Storytime Favorites: Color Pockets

Like most children's librarians, I inherited a treasure trove of odd things from past librarians. This prop is one that sat on the shelf in my storytime closet until one day I was poking around for a movement that would work with a "colors" theme.

My color pocket consists of five crayons on vari-colored cardstock, with a cardstock "pocket" made of two pieces taped together and a space at the top, and everything laminated for sturdiness. Surprisingly, all the crayons fit in the pocket quite nicely.

But how exactly to use them? A little Googling produced the idea of the "Color Pokey."

You put your purple in, you put your purple out

You put your purple in and you shake it all about. 

You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around

That's what it's all about!

 (continue on with all the other colors)

The webpage I found suggested colored streamers, but I liked this better. There was some lag time in between verses as kids found and fished out the next color, but they didn't mind. 

I want to use this again, and I also want to figure out other ways of using it. Thoughts?

Reading Roundup: May 2014

By the Numbers
Picture Books: 12

Sources
Library: all

Standouts
Writing: Don't Play With Your Food! by Bob Shea
A monster intends to eat some bunnies, but for some reason he keeps getting distracted. Could the bunnies have anything to do with that? . . . Of course they do. Smart and funny, and dang those bunnies are cute.
Illustration: Have You Seen My Dragon? by Steve Light
The intricacy of the pages (there are so many details to pore over!) are balanced by the simple pen-and-ink style, with one element that pops out in color. A visual treat of New York City, and all the places a dragon can hide therein.
Overall: Silly Doggy! by Adam Stower
When Lily finds a bear in her backyard, she immediately proclaims it her new doggy. I love the interplay between the words and the pictures, and the visual contrast between teeny-tiny Lily and that gigantic bear.

Because I Want To Awards
Read This After Watching Toy Story: Found by Salina Yoon
When a bear finds a stuffed bunny lost in the forest, he tries to do the right thing and get it back to its owner. But he's forming his own attachment. The end will make you awwwwwwwwww.
Naked Presidents and the Line of Succession, How Can You Lose?: President Taft is Stuck in the Bath by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen
Besides the gleeful fun of the various proposed methods for getting the POTUS out of his tub, there's actually a little educational content in all the various secretaries and such.
Ugly Duckling, with Teeth! And Fire!: The Crocodile Who Didn't Like Water by Gemma Marino
Like it says. That lil' croc is just too cute for words, with his water wings and everything.

Reading Roundup: April 2014

By the Numbers
Picture Books: 13
Early Readers: 4

Sources
Library: 14

Standouts
Writing: Living with Mom and Living with Dad by Melanie Walsh
The small narrator details life in two households. I loved that it didn't try to explain or fix divorce; it's just the way things are.
Illustration: Andrew Drew and Drew by Barney Saltzberg
A young artist lets his imagination take wing in all sorts of unexpected ways. Lift the flap to see where his line goes next!
Overall: Elephant's Story by Tracey Campbell Pearson
Elephant finds a book and accidentally snorfles all the words. Who on earth is going to help him get them back in proper order? Perhaps the book's original owner can help.

Because I Want To Awards
The Cycle of Life: Two Bunny Buddies by Kathryn O. Galbraith, illustrated by Joe Cepeda
Bunnies fight, bunnies make up. So it goes. The simple, three or four word sentences make this a great easy reader text as well as a sweet picture book.
Best Twist: The Monster Returns by Peter McCarty
Uhoh, Jeremy's monster is on his way back! Whatever will Jeremy do? The answer will surprise you.

Reading Roundup: March 2014

By the Numbers
Picture Books: 14
Early Readers: 2

Sources
Library: 15

Standouts
Writing: Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match/Marisol McDonald No Combina by Monica Brown
As a kid who "didn't match" myself, I really appreciated this story of a little girl nimbly balancing between two cultures.
Illustration: Red Sled by Lita Judge
What does a bear do on a snowy night? Abscond with a sled left unwisely out. Duh. The glee on the faces of the animals made me smile all the way through.
Overall: Chloe and the Lion by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Adam Rex
Who's most important, the author or the illustrator? Work out the answer for yourself.

