WCCLS Kids

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The concepts of greater than and less than are very important within the field of mathematics.  Surprisingly, children almost instinctively understand these ideas from early on.  Kids see that one group of things is bigger than another.  They easily recognize that having two cookies is better than having one cookie (unless, of course, the one cookie is the world’s largest cookie).

But sometimes we need to stop and count or measure things to figure out exactly which is bigger.  When we follow through by counting or measuring, we are verifying what we may have only guessed.  This is how the scientific method works!  See how math and science work together?  When we help kids by modeling this behavior and talking with them about the math ideas, we are helping them grow a bigger understanding of how things work.

Here’s a fun little family activity for building an understanding of greater than and less than:

1. Gather everybody in your home and measure heights along a wall by putting up a piece of masking tape for each person.  (you can measure pets or stuffed animals, too)
2. Write each person's name and age on the tape using a marker.
3. Work together to figure out:
     a. Who is the tallest person?
     b. Are any people the same height?
     c. Is the oldest person the tallest?
     d. Is the youngest person the shortest?

Here are some fun ways to figure out the answers to the last two questions: First, rearrange the pieces of tape in order from shortest to tallest and then have each person stand in front of their name.  Then, rearrange the pieces of tape in order from youngest to oldest and then have each person stand in front of their name.  Did the order change when you sorted by size or by age?
There are so many opportunities for introducing the concepts of greater than and less than during daily conversations.  Next time you are at the dinner table, try counting the pieces of food on each plate and figure out who has the most pieces.  Or, try counting the number of pockets on you and your child’s clothes to determine who has the fewest.  When kids play around with measurement and amount ideas, they are able to make meaningful connections that will help them master harder math concepts once they are in school.
Here is a short list of some of my favorite books dealing with size and quantity:
Title: Bear Wants More Author: Karma Wilson Illustrator: Jane Chapman Find this book at your library
Bear wakes up after his long hibernation and he is hungry!  He keeps eating more and more, but he is still hungry.  The idea of more is one of the first math ideas kids grasp.  Here's a great followup question for this book: Who ate more, Bear or his friends? Title: Big, Bigger, Biggest! Author: Nancy Coffelt Find this book at your library
This is a fantastic introduction to greater than and less than!  A series of animals help describe all sorts of measurement ideas like "big" and "small," "fast" and "slow."  Title: Biggest, Strongest, Fastest Author: Steve Jenkins Find this book at your library
Superlatives like "fastest" and "strongest" are detailed along with really cool little charts that show how the animals stack up in comparison with humans.
Title: Guess How Much I Love You
Author: Sam McBratney
Illustrator: Anita Jeram
Find this book at your library

"I wish I had a million dollars!" ... "Oh yeah... I wish I had a billion dollars!" ... "Well, I wish I had a billion plus one!"  This adorable book wrote the story on one-upping!
Title: Higher! Higher!
Author: Leslie Patricelli
Find this book at your library

A little girl swings higher and higher, exploring many different heights until she flies right out of this world!!
Title: I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean
Author: Kevin Sherry
Find this book at your library

A giant squid shows off all of the things that he is bigger than before declaring himself the biggest thing in the ocean.  Unfortunately, he hasn't met the whale yet!
Title: Just a Little Bit
Author: Ann Tompert
Illustrator: Lynn Munsinger
Find this book at your library

Elephant wants to try out the seesaw, but nothing seems to happen when his friend Mouse sits on the other side.  A whole zooful of animals help out until Elephant finally rises.  A great introduction to the idea that one can be greater than many (in this case, Elephant weighs more than lots of his friends together).
Title: More
Author: I. C. Springman
Illustrator: Brian Lies
Find this book at your library

A magpie keeps filling his nest(s) with more and more junk!  His friends finally help him learn when enough is enough.
Title: Stuck in the Mud
Author: Jane Clarke
Illustrator: Garry Parsons
Find this book at your library

A farmyard tries to pull a little chick out of the mud.  But just how many animals does it take to get him free?
Title: Tall
Author: Jez Alborough
Find this book at your library

A small chimp gets a little help from his friends in order to become tall.  This is a terribly fun introduction to ideas of relativity.




