A few weeks ago I connected with The Librarian over a shared interest in storytelling. We chatted about stories and books and have been exchanging thoughts and ideas ever since. He’s a children’s librarian, I’m a library chick and together we rock. So when inspiration for my story times for work seemed to have fizzled, I thought back on a conversation we had about books and created a story time with a unique twist on a theme.
For my Monday group, I felt like it was a good day to explore music and used Mo Willems’ Listen to My Trumpet! (An Elephant and Piggie Book) as the central theme. With this book I paired three additional titles I felt were related to the book but would not seem repetitive. The ideas related, but we could explore animals (pigs and elephants), music (Piggie has a trumpet) or friends (Piggie and Gerald, the elephant, are besties).
We could explore animals in Punk Farm on Tour. There’s a pig in the band.
Friends go on an adventure in Shh! We Have a Plan. This is also a great title for quieting a group, although my group loved to shriek every time 
we got to the word “Go!”
Read about music in Ben’s Trumpet.
During the program we used shaker eggs while reading the stories and later made our own.
When I started working I always thought that I had to have a theme and would really stress if I could not think of one. (Because I am me.) I would feel like I was being lazy if I used Miss Rachee’s favorite books as a theme too often, but with this new approach, I am loving coming up with new ways to share books I use.
To create your own shaker eggs, you'll need beads, plastic eggs and a hot glue gun to seal the eggs.
With adults keeping watch, the kids filled up the eggs with a few beads, and we sealed them using the glue. Now they have a musical shaker to take home.
If I had thought of it at the time, we could have experimented with the sounds the eggs made based on the amount of beads added to the eggs. (Next time!)
This was such a simple and fun program! The kids and parents had a great time; the shrieks and laughter were a good indication, and it was a great way to set the tone of the week. I plan to use this theme again and will add Leslie Patricelli’s Be Quiet, Mike! to the mix.
Tell me…what are your favorite books that can be added to this group? Music, animals or friends?
Rachée Fagg is a Delaware County, PA mom. This post was adapted from her blog, Say It Rah-shay. 
