Sarah and I were thrilled to present at the latest Public Library Association (PLA) conference (held near our libraries – in Columbus, Ohio!) a few weeks ago. Our presentation, Babytime Boredom: Building Culturally Responsive Programming for Ages 0-3, had nearly 450 (!!) people attend.
Plus, some awesome ALSC Bloggers talked about our presentation:
This presentation really highlighted a lot of the amazing work that Sarah has done at OSU’s Schoenbaum Family Center, with me highlighting ways to apply those concepts in a public library setting.
We wanted to continue to share the content that we created for this presentation – even for folks who couldn’t attend PLA. Find all of those resources below!
Storytime music is such a tricky thing – I want a song that is about 1.5-2 minutes long with clear actions and a great tune that has a good pace but isn’t so fast that a group of toddlers can’t keep up. (And let’s be honest, I also need to be able to keep up. I can’t jump, clap, and stomp at the speed I used to.)
After working on ALSC Notable Recordings for a few years, I was inspired to write this post about diversifying your storytime playlist. I can fall into a pattern with a few favorite storytime artists – Jim Gill, Caspar Babypants, and Laurie Berkner I’m looking at you. It’s always good to remind ourselves what amazing artists are out there, many of whom come from often underrepresented backgrounds or communities. Looking beyond those “traditional” storytime artists can broaden your storytime repertoire, introduce your families to new artists, and make your storytimes more welcoming and engaging for all.
I’m working on a few presentations on storytime musicians, and I thought I’d share that work here too. As I settle into management, I don’t present storytimes as much as I used to. I know there are amazing presenters and songs not included in this list. Please share in the comments! I’d love to add your favorite folks too.
Diversify Your Storytime Music: Children’s Musicians
Artists names link to their website. A link to their YouTube channel is also included. Underneath their name, find some of my favorite storytime songs.
123 Andres | YouTube Count with Me Feelings Song Hola, Amigo – Hello Friend Shapes are Everywhere
Desmond Dennis | YouTube Baby Shark BINGO Was His Name-O If You’re Happy and You Know It Itsy Bitsy Spider Old MacDonald Had a Farm Teddy Bear Wheels on the Bus
Ella Jenkins | YouTube Head and Shoulder Hickory Dickory Dock Play Your Instruments Stop and Go Teddy Bear You’ll Sing a Song and I’ll Sing a Song …and more!
Ginalina | YouTube Alligator Stew Gonna Get a Kiss The Life Cycle (Hop, Hop, Hop)
Jazzy Ash | YouTube Baby Loves Beignets Bubbles Leap Frog Li’l Liza Jane The Shimmies Teddy Bear
Jay Laga’aia | YouTube B-I-N-G-O Grand Old Duke of York Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes Open, Shut Them Row, Row, Row Your Boat Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear Wheels on the Bus
José-Luis Orozco | YouTube Apples and Bananas / Platanos y Manzanas Buenos Dias / Good Morning Clap, Stomp, Tralala Old Macdonald / Juancho Pancho Popcorn Up High Down Low
Kymberly Stewart | YouTube Autumn Leaves Are Falling I Am a Robot Down Down Up Up Little Hip Hop Bunnies My Rhythm Sticks Rock and Roll with You Timmy the Turtle
I don’t program quite as much as I used to (and particularly not as much as I did during work-from-home pandemic times!). Stepping into management has meant stepping back from day-to-day programming. Most of my programming is filling in when my team are off.
I still enjoy programming, but since presenting programs is now adjacent to my job rather than its primary function, when I do program, I find myself repeating or reimagining programs I’ve done before. One of my favorite programs from both my current and last library has been a Pint-Sized Paint Party.
Pint-Sized Paint Party Logistics
Program Length: 45 minutes – 1 hour
Ages: 6 months – 5 years
Structure: station-based drop-in
5-8 stations spread out in a large programming room
Tarps on the floor under potentially messy areas
Mixture of clean and messy stations, though everything is non-toxic and washable
Prep: Decent amount of pre-program prep but almost all tasks can be done by volunteers (freezing paint cubes, opening paint bottles, stuffing bags, securing tarps to floor)
Pint-Sized Paint Party Stations
Paint-in-a-Bag Activities (Clean)
Participants could choose from a selection of 3 contained paint activities:
Bubble Wrap Pack (5 x 7 clear bubble wrap envelope with cardstock inside)
LOVE Canvas Bag (9 x 12 canvas with the letters LOVE taped in painter’s tape, all in a large freezer gallon-sized ziploc bag) Inspired by Eat Teach Laugh Craft.
