Book Review: Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore

I was pleasantly surprised recently when a regular patron of mine recommended a book for me to read. As a reader, I was becoming frustrated with myself because I haven’t been able to get into a good fictional read in quite a while. For example, I started reading the Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard. I enjoyed the first book in this installment, the Red Queen greatly. However, I felt I needed to re-read the first one before starting Glass Sword because my mind was completely drawing a blank on all of the different characters. I just couldn’t envelop myself back into the story. This is certainly not saying the second book is bad by any means, but something wasn’t grasping me and I wasn’t about to sit down for a refresher on the story-line. I could tell that I needed something new, something outside of my norm so it was refreshing to have a patron recommend Mr Penumbra’s 24 Hour Book Store by Robin Sloan to me. The patron drew me into wanting to read it with three words; secret book society.

Our main character Clay Jannon is dealing with the hardships of the most recent economic recession. He goes from being a successful web designer to finding himself stumbling into Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore where he begins working the late night shift. I personally find the character of Clay very likable and he sounded like someone I would get along with; quite possibly sounded like some of my own friends. His personal narration had be hooked instantly but it was also his curiosity with Penumbra’s bookstore itself that kept me engaged. I mean I for one have never witnessed a 24 hour bookstore (this honestly would be quite magical personally), but who allows their patrons to come in and grab books without paying? Books that specifically come from a special section within the store and that Clay is specifically told not to look at but to retrieve for these special patrons. Clay has to make sure to write down every little detail about each of his patrons that come in, from what they are wearing, their personality that evening, so on and so forth. But why?

Sloan’s work of fiction is truly a page turner mystery. As a reader, I had to know what was going on and the adventure of figuring out the story behind Penumbra’s bookstore was highly entertaining. Some of the character development lacked slightly, however, as I stated previously many of the characters read to me as if they were personal friends of mine. After reading some of the other reviews, many found the ending of the story to be rather lack-luster. I can understand their thoughts because there was a lot built up within the story and it wasn’t necessarily the huge ending that many would expect. Nevertheless, if you have a love of reading, I feel the ending will leave you with heartfelt feelings and appreciation.

I am definitely not disappointed with this read and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. I mean, the book glows in the dark! How can you wrong? For an exciting mystery take a moment to read this book and definitely let me know what you think!

Book Review: You are a Badass

My goal for reading this year is to definitely read more motivational books. I believe that if I read more that it will definitely help my mindset to become more positive, and allow myself to focus on bettering my future. I recently finished reading You are a Baddass; How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero. I have mentioned that I was going to be reading this title, and I am pleased to say this was an exceptional choice for a motivational read.

I will begin by saying that I think this author talks to their readers in a much different mannerism than most motivational books. I had tried reading a couple of different titles before I found this book. I had been recommended some of Joyce Meyers books, however, I am not that overly religious to be honest. I found myself just not connecting with the fact to just leave all my issues with God and he will take care of it.  I just personally need more concrete examples of how to help myself then to just rely on God to take care of things. I am certainly not knocking this method by any means, for it can certainly work for many others, but it is a process that just doesn’t work for me. I mean I feel weird for saying this, but because Sincero swears in the book, it felt more down to earth and more like she could be one of my friends. It was very straight forward and to the point and she speaks of God more in a mannerism that I could relate much more to.

She doesn’t bull shit in this book at all. She uses a lot of examples of her life and what has worked for her, but what boggled my mind the most while reading this was that I actually took notes! I have sticky notes all along this book to focus on key things that she discusses that really struck a cord with me. I certainly don’t want to get into many of the details because I personally feel this a great motivational read if you are need a swift kick in the butt.

