WCCLS Kids

Here is an upbeat cumulative song all about musical instruments: The Music Man

The Music Man

I am the Music Man
I come from down your way
And I can play
What can you play?
I play the piano

Pia -- pia - piano.
Piano, piano
Pia -- pia -- piano
Pia -- piano.

I am the Music Man
I come from down your way
And I can play
What can you play?
I play the saxophone

Saxo -- saxo -- saxophone
Saxophone, saxophone
Saxo -- saxo -- saxophone
Saxo -- saxophone.

Pia -- pia - piano.
Piano, piano
Pia -- pia -- piano
Pia -- piano.

(keep building with Big Bass Drum and Triangle)




This is such a fun way to introduce kids to the names of musical instruments! 

I have followed the most common version of this old folk tune.  In particular, I like how the instrument names are broken down into their syllable components.  The structure might be a little complicated for very young children.  To make the rhyme a little more kid friendly, I would recommend changing the rhyme to:

I am the Music Man
I come from down your way
And I can play
What can you play?
I play the saxophone

Saxo -- saxo -- saxophone

Saxo -- saxo -- saxophone
Saxo -- saxo -- saxophone

Pia -- pia -- piano

Pia -- pia -- piano
Pia -- pia -- piano.

When we slow down our pronunciation by breaking words into to their syllable parts, we are helping kids to understand that words are made up of smaller sounds.  We call this phonological awareness.  It is an extremely important skill that kids need to master in order to become successful readers.

For another fun way to share this rhyme, simply replace the instrument's name with an onomatopoeic sound... like this:

I am the Music Man
I come from down your way
And I can play
What can you play?
I play the piano

Plinka -- plinka -- plinka-plink
Plinka -- plinka -- plinka-plink

When you extend and build on this rhyme by introducing multiple instruments and then recalling their order in reverse, you are helping kids to practice their memories.  And we all know how beneficial a strong memory is!

For kids to become successful readers, they first need to be motivated to read.  It is absolutely critical that they see a personal benefit to reading.  That means they need to have access to books that interest and excite them personally.

Beginning readers have always been a little tricky.  It can be far too easy to find books for new readers that read more like old-fashioned primers... "the cat is on the mat."  Without a fun and interesting story, motivation flies out the window.

Thankfully, there are tons of cool beginning readers out there.  Here is a list of some new brand new beginning readers that I have been enjoying:

 Title: A Big Guy Took My Ball!
Author: Mo Willems
Find this book at your library

This new Elephant and Piggie title adds another great story to an already great series.  Kids will immediately sympathize with the strong emotions felt by Elephant and Piggie. The gestures they use compliment the story perfectly and make it easier for the reader to comprehend what is happening.
Title: The Loopy Coop Hens: Letting Go
Author: Janet Morgan Stoeke
Find this book at your library

Three hens discover Newton's Law of Gravity first-hand while sitting beneath an apple tree.  The stories in the Loopy Coop Hens series include chapter titles, which is a great early introduction for kids.  I particularly like how the author has stressed the scientific method.  When the hens wonder who is throwing apples at them, rather than assume it's a FOX they get a ladder and climb up to discover the truth!
Title: Penny and Her Marble
Author: Kevin Henkes
Find this book at your library

When Penny discovers a marble in Mrs. Goodwin's yard, she fears that she has stolen someone's property.  Her imagination and strong emotions will ring true with kids who are still mastering the ideas of ownership.  Told in four chapters and 48 pages, this is a great first step for kids who want to move into the big world of chapter books.
Title: A Pet Named Sneaker
Author: Joan Heilbroner
Illustrator: Pascal Lemaitre
Find this book at your library

A brand new title in the Dr. Seuss I Can Read It All By Myself series all about a heroic pet snake.  Amazing that it has been over 50 years since author Joan Heilbroner wrote her last beginning reader, Robert the Rose Horse.  This is sure to appeal to kids who love Danny and the Dinosaur and Go, Dog. Go!  What kid doesn't dream about bringing his pet to school?
Title: Pug & Doug
Author: Steven Breen
Find this book at your library

Pug and Doug are best friends... until Doug discovers that Pug might not like him all that much.  This is a classic tale of mistaken information.  The artwork is absolutely incredible, including a step-by-step visual description of how to do Pug and Doug's secret pawshake.  This is easily one of my favorite books of the year (so far).


Photo by: Hgilbert

This weeks rhyme is all about fun with homophones and hand clapping: A Sailor Went to Sea

A Sailor Went to Sea

A sailor went to sea, sea, sea  (hold hand palm down and move up and down like waves)
To see what he could see, see, see  (hold hand palm down over eyes and move head back and forth)
But all that he could see, see, see  (repeat previous gesture)
Was the bottom of the deep blue sea, sea, sea  (repeat first gesture)



This is such a fun and deceptively simple little rhyme.  Shifting between moving your hand like the ocean waves and holding it above your eyes as you scan the horizon is a lot harder than you might think.  The concept that underlies the rhyme is equally complicated!

In the rhyme, "sea" and "see" are the two main words that we emphasize.  It is surprising to little kids that these words can sound exactly the same but mean two completely different things.  We call words like these homophones.

When you share this rhyme with older toddlers and preschool-age kids, you can explain how "sea" and "see" are two completely different words even though they sound the same.  You can drive this point home by showing how we write the words.  When you do this, you will be expanding their understanding of print awareness, or the idea that we use printed language to convey meaning. 

When I share this rhyme, I sequentially replace the last words of each line with hand claps.  This further complicates the rhyme for older kids.  It turns it into a sequencing game.  Understanding sequence is a critical part of the early literacy skill called narrative skills.

For babies and young toddlers, this rhyme makes for a fun little lap-bounce.  Gently rock baby back and forth and then bounce on the last three words of each line. 

Although extremely short, this rhyme is packed full of early literacy-boosting goodness!!  Kids who understand that words can be spelled differently but sound the same will have an easier making sense out of what they read once the begin to lean how to read!

