Story Time Featuring: Mem Fox

Our story times for this school year are each centered around a favorite author. For our first week, we chose the well-loved and prolific Mem Fox.

 

When planning for a story time, I love finding out an author has a web site, because not only can I sometimes 'steal' activity ideas, kids and their parents have something extra to go to at home, to continue the fun if they choose. What a treasure trove I found at memfox.com! A blog I could spend hours reading, the stories behind the stories, recipes, recordings, activities...what a fantastic resource!

 

As this was our first story time, we started (as we will for the next few weeks, and periodically throughout the year) with a quick overview for parents as to what they can expect from story times, and what I expect in terms of behavior - from both the parents and the kiddos! In a nutshell, preschool story time is where we start learning good listening skills, so I don't expect motionless bodies and waiting-to-be-called-on. All I ask is that, if a child is at the point of distracting everyone else, his caregiver take him out of the room (or to the back, if that works), for a little bit. I never want them to leave completely - if nothing else, they can make all the noise they want during craft time! The same goes for adults - I teasingly remind the kids to make sure their parents wait until craft time to socialize, which gets the point across.

 

We also started with an old stand-by hand rhyme:

Open them, shut them,

give a little clap,

Open them, shut them,

put them in your lap.

 

Creep them, creep them,

up to your chin,

Open your mouth...

but don't put them in!

 

Open them, shut them,

give a little clap,

Open them, shut them,

put them in your lap.

 

(A word of warning: there are many slightly different versions of this out in library land, and discussions about the correct version can get as heated as the perennial, "Itsy Bitsy" vs. "Eensy Weensy" Spider. This is the one we use. And, it's "Itsy-Bitsy.")

 

Finally, on to showing a picture of the author, and a very VERY brief biography - how old she is, how many books she has written, where she is from (this being a military town, there is sometimes slightly more understanding of different countries than among typical preschoolers).

 

We started off with Boo to a Goose, which I introduced by asked kids if they had ever been shy, and explaining the expression. As I read it aloud, I expressed my reactions to some of the crazy things the narartor says she would do, letting them know their own reactions were welcome and encouraged.

 

From there, we went to:

 

which took, as I told them, almost two years to write! Some of our older preschoolers are into dictating or even writing their own stories, and I know I have a few perfectionists in the group, so this was a small way of letting them know things don't have to be exactly right the first time. I wasn't teaching that lesson, just offering a subtle reinforcement to what I know some of my parents are trying to teach.

 

We read the title together, then looked all over the cover for the green sheep, naming the other colors as we went. After the second or third time of repeating the line, "But where is the green sheep?", I encouraged the kids to chime in - this is one of those wonderful books where any listener can pick up on the rhythm and know when to chime in.

 

Finally, I showed the group a tin box I have had since I was very small, in which I keep some things that represent old memories - the collar from my first puppy, for example. We talked about how these items were special to me because of the memories that went with them, and how they might have things like that at home - if any had wanted to talk about such items, we would have done that, but no one offered, and I didn't press, since this was our forst story time. Regardless, this gave us a lead-in to:

 

 

A little bit long for a story time, but it's one of the sweetest books ever written, and I couldn't resist. In this, Wilfrid's friend at the nursing home next door has lost her memory, so he sets out to help her find it. And the pictures! Happy sigh. I did sort of lose the younger ones towards the end, but brought them back with another audience participation book:

 

 

Another incredibly sweet book, and one the mommies really seemed to enjoy. I started by having the kids take their shoes and socks off, which drew attention back from wherever it was starting to wander. We counted our fingers and toes, and marveled over the fact that we all had the same number (although I was prepared to marvel over anyone with a different number of digits, just in case!) I told them to keep their shoes off while we read the story, and "you will see why when we're done!" This celebration of specialness and aDORable babies makes me want to run out and buy it as a gift for someone every time I read it. The children quickly caught on to the refrain again, and when the narrator gives her own baby three little kisses on his nose at the end, I didn't have to give the mommies the slightest nudge to do the same.

 

Now, we were ready for our craft. I had flower stems painted on pieces of large white paper, and Mommies could choose to use either paint or markers to make flowers and leaves with their little ones' hands and feet. They surprised me, and every brave Mommy opted for the paint. At least one flower became a gift later that day, for a favorite aunt's birthday, and they all turned out very cute!

 

Stay tuned for another post featuring some newly-acquired Mem Fox books - we may have to give her a whole 'nother week!

 



Story Times

Don't get me wrong, we love our library volunteers. From the wonderful folks who plan and execute adult programs, to the lady who quietly stamps discards and marks out bar codes and adds them to the shelves to be sold, we couldn't quite function without them. There are times, though, when well-meaning people offer their services to do something we a) can't legally have them do, or b) find the most enjoyable part of our job.

 

"Doing" story time definitely falls under the second category (working the circulation desk, which gives you access to people's personal information, would fall under the first). There are certainly times when we welcome guest readers, but most Children's Librarians are loathe to give up the 'fun' part of their job (why does no one ever offer to write my monthly reports?) There is also the tiny little detail that "doing" story time involves a bit more than sitting down with a picture book and a rapt audience. In fact, it is...and I have to say it on behalf of my fellow Children's Librarians...a bit insulting to boil down our college degrees, librarian certifications, and years of experience, to something anyone with a third grade reading level could do.

