#45 - If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Jeffe Numeroff

Summary: What happens when you give a big, hungry moose a muffin? He asks for jam. And when he's finished eating every last crumb, he'll ask you to make another batch. That means a trip to the store for muffin mix. Of course the moose would like to go too, but it's cold outside and he may need to borrow a sweater; he might notice a button is loose, in which case he'll require a needle and thread...
  
Suggested Activity: Stand Up - Sit Down

Turn story time into an interactive activity by engaging students in a Stand Up - Sit Down listening game.  Begin the story with all students sitting, but tell them to stand up when they hear the commonly repeated word "moose." 

As you read the word pause so that students can stand up. When you come to the word again the students should sit down. Continue reading, with students standing up and sitting down as necessary, until you reach the end of the book.

Curriculum Area: Listening and Speaking (hears and discriminates the sounds of language, expresses self using words and expanded language)
 
Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#44 - It's Hard to be Five by Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell

A squirmy 5-year-old struggles as he learns "how to work [his] control panel" and do the things a 5-year-old is supposed to do. His mind tells him how he should act and what he should do, but he finds himself doing just the opposite. His world is changing, and he feels frustrated. But he also begins to realize that as he gains greater control, he becomes more independent -- and independence can be fun!

Suggested Activity: My Own Cheer (Tune: Twinkle,Twinkle, Little Star)  

(Child’s name), (Child’s name),
she’s so neat!
She loves (favorite food)
when she eats.
Her hair is (hair color)
and (hair style or length) too.
She’s my friend
and so are YOU!
(Child’s name), (Child’s name),
she’s so neat!
We always smile when we meet!

Curriculum Area: Listening and Speaking (hears and discriminates the sounds of language, expresses self using words and expanded language)
 
Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#43 - Come on Rain by Karen Hesse

Summary: The detailed prose poem of Come on Rain deftly captures the magic of a sudden rainstorm on a sweltering hot day in the city. Tessie and her mother are waiting impatiently for the rain and when it does come they dance with their friends and neighbors,"tromping through puddles, romping and reeling in the moisty green air." 

Suggested Activity: Rainstorm Rhythm

Sit in a circle with eyes closed. A leader begins by rubbing hand palms together. Person to the right picks it up until the whole group is participating. Then the teacher switches to hand claps and that moves around the circle. Next is thigh slaps, then foot stomps, with periodical "claps" of lightning. Reverse the order to show the storm dying out. 

Curriculum Area: Representation and Symbolic Thinking (takes on pretend roles and situations)

Appropriate Age Group: 5 and up

#42 - Pass the Celery, Ellery! by Jeff Fisher

Summary:  Pass the Celery, Ellery is more than just a book - it's a game too! Have you every tried to rhyme what you're eating with a person's name? This book inspires you to do just that. " Pass the spaghetti, Betty." "Pass the meat, Pete." This book is one part abecedary, one part dinner table diversion,  and one part eye candy.

Suggested Activity:  Celery Experiment

 

This is a fun and visual experiment that introduces children to the concept of osmosis.

1. Separate and select stalks of celery with leaves. Cut about a quarter inch off the bottom.
2. Put water into glass jar or vase.
3. Drop 3-4 drops of food coloring into jar.
4. Place stalks into the water and using stalk stir very gently until food coloring is dispersed evenly.
5. Make 2-3 observations. Check after one hour, 4 hours and 8 hours or overnight to see developments.
6. Cut the bottom of the celery and you can see where the water was transported up into the celery stem.

Curriculum Area: Learning and Problem Solving (observes objects and events with curiosity, explores cause and effect, applies knowledge or experience to a new context) 

Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#41 - Chopsticks by Amy Krause Rosenthyal

Summary:  One member of a pair of chopsticks suffers an accident.  Encouraged by his injured friend to get out and go, the healthy chopstick discovers his hidden strengths by joining in a game of pick-up sticks, testing cupcakes for doneness and conducting a cutlery band. When the friend recovers, the two find that being apart has made each of them even stronger. 

Suggested Activity: Chopstick Activities

Give each child a pair of chopsticks and have them practice picking up cotton balls, gummy bears, or other small objects.

Curriculum Area: Fine Motor Skills (controls small muscles in hands, coordinates eye-hand movement, uses tools for writing and drawing)

Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#40 - Ballerina Swan by Allegra Kent

Summary:  Sophie the swan sits in her city pond, gazing longingly through the windows of a dance studio. She dreams of becoming a ballerina. The hard work begins when the dance instructor Miss Willow invites her to join the class. Sophie’s gawky webbed feet won’t turn out. Her wings won’t align into graceful ports de bras. But Sophie practices, practices, practices, and soon she’s invited to audition for — what else? — Swan Lake!