Continuing on our recent trend into Mother Goose's rich history, this week we present: Mary Mary Quite Contrary

Mary Mary Quite Contrary

Mary, Mary, quite contrary  (wag your pointer finger)
How does your garden grow?  (shrug shoulders or lift hands palms up while wiggling fingers)
With silver bells  (hold hands in fists and extend one thumb)
And cockle shells  (extend other thumb)
And pretty maids all in a row!  (extend the rest of your fingers)



This is a great little rhyme for letting kids practice their fine motor skills, especially moving their fingers independently.  As I have mentioned before, fine motor skills are crucial for kids who are learning to write.

What I like best about this rhyme, though, is its fanciful language.  "Contrary" is a word that rarely gets used in daily conversation.  Nevertheless, it is a great word for kids to learn.  The more words kids know, the easier it will be for them to become proficient readers in the long run.  Vocabulary is a strong predictor or future reading success.

Silver bells and cockle shells and pretty maids all in a row require a little more work to explain to kids.  I've always thought of the rhyme as describing a pretty bed of flowers surrounded by a border of sea shells.  Mother Goose scholars don't entirely agree on the original meaning of this rhyme.  Some assessments are quite frightening!  I will stick with flowers, myself.

"Mooooo!" goes the cow.
"Baaaaaa!" goes the sheep.
But what does the dog say?

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 In my opinion, the coolest words ever are the ones that sound exactly like what they mean.  Words like “BAM” and “SQUEAK” and “WOOF” are super-fun to say out loud.  We call words like these onomatopoeias, words that sound exactly like what they mean.

Children’s books are packed with of onomatopoeic words.  It’s not too surprising, because kids love to hear the funny sounds.  Folks who regularly share books with little ones can attest to the fact that if you really ham it up and over-enunciate your pronunciation, you’re sure to draw constant laughter and smiles of delight.
Besides being terribly fun to read aloud, onomatopoeic books do a fantastic job of showing kids exactly how printed language works.  Just like the old 1960s Batman TV series, many books with fun sound words emphasize and call special attention to the words by using interesting fonts and bright colors.  A child's understanding of how printed language works is called print awareness.  When we call attention to the word on the page by pointing or running our finger below the word, we are helping build a solid print awareness foundation. 
Here are a bunch of my favorite onomatopoeic picture books:

 Title: And the Train Goes ...
Author: William Bee
Find this book at your library

There are all kinds of fun train sounds!  "Clickerty-click, clickerty-clack!"  Couple this book with a fun train rhyme and you're golden!
Title: Cock-a-doodle-doo, Creak, Pop-pop, Moo
Author: Jim Aylesworth
Illustrator: Brad Sneed
Find this book at your library

There are more sounds on the farm than those of the animals.  This book does a beautiful job taking the reader on an auditory journey through a day at the farm!
Title: Doggies
Author: Sandra Boynton
Find this book at your library

Dogs say more than just "WOOF".  Ten different dogs show off their voices in this perfect counting book!
Title: I Stink!
Author: Kate McMullan
Illustrator: Jim McMullan
Find this book at your library

Loads of truck sounds fill this stinky tale of a garbage truck.  This books gets bonus points for containing the most epic "BURRRP" ever!
Title: Jazz Baby
Author: Lisa Wheeler
Illustrator: R. Gregory Christie
Find this book at your library

Rhythmic text and cool jazz sounds make for a whole bunch of be-bopping fun!
 Title: Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?
Author: Dr. Seuss
Find this book at your library

Does it come as any surprise that Dr. Seuss wrote the greatest-ever onomatopoeic book for little kids?  Nope.
Title: One Frog Sang
Author: Shirley Parenteau
Illustrator: Cynthia Jabar
Find this book at your library

A chorus of frogs liven up the springtime night on a lonely country lane, singing out their many songs!

Title: Red Sled
Author: Lita Judge
Find this book at your library

A funny little story about a group of animals and the winter fun they have on a sled, told entirely in sound words!
Title: Slop Goes the Soup
Author: Pamela D. Edwards
Illustrator: Henry Cole
Find this book at your library

Everything gets hairy and out of control when a warthog accidentally sneezes while holding a container of soup.  Tons of slip-sloppy fun!
Title: Squeak, Rumble, Whomp! Whomp! Whomp!
Author: Wynton Marsalis
Illustrator: Paul Rogers
Find this book at your library

Probably my favorite read-aloud of 2012.  This book is aptly subtitled "A Sonic Adventure".  A little boy describes the sounds that surround him in a most-rhythmic and entertaining way.
Title: Who Is Driving?
Author: Leo Timmers
Find this book at your library

A very cool overview of the sounds vehicles make.  The reader is asked to help guess which animal drives which vehicle, making this book extremely engaging.

We raided the oldy moldy Mother Goose books for this week's Fingerplay... we hope you enjoy this long-forgotten gem: Two Little Birds

Two Little Birds
(hold fists in front of you with either thumbs or pinkies extended)

There were two little birds who sat on a stone
Fa, la, la, la, la, DEE-DUN

One flew away and then there was one
Fa, la, la, la, la, DEE-DUN

The other flew after,
And then there were none
Fa, la, la, la, la, DEE-DUN

And so the poor stone
Was left all alone
Fa, la, la, la, la, DEE-DUN!!

I found this rhyme while digging through the 1904 facsimile of John Newbery's 1791 edition of Mother Goose's Melody.  It was originally published with a title of "Aristotle's Story" and included a funny little note about its status as an early logic primer (teaching the concept of consequence to early American children).  I made some minor changes and came up with both the tune and actions.  I use my pinkies, but thumbs would work just as well.

After recording the video, I did a little more research and found the rhyme listed in my personal copy of The Annotated Mother Goose (sadly, out-of-print).  It tacks on a number of additional lines that I think make for a happy resolution:
One of the birds then back again flew, Fa, la, la, la, la, DEE-DUN

T'other came after, and then there were two,
Fa, la, la, la, la, DEE-DUN

Said one t'other --
How do you do?
Fa, la, la, la, la, DEE-DUN

Very well, thank you,
And how are you?
Fa, la, la, la, la, DEE-DUN!!

This rhyme is very reminiscent of Two Little Blackbirds.  I love the repeated Fa, la, la refrain.  It slows down the rhyme, extending the fun and making for a more musical cadence.  As with Two Little Blackbirds, this rhyme provides kids with a great opportunity for practicing their fine motor skills.  Beyond helping kids hold their pencil when they learn to write, being able to manipulate fingers independently will also help them when they learn to type!

