentioned in the outline, and we also did "We Are the Dinosaurs" by the Laurie Berkner Band and "The Dinosaurs are Coming" by Mr. Harley. The kids liked marching around. 

Our craft was an allosaurus hand puppet which I found premade in the back of the library in my supply closet. It was created before I got here, so I don't have a credit for it. Some children made their dinosaurs as scary as they could, while others just really enjoyed the gluing. Overall, I would say this is one of my more successful story times!

Review: In a World Just Right

In a World Just Right by Jen Brooks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book creeped me out a lot at the beginning, to the point where I almost put it down. A boy creates a separate world just so a girl would love him? I found that creepy, although I think high school me would have not had as many concerns. Anyway, Johnathan Aubrey has been able to build worlds since he was in a plane crash when he was ten. However, recent events have caused his "Kylie-loves-me" world and the real world to start colliding. Can he put everything back to normal?

I sat down and read the book in one day, so it definitely has the plot to keep you reading. I'm not 100% sure I understand the whole world-building thing (to explain why risks spoilers) but it was an interesting concept I haven't read about a billion times before. I'm not sure it will end up high in my list of favorites, but I'm definitely intrigued enough to see what else Jen Brooks can come up with.

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Review: Becoming Jinn

Becoming Jinn by Lori Goldstein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Azra gets the enviable ability to turn quite attractive when she turns 16. However, there is a downside--it now means that she is a full-fledged Jinn, and she is now bound to grant human wishes and lose some control over her life. In her struggle to come to turns with this, she reconnects with a neighbor (whose sister used to be her best friend) and also connects with a lifeguard at her job. Additionally, she gets lots of support from her mother and her mother's Zar, a group of women born around the same time who are her sisters. Azra has her own Zar, all daughters of her mother's Zar. Azra has to deal with a lot of extra things--her powers seem to be a bit more than the ordinary, and she's a bit impulsive.

I think this is a great book for the middle school set in the YA section. There's a little bit of heavier stuff, but it doesn't stray too far into drugs and sex. Fair warning: there is a bit of underage drinking (but it's not seen as a good thing) and some dating situations with kissing, but nothing too graphic.

I am definitely looking forward to the next one. A great read!

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Storytime: Winter Solstice and Christmas

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to blog more often about my storytimes. This is a professional one for me, and I also think it will be helpful for any of my patrons if they ever find or know about this blog.

So here goes:

Winter Solstice/Christmas storytime: All ages

Opening Song: "Can't Wait to Celebrate" from Jim Gill's Irrational Anthem



First Book: The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice by Wendy Pfeffer


(I read selections from this book. It's too long for the group that I have.)


Second song: "Jingle Bells" from Laurie Berkner's holiday album (complete with jingle bells for the kids to play with, which they kept through the next three items.)



Second Book: Christmas Parade  by Sandra Boynton


Third Song: "Jingle Bell Rock" from the Kidz Bop! Christmas album

Third Book: Hurry Up, Santa! by Megan Durand

Fourth Song: "Reindeer Pokey" (put your hooves/antlers/tail/red nose in)

Fourth Book: The Little Lost Reindeer by Gail Herman

Craft: Ornament kits (snowman, penguin, polar bear). The children could choose to make them as ornaments or glue them to paper and create a winter scene. I had a little of everything going on.

Overall, this story time went over well. The jingle bells were a big hit. I'm glad I cut the solstice book short, because it was definitely hard for my two three year olds to sit through. That's the hard part about the all ages storytime--if you have a mix of three year olds and six year olds, it's a delicate balance. I was pleased with it.

Review: The Octopus Scientists

The Octopus Scientists by Sy Montgomery
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think I would have enjoyed this book more had I read it before reading "The Soul of an Octopus." Montgomery's affection for these animals comes across so strongly in that book, and I didn't get quite the same feel in this one. It's not to say this book isn't excellent, or worthy of consideration. When I finished "Soul of an Octopus," I wanted to go out and find one and have its suckers on my arms, despite screaming at the touch of a stingray in aquariums before. I didn't have the same reaction here.
The pictures are gorgeous, although I would have appreciated captions on every photo. Still, it's a worthy entry in the "Scientists in the Field" series. If you're able, I would recommend the adult title over this one.

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