What I learned the most from this read was that I need to not be scared of the decisions that I make. I alone can make myself happy and no one else. I have a really hard time with this. I am always worried about what people will think about me, when in reality it shouldn’t matter. These thoughts could be from family, peers, so on and so forth; but if something makes you happy what does it matter what anyone else thinks? So, let’s say I make a decision in the future and I am sure that this decision will get many comments; I need to not let those comments deter me from my personal goals and aspirations. We alone must decide what makes us happy and feel confident about what we are doing in our lives. I am always looking to please people, and it is one of my biggest faults. I feel this pressure that I need people to like me, when we all know that it is near impossible for every person to like you. Is this an easy task to get over? No, it is not, but this I feel that this book is driving me into the right direction.

If you are also curious about financial situations and such, she touches on this as well. She actually discusses money so differently than I have ever thought of it before. We have so many thoughts on what it means to have money. Sometimes, if someone does, we may feel guilty for acquiring nicer things, or driving fancy cars. The author herself talks about purchasing an Audi Q5, which is the car I want myself. If you have worked hard to get where you are and you are able to afford that item, you shouldn’t feel ashamed or feel like you have to hide it. But beyond those emotions, she really tries to focus on helping you possibly gain money and aspire to possibly do more with your life to acquire it. There are other people out there making a lot of money, or feeling comfortable where they are at, and that certainly can be you too.

At the end of her book, she recommends multiple titles for more motivational reads . I personally loved this and went and immediately checked out one of them. She has certainly done her homework on motivational reads for she had a quite a few to choose from. Hopefully I will get to read all of them; might be a new goal for myself. But again, if you are in a funk, or needing a read to inspire you please pick this title up! It might just be the key.

Slumber Party Storytime

I have been trying to grow this storytime in the hopes that the more that I do it, the more stuffed animals that I can get. I love this storytime theme, because I invite my families to come in their pajamas, and to bring their stuffed animals. I hand out this invitation at least a week or two prior so that my families can prepare.

I also come dressed in my pajamas of course! And stitch comes prepared as well.

So here is the outline for this storytime theme:

Book: The Napping House by Audrey Wood

This of course is a classic! I add a little more for participation. When it comes to the line “where everyone is sleeping”, I add “Shhhh” to have the kids join in and whisper. I do this so that it builds up to the part where everyone starts to get woken up!

Finger Rhyme: Five in the Bed

Five in the Bed
There were five in the bed and the little one said,
“Roll over! Roll over!”
So they all rolled over and one fell out
And bumped his head and shouted out,
Single beds are only made for one, two, three, four!”
There were four in the bed and the little one said…
There were three in the bed and the little one said…
There were two in the bed and the little one said…
There was one in the bed and the little one said…
“I’ve got the whole bed to myself

This is another one of my favorite rhymes that I can remember from my childhood. I have everyone hold up five fingers and we count down together as each one falls out of the bed.

Book: Beep! Beep! Go To Sleep by Todd Tarpley

This is a fairly new story and I personally think its adorable! The young little boy in this story is trying to get his little robots to bed (as well as himself), but unfortunately he is awakened by loud BEEPS! His little robots will just not go to sleep! It is definitely a sweet ending, because all the robots wished for most was a bedtime story.

Rhyme and movement: “Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear (Nursery Rhyme)”

Teddy bear, teddy bear,
turn around
Teddy bear, teddy bear,
touch the ground
Teddy bear, teddy bear,
reach up high
Teddy bear, teddy bear,
touch the sky
Teddy bear, teddy bear,
touch your knees
Teddy bear, teddy bear,
sit down please

Book: Touch the Brightest Star by Christie Matheson

This by far was the most successful book with this storytime. I got asked to read it again and again! They LOVED it and I love it too! If you haven’t read this title or Tap the Magic Tree, please do. I love any book that can become interactive because it makes the reading process a whole new experience.

Craft:

Sometimes you just need an eye mask to help you sleep! I used foam sheets and cut out the shape using a template that I got off the internet. I had foam shapes as well that they could decorate their sleep masks any way that they want. A piece of a yarn and they are good to go!

I have an abundance of my own stuffed animals that I keep on hand. I know a lot of the kids did not want to leave their stuffed animals with me. That is totally understandable. So I take a tag and I write their name and I tie that tag around the stuffed animal for them to see.

