In addition to Pete the Cat and Jump!, this summer I’ve been collecting fun newly-published (or just new to my library) books that I want to add to my storytimes this year. It’s always fun to try out a new title on the preschoolers; sometimes (oftentimes) it works, and sometimes, to my surprise, it falls flat. But I really enjoy sharing a book that I’ve just discovered and really love, and it makes it all the more sweet when the little guys like it too. Here are some of my new faves:
- Geringer, Laura. Boom Boom Go Away. This one has a great refrain that the kids I read it to picked up on right away. They always came in on the “go away!” Lots of sounds to make, which reinforces phonological awareness.
- Hendra, Sue. Barry, the Fish With Fingers. Okay, so maybe here in the U.S. we don’t call fish sticks “fish fingers”. But that doesn’t make this book any less silly. After you read it, you can talk about things we can do with our fingers. And things we probably shouldn’t (*cough* sticking them in your nose *cough*).
Wiggle those fish fingers!
- Doodler, Todd H. Animal Soup. Take a squirrel, cross it with a whale, and what do you get? A SQUALE, of course! This pictures are the best part of this book, although this book can be used for print awareness: I run my fingers under the words squirrel, whale, and squale to show the kids what I was reading.
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Silly daddy!
Shea, Bob. Oh, Daddy! Daddy can’t do anything himself, like get dressed, get in the car, or hug. His little hippo has to show him every time. Oh, daddy! Can’t wait to see Shea’s Dinosaur vs. the Potty, too – it’s coming out in September!
- Thomson, Bill. Chalk. Okay, so I’m not yet sure how this is going to play in storytime as I haven’t used it yet. And it has NO WORDS. This will be a great one for narrative/storytelling kids as I hope to have the preschoolers tell me what’s happening rather than me reading the story. I’ll let you know how it goes. I CAN say, for sure, that this one will be GREAT for one-on-one sharing.
- Bloom, Suzanne. What About Bear? Bear and Goose. Such good friends. In fact, you could say they are splendid friends, indeed. But what happens when tiny Fox enters the scene, and deems bear too big, too grumpy, and too far away to play with? Will Goose abandon his old friend in favor of a new one? Read it and find out! And if the picture of little Fox hiding behind his tail doesn’t make you go “awwwww”, then, well, I don’t know what’s wrong with you.
Mem Fox! Jan Thomas!
- Fox, Mem. Let’s Count Goats. Okay, so I’m cheating a little here. I haven’t actually seen this one, so I don’t really know ifI like it yet. But, given the factors involved (Mem Fox, illustrator Jan Thomas, goats!?), I can predict that I will probably LOVE it. And since the preschoolers have always reacted well to both Fox and Thomas (haven’t tested goats on them), I can be pretty sure they will love it too.
Which books are you looking forward to sharing? I polled some fellow librarians on twitter, and these are the titles they shared: How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills (looks cute to me!), Amelia Bedelia’s First Apple Pie by Herman Parish, City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems, and Ladybug Girl by Jacky Davis.
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