Shaker (circular food container with piece of white cardstock and ping-pong ball inside)
Participants brought their selection to staff or teen volunteers who added drips of up to 3 colors of paint before taping the item shut with packing tape.
Families took their creations home with them to dry – though the LOVE canvases most resembled a long-term keepsake.
Ice Cube Painting (Messy)
Kids selected a frozen paint cube to color on cardstock as the paint melted.
I’ve read blog posts about folks successfully doing this with water and food coloring, but I’ve never got this to work well (the water melts, but it remains clear on paper).
Instead, I froze Crayola Washable Paint in ice cube trays with half-popsicle-sticks inside each cube. (And plenty of written and verbal warnings to caregivers that those cubes are all paint.)
The timing can be mildly tricky – the cubes should come out of the ice cube trays within a few minutes of coming out of the freezer. They can sit in a different container until they are used, but if you leave the melting cubes in the ice cube trays, they will start to stick to the tray and collapse.
Of course, you don’t want to take them out of the freezer too early, or they will melt before a kid can use them.
If you take them out too close to painting, they won’t have melted enough and kids will grow frustrated that nothing is happening.
While that sounds complicated – it really isn’t too bad in practice. Kids liked touching and manipulating the paint with their hands, and the frozen-style kept the mess pretty contained.
Kids pushed, poked, and explored freezer Ziploc bags with paint inside. They experimented with mixing colors.
Bags were securely taped to a wall or large moveable dry-erase board.
Dot Markers (Clean-ish)
Not quite paint, but close! Kids used dot markers to color pre-printed coloring pages or to make their own creations.
Art Crawl (Messy)
I only ran this station at one library – the station is fun, but the setup takes a lot of time. I used a freestanding baby-gate setup to create an enclosed area layered with tarps on the ground and butcher paper on top. I added piles of paint and various toddler paint toys, and then…I let the babies have fun!
This was supremely messy and required lots of cleaning supplies for caregivers. Not too many caregivers dared to put their babies in the paint pit – but those who did had a blast.
Other Toys
To help keep the youngest ones engaged, I also put out a variety of on-hand brightly colored baby-friendly toys, such as:
Hi Book Cart Queen readers! It’s been a minute. (Or maybe a year). I’ve got a new job (back at my old library in a new role), and I worked through a fantastic year on the 2023 Caldecott Committee.
I’m not sure what future posts will look like. I miss blogging, but blogging is also time consuming – and I’m not sure I want to spend quite as much time on here as I did a year ago. I’m also in a different role now. I program occasionally, but not nearly as much as I did a few years ago. I still have a bunch of old programs I’d like to share, and I still read a ton of books each year, so there may be more content to come – but for now, know that things will be much more occasional and a little less structured.
Author Kat Zhang and illustrator Charlene Chua return with another fantastic Amu Wu adventure. Amy continues to learn more about her heritage – this time exploring dancing and movement with Chinese ribbon dancing.
Amy’s want to wiggle, shimmy, and move will feel familiar to kids and their grown-ups – including librarians leading a room full of wriggling storytime attendees.
Amy is fascinated by the art of ribbon dancing, and she can’t wait to share her new passion with her friends.
But Amy doesn’t have a fancy dancing ribbon and all of her makeshift ribbons don’t work. Some are too heavy, some are too light, and nothing flutters and twists in just the right way.
Will Amy be able to show her friends how to ribbon dance after all?
Just like in Amy’s other stories, the kindness and patience of her family and friends help Amy figure out how to overcome her current challenge. Charlene Chua’s lively illustrations capture Amy’s emotions – from pure joy to confusion and occasional frustration and sadness. The bright colors and quick pace will keep young listeners engaged, particularly young fans ages 4-8.
Like other Amy Wu titles, this book lends itself to a storytime read aloud. As if written with librarians and teachers in mind, it includes your own Homemade Dancing Ribbon craft at the end – a perfect way to wrap up a storytime themed around movement and dancing (before a dance party of course!).
When Amy Wu learns about Chinese ribbon dancing, she can’t wait to try it out herself in this charming and brightly illustrated fourth installment in the Amy Wu picture book series.