After my storytime is over, I then take silly pictures of the animals having a fun slumber party with stitch!

I then show them all these pictures at my next storytime. Everyone thinks that it is pretty adorable, and they love all the silly antics that the stuffed animals get into while they are away! I also have fun doing it, which is why I hope that it is something that I can grow so that I can get more stuffed animals for the slumber party. It takes some planning but this a fun and engaging storytime to do for the kiddos!

Duck Storytime

I tried creating themes around animals that I have yet to do in my storytime’s this spring. I can remember when I was younger watching Barney, and the one song that I remember from all of this was “Five Little Ducks”. I remember them dancing with the big umbrellas, and Barney actually quacking when it came time to making the sounds; which of course was silly coming from a dinosaur! It’s the silly things that we remember sometime, so I knew I would have to do a duck storytime theme eventually.

Book: One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root

This poor Duck get’s stuck in the mud! All the animals around try to help him get out, but he just can’t get out of the mud! Teamwork really does it’s magic with this adorable read.

Felt Board: “Five Little Ducks”

“Five Little Ducks”
Five little ducks went out to play, over the hill and far away
Mother duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack”
And only four little ducks came back
(count down until)
Sad mother duck went out one day, over the hill and far away
Mother duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack”
And all of her five little ducks came back .

I chose this felt board song instead of the one from Barney. Easier to do a counting lesson, which is normally what I like to do with the felt board.

Book: Giggle, Giggle, Quack by Doreen Cronin

It’s probably a little cliche but I enjoy Doreen Cronin’s farm animals. I remember when I first read Dooby, Dooby, Moo and thoroughly enjoying it. These animals get into all sorts of crazy antics when Farmer Brown is away, all thanks to Duck of course. It is sure to create a room full of giggles.

SONG: The Ducks on the Bus- Inspiration Abby the Librarian
Tune: The Wheels on the Bus

The ducks on the bus go quack quack quack!
Quack quack quack! Quack quack quack!
The ducks on the bus go quack quack quack!
All through the town!

The ducks on the bus go flap flap flap!….
The ducks on the bus go waddle waddle waddle!….
The ducks on the bus go Quack Quack Quack!….

Book: Come Along, Daisy! by Jane Simmons

Poor Daisy is super curious about her surroundings, but momma duck is calling her to come along! But while discovering things around her, Daisy can’t seem to find her momma. Definitely loved by the mom’s/grandma’s in my storytime room.

Craft:

I came up with this craft on my own. I printed out a duck template and then traced it onto yellow paper. I of course then cut those templates out. I separated out yellow, orange and white feathers for the kiddos to glue on their ducks. Last but not least, I gave them a googly eye to finish their adorable duck!

The only thing I should have done now that I think about it, was hand out a box of quackers! All in all an adorable storytime.

Book Review: Lady Midnight; The Dark Artifices

So I know not many people have been a huge fans of Cassandra Clare; all the fan fiction that she had done previously in her career,  and all the plagiarism details that have been going on recently between her. Nevertheless, I am a fan of the Shadowhunter world and really enjoy the series. I love the storylines and I love escaping into their crazy, adventurous world. I have enjoyed it so much that Anthony and I both have watched the new show that was on Freeform. The movie was of a course a huge let down for many (and myself) and don’t get me wrong the TV show had its moments of straying but I have to say that I enjoyed the season; and so did Anthony.

I had completely forgotten that she was going to be continuing with the Shadowhunter world with her new series called The Dark Artifices. I don’t always purchase my books but I currently own all the other books from the other series, so I had to go and purchase this new addition. It certainly took me a little while to finish the book which was not the books fault, just my own crazy schedule lately. However, I do believe this was a great opener for this new trilogy and I will be eagerly awaiting the next book in the series. Ok, now if you have’t read the other series, I am about to dive into some spoilers. So if you haven’t read The Mortal Instrument series and want to, maybe skip some of this, because I would hate to spoil the books for you.

