Some Books Just Make You Smile - Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?

Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?
by Nancy White Carlstrom
illustrated by Bruce Degan
Laptime: toddler - early elementary
Story Circle: toddler - kindergarten

"I'll wear my pants, My pants that Dance, My pants that dance in the morning."
This charming line absolutely sold me on this book. This is the kind of book that sings out the author's joy of life. Jesse bear doesn't just wear his shirt of red and pants that dance, but he wears a rose in his toes and sand on his hand. Jesse wears his day joyfully until he ends it with, "Sleep in his eyes, And stars in the skies...". Nancy White Carlstrom's sweet story is joined by Bruce Degan's wonderful illustrations of Jessie the bear going throughout his day. A wonderful reminder of the simple joys of childhood and the love of family.

Some books just say, "Cuddle up and read me." Sometimes cuddling up and reading is enough. But here are a couple of activities that you can do with Jesse Bear, What will you wear.

Laptime:
Play the What will you wear? game when it is time to get dressed. It is a good way to practice colors and rhyming and sequencing.
Say your child's name instead of Jesse, such as:
Riley bear, Riley bear what will you wear?
My shirt of blue (now, what rhymes with blue?)
And my purple shoes, ( or a red canoe or just like you, etc)
That's what I'll wear in the morning.

Story Circle:
Write your own story using this A,A, B formula. Make sure that the first two lines rhyme and the last line repeats the thought. Use the prompt - What will you wear in the morning? Let each child contribute a page by writing or dictating their own rhyme and then draw a picture to illustrate their rhyme. When everyone's page is complete allow each child to read their page of the book. Laminate the pages and bind the book then put it in your library center for all of the kids to enjoy over and over. If you don't have a way to bind the book you can take it to Office Max or Kinkos and they will do it for a small fee.

Party Time - If You Give a Pig a Party

If You Give a Pig a Party
by Laura Numeroff
Illustrated by Felicia Bond
Laptime: toddler - early elementary
Story Circle: preschool - kindergarten

I love parties! There is always something to celebrate and a party with friends and balloons is a great celebration. In this darling companion story to If You Give a Pig a Pancake our friend the pig is back and this time she is throwing a party. Join the pig and her companion as they follow the party circuit from balloons to decorating to rounding up the party guests to a full blown sleep over complete with a pillow fight. Pay special attention to the hide and seek pages. Can you find all of pigs friends? Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond combine talents again to give us a fun and endearing story.

Laptime Activity
Invite friends over for a Friendship Party. Let the kids help decorate (don't forget the balloons). Read If You Give a Pig a Party. Play hide and seek. Build a blanket fort. If you're feeling brave turn it into a sleep over and have pancakes for breakfast. While the kids are eating read If You Give a Pig a Pancake to them.

Story Circle Activity
Have a class friendship party complete with cake, party hats and balloons. After the cake head out to the playground and play a game of hide and seek.
Before you begin the game be sure to explain the rules so that all of the class understands how to play the same way. Then go over the Absolutely Musts for Hide and Seek:

• You absolutely must treat each other with respect.
• If you are it, you absolutely must keep your eyes closed while counting.
• If you are hiding you absolutely must keep everyone's hiding place a secret.
• If you get found you absolutely must smile and have a good attitude.

Moose Madness – If You Give a Moose a Muffin

If You Give a Moose a Muffin
By Laura Numeroff
Illustrated by Felicia Bond
Laptime: Toddler – Kindergarten
Story Circle: Preschool – Early Elementary

We have had a very snowy winter, and because the mountains and hills around us are still covered in snow the moose have moved down into the valleys. Occasionally we get moose in our yard. They nonchalantly lope across the grass until they reach the forest behind the house and disappear. Not really much trouble at all. But we have friends who have had a moose haunt their front steps making it impossible to leave the house by the front door. I just hope that they don’t give that moose a muffin!

If You Give a Moose a Muffin is a darling story about an unexpected house guest - a moose. In this story a rather large and hungry moose comes to visit. The young boy wants to be a good host, so he offers the moose a muffin. The problem – “If you give a moose a muffin he’ll want some jam to go with it”, and one thing will lead to another until your house is overrun with moose mayhem including a colorful sock puppet production. But just look at that charming moose......... how could anyone refuse to give him a muffin?

Laptime and Story Circle Activities

Make Muffins – Here is a great Muffin recipe with the jam already baked inside!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup cooking oil

In a mixing bowl combine dry ingredients. In a liquid measuring cup combine the milk and the oil add the egg and beat with a fork until the egg is mixed in. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the liquid into the well. Stir just until moist ( there will be lumps). Spray a muffin pan with non-stick spray or grease each cup well. Fill each cup about 1/3 full with batter. Add 1 tsp of your favorite jam to each cup then cover the jam with more batter so that the cups are about 2/3 full.
Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Remove muffins from pan and allow to cool so that the jam doesn’t burn any mouths.
This recipe makes a dozen so if you have a larger class double the recipe.
Check out Tips for successful cooking in the classroom.