Here's a fun old nursery rhyme that works great as either a fingerplay or a big body march: The Grand Old Duke of York

The Grand Old Duke of York

The grand old Duke of York
He had ten thousand men
He marched them all to the top of the hill
And he marched them down again

And when they were up they were up!
And when they were down they were down!
And when they were only half way up
They were neither up nor down!


This rhyme has been a personal long time favorite.  Young children love to move around, and what better way to get them moving in a controlled way than with a march.  The rhyme can be repeated and practiced over and over all around the room.

One of the reasons this is a valuable rhyme for pre-readers is that it teaches the directions UP and DOWN in a meaningful way.  We physically rise our hands or bodies as we act out the actions in the rhyme.  I like to flip-flop my hands in an "I can't make up my mind" manner when the men are neither up nor down.

Print awareness is a child's understanding of how printed words work.  A big part of this pre-reading skill relates to a child's understanding that we read in a specific direction.  In English, we read from left to right, top to bottom.  Rhymes that help children master an understanding of directions contribute to their later reading success!  Pretty cool!!

Here's a fun shaker rhyme: We're Going to Shake Our Shakers

We're Going to Shake Our Shakers

We're going to shake our shakers
Shake them so.....
We're going to shake our shakers
HIGH!! and LOW!!
We're going to shake our shakers
Shake the so....
Until someone says.......STOP!

We’re going to shake our shakers
Shake them so.... We’re going to shake our shakers FAST!! and SLOW!! We’re going to shake our shakers Shake them so.... Until someone says......STOP!
We’re going to shake our shakers LEFT!! and RIGHT!! We’re going to shake our shakers LEFT!! and RIGHT!! We’re going to shake our shakers LEFT!! and RIGHT HOLD ON TIGHT! Until someone says......STOP!
We’re going to shake our shakers AROUND and AROUND!! We’re going to shake out shakers UPSIDE DOWN!! We’re going to shake our shakers ON THE GROUND!! Until someone says......STOP!
We’re going to shake our shakers SHAKE THEM GOODBYE!! We’re going to shake our shakers SHAKE THEM GOODBYE!! We’re going to shake our shakers SHAKE THEM GOODBYE!! Until someone says.......STOP!


You're going to need a shaker for this one.  If you don't already have one, you can help your child make a shaker using our super-simple directions:


Preschooler Tie-ins:
I love this rhyme because it it introduces kids to lots of abstract concepts in an incredibly fun way.  HIGH and LOW, FAST and SLOW, LEFT and RIGHT... these are concepts that take quite a little practice for preschoolers to master.  Left and right are especially challenging (in the video, I shake my directions backward, in case little ones might be watching and trying to imitate).  Print awareness is a child's understanding of how books and printed language work.  Spatial awareness and concepts like left and right are an important part of this critical pre-reading skill.  Rhymes that let kids play with these ideas help them to learn in a meaningful way!

Toddler Tie-ins:
Each section of the rhyme ends with a STOP!  Practicing stopping is very important for young children.  Every time they stop shaking, they are practicing self-control and self-regulation.  This can be extremely challenging for toddlers. Learning to focus is an extremely important skill.  Kids who are able to control their urges and stick with a challenging task will have a much easier time learning to read!

Baby Tie-ins:
Babies love the rhythm of shakers.  Every time you stop and start again, your baby will be surprised and delighted!

It has been quite an adventure!  In the last seven weeks, we've made a long journey through some of the greatest children's picture books ever made.  This week, we look at our last Storyland title: Where's Spot? by Eric Hill.

It's suppertime and Spot the puppy can't be found! His mother searches high and low trying to find where Spot is hiding.  She gets help along the way from a series of animals and finally uncovers her lost little guy!

Now, in my honest opinion, it isn't the story that makes Where's Spot? so much fun... it's the lift-the-flap technology!!  Toddlers especially enjoy lifting the flaps to see if Spot is hiding in the clock, the closet or in the piano.  Every time we encounter a new hiding place, the book asks us a very simple question: "Is he under the bed?"  Up until the very end, whenever we lift the flap we are met with a different animal who answers one word: "no".  The author's use of speech balloons and the repeated word "no" presents us with a great opportunity to point out how the printed word and books work.  We can point to the word no as we read "no".  After kids have enjoyed the book a number of times, we can more explicitly call their attention to the speech balloons.  We can say something like: "Hey!  Have you noticed that all the animals say 'no' and that they all have this word next to them?  Did you know that this says no?!  Pretty cool!"

We call a child's understanding of how books and printed words work print awareness.  Print awareness involves many different concepts, such as how we read text from left to right and top to bottom.  It also includes a basic understanding of how a book works!  Books with moveable parts, like Where's Spot?, give kids the chance to explore the mechanical side of books.This will ultimately help them when they begin to learn how to read.

It can be great fun for kids to create their own books.  Check out our super-simple directions on making a book:


You can easily tape or glue some paper flaps onto the pages and turn your child's book into a lift-the-flap book!  When children play with books in meaningful ways, their enjoyment of books grows.

Check out our recent Fingerplay Fun Friday blog post for some information about peek-a-boo and why little kids love it so much: Here's a Ball for Baby

The Storyland exhibit is on display at the Portland Children's Museum until May 5, 2013.  Visitors can sit on top of Spot's trunk, flip tiles to reveal Spot and play with Spot's basket.  To visit the Children's Museum for free, contact your local Washington County library today and arrange to check out a Cultural Pass.

