On September 28th, we started the Alphabet Initiative during story time. Like I said in the previous story time post, we're going to be going through the entire alphabet over the next 26 weeks. The first story time was, predictably, all about the letter A. We read three books that had the letter 'A' featured in the title, sang a song about an Alligator named Alfred and made little alligators out of clothespins. It was A-wesome. ;)The Armadillo from Amarillo by Lynne Cherry
ISBN: 9780152003593
This is the tale of an armadillo who goes off on a journey and discovers exactly where he is in the scheme of the universe, making a new friend along the way. I used this to start my "A" themed story time since the title is very A-oriented. The long poem in this one was quite enjoyable, and for the most part, it held the kids attention. It's a little above the level of preschoolers, and I noticed that it didn't keep them captivated like a shorter book probably would. But the older children in story time, ages 5-7, seemed to like this one a lot. The illustrations are entertaining, and the story is fun and fanciful; the armadillo and his friend the eagle end up catching a rocket into outer space at one point. Overall, it's a cute book, and kindergarten-2nd graders will probably enjoy it the most.
What Aunts Do Best; What Uncles Do Best by Laura Numeroff; Illustrated by Lynn Munsinger
ISBN: 9780689848254
I only read the What Aunts Do Best half of the book to my story time kids, but I did read the whole book on my own. The Aunt part of the book was what I focused on in story time, and it seemed to go over really well with everyone. I think the parents liked the focus on the aunts and family fun, while the story time kids liked the neat things that aunts did with the kids. This book is one of those nifty reads where one half of the book is one story and if you flip it over and turn it around, the other half is another story. Mind-blowing to kids, fun for adults. :) But the interesting thing about this book was that the stories were basically the same except for the word Aunt/Uncle, which were switched respectively. The drawings (which are adorable!) were different, but the words (except the Uncle/Aunt switch) matched up in both stories. I think it might have been better if what aunts and uncles do with the kids were different for each half of the book. Since there isn't an endless supply of books about aunts and uncles, I can overlook this issue and say that it's a decent little book about the fun things aunts and uncles can do with their nieces and nephews.
Applebet by Clyde Watson; Illustrated by Wendy Watson
ISBN: 9780374404277
A great intro to the alphabet book, Applebet follows along the story of an apple and a girl and a woman as they travel from their farm to the market and enjoy a day in the village where there are all sorts of small-town adventures to be had. Each letter of the alphabet finds it's way into the book, as well as a few letter sounds. When I read it for story time, the kids stayed engaged for the most part. However, since it is a little longer than some kids books, their attention waned toward the end. Luckily, there was a robbery in the story and that caught their attention again. This is a neat little book, and the illustrations are warm and sweet.
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During the stories, we sang "Have You Ever Been Down a Water Spout," which is actually all about a lost alligator named Alfred. Unfortunately I forgot the second verse of the song and had to resort to the paper to able to finish out the song properly a second time. Lesson learned: never assume you've got the storytime song memorized unless you've sung it 1,001 times before! Even then, always have the lyrics handy, just in case you have a brain lapse. After story time was finished, we made little alligator crafts out of pipe cleaners and clothespins for everyone to take home. They're a little, how should I put it, derpy, but they're still pretty darn cute.
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