Friday, October 26, 2012

Huck Runs Amuck!

Huck, the bug-eyed, bucktoothed wonder, JUST CAN'T RESIST! He's a goat with "super-grip toes," and a desperate obsession for flowers--especially the hard-to-reach kind. Faced with a bleak, flowerless landscape, Huck is compelled to use his unparalleled climbing skills to reach impossible heights for that last patch of...flowery underpants?

Huck's quest is foiled again and again. A tragic outcome looms with each turn of the page. The suspense mounts. Must he make do with munching on plain, brown cardboard boxes or (gasp) rolls of pink toilet paper for the rest of his unnatural existence? No! His single-minded focus wins the day; much to the chagrin of the wedding party. Wedding party? Hey, back up a minute--what wedding?

Children and their reading partners will snort and hoot at Sean Taylor's clever mix of repetitive phrasing, rhyme, and prose as they follow the silly goat's misadventures as interpreted by Peter Reynold's hilariously apropos illustrations. In Huck Runs Amuck, the esteem-building magic of perseverance shines through the eyes of our cloven-hoofed friend--and it is quite infectious.

MightyM

Monday, October 22, 2012

Nursery Rhyme Fun

Are you looking for a fun way to play with you baby, toddler, or preschooler?  Try teaching them a nursery rhyme.  Nursery rhymes are short, easy-to-remember, and often come with music or fingerplays that engage multiple learning styles.  Because they're fun, and offer variety of ways to play together, they've become a standard piece in our weekly storytimes.

 A lesser-known rhyme that is popular in my Babytime is Pizza, Pickle, Pumpernickel.

Pizza, Pickle, Pumpernickel
Pizza, pickle, pumperickel
My little gal (guy) shall have a tickle.
One for her (his) nose,
One for her (his) toes,
And one for her (his) tummy
Where the hot dog goes!

There are multiple ways you can enjoy this rhyme.  Bounce baby on your lap, tickling each body part as you say it.  Give a toddler a rattle or something else to shake, or clap to the rhyme.  Preschoolers can tap the out the rhythm with more sophisticated percussion instruments like sticks, bells, or tambourines.

Hickory, Dickory, Dock is another good bouncing rhyme.  Run your fingers up one arm and down the other, gently patting baby's head or nose or giving her a kiss or lift her up in the air for each dong of the clock's bell.  For a toddler, you can make your fingers run up one side of his body and down the other.  By the time a child is three he or she will enjoy taking over the mouse part.

Nursery rhymes that can be sung are especially appealing. There's something about a simple melody that helps us remember the words.  Other rhymes may be unfamiliar to parents, but everyone joins in when we sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or Mary Had a Little Lamb. At the Dusenberry-River Library we usually end our nursery rhyme play by singing Do You Know the Muffin Man? Last week I overhead a small voice in our children's room singing Muffin Man while he worked on a puzzle.  He was oblivious to his audience, who probably found the tune swimming in their heads for the rest of the morning.

-Miss Meg

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Where's Ellie? (The Infinite Loop)

 
What's more fun than a periwinkle pachyderm?
 
Playing hide-and-seek with a periwinkle pachyderm!
 
Salina Yoon has created another fun book for the under 5 set: Where's Ellie?  This little board book will have you reading, talking and playing with your child as the two of you  move through this colorful, bright world.  Together you can help a little ladybug find her friend Ellie.  It's not as easy as it sounds.  Is that Ellie hiding behind the plant?  No, it's just a teapot!  How about behind the cactus or the flowers?  Not there either.  Naturally, Ellie is hiding behind something much larger.  (I don't want to give it away but it starts with a "tuh" and ends with a "ree.")  Fair warning though, the book ends with the line, "Let's play again," and your child will most likely want to!
 
Although as adults re-reading the same board book or picture book can quickly become tedious, reading the same book over and over helps your child to develop early literacy skills.  Becoming familiar with the story allows them to predict what will happen next and helps them to engage more fully in the reading process.  Pretty soon, you can take a break and ask your child to read the story to you.
 
When you're ready for more reading fun, bring your child to one of our storytime programs and see what other fun books you can discover.