(photo above provided by Portland Children's Museum and used with permission)

Here is a little list of some lift-the-flap books I especially like:

Title: Baby Danced the Polka
Author: Karen Beaumont
Illustrator: Jennifer Plecas
Find this book at your library

It's nap-time on the farm... but baby just isn't tired.  Flaps can be lifted to reveal baby getting down with a host of funny animals.
Title: Baby Faces Peekaboo!
Author: Dawn Sirett
Find this book at your library

Baby faces are hiding behind the flaps in this over-sized board book.  After seeing babies in all kinds of moods, a mirror lets the reader practice making faces.
 Title: Duck's Key: Where Can It Be?
Author: Jez Alborough
Find this book at your library

Duck has lost his key.  Lift-the-flap and help him find it.  Few books do such a good job helping kids prepare for later life as an adult.
Title: Even Firefighters Go to the Potty
Author: Wendy Wax and Naomi Wax
Illustrator: Stephen Gilpin
Find this book at your library

Demystifying the world of the potty, flaps lift back to show how everybody uses it.  Potty training doesn't get any better than this!
Title: Peek-a-Moo!
Author: Marie Torres Cimarusti
Illustrator: Stephanie Peterson
Find this book at your library

Q: What is the best way to learn animal names?
A: Play peek-a-boo with them!!!
Title: There Are Cats in this Book
Author: Viviane Schwarz
Find this book at your library

A series of flaps let the reader interact with a bunch of playful cats.  An extremely creative lift-the-flap book!
Title: Tuck Me In!
Author: Dean Hacohen
Illustrator: Sherry Scharschmidt
Find this book at your library

A different take on the lift-the-flap book... this time, the flaps are used as bed covers to tuck in animals!
Title: Where is Baby's Belly Button?
Author: Karen Katz
Find this book at your library

Baby's clothes hide her many body parts and provide kids with a fun way to learn their names!

This week's rhyme is a fun little song-and-dance called The Story Stomp Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
The Story Stomp
(sung to the tune of The Humphrey Hop (In the Bag))

 First you touch your nose, then you touch your toes -- Stomp-Stomp!
Then you bend your back and you start to clap -- Clap-Clap!
That's the way it's done, it's a lot of fun -- Stomp-Stomp!
Doin' the wiggle-waggle story stomp!

Next you touch your lips, then you touch your hips -- Stomp-Stomp!
Then you bend your back and you start to clap -- Clap-Clap!
That's the way it's done, it's a lot of fun -- Stomp-Stomp!
Doin' the wiggle-waggle story stomp!

Then you touch your tummy and hop like a bunny -- Stomp-Stomp!
Then you bend your back and you start to clap -- Clap-Clap!
That's the way it's done, it's a lot of fun -- Stomp-Stomp!
Doin' the wiggle-waggle story stomp!

Now you touch your eyes and you wave bye-bye -- Stomp-Stomp!
Then you bend your back and you start to clap -- Clap-Clap!
That's the way it's done, it's a lot of fun -- Stomp-Stomp!
Doin' the wiggle-waggle story stomp!


This little rhyme is more fun and silly than anything else.   It gives little feet plenty of opportunities to stomp around.  And as we know, in general toddlers and preschoolers have a big need for movement.

I like how the first line changes while the rest of the rhyme remains the same.  This gives kids a chance to practice remembering the words and movements all throughout.  Feel free to build on the fun by improvising the body parts and actions found in the first line.  With preschoolers, you can indicate a body part and them ask them to help you come up with a rhyme to go along with it.

Understanding sequencing is a big part of the early literacy skill we call narrative skills.  When kids understand how stories and songs are put together, they have a better ability to make predictions.  This, in turn, benefits them when they begin to learn how to read!

It's Tuesday evening, around eight... do you know where your frogs are?!  Our weekly Storyland visit takes us into a world of imagination run wild, where lily pads become magic carpets and frogs invade a sleepy little town: Tuesday by David Wiesner.

The story begins as dawn descends on the swamp.  One frog awakens to realize the lily pad upon which it sleeps is flying.  Before we know it, dozens of frogs are zooming all over the place, terrifying midnight snackers, peeking in on TV watchers and playing tag with a dog named Rusty.  The tale ends with a police investigation into curious reports and the presence of lily pads all over the road.  And then we learn that next Tuesday, even more fun is in store!

Tuesday is essentially wordless.  A little bit of text shows up indicating the time and that's it.  The story is primarily told through the pictures. 

Reading wordless picture books with children can be a great exercise for parents and caregivers.  Please note, I said reading wordless picture books with children and not to children.  The great thing about wordless picture books is that they are a perfect for two-way sharing.  Since there are no words begging to be read, we can feel more comfortable encouraging our little friends to help us tell the story.

Here are some great questions to ask your child as they "read" you a wordless picture book:

1. What is happening here?
2. What do you think is going to happen next?
3. Who is that? 
4. What is s/he doing?
5.  Why do you think s/he is doing that?

When your child responds to your questions, try to provide positive feedback and help them to build on their thoughts.  If your child says: "The dog wants to eat the frog" you can respond, "Yeah, it looks like the dog is chasing the frog. Why do you think he wants to eat the frog?"  Basically, have a natural conversation with your child about the pictures and ask lots of questions.  When you ask questions you are reinforcing the fact that we use books to learn about the world and how things work.  This helps build critical thinking skills that kids need when they begin school.  It provides an early foundation into the complex world of information literacy.

For younger children who are not able to have a conversation about the story, feel free to go crazy and make up funny stories when sharing wordless picture books.  Little kids look to their caregivers to develop an understanding of how things work.  When they see their loved one really getting into the story, they will naturally equate book sharing with fun. 

Check out this interesting study that was recently conducted by researchers at the Utah State University: Research Shows that Books without Text Can Increase Literacy, Vocabulary Skills in Children with Developmental Disabilities

For more ideas about telling stories with your children, check out our recent blog post: Tell Me a Story!

The Storyland exhibit is on display at the Portland Children's Museum until May 5, 2013.  Visitors can present their own news story on TV or bang on a log and explore the sounds of the swamp.  To visit the Children's Museum for free, contact your local Washington County library today and arrange to check out a Cultural Pass.

Here are a few of my favorite wordless (or nearly wordless) picture books:

Title: A Ball for Daisy
Author: Chris Raschka
Find this book at your library

A little dog has all kinds of fun with a ball in this brightly colored wordless picture book!
Title: Gem
Author: Holly Hobbie
Find this book at your library

The springtime journey of a toad is depicted in this story that beautifully captures a natural habitat.
 Title: Good Night, Gorilla
Author: Peggy Rathman
Find this book at your library

A zoo keeper is shutting down the zoo for the night while, unbeknownst to him, the animals follow him home.
Title: The Lion and the Mouse
Author: Jerry Pinkney
Find this book at your library

A gorgeous retelling of Aesop's fable about how a mouse and a lion help each other.
Title: Truck
Author: Donald Crews
Find this book at your library

Road signs help show a truck's journey from pickup to delivery!
Title: Wave
Author: Suzy Lee
Find this book at your library

A young girl visits the beach and experiences all it has to offer.
Title: What If?
Author: Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Find this book at your library

A series of "what if?" questions accompany a story of a beach ball and group of seals.  The prompts make this is a fantastic book for sharing with a child who is practicing telling stories and describing things!
Title: Where's Walrus?
Author: Stephen Savage
Find this book at your library

Walrus has escaped from the zoo!  While the zoo keeper tries to track him down, we get to practice picking him out in a series of funny locations!

