Make a Hat Day

 I find it helpful to look up quirky dates to get program ideas and I came across Make a Hat Day on September 15, so I thought this would be a cute and unique storytime. 

Believe it or not, there's a lot of good books for this theme. I decided for my first book, to read Do You Have a Hat? by Eileen Spinelli. Of course I like this book because it rhymes beautifully, but also because it talks about different people throughout history and their individual hats. 

We are trying to keep our storytimes a little shorter virtually to see how that goes so I only read two stories for this one despite all these great hat books. The other story I chose was Hooray for Hat! by Brian Won. It seems to be every animal is having a grumpy day until hats are shared. What a fun hat story that promotes sharing, friendship, and emotions. This is also perfect to read out loud. 

For our craft, we made our own hats! I included a supply bag that had a cardboard cutout hat from Oriental Trading and all sorts of supplies they could use to decorate their own ideal hat. I put pom poms, tissue paper, googly eyes, feathers, and stickers in their bags to decorate and have fun with. 

Grab your favorite hat and read a story!

Fall For a Good Book!

 

Book of the Month: Milo Imagines the World

 

Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Pena is my Book of the Month pick for so many reasons. Very well-thought-out, this powerful picture book has a much needed message, a surprising twist, and is a thought-provoking read for young and old. Not to mention the great illustrations by Christian Robinson. 

Summary: While Milo and his sister travel to a detention center to visit their incarcerated mother, he observes strangers on the subway and draws what he imagines their lives to be. 

Ages: 4-8 years

"Maybe you can't really know anyone just by looking at their face."

This is what you get when you combine the works of a Newbery Medal winner and Caldecott Honor author with an award-winning New York Times bestseller. Perfection. 

This book is touching and is a lesson for everyone to be learned. That you don't assume and judge someone by the way they look and that we don't know everyone's story and what they are going through. 

From Milo's perspective it proves that even adults can learn from children when in the story, Milo realizes that his assumptions of people he sees on his subway ride could be wrong. He wonders what others may perceive of him and we get yet another lesson. And our smart Milo also realizes that maybe his sister might be having a hard time like him and gives her a break when she gets upset at him. 

Acceptance, forgiveness, and non-judgmental behavior are just some of the lessons in this book. I cannot commend this book enough!

Color Your Own Flower Pot and Storytime

 I thought having a flower pot craft and flower storytime aligns pretty well with our summer reading theme, so I went with it. There's tons of flower picture books and who wouldn't enjoy decorating and planting their own flower seeds?

Our celebration of flowers started with the book Lucy's Blooms by Dawn Babb Prochovnic. Lucy enters a flower contest only to get disappointed, but quickly learns that it's the joy of caring for her flowers and someone and something that is the most special. I like how this book touches upon the patience and process of growing and nurturing something. 

The next and final book I read was What Dos Bunny See? by Linda Sue Park. This is just a sweet and simple book that rhymes and is about flowers and colors. Perfect for this theme. 

I was able to find plastic flower pots on Oriental Trading that allowed the kids to be able to color and design the paper that was inside of it. The paper had flowers so the kids could color them in, but there was also an option of just having blank sheets so they could color any design they wanted. I definitely liked this option for a supply bag and maybe would have done terra cotta pots and paint if in person. 

I enjoyed this program because it mixes stories, the summer reading theme, and nature and planting seeds all together. 

Magical Mermaid Storytime

 I always wanted to do a mermaid storytime and the day has come! 

For my first book shared, I chose Mermaid School by Joanne Stewart Wetzel. This book is really fun to read out loud and let's imaginations go wild when you wonder how mermaids are in school. 

My next mermaid book read was Coral by Molly Idle. Unique illustrations and a great message about acceptance, handling anger, and enjoying the help and company of others. 

We took a break from reading by counting fish on the flannel board and pointing out their different colors.

Afterwards, it was time to read our last book, Can I Give You a Squish? by Emily Neilson. I love this book and purposely picked it because it's about a mer-boy, so my boy listeners could relate to it more and feel included. I also like this book because it explains to children that sometimes others don't like hugs and to be touched but that there are other ways to welcome and be friendly to each other. 

Since we were done with our last book for storytime, it was time for our craft. I found these adorable seashell crowns that could be decorated and colored and worn on each child. 

I would definitely do this theme again because the books are so much fun! 

Let's Make a Rainbow Storytime

 This rainbow storytime was meant to tie-in with our Summer Reading Club's theme, "Reading Colors Your World." 

I decided to read Ava and the Rainbow by Ged Adamson for our first book. This sweet picture book is about Ava who makes friends with a rainbow and realizes that a rainbow is meant to be special and a rare sight. 

Our next book was The Rainbow by Felicia Law. This book is great for a rainbow storytime because it talks a little bit about the science of a rainbow and explains how a rainbow appears. 

My final book read was Ruby's Rainbow, a Max and Ruby book by Rosemary Wells. The story goes over the colors of the rainbow so kids can get some practice with knowing colors. 

For the storytime craft, I was able to find a cute Oriental Trading rainbow craft where the kids can practice their fine motor skills by threading string matching the colors of the rainbow. 

Rainbows are such a cheerful, beautiful topic for a storytime in spring!

Around the Pond Storytime

 I enjoyed putting together an Around the Pond storytime for spring using picture books about pond animals. 

Our first story is about a growing frog in Tad by Benji Davies. I loved the colorful illustrations, how it explains the growth of a frog, and the powerful message of strength. 

After Davies' story, we counted frogs on the flannel board and then went to reading our next book, I'm a Duck by Eve Bunting. This story is about a cute duck who is conquering his swimming fears in his pond. 

For our craft, we made our own duck using construction paper, cupcake liners, and googly eyes. 

This storytime shows how kids can learn from nature around them.