Storytime: Trains

Age: 2-5 years
Time: 30 minutes + play and craft


1) I use the same opening and closing songs each week. Click here to see what I do.

2) A Train Goes Clickety-Clack - Jonathan London

A basic train book about what some trains look like and the different things they can carry.

3) The Wheels on the Train

Another simple "wheels on the bus" rendition from The Storytime Lady.

The wheels on the train go clickety-clack (bend arms at elbows, chug chug around like train wheels)
The whistle on the train goes toot toot toot (pull train whistle)
The conductor on the train says “all aboard!” (cup hands around mouth)
The crossing gates go up and down - or clang clang clang (arms cross in front of you like the gates)
The people on the train go bumpety bump (sit on seat, bump up and down)

4) Clickety Clack flannel

From Mel's Desk. I did print and use the patterns she provides, and considered drawing in the windows and details but decided last minute to leave them as the outlines. The boxcar and coach car could probably have used the detail to make them look a little different but oh well. I had the kids hold up the number of fingers we were on for each sentence. If I'd had 6 or less kids I would have handed them out and called the color along with the type of car and had them bring them up. But I had one of my bigger groups today at 12!

Clickety-clack, clickety-clack,
Here comes the train on the railroad track!

Clickety-clunn, clickety-clunn,
Here comes ENGINE number one.

Clickety-clew, clickety-clew,
Here comes COAL CAR number two.

Clickety-clee, clickety-clee,
Here comes BOX CAR number three.

Clickety-clore, clickety-clore,
Here comes TANK CAR number four.

Clickety-clive, clickety-clive,
Here comes COACH CAR number five.

Clickety-clicks, clickety-clicks,
Here’s the CABOOSE, that’s number six.

Clickety-clack, clickety-clack,
There goes the train on the railroad track!

5) All Aboard the DinoTrain - Deb Lund

When I pulled this book out parents exclaimed it combined two of their kids' favorite things! I wish I would have clipped a few pages together. I forgot that I had when I'd used it once for a dinosaur storytime, and by 3/4 of the way through the kids were restless. Maybe just because while the pictures were beautiful they weren't very engaging. I tried to read it with lots of expression. They all liked the ending though.


6) We are the Dinosaurs - Laurie Berkner

But the DinoTrain book easily led into one of my kids' favorite songs.

7) Song Cube
This week the cube rolled I'm a Little Teapot and If You're Happy and You Know It. (Okay that's 3 weeks in a row of If You're Happy. I'm beginning to think my kleenex box is heavier on one side. Time to switch the pictures around.)


8) I Love Trains - Philemon Sturges

So this one hits on basically the same things as the first book we read, along with lots of the other train books I list below in "other" ideas. But I love the simple images, few words on a page, and cute ending.

9) I use the same opening and closing songs each week. Click here to see what I do.

10) Playtime/Craft

I brought out the blocks and instruments for play, and our table craft was Shape Trains. I got the idea from here and here via Pinterest. I freaked out a little bit because I thought I had a medium size circle punch at home to make the wheels but couldn't find it... so I quickly free-handed a bunch of black wheels instead. The kids didn't care. :)

My example - but I emphasized they could
make their trains look however they wanted!

Other train ideas:

Freight Train - Donald Crews (I used this with my Littles)
My Little Train - Satomi Ichikawa
The Little Engine That Could - Watty Piper
Hey Mr. Choo-Choo, Where Are You Going? - Susan Wickberg
Inside Freight Train - Donald Crews (board book)
Steam Train Dream Train - Sherri Duskey Rinker
Clickety Clack - Rob & Amy Spence
Dinosaur Train - John Steven Gurney
And the Train Goes... - William Bee
The Goodnight Train - June Sobel



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Storytime: Penguins

Age: 2-5 years
Time: 25 minutes + play and craft


1) I use the same opening and closing songs each week. Click here to see what I do.

2) One Cool Friend - Toni Buzzeo

My own kids recently received this book as part of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, and they are loving it! The parents at storytime got a kick out of the ending, though I think it went over the kids' heads. I tried to explain, but it's one of those books that once you know the ending the middle makes lots more sense.

3) Baby Penguins

From Mary and Mike. I made penguins on sticks that I held for this rhyme while the kids acted it out, and brought out my big penguin puppet for the mama. The kids got to use the stick penguins later.