This week we feature the classic nursery rhyme Little Boy Blue

Little Boy Blue

Little Boy Blue come blow your horn
(pretend to blow horn)
The sheep's in the meadow
(point over shoulder)
The cow's in the corn
(point over other shoulder)
But where is the boy who looks after the sheep?
(shrug shoulders with hands out, palms up)
He's under the haystack fast asleep
(pretend to sleep)

Will you wake him?
(point out)
No, not I!
(point in)
For if I do, he's sure to cry!
(pretend to cry)

This familiar Mother Goose rhyme is as old as the hills.  It has been entertaining children for countless generations. 

Most Mother Goose rhymes don't lend themselves to acting out nearly so well as Little Boy Blue.  It is super-easy to play along with the little boy who neglects his chores and falls asleep under the haystack. 

There are tons of delightful old rhymes that are terribly fun to say, even if they can't be acted out.  Most grownups will remember them from childhoods.  Sadly, in this busy day and age, it can be all too easy to raise a child with little or no exposure to classic nursery rhymes.

For folks interested in learning more about Mother Goose and her rhymes, I would heartily recommend the rich Mother Goose web site developed by the Information and Library Studies program at Rutgers University: Mother Goose: A Scholarly Exploration

And you could do worse than to check out these fantastic Mother Goose collections:

Title: My Very First Mother Goose
Editor: Iona Opie
Illustrator: Rosemary Wells
Find this book at your library

Many of the most familiar English nursery rhymes are collected in this beautiful over-sized book.
Title: Here Comes Mother Goose
Editor: Iona Opie
Illustrator: Rosemary Wells
Find this book at your library

Continuing the good work, this follow-up to My Very First Mother Goose collects many familiar and unfamiliar nursery rhymes.

Our next Storyland title is a vocabulary-packed picture book all about a busy little, cookie-loving mouse: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff (illustrated by Felicia Bond). 

The story starts perfectly: "If you give a mouse a cookie," is immediately followed by, "he's going to ask for a glass of milk."  And with that, we're off to the races with a rambling tale that would sound perfect coming out of the mouth of a preschooler.  If this happens, then that is going to happen and if that happens, then this is going to happen.

Reminiscent of The Song That Doesn't End, the story wraps up with a wide-open invitation to turn back to page one and start all over again.

What makes If You Give a Mouse a Cookie so wonderful is the pictures.  They are packed with all sorts of fun stuff that most children will recognize from their own homes.  The kitchen contains cookie jars, a toaster, a blender and all kinds of other goodies.  The pictures open up a world of possibilities for growing a conversation between caregiver and child.

To help reinforce vocabulary knowledge in older preschoolers, try playing the I Spy Game while reading the story.  Try to make sure the objects you pick aren't unfamiliar to your child.

Having conversations about what is happening on the pages of picture books is called Dialogic Reading.  Research shows that it can be a powerful tool for improving a child's reading comprehension and understanding. 

For younger kids, it is best to stick with easy-to-answer "closed" questions.  These are the types of questions that basically have one correct answer.  Questions like: "what is this?" or "what color crayon is the mouse using to draw?" 

For preschoolers and older kids, you can ask more complicated "open-ended" questions.  These are questions where the child is asked to predict or provide a more reasoned-out response.  Questions like: "what do you think is going to happen next?" or "why do you think the mouse decided to use the green crayon?"  The predictive structure of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie makes it a perfect fit for asking lots of questions of this sort!

When doing activities like the I Spy Game and Dialogic Reading, remember to encourage your kids and provide them with help when they need it.  Children learn best when they engage in activities that are both meaningful to them and fun, so try to keep things interesting and silly.  If your kids aren't into the activity at the time, try again later.

The Storyland exhibit is on display at the Portland Children's Museum until May 5, 2013.  Visitors can explore mouse's chocolate chip cookie or join him on his powder box and read him a story!  To visit the Children's Museum for free, contact your local Washington County library today and arrange to check out a Cultural Pass.

Here are a handful of books that do a great job of letting kids practice making predictions and are perfect for dialogic reading.

Title: Caps for Sale
Author: Esphyr Slobodkina
Find this book at your library

The classic tale of a peddler (ooh! there's a fun vocabulary word!) and a bunch of monkeys!  Who took the peddlers hats!?  Do you think they will give them back?
Title: I Went Walking
Author: Sue Williams
Illustrator: Julie Vivas
Find this book at your library

The text repeats "I went walking" and "What did you see?"  Visual clues help kids predict and answer.
Title: Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes
Author: Eric Litwin
Illustrator: James Dean
Find this book at your library

Pete loves his white shoes, until he steps into a large pile of strawberries... "What color did it turn his shoes?"  Guessing colors and consequences was never this fun!
Title: What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?
Author: Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
Illustrator: Steve Jenkins
Find this book at your library

Various animal parts are shown along with a simple question "What do you do with a _____ like this?"  The real answers are almost as fun as the answers kids come up with!
Title: What Will Fat Cat Sit On?
Author: Jan Thomas
Find this book at your library

Fat cat is going to sit on something... or someone!  Who's it going to be?!

Every year on the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen, the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) sponsors the International Children's Book Day (ICBD).  It is a day when lovers of children's books all come together to celebrate books from around our great big world!

This year, the US chapter of IBBY (called USBBY) was selected to develop supporting material for the International Children's Book Day.  They created a beautiful poster featuring a poem by Pat Mora and pictures by Ashley Bryan.  Click on the image to the left to see the poster enlarged and to read the poem.

For more details, check out the USBBY blog: Bookjoy Around the World

For a super-fun international book experience, check out the International Children's Digital Library.  It is an online eBook platform that was created over 10 years ago by a group of folks at the University of Maryland working together with the Internet Archive.

