I didn't mean it to be almost all witches today; it just turned out that way. We read Ghosts in the House, by Kasuno Kohara (a delightful story about a little girl witch who knows what to do with all the ghosts in her new house), and Winnie the Witch, by Korky Paul (about the problem of having an all-black cat in an all-black house.) Winnie seems to be popular in the UK, but seldom seen in the US.
I also did Jean Stangl's papercut story A Little Orange House. I've been using this story every since I saw it in Highlights magazine some 25 years ago. You can find pictures online for how to do the paper cutting, but not the story. Look up the pictures and make up your own story about a wee witch and her wee cat who need a cozy home for the winter. Fold a piece of orange paper and then cut the roof, the door, a little door for the cat, and a window, and then see what you have when you unfold it. I also add a little box to the side for firewood---that turns into the pumpkin stem. A fun story, and always a surprise.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Origami Halloween
It was after-school storytime at the library today, with a Halloween theme. I told a paper-folding story called The Princess and the Pumpkin, about Jack and how he was able to give the princess a pumpkin, even after all his pumpkins had been devoured by Pernicious Pumpkin-Dust Beetles. He did it with origami!
The traditional origami model used in the story is called a balloon, or a water bomb. It's an ingenious fold that can be blown up to make a ball that can be bounced around, or filled with water and thrown at someone. It's also useful for making Christmas decorations to hang on a tree, or little Halloween pumpkins.
Use any piece of orange paper. It doesn't have to be origami paper. Here is an instructional video for making the water bomb. http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-an-origami-water-bomb
To make a jack-o-lantern out of this, just draw on a face and put a twist of green paper in the hole to make a stem. If you want to draw the face on before you fold the paper, draw it in the upper center. (If the piece of paper were a tic tac toe board, or a nine-patch quilt square, you would draw the face in the middle top row.)
Use any piece of orange paper. It doesn't have to be origami paper. Here is an instructional video for making the water bomb. http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-an-origami-water-bomb
To make a jack-o-lantern out of this, just draw on a face and put a twist of green paper in the hole to make a stem. If you want to draw the face on before you fold the paper, draw it in the upper center. (If the piece of paper were a tic tac toe board, or a nine-patch quilt square, you would draw the face in the middle top row.)
 |
| Don't know why this came out sideways. You get the idea. |
Sing a Song for Babies!
Nothing is more fun than babies and songs. Here's a good one for bouncing and cheering up a baby:
What do you do with a cranky baby,
What do you do with a cranky baby,
What do you do with a cranky baby,
Early in the morning.
Heave ho! and up she rises (uppity-up!)
Heave ho! and up she rises
Heave ho! and up she rises
Early in the morning.
Take in your arms and tickle her all over, (you know what to do here)
Take in your arms and tickle her all over,
Take in your arms and tickle her all over,
Early in the morning.
Heave ho! and up she rises
Heave ho! and up she rises
Heave ho! and up she rises
Early in the morning.
What do you do with a cranky baby,
What do you do with a cranky baby,
What do you do with a cranky baby,
Early in the morning.
Heave ho! and up she rises (uppity-up!)
Heave ho! and up she rises
Heave ho! and up she rises
Early in the morning.
Take in your arms and tickle her all over, (you know what to do here)
Take in your arms and tickle her all over,
Take in your arms and tickle her all over,
Early in the morning.
Heave ho! and up she rises
Heave ho! and up she rises
Heave ho! and up she rises
Early in the morning.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Pumpkin Time
After taking a break last week to go to a great library conference in Denver (well, near Denver), I am back to storytiming.
This week it is pumpkins. We read It's Pumpkin Time by Zoe Hall, Big Pumpkin, by Erica Silverman, and a fun little pop-up book called Little Monsters, by Jan Pienkowski.
Songs included Did You Ever See a Pumpkin, Five Little Pumpkins, and the Scarecrow Song. This last one is one of my favorites, and I don't think very many people know it. It goes:
When all the cows were sleeping,
And the sun had gone to bed,
up jumped the scarecrow
And this is what he said:
I'm a dingle dangle scarecrow
With a flippy floppy hat!
I can shake my arms like this,
I can shake my legs like that!
When all the hens were roosting
And the moon behind a cloud,
Up jumped the scarecrow
And shouted very loud:
I'm a dingle dangle scarecrow
With a flippy floppy hat!
I can shake my arms like this,
I can shake my legs like that!
A fun song for jumping around and shaking your arms and legs! There is a tune online for this song here: http://www.thespeks.com/tn-dingle-dangle-scarecrow.html although it is not exactly the same tune I use. I think I first got this song out of a little old paperback book titled This Little Puffin (from Puffin Books.)