When we were last diving into the the world of the Shadowhunters in the City of Heavenly Fire, Jace and Clary had defeated Sebastian, or otherwise known as Clary’s brother Jonathan. Within this book we met two younger characters; Emma Carstairs and Julian Blackthorn. Both of them at such a young age have experienced a lot. The death of their parents during this “great war” but they also make the decision to become parabatai so that they will never be separated from each other. If they don’t, Emma will have to leave the institute in Los Angeles ruining some sense of normalcy between the two.

Fast-forward now and Emma and Julian are now 18 and still living together at the Los Angeles Institute. Julian is now taking care of all his siblings and has been since he was 12 years old and Emma has been trying to understand who really murdered her parents. She does not believe that Sebastian murdered her parents, which is exactly what the Clave believes has happened. When humans and fairies are being murdered similarly to the way her parents were murdered, red flags start to go up and they all begin to try and solve the mystery.

The greatest challenge in this book, is the struggle that Emma and Julian deal with between each other throughout the story. A Parabatai is your partner in battle and your best friend; however, the real problem is that they cannot fall in love with each other. Emma and Julian became Parabatai because they wanted to not be separated from each other and they made this decision at such a young age. But now that they are older and truly understand their feelings for each other, there may be some consequences for these feelings and these consequences are unknown and only told through folklore. What is told is not very pleasing and could possibly ruin their lives forever.

This really was a great storyline and it  felt as if I was emersed back into the Shadowhunter world. A lot of the original characters made their appearances throughout the story which was fantastic. I especially will always love Magnus Bane and any appearance by him is fine by me. If you loved the series, I highly recommend it and hope you enjoy a great read.

Windy Storytime

I have been so horrible lately with trying to keep up with this. I need to make an effort for myself and for others! Storytime is officially done for me at the moment, however, I have a few weeks that I have not posted yet, so I plan to share my other storytime themes with you all. It has been very windy here this Spring and I love doing a Windy storytime. It was a huge excuse for me to read “The Queen’s Hat” by Steve Anthony. Many of you have probably noticed by now that I am a huge anglophile.

Book: The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins

The poor people in this town! The wind just wants to take it all and up and up it all went in this cute story by Hutchins.

Felt Board: Five Little Kites- Inspiration: Storytime Katie

One little kite in the sky so blue,
Along came another, then there were two.
Two little kites flying high above me,
Along came another, then there were three.
Three little kits, just watch them soar,
Along came another, then there were four.
Four little kites, so high and alive,
Along came another, then there were five.
Five little kits dancing across the sky,
What a sight to see, way up so high

Book: When The Wind Blows by Linda Booth Sweeney

I had never read this book previously and I thought it was such an adorable story of what happens when the wind blows. The story follows into a storm rolling in, but it makes a storm seem like a pleasant experience instead of the scary ones. What I am trying to say is, this would be a great read for children who may be scared of storms.

Parachute Fun!

I played “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” from Mary Poppins. Perfect song for a windy storytime. I am always intrigued with how many families may not have seen this amazing classic. So I brought the parachute out and let them enjoy the music. I try my best to have them do it to the beat of the music. It is a great lesson on team work to do it this way, and a more controlled environment. I of course let them have a good shake of it, to get it out of their system!

Book: The Queen’s Hat by Steve Anthony

I’m sorry, I can’t help but adore this book. I actually purchased it for myself. The reason why I love it so much, is because it is the perfect book to introduce young travelers to London. The Queen’s hat has been blown all around the city, visiting historical monuments throughout its journey. The illustrations are precious and I LOVE the ending. If you are an anglophile like myself, this book is a must!

Craft:

Usually my go-to for a kite would be a paper bag. We were really low in the our closet but I had an abundance of toilet paper tubes. This still worked the same way and the kids LOVED them. They got to color their tubes and choose which color tissue paper they wanted for their tail. I allowed them to one tell me their color and two count each of their pieces so that they got to three.