Because I Want To Awards
Definitely Has Points Over "Because It'll Make Your Hair Curly": Tales for Picky Eaters by Josh Schneider
A father explains to his son all the myriad and hilarious reasons to eat the food he rejects.
Awwwww, the End: Laika: Astronaut Dog by Owen Davey
Because who didn't sob heartbrokenly when you found out what really happened to Laika? It's undeniably a fix-it ending, but that's okay.
Awwwww, the End, Part Deux: Duck, Death, and the Tulip by Wolf Erlbruch
It's not like Erlbruch doesn't telegraph the end from the beginning, but it turned out surprisingly sweet and satisfying.

Book Review: Cheese Belongs to You! by Alexis Deacon, illustrated by Viviane Schwarz

Book: Cheese Belongs to You!
Author: Alexis Deacon
Illustrator: Viviane Schwarz
Published: 2013
Source: Local Library

By Rat Law, the cheese belongs to the first rat who finds it. Or the stronger rat, who can take it from him. Or the rat who can take it from him . . . or the one who can take it from her . . . Now the puzzle is, who really gets the cheese in the end?

When I first read this, I just smiled at the pile-on of rats taking the cheese, and Viviane Schwarz’s rats, who are astonishingly distinctive (and kinda scary) given how many of them there are. On my second read-through, I realized there’s a story about how things escalate in an everyone-for-himself society. When you get to the page with the rat free-for-all, it’s funny but also a little sad. The fight sprawls across two whole pages, with the disputed cheese (and the rat who found it first) off to one side, pretty much forgotten.

Of course, anybody who’s ever attended kindergarten knows there’s another way to deal with this situation, and the book ends with a rat feast stretching off into the distance. A great one for discussing sharing and getting along.

Reading Roundup: January and February 2014

By the Numbers
Picture Books: 9
Early Readers: 2

Sources
Library: 11

Standouts
Writing: Dodsworth in Rome by Tim Egan
How many early readers do you see about a character's adventures in a whole different country? And his troublesome duck companion? I want to see where else Dodsworth has gone.
Illustration: Georgia in Hawaii: When Georgia O'Keeffe Painted What She Pleased, illustrated by Yuyi Morales, written by Amy Novesky
Did you know Georgia O'Keeffe went to Hawaii? I didn't either. Morales adopts some of the famous painter's style in her portrayal of the islands and the artist's adventures through the landscape.
Overall: Maria Tenia Una Llamita/Mary Had a Little Llama by Angela Dominguez
This was the book I carried around the library for a day like a four-year-old with a new favorite, forcing everyone to read it. Remaining mostly faithful to the traditional nursery rhyme, the pages burst with good cheer and adorable llamas. Not to mention that Peruvian landscape.

Because I Want To Awards
All of the Meta!: The Princess and the Pig by Jonathan Emmett, illustrated by Poly Bernatene
With the refrain "It's the kind of thing that happens all the time in books" this story is commenting aplenty on fairy tale tropes, and it made me giggle.
Have Your Earplugs Ready: Trains Go by Steve Light AND And the Cars Go . . . by William Bee
Oh, the noise of these books! Honks and clangs and chugs . . . I can't wait to read them in storytime and see how cacophonous it gets.
Dare You Not to Smile: Underwater Dogs, Kids Edition by Seth Casteel
Okay, the text ain't much to write home about. But the soggy, exuberant doggies in the photographs make up for all of that.

Book Review: When Lions Roar by Robie H. Harris, illustrated by Chris Raschka

Book: When Lions Roar
Author: Robie H. Harris
Illustrator: Chris Raschka
Published: 2013
Source: Local Library

The world is scary. This is fact. There are things like lions and thunderstorms and angry parents. But the young protagonist knows that these things will pass, and he has a can’t-fail technique for making them go.

Harris’s text is simple and reassuring, and Raschka’s distinctive watercolor style takes you from the anxious times into peace and quiet. A beautiful new book from two titans of children’s literature.