Suggested Activity: Feather Dance

Give each child a colorful feather to dance with. While the music is playing, encourage children to keep the feather up in the air by blowing it. You can listen and dance to  Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake here.

Curriculum Area: Gross Motor Skills (shows balance while moving, demonstrates basic locomotor skills)

Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up   

#39 - If You Were a Bear by Rachel Mazur

Summary: Can you imagine having paws instead of hands or eating ants and acorns?  It must be really different to be a bear! Or is it? Little bear cubs need food, shelter, and safety, just like you and me. This book explores what it's really like to be a bear and how we can help protect them.

Suggested Activity:  I Can Wiggle My Bear Claws

 

I can wiggle my bear claws, (wiggle hands)
I can wiggle my bear paws, (wiggle feet)
I can wiggle my bear shoulders,(wiggle shoulders)
I can wiggle my cold bear nose. (wiggle nose with finger)
Now all my wiggles are out of me, (wiggle whole body)
And I can sit as quiet as can be. (sit down)

Curriculum Area: Listening and Speaking (hears and discriminates the sounds of language, expresses self using words and expanded language)
 
Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up

#38 - Fall Leaves Fall! by Zoe Hall

Summary:  Fall Leaves Fall focuses on autumn leaves and all the things two imaginative children do with them. Leaves are for watching, catching, stomping, kicking, and collecting, and big piles of freshly raked leaves are perfect for jumping into.

Suggested Activity: Fall Leaves Collage

Use leaves and drawing materials to create fall-themed collages just like in the book! Provide children with a variety of leaves, glue, markers or crayons, and paper. Ask the children to dictate descriptions about their finished pictures and invite them to share their finished work during group time. Encourage the children to compare the different ways they used the leaves and art materials.

Curriculum Area: Fine Motor Skills (controls small muscles in hands, coordinates eye-hand movement, uses tools for writing and drawing)

Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up

#37 - For Just One Day by Laura Leuck

Summary: What critter would you like to be for just one day? A porcupine perhaps? "A coat of needles would be fine if I could be a porcupine." This book explores the fun of being a variety of animals from around the world. A mirror on the final page reminds children that the very best thing they can be is exactly who they are.

Suggested Activity:  Play-Doh Porcupines

You will need Play-Doh and toothpicks for this activity. Ask your child to roll a ball first, then put toothpicks in it one by one to make a prickly porcupine.

Curriculum Area: Fine Motor Skills (controls small muscles in hands, coordinates eye-hand movement, uses tools for writing and drawing)

Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#36 - Lines That Wiggle by Candace Whitman

Summary:   Lines That Wiggle is a rollicking rhyming story about "lines that tickle, lines that sprout, bugs have lines that stick right out."Follow the glittery line that runs through this picture book and turns itself into all kinds of things: the waves above an octopus, the veins in a leaf, the wrappings curling around a mummy, and the trapping threads of a spiderweb.

Suggested Activity: String Painting

You will need two pieces of white drawing paper for each child, tempera paint in bowls, and 12 inch lengths of string (at least three per child). Hold one end and dip string into paint. Lay string on paper to create a design. Redip and repeat, or use a new string and a new color. For a print design, press a second sheet of paper on top of the string design and lightly press.

 
Curriculum Area: Fine Motor Skills (controls small muscles in hands, coordinates eye-hand movement, uses tools for writing and drawing)

Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#35 - I'm Bored by Michael Ian Black

Summary: I'm Bored, stars a little girl and a potato. The girl tries to convince an unimpressed spud of all the amazing things kids can do. Kids can tame lions, turn cartwheels, and fly!

Suggested Activity: Pretend Potato Toss
 
Use a brown bean bag (or a pair of rolled up brown socks) as a pretend potato.  Have the children try to toss the bean bag into a laundry basket. 

Curriculum Area: Gross Motor Skills (demonstrates throwing and catching skills)

Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up   

#34 - My Dog is as Smelly as Dirty Socks by Hanoch Piven

Summary: How would you draw your family? See how one clever girl accomplishes it in this picture book that's comprised of family portraits made out of objects. For example, her dad is jumpy as a spring, as playful as a spinning top, as fun as a party favor, and sometimes as stubborn as a knot in a rope.  

Suggested Activity: Sock Game

Everyone takes off one sock, including teachers! Place all of the socks in a bag. While sitting in a circle, ask one child at a time to close his or her eyes and pick a sock out of the bag. The child has to find the person in the circle wearing the matching sock. The child or adult with the matching sock will be the next to pick a sock. Repeat this until everyone has had a turn, and everyone has a matching pair of socks.