The parachute and the craft were indeed the biggest hits of this storytime. My moms know that I love London and many of them sat with the book with their child to explain all the different places afterwards. Overall, a great storytime!

Bug Storytime

BUGS! Who doesn’t love to talk about bugs. Yeah they can be kind of gross sometimes but there are some pretty awesome bugs! Especially some awesome bug books!

Book: The Big Bug Book by David A. Carter

This is a fun pop-up book with tons of silly bugs. It can be a long one with all the different folds to open, but the kids enjoy pop-up books. This one was especially silly, because many are not real bugs but they are definitely adorable ones.

Song: The Itsy Bitsy Spider

The itsy bitsy spider
went up the water spout.
Down came the rain
and washed the spider out.
Out came the sun
and dried up all the rain,
And the itsy bitsy spider
went up the spout again

I feel silly typing out the words to this, however, you never know. What I loved about singing this one today, is that the kids are so proud when they know the song! Many a times the rhymes and songs that we may do are new to them, so when they know something I see children with immense confidence and participate that much more.

Book: I Love Bugs! by Emma Dodd

Emma Dodd’s books are always sweet. Very simple, and not a long read at all, but goes over all the different types of books that the main character loves. I love the ending of this story, with the child proclaiming that they love spiders, but in the end the spider scares them away.

Flannel: Colorful Butterflies: Inspiration Ms. Meg’s Storytime

The first to come to the garden bed
is a lovely butterfly of brilliant RED

Then in comes another and that makes two
Fly right in, my friend of BLUE

This garden is fine, the best I’ve seen
says the butterfly of the softest GREEN

Our garden needs a sunny fellow
Fly in butterfly, with wings of yellow

Little friend of PURPLE, fly in too
the garden is waiting for a color like you

Hello ORANGE, we’ve waited so long
fly in, right where you belong

Butterflies, Butterflies, you’re such a sight
Flying together with such delight!

Confession time. I had wanted to do Lady Bugs. I had found this adorable lady bug rhyme for the flannel board but I totally forgot to make them! I was so mad because I feel like my brain just hasn’t been able to focus very much on what I need to get done. Oh well. This really worked out well too and was a simple ellison block die-cut fix! The kids also love colors and who can resist some colorful butterflies.

Book: Some Bugs by Amy Diterlizzi

I LOVE this book. It is very simple in text, but I find the illustrations to be beautiful. Just like I Love Bugs, this book discusses all the unique bugs that we can find, especially within our own back yard. This is a great book to recommend for bug lovers, because at the end of the story, the author has included the pictures again of all the bugs and what the names of the bugs are.

I was so happy to find out that my co-worker has bugs to look at! The kids LOVED this. They each had a magnifying glass and they were able to look at all the bugs that I had displayed. This was great for learning how to take turns, because I didn’t have enough to hand to each child at once. We mostly had butterflies, but I had a couple creepy crawly ones for them to look at.

Craft: Lady Bug

Very easy to make and I swear my kids are obsessed with lady bugs. I cut white paper plates in half to create the body. I then used an ellison block to cut out all the circles for the bugs spots. I pre-did the lady bugs head, so that it wasn’t an abundance of gluing for the kids to do. I then cut out red tissue paper. The kids then glue on all the pieces to create their cute lady bug.

I thankfully had a good turn out because next week I plan on doing my slumber party storytime. So be prepared for some fun pictures! Fingers crossed I get a good turn out then.

Spring Storytime

It’s spring time! My apologies for being a little MIA. Last week after my storytime, I ended up going home in a significant amount of pain. Just the day before I had gotten two cortisone shots for my back and well, I did not sit well with me the next day at all. I am not sure how I got through my storytime. But here I am back at it this week and we celebrated springtime! It is also spring break here which didn’t leave me a lot of kids oddly enough. I am sure many are out on vacation.