 

Oh, dear, I can't write that without sounding like I am looking for praise. I'm really not. What I do is not insanely complicated, and it's not something you have to be especially gifted or talented to do. It's not even something I do especially well, if you have been around enough other librarians to compare. It's just that, when people ask us what we did today, and we say we prepared for story times, they often look at us expectantly, waiting for us to say what we did with the other 7.5 hours of our day.

 

So, here are the steps I take to plan a typical story time, just to give a general idea. Every librarian does things differently, of course, vastly differently. Sometimes we have old favorites that we can pull out in ten minutes - but, before they became favorites, they probably took half a day to plan, also!

 

Step 1 - Theme. For the past few years, we have focused on a different letter each week. This year, I decided to go with favorite authors. This meant making a list of authors who had at least 3 or 4 picture books, making sure I had a balance of old and new, male and female, etc. I tried not to pay attention to ethnicity until the list was done, then checked for balance there. As I planned further, some authors came off the list, and enough others were added that I have next year taken care of, too!

 

Step 2 - Choosing Books and Subtheme(s)- Okay, so, for the first week, we have Mem Fox. I gathered all the books we had in our collection, and re-read each one. All her books are delightful, but some are too long for a story time. Some are not appropriate for the age group. Some are better when read one-on-one. I finally whittled it down to a handful that I really liked (this is VERY important - if you don't like them, the kids will be able to tell, and the whole thing will flop!) Then I looked for a subtheme - colors? Family? Repetition? There doesn't HAVE to be a subtheme every time. You don't HAVE to teach a reading or math or science concept every time, but it's nice if you do, and can help everything flow together.

 

I stumbled on my subtheme while doing the next step...

 

Step 3 - Author Research. Obviously not necessary if you aren't choosing by authors, but still fun. Many authors have their own web sites and/or blogs, and I hit the jackpot with Mem Fox. Seriously, when you are done here, go to memfox.com and be prepared to lose the rest of your afternoon. My happiest find is that she gives the story behind many of her stories, and they are very definitely stories in and of themselves. Eureka! My subtheme is how authors choose what to write about, and how it isn't always easy but they don't give up.

 

I printed out a picture of her, jotted down some tidbits about her life kids might find interesting, and printed out her stories behind each of the books I had selected. 

 

Step 4 - Organize the Stories. When I looked at the story-behind-the-stories together, they created a natural flow and segue from book to book. Here is where I usually add some personal touches. This is very important. You do not want to just be a figure up in the front of the room reading a story, you want to be Miss A., who remembers that you lost your first tooth last week, and who has a silly little girl of her own who has the same sparkly red shoes you do. You want these children (and their parents) to feel absolutely comfortable asking where to find a certain book, or if you have any information on x, y, or z. You also want to model reading and writing skills to both the kids and their caregivers, and, you know what? When I tell a story about what my bad dog did, and then little Johnny tells me about something HIS dog did, we just worked on those skills! And it didn't hurt a bit!

 

Step 5 - Props? Again, something you don't HAVE to have, but kids are usually visual, tactile little creatures, so they can only help. Unless you bring your tortoises in for "Emma's Turtle", and they pee all over the stage, but that's another blog post. For this story time, which includes the story Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge,

I decided to bring in some items from home that hold memories for me. For Laura Numeroff's 10-Step Guide to Living With Your Monster,

a few weeks later, I made a large copy of the monster, attached it to a bigger board with Velcro tabs all around, and then made each of the items he will need, for the kids to add as they come up in the story.  That took about an hour to make - and will occupy ten minutes of story time, tops.

 

Step 6 - Craft/Activity. This one can take the longest to plan, just because it can be hard to find the right craft. It has to be something 2-3-year-olds can do with minimal help, but can't be so easy that they are finished too quickly. The materials should be inexpensive or already be on hand. Just coloring does not go over well with a large percentage of kids. There should be plenty of room for creativity. Perhaps most importantly, you don't want to overly annoy the custodian, or anyone who may be using the room after you.

 

I planned to end with Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes,

and I wanted to do something with hand and possibly footprints. The problem is, we have done a million handprint projects for various Mothers' Days, and even if they would be new to the kids, I am bored with them. I cruised various favorite craft sites I have bookmarked, sent out a query on a list serve, and finally decided to make flowers, using our feet for leaves and hands for the flowers - which will segue nicely into next week's story time, when our Eve Bunting story time begins with Flower Garden.

 

Step 7 - Gather/Prepare Supplies. I will have one row of tables for those who want to use paint, and one for those who prefer sticking with markers. Figure on 40 kids for now, and spend an hour painting stems on big paper, so those are already done. List the other things I will need to have out and ready: Paint in bowls, paint brushes or sponges, the prepared paper, wet and dry rags, big t-shirts to cover our clothes, markers, soap, a stool next to the sink. Some of these things are always in the craft room, the others go into a box along with the list, with the date neatly labeled. Pull the books I am reading now, so they aren't checked out when the time comes, and on the day of story time, pull all the rest of her books to display. Send myself an e-mail, reminding myself to bring props from home (and to call the people with llamas to see if I can have some fur to show when we do Anna Dewdney).

 

And there you have one hour-long story time (give or take). The planning part of it, anyway - all done in between helping patrons, writing reports, ordering books, and all the other things we do all day. The good part is - I enjoy all of that! I think every children's librarian needs to be a little scattered and a little anal-retentive at the same time. If that sounds like you, then you may want to consider becoming a children's librarian, so you can "do" your own story times - because you can't have mine! (And, R.S., I think you are both of those things in plenty, so stop sweating it! You'll be great!)