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We had so much fun with this one. The first book is a touch long compared to what I normally read in story time, but folks seemed to enjoy it. Our second book was shorter to accommodate. Everyone loved the song.

Book 1: Song in the City by Daniel Bernstrom

This book is truly one of my favorites. A little girl (it is subtly illustrated to show that she is sight impaired or blind) and her grandmother take the bus to church. The little girl begs her grandma to listen to the music of the city, but grandma is just too busy. Finally, she gets grandma to sit down and listen, resulting in a beautiful ode to city noises and the power of listening to children.

Theme Song: Mi Cuerpo Hace Musica (specifically this version by Hot Peas ‘n Butter, there are many versions of this song out there but I like the pacing of this one)

Book 2: City Animals by Simms Taback

An oldie but a goodie. The author introduces us to several city animals by making us guess what they are through clues and big pictures.

Favorite songs, specifically The Elevator Song and Engine Number 9

Normally I publish my story times after I do them, but in case anyone is looking for eclipse story time ideas in advance of the upcoming one on April 8th, here you go!

Hello songs

Books (2 books at each story time, total of 4):

Theme songs:

A mostly made up little ditty, feel free to use it:

You could also do the classic Zoom, Zoom, Zoom:

Favorite songs and goodbye!

 

Our song for this theme is one of my favorites and ALWAYS a hit!

Hello songs

Book 1: Shape Up, Construction Trucks! by Victoria Allenby

Theme Song: Building Up This City by Benny Time

Book 2: Ten Little Bulldozers by Amanda Sobotka

Favorite songs and goodbye

We didn’t get much snow in these parts this year, so we spent most of February summoning the snow. I’m very happy to say we got a nice little blizzard towards the end of February! I like to think our story times helped bring the snow along. This was another story time theme done over many weeks, so I’ll do my best to list all the songs & stories we used or that I considered using but didn’t have time to try.

As always, I started with my hello songs, and ended with some favorite songs and a goodbye song.

Theme songs:

Winter Hokey Pokey by The Kiboomers
Snowflakes, Snowflakes by The Kiboomers
Winter Clothing Song by Dream English Kids (this one is very cute and funny)
Snowflake Ballet by Ballet Preschool Party

The Kiboomers in particular have tons of winter themed songs. Worth looking into!

Books:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I always love this theme because I get to sing one of my favorite Laurie Berkner songs!

Hello songs

Book 1: Ten on a Twig by Lo Cole

Theme Song: I Know A Chicken by Laurie Berkner (I just play the song in the background, we don’t watch the video)

If you don’t know this song I highly recommend you do it in story time immediately! Excellent shaker song!

Book 2: Hooray for Birds by Lucy Cousins

More shaker songs:

Play on Your Instruments by Judi Cranston
Shake Your Maraca by Little Groove
Shake Shake Shake by Nancy Kopman

I also had a very fun impromptu request from a little patron for La Bamba by Ritchie Valens

Goodbye song

Hello songs

Book 1: Peek-A-Boo Bunny by Holly Surplice

Theme Song: Little Bunnies Sleeping

Book 2: Everybunny Dance by Ellie Sandall

Favorite songs and goodbye!

While technically a five senses story time, our theme song was a bunny song based on the first book we read. We always love the little bunnies sleeping song!

Hello songs

Book 1: Hooray for Hoppy by Tim Hopgood

Hoppy the bunny uses his five senses to realize that spring has arrived!

Theme Song: Little Bunnies Sleeping

Book 2: Senses in the City by Shelley Rotner

Great for city kids or learning about the city, introduces kids to things they can see, smell, taste, hear and touch using real photographs.

Favorite songs and goodbye

This was two storytimes over one week, so I used the same theme song but read two different books at each one, so four books total.

Books:

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Got to do the classic right?

Monday is One Day by Arthur Levine

A sweet, simple book that helps kids understand why children and their grown-ups have to separate each day (such as the parent going to work)

Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young

A folktale (I think) in which seven blind mice discover a new “something” and explore it each day to find out what it is.

Today is Monday by Eric Carle

Another lovely but lesser known days of the week book by Eric Carle. This has also been turned into a song so it was fun to read it through, then sing the song together.

Song of the week:

A cool Addams family tune, easy to do with or without the recorded music: Addams Family Days of the Week (I play my music on Spotify but I know not everyone has it so this is the Youtube link)

As always we end storytime with some favorite songs and goodbye songs.

Honorary Mentions:

I didn’t end up reading these two books at storytime but they could also work well.

It’s Monday Mrs. Jolly Bones by Warren Hanson

A silly book in which Mrs. Jolly Bones has to do some chores, but gets everything all mixed up!

The Big Five by Bella Makatini

A grandpa teaches his grandchild about the five most common animals from his African homeland.

I was a touch nervous about this story time because the main theme song is a slow, meditative tune. However, it was a great success even with the large crowd our story times get. Grown-ups and kids alike loved the chance to stop and breathe. I did two story times over one week with the same theme song, so I’ll just include all the books I read (2 books for each story time, total of 4).

This a great story time for themes of wellness, getting hurt or feeling sick. I did it for New Year’s as I know lots of people are thinking about wellness during this time of year!

Books:

Poor Little Rabbit! by Jorg Muhle

I love Muhle’s simple, interactive Little Rabbit books. I particularly like how this one normalizes talking about blood and how to care for your body when you get mildly hurt.

Kiss Baby’s Boo-Boo by Karen Katz

Karen Katz, always an easy hit. This one also has a page in which the child’s teddy bear kisses the boo-boo. Love the nod to self-soothing.

Calling Dr. Zaza by Mylo Freeman

Another beloved series. I’ve read this one many times! Dr. Zaza spends the day curing her stuffed animals many ailments.

Little Faces Big Feelings: What Emotions Look Like by Amy Morrison

Love the real photos in this one!

Theme Song: Breathe In Breathe Out by Nancy Kopman

As always we also did some hello, goodbye, transition and favorite songs.

I was a little nervous about this storytime because the cat song I found is a little weird, but we had so much fun! I ended up doing both of my theme song options because we were just having a great time.

Hello songs

Book 1: Cat’s Colors by Jane Cabrera

I only recently discovered this lovely Jane Cabrera book in which a cute cat asks readers to guess her favorite color. Lovely for storytime.

Theme Song 1: Do Cats eat Ice Cream? by Desmond Dennis

This is a weird song by Youtube personality Desmond Dennis. I can’t speak to any of his other content whatsoever but my group definitely enjoyed the song. I especially like that the song is in an R&B style, which you don’t hear often in children’s music.

Re-focus song

Book 2: Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin & James Dean

Had to do the classic!

Theme Song 2: I See Something Blue by Super Simple Songs

I really dislike most songs about colors to be honest. Most recorded music color songs are just not suitable for storytime, but this one is a great choice. Slow but not too slow, and repetitive but not annoyingly so.

Favorites and goodbye!