All posts by Children's Staff
Baby Storytime, Friday, October 21
It was rainy and gloomy outside, but inside we were upbeat and filled with happiness as we gathered together for Baby Storytime! Today we talked a bit about making connections between books and life experiences, sometimes referred to as text to life connection. For example, if you are reading a book about a dog and you have a dog in your house or a stuffed animal dog, you might want to point out to your baby that there is a dog in the book and a dog in our house! These connections serve as a meaningful foundation for future learning and development.
We read a favorite of mine today, Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell. In this story, a young child asks the zoo to send him a pet. No animal is exactly right until the last page! This book lends itself to many text to life connections for little ones, as it is filled with animals and descriptions such as “it was too big,” or “it was too tall.” This would lead to discussions at home talking about big things, tall things and identifying animals. If you are not familiar with this book, check it out. It will bring a smile to your face!
Books for Toddlers on Wed., Oct. 19
Toddler Rhyme Time was so much fun today!
After saying good morning to Old Mother Goose and doing a few fingerplays, we read Bears in a Band by Shirley Parenteau, a sweet musical picturebook:
We then shook our bells together and marched around the room with the storytime drum to practice learning how to STOP! After tuckering ourselves out with all that activity, we settled down to read a fun book about naptime, Margie Palatini’s No Nap! Yes Nap!
Since we were all snuggly and cozy after this book, we sang a snuggle song, did some lap bouncing and a body rhyme, and then moved on to our animal sound book of the week, I Spy on the Farm by Edward Gibbs. This fun picturebook is great to use for learning and practicing animal sounds with little ones, or as a guessing game with older children.
Thanks for joining me for storytime! See you next week!
~*Nicole
Books for Preschoolers on Wed., Oct. 19
We had so much fun at Preschool Storytime today! First, we read Say Hello Like This! by Mary Murphy, practicing our animal sounds and then talking about some of the different ways people say hello. Hola! Bonjour! Ciao! Aloha!
After some fun with shaker eggs, we moved on to Stephanie Calmenson’s Jazzmatazz! A tiny mouse escapes the cold by sneaking into a house through a crack in the floor. He quickly makes his way to the piano and starts playing jazz, getting the other animals and people in the house to play music, too. This book got us playing the piano, banging our drums, fiddling like that famous cat, and tapping our toes to the beat! Rhythm and rhyme help young children hear the different syllables in language and musical picturebooks are some of my favorites.
Next we read a short nonfiction book, I Notice Animals in the Fall by Mari Schuh. We learned some of the different ways animals get ready for winter, like gathering lots of extra food, migrating to warmer weather, growing thicker fur, or even sleeping through the winter, like bears.
After learning about hibernation we had to read a story about a bear, of course. What better choice than Holly Surplice’s About a Bear?
Next we went on a bear hunt with a flannel story! We used the flannel board instead of a book, but there is a great picturebook version by Michael Rosen. There are many different versions of this classic all over the internet – check out Michael Rosen performing it on Youtube!
After our bear hunt, we went on a leaf hunt, gathering colorful fall leaves from different types of trees:
Thanks for joining me for storytime – see you next week!
~*Nicole
Read With Your Child!
Visit the library and borrow a book or two.
Toddler Storytime, Friday, October 14
We gathered inside the Children’s Room today under the flags for a fun and exciting storytime. The energy was contagious, with lots of joy and laughter. The adults that joined the little ones today sang out loud and strong and were great role models for the little ones, as they heard so many sounds, words, rhymes and songs. We read a favorite of mine, The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood.
Baby Storytime, Friday, October 14, 0-12 month olds
We gathered today for Baby Storytime in the Children’s Room. It was a spirited time together. We spoke a bit about the importance of reading daily to your baby. I suggested “lap sitting” as a way to be when you read. This would be with your baby in your lap so that you are both experiencing the book in the same way. The baby begins to be exposed to the cover and back of the back and explores the way the pages turn. All of these ideas are called the Concepts of Print and these developing skills will serve your baby well as he or she continues to grow and develop and gain literacy skills.
We read Counting Kisses together today. Unfortunately, during storytime we did not stop and kiss the babies on each page but I encourage everyone to read the book at home and include the kissing part! As you might know, we have lots of different board books to borrow to read together at home.
Books for Toddlers on Wed., Oct 12
For my first Toddler Rhyme Time, I wanted to use lots of – you guessed it – rhymes!
After warming up our fingers with “This Little Piggy,” we moved on to “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.” After doing the fingerplay, we read from a book in which the Itsy Bitsy Spider has several friends! We really enjoyed the Oochy Koochy spider, who climbs an apple tree. (Early literacy tip: You don’t always have to read a whole book with your child – we just read about two of the spiders in this story, skipping over other pages.)
Following some singing and marching, we read a wonderful book that’s great for practicing animal sounds, Margaret Wise Brown’s The Big Red Barn. We mooed, oinked, quacked, neighed, hee-hawed, clucked, meowed, and barked our way through this gentle tale of the animals on a farm. (Early literacy tip: Mimicking animal sounds increases children’s awareness of the sounds all around them, encouraging them to play with language.) You’ll certainly be seeing this book again – repetition is a big part of toddler storytimes because research has shown that young children learn best with routine and repetition in a nurturing environment.
After some fun time with egg shakers, scarves, and a nice snuggle song (this week we sang “You Are My Sunshine”), we read one more story, Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle’s classic Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? For this story, we used the flannel board, making the tale more interactive!
Thanks for joining me for storytime. I hope to see you next week!
~*Nicole
Books for Preschoolers on Wed., October 12
This was my first storytime here at Chelmsford Public Library! As the new Head of Children’s Services, I am so happy to jump right into programming, especially storytime with little ones. 🙂
Yesterday we read some of our BIG books! These oversized picturebooks are great for big groups, as it’s much easier for all children to see the beautiful pictures that form such integral parts of the stories.
We started with Little Miss Muffet. While many of us knew the first verse of this popular rhyme, it was fun to learn that Miss Muffet was not only frightened by a spider but by several other critters and creatures, too!
We carried on this theme of expanding nursery rhymes by reading The Itsy Bitsy Spider, discovering that the spider’s journey did not end at the waterspout! We watched as the spider climbed other things, including a rocking chair and a tree.
After working out some wiggles and shaking out some sillies, we moved on to a flannel story version of Eric Carle’s classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Telling a story with flannel or felt pieces is just one of many ways to make the tale more interactive. Children were delighted to play with the pieces at the end of storytime. Check out this video for instructions on how to make your own flannel or felt board at home!
Finally, we read Pumpkin, Pumpkin. As we read this story about a boy planting a pumpkin seed and watching it grow, we paid special attention to the growing size of the animals on each page.
Thanks for joining me! I hope to see you again next week! 🙂
~*Nicole
Talk With Your Child!
Before you read a book to your child, look at the cover together and ask your child what he or 
she thinks the book might be about.
Books for 4-6 year olds on Tuesday, October 11
We started storytime with a very silly book about a donkey and a sweet potato (!) who have some trouble communicating. Will it all work out in the end? Read the story to find out!
It’s definitely fall, so we read two stories that celebrate all the fun and color of autumn leaves. We also learned the names of some less-common trees we’d never heard of before, like ginkgo and sassafrass. Ask your child what unusual shapes their leaves have. Enjoy this short, beautiful season!