Story Time Booklist - Spring Semester

    

 

As the school year is coming to an end, our Mother Goose Story Hour is wrapping up this week. I always give out a handout of all the books that were read to give parents the opportunity to purchase the ones they loved or request them at their local library. The children who attend the program are between the ages of six and seventeen months and thought I would share the book list here in case anyone was looking for ideas for new books for their youngest readers.

Let me know which ones become bedtime story favorites!

Alligator Alphabet - Stella Blackstone

Baby Animal Farm – Karen Blair

Baby Animals – Disney Baby

Baby Dance – Ann Taylor

Barnyard Banter – Denise Fleming

Barnyard Dance – Sandra Boynton

Bear About Town – Stella Blackstone

Big Bug, Little Bug – Paul Strickland

Cuddle – Beth Shoshan

Chirpy Chick – Priddy Books

Dayeinu – Miriam Latimer

Dig! Scoop! – Pop Up and Play

Freight Train – Donald Crews

How Things Grow – Eric Carle

I Know A Lot – Stephen Krensky

I Spy With My Little Eye – Edward Gibbs

Jump! – Scott Fischer

Llama Llama Sand and Sun – Anna Dewdney

My 1^st Passover – Tomie DePaola

My Very First Book of Ducklings – Priddy Books (with quacking sound)

Tickle – Leslie Patricelli

Tip, Tip, Dig, Dig – Emma Garcia

When It’s Purim – Edie Zolkower

Who Am I? Baby Animals – DK Publishing

Who Can Jump – Sebastian Braun

FINGER PUPPETS!

I love Finger Puppets. They are the easiest way to engage the youngest audience. They are extremely easy to make or if you are not very creative, they are extremely easy to find. The picture above is the "Little Scholastic Old MacDonald" that I got as a baby gift when my son was born and has become a staple in my children's singing routine.

From all my years doing Mother Goose Time at the library, I always made sure to have finger plays and finger puppets dispersed throughout the half hour to keep the children engaged. Babies can stare at fingers for hours and it is so easy to sing along to a hand gesture. Some of my go-tos include "Open, Shut Them", "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Where Is Thumbkin?" and "Mr. Sun". For those who are a little more self-conscious, bring on the hand puppet! While babies and toddlers don't really care what your voice (or the caregiver's voice) sounds like, if you feel like it matters then this is the perfect way to have the little ones focus on something else. Puppets are brightly colored and can guide you while you sing (ex: each animal on your fingers), so you can get as expressive as you want. 

If you are arts-and-craftsy, you can make your own puppets for so many rhymes and songs. I personally used the same glove and made adhesive "Green and Speckled Frogs" (five with a speckled log in the middle) , "Five Little Monkeys" (with a mother and and a doctor in the middle) and "This Little Piggy" for each of the fingers. It was easy to do three back-to-back "puppet shows" or just one or two depending on the time and audience. 

Using your fingers and puppets to engage babies and toddlers is a great way to enhance their early literacy skills. Get your hands moving and get singing!