Chicken Story Time!

I told this story by both reading the book and using a flannel board that I created. The children had a lot of fun guessing what each chick was trying to eat. The first chick spotted a worm. The second chick saw a ladybug. The third chick found a strawberry, the fourth chick saw a beautiful blue butterfly, and the fifth chick saw a blue and purple trout swimming in a stream. All of the chicks despair until their mother takes them to the corn patch to scratch. 

This book is so funny! One day, one chicken comes to story time and everybody loves story time and is happy. Next week, more chickens come to story time and everything goes smoothly. Then, the week after that, many chickens and many children come to story time! The children laugh, the chickens cluck, and mayhem ensues. Nobody can even hear the librarian! The problem is creatively and happily solved when the librarian gives books to the children to read to the chickens.

The following is a list of books I had in reserve, but did not read. Baby Bird is not about a chicken, but is a great book for teaching the importance of determination in a funny, humorous way. Also, you can either read or sing 5 Little Ducks! 

Summer Story Times

I did two story times on the theme of summer this year. One was a family story time on Saturday and the other was my usual preschool story time.

Since my family story time consisted of older children, the first book that I read was Duck's Vacation by Gilad Soffer. Duck has gone on a vacation and HE JUST DOESN'T WANT ANYONE TO BOTHER HIM! But as the reader turns the pages, Duck's vacation scenario changes. A seagull poops on his head, a crab pinches his foot, the beach gets crowded, he gets caught in a snow storm and finally pirates have him trapped in a cooking pot! So, Duck leaves the book and gets out of the story. However, the pirates are disappointed that their story doesn't even get a chance to start.

The second book that I read was The Whale in my Swimming Pool by Joyce Wan. A little boy finds a whale in his swimming pool and does everything he can think of to get the whale to leave. He tries to get the whale to play fetch. He tempts him by dangling a small fish in front of him. He offers to give him his allowance and tries to play tag with him. But nothing works. Finally, he gets an inner tube and surfs on top of the whale spouting water. Everything is fine until naptime, when he finds a bear in his bed!

For my preschool story time, I also read The Whale in my Swimming Pool, followed by Mouse's First Summer by Lauren Thompson. This book explores the joys and wonder of mouse experiencing summer for the very first time! It's great as an interactive book. I asked the children to answer the questions, "What's over here?" and "What's under there?" Together, we found a watemelon, black ants, a kite, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, fireflies, and fireworks.
Other books that I had but did not read: