Fourth of July Story Time

Betsy Ross by Becky White is an excellent book for a baby and toddler story time, as well as a preschool story time. The book tells the story of the steps Betsy took to make our first flag with short sentences that have easy to comprehend vocabulary, along with bright vivid pictures. In the first picture, Betsy rips a red cloth to make "seven rich, crimson strips". She clips a white silk slip and cuts the white stars from it. The book shows how she used indigo dye to dye some of the cloth blue. When she is finished, Betsy stands smiling at the flag that is flying. The book also includes an author's note on the history of how the first American flag was made and instructions on how children can make their own Betsy Ross Star.

Hats Off for the Fourth of July! by Harriet Ziefert is a good book for a preschool story time. It tells the story of a 4th of July parade in Chatham, Massachusetts which is a parade that occurs annually. The parade features baton twirlers, cowboys, clowns, the high school band, and motorcycles. The parade also has unusual floats such as a whale watch float, and a float with Miss Eelgrass who is a mermaid with green hair, as well as marching patriots with muskets and hats. The parade ends with an airplane writing Happy 4th in the sky. The illustrations make the reader feel like he or she is standing on the sidewalk watching the parade go by.

Red, White, and Boom by Lee Wardlaw is a delightful book with a diverse cast of characters. The book has short, sweet, and simple rhymes and shows the different events that the characters experience on the 4th of July: watching the parade, going to the beach and having a picnic, and watching the fireworks. Some of my favorite rhymes from the book are as follows: 

"Shoulder seat

Thumping beat

July 4th drums down the street!"

"Frisbee zips

Doggie flips

Spike the ball 

Picnic sprawl"

"Peacock plume

Sunburst bloom

Star flakes spill

Heart-thump thrill"

I also absolutely adore the collage style illustrations! I would use this book for a baby and toddler story time or a preschool story time. 

Apple Pie 4th of July by Janet Wong tells the story of a Chinese girl whose parents own a Chinese restaurant that is open on the 4th of July. In vain, she tells her parents that absolutely no one will want Chinese food on the 4th of July! Her father reminds her that fireworks are Chinese. Later on that day, they get many customers who order Chinese food at the restaurant. The day closes with the girl and her parents climbing up to the rooftop, eating apple pie, and watching fireworks. I would use this book for a preschool story time. 

In this delightful book, Pie is for Sharing by Stephnie Parsley Ledyard, children learn the joy of sharing as they celebrate 4th of July by having a picnic, going to the beach, and watching fireworks. As the author mentions it's hard to share pie because "you can slice it into as many pieces as you wish. Almost." What else can children share? A book, a ball, and a tree. Children can also share a jump rope, a rhyme, and time. As the author mentions, some things are harder to share than others, such as your best friend who happens to be a dog. I would use this book for a preschool story time. 

Other 4th of July books 

The Great Cake Bake by Helen Ketterman

Hurray for the Fourth of July by Wendy Watson 

Celebrate Independence Day by Amy Hayes 

In 1776 by Jean Marzollo 

Happy Birthday America by Mary Pope Osborne 

Other books that aren't specifically about the 4th of July but fit in with the 4th of July theme 

How to Make an Apple Pie and see the world by Marjorie Priceman 

Grace for President by Kelly Dipucchio: this book has a section that explains how the Electoral College works! 

Olivia forms a band by Ian Falconer 

Duck for President by Doreen Cronin 

Singable Stories

What better way to promote STAR (sing, talk, and read) than to have a story time where you sing the songs? This was for my baby and toddler story time.

The first book that I sang was What A Wonderful World (based on the song by Bob Thiele & George David Weiss and as sung by Louis Armstrong). This is a beautiful song! The book's illustrations (by Tim Hopgood) are bright, beautiful, and vibrant and follow a happy boy's journey as he smells roses, rides in a hot air balloon, rides an elephant, admires a rainbow, says "how do you do" to a bird, swims with the dolphins, and rides a horse in a herd of wild horses. The only drawback is that this tune can be hard to sing. I lost my place in the song/tune for a few times, but nobody seemed to mind.

The second book that I sang was Row, Row, Row Your Boat by Jane Cabrera. This is a familiar melody and the both the parents and children enjoyed singing this song. However, the lyrics in this book are not the same as the traditional lyrics. Together, the children, parents, and I squeaked when we saw the swimming mice, chattered when we saw the monkeys swig, trumped with the elephants, snapped with the crocodiles, roared with the lions, growled with the tigers, cooed with the doves, and barked at mommy dog. Jane Cabrera is the illustrator of this book as well and the pictures are both whimsical and inviting. 

The third book that I sang was Baa, Baa, Black Sheep written and illustrated by Jane Cabrera. This was also a familiar melody that was easy to sing. However, the lyrics are remarkably different. In this retelling of the nursery rhyme, the sheep gives the little girl wool for a hat, mittens, and a pile for the kittens. Her wool feathers bright-blue eggs in a bird's nest. She gives some more wool for a shepherd, Bo Peep, and lots of small sheep. Her wool also creats a beard for a pig, a wig for a pig, and a tea cozy for a pig. At the end of the story, she has given away all of her wool! The little girl and the other recipents of the sheep's wool use some of the sheep's wool to make her a hat, a scarf, a coat, and boots. As the little girl states, "Sorry we took it all. Sorry it's all gone. Until your wool grows back, please put these on."

The fourth book that I sang was Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star by Jerry Pinkney. His illustrations are absolutely amazing! Everybody recognized the first verse of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and sang along with me, but did you know there are actually five verses in the song? I didn't know that either. But everybody sang along as best as they could for all of the verses. This would also be an excellent one-on-one read aloud because so much action is happening in the illustrations throughout the book. You could ask the child questions about what was happening during the wordless illustrations throughout the book. If you are going to read this in a story time, I recommend paper clipping the pages without words together, so you can get to the verses of the song more quickly. 

I didn't receive Today Is Monday by Eric Carle in time to use it for this story time, but it is a wonderful book to sing! I sang it during a food and nutrition story time that I put together for a local school. If you want to know how to sing it, you can watch the You Tube video here.