1 baby penguin makes a wish (hold up 1 finger then point up)
2 baby penguins catch some fish (hold up 2 fingers then clap hands)
3 baby penguins slip and slide (hold up 3 fingers then wiggle arms)
4 baby penguins run and hide (hold up 4 fingers then hide them)
5 baby penguins look around, (hold up 5 fingers then shade eyes with hand)
Calling “Mama! Mama! Mama!”
Out waddles mama, now the babies are found. (waddle)

4) If You're a Penguin and You Know It

I feel like I've used this tune so much in the last few weeks for various things... at least it's something that all the kids and parents know!

If you’re a penguin and you know it flap your wings
If you're a penguin and you know it flap your wings
If you're a penguin and you know it, and you really want to show it,
If you're a penguin and you know it flap your wings

I brought out our mama penguin again and showed them her wings -- she doesn't use them to fly, she uses them to swim!

If you're a penguin and you know it go for a swim...

I asked if anyone remembered from our first book what kind of pizza the penguin Magellan liked to eat...

If you're a penguin and you know it bite a fish...

And finally, we looked at the feet of my stuffed penguin and how there really aren't any legs. So when penguins have to walk, they waddle!

If you're a penguin and you know it waddle your feet...

5) Penguins Penguins Everywhere - Bob Barner

This was as non-fiction as I got this week, but I had brought out all of our other books about penguins for kids to look at after and check out, that had real photos of penguins and described them even more than this book.

6) Adorable Penguin
From Storytime ABCs. I handed out the stick penguins to the kids to act out this and the next rhyme.

I'm a little penguin
Black and white,
Short and wobbly,
An adorable sight!

I can't fly at all,
But I love to swim.
So I'll waddle to the water 
And dive right in!

7) The Penguins are Here
Also from Storytime ABCs.

The penguins are here; the penguins are there.
The penguins, the penguins are everywhere.

The penguins are up; the penguins are down.
The penguins, the penguins are all around.

The penguins are in; the penguins are out.
The penguins, the penguins are all about.

The penguins are low; the penguins are high.
The penguins, the penguins all say "goodbye"!

8) Song Cube
This week the cube rolled If You're Happy and You Know It and The Itsy Bitsy Spider (which we always add the verses for the Great Big Hairy Spider and the Teensy Weensy Spider...).


9) Five Little Penguins Slipping on the Ice - Steve Metzger

Just like 5 little monkeys. But with penguins. And different things that happen to them.

10) I use the same opening and closing songs each week. Click here to see what I do.

11) Playtime/Craft

I brought out the blocks and instruments again, but no one wanted to play. They all wanted to just do the craft. For the table craft I got the idea from Mike to cut squares of paper and let the kids glue them onto a background to make penguins. Some were really into making sure there's looked exactly like mine, others were more artsy...

My example

Other penguin ideas:

Adorable penguin hat craft
A Penguin Story - Antoinette Portis
Splash! A Penguin Counting Book - Jonathan Chester
If You Were a Penguin - Wendell & Florence Minor
Penguins - Liz Pichon
I Am Small - Emma Dodd



This post does contain Amazon Affliate links. Purchases you make help support The Lion is a Bookworm a little bit without changing the cost to you!

Storytime: Purple

Age: 2-5 years
Time: 30 minutes + play and craft

Continuing our one-week-of-a-color-each-month theme, we're on purple for February (I considered doing pink for Valentines Day but thought purple would be a bit more interesting for the boys!).


1) I use the same opening and closing songs each week. Click here to see what I do.

2) Harold and the Purple Crayon - Crockett Johnson

No purple storytime would be complete without this book. I chose to read it first since it's a little long for my group. Katie has an AMAZING flannel story for this book, but I didn't have the time (or much desire) to make it for myself. Instead I took Erin's idea and put up a piece of white paper and drew the moon at the beginning and the window at the end.

3) I Have a Crayon flannel

From Abby Librarian. I handed out crayon-shaped felt pieces and recited this rhyme, asking the kids to come up and put their crayon on my board when I called their color. Luckily I had exactly 10 kids this week!

I have a crayon, we can draw a circle. 
Here is my crayon, my crayon of purple. 

I have a crayon, I'll give it to you. 
Here is my crayon, my crayon of blue. 

I have a crayon, a lovely little fellow. 
Here is my crayon, my crayon of yellow. 

I have a crayon, I think it's just right. 
Here is my crayon, my crayon of white. 

I have a crayon, it's here on my head. 
Here is my crayon, my crayon of red. 

I have a crayon, I found it in town. 
Here is my crayon, my crayon of brown. 

I have a crayon, what do I see? 
Here is my crayon, an orange one for me. 

I have a crayon right in my sack. 
Here is my crayon, my crayon of black. 

I have a crayon, it's just right I think. 
Here is my crayon, my crayon of pink. 

I have a crayon, the best I've ever seen. 
Here is my crayon, my crayon of green. 

4) Purple Heart, Purple Heart flannel

I used this for last year's storytime near Valentine's Day too. Instead of starting with red, we started with purple. I placed the hearts on the board as we went, since I didn't have enough for everyone to get one.

Purple heart, purple heart, what do you see? I see an orange heart looking at me!

Orange heart... etc... 

White heart, white heart, what do you see? I see a whole bunch of children looking at me!

Children, children, what do you see? We see a purple heart, an orange heart... looking at us! That's what we see!

5) Purple - Schuette and Purple Animals - Melissa Stewart

A couple of fun non-fiction books I came across. I shared Purple Animals in my Littles storytime too (0-2 years). These use real photographs of things in nature (and things like boomerangs and stuffed animals) that are purple. Both are super short.


6) Acting out purple things

Katie at Storytime Secrets had this idea for encouraging kids to pretend. I changed her pink things to more purple, and just read them from the list.

Eat a purple popsicle
Climb a purple mountain (just like Harold!)
Act like a purple monster
Color with a purple crayon (just like Harold again! :)
Spread purple jam on bread
Fly like a purple bird
Chew purple bubble gum
Sip purple grape juice
Smell purple flowers

7) Song Cube
Our song cube rolls today were If You're Happy and You Know It and I'm a Little Teapot.

8) Purple Little Bird - Greg Foley

I like this book more and more every time I read it. I used it in my houses storytime last year, and it could easily fit into a colors or rainbow or animals storytime too.


9) I use the same opening and closing songs each week. Click here to see what I do.

10) Playtime/Craft

I brought out the blocks and instruments again. For the table craft I pulled out pink and purple paper, stickers, scissors, and glue, and let the kids go to town making Valentines.

Other purple ideas:

Sally and the Purple Socks - Bechtold (I came so close to using this one but ran out of time)
Gladys Goes Out to Lunch - Anderson (the gorilla is purple)
Lunchtime for a Purple Snake - Ziefert (a little long)
Clarence Goes Out West and Meets a Purple Horse - Adams (a little long)
Chicken, Pig, Cow and the Purple Problem - Ohi
Storytime Katie's Purple Storytime



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February #bookwormproblems

In the YA Book & Movie Club we've started reading Marie Lu's Legend trilogy. It's a first-time read for me, though I've been reading lots of dystopian YA in the last couple of years.

My #bookwormproblem? Once I get into the thick of a plot of a book like this, I never. want. to. put. it. down. I want to go and go and go and go for hours and finish it in one shot. I'm plagued by "what happens next?? how will they get out of this mess??" And authors sure know how to keep you hooked by leaving the end of chapters hanging. "I'll read just one more chapter" turns into five more...

It's taken a lot of self-control to read a single chapter then start a load of laundry. Then read another then play with the kids. Then read another then fold the laundry.

I find if I can accomplish enough things in the morning then I don't feel so bad reading for an extended period during naptime!

I know this is a good reason to try audiobooks, but I feel like I only get 2 minutes here and there to read throughout the majority of the day! And a day like today (Saturday) the hubby is home too, so I don't want to bore him with my books, or completely ignore him as well as the kids... :)

Linking up today with Quirky Bookworm! Click to see what other bookworms are struggling with!!

This post does contain Amazon Affliate links. Purchases you make help support The Lion is a Bookworm a little bit without changing the cost to you!

Storytime: Snow

Age: 2-5 years
Time: 30 minutes + play and craft

February in Michigan is always an easy time of year to do a storytime about snow. :) A few days ago we got a foot of the stuff on top of what we already had. And since the groundhog saw his shadow we know it'll be around for awhile yet, right?


1) I use the same opening and closing songs each week. Click here to see what I do.

2) Hello Snow! - Hope Vestergaard

A fun introduction to a day of playing in the snow. The adults got a kick out of the page where the kid wakes up the parents. :)

3) Winter Clothing Matching

My predecessor had made a chart with items of winter clothing all in different colors. I had 5 kids this day, so each one got all the items in one color. We talked about getting dressed to go play in the snow, so when I told them we were going to put our boots on, they had to bring up their boot and find the spot on the chart that matched. They're affixed with velcro.

4) Snowmen at Night - Caralyn Buehner

This is a fun book about why snowmen look droopy and sleepy some days - because they've been up playing all night, of course!

5) Five Little Snowmen flannels
Two flannel board rhymes that I found in my collection.

Five little snowmen made of snow (hold up five fingers)
Five little snowmen all in a row
Out comes the sun (arms make sun over head)
One little snowman melts away (slowly pull snowman off board)
etc...


Five little snowmen (five fingers)
On a winter's day
The first one said (touch thumb)
"Wake up so we can play!" (clap)

The second one said (touch pointer finger)
"Let's stomp on the ground" (stomp on ground)
The third one said (touch middle finger)
"Let's roll all around" (roll hands over one another)

The fourth one said (touch ring finger)
"Let's run and run and run" (run in place)
The fifth one said (touch pinkie finger)
"I'm afraid I feel the sun" (back of hand on forehead as if sick)

"Oh dear!" cried the snowmen
As they looked up toward the sky (point up)
And the five melting snowmen (hold up five fingers)
Waved a fond goodbye (wave goodbye while sinking to the ground)


6) Mr. Sun - Raffi
What was it that made the snowmen melt? Oh yes, the sun... I use a combination of motions from Jbrary and Raffi himself.

Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun (make big sun with arms over head)
Please shine down on me (wiggle fingers and come down, kind of like rain actually)
Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun (make big sun with arms over head)
Hiding behind a tree (hide eyes with hands)

These little children are asking you (point at self with thumbs)
To please come out so we can play with you (hands make "come here" motion)
Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun (make big sun with arms over head)

Please shine down on me (wiggle fingers and come down)

7) The Snowy Day - Ezra Jack Keats

Hurray for a Caldecott-winning book during the week this year's winners were announced!

8) I use the same opening and closing songs each week. Click here to see what I do.

9) Playtime/Craft

I brought out the blocks and instruments again. For the table craft I sliced some computer paper into squares and the kids made paper snowflakes. 

Other snow ideas:

Snow - Uri Shulevitz
Mouse's First Snow - Lauren Thompson
All You Need for a Snowman - Alice Schertle
Snowballs - Lois Ehlert
Millions of Snowflakes - Mary McKenna Siddels
Snowy, Blowy Winter - Bob Raczka
eskimo/ice/igloos things from this storytime



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Wednesday afternoon musings...

Things are slow at the library this week. We've had a lot of snow and cold weather, which isn't good for kids and families wanting to come to the library. As I was shelving and reflecting on this morning's storytime, already thinking ahead to the blog post I would write about it, I realized something.

I've already failed #1 in my Resolve to Rock goals.

A month has already gone by and I have written a total of 2 posts - and both are about storytime plans. So much for trying to write about "other stuff".

But I got to thinking -- WHY haven't I written about other stuff? Why don't I write awesome, thought-provoking posts that generate tons of discussion, and are more than just here's-what-I-did-this-week?

The answer I've come up with: because I'm still a newbie. I haven't even been working in a library for two whole years yet. I'm still learning everything from the rest of YOU. I don't have any new insights to add to the discussions already going on out there.

So for now I guess I'll just keep plugging away with what-I-did-this-week type of posts. And the displays and bulletin boards I've done. Just a record of my library life.

Maybe it's the mid-winter blues. Maybe I'm missing my own kids during the day a lot more than I used to. Maybe I'm ticked at the junior high kids who are trying to play hide and seek amongst the stacks. But I'm in a bit of a low spot in my attitude toward library life right now.

Anyone have any words of pick-me-up? How do you overcome the blahs this time of year?