I was informed by my shelver friend and partner in crime that most of the circ staff were wearing gloves last night.
"Warm gloves?"
No latex gloves, they were worried about getting sick
"Like catching the flu?"

No... Ebola. They didn't want to catch Ebola.

(Yes they were serious about this)

Storytime From the Liberry: The Letter H (Bonus Flannel Friday Story)

This Storytime is brought to you by the letter H!

Inspiration for this one came from the story/poem " The House that Jack Built" specifically from the Disney 1956 short cartoon which set it to music.

I wish there was a book of this version! I think its' so clever how the shape of the letters create the animals and characters.

However I was having a hard time finding an actual book version of the nursery rhyme that was suitable for my toddler crowd. I need one that was shorter. After much fruitless searching and finding none to my liking (I'm picky) I decided to just make it a flannel story instead.

Disclaimer: The only thing truly flannel about this is that its on a flannel board. My preferred method is drawing and coloring my own designs on card stock, laminating them and sticking them up with double sided tape.

The House that Jack Built (For the Younger Crowd)

This is the house that Jack built
This is the cheese that lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the rat, that ate the cheese, that lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the cat, who chased the rat, that ate the cheese, that lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the dog, who worried the cat, who chased the rat, that ate the cheese, that lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the cow with the crumpled horn, who tossed the dog, who worried the cat, who chased the rat, that ate the cheese, that lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the maiden, all forlorn, who milked the cow with the crumpled horn, who tossed the dog, who worried the cat, who chased the rat, that ate the cheese, that lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the man all tattered and torn, who kissed the maiden all forlorn,who milked the cow with the crumpled horn, who tossed the dog, who worried the cat, who chased the rat, that ate the cheese, that lay in the house that Jack built.

The House the Jack Built

Close up of the man and the maiden

Close up of all the animals (floating in space!)

I shorten the rhyme and changed some elements. For example the "malt" becomes the "cheese" and the cat no longer kills the rat but chases him instead. You can always add more elements (preacher, rooster, farmer etc.) if you have a older group with a longer attention spans. There is also a pattern for this nursery rhyme in The Flannel Board Storytelling Book by Judy Sierra.

Books:

The Tree House that Jack Built by Verburg and Teague- Brand new book, just published this year. Better for older kids (preschool age)

We Were Tired of Living in a House by Leisel Moak Skorpen

Giddy Up! Let's Ride by Flora McDonnell

Clip Clop by Nicola Smee - Great book to act out during storytime!

Activities:

We adapted This is the Way the Ladies Ride from a lap sit song to letting the kids just pretend their were riding horses on their own. Obviously they only got excited and participated once we got to the "cowboy" part and went really fast.  

Johnny Has One Hammer

10 Horses- A finger play

Check out More Flannel Friday Fun at this week's round up hosted by Notes from the Story Room and the Flannel Friday blog

Storytime from the Liberry: The Land of Nod

Bedtime storytime at the library. It's a good excuse to keep the kids in their pajamas if you bring them in the morning...or get them ready for bed early if you bring them to an evening one. Should be a win win for parents and kids either way.

I have two storytime dealing with a bedtime/night theme. One focuses on nocturnal animals and classic getting ready for bed stories. (Bump in the Night) My second one I call "The Land of Nod"
because I'm an old soul. This one focuses on lullabies, poetry and picture books about outer space.

BOOKS:
Wynken Blynken and Nod-Poem by Eugene W. Field- Yes I'm going old, old school with this one. There are called classics for a reason. There could be a possibility to work an entire storytime or family program around this book.

Hey Diddle Diddle by Eve Bunting
Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle
When the Moon Smiled by Petr Horacek
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by Jerry Pinkey (There are lots of different version of this song/story but I love the gorgeous illustrations by Jerry Pinkey)





Activites:
Bedtime Rhymes galore! We did a lot of singing and rhyming in this storytime.

Twinkling Stars
At night I see the twinkling stars (Fists up and open hands)
And a great big smiling moon (Hands form a circle over head)
My mommy tucks me into bed (Lay pointer finger across the palm of the opposite hand)
And sings a good-night tune. (Rock your hands back and forth)

The Man in the Moon

The man in the moon,
Looked out of the moon
Looked out of the moon and said,
“It’s time for all the children on earth
To think about getting to bed!”

I also found an extra verse for Wee Willie Winkie on wikipedia of all places. It's perfect for the library!
 
Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town
Upstairs, downstairs in his night gown
Rapping at the windows, searching all the nooks
To count the many children, reading library books!

Another book that I just recently discovered is The Midnight Library by Kazuno Kohara.
It is an adorable book about a little girl who has a library in the forest at night which she opens to the animals. It is run with the help of her three little owl assistants!  I want owls to help me in the library! It would be awesome like Harry Potter, until the owls pooped everywhere :\ It very relate-able to library workers everywhere and the illustrations are charmingly cute while at the same time being rather minimalist.

Good night books, good night chairs, good night libraries everywhere.