Halloween

This year Halloween falls perfectly on a Saturday. We are having an extra special celebration for the holiday with costume parades and trick-or-treating in the library. So, we're pulling out all the fun (and not-too-scary) books and themed activities for Halloween this week!

Books:

Toddler Books:

Pete the Cat: Five Little Pumpkins - James Dean

Just Say BOO! - Susan Hood

Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin - Mary Serfozo

Preschool Books:

Pete the Cat: Five Little Pumpkins - James Dean

Monster Trouble - Lane Fredrickson

Just Say BOO! - Susan Hood

Ghosts in the House - Kazuno Kohara

The Monsters' Monster - Patrick McDonnell

Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin - Mary Serfozo

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

My Little Pumpkin:

I've got a little red pumpkin, Cutest I've seen,

I hope my little red pumpkin turns orange for Halloween.

Source: Little Storybug

Mouse's Halloween House:

One day in the fall, a little gray mouse found a big orange house.

She nibbled a hole in the middle to make a door.

She nibbled two holes up near the top, to make two windows.

And then she nibbled a wide hole near the bottom, so that her children could run in and out.

Then she put a candle inside to light up the darkness.

The mouse's little house was a sight to be seen.

It was a Jack-O'-Lantern!

Happy Halloween!

Source: Jen in the Library

*One of my LA's made this flannel story and the audience LOVED it. The only tweak she made was to the candle bit. She, instead, made the "holes" double-sided. One side was black, the other side was neon yellow. We turned on the "light" (I turned around the flannel pieces on the front of pumpkin) to show the light glowing in the Jack-O'-Lantern.

Pumpkin, Pumpkin, What Do you See?

Brown owl, brown owl, what do you see?

I see a yellow moon looking at me.

Yellow moon, yellow moon, what do you see?

I see a white ghost looking at me.

White ghost, white ghost, what do you see?

I see a purple bat looking at me.

Purple bat, purple bat, what do you see?

I see a black cat looking at me.

Black cat, black cat, what do you see?

I see a orange pumpkin looking at me.

Orange pumpkin, orange pumpkin, what do you see?

I see a Jack-O'-Lantern looking at me.

Source: Sturdy for Common Things

The Little Orange House by Jean Stangl (a cut-and-tell story):

Source: Highlights Magazine - The Little Orange House

*The source of this story is Jean Stangl but the text version that a fellow librarian shared with me is in the link provided. It is a VERY cool story to tell aloud and my audiences LOVED it. For the very small audience members, we changed the ghost to be a black cat and made a cute laminated little witch and cat to put on the storyboard when we told the story. 

Spiders

Since next week is Halloween, I wanted to get the fun started by having a creepy crawly storytime this week with a theme all about SPIDERS!!!

Books:

Toddler Books:

The Very Busy Spider - Eric Carle

I Love Bugs - Emma Dodd

The Itsy, Bitsy Spider - Rebecca Emberley

Preschool Books:

The Very Busy Spider - Eric Carle

I Love Bugs - Emma Dodd

Step Gently Out - Helen Frost

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

The Spider and the Bug (Tune: "Farmer in the Dell"):

The spider catches a fly,

The spider catches a fly,

Hi-ho the dairy-o,

The spider catches a fly.

Repeat with: 

Mosquito, Wasp, Moth, Flea, etc.

Source: Catch the Possibilities

On a Spiders Web:

One elephant went out to play,

Upon a spiders web one day.

He had such enormous fun,

He called for another elephant to come..."HEY ELEPHANT!"

count up 2, 3, 4, 5

Two alternate endings:

First ending:

Five elephants went out to play,

Upon a spiders web one day.

They had such enormous fun,

But there weren't any more elephants to come.

Second ending:

Five elephants went out to play,

Upon a spiders web one day.

The web went creak, the web went crack,

And five little elephants came running back!

Source: Storytime Katie OR A Room Without Books

Song: The Itsy Bitsy Spider by Hap Palmer

Earth

We are learning all about Earth this week! 

