Shoo, “Old Black Fly”!

Posted by kremenar on Feb 22, 2011 in Body Smart, Early Learning, Letter / Number Knowledge, Phonological Awareness, Rhyming | 0 comments

Old Black Fly gets into everything in this bouncy, rhyming alphabet book written by Jim Aylesworth and illustrated by Stephen Gammell. He nibbles on noodles, pesters the parrot, sniffs the salami, until the end – swat! The refrain of “Shoo fly, shoo fly, shoo!” (repeated on almost every page) is perfect to get little ones chiming in. Before we read the book, I tell my listeners to help me shoo that fly away by waving their hands on the cue of “shoo fly…” After reading, I put on “Shoo Fly – Don’t Bother Me” by Sweet Honey in the Rock (from their album I Got Shoes, Music for Little People, 1994).  We get out the scarves and practice shooing flies away while we dance. It’s a great letter-knowledge/phonological awareness/rhyming  lesson for your Body Smart wiggly ones!

All You Need for a Snowman

Posted by kremenar on Feb 16, 2011 in Early Learning, Phonological Awareness, Storybox Idea | 0 comments

All You Need for a Snowman written by Alice Shertle and illustrated by Barbara Lavallee is one of those “perfect for a storybox” books. The plot is simple – all you need for a snowman is some snow, rolled into one big ball. That’s all. Except…for a middle-sized ball, and a small one, and a hat, etc. The text has a great rhythmic flow and the pictures are colorful and large enough for group sharing. But because it’s all about building a snowman, it’s the perfect book to make a feltboard storybox. Even folks who are craft-challenged like me can cut three white circles out of felt! Ms. Marge, our library’s craft guru, made the feltboard pieces you see below. You can build the snowman piece by piece as you read the story aloud to your group, then hand out pieces to kids to help you build the snowman during your rereading or picture-walk through the book. Not enough pieces to go around? Use a diecut machine to make lots of snowflakes – you need lots of snowflakes to make a snowman! After storytime is done, put the book and the felt pieces in the storybox by a feltboard so little ones can go through the book and make the snowman on their own. Felt pieces, a felt board, and a great book – that’s all you need to make a snowman storybox!

Falling for “Falling for Rapunzel”

Posted by kremenar on Feb 7, 2011 in Early Learning, Holiday, Integrating Knowledge and Ideas, Phonological Awareness, Rhyming | 0 comments

“‘Rapunzel, Rapunzel, throw down your hair!”
She thought he said, ‘Your underwear.'”

Like the old game of Telephone, messages get garbled in Falling for Rapunzel,  a fractured fairy tale by Leah Wilcox and Lydia Monks. Each time the prince calls up to Rapunzel in her tower, Rapunzel misunderstands. Throw down her locks, or her dirty socks? This silly rhyming book fits beautifully into a fairy tale unit, but I like it as a snort-inducing read for Valentine’s Day. After reading this book, play a game of Telephone with your class and see how messages can change from ear to ear. Or give your students prompts to supply goofy rhymes:
“The prince called out, ‘Climb down the vine!’
Rapunzel threw …..”

For more fractured fun, check out Waking Beauty by the same team.

Guess Again!

Posted by kremenar on Jan 31, 2011 in Early Learning, Phonological Awareness, Rhyming, Science | 0 comments

I read Guess Again by Mac Barnett and Adam Rex to a kindergarten class and they laughed so hard I worried about the potential wetting of the carpet. Mac Barnett’s verses set kids up to guess the seemingly simple answer:

“Who’s got white teeth and fiery breath
And scares Sir Frank the Brave to death?
This frightened knight must stop his braggin’.
Who’s spooked our knight? That’s right! A….” (turn the page)

“Dentist, Dr. Larry Roberts.”

Adam Rex’s goofy pictures add to the fun. What look like the shadows of sheep on a page turn out to be abominable snow monsters, and the floppy-eared shadow nibbling carrots in the garden? Why, it’s Grandpa Ned! Your rhyming pros will be delighted with the silly, unexpected answers, and they’ll want to “Guess Again” and again.

You can work this book into a science unit on shadows and light. Let little ones experiment with objects and materials:  which ones create shadows and which ones won’t? Using flashlights in a darkened room, let kids trace shadows of objects on white paper, and then use art materials to transform the shadow-shape into something new!

What a Wonderful World!

Posted by kremenar on Jan 25, 2011 in Color Knowledge, Early Learning, Music Smart, Rhyming, Song Books | 0 comments

Ashley Bryan gorgeously illustrated the classic song written by George David Weiss and Bob Thiele to make a picture book perfect for your music-smart kids. Play Louis Armstrong’s version of the song for your little ones, and then sing-read this book. After listening, take little ones outside and look for colors. Use the phrasing from the book: “I see stop signs of red!” You can write on a sheet of paper: “I see ____ of ____.” Kids can complete the sentence and illustrate it for a classroom book, personal “What a Wonderful World” book, or bulletin board. Play the song while you make the art, and you’ll find yourself agreeing – it is a wonderful world!

A Valentine Story You’ll Love!

Posted by kremenar on Jan 19, 2011 in Counting Book, Early Learning, Holiday, Letter / Number Knowledge, Phonological Awareness, Rhyming, Storybox Idea | 0 comments

If you’re planning ahead for Valentine’s Day ideas, “1 2 3 Valentine’s Day: a counting book” by Jeanne Modesitt and Robin Spowart is great for preschoolers and kindergartners. The rhyming text helps build phonological awareness, and little ones get to count to ten as the mouse delivers Valentine’s Day gifts to his friends. The visual of the corresponding number of hearts at the bottom of the pages is a nice touch.  My fellow librarian and early literacy champion, Ms. Marge, uses this in storytime, and brings a big red box with her.  In the box she has one of each item the mouse delivers – a silk rose, a paper heart, etc. – that she pulls out as she reads. Try reading the story to your young ones, then let them retell the story and pull out the objects from the red box. Your active, “body smart” kids will love it!

How 32 pages can add up to a lifetime love of learning

Posted by kremenar on Jan 14, 2011 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

Aside from my deep, abiding love for chocolate, children’s books are my passion*. And unlike chocolate, the more books I get my hands on, the better. Thank goodness I became a children’s librarian so I can spend my days reading and sharing children’s literature and still earn a paycheck.

Here you will find some of what I consider to be the best books for children ages 0 – 6 and suggestions for how to share them with little ones. I teach a seminar called The Best Young Children’s Books for Preschoolers and Kindergartners and How to Use Them to Strengthen Early Literacy Skills, and if you’re interested in hearing more, please feel free to contact me.

*This is not to discount the limitless love I feel for my author/illustrator husband and our three amazing children, with whom I love to share books and from whom I have occasionally hidden the chocolate.