Make Sock Puppets
This is a great activity to recycle all of those single socks whose mates have been sucked into the black hole of your dryer.
You will need:

• One sock per child
• White glue
• Q tips
• Small paper plates
• Scissors
• Fabric scraps
• Googly eyes (optional)
• Yarn

1. Give each child a sock and a small plate with a little puddle of glue and a Q tip.
2. Explain that too much glue will make their puppet soggy.
3. Then have them practice using their Q tip to get a dab of glue and put that dab onto a dry area of the paper plate. That is how much glue they should use.
4. Next have the children put the sock on their hands so that the toe can be opened and shut like a mouth.
5. Talk about where the eyes should go, and the hair and the tongue.
6. Talk about what else they might want on their puppets. Will the puppet be an animal? A person? A monster?
7. Allow the children to be as creative as they would like with the materials to make their puppets.
8. To avoid frustration be there to help cut a shape or a hard piece of yarn but always encourage them to do most of it themselves.

When the puppets are complete and dry, put on a puppet show.

Ideas for puppet stages:

• Cut a hole out of the center of an old sheet and hang it with clothespins on a string strung across a corner of the room
• A big old box with a rectangle cut out makes a great stage for two people.
• The frame of an old TV set (the kind of TVs before flatscreens)

I hope that these activities are helpful. Add to the fun and tell us what you would do to help your children enjoy If You Give a Moose a Muffin.

Rattlebang - bang! - The Rattlebang Picnic

The Rattlebang Picnic
By Margaret Mahy
Illustrated by Steven Kellogg
Laptime: preschool - early elementary
Story Circle: preschool - early elementary

When the newly married McTavishes have to choose between "a wonderfully speedy car that never breaks down" and lots of children, they choose lots of children and a rattlebang car. Packed to overflowing with The McTavish family, including seven children, Granny McTavish and the family pets the rattlebang takes them on adventurous picnics to shark infested beaches and volcanic hot springs.
Steven Kellogg's colorful and imaginatively detailed illustrations take you along with the family on a picnic full of adventure. Join Margaret Mahy's McTavishes on their rattlebang journey and don't forget the pizza!


Laptime Activities

• Go to somewhere adventuresome and have a picnic.
• Make English Muffin Pizzas - Spoon spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce on an English Muffin. Top with cheese and your favorite pizza topping. Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese is bubbly or, if you want them done quickly, put the pizzas under the broiler but watch them carefully so they don't burn.

Story Circle Activities

• From the materials in your scrap box (see Ideas from Miss Kay) have the children design their own Rattlebangs.
• Once their Rattlebangs are finished have each child write or dictate where they would drive on a picnic adventure.

I Love Spiders! - The Very Busy Spider

The Very Busy Spider
by Eric Carle
Laptime: toddler - early elementary
Story Circle: toddler - early elementary



Shhhh! I'll tell you a secret, I don't really love spiders. But I do love spider webs. We have these great big barn spiders that spin the most beautiful webs on my front porch during the summer. They are true works of art. Eric Carle's busy spider works hard throughout the story even though various barnyard friends invite her to come and join them. On each page the spider diligently spins her web so that as the story moves her web grows. This is a tactile book. The spider web is raised as well at the wings of the fly and the spider's legs. As you share this book during your Laptime be sure and let your child feel each page. If you are reading this book for Story Circle, put the book out in your book corner or library center so that the children can take turns feeling the spider web.

Laptime Activities:

1. Take a walk and look for spiders and spider webs.
2. Capture a spider and put it in a jar for closer observation. Be sure to let it go later.
3. If you have dangerous spiders around your home, learn the difference between a helpful spider and a poisonous one. Look in books or on the internet for pictures and information about where the dangerous spiders like to live.

Story Circle Activities:

1. Check out this website for lesson plans for a spider unit.
2. Make a string spider web sculpture:

You will need:

• string or yarn
• white glue
• water
• plastic cup
• waxed paper
• pencils
• drawing paper
• newspaper
• paper clips

How to do it:

1. Cover the table with newspaper.
2. Mix 2 parts white glue with 1 part water in a plastic cups.
3. Cut drawing paper size pieces of wax paper - one for each child.
4. Give each child a piece of drawing paper and a pencil.
5. Draw a simple spider web. Be sure that it is not too complicated.
6. Cover the drawing with wax paper and secure with paper clips.
7. Soak the string or yarn in the glue mixture. Squeeze it out so it doesn't drip.
8. Lay the string over the outline until you have covered all of the lines of the drawing with string. It is alright if the string overlaps itself.
9. If you have to use another piece of string be sure that the ends overlap a piece that is already a part of the picture.
10. For a stronger sculpture double the strings.
11. Let the webs dry overnight and in the morning peel off the wax paper.
12. Your spider webs are ready to hang.
13. If a part of the web doesn't hold well, put it back on the wax paper and glue it with full strength white glue. Let dry completely.

