Storytime Recap: Bridge to Reading

Today I was joined by our intern Amanda in showing off some of the Bridge to Reading award nominees. The Bridge to Reading award is designed to promote early literacy through quality read-aloud picture books. Engaging children in the voting process helps develop a lifelong love of reading. Even with a special storytime, we try to stay consistent and start with the same welcome song, "Clap Everybody and Say Hello." Then I started us off with our first book Baby Bear Counts One by Ashley Wolff. This is a story better for fall or the beginning of winter, but kids enjoy counting no matter what the season.

Afterwards, I asked what season comes after winter? Spring! Then we talked a little about how windy spring can be. So we became the wind by repeating the rhyme "Blow wind, blow."

Blow wind, blow And go, mill, go That the miller may grind his corn That the baker may take it And into bread make it And bring us a loaf in the morn.

Next it was Amanda's turn to read Windblown by Édouard Manceau. This is a fun building narrative that follows scraps of paper as they are blown into different animal shapes by the wind. An imaginative tie-in craft for this book would be to cut the shapes out of paper and do as the book says at the end, see what you can make of them.

Then we livened things up by doing one of my favorite action rhymes about animal movements.

Jump like a frog. Stretch like a cat. Hop like a bunny. Flap like a bat. Wiggle like a worm. Slither like a snake. Now be a wet dog, and shake, shake, shake!

With everyone done being dogs, it was time to for me to read a book about a dog, Digger Dog by William Bee. The kids all loved the surprising page layouts near the end that add to the anticipation of whether Digger Dog will ever dig deep enough to find his bone.

We got our thumbs ready for the next book by reciting the action rhyme "Tommy Thumbs Up."

Tommy thumbs up (both thumbs up) Tommy thumbs down (both thumbs down) Tommy thumbs dancing all around the town (wiggle thumbs in big circles) Dance them on your shoulders (wiggle thumbs to shoulders) Dance them on your head (wiggle thumbs to head) Dance them on your knees (wiggle thumbs to knees) And tuck them into bed! (cover thumbs in your fists)

After that thumb workout, Amanda told everyone that we weren't going to use our thumbs at all because the next book would be Don't Push the Button by Bill Cotter. Larry the monster tells kids not to push the button, but it proves irresistible and leads to some colorful side effects for Larry.

This interactive book was a big hit, so we went into our song "If You're Nutty and You Know It" with plenty of energy.

If you're nutty and you know it, clap your hands If you're nutty and you know it, clap your hands If you're nutty and you know it, then you really ought to show it If you're nutty and you know it, clap your hands

If you're nutty and you know it, stamp your feet If you're nutty and you know it, stamp your feet If you're nutty and you know it, then you really ought to show it If you're nutty and you know it, stamp your feet

If you're nutty and you know it, shout "Hooray!" If you're nutty and you know it, shout "Hooray!" If you're nutty and you know it, then you really ought to show it If you're nutty and you know it, shout "Hooray!"

If you're nutty and you know it, do all three If you're nutty and you know it, do all three If you're nutty and you know it, then you really ought to show it If you're nutty and you know it, do all three

After this nutty song, everyone was ready for me to read our last story The Nuts : Bedtime at the Nut House by Eric Litwin. Mama Nut just wants Hazel and Wally to go to sleep, but they ignore her and keep singing "We're Nuts! We're Nuts! We're Nuts!" The kids had a blast singing along with them each time.

Finally, it was time to vote. We had bookmark ballots for the kids to mark their favorite story on and a box to collect them. Since it is Earth Day, everyone who voted got a Earth stamp. Then in honor of Earth Day we watched a short movie based on the book And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogliano.