December Storytime Briefly

Today is the last day of school this year (cue the applause) and yesterday was the last storytime of the year. Here are December's highlights.

We had a big snowstorm in Utah, so it was the perfect day to read

• Snow by Uri Shulevitz
• The Snow Day by Komako Sakai
• Bedtime for Bear by Brett Helquist
• Big Snow by Jonathan Bean

We talked about playing in the snow and enjoying hot chocolate afterwards.  One student pointed out the change in the city from gray and drab to bright and colorful in Snow.  And another noticed the changing colors in Big Snow as the story (and the storm) progressed.  We talked about how the snow reflects the light and how the illustrations use light.

We continued our discussion of cold weather and snow by reading

• A Very Fuddles Christmas by Frans Vischer
• Bunnies on Ice by Johanna Wright
• Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen

We looked at the texture in the illustrations for Bunnies on Ice and Extra Yarn.  We also talked about the magic behind that box of yarn--every kid had a slightly different idea of how it worked.

We talked about Christmas.  We read

• The Christmas Giant by Steve Light
• Little Santa by Jon Agee
• The Smallest Gift of Christmas by Peter Reynolds

Jon Agee's Little Santa ends with "And you know the rest of the story."  I had several students who wanted to share what they know about the rest of that story.  (And one who wanted to know if the book was fiction or nonfiction.)  I love first graders.