Vroooom! Transportation is always a good preschool theme. Boys of course will get into it, but girls will enjoy hearing these stories too. My lazy horse puppet, Henry, introduces the storytime (I was trying to think of a puppet to go with the theme, and lit upon Henry: he’s an unusual horse in that he prefers riding in cars to running).
- Lord, Cynthia. Hot Rod Hamster. Hamster wants to enter a hot rod race, so he visits the junkyard where the bulldog owner helps him build a custom ride. The refrain “which would you choose?” lets kids weigh in.
- McMullan, Kate. I’m Fast! The newest in this series features a train squaring off against a car in a race to Chicago. Who
will get there first? Lots of great noises to make, like the train’s steady “chookachookachookachooka” sound. - Flannelboard: “There Was a Young Woman Who Rode in a Car.”
- Durango, Julia. Go-Go Gorillas. When Big Daddy Gorilla, the King, orders everyone to the Gorilla Villa for an announcement, each gorilla uses a different mode of transportation to get there. Includes the fun refrain “Go go gorillas gotta go gorillas go!”
- Flannelboard: “Where Does This Go?”
- Song: “The Wheels on the Bus.” A classic good time. And for you ukulele newbies, it only uses 2 chords! A great song to start out with – very easy to play. And the kids love it! You can mix it up by suggesting silly things on the bus, like dinosaurs. Roar! Here’s Eric Litwin/Pete the Cat’s version:
Other stories I love:
- Docherty, Thomas. To The Beach. Short, but with illustrations that give great clues about what’s coming next!
- Burningham, John. Mr. Gumpy’s Outing. For the longest time my brain insterted an “r” in the title and I read this as Mr. Grumpy. But no, MR. GUMPY takes two children and a bunch of animals out on his boat, with conditions: they are not to chase, kick, tease, etc. Of course, they do everything he asked them not to do, and the boat tips over. A great story for introducing and talking about new vocabulary like squabble, trample, and bleat (not to be confused with bleed).
- Mayo, Margaret. Choo Choo Clickety-Clack! Lots of different kinds of transportation represented.
- Stanley, Mandy. Lettice the Flying Rabbit. Lettice dreams of flying. And one day, when she finds a toy plane, she gets her chance!
- Zane, Alexander. The Wheels on the Race Car. If we don’t sing the song, I like to sing this story.
- Stein, Peter. Cars Galore. So. Many. Cars.!
- Lewis, Kevin. My Truck Is Stuck! The driver needs help when his truck’s tire gets stuck in a hole. Little does he know, though, that something is happening to his load.
- Schertle, Alice. Little Blue Truck. Little Blue Truck helps, even the big, noisy, rude truck.
What are your favorite transportation-themed stories? Ready…set….GO!
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