For more fun Very Busy Spider activities visit The Official Eric Carle website.

More Mischevious Monkeys - Caps for Sale

Caps for Sale
by Esphyr Slobodkina
Laptime: preschool - early elementary
Storytime: preschool - early elementary

A comment on my post about the book Seven Spunky Monkeys suggested the book Caps for Sale as another fun read about monkeys. Caps for Sale was written by Esphyr Slobodkina in 1938 when it won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. It has been a children's classic ever since.
Caps for Sale is based on a folktale about a peddler who sold caps. He walked from town to town with his caps stacked on his head calling, "Caps! Caps for sale! Fifty cents a cap!". One afternoon he decided to stop under a tree for a nap. He leaned very carefully against the tree so he would not disturb the caps on his head. What he didn't know is that the tree is full of monkeys who each reach down and steal a cap. The peddler woke up and discovered that the tree was full of monkeys wearing caps! The peddler learned a monkey-see-monkey-do lesson.

This is a wonderful story to act out for a creative drama lesson. Here are some other activities that go along with Caps for Sale. If you have activity suggestions please leave a comment and share them.

Laptime Activities:

1. What can you balance on your head? The peddler balanced 17 caps. Find different things to balance on your head- bean bags, pillows, books, hats - and walk around the living room. See who can walk the farthest without the object falling off their head.
2. Mirror game: The monkeys copied everything that the peddler did. Stand facing each other one person will move and the other will follow their motions as if a mirror image.

Story Circle Activities:

1. Balancing Act: Have the class spread out around the room so they have space to move. As a group, pantomime putting the caps on your heads, one cap at a time - you'll have to stretch high to put on the red caps. Then carefully walk around the room pretending to balance 17 caps on your heads. What happens if they fall down? To add to the fun, put on some good walking music.
2. Monkey See Monkey Do: This is a Simon Says type of game. Choose one child to be the peddler (or the teacher may do this). Have the peddler stand facing the class. The rest of the class will be the monkeys. The peddler will do a motion - shake fist, point finger, clap hands, jump up and down, etc. - and say, "You monkeys you! You give me back my caps!" All of the monkeys should copy the peddler's motion. But if the peddler tricks the monkeys and just says while he is doing the motion, " Give me back my caps!" all of the monkeys should freeze. See how many monkeys the peddler can trick.

More Monkey Business - Monkeys in Love?

Seven Spunky Monkeys
written by Jackie French Koller
illustrated by Lynn Munsinger
Laptime: toddler - early elementary
Story Circle: preschool - kindergarten

I should have posted this book on Valentines Day. It is the perfect Valentines read, cute but not mushy. Seven monkey friends go out to spend a week together doing spunky monkey things but as the week goes on each monkey succumbs to love leaving one monkey less each day. The story comes full circle when the monkeys meet again at the park. But this time it's seven spunky monkeys, seven spunky spouses and 7 busy babies. Friends and families together having an
"ape-solutely awesome" time.
Once again Koller and Munsinger pair up to give us a cleverly illustrated and rhyming read.
Use it to teach the days of the week and basic math skills.

I hope that you will enjoy these activities and leave your own activity idea in the comments section.

Laptime Activities
1. Sing the days of the week to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
The-ese are the days of the week. Let me sing them again.

2. Read the book one time through just for enjoyment's sake. Read the book again and this time count the spunky monkeys on each page. When one monkey leaves count the monkeys that are left, using math words, "six monkeys take away one monkey equals how many monkeys? Let's count and see." Have your child point to each monkey on the page as they count.

Story Circle Activities
1. Sing the days of the week to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
The-ese are the days of the week. Let me sing them again.

2. Give each child 21 counting blocks or some other manipulative that they can use to count with (pretzels work well, just don't eat them until the activity is over). Start out by lining up 7 counting blocks - these are the spunky monkeys. As you read the story have the class take one spunky monkey away each time a monkey falls in love and leaves the group. Say, "Seven monkeys take away (minus) one monkey equals 6 monkeys. Let's count them." When you get to zero monkeys have the class make three groups of seven counting blocks - 7 spunky monkeys, 7 spunky spouses and 7 busy babies. Add "7 spunky monkeys plus 7 spunky spouses equals how many monkey? Let's count and see." Count the monkeys. Then add "14 monkey parents plus 7 busy babies equals how many monkeys? Let's count and see." Count the monkeys together. You can also use this to teach early multiplication.

