Storytime: Dogs

Hello!
We sang our hello song first.  I always use the same hello song, it's my own version of the Dragon Tales Hello Song found here.

We read: 

Dogs by Emily Gravett
    I love Emily Gravett.  Any chance I can get, I read her books in storytime.  This was absolutely perfect for Dog storytime.  I love that it has opposites in it, and the kids love all the funny pictures of dogs.  I always point out at the end who the narrator was who loves dogs.


I Want a Pet!  by Cathy Morrison
   What a cute book.  As we read it, I asked the children what each animal was, and if they thought it would make a good pet.  Considering the child in the book goes to the zoo to pick out a pet, there really aren't any appropriate animals.  Sadly, Meerkat Manor is no longer popular, so the kids don't immediately know what the meerkats are anymore.


Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd
       Right now, I'm doing my regular storytime twice a week, once on Tuesdays and once on Wednesdays in another location.  I was hesitant to do this book the second time because of one little girl on Tuesday.  She found the book to be boring.  She also seemed rather annoyed that we were talking about colors and counting.  Her attitude toward the book soured all the other kids on Tuesday morning.  Happily, I went ahead with it anyway and it was the hit on Wednesday.  That just reminded me that each audience is going to be different.

Song time!

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
  I find this provides great movement for the kids.  This time, we did it once, then did it faster and then did super fast.  They love that - especially for super fast we get our bodies ready by shaking all our different parts, like this:
         Let's get our hands ready!
         Let's get our heads ready!
         Let's get our shoulders ready!
         Let's get our knees ready!
         Let's get our toes ready!
         Let's get our ... EVERYTHING ready!  (hilarity ensues for a moment.)

How Much Is That Doggy In the Window?
  On Tuesday morning, the most perfect thing happened right when I was ready to do a song with the group...a woman tied her dog up to the tree outside the story room windows!  So, we sang "How Much Is That Doggy In the Window?" to the dog.  I really couldn't have asked for a more perfect storytime moment.
B-I-N-G-O
Then, well, this was all about dogs, so we sang B-I-N-G-O.
      I've been noticing lately that more and more children are just sitting watching instead of participating.  While I do tend to make a spectacle of myself, I also hope that the children will jump on in and sing and dance with me.

More reading!



Boot & Shoe by Marla Frazee
    This is really the main reason I wanted to do a dog storytime.  I <3 this book.  The first time I read it, I didn't realize that Boot and Shoe were dogs until late in the book, and the kids also mistake them for cats.  We usually spend a few moments talking about how dogs don't all look the same - just like people.  And then we get into the wonderfulness of this book.


Shoe Dog  by Megan McDonald
     If you don't read this book as if you are an audiobook narrator, it doesn't quite work.  I've tried it many different ways - the best is over the top acting.  And then - well, the kids go crazy.

Flannel Board

I made my own puppies in about 20 minutes.  I didn't put as much effort into it as normal because I didn't have much time, so I just have the puppies.  The black one gets lost on my flannel board...but the kids don't mind.

The rhyme for the flannel is:

Five little puppy dogs, in a kennel door,
One didn't like the crowd, then there were four.
Four little puppy dogs running around the tree.
Mother calls one puppy home, Then there were three.
Three little puppy dogs playing with a shoe,
Foxy ran to chase a cat, then there were two.
Two little puppy dogs, having so much fun,
Rover went to find a bone.
Then there was one.
One little puppy dog sitting in the sun.
He went to the kennel, then there were none!
    from Canton Public Library


One more book!


One Pup's Up by Marsha Wilson Chall
    A fun book to read - it's a counting book that goes to ten and then back to none.  I worry that I do tell the kids what "piddle" is, as one of the lines is "8 pups piddle in a puddle."  I'm always surprised at how many of them don't know what it is.  I really hope the parents don't mind....

Goodbye

Storytime must end.  And this was no exception.  We sang our Goodbye Song.  Most of the kids said thank you! Two polite audiences.

Dog storytime was a hit.