photo by Ellen Levy Finch

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“STEM” has been a huge education buzz-word in recent years.  S.T.E.M. is short for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.  These concepts have been driving an awful lot of national education policy lately.  And they are steadily trickling down into the world of early childhood education. 
Public libraries have been sharing information and tips on early literacy and what you can do to help get your kids ready to read for years.  We are now stepping up our game in other important areas, like sharing information about early numeracy!
Early numeracy is a child’s early knowledge of mathematical reasoning.  It includes concepts like numbers and patterns, measurements and shapes.  Children’s books are packed with opportunities for kids to practice math concepts in fun and meaningful ways, so it’s natural that libraries are standing up and sharing.
In the coming weeks, we will explore some of the major early numeracy concepts.  We will start with counting!
Counting is one of the earliest math concepts kids are introduced to.  There are countless nursery rhymes that encourage kids to count on their fingers (and toes).  Here is the Beehive and Five Green and Speckled Frogs are a couple of my favorites.  As kids count up and down with these fun little games, they are making a meaningful connection between abstract numbers and real-life amounts.  They are also learning the idea of sequence, that number one comes before number two, etc.
Counting is such a natural game that can be incorporated into any daily activity.  Whenever you have the chance, stop and ask your child to help you count something.  “How many cups are on the table?  Let’s count them!”  Kids love to count things!
Here is a huge collection of some of my favorite counting books:
Title: Counting Crocodiles
Author: Judy Sierra
Illustrator: Will Hillenbrand
Find this book at your library

A clever little monkey tricks her way across the Sillabobble Sea by offering to count the crocodiles that infest its waters!  Lots of fun counting up and down.
Title: Dinner for Eight
Author: Roger De Muth
Find this book at your library

A super-cool lift-the-flap book showing the delicious dinners octopus has cooked up for his friends.  It is fun to help kids count the guests and discover that octopus is one of the eight being served!
 Title: Doggies
Author: Sandra Boynton
Find this book at your library

Ten dogs sound off (each with a voice different from the others) in this hilariously fun counting book.
Title: Let's Count
Author: Tana Hoban
Find this book at your library

Beautiful photographs invite the reader to pick out objects and count from 1 to 100.
Title: Let's Count Goats!
Author: Mem Fox
Illustrator: Jan Thomas
Find this book at your library

There are all kinds of silly goats to be counted in this wonderfully bright book that simply begs to be read aloud!
 Title: Minnie's Diner: A Multiplying Menu
Author: Dayle Ann Dodds
Illustrator: John Manders
Find this book at your library

The boys on the McFay farm are hungry and Minnie's Diner smells awful good.  Each older brother is exactly twice the size of his younger brother and each meal order is twice as big.  From 1 soup to 2 soups to 4 soups and on and on.  This is crazy fun with counting and an awesome introduction to the concept of multiplication.
Title: Mother Goose Numbers On the Loose
Author: Leo & Diane Dillon
Find this book at your library

A great collection of Mother Goose rhymes featuring numbers from "Baa Baa Black Sheep" to "1, 2 Buckle My Shoe"
Title: My Little Sister Ate One Hare
Author: Bill Grossman
Illustrator: Kevin Hawkes
Find this book at your library

Quite possibly the grossest (and funniest) counting books ever written!  Little sister eats everything imaginable, exhibiting a stomach of iron... until she swallows a pea.
Title: One Is a Drummer
Author: Roseanne Thong
Illustrator: Grace Lin
Find this book at your library

A young girl identifies the many numbers that surround her each and every day.
Title: One Little Chicken: A Counting Book
Author: David Elliott
Illustrator: Ethan Long
Find this book at your library

Counting dancing chickens doesn't get any better than this! 
Title: One Ted Falls Out of Bed
Author: Julia Donaldson
Illustrator: Anna Currey
Find this book at your library

One teddy bear falls out of bed and has an adventure through the numbers, finally working his way back into bed.  Numbers and counting weave through this story in such a beautiful, seamless way.
Title: 1, 2, Buckle My Shoe
Author: Anna Grossnickle Hines
Find this book at your library

Quilted panels helps show the familiar nursery rhyme as the reader counts buttons.  A very simple and fun introduction to the art of counting!
 Title: One, Two, Three!
Author: Sandra Boynton
Find this book at your library

Bouncy and rhythmic text makes counting from 1 to 10 tons and tons of fun!
Title: Seven Hungry Babies
Author: Candace Fleming
Illustrator: Eugene Yelchin
Find this book at your library

A mama bird is run ragged trying to feed her seven hungry babies.  This is a great and meaningful chance for kids to practice counting down from seven to one.
Title: Ten Apples Up On Top!
Author: Dr. Seuss
Illustrator: Roy McKie
Find this book at your library

A classic tale of one-upmanship!  Three animals keep adding more and more apples up on top until they are all balancing ten.
Title: Ten Black Dots
Author: Donald Crews
Find this book at your library

