November calendar

Halloween storytime!

Open Shut Them

Open shut them, Open shut them,

Give a little clap clap clap!

Open shut them, Open shut them,

Put them in your lap, lap, lap!

Creep them, crawl them,

Creep them, crawl them,

Right up to your chin, chin, chin!

Open wide your little mouth,

But do not let them in!

A Haunting We Will Go

A haunting we will go,

A haunting we will go,

We’ll catch a ghost, put him on a post,

And then we’ll let him go!

…cat, hat

…witch, make her itch

… ghoul, duel 

Twelve Haunted rooms of Halloween by Macky Pamintuan 

This book was really fun, but quite long. The kids seemed to enjoy it, but we probably could have stopped at room 9 or 10.

Two Little Monsters
Two little monsters, sitting on a hill

One named Jack and one named Jill

Stomp away, Jack, stomp away, Jill

Come back, Jack and come back, Jill

Two little monsters sitting on a hill

One named Jack and one named Jill

Five Little Pumpkins

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.

The first one said, "Oh, my it's getting late"

The second one said, "There are witches in the air."

The third one said, "But we don't care."

The fourth one said, "Let's run, let's run!"

The fifth one said, "Isn't Halloween fun?"

Then Woooooo went the wind

And OUT went the lights.

And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

Way up high Flannelboard

Way up high in a spooky old tree

Five little bats smiled at me

So I shook the tree as hard as I could

Down swooped a bat

To where I stood!

…4, 3, 2, 1…

Ten Little Monsters

1 little, 2 little, 3 little monsters

4 little, 5 little, 6 little monsters

7 little, 8 little, 9 little monsters

10 little monsters can’t scare me!

Annie was warned by Jarrett Krosoczka

 The kids proved to braver than me when they kept encouraging us to go into the haunted house... they actually seemed to be let down by the fact that there was not a scary ending!

Haunted House

(tune: Wheels on the Bus)

The ghost in the house goes “Boo! Boo! Boo!”
“Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo!”
The ghost in the house goes “Boo! Boo! Boo!”
On Halloween.

… steps / “Creak, creak, creak…”
… cats / “Meow, meow, meow…”
… bats / “Squeak, squeak, squeak…”

Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler

 Encourage the children to make the hiccup noises; it is hilarious and keeps them engaged!

Scarecrow

(tune: 3 green and speckled frogs)

5 crows, all shiny black, Sat on a scarecrow's back, Eating the most delicious corn, CAW! CAW! Scarecrow, he shouted BOO! 1 crow, away she flew, Then there were 4 black shiny crows (just 4!)

… 4 crows, 3 crows, 2 crows, 1 crow…

Where is Blue Bat?

Me: Where is [blue] bat? Where is [blue] bat?
You: Here I am! Here I am!
Me: How are you this morning?
You: Very well, I thank you!
Me: Fly away! Fly away!

…black, red

If you're happy and you know it

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands

If you're happy and you know it then your face will surely show it,

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands

...stomp your feet

...wave good-bye

Additional books: 

 Crimi, C. Where’s My Mummy?

Rex, M. Brooms are for Flying

Shaw, N. Sheep Trick or Treat

Thompson, L. Mouse’s First Halloween

Todd, M. What Will You Be for Halloween?

Walton, R. Frankenstein

Autumn/ Fall Storytime

I love the changing seasons! This week's storytime was all about fall. 

Open Shut Them

Open shut them, Open shut them,

Give a little clap clap clap!

Open shut them, Open shut them,

Put them in your lap, lap, lap!

Creep them, crawl them,

Creep them, crawl them,
Right up to your chin, chin, chin
Open wide your little mouth,
But do not let them in!

This is the way
(tune: This is the way…act out motions)
This is the way we rake the leaves
Rake the leaves, rake the leaves.
This is the way we rake the leaves
In the middle of autumn.
…jump in the leaves

A-P-P-L-E
(tune: B-I-N-G-O)
There was a farmer who had a tree
With apples big and red
A-P-P-L-E, A-P-P-L-E, A-P-P-L-E
With apples big and red!

- I die cut the letters A-P-P-L-E. We sang the song through once and then placed a hand on top of the "A". The song was repeated, replacing the "A" with a clap.-

Down around the corner
Down around the corner, just a skip and a hop
Were five little acorns with caps on top
Along came a squirrel who wanted to play
And she found a little acorn and she took it away.
...4, 3, 2, 1...

I used a die cut squirrel and clipart acorns to put up on the board. The kids had fun counting the acorns as the squirrel came and took them away.

Mouse's First Fall is a great book for toddlers, and makes a good addition to preschool storytime too. It is a short story about Mouse and Minka's adventures with fall leaves.

 

Leaves in the air

(tune: Wheels on the Bus)

The leaves in the air go up and down

Up and down, up and down

The leaves in the air go up and down

All around town

…twirl round and round

… go whooshing by

…fall gently down

Two little blackbirds

Two little blackbirds, sitting on a hill

One named Jack and one named Jill,

 Fly away Jack, fly away Jill

Come back Jack and come back Jill

…cloud/ quiet, loud

… dad/ happy, sad
Fall verse-
Two little blackbirds in the corn crop,
One at the bottom and the other at the top
Fly away bottom, fly away top
Come back bottom and come back top

 

This is another in Colandro's series of There was an old lady... books. In this book, the old lady swallows the makings for a scarecrow.

Leaves

(tune: 10 little Indians)

1 little, 2 little, 3 little leaves,

4 little, 5 little, 6 little leaves,

7 little, 8 little, 9 little leaves,

10 little leaves fall to the ground.

   

Bear thinks that his sneeze causes the leaves and apples to fall and the geese to fly away. The autumn breeze has something to say about that...

Way Up High In the Apple Tree

Way up high in the apple tree,

Five red apples smiled at me,

So I shook that tree as hard as I could,

Down came an apple...Mmm, it was good!

…4,3,2,1....

Goodbye Song

Additional book suggestions:

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert

It's Fall by Linda Glaser

Fall leaves Fall! by Zoe Hall

 

October calendar

 

Art Club

Cook a Book

Early Release?

Nothing to do?!?

Well, who says you can’t play with your food?

Kids 5-12, join us tomorrow, May 1st at 3:30 pm, for a snack making,

book reading, game playing,

song singing, prize winning good time!

We'll be making Taco Cups to eat and Papel Picado to take home in honor of Cinco de Mayo.

Cook-a-book–

first early release Wednesday

of every month at 3:30 pm.

Caldecott winner

The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. 

--- Basically, the Caldecott Medal is for the best picture book of the previous year. ---

Celebrate the 75th year of the Caldecott Award by reading this year's winner- This is Not my hat by Jon Klassen.

To explore more Caldecott winners, visit the ALA's Caldecott website or stop by your library to pick up a flier with a full listing of the winners.

Art Club

Art Club @ Main Library

Art Club is our weekly program for children ages 8 to 12. This past week, we painted flowers on the art room windows with tempera paint. I asked children why they like art and how art makes them grow. This week, I will paint their quotes on the window next to their flowers.

Next week in One Spark  in downtown Jacksonville. I hope people will see our flowers, see the cool things we do at the library and how the library is truly the first spark in children’s lives on so many levels.

Miss Marie

PRESS HERE by Herve Tullet -- Book Trailer

What a fun book! Interactive... and yet, still paper. No plugs or batteries needed!

April Calendar