Amy Wu loves to move. From wriggling to shimmying to toe-tapping, she just can’t keep still, not when there’s music all around her! So when Amy sees Chinese ribbon dancing for the first time, she has to try it out. Only, how can she throw the perfect dance party when she doesn’t have the perfect ribbon for her dance?
A special story from Mom may be just the thing to get Amy moving to the music again.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kat Zhang loves traveling to places both real and fictional—the former have better souvenirs, but the latter allow for dragons, so it’s a tough choice. A writer of books for teens and children, she spends her free time scribbling poetry, taking photographs, and climbing atop things she shouldn’t. You can learn more about her at KatZhang.com.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
Charlene Chua draws many things, from baos to dragons, and everything in-between. When they are not drawing, they enjoy cooking, reading, and playing with their cats. Charlene grew up in Singapore, and now lives in Canada. Her favorite baos are still char siu baos, and her favorite dumplings are air-fryer wontons!
Often the best blueprints for programming come from what other awesome library professionals have created. Woodridge Public Library did several months of a Baby Activity Kit program which was absolutely brilliant and something I was eager to build upon and tweak to fit my typical kit structure. Babies are difficult to reach with programming amidst the pandemic and I was looking for a way that I could make a beneficial, early literacy-themed kit for them. This particular kit focused on music and movement with materials to make several instruments included. I rounded it off with activity cards and an instructional packet with book recommendations and further resources included.
Inside the kit were materials to create a:
This program would pair well with any pre-K or school-age reading program in a school or library setting.
jingle bell egg shaker
ribbon whisk
gumball capsule bean shaker
Safety was the top priority, so I included small rolls of washi tape in each kit to secure the egg and gumball capsule so that no choking hazard-sized bits would escape their containers.
Photos of the finished products:
The kit came with several items:
Laminated activity card booklet
Packet including instructions, online resources, and book recommendations
Materials to create each instrument
Scarf – there are several purchasing options on Amazon
Images of the activity cards:
Unfortunately, I didn’t have a fully enrolled program. I thought it would be more popular than it turned out to be with 11 out of 30 spots filled. I was toying with the idea of making this a series, much in the way Woodridge Public Library did, but because of the lack of interset I will not be creating addtional Little Learner kits.
Hopefully, if you try this program, you will have more luck with interest. If you would like PDFs or editable files, please please feel free to reach out to bookcartqueens@gmail.com to request the files.
Here we go with another storytime spotlight roundup! At my library, we are still doing outdoor storytimes and because our crowd is so spread out, we are limited to the selections in our “big book” staff collection. These books tend to be older titles, that are not my ideal storytime selections with a few exceptions. So I am dreaming of the day when I can get back to reading all the latest and greatest titles in storytime. Here are a few of my current favorites.
Find past storytime spotlight posts here, and feel free to comment with your outstanding storytime shares!
Terrific baby storytime books are hard to come by for many reasons. Oftentimes books with tremendous baby storytime potential are only published in board book format and, thus, are much too petite to share with even the smallest of audiences. Because baby storytime is my most beloved program (who doesn’t love sitting in a roomful of babies, amiright?) I am consistently searching high and low for great storytime content for our littlest patrons. Shhh! The Baby’s Asleep by JaNay Brown-Wood fits the bill for babies with a caveat – it is quite long to share with babies. But with a few paperclips, it can be easily abbreviated. In this title, a family is struggling with the age-old problem of staying quiet while its littlest member sleeps. The rhyming structure and the sound effects make this title more storytime-friendly than the average picture book and the repeating phrase of, “Shhh! The baby’s asleep!” will give ample opportunity for grown-ups to join in as you read.
Simply put, toddler storytime perfection. Its spectacular mixed-media illustrations are brimming with the cutest nighttime critters and each page spread features simple, yet vocabulary rich, description. This title could be accentuated in storytime by sharing puppets of the featured animals either during the reading or at the end. Also there are many lines throughout the book that lend themselves to action, “Stir awake, open eyes,” or “Thunder roars” (pat hands on the ground) “Raindrops splash” (pat hands on lap). Creativity is key if you are trying to engage your audience. Especially if that audience is full of twos and threes.