Click image to visit the International Children's Digital Library!! Here is a short list of some recent international picture books I have enjoyed.  Many were originally published in a language other than English.

Title: Seasons
Author: Blexbolex (France)
Find this book at your library

Screen prints show the beautiful flow of the seasons.  Each page includes a fun vocabulary word!
Title: Guji Guji
Author: Chih-Yuan Chen (China)
Find this book at your library

The wonderful tale of a misplaced egg, a group of mean crocodiles and the world's first crocoduck!
Title: I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Author: Penda Diakité
Illustrator: Baba Wagué Diakité (Mali & Portland, OR)
Find this book at your library

A fun story of a young girl who visits Mali with her family and looses her tooth in the process.
Title: Wolf Won't Bite!
Author: Emily Gravett (England)
Find this book at your library

Three pigs host a circus and show off all things they can make the wolf do!  They are quite sure he won't bite.  I'm not so sure, myself.
Title: It's Useful to Have a Duck
Author: Isol (Argentina)
Find this book at your library

A young boy tells just how useful it is to have a duck.  Flip the book over and hear from the duck about how useful it is to have a boy!!
Title: Follow the Line
Author: Laura Ljungkvist (Sweden)
Find this book at your library

A line travels all over the world and invites the reader to explore all kinds of fun stuff!
Title: Black Dog
Author: Levi Pinfold (Australia)
Find this book at your library

A giant black dog shows up outside a family's home terrifying everyone except for one young child.
Title: To Market! To Market!
Author: Anushka Ravishankar (India)
Illustrator: Emanuele Scanziani (Italy)
Find this book at your library

A rhyming tale of a little girl's trip to the market to buy whatever she wants!

Title: No
Author: Claudia Rueda (Colombia)
Find this book at your library

Even though winter is coming, little bear doesn't want to hibernate because he would have to stop playing!
Title: Little Bird
Author: Germano Zullo (Switzerland)
Illustrator: Albertine (Switzerland)
Find this book at your library

An extremely sweet tale of a van driver who tries to teach a little bird to fly away.

Here is a fun little fingerplay and peek-a-boo game for sharing with babies: Here's a Ball for Baby

Here's a Ball for Baby

Here's a ball for baby (hold hand in front, fingers to fingers, thumbs to thumbs)
Big and soft and round
Here's baby's hammer (pound fist into palm) See how it can pound
Here are baby's soldiers (hold fingers up) Standing in a row
Here's baby's music (clap hands) Clapping, clapping so
Here's baby's trumpet (hold fists in front of mouth like a trumpet) Doot-Doot-Doooo!
And here's baby's favorite game Peek-a-Boo!!

This is a wonderful rhyme for sharing with young babies.  Not only is it full of fun hand motions but it also turns into a game of peek-a-boo!  In general, babies begin to enjoy peek-a-boo games sometime between 4 and 9 months.  When we play peek-a-boo with babies and toddlers, we are helping them develop an understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sight.  We call this object permanence.  Swiss developmental psychologist Jean Piaget introduced this concept back in the early part of the 20th century.

For a nice overview of object permanence and the power of peek-a-boo, check out this page from the Virginia Early Intervention Professional Development Center. 

When children experience cause and effect with peek-a-boo games they are beginning to develop a conceptual knowledge of how the world works.  This understanding will ultimately help them make predictions once they begin to learn how to read!

Our next stop in Storyland is the beautiful and bilingual Abuela, by Arthus Dorros (illustrated by Elisa Kleven).

This imaginative story of a girl, her grandmother (Abuela) and their day at the park is told with a perfect mix of English and Spanish.  We are told right from the start, "Abuela speaks mostly Spanish because that's what people spoke where she grew up, before she came to this country."

I can't help sharing some information about the importance of speaking with young children in the language that is most comfortable for you.  When you speak with your child in your first language, you provide them with the richest language experience.  There are many language skills that children need to master in order to become successful readers.  When they engage in a stilted language experience, they are simply not able to practice these skills very well.

Abuela does a fantastic job of showing a loving relationship between adult and child.  Clearly, the relationship is more important than anything else, language included.  The coolest part of the story is watching Rosalba show off the strong bilingual vocabulary she possesses because of her relationship with her Abuela.  She has so many words in her vocabulary that monolingual children simply don't!

Patricia Kuhl, co-director of the University of Washington's Institute for Brain and Learning Sciences provided a fascinating TED Talk on language development in babies a couple of years ago.  She notes that there is a small window of time when babies are hardwired to learn a specific language.  I encourage you to take 10 minutes out of your day and give it a look:



Now we can't all have "Mandarin relatives visit for a month"... but we can expose our children to other language experiences.  Library storytimes are a great opportunity for little learners to become acquainted with other languages and cultures.  Washington County libraries offer storytimes in Spanish, Japanese, Bulgarian, Swedish and ... yep ... Mandarin Chinese!  It might not be the same thing as having Mandarin relatives in your home for a month, but it is pretty cool, nonetheless!

For a full list of library storytimes, check out the WCCLS Calendar.

The Storyland exhibit is on display at the Portland Children's Museum until May 5, 2013.  Visitors can play hopscotch in Central Park and explore tío Pablo's and tía Elisa's store where they can write up a quick shopping list.  Mmmmm... my list would include plátanos.  To visit the Children's Museum for free, contact your local Washington County library today and arrange to check out a Cultural Pass.

(photo above provided by Portland Children's Museum and used with permission)

Here are a few multicultural picture books that I'm especially fond of:

Title: Mung-Mung: A Fold-Out Book of Animal Sounds
Author: Linda Sue Park
Illustrator: Diane Bigda
Find this book at your library

Animal sounds from many different languages are explored in this super-fun, bright book!
Title: Yum! Yuck! A Foldout Book of People Sounds
Author: Linda Sue Park and Julia Durango
Illustrator: Sue Rama
Find this book at your library

A fun follow-up to Mung-Mung, this time we are introduced to the words people say to express emotions in many different languages.
Title: Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin
Author: Duncan Tonatiuh
Find this book at your library

Cousins, one in Mexico and one in the US, write letters back and forth describing their days.  It is loads of fun discovering how their lives are different and the same.
Title: The Tooth Fairy Meets El Ratón Pérez
Author: René Colato Laínez
Illustrator: Tom Lintern
Find this book at your library

A bicultural battle brews between the Tooth Fairy and El Ratón Pérez when they both try to claim a young Mexican-American boy's tooth!  Absolutely hilarious!!