This week it is pumpkins. We read It's Pumpkin Time by Zoe Hall, Big Pumpkin, by Erica Silverman, and a fun little pop-up book called Little Monsters, by Jan Pienkowski.
Songs included Did You Ever See a Pumpkin, Five Little Pumpkins, and the Scarecrow Song. This last one is one of my favorites, and I don't think very many people know it. It goes:
When all the cows were sleeping,
And the sun had gone to bed,
up jumped the scarecrow
And this is what he said:
I'm a dingle dangle scarecrow
With a flippy floppy hat!
I can shake my arms like this,
I can shake my legs like that!
When all the hens were roosting
And the moon behind a cloud,
Up jumped the scarecrow
And shouted very loud:
I'm a dingle dangle scarecrow
With a flippy floppy hat!
I can shake my arms like this,
I can shake my legs like that!
A fun song for jumping around and shaking your arms and legs! There is a tune online for this song here: http://www.thespeks.com/tn-dingle-dangle-scarecrow.html although it is not exactly the same tune I use. I think I first got this song out of a little old paperback book titled This Little Puffin (from Puffin Books.)
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Book Club
I started a book club for young readers last month, and we met again today to discuss our first book. We read The World According to Humphrey by Betty J.Birney, a tale told by a classroom pet hamster. Here are some of the questions we covered:
Do you think Humphrey would like being in your classroom? What would he like about it?
Humphrey thinks that the students’ names are things like Speak-Up-Sayeh, Stop-Giggling-Gail or Wait-for-the-Bell-Garth. Would Humphrey give you a name like that? What might it be?
Ms. Mac tells Humphrey, “You can learn a lot about yourself by taking care of another species." What do you think she means? Do you think this is true?
Do you talk to your pets? Do you think they can understand you?
Why is Sayeh shy about talking in class? How does Humphrey help her?
At the Halloween party everyone has to share a talent to get a treat. Some kids tell jokes or riddles, and Sayeh sings The Star-Spangled Banner. Do you have a talent you could share in a similar situation?
The girls (so far it's all girls) talked about their own animals and how smart their animals are (or sometimes not.). We told some riddles and talked about other talents that could be shared in the classroom or at a talent show. Next month our book will be Shiloh, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.
For refreshments we had hamster food (trail mix) and good old water to wash it down. Just like Humphrey!
Do you think Humphrey would like being in your classroom? What would he like about it?
Humphrey thinks that the students’ names are things like Speak-Up-Sayeh, Stop-Giggling-Gail or Wait-for-the-Bell-Garth. Would Humphrey give you a name like that? What might it be?
Ms. Mac tells Humphrey, “You can learn a lot about yourself by taking care of another species." What do you think she means? Do you think this is true?
Do you talk to your pets? Do you think they can understand you?
Why is Sayeh shy about talking in class? How does Humphrey help her?
At the Halloween party everyone has to share a talent to get a treat. Some kids tell jokes or riddles, and Sayeh sings The Star-Spangled Banner. Do you have a talent you could share in a similar situation?
The girls (so far it's all girls) talked about their own animals and how smart their animals are (or sometimes not.). We told some riddles and talked about other talents that could be shared in the classroom or at a talent show. Next month our book will be Shiloh, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.
For refreshments we had hamster food (trail mix) and good old water to wash it down. Just like Humphrey!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Jane Austen Jumps the Shark?
Jane herself could never do that, but the Austen spin-offs . . . . when will it ever end?
I was reading reviews for adult fiction in Booklist (9/1/10), and there, on one two-page spread, were 4 books books based on Jane Austen's works. That's 4 out of 12 reviews on those two pages. They were:
Dancing with Mr. Darcy (short stories)
Mr. Darcy's Little Sister (the further adventures of Georgiana)
Mr. Darcy's Obsession (not sure what he is obsessed with, other than Elizabeth Bennet)
Jane and the Damned (in which Jane Austen herself becomes---what else?--a vampire.)
I recently reread Persuasion, and let me tell you, there is nothing like the real thing.
I was reading reviews for adult fiction in Booklist (9/1/10), and there, on one two-page spread, were 4 books books based on Jane Austen's works. That's 4 out of 12 reviews on those two pages. They were:
Dancing with Mr. Darcy (short stories)
Mr. Darcy's Little Sister (the further adventures of Georgiana)
Mr. Darcy's Obsession (not sure what he is obsessed with, other than Elizabeth Bennet)
Jane and the Damned (in which Jane Austen herself becomes---what else?--a vampire.)
I recently reread Persuasion, and let me tell you, there is nothing like the real thing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)