Best outreach ever!

This morning, I did a storytime for school-age kids at the YMCA summer camp. It was so much fun, and the older kids were actually really enthusiastic. (Sometimes those tweens can be a tough nut to crack!) We sang 2 songs and read 3 books, then talked about the Summer Reading Program.

Instead of a welcome song, I asked them to do their camp cheer for me, which was very long and very loud! We also sang The Pizza Hut Song (which I sang at camp as a kid) and Bananas (the Jim Gill version, which I love and play at almost every single storytime).

The books were a big hit. The camp director gave me the theme of "Time Warp," so these are the two I chose:

Otto Grows Down by Michael Sussman. It's about a 6-year-old, but really the older kids liked it and understood it a little better than the younger ones. Otto wishes on his birthday that his baby sister had never been born, so time starts going backwards. The best part is when the author starts describing how weird it would be to have normal, everyday things go backwards, especially going to the bathroom! The kids loved that part - so gross.

The Case of the Train Without Wheels and Other True History Mysteries for You to Solve by Patrice Sherman. THIS WAS FANTASTIC. It's one-page mysteries (like, "How did King Tut die?" with a few clues), and the next page gives what historians think is the true answer. They wanted me to read the whole thing, but I didn't have time. The kids were telling each other all about history and were so excited when they guessed the correct answer. I need to find more books like this!

Favorite Class Visit book

I missed the J meeting this week where everyone shared their favorite class visit books, so I thought I would throw in my two cents...

Parts by Tedd Arnold

 

"A five-year-old boy thinks his body is falling apart untill he learns new teeth grow and hair and skin replace themselves." A classic! Gross enough to satisfy any first-grader.

Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions by Chris Barton

"Chronicles the life and achievements of the NASA engineer and inventor, from his childhood to his accidental invention of the Super-Soaker water gun." Great STEAM bio. The teachers especially like this one!

Kindergarten Class Visits

Kindergarten Class Visit

 After all my class visits last year I decided I need to find new class visit books, I'm really getting sick of my old ones.  Today marks the beginning of a month of class visits and decided to try out two new books.

Frog on a Log? by Kes Gray & Jim Field
"But I don't want to sit on a log," said the frog.  "Logs are all hard and uncomfortable.  And they can give you splinters.  Ouch!"
"I don't care," said the cat.
"You're a frog, so you must sit on a long."
This is the start of an explanation of what all animals sit on because the words rhyme.  Storks sit on Forks, Fleas sit on Peas, etc.  The ending is funny and surprising and all the kids and parents loved it.

I Am Not a Chair! by Ross Burach

On the first day in the jungle Giraffe is mistaken for a chair...which leads to some funny illustrations and happenings....I really like the end of this book too.  I got this book yesterday and thought it was great, decided to see if it would pass the "Olivia" test, it did, so I tried it.  I would say the kids enjoyed the Frog book better, but I still really like this book.  I will use it again.