Black dots can make lots of things.  From 1 to 10, black dots help complete all sorts of pictures.  Cut your own black dots out of construction paper and imagine all of the many things black dots can be!
Title: 20 Hungry Piggies
Author: Trudy Harris
Illustrator: Andrew N. Harris
Find this book at your library

This funny book captures the adventures of twenty piggies from trips to the market and roast beef sandwiches to a hungry wolf who wants to eat all twenty piggies at his picnic.  But, where is the 20th piggie?
Title: Two at the Zoo
Author: Danna Smith
Illustrator: Valeria Petrone
Find this book at your library

A little boy and his grandfather take a trip to the zoo and count all kind of animals in this adorable counting book!




picture by: Onderwijsgek

Here is a silly little song about a bossy duck: Six Little Ducks

Six Little Ducks

Six little ducks
That I once knew Fat ones, skinny ones, Fair ones, too But the one little duck With the feather on his back He ruled the others With a quack, quack, quack
Quack, quack, quack, Quack, quack, quack He ruled the others With a quack, quack, quack
Down to the river They would go Wibble, wobble, wibble, wobble To and fro But the one little duck With the feather on his back He ruled the others With a quack, quack, quack
Quack, quack, quack, Quack, quack, quack He ruled the others With a quack, quack, quack
Back from the river They would come Wibble, wobble, wibble, wobble Ho, hum, hum But the one little duck With the feather on his back He ruled the others With a quack, quack, quack
Quack, quack, quack, Quack, quack, quack He ruled the others With a quack, quack, quack

This rhyme is really quite goofy.  It has a nice bouncy cadence and is super-fun to sing.  The idea of one little duck leading (or ruling) the others is interesting, as well.  This is a great conversation-starter.  "Why do all of the other ducks follow the little one with the feather on his back?"

There is an awful lot of strange content in nursery rhymes.  Having a conversation with kids about what is happening in rhymes (and books) is a great way to help them make connections between what they hear and/or read and what they know from their own life.  Having the ability to look at things with a critical eye and make sense out of what they read will benefit kids greatly after they have mastered the decoding side of reading.  Comprehension is a major component of all future reading and education success!

Happy Friday!  Here's a fun little movement game to get you ready for the weekend ahead: Looby Loo

Looby Loo

Here we go looby loo,
Here we go looby light,
Here we go looby loo,
All on a Saturday night.

You put your right hand in.
Your take your right hand out.
You give your right hand a shake, shake, shake,
And turn yourself about.

(continue with left hand, right foot, left foot, then end with whole self)


This rhyme will likely remind folks of the remarkably similar "Hokey Pokey."  The history of these game songs is really quite fascinating.  You may be surprised to learn that Sony/ATV Music Publishing currently holds a copyright to "The Hokey Pokey."  Our rhyme, "Looby Loo," is quite a bit older.  It may be found in print as early as Halliwell's 1886 edition of The Nursery Rhymes of England. 

What I like best about this rhyme is that it gives kids lots of opportunities for moving around and engaging in big body play.  At the same time, there are repeated chances for practicing the concepts of left and right.  As I have previously mentioned, concepts like left and right are part of the early literacy skill we call print awareness.  Print awareness is a child's understanding of how the printed word works.  For example, the fact that in English we typically read words from left to right and top to bottom.  When kids have a strong understanding of these spatial references, they are better equipped to learn how to both read and write!

This rhyme can work equally well as a baby lap bounce.  Simply bounce your child on your lap and gently grab the appropriate body part and give it a little shake, shake, shake!

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.

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!

This week's rhyme is filled to the brim with opportunities for play-acting: Miss Polly Had a Dolly

Miss Polly Had a Dolly

Miss Polly had a dolly who was sick, sick, sick
So she phoned for the doctor to be quick, quick, quick
In came the doctor with his bag and hat
And knocked on the door with a rat-tat-tat

He looked at the dolly and he shook his head
He told Miss Polly to put her straight to bed
He wrote a prescription for a pill, pill, pill
"I'll be back in the morning with my bill, bill, bill"



I like this rhyme because it tells a very practical story.  What do we typically do when someone is feeling under the weather?  We seek professional advice.  Kids love pretending to be adults and taking care of a doll is a familiar exercise for many kids.  I especially love the presence of the word "prescription."  It is a word that gets used quite a lot in life.  When kids are exposed to words like this, they are building their vocabularies.  And while "prescription" isn't a word that shows up in most beginning readers, it is a word that kids will eventually encounter.  If they already know and understand the word, it will be so much easier for them to make sense of the word once they finally do come to it in its written form.

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!

"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.

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
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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!