Book of the Month: I'm Sticking with You

I chose I'm Sticking with You by Smriti Prasadam-Halls and illustrated by Steve Small for January's Book of the Month. If you are looking for a picture book that is sweet and loving while teaching friendship this is a great choice to read.

Summary: It's wonderful to have good friends to see you through the good times and the bad. But sometimes, friends can also be a bit...well...overbearing. 

Ages: 4-8 years

"I'm ready to listen to all your ideas. Ready to be there to help you along...Even if sometimes it goes a bit wrong."

Rhyming words and simple pictures complete this book on friendship and love. Prasadam-Halls explains that friendship involves sticking together through the hard times and understanding that sometimes you'll need a break only to miss your friend. 

This is a great book for a frienship storytime because it is short and teaches the characteristics of friendship and love. 

Family Storytime: Valentine's Day

We celebrated all things hearts, hugs, and kisses in our Valentine's Day storytime. There are so many sweet books for this theme that after our bean bag song, we dove into our first story.

The Day It Rained Hearts is a classic by Felicia Bond. I originally was going to use this story for another program, but ended up saving it for our storytime. This is a story about a girl who collects different hearts that are falling from the sky. (A great story and art tie-in is using this book with puffy paint and construction paper hearts). 

As tempted as I was to continue reading, I introduced our flannel board activity. This was a matching hearts color activity. I had different colored "broken" hearts that each child could put their matching color on the flannel board. This was good matching and color practice.

Our next book was You Know What I Love? by Lorena Siminovich. This is a story about a girl who has a doll and all the things she loves doing with her throughout her day. 

Next, we read Valentine's Are For Saying I Love You by Margaret Sutherland. I pretty much read this one every year because it explains the holiday and isn't too long. 

 

We took a break from picture books and I told a story using the flannel board. Thousands of Valentines for Hundreds of Friends is a flannel story about a class who is handing out different valentines. One student insists he has thousands of valentines for hundreds of friends. As his classmates and us as a group are trying to figure out how he can have thousands of valentines, we find out that his friends are birds and his valentines are bird seeds. The older kids in the group liked guessing throughout the story. I gave hints like asking what flies in the air and lands on tree branches and tweets. 

I read a few short poems from Bear Hugs by Karma Wilson and Suzanne Watts before we read our last Valentine's Day story, How Do You Hug a Porcupine? by Laurie Isop. The kids absolutely loved this one and I did too because it captivated their attention and you find out exactly how to hug a porcupine and other animals.

For our craft, we made a heart that hugs out of construction paper. The craft went a little fast, but the group enjoyed making their heart their own. 

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Book of the Month: That's Me Loving You

For February's Book of the Month, I chose That's Me Loving You by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. 

Summary: Amy Krouse Rosenthal captures parents' desire to be ever-present in this simple and touching poem offering reassurance of their love. Signs of affection can be found in the natural world around us--from a soft breeze to a shimmering star. ~From Goodreads.com

Age Range: 3 to 7

"That feeling you always have in your heart? That's me loving you."

What originally urged me to pick up this book was the sweet illustration on the cover of a mom sharing an embrace with her child, surrounded by beautiful nature. This is a simple picture book about the love between a parent and a child, with the message being that they will always be loved by their parents no matter how near or far they may be.

This book would work wonderfully for a Mother's Day storytime, Valentine's Day storytime, or a storytime about love. I also think this would be a great picture book to use for a younger child who may have lost their parent too soon. 

Amy Krouse Rosenthal sets out all what she was meaning to do, including writing a touching book that may tug at your heartstrings. I love how nature is used as a symbol of love.