Books:

Toddler Books:

Bathtime Piggy Wiggy - Christyan and Diane Fox
Good Night, World - Willa Perlman
What the Sun Sees/What the Moon Sees - Nancy Tafuri

Preschool Books:

What in the World?: Numbers in Nature - Nancy Raines Day
Home - Carson Ellis
Bathtime Piggy Wiggy - Christyan and Diane Fox
The World is Waiting for YOU - Barbara Kerley
Good Night, World - Willa Perlman

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star:
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Source: Traditional

We've Got the Whole World in Our Hands (Tune: "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands") 

We've got the birds in the air, in our world,

We've got the birds in the air, in our world,

We've got the birds in the air, in our world,

We've got the birds in the air.

Other verses:

We've got alligators in the rivers, in our world

We've got fishes in the ocean, in our world

Source: Carol Simon Levin Program Palooza

*I used whatever puppets I had on hand for each verse. The sky is the limit on the amount of verses I could come up with for this one. I chose ones that they could also do actions for, though.

The Green Grass Grew All Around (traditional call-and-answer song):

There was a hole (there was a hole)

In the middle of the ground (in the middle of the ground)

The prettiest hole (the prettiest hole)

That you ever did see (that you ever did see)

Well, the hole in the ground,

And the green grass grew all around, all around,

And the green grass grew all around.

And in this hole (and in this hole)

There was a tree (there was a tree)

The prettiest tree (the prettiest tree)

That you ever did see (that you ever did see)

Well, the tree in the hole,

And the hole in the ground,

And the green grass grew all around, all around,

And the green grass grew all around.

And on this tree (and on this tree)

There was a branch (there was a branch)

The prettiest branch (the prettiest branch)

That you ever did see (that you ever did see)

Well, the branch on the tree,

And the tree in the hole,

And the hole in the ground,

And the green grass grew all around, all around,

And the green grass grew all around.

And on this branch (and on this branch)

There was a nest (there was a nest)

The prettiest nest (the prettiest nest)

That you ever did see (that you ever did see)

Well, the nest on the branch,

And the branch on the tree,

And the tree in the hole,

And the hole in the ground,

And the green grass grew all around, all around,

And the green grass grew all around.

And in this nest (and in this nest)

There was a bird (there was a bird)

The prettiest bird (the prettiest bird)

That you ever did see (that you ever did see)

Well, the bird in the nest,

And the nest on the branch,

And the branch on the tree,

And the tree in the hole,

And the hole in the ground,

And the green grass grew all around, all around,

And the green grass grew all around.

Source: Traditional 

(BUT if you want the entire song, Wikipedia has all of the verses. I shortened it considerably for storytime...and for my own sanity)

Home:
A nest is a home for a robin; (cup hands to form nest)
A hive is a home for a bee; (turn cupped hands over)
A hole is a home for rabbit; (make a hole with hands)
And a house is a home for me. (make roof with peaked hands)
Source: Perry Public Library

Autumn

As the weather starts to cool off [finally!], we are learning about Autumn this week!

Books:

Toddler Books:

Acorns Everywhere! - Kevin Sherry

The Busy Little Squirrel - Nancy Tafuri

Pumpkin, Pumpkin - Jeanne Titherington 

Preschool Books:

Pumpkin Circle - George Levenson

Where Are My Books? - Debbie Ohi

Fall Mixed Up - Bob Raczka 

Acorns Everywhere! - Kevin Sherry

The Busy Little Squirrel - Nancy Tafuri

Penguin and Pumpkin - Salina Yoon

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

The Squirrel and the Acorns:

Down around the corner by the big oak tree

Sat five little acorns as tasty as can be.

Along came a squirrel with a big bushy tail.

He took one acorn and ran off down the trail.

Count down 4, 3, 2, 1...

Source: One of my LA's found this rhyme but I changed the words slightly. 

*I used laminated acorns and squirrel puppet for this particular rhyme.

Pumpkin, Pumpkin:

Pumpkin, pumpkin, on the ground (touch ground)

How'd you get so big and round? (make a big circle)

Once you were a seed so small (pinch fingers together)

Now you are a great big ball (make a big circle over head)

Pumpkin, pumpkin, on the ground (touch ground)

How'd you get so big and round? (make a big circle)

Source: Step By Step Child Care

*I also found a version from Jbrary that uses sign language.

Five Hoot Owls:

Five hoot owls, sitting in a tree.

One flew away!

Now how many do you see?

One, two, three, four...(continue to count down)

Source: Storytime Katie