Snowy Mystery - The Missing Mitten Mystery

The Missing Mitten Mystery
by Steven Kellogg
Laptime: preschool - early elementary
Story Circle: preschool - early elementary

Our weather today is almost identical to the weather in this darling story. There is enough snow on the ground for snowmen and snow forts and sledding but it is warming up and starting to rain. You can find all kinds of treasures when the snow starts to melt which is just what happens in The Missing Mitten Mystery.
After a long day of snowplay Annie discovers that she has lost her mitten. Since this is the fifth mitten that she has lost Annie and her dog, Oscar, decide that they had better backtrack and find it. As Annie retraces her steps you discover what a fun day she and her playmates had. Annie is also wonderfully creative as she imagines all of the places that her mitten could have ended up. Is the mitten now a hat for a baby eaglet? A sleeping bag for a mouse? Or maybe a seed for a mitten tree?
Author Illustrator, Steven Kellogg, combines beautiful watercolor illustrations with a story that keeps you guessing - which is the point of a mystery.

Laptime Activities

1. Put on your mittens and go outside and build a snowman. Don't forget to give him a mitten heart.
2. In the story Annie imagines planting a mitten tree and giving the mittens that she grows away to her family and friends. Donate mittens to a local clothing bank or school.

Story Circle Activities

1. Hide the Mitten - Choose one child to be Annie (or Oscar if they are a boy). Annie should leave the room or close her eyes. Hide a mitten somewhere in the classroom. When Annie begins to look for it have the class give hints by clapping slowly if Annie is far away from the mitten and quickly if Annie is closer. When Annie finds the mitten let her/him draw a name to be the next Annie.
2. Make a Mitten Tree - You will need: butcher paper, construction paper, scissors, Pencils for tracing, lace, yarn, buttons, fabric scraps, etc., glue, sticky tack. In the story Annie imagines a tree full of mittens. Draw an outline of a tree with branches on a large sheet of butcher paper. Give each child a sheet of brightly colored paper. Have the children place one hand on the paper and trace around it to get a mitten shape and then cut out the mittens. If you have younger children you may want to provide precut mittens. Provide lace, yarn, buttons fabric scraps - whatever you can think of to decorate the mittens. When the mittens are finished hang them on the tree with sticky tack so that the kids can take their mittens home later.

Sal Grows Up - One Morning in Maine

One Morning in Main
By Robert McCloskey
Laptime: preschool - early elementary
Story Circle: Kindergarten - early elementary

Remember little Sal toddling after her mother in Blueberries for Sal? In One Morning in Maine, Sal has grown up to be a big girl who has lost her first tooth. In my children's kindergarten and first grade classes there was always a Lost Tooth Chart. It was usually a big tooth on a bulletin board decorated with pictures of classmates who had lost a tooth; each big smile showing a gap in a different place. It was an honor to have your picture posted on the tooth. I always looked at the pictures with the bittersweet sense of wonder that our babies were growing up. The first lost tooth truly is a rite of passage from babyhood to being a big girl or boy.
In One Morning in Maine, Sal looses her tooth while digging for clams with her father. It disappears right into the mud. Sal shows what a grown up girl she is becoming in the way that she handles the disappointment of the lost tooth, the way that she cares for her little sister, and in the way that she imaginatively solves the problem of not being able to put the tooth under her pillow to get her secret wish. The illustrations in this Caldecott Honor Book give insight into life in Maine in 1952 and make you want to be there to enjoy the wind and the waves , the gulls and the clam chowder.

Laptime Activities

1. Start a Lost Tooth scrapbook. Fill it with gapped grins from various family members. Don't forget to include pictures of parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents when they lost their first teeth.
2. Make clam chowder for lunch. Have an ice cream cone for dessert.
   

Story Circle Activities

1. In the story Sal discusses with her father which animals have teeth and which ones don't. Make a large collage with one side covered in pictures of animals that have teeth and the other side covered in pictures of birds and animals that don't have teeth. You will need: Large sheet of butcher paper with a line drawn down the middle and the words - Teeth and No Teeth - written on each half. Pictures of animals, birds, fish, reptiles, etc., scissors, glue stick. Take some time before class to pull the pictures from magazines of different animals and birds. Try to find enough pictures with teeth and without so that your collage will have good balance and everyone will have a picture to cut out. Put all of the pictures out on a table and have each child cut around one picture. When all of the pictures have been cut out, put them in a basket. One at a time ask each child to pick a picture out of the basket and ask the class if it is has teeth or no teeth. Then rub glue stick on the back of the picture and have the child put it on the butcher paper on the correct side.
2. Clam Chowder for snack time. Buy a good canned version of clam chowder and heat it up in a crock pot. Spoon it into small hot/cold cups. Be sure and serve it with lots of crackers just in case some kids don't like the chowder.