I Like Trains will tickle pint-sized train enthusiasts far and wide. It features large, bold illustrations and oversized font which can be seen from quite a distance – a storytime-sharing bonus. It will also give little ones insight into what it is like to ride on a train – an experience that would be foreign to some children. The train ride ends with a visit to grandma’s house and the playground. The size of both the illustrations and the font, along with the opportunity for saying a “choo-choo” or two make this one ideal for toddler storytime sharing.
Although Srinivasan’s signature illustrative style from Little Owl series and Octopus Alone is missing in this newest picture book, she chose an simpler aesthetic that is well-matched with this book’s subject matter. She addresses self-affirmation, touching on all of the aspects that make little Divya who she is. The strength with this work lies in its child-like illustrations and accompanying text. Each page spread would be easily visable from a distance making it an excellent one to share with a crowd. And although it focuses on a celebration of self, the pacing is quick so a big preschool crowd will be more apt to stay engaged. These are concepts that preschoolers and early school-agers are exploring almost daily in their lives – discovering their likes, dislikes, and ultimately their identity. There are lots of opportunities throughout to ask questions to get the kids thinking about how they would define themselves.
Chomp the dinosaur has some choices to make in this crowd-pleasing and highly engaging title. He is presented with a variety of negative behavior choices followed by the repeating phrase, “Chill, Chomp, chill.” This one will have preschoolers and their grownups answering with a resounding, “No!” each time they are asked, “Should Chomp ____?” Not only will preschoolers be invested in Chomp’s decision-making, but the brief pause to “chill” introduces little ones to mindfulness and its power in redirecting upsetting emotions. Storytime gold!
I am always on the hunt for the best upcoming or recently-released storytime books. I love getting suggestions from other librarians or storytime presenters when they have discovered a winning title. I have been presenting storytime in some form or fashion for ten years, and there is nothing worse than a book that falls flat by either not engaging the kids or being too long. That can lead to unwelcome storytime chaos and having a real Ben Stiller/Bueller moment, where I really lose the crowd.
I’ve certainly learned some lessons while presenting books in storytime. This series will regularly spotlight books that really work for storytime (at least for me). In Storytime Spotlight, I will focus on titles for Baby Storytime (ages 0-2), Toddler Storytime (ages 2-3), and Preschool Storytime (ages 3-6), as well as some titles that may work for kindergarten and first grade audiences. Feel free to comment with your recent favorites as well!
Find past storytime spotlight posts here, and feel free to comment with your outstanding storytime shares!
This book is part of series by Houran and Hanson that features the most adorable baby animals doing extremely cute things. It is a smaller format picture book, so it would be a challenge to share with a large baby storytime audience, but when shared with a smaller group or even as a virtual storytime title, this one cannot be beat. I am a huge fan of Syndey Hanson’s illustrative style which is featured in one of my all-time favorite preschool storytime titles, Escargot by Dashka Slater. The illustrations in Close Your Eyes are truly the star of the show, but the text is simple and lends itself to great grown-up/baby interaction—cuddles, bouncing, making animal sounds. All of this supports early literacy, an added bonus.
This National Geographic Kids title features photography of animal babies (clearly I like animals in my baby storytime books). The size of the book and the formatting of the photography and text are ideal for sharing in baby storytime. The first segment features some animal opposites (big and little, fast and slow) followed by the second segment which features animal body parts (snouts, trunks, stripes). The third and final segment focuses on animal movements (crawling, climbing, pouncing, swimming). All three of these themes lend themselves well to storytime movement and the book is easily shortened, if needed. This one would work very well for toddlers too.
No one knows about writing children’s books like the titan Australian author Mem Fox. Early One Morning is no exception from her regularly stellar work. This plot is very similar to Rod Campbell’s Oh Dear! but it does have a few key differences. It features a little boy who is searching for eggs on the farm. He comes to various farmyard objects (trucks, tractors, haystacks) and, alas, finds no eggs anywhere. Then he encounters some farm animals (cow, pony, sheep) all the while being followed by a pesky little hen. He ends his journey at the chicken coop realizing that his travel buddy was actually the critter he was seeking the entire time. I like this title for its repetition of phrase and vintage-inspired illustrations. It is simple and provides many opportunities for question-asking and participation in toddler storytime.