Today we feature a fun little counting rhyme: The Pirate Song
The Pirate Song

When I was one I had some fun (hold up 1 finger)
On the day I went to sea
I hopped (hop up) aboard a pirate ship (put hand over eye)
And the captain (salute with your other hand) said to me:

You go this way (hold thumbs up and lean to one side)
That way (lean to the other side)
Forward (lean forward) and backward (lean backward) Over the deep blue sea!

When I was two I tied my shoe...
When I was three I slapped my knee...
When I was four I shut the door...
When I was five I tood a dive...


Like the familiar Mother Goose nursery rhyme "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" this is one of those great counting songs that let kids explore the concepts of number and rhyme at the same time.  There is absolutely no reason to sing it the same way twice.  I encourage you to come up with new and fun rhymes for each number.  Better yet, invite your children to come up with funny rhymes.
Here are some possible versions:

When I was one I:
a) sucked my thumb
b) ate a plumb
c) went for a run

When I was two I:
a) got stuck in glue
b) went to the zoo
c) paddled my canoe

When I was three I:
a) got stung by a bee
b) jumped like a flea
c) climbed a tree

When I was four I:
a) sat on the floor
b) did roar
c) snored

When I was five I:
a) went for a drive b) played a fife
c) arrived

As I have mentioned before, being able to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words is a critical skill that helps kids prepare for learning to read.  We call it phonological awareness. 

Continuing our adventures through Storyland, we now turn our attention to one of the greatest alphabet books ever written: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault (illustrated by Lois Ehlert).
The story, the rhyme and the rhythm set Chicka Chicka Boom Boom apart from other alphabet books.  It isn't a typical abecedary (a book that lists the letters of the alphabet from A to Z, usually with each letter getting its own picture).  Instead, it sings a funny little tale of letters climbing a coconut tree.  They climb and climb until the tree can't hold up under their weight and they all come crashing down.

Many early childhood educators don't advocate introducing children to the concept of letters in a big way until they are around 3 years old.  The idea that symbols stand for sounds and that symbols can be grouped together to make up words is a pretty heady stuff for little learners. 

There are really two critical early literacy skills involved when kids develop alphabetic knowledge (or Letter Knowledge): Vocabulary and Phonological Awareness. 

First, kids learn that certain shapes have certain names.  We call both the shapes "b" and "B" a [bee].  This type of understanding has to do with a child's vocabulary, or their knowledge of the names of things.  There is no reason why toddlers who are talking shouldn't begin to learn the names of letters in fun and meaningful ways.

Second, kids learn that certain sounds are associated with certain letters.  This is when the symbolic concepts come into the picture and things start to get really complicated.  For example, the letter A can have many different sounds, depending on the word it is used in or its place in a word.  The letter A has a different sound in each of these words: Apple, card and play.  In Learning to Read the World Susan Neuman notes that "Between the ages of 4 and 7, children begin to try to translate the words they hear and can say into the letters that spell them."

The beauty of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is that it is just as fun for kids who have no letter knowledge as it is for kids who are already reading successfully.  The musical cadence of the text makes the listening a pure delight all by itself!

Here are a few of my favorite letter knowledge activities for kids from babies to preschoolers:

BABIES - EARLY TODDLERS (0-18 months)
Play with shapes!  Shapes make up letters.  Having an understanding of shapes and recognizing shapes is a natural precursor to later letter knowledge.  Playing with shape sorters, blocks and letter magnets are all great ways to introduce our littlest friends to letter in a fun and meaningful way.

TODDLERS - EARLY PRESCHOOLERS (18 months-3 years)
Introduce kids to their letter!  The first letter of a child's name is very special.  Kids love to identify with the shape that starts their name.  Singing the alphabet song is another great way to introduce kids to the names of the letters.

PRESCHOOLERS - BEGINNING READERS (3 years-5 years)
Celebrate a letter of the week!  Having a letter of the week is a fun way to focus on each letter.  Point out the letter wherever you see it and talk about all of the different words that start with that letter.  Play games that connect letters with their sounds like this silly version of My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean (courtesy of our good friends at the Deschutes Public Library).

The Storyland exhibit is on display at the the Portland Children's Museum until May 5, 2013.  Visitors can beat out a rhythm, play with matching letters and crawl all over jumbo versions of five different letters.  Contact your local Washington County library today and arrange to check out a Cultural Pass.

(photo above provided by Portland Children's Museum and used with permission)

Here is my current top ten list of favorite alphabet books:

Title: The ABC Bunny
Author: Wanda Gag
Find this book at your library
This classic book follows a bunny through a series of adventures through the alphabet.  Very fun!  Apparently, Wanda Gag's sister wrote a song to accompany: Check it out.
 Title: Alphabatics
Author: Suse MacDonald
Find this book at your library

A very ingenious introduction to the alphabet.  Each letter has a supporting picture.  The coolest part is seeing how the letters engage in acrobatics (like the j as a spring on the cover).
Title: The Alphabet Book
Author: P. D. Eastman
Find this book at your library

Perfect for beginning readers!  Very familiar words spotlight each letter of the alphabet.  Fans of P.D. Eastman (Go, Dog. Go!) won't be disappointed!
Title: Eric Carle's ABC
Author: Eric Carle
Find this book at your library

Colorful ABC book packed full of familiar animals!  A great vocabulary builder for little ones.
Title: Hooper Humperdink...? NOT HIM!
Author: Dr. Seuss
Illustrator: Scott Nash
Find this book at your library

A child names all of the kids being invited to a birthday party.  This is a fantastic way to explore different names and the letters they start with!  Sadly, my name isn't included.  Maybe yours is!
Title: LMNO Peas
Author: Keith Baker
Find this book at your library

Funny little peas play all over the alphabet and show off what kinds of peas they are... from acrobats to zoologists!
Title: The Racecar Alphabet
Author: Brian Floca
Find this book at your library

Bounding energy follows racecars and the alphabet around the racetrack.  The alphabet aspect isn't overstated.  This is a must-read for fans of racecars!
Title: The Sleepy Little Alphabet
Author: Judy Sierra
Illustrator: Melissa Sweet
Find this book at your library

Like Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, this tells the story of little letters.  This time, they are getting ready for bed!
Title: SuperHero ABC
Author: Bob McLeod
Find this book at your library

Superheroes represent the letters of the alphabet and fight crime at the same time!  Very bright and attractive for kids who love action and adventure.
Title: Z is for Moose
Author: Kelly Bingham
Illustrator: Paul O. Zelinsky
Find this book at your library

Moose is very impatient!  He can't wait for his turn to be "M is for Moose"  The alphabet has never seen such nonstop hijinks!