Another McCloskey Favorite - Blueberries For Sal

Blueberries For Sal
By Robert McCloskey
Laptime:preschool - early elementary
Story Circle:preschool - early elementary

We have a few blueberry bushes in our back yard. After you plant the bush you have to wait a whole year before they will bear fruit and then you have to wait another year before there is enough fruit to even put on your cereal. So when I read about Little Sal and her mother picking blueberries on Blueberry Hill, it makes my mouth water. Imagine, a whole hill of blueberry bushes.
This Caldecott Honor book is one of Robert McCloskey's best loved books. It is the story of Little Sal and her mother who go blueberry picking on Blueberry Hill. Little Bear and his mother also go to Blueberry Hill to eat berries. Find out what happens when Little Sal and Little Bear have a mother mix-up.

I hope that you will enjoy these activities and leave your own activity idea in the comments section.

Laptime and Story Circle cooking activities
You're going to be hungry after you read this book and your mouth is going to be watering for blueberries. Of course you can be like Little Sal and gobble blueberries all by themselves or you can make blueberry pancakes or blueberry muffins. It's easy to find blueberries in the freezer section of your grocery store and they are often less expensive then buying them fresh. Here are two good and easy recipes. Be sure and check the sidebar for Tips for Successful Classroom Cooking.
Blueberry Pancakes
1 cup flour
1 Tbl sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk (plus a little more if needed)
As many blueberries as you can fit in a pancake.
In one mixing bowl stir together dry ingredients. In another bowl stir together wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just blended and slightly lumpy.
At this point you can stir the blueberries into the batter or add the blueberries to each individual pancake ( I like this way best because I can make sure that there are enough blueberries in every bite.)
Pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto a hot buttery griddle or frying pan. If you are adding the berries to each pancake, add them now. When the pancake turns bubbly and looks solid around the edges turn it over and and cook the other side.

Blueberry muffins
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin pan or line with cupcake liners.
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil
3/4 cup blueberries
In a mixing bowl combine dry ingredients. Make a well in the center. Combine egg, milk and oil and pour into well. Stir just until moist. Gently stir in the blueberries. Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full and sprinkle a little sugar on top of each muffin. Bake for 20 min. or until golden brown.

Of course if cooking is too time consuming make some toast and put blueberry jam on top.

Story Circle Activities

1. Blueberry Count: On page 8 and 9 there is a wonderful opportunity to do a little math. Give each child real blueberries or pretend blueberries (paper circles, marbles, playdough berries) and count the berries with Sal.
2. Bears! I live in bear country so I feel that I must tell my children that it's not a good idea to follow a great big mama bear. Follow up this book with a some books about real bears or check out this site to get some great bear info, http://www.bears.org/

I Love Ducks! - Make Way For Ducklings

I have posted a link, in the Fun Places to Visit section, to a wonderful article - Real Resolutions for Moms by Karen Ehman. Be sure and check it out.


Make Way For Ducklings
By Robert McCloskey
Laptime: preschool - early elementary
Story Circle: preschool - early elementary

I'm going to date myself. When I was a little girl I was a huge Captain Kangaroo fan. I first heard some of my favorite books read by the Captain. Make Way for Ducklings was one of them and I've been a huge fan of Robert McCloskey ever since. Make Way For Ducklings is about Mr. and Mrs. Mallard who are searching for the perfect place to raise their family. After their ducklings are born they decide to make the lagoon in the Public Garden their home. The trick for Mrs. Mallard is to maneuver the busy streets of Boston with her eight ducklings. Fortunately the Boston police force is on the job to help her out. Make Way For Ducklings won the Caldecott Medal in 1942 and is the official Children's Book of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In the Public Garden in Boston there is a statue of a mother duck and eight ducklings. McCloskey's charcoal drawings are charming. Each one of the ducklings reminds me of a child that I have known and I love the expressions of Michael the policeman.

I hope that you will enjoy these activities and leave your own activity idea in the comments section.

Laptime Activities
1.If you live in a place where there are lakes or ponds with ducks, take a duck walk and visit them. Don't forget the peanuts.
2.Visit the web: Visit the All About Birds site http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Mallard.html#sound
This site let's you listen to Mallard calls and tells you cool facts about these ducks.
Listen to the Mallard call and see if you can imitate it.

Story Circle Activities
Five Little Ducks Finger Play
5 little ducks went out to play (show 5 with your fingers)
Over the hills and far away (make an up and down hill motion with your hand)
When the mother duck said quack, quack, quack (make a duck bill with your hands for quacking)
4 little ducks came waddling back (either show 4 fingers or do a waddle wiggle)
Continue to count down until you say:
No little ducks came waddling back. But when the daddy duck said QUACK, QUACK, QUACK
5 little ducks came waddling back.
The mother and daddy parts are interchangeable

1. See the Laptime Activity #2 for a great website to learn about Mallards.
2. If you know someone who raises ducks, ask if they will bring one or two to your classroom. Another resource may be pet stores or the local zoo.