Book text that is set to a familiar tune is absolutely ideal for storytime sharing. The Rice in the Pot Goes Round and Round is written to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus. It features a multigenerational Chinese family sitting around the table for a traditional meal. Each family member is spotlighted and, prior to sharing in storytime, I would encourage a listen to Mandarin pronunciations of typical family names if you are unfamiliar (Nai Nai, Ge Ge, Jie Jie). The author was kind enough to provide phonetic pronunciation in the back of the book but I find that it helps to listen to pronunciations as well. Toddlers and grownups will chime in with the tune immediately. When sharing, the phrases could be repeated twice so everyone can join in with singing.
Benny the bat doesn’t feel like a bat—he loves the sunshine, cannot imagine sleeping upside down, and craves vibrant color. Benny knows that although he is a bat on the outside, he most definitely a butterfly on the inside. He knows that in order to truly be himself, Benny must make the transition from bat to butterfly. This is a perfect Pride month storytime book as it has LGBTQ+ themes. Benny is an endearing character who will have preschoolers rooting for him to live his best butterfly life. The illustrations are peppered with a vivid, neon pink against a less vibrant—but still rich—color palette. I have an 80s-childhood-nostalgic love for the use of neon pink in any context.
Strollercoaster by Matt Ringler and illustrated by Raύl the Third and Elaine Bay
This title feels fun, fresh, and cool. The artwork by the wife-husband team of Raύl the Third and Elaine Bay is the highlight and is characteristic of their illustrative style. The “strollercoaster” makes its way through the big city streets and sees all the sights and sounds of a metropolitan area—the street art, the basketball courts, the playground. All the while the strollercoaster climbs and soars with lots of lively storytime movement opportunities. And after the exciting journey, our rider Sam is tuckered out and ready for a nap. Relatable and well-suited for preschoolers and their grownups.
Thoughts & Updates: Last post from me for a while! Wrapping things up with a few great chapter books and some cute picture books too. Don’t worry about blog content — Sarah has plenty of great things to share. I’ll still be lurking even while I don’t actively post during my Caldecott term, so feel free to comment and send emails. I’d love to still chat with all of you! This blog helped keep me grounded during the pandemic, and it has been such a wonderful platform to meet and learn from so many fantastic librarians and creators across the world. Until next time!
Reading by the Numbers:
15 Books Read This Week
10 Books with Main Characters of Marginalized Backgrounds (67%)
8 Books by Authors of Marginalized Backgrounds (53%)
Thoughts & Updates: Powering through the picture books as blog posts slow down for a while. Some new graphic novels this week too. Listening to the new Rick Riordan presents title, which is good, but doesn’t quite live up to my love of Cece Rios. I feel like I am just absorbing as much information as I can while I learn about my new job and how things work in my new library. One more week of book updates before I take a break for a bit!
Reading by the Numbers:
45 Books Read This Week
21 Books with Main Characters of Marginalized Backgrounds (47%)
11 Books by Authors of Marginalized Backgrounds (24%)
The concept for this kit was a reimagining of Bluffton Public Library’s program. I absolutely loved their idea and structure, but I made some adjustments to make my program activity-focused. The assembled activities for Reading Buddies were geared towards a broad range of ages (3-11). It was my hope that this kit would entice kids to enroll in our summer reading program and read to their buddy all summer long. To support this aim, I included several pages of reading recommendations for the age ranges 3-5, 6-8, and 9-11 and supplemental information about our summer reading program and events.
This program would pair well with any pre-K or school-age reading program in a school or library setting.
The kit came with several items:
Booklet of activities
Summer Reading Program materials (specific to our SRP; these were created by our marketing department so I have not included templates)
Reading Buddy in pillow box (information on purchase is below)
Choosing activities for this kit was a challenge because the age range was so wide. I chose ones that aligned with the animal theme of our summer program, Read & Roar and the activity sources can be found on the last page of the packet.
Each kit included a small stuffed animal purchased from Oriental Trading, and I put them in 7” pillow boxes so the animal would be a surprise. The label on the box (PDF included) encouraged the child to read to their reading buddy throughout the summer.
It was a simple kit to conceptualize, design, and assemble and it was fairly cost-effective at about $1.50 per kit. Grown-ups really appreciate the pickup kits at my library, and it is likely that we will continue creating them, even when we return to full-time in-person programming. The PDF files are included and please feel free to reach out to bookcartqueens@gmail.com to request the editable files.
