When I got to work this Tuesday, I realized that I forgot to bring my pajamas and fuzzy bumblebee slippers to work. Only in the world of youth services would this be a job crisis! Fortunately, I was able to run out to Marshall’s on my dinner break and get some PJ’s and sparkly blue slippers for this week’s Bedtime Storytime. It just wouldn’t be the same if I didn’t dress the part!
We started as always with our hello song and introductions. This week I had seven children and four grown-ups participating. The kids were probably in the 3-6 age range.
After introductions, I read The Goodnight Train by June Sobel and illustrated by Laura Huliska-Beith. The children did not get as into it as I had expected. In retrospect, I think the whimsical illustrations in this book make it better for a one-on-one reading than a group reading. The pictures are my favorite part, and we were not able to give them the attention they deserve during story time.
We followed this with “5 in the Bed.” See my previous Bedtime Storytime post for the lyircs and the link to a video with the tune.
Next I read–or rather sang–Jazz Baby by Lisa Wheeler and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. This is one of my all time favorite picture books, and even though there is no music included I think it just begs to be sung. The kids were tapping and swaying along with the beat, so I think they agreed. One of the participants chose to check this one out at the end of storytime.
We followed this book with a finger play that I learned from day care teachers I used to work with:
This is the baby, ready for nap (hold up index finger)
Lay her in her mother’s lap (put finger in palm)
Wrap her up so she won’t peep (wrap fingers around index finger)
And rock that baby to sleep, sleep, sleep (rock hands back and forth)
After going through it once, I pause for a moment then have the baby wake up crying. I asked the children what they thought the baby needed. One child said “milk” so I pretended to feed a bottle to my finger and then we did the finger play again. We went through it several times until all the children who wanted to participate had the opportunity to do so. The baby got a pacifier, took a bath, and brushed her teeth before finally agreeing to go to sleep.
While we were on the topic of napping, I read I Will Take a Nap! by Mo Willems. Elephant and Piggie are always a hit, and the children started squealing with delight as soon as I held the book up. Even though they are technically easy readers, I think the Elephant and Piggie books are great fun to read aloud. The characters are so expressive! Needless to say, this book went home with a child at the end of the session.
To get some wiggles we did Teddy Bear Teddy Bear Turn Around (see previous Bedtime Storytime post for the words to this rhyme if you don’t know them).
Our last book of the evening was Sleepyheads by Sandra J. Howett and illustrated by Joyce Wan. The animals in the book are pictured, but never named, so that children had fun calling out the animal names. The only one that gave them some trouble was the otter–the kids thought it was a cat.
We ended with Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and our Goodbye Song. After storytime ended, I could hear children walking around singing “We wave goodbye like this” which is always rewarding!
The Waltham Public Library will have Bedtime Storytime again on November 17th at 7:00PM.
The Many Hats of Celeste Bocchicchio-Chaudhri 