Let's eat! - The Seven Silly Eaters

The Seven Silly Eaters
by Mary Ann Hoberman
Illustrated by Marla Frazee
Laptime: preschool - early elementary
Story Circle: preschool - early elementary

As parents we all know the stress of trying to get our children to eat foods that they don't like or trying to coax them to try new foods. In The Seven Silly Eaters Mary Ann Hoberman captures family food frustrations in comic reality. The story starts with one little Peters baby who will drink only warm milk. Mrs. Peters indulges this whim with a smile. As each new child comes into the family Mrs. Peters realizes that she has seven silly eaters, each with their own favorite food: applesauce, fresh bread, fried eggs, oatmeal (with no lumps!), pink lemonade. She is run to a frazzle trying to keep up with the different food demands and finally, "Mrs. Peters was a wreck." The children decide to help their mother out by making her a special breakfast in bed, "A breakfast made of all the foods that keep them in such happy moods." The result is an episode of wonderfully chaotic cooking.
Mary Ann Hoberman is a critically acclaimed poet and author. This story is written in rhyme and the wonderful rhythms and expressive words make reading aloud effortless. Illustrator Marla Frazee captures the Peters family perfectly. Each child is as unique as their favorite food and Mr. and Mrs. Peters look like people that I would like to know living in a home that I would like to visit.
Though I put preschool - early elementary for the age range. I have successfully read this book to upper elementary kids.
I hope that you will enjoy these activities and leave your own activity idea in the comments section.

Laptime Activities:
1.Have a Peters Family Picnic - Plan a picnic and serve all of the Peters family's favorite foods:Milk, applesauce, Oatmeal (cookies), fresh bread, eggs (hard boiled), lemonade and finish with a "pink and plump and perfect cake".
2.Cook together - In the story Mrs. Peters did all of the cooking, but this is an important life skill for our children to learn. When children cook they learn reading skills - following a recipe, math skills - measuring and fractions, nutrition and how to follow directions. Don't forget to have them help in the set up and the clean up.

Story Circle Activities:
The laptime activities work in the classroom as well. Plan a Peters Family Picnic with your class. If you are allowed to cook in your classroom make some of the dishes with the children's help. If you are not allowed to cook you can buy everything that you need prepackaged.
Below are two recipes that work well in the classroom. See Fun Places to Visit in the sidebar for tips on cooking with children. Remember: Wash hands, Wash hands, Wash hands and use gloves if your school requires it.
Apple Sauce
1 small apple for each child
1 1/2 cups water for every 6 apples or use apple juice
Cinnamon and sugar to taste
Set up a table with vegetable peelers and the apples and one teacher to supervise. Send the children in small groups to the table. Meanwhile have the other children do other activities or play at different centers. When each child finishes their apple they may take the apple to another teacher who will core it and cut it and place it in a crock pot with the water or juice.
Cook the apples until tender then let each child mash the apples 3 times with a masher or until they have the consistency of apple sauce. Sprinkle with Cinnamon and sugar and serve.
If you start this first thing in the morning you should have applesauce with your afternoon snack.
Lemonade
You will need:
For every 4 lemons - dissolve 1/2 cup of sugar in 1/2 cup of hot water. So if you have a class of 12 children you will need 12 lemons, 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 1 1/2 cups of hot water.
1 large plastic pitcher
bowl for dissolving sugar in hot water
spoon for stirring
ice
Teacher prep: cut each lemon in half.
Allow each child to use a hand juicer and squeeze the juice from their lemon, then pour the juice through a strainer into a pitcher. When all of the lemons are juiced, add the hot sugar water and stir. Add approximately 4 - 6 cups cold water (start with 4 and taste to see if you need more). Add ice and stir to chill. Serve.

What's on Your Head? - The Hat

The Hat
by Jan Brett
Laptime: preschool - early elementary
Story Circle: preschool - early elementary

Hats are so much fun. When I was homeschooling my daughter we had to do dissection for high school biology. Whenever we had a dissection lab we would put on our dissecting hats - lovely straw hats with flowers around the brim. I don't know that it made us much smarter but it certainly made cutting up dead things more fun.
The Hat by Jan Brett features a favorite character, Hedgie the hedgehog. Hedgie's curiosity over a lost sock results in the sock getting stuck on his head making a very silly looking hat. Hedgie's farmyard friends tease him but Hedgie assures each of them that the hat will come in very handy when winter comes. Soon each animal is looking for a hat of their own. Check out the border of each page to discover where the hats are coming from. Once again Jan Brett's illustrations are so detailed that each page should be lingered over.