Book: Finding Spring by Carin Berger

I love the illustrations in this book. They are so precious and I feel the storyline fits the adorable story. Baby bear is so excited to see spring that he sneaks out of his hibernation time to locate it during the winter. He gets confused thinking that snow is spring, but upon awakening learns what spring is really like.

Rhyme:

Five Little Flowers 

Five Little Flowers Standing in the sun
See their heads nodding, Bowing one by one
Down, down, down Comes the gentle rain
And the 5 little flowers Lift up their heads again

One little flower growing just for you.
Up came another and then there were two.
Two little flowers growing near a tree.
Up came another and then there were three.
Three little flowers growing more and more.
Up came another and then there were four
Four little flowers growing side by side.
Up came another and then there were five.

I unfortunately was unable to find the original inspiration for this rhyme, but this can be done numerous different ways. As you can I used finger puppets that I have. I did the rhyme but I also had the kids tell me the colors of the flowers.

Book: When Spring Comes by Kevin Henkes

Another adorable piece about spring AND it’s brand new! I love the illustrations by Laura Dronzek; they are just darling. The book explains all the beautiful and fun things that can be done when spring comes; even playing in the crazy amounts of rain we can get from time to time.

Felt Board Activity:

There’s something in my garden,
Now what can it be?
There’s something in my garden
That I can’t really see.
Hear its funny sound….
Ribbit – Ribbit – Ribbit
A Frog is what I found!
Ribbit-Ribbit-Ribbit

Repeat with other animals, such as a squirrel (squeak-squeak-squeak), rabbit (thump-thump-thump), chicken (tweet-tweet-tweet), duck (quack quack)

 

I hid the animals within the grass before storytime began. As I read the rhyme and they guessed the animal, I would pull the animal out from the grass. I love this rhyme and again I wish I could remember where I originally found it. Some of these rhymes are when I first started here at the library 3 years ago!

Book: What Does Bunny See by Linda Sue Park

Who doesn’t love a book about colors? This one was perfect for spring, and the kids loved letting me know what the colors were. One girl kept wanting the color to be pink, no matter what one was coming up next.

Craft:

This one I kind of came up with on my own. I printed out these swirly trees onto large blue paper. I cut into small pieces pastel colored tissue paper to create a spring looking tree. They would scrunch up the pieces and glue them wherever they wanted. Something so simple, but fun and colorful.

Again it was a very small group, but a success nonetheless. The kiddos that I had enjoyed it and that is all that matters.

 

 

Messy Storytime

Who doesn’t love getting messy? We know our kids tend to get in lots of messes, so why not do a fun messy storytime theme? I really enjoyed this one and I had a lot of great participation from the kiddos which is always a good thing!

Book: Dog’s Colorful Day: A Messy Story About Colors and Counting by Emma Dodd

I adore this picture book by Emma Dodd. It encompasses so much with the counting and learning the colors. This is a great book for participation as it counts all the colored spots the dog collects during his colorful day!

Rhyme: “This is the Way” Inspiration from Literary Commentary

To the tune: “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush)

This is the way we wash our hands
(rub hands together)
Wash our hands, wash our hands
This is the way we wash our hands
So early in the morning!

Continue with other body parts
(arms, belly,legs, teeth, etc…)

Very cute rhyme to do with the kids. I had a lot of smiling faces as we went through the motions of washing each of the body parts. Instead of teeth, I did hair at the end for something fun and silly.

Book: Little Oink by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

I love these books by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Other titles include Little Pea and Little Hoot I find them so silly and adorable! Sometimes the kids don’t get the silly scenario of the books so I prompt them with questions such as “should you make a mess?” and “What should you really do?”

Felt Board: Five Pigs So Squeaky Clean. Inspiration Storytime Katie

(Tune: “Five Green and Speckled Frogs)
Five pigs so squeaky clean
Cleanest you’ve ever seen
Wanted to go outside and play
Oink! Oink!
One jumped into the mud
Landed with a big THUD
Then there were four clean squeaky pigs.

