Story Time: Monsters!

The problem with a monster-themed story time is choosing the books - so many fantastic choices out there! I ended up using slightly different titles both days, but they included the following:

9780307010858

$4.99

A classic you just can't go wrong with. It was funny how many kids - and their grown-ups - perked up immediately and shouted, "I have that book!"

9780688168667

$16.99

Our whole sub-theme was that monsters aren't anything to be scared of, and you can't be scared of these two! Monday's crowd was very obliging with the "Ews" on things like bug-filled cookies, while I asked in mock surprise, "You mean your Mommy doesn't make you those?"

9781596432543

Out of print, but always a crowd pleaser.

9780805095098

$14.99

Just plain silly, with another you-weren't-scared-were-you ending.

To get some wiggles out, we stood up and sang "If You're a Monster and You Know It". I've used the Emberly book before, but it can be a bit cumbersome, so this time we just sang the song and I let the kids come up with verses (Clack your teeth, rattle your spines, etc.) Unfortunately, the "give a roar" at the end was a little too effective, and we had one tiny tot in tears Monday! Way to go, Miss Ami, terrorize the children!

Both days, we ended with:

9781419717314

$14.95

This is perfect for a flannel board, but I ran out of time, so I just duplicated the pieces at 200% on the copier. I had the kids reach out and 'tickle' the different parts of the monster while I moved them to their new places. One Mommy, during craft time, mentioned that they were always on the lookout for ways to keep the monsters and bad guys away, so we discussed things like monster spray as well. I told the young man in question that my husband is a former police officer, and that he swears by it. He seemed impressed. (P.S. Mike - if anyone asks, it's the pink sparkly spray that works best.)

For our craft, we made monsters (and learned about reflecting images and color mixing, but don't tell them that). My kids will spend hours doing these - and, truth be told, many of the adults had to make their own! As examples, of course.

Just fold a piece of paper in half, dribble paint on one side, then re-fold and smoosh. When you open it again, turn it in different directions until you see your monster.

I made the top right one in front of the kids as an example, and they immediately decided it was twin snakes. As soon as they said it, that was all I could see!

Add eyes, feathers, arms, antennae, whatever. Too much fun. And we snuck some STEM in!

Coming Friday: a recap of tomorrow night's Family Fright Night. If you are local, we hope to see you here at 6PM!

Reviews: Monsters!

I recently finished planning preschool programs for the rest of the year, and of course October would not be complete without a monster-themed story time. I am always happy to add fresh new stories to my repertoire, so let's see what the TBR pile has for us:

9780062349156

Getting George to sleep is a nightmare. But getting a monster to sleep? That's an adventure.

Now, this is cute! George can't sleep because there is a monster under his bed. The monster (who looks like he came off Sesame Street, actually) can't sleep, because...there's another monster under the floor! A successive chain of monsters, each slightly scarier-looking but never really awful, takes us to the center of the earth, where the final monster (a dragon) has an entirely different problem.

A quick, silly read, this one will easily fit into October's story time with no worries of causing actual nightmares. For an activity, we may create a scene with many layers and add monsters to it. So many fun ways to make monsters!

9780062345226

Ready, set, go! The monster truck race is on in this frightfully delightful picture book.  On a spooky speedway, Monster Trucks moan! Monster Trucks grumble! Monster Trucks groan!

Join Frankentruck, Zombie Truck, Ghost Truck, and more as they race to the finish line. But one of these trucks isn’t quite who you think.

Get your different reading voices ready for this one! If you get as far as Frankentruck, and you don't read "He's alive! HE'S ALIVE" like this, you are hereby stripped of all your librarian laurels:

You'll moan, you'll howl, and you'll have your young listeners on the edges of their seats to see who wins the race - will it be Frankentruck, Werewolf Truck, Zombie Truck, Ghost Truck, Vampire Truck, or...er...Little Blue Bus? Another non-scary crowd pleaser, we might have to create our own monster trucks and have a race around the room!

Finally, one I picked up at the recommendation of many other librarians:

9781419717314

You can't scare us, monster! Prompt your listeners to reach out and tickle the monster as you turn the pages, prompting him to lose his horns - which become the moon, his hands - which become bushes, and so forth, until nothing is left but a quiet bedtime scene. Lots to do here with seeing parts of a whole, conquering fears, looking at shapes in different ways, etc. Plus it's just plain fun! This one just screams to be made into a flannel board.