Laptime Activities:

1. Go on a walk and wear a hat.
2. Have fun hats for different activities: a play time hat, a storytime hat, a clean up time hat, a cooking hat, etc.
3. Look around the house and find things that are not normally worn as hats and turn them into hats - i.e. a colander, a newspaper, a small trashcan, a pair of pants.

Story Circle Activities:

1. Act out the story using your classroom dress ups. One child can play Lisa who hangs up the clothes. Another child can be Hedgie who gets the sock hat stuck. Then each one of the other children can play an animal who says teasing things to Hedgie such as - what is that silly thing on your head? Hedgie can answer using the comebacks from the book or anything else that will make the other animals want a hat. After the animals have left Hedgie they may each choose something from the dress ups to wear as a hat. When all of the animals have their hats Lisa will come out and scold them for taking her clothes. If you have extra room you can end the story with a game of tag: Lisa will chase the animals and when she tags them they have to put their hat away and sit down.
2. Find objects in the room that can be used as hats. Let the children be as imaginative as they would like. Then have a fashion show.

A Teddy Bear Story - Where's My Teddy

Where's My Teddy
by Jez Alborough
Laptime: toddler - early elementary
Story Circle: preschool - early elementary

A favorite stuffy is an important part of life for many young children. I remember many frantic searches for a lost teddy when my children were young and as a preschool teacher I know that naptime can be totally disrupted if a parent forgets to bring the special security blanket or stuffed animal. That is what makes Where's My Teddy so fun to read, because every child, parent and teacher can understand what poor Eddie is going through as he searches for his lost Teddy Bear.
Reading this book aloud to a group of children is loads of fun. The text is simple and rhyming. Through the illustrations the author conveys Eddie's panic as he frantically searches for his teddy and then the confusion when he finds, not his teddy, but a giant teddy. Then the chills build as Eddie wonders what creature could be looking for such a huge teddy bear.
We all love cases of mistaken identity.

Laptime Activities:

1. Play Hide the Teddy - Hide a favorite stuffy somewhere in the house and then let your child find it. If you have more than one child take turns being the hiders and the finders.
2. This is a fun story to act out. As the adult you can play the big bear and let your child play Eddie but then switch parts. Children love to pretend that they are bigger than they really are and it is so much fun be to be bigger than your mom.

Story Circle Activities:

1. Hey Eddie Where's Your Teddy? - This is a version of the hot and cold game. Choose a child to be Eddie and leave the room or cover their eyes. The rest of the class decides where to hide the teddy bear. When the bear is hidden, call Eddie back into the classroom by saying, "Hey, Eddie, where's your Teddy?". When Eddie begins the search have the class clap slowly if he/she is cold - not close to the hiding place - and faster the hotter or closer the child gets to finding the bear. When Eddie finds the Teddy he/she may choose the next person to be Eddie.
2. What is big and what is little? - Sit in a circle. The starting person names something that is big. The person sitting next to them then names something that is little - it must be the same type of thing that was named as big. For example if the teacher says an elephant is big then the next child must name an animal that is smaller than an elephant, if the teacher says that a skyscraper is big then the next child must name a building that is little compared to a skyscraper.

Winter Storytime - Owl Moon

Owl Moon
By Jane Yolen
Illustrated by John Schoenherr
Laptime: preschool - 3rd grade
Story Circle: preschool - 3rd grade

We have an owl that lives in the woods behind our house. Occasionally people hear its call. Unfortunately it discovered that our chickens make a delicious breakfast. But I still enjoy the thought that there is an owl in the woods.
In the book Owl Moon a father takes his child into the woods to go owling. The father calls to the owl, "Whoo, whoo, who, who, who, whoooooo" and they wait for the owl to answer back. The suspense builds as you wonder whether they will discover an owl or not. The relationship of trust between father and child is depicted simply and beautifully. The lessons of courage, strength, self discipline and appreciation of the world around are taught through the adventure of owling. I love Jane Yolen's word pictures and the Caldecott winning illustrations work together with her words in wonderful harmony.

Laptime Activities:

1. Go through the book and look at the illustrations. See if you can find the different forest creatures that the illustrator added. What page do you first see the owl's shadow?
2. Follow this book with a nonfiction book about owls. Make a list of what you learned.
3. Go outside and practice calling owls. Call them softly, call them loudly, call them with a high voice and with a low voice.