Trains have such an enchanting and rhythmic sound.  Today's rhyme capitalizes on the bouncy cadence of locomotives: Clickety Clack

Clickety Clack

Clickety clack, a-long, a-long  (move arms like train wheels)
A train is coming, a-chonk, a-chonk
Clickety clack a mile away  (peer with hands over eyes)
It hasn't a second of time to stay  (tap wrist)

It sing a noisy rackety song  (hold hands over ears)
A rickety-rockety-rackety song
"Get off the track, it isn't where you belong!"  (hitch thumb to side)

Over the bridge and across the lake  (ride hand up and down an imaginary track)
A mile a minute it has to make
A clickety snake with clackety eyes  (wiggle arm like snake then hold hands like binoculars)
It wriggles and jiggles along the ties  (wiggle whole body)

It sings a noisy rackety song  (hold hands over ears)
A rickety-rockety-rackety song
"Good-night little baby, in bed is where you belong ... sshhhhh!"  (pretend to sleep)


I have presented Clickety Clack as an action rhyme for older toddlers and preschool-age kiddos, calling the whole body into the game.  This fun interplay between words and body movements provides great gross motor skill practice.  When children begin to learn how to write, they need to have good hand and eye coordination as well as upper-body muscle development.  Clickety Clack is a wonderful example of how action rhymes can help prepare kids for later success in writing!  Be patient, it may take a few tries before kids begin to master the movements.

For caregivers with younger children, this rhyme can work just as well as a lullaby.  Forget the big body movements and simply pat out the rhythm on your lap.  The sounds in the words compliment the soothing and repetitive sounds of a train so perfectly!  Slow down your pace, add an occasional "hush" and you're good-to-go!  In her must-read book Reading Magic, Mem Fox says that "Songs and rhymes provide comforting rhythms in children's early lives ... They are the natural extension to the heartbeat of the mother and the rhythmic rocking of a child in loving arms or in a cradle."  Yep.  That about sums it up.

For alternate versions of this rhyme and some interesting history, visit here and here.

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 The second Storyland title we will look at is The Snowy Day. Written and illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats, it was originally published in 1962 and received the American Library Association's Caldecott Medal for distinguished illustrations in 1963.

Before I go any further, I must say I absolutely love The Snowy Day!!  I have loved it since I was very young.  These days (as an adult) I love it because I find it to be a perfect snapshot of what it's like to be little.  It shows a kid creating fun from the world around him.  He doesn't worry about shoveling the walk.  He doesn't fret about his commute and how the snow will make it difficult (what commute?).  He simply enjoys himself! 

As a child, I loved the story because it reminded me of all the fun things I used to do whenever it snowed (where I grew up, snowy days were fairly common).  For a little kid, waking up to a snow-covered world is every bit as exciting as waking up to a holiday.  Maybe even more so in that it is totally unexpected.

In The Snowy Day, Peter wakes up to discover his world has changed over night.  He spends the whole day doing just about everything you can with snow.  He crunches through it while making all kinds of tracks, he peeks in on the wildness of a big kids' snowball fight, he makes a snowman & snow angels, he even goes sliding down a slippery hill.  Snow is a nonstop source of fun and amazement!  In fact, Peter has so much fun, he tries to hold on to the magic and joy by bringing a snowball home in his pocket.

There are two really cool things about The Snowy Day that I want to point out. 

First, there are some really fun words to read out aloud: "Crunch, crunch, crunch" go Peter's feet.  He drags his feet "s-l-o-w-l-y."  And the snow falls down "plop!" on his head.  When you say these words, emphasize the sound that they describe.  Say "slowly" as slowly as you can.  When you do this, you will be calling attention to the sounds that make up the words.  We call a child's ability to hear the smaller sounds in words phonological awareness.  It is a super-important skill that helps kids become successful readers.

Second, when Peter plays in the snow by pointing his toes in and out and when he drags his feet and stick, he is practicing the act of writing!  How cool is that?

You can reinforce the writing tie-in with a very fun activity: finger paint the story!!

Here is a quick and easy homemade recipe for finger paint (borrowed from the easie peasie blog):


Make up some finger paint and have your children show you the story.  They can dip their pointer fingers into the ooey gooey paint and pretend to make Peter's tracks on paper.  They can point their fingers in to show how the toes pointed in!  They can point their fingers out to show how the toes pointed out.  They can drag their fingers "s-l-o-w-l-y" to show how Peter made long continuous tracks!  Glue on a few cotton balls to emphasize the texture of snow and you've got yourselves an instant masterpiece!!

Playing with finger paint like this helps kids remember the story while also helping them practice the fine motor skills that kids need when they begin to learn how to write.

The Storyland exhibit is on display at the Portland Children's Museum until May 5, 2013.  Visitors can walk in Peter's tracks and hear the crunch of snow!  They can even make snow angels and dress a snow man!  Contact your local Washington County library today to arrange to check out a Cultural Pass.

Here are a couple of my all-time favorite classic snowy picture books:

Title: Froggy Gets Dressed
Author: Jonathan London
Illustrator: Frank Remkiewicz
Find this book at your library

Froggy is so excited to play in the snow he keeps forgetting something every time he tries to get dressed!
Title: Katy and the Big Snow
Author: Virginia Lee Burton
Find this book at your library

Katy is a big red crawler tractor.  When a big snow hits the city of Geopolis, Katy chug-chug-chug's the city out of trouble!  If you get in the right rhythm and play up the chugging, this book is so fun to read! /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;}