Curriculum Area: Logical Thinking (classifies objects, uses one-to-one correspondence)

Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up

#33 - Mud by Mary Lyn Ray

Summary: This is an ode to muddy hands and feet, brown warm earth, and sprouting grass. The simple text and energetic illustrations will make children and grown-upa alike want to sink their feet into gooey, gloppy, mucky, magnificent mud.

Suggested Activity: Mud Finger Painting

Fill a dishpan with dirt (high clay content works best, but any "clean" soil will do). Fill another dishpan with water. Provide several large, washable trays and several plastic scoops for the soil and the water. Children put on smocks and scoop soil and water onto their trays. Let child enjoy experimenting with this new "mud finger paint" they create by mixing soil and water together.

Curriculum Area: Fine Motor Skills (controls small muscles in hands, coordinates eye-hand movement, uses tools for writing and drawing)

Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up

#32 - Clarabella's Teeth by An Vrombaut

Summary: Rosie, Max, Liam, and Zoe are painting pictures, playing games, and having lunch, but Clarabella the crocodile can’t join them. She’s busy brushing her teeth—and it takes a long time because crocodiles have so many teeth! After she misses a whole day’s worth of activities, her friends surprise her with a giant crocodile-size toothbrush. Tomorrow Clarabella will be able to brush her teeth and have fun, too.


Suggested Activity: My Toothbrush Fingerplay

 

I have a little toothbrush. (use pointer finger)

I hold it very tight. (make hand into fist)

I brush my teeth each morning, and then again at night.

(use pointer finger and pretend to brush)

 
Curriculum Area: Sense of Self (takes responsibility for own well-being)

Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up

#31 - Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig

Summary: On a rainy day, Sylvester finds a magic pebble that can make wishes come true. But when a lion frightens him on his way home, Sylvester makes a wish that brings unexpected results. How Sylvester is eventually reunited with his loving family and restored to his true self makes a story that is beautifully tender and filled with true magic. 

Suggested Activity:  Rock and Roll

Young children love rocks! Let children use a pan balance to compare the weights of various rocks. Have them predict which rocks will be the heaviest and the lightest. Then have them test their predictions.

Curriculum Area: Learning and Problem Solving (observes objects and events with curiosity, explores cause and effect, applies knowledge or experience to a new context) 

Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#30 - Look! Look! Look! at Sculpture - by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

Summary: Look at what three frisky mice find at a museum! They discover that sculptures can be big or little, textured or smooth, and made with different materials.

These creative critters draw three-dimensional representations on sketchpads and with colored clay they make rectangles which they arrange into groupings that can be viewed in different ways.

Suggested Activity:  Pipe Cleaner Sculpture

For this activity you will need a piece of Styrofoam, pipe cleaners of various lengths and widths, beads in various sizes, hole sizes and colors, and any other object with a hole in them (such as straws, pasta, etc.).

Lay out the materials on the table or work area. Show children how the pipe cleaners can be stuck into the Styrofoam. They can slide beads, straws, pasta, and other interesting items onto the pipe cleaners.

Curriculum Area: Fine Motor Skills (controls small muscles in hands, coordinates eye-hand movement, uses tools for writing and drawing)

Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up

#29 - The Itsy Bitsy Spider by Iza Trapani

Summary: Everyone knows and loves the Itsy Bitsy Spider, but Iza Trapani has added new and lively verses to the song.  This all-new itsy bitsy spider has exciting encounters with a fan, a mouse, a rocking chair, and a cat. She finally makes her way to the top of a maple tree to spin her web. 

Suggested Activity:  Spin a Web

Cut about 16 slits around the edges of a paper plate. I prefer to use brightly colored plates such as orange or lime green. Tape a long piece of black yarn to the back of the plate. Then weave the yarn back and forth across the plate’s front to form a web. Tape down in back and accent the web with a spider! 

Curriculum Area: Fine Motor Skills (controls small muscles in hands, coordinates eye-hand movement, uses tools for writing and drawing)

Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#28 - My Snake Blake by Randy Siegel

Summary: Blake the snake is a little boy’s perfect friend right out of the birthday-present box. He calms the boy’s alarmed mother by spelling out the word "relax" with his body. 

Blake answers all of the boys tough homework answers, eats his Brussels sprouts, and hisses at the school bully.  The boy knows that dogs, cats, and horses will always be the most popular pets but, he's lucky to have his spectacular snake Blake.

Suggested Activity: Snake Tag

Select one child to be the snake. In the fashion of tag, have the child tag another child. The second child then joins hands with the first. Together the snake now tries to tag a third child, who, in turn, joins the snake. The game continues until all the children are part of the snake. 

Curriculum Area: Gross Motor Skills (demonstrates basic locomotor skills, shows balance while moving)

Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up