Story Circle Activities:

1. Paper bag owl puppets: You will need - one lunch size paper bag per child, crayons or markers, construction paper, scissors, glue sticks. Have the children cut 3 small triangles out of construction paper ( or if your preschoolers are younger, have the triangles precut). Lay the bag on the table upsidedown with the bottom of the bag on top and the folded flap facing out. The flap will be the owl's face and mouth. Glue two of the triangles on the top corners of the bag. Glue the other triangle upside down in the middle of the bottom of the flap. This will be the owl's beak. Use crayons or markers to draw large circle eyes on the face. Tear construction paper into small pieces and glue them to the body overlapping as mush as possible. These are the feathers. For younger preschoolers you may want to let them draw the feathers with markers.
2. Owl calling: Divide the class into two groups. Have one group stand at one end of the classroom and the other group stand at the opposite side. Group one can be the humans and group two, the owls. The teacher gives calling directions -i.e. call softly, call loudly, call with a high voice, call with a low voice. Group one calls first and then group two answers. The owl group could use their puppets at this time. As each group calls they take a step toward the center. When the groups meet in the middle it is time to switch and let group one be the owls and group two be the humans.

Christmas Storytime - Wake up, Dormouse, Santa Clause is here

Wake up, Dormouse, Santa Clause is Here
By Eleonore Schmid
Laptime preshcool - 2nd grade
Story Circle - preschool - 2nd grade

Gus the Dormouse always misses Santa's visit to the forest because he hibernates through the winter. This Christmas he doesn't want to miss Santa but how will he stay awake? Thanks to his friend the Owl, Gus gets his wish.
This book is illustrated with lovely watercolor and pencil pictures of the forest and the creatures who live there. It is a wonderful vehicle to prompt learning about the animals that live in the forest and about hibernation. A different view of Santa is presented here, which could prompt discussion of the ways that different cultures view Santa Clause.

Laptime and Story Circle Activity:
Talk about the different gifts of food that Santa brought to the animals. Which animals ate what treats? Have some of those treats for snack time.

Laptime Activity:
A good book to read before naptime or bedtime. After you read the story pretend to be Gus all curled up in his nest or in Santa's pocket falling...fast.....asleep.....

Story Circle Activities:

1. For older children - Break the class up into 5 groups and have each group learn about one of the animals from the story - dormouse, woodpecker, fox, squirrel, owl. Have them answer some basic questions: What does the animal eat? What part of the forest does the animal live in? Does this animal hibernate? You will have to do some research yourself to have appropriate books from the library and websites for the class to use. Have each group present their findings to the class.
2. Crayon resist water color forest pictures - You will need: newspaper to cover the tables, white sheets of drawing paper,dark color crayons, watercolor paints, paint brushes and smocks. Talk to the class about the way that the illustrator used watercolor paints and pencil for her pictures. Have the children draw a forest creature with a dark crayon, then paint over the picture with a watercolor wash (make your brush heavy with water but not dripping. Pull the brush a couple of times over the color of paint and apply to the paper, repeat until the entire paper is covered). The wax in the crayon will resist the paint and show the animal through the watercolor wash. Different colors of wash may be used for the sky, ground, and to fill in the body of the animal.

Snowy Favorite- Trouble With Trolls

We had our first snow of the season this week and so it is only appropriate that the first StoryTime post is a snowy story.

Trouble With Trolls
by Jan Brett.
Best for ages 4 - 9
In this wintry book Treva and her dog Tuffi plan a visit to the other side of the Mountain. On their way up the snowy mountainside they run into some very persistent Trolls who are in search of a new pet - namely Tuffi. Treva uses her wits to outsmart the Trolls and saves Tuffi in a wonderfully clever ending.
Jan Brett's Scandinavian style drawings are detailed and colorful. There is something interesting to look at on every part of the page - pay careful attention to the boarders. A real treat with this book is the Troll's underground home drawn at the bottom of each page. As you read you can see how the happenings below ground effect what is happening above ground. Because the illustrations are so fun to look at it is a perfect laptime book for any little one. Since the text is longer I would start at age 4 for preschool storytime.

Laptime Activities:

1. Read with your favorite dog (real or a stuffy) at your side. Our dogs like to sit on the couch with us.
2. Take a walk in the snow and look for Trolls.
3. Make Marshmallow Hedgehogs (oops, I forgot to tell you that there is a hedgehog in the story). Take a big marshmallow and poke stick pretzels all around. Use raisins or chocolate chips for eyes.
4. Cover a table with a blanket and make a Troll House.
5. Get out the dress ups and dress up like Trolls.

Story Circle Activities:

1. Act out the story using a stuffed dog, sweater, mittens, hat, boots, a pot, and skis (short cardboard skis work). Let the children play the characters and act out each page (a different group of children for each page) while the teacher acts as the narrator and reads the story. I have used this book for a creative drama lesson successfully with children in preschool through sixth grade. If you have dress ups in your class, dress up like trolls to add the fun.
2. Make Marshmallow Hedgehogs for snack (see Laptime activities)
3. Make a Troll house with blocks and legos.
4. Make a special Troll pet out of clay or playdough.