Sturdy for Common Things

Spring Birds Storytime

Finally! Warmer weather. The trees are starting to bloom white and pink flowers, and the birds are back twittering away early each morning. This week’s storytime theme was all about the spring season and the birds. Originally, I wanted to make bird feeders after storytime, but a majority of simple bird feeder crafts require peanut butter and I don’t like to risk bringing in peanut butter due to food allergies. I also don’t have 40 milk cartons lying around, so that idea was nixed. Instead, I printed out instructions for how to make birdhouses and bird feeders for attendees to take with them after storytime, and the alternate craft turned out nicely if I do say so myself.

But I’m getting ahead of myself… Here’s what we read, discussed, and sang at “Spring Birds Storytime”.

Spring Birds Storytime Line-up:

When Blue Met Egg by Lindsay Ward

I love this book. I read it last year for storytime and it was so well received that I decided to read it again. Blue the bird was awakened by a mysterious egg (a snowball!) landing in her nest. She decides to look for the egg’s mother throughout New York City, and when she can’t find a mother (because it’s a snowball), she keeps egg and they become fast friends. A fun story with the sweetest springtime ending. Additionally, you can download a free paper doll template of Blue and worksheets from the author’s website here.

Cold Little Duck, Duck, Duck by Lisa Westberg Peters, illustrated by Sam Williams

This is a wonderful book for preschool age children. It has wonderful rhythm and great pictures to boot. Duck flew back a little too early to find her world was still winter. She dreams of spring to help stave off the cold.

Riki’s Birdhouse by Monica Wellington

I think there are only a couple of Monica Wellington’s book that I haven’t read for storytime yet. She does a great job taking a picture book and turning it into a teachable moment. Riki is fond the the birds in his yard, especially two new bluebirds. Riki builds the bluebirds a birdhouse, and so we follow Riki throughout the year and the ever changing seasons and life for the two bluebirds.

There is a Bird on Your Head! by Mo Willems

Always the crowd pleaser, Elephant and Piggie never fail to make kids laugh. In this Sibert Award Winner, Gerald finds himself in an undesirable situation where two birds start making a nest on his head.

Bird Songs by Betsy Franco, illustrated by Steve Jenkins

This turned out to be a fantastic read aloud. Bird Songs highlights a variety of different birds and their calls throughout one day. Each time a bird sang it’s call, I had the audience repeat the call back to me.

“Green Grass Grows All Around” Song and Flannel Board

I ended storytime with one of my favorite childhood songs, which was adapted by my co-worker into a springtime song and flannel board.

Green Grass Grows All Around

Traditional Song, Adapted by Jane Willis Johnston

There was a hole in the middle of the ground
The prettiest hole that you ever did see.
Well, the hole in the ground
And the green grass grew all around and around
And the green grass grew all around.

Additional Verses:
And in this hole there was a root
And on this root there was tree
And on this tree there was a branch
And on this branch there was twig
And on this twig there was a nest
And in this nest there was an egg
And on this egg there was a bird.
And from that bird there came a song.
Then all the world was filled with spring.

Ending:
Then all the world was filled with spring,
The prettiest spring you ever did see.
Well, the world full of spring,
And the song from the bird,
And the bird on the egg,
And the egg in the nest
And the nest on the branch,
And the branch on the tree,
And the tree on the roots,
And the roots in the hole
And the hole in the ground,
And the green grass grew all around, all around
And the green grass grew all around.

Spring Birds Craft:

For the post-storytime craft, we made these little Spring Birds (which I adapted from this craft featured on CAKIES). The prep was minimal and the kids had a fun time putting them together. It was challenging for the very little ones (3 & under), but the grownups were more than happy to assist.

Here’s how we made them:

Materials: twigs or sticks found outside and cut into 3-4 inch long peices, pipe cleaners, decorative birds found in the floral department of most craft stores, glitter, school glue, paint brush, and scissors.

First, take a few pipe cleaners and braid them.

Or…

Twist them together. The older children braided and the younger children twisted.

Once the pipe cleaners are twisted, shape into a arch.

And wrap the ends around each end of the stick once.

The decorative birds I purchased, like most decorative birds used in floral arrangements, have long wires attached.

Before storytime, I snipped the wire so that it wasn’t so long, and therefore easier for the kids to wrap around the stick. It’s not a necessary step for the success of the craft, so feel free to skip if you’d like.

With your selected bird, wrap the wire around the branch as many times as it will go around. This will secure the bird to the branch.

For some added flare, we glitter-ified our birds. Using school glue and a paint brush, paint the desired areas you’d like to add some sparkle.

Sprinkle glitter over glue and let dry. Shake of remaining glitter.

And that’s it! The glitter is a nice touch. Kinda like morning dew or just after an April shower, right?

For the full effect, I hung my Spring Bird examples in the vines of my house plant named Camilla.

Tweet, Tweet!

Review: Out of the Easy

Out of the Easy

by Ruta Sepetys

Find it at: Your library | Amazon | Indiebound

Published: Philomel, imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group (February 12, 2013)

Recommended Reading Age: 15 & up

In a nutshell: It’s the 1950’s and the United States is full of ambition. Anything seems possible. Well, anything for almost anyone. Quick witted, recent high school graduate Josie Moraine wants out of the Big Easy. Ever since she arrived to New Orleans with her mother when she was 7-years-old, her mother’s irresponsibility and well-known reputation as a brusque prostitute has left her marked by locals as part of the fallen crowd. Making friends at school was never a possibility, but she does have a few people who care for her. Willie Woodley, the madam at the brothel where her mother works, is quite possibly the closet thing Josie has to a mother figure. Rough around the edges and a straight shooter, Willie is a business-woman with little sympathy or time for nonsense; but she does have a soft spot for Josie, and makes it a point to look after her.  There’s also Charlie Marlowe.  A few years after moving to New Orleans, Josie’s mother used to have violent fits and beat her, so Josie started hiding out in a bookshop in the Quarter after it closed for the day. The shopkeeper converted a back office into a miniature studio apartment, and in turn Josie stared working for him and became fast friends with his son, Patrick. Josie has high hopes to break free of the social stigmas her mother has cursed her with. She dreams of moving far away from New Orleans to start anew at a prominent college out East.

