May Storytime Briefly 2014

Yesterday was the last day of the school year.  While I am ready to have my kids home for summer break, I will miss the first graders and second graders who shared so many stories with me this year.

In May, we talked about siblings.  We read

• Maple by Lori Nichols
• "Brother" by Mary Ann Hoberman
• Flora's Very Windy Day by Jeanne Birdsall, illustrated by Matt Phelan

I love the illustrations in Maple--they remind me of summer afternoons, resting in the park and listening to my mom read Mary Poppins.  (I'm waiting for the red maple in my backyard to grow bigger so we can enjoy its shade.)  The first-graders were delighted to make the connection between the trees and the sisters' names.

A couple of days after I listened to the second graders read their own fractured fairy tales at the Second-Grade Book Bonanza, we talked about the gift of story.  We read

• Clever Jack Takes the Cake by Candace Fleming, illustrated by G. Brian Karas
• Hansel and Gretel illustrated by Sybille Schenker

The first graders went to the zoo, so we read books about zoos and zoo animals:

• Xander's Panda Party by Linda Sue Park, illustrated by Matt Phelan
• My Side of the Car by Kate Feiffer, illustrated by Jules Feiffer
• How to Hide a Lion by Helen Stephens

After we read My Side of the Car, the second graders told me about their first-grade bus breaking down on their way to the zoo the previous year.  (I got to hear the same story from the first graders who were relieved their bus had made to the zoo without mishap.)

We talked about hats (because I wanted an excuse to share these books.)  We read

• I Want My Back by Jon Klassen
• Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
• Milo's Hat Trick by Jon Agee

We talked about names and read

• Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
• My Name Is Elizabeth by Annika Dunklee, illustrated by Matthew Forsythe
• Nelly May Has Her Say by Cynthia DeFelice, illustrated by Henry Cole

When I took my kids to the library to meet Kevin Henkes, I realized that we hadn't read any of his mouse books for storytime this year.  It was time to fix that! 

And then for our final storytime of the school year, we read books about things to do during the summer:

• Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee
• At Night by Jonathan Bean
• Step Gently Out by Helen Frost, photographs by Rick Lieder
• Wolves by Emily Gravett

Okay, I admit that Wolves by Emily Gravett was a small stretch for a summertime activity but it sure was a fun way to end the year.