So silly me didn’t take a picture of the other side of my piggies! On the other side are muddy pigs after they jump into the mud. So as I go through the rhyme, I just flip it over to the other side.

Book: Mouse Mess by Linnea Riley

Boy this mouse can sure make a mess! Adorable story of a mouse who decides to raid the humans food. During this time he makes a mess, but doesn’t realize it’s him who is creating it.

Craft: Messy Masterpiece

I normally roll into the storytime room tables for them to do their craft, however today I didn’t bring them. I have been having back issues and this craft really made it easy to do something different without needing them and putting more strain on myself. I gave each child a tray where they were able to collect their random craft items for their messy masterpiece. All I gave them was white paper and the glue sticks and let them create whatever they want. This again is by far my favorite activity. They didn’t even play with the toys afterwards because they were so entranced with working on their project! Sometimes you just have to let the creativity flow and get a little messy!

 

 

 

Picnic Storytime

When I worked at Borders I would do storytime in the children’s book section.  What I remember from that (which is hard to believe was over 10 years ago) was doing a picnic storytime with the kids! It was by far one of my favorites and I finally did one for my preschoolers today. It was a great time had by all and it was a packed house today! I had 40 people attend storytime. That is both children and their parents/guardians, which for my storytime room is quite a lot. I love doing this with a packed house!

Book: We’re Going on a Picnic by Pat Hutchins

Very cute story, but I will say that because I had a smaller book I felt that I had to guide the kids to understand what was going on within the story. I would ask “huh? Who is that that they are near?” They would say mouse and I would exclaim “Uh oh, I wonder if he will follow?” I think that helped them to pay close attention to the story, for as our characters try to find place for their picnic, their basket gets lighter and lighter along the way.

Activity: Let’s Pack Our Picnic Basket

Didn’t have a picnic basket unfortunately, but any basket works nonetheless. I printed out these images and laminated them for later usage. I made enough that each child got a food or drink item. I then held up the item and if they had the item that matched, they would bring it up and put it in our picnic basket. My kids love this kind of participation, and with such a big group there was so much excitement! They were very eager to help pack our basket full of goodies!

Book: Mouse’s First Summer by Lauren Thompson

So, of course a little confusing reading this book now, but it is absolutely perfect for a picnic storytime! It opened up a discussion on what season is actually coming next, even though in Florida our weather is just right for this book! I had the kids guess each item that Mouse was describing, which made for fun interaction in storytime!

Felt Board:“Five Hungry Ants”-Inspiration from Storytime Katie

Five hungry ants, marching in a line
They came upon a picnic, where they could dine
They marched into the salad
They marched into the cake
They marched into the pepper
Oh-uh! That was a mistake!
AAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCHHHHOOOOOOO!

4 hungry ants…
3 hungry ants…
2 hungry ants…
1 hungry ant…

Such a cute countdown rhyme. My kids love to pretend sneeze because it’s in my end song for storytime. So as always the kids loved pretending to sneeze for each of the ants after the went into the pepper!
Book: Ants at the Picnic by Michael Dahl

I originally wasn’t so thrilled about reading this book in storytime but it worked out very well! The book starts with 100 ants and counts down by tens as they carry away the items from the picnic. The kids loved seeing them all being carried off and we counted back up to 100 by tens after the book was done.

Craft: Picnic blanket and Ant

This craft happened by accident. I originally was going to have them make the ants for their craft, however, there was some miscommunication as to what I wanted our pages to help me with and they ended up making the whole ant! Totally not a problem for I thought that they kids could practice some weaving with paper to create a picnic blanket. I cut slits into the red paper and cut white strips to weave within. Definitely a craft to be done with an adult, but such a great idea for motor skills practice! That way they walked away with a cute ant puppet and their craft!

Again, so surprising to have that many people at storytime today! I can’t complain at all though because I love it when I have a full house. There is more interaction among everyone and we have loads of fun. Definitely a great storytime day!