But it isn’t that easy.

A potential murder is committed in the city  her mother is somehow caught up in it, leaving Josie with tough decisions…

Nowadays when I read a book, it’s hard for me not to read it from a parent’s perspective. I fell for this book hard. It’s quite possibly the best book I’ve read this year. I read it within a few days about a week ago, and I am still disturbed by Josie’s mother. Her behavior towards her daughter was hard for me to stomach it was so unnatural. A ball and chain wrapped around Josie’s ankle preventing any forward movement, any progress whatsoever. I couldn’t help but become fully invested in Josie, rooting for her to succeed.

Although each character was full of depth and wonderfully written, Willie Woodley, based on the famous real life madam, Norma Walllace, was by far my favorite personality. She was always a few steps ahead and she always saw people for who they really were. In one of the very first scenes the reader is introduced to Willie and her house on Conti Street; the long red carpet, the green brocades, and the lamps with black crystals dangling from the shades. It was within the very first conversation between Willie, Josie, and Josie’s mother that Willie’s character shines and also lays the precedent of the Josie’s and Willie’s relationship throughout the book.

Colorful characters, a quick paced plot, with a flair for mystery and suspense, you too will find yourself cheering (or questioning)  the complex decisions Josie makes in Out of the Easy . It kept me wanting more to the very last line.

Don’t take my word for it: Review from Wrapped Up in Books

Trailer:

Extras: Learn more about the novel at the Out of the Easy website. More about Ruta Sepetys can be found on her website. Her biography alone is a must-read.

Source of book reviewed: Advanced Reader Copy from the publisher provided at ALA Midwinter.

April is Poetry Month!

April is National Poetry Month! Exposing children to poetry has a myriad of benefits in creativity and literacy, even at the earliest of ages. You can never start reading poetry too early!  To kick things off, I’ve compiled  a short list of ways kids (and adults!) can enjoy learning about and engaging in poetry throughout the month.

Tomorrow, 100 Scope Notes will reveal a gallery of Spine Poetry to celebrate the month. Want in on the fun? Email your poems to Travis at scopenotes (at) gmail (dot) com. He’ll be adding spine poems to his gallery throughout the month. Here are Travis’ tips on making your own spine poem. I made the one above on a quiet day at the library last week.

Last year I created a variety of poetry themed storytimes throughout the month of April as a way to introduce different poetry concepts to even the youngest of children. You can read about the books read and the activities created in the following posts:  “Poetry is FUN!” Storytime, “Poetry as Story” Storytime, “Poetry in Nature” Storytime, “Poetry is Music” Storytime.

Also check out this fun wordplay activity with Legos and the PoeTree the library kids made last year.

Want to learn about the Children’s Poet Laureate, J. Patrick Lewis?  Or enjoy children’s poetry videos and articles about children’s poetry? The Poetry Foundation has a variety of resources both kids and adults will enjoy.

Scholastic has a great  poetry book list by age for kids that’s worth looking over, as well as poetry writing activities.

Choose your state on the National Poetry Map to find local poets, poems, events, literary journals, writing programs, and poetry organizations via Poets.org.

I’ll be pinning ideas ways in which kids can celebrate on my National Poetry Month board throughout April if you need further inspiration.

How are you planning to celebrate National Poetry Month?

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

image source: Country Bunny and the Little Golden Shoes

Seeing Things

Librarian-type.

Bedhead.

Snowed in.

Reading rainbow.

Googly eyes.

Tiny dancer.

March Madness.

Morning art session.

Snow, snow, snow.

Fwash the Squash.

Found in a book.

Round Robin.

 

This past month has been madness. And I’m not just talking about basketball.

I had some big librarian-type news earlier this month.

We’ve had some early mornings with L… She seems to think 5am is an appropriate wake-up call.

Wintery weather has had us snowed in more than once. The chill has continued on past the spring equinox, which has everyone itching for sunshine and sandals.

On the other hand, being cooped up indoors means there’s been plenty of time for art projects like this little book, food stamping, and collage art.

Dance parties and reading are also daily staples. L has also taken to waltzing with her new friend, “Fwash the Squash”, a butternut squish my husband humanized with a Sharpe marker. I don’t think we’ll ever be able to cook him.

Basketball has been at the forefront of thoughts and conversations. That is, until last night when Michigan squeezed by with a victory over Kansas. The state is in an episode of mourning with a dreary, weepy drizzle today.

Between all the snow and freezing rain, spring has made brief appearances here and there. Are you familiar with Jack Kent’s picture book Round Robin? If you’re not, it’s a story about a robin that eats too much and can’t fly south. He has to hop instead of flying like the rest of the birds.  Be sure to check it out if you have the chance. It’s hilarious and an all-time favorite of mine. If you’re familiar with the book, doesn’t that robin above remind you of Round Robin?! He allowed L and I to get within a foot of him and didn’t even budge. I couldn’t tell if he was just too fat or indifferent to the company.

And coming soon, our daily shuffle is about to get a monkey wrench. I have some exciting news to share with you in the near future (in two parts!), but can’t tell you quite yet. New adventures around the corner! Yeee!!

Have a great weekend everyone,

Rebecca

 

Ps. How awesome is that drawing that was found in a children’s book? Amazing, right?