Reading with Little L: Reading through the Wiggles

Little L is almost two years old now (I can’t believe it!), and he is very much an active toddler.   Even though he still enjoys snuggling and reading together, there are times when he just can’t sit still.  I’ve learned to just read through his wiggles though.

Most of our reading time takes place at bedtime, and many nights Little L is perfectly content to sit peacefully in my lap as I read him picture book after picture book.  However, there are other nights when he’s just not having it.   The first couple of times this happened, I tried to keep him in my lap anyway – reading was an integral part of our bedtime routine, by golly!  But I eventually gave in.  The funny thing was that even though Little L has numerous toys in his room, when he got down from my lap during read aloud time, he usually didn’t try to play with any of them.  Instead, he was picking up other books to flip through and “read” on his own.  Sometimes I join him and read the books that he’s looking at, but usually I just keep on reading whatever I’ve already started.  I do this because, even though he’s looking at another book, I’ve noticed that he’s still listening to me.

How do I know he’s still listening?  Well, let me give you an example.  There are two different books we read regularly that mention hugging in the story.  At some point, Little L started hugging himself when he saw the illustrations on these pages and heard the word “hug” – like an automatic response.  Well, one night an amazing thing happened (at least, I thought it was pretty amazing).  Little L was across the room looking at another book while I read one of these books.  I began reading the page where one of the characters (okay, it’s Elmo) hugs another monster.  As soon as I started reading on that page Little L hugged himself – several lines before the hug takes place, and while he wasn’t even looking at the illustrations.  He’s pretty smart, that kid!

So, since I know he’s listening and absorbing language whether he’s sitting with me or not, I’ll just continue to read away!

Storytime Share: Dragons

I’ve done dragon-themed storytimes many times over the years.  It’s a great theme that appeals to both boys and girls and can be done with a wide age of ranges as well.  It’s also a great way to explore stories from different places around the world since many cultures have dragon tales in their folklore.  This past summer I used dragon stories with school-age groups I read to both in the library and at outreach locations around town.  Below is a sampling of books I used with these groups as well as an activity idea.

Books:

Behold the Dragons! by Gail Gibbons

Great overview of various types of dragons found in myths and legends around the world.  I used the first few pages as an introduction to my dragon storytimes.  Early Elementary, Older Elementary

Brave Martha and the Dragon by Susan L. Roth; illustrated by the author

Based on the legend of St. Martha, who saved the village of Tarascon, France from a deadly dragon.  The collage illustrations in this book really appealed to my audiences.  Older Elementary

The Tale of Custard the Dragon by Ogden Nash; illustrated by Lynn Munsinger

One of my perennial storytime favorites – Ogden Nash’s clever story of cowardly pet dragon Custard who overcomes his fears to thwart a pirate who invades his home.  Preschool, Early Elementary, Older Elementary

The Seven Chinese Sisters by Kathy Tucker; illustrated by Grace Lin

Each sister in this story must use her own unique talent to rescue the youngest from a dragon that kidnaps her for his tasty dinner.  Preschool, Early Elementary

Dragon Prince: A Chinese Beauty & the Beast Tale by Laurence Yep; illustrated by Kam Mak

In order to save her father from the wrath of a dragon, a young maiden offers herself in his place and together she and her dragon prince learn the true meaning of beauty.  Older Elementary

Activity:

“Going on a Dragon Hunt”

This is an activity I found in a book or magazine years ago that I use all the time.  It’s a lot like the well-known “Going on a Bear Hunt” story, but with a dragon instead.  I tell the story of a brave knight who leaves his castle to fight a dragon that’s been terrorizing the nearby village.  Along the way the knight has to cross a bridge, walk through a forest, swim through a creek, etc.   As the knight is walking, have the children pat their hands on their laps.  When crossing the bridge, make the thumping sound by patting fists on chest.   Act out a swimming motion when crossing the creek, then shake yourself to “dry” off.  Add other motions that come to mind as well.  He stops a couple of times along the way to take a look around, but doesn’t find the dragon.  When he gets to a clearing in the forest he looks around again and sees the dragon.  Instead of fighting the dragon though, he turns and runs back to the castle instead.  When the knight runs back to the castle, reverse all the motions and do them faster!

Books of the Month: November 2011

• Blankets – Craig Thompson
• Beauty Queens – Libba Bray
• The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic – Jennifer Trafton
• Troubletwisters – Garth Nix & Sean Williams
• Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie – Julie Sternberg
• Pie – Sarah Weeks
• Amelia Lost – Candace Fleming
• The Dead and the Gone – Susan Beth Pfeffer

December Mini-Challenge

A couple of years ago, I set a goal for myself of reading 100 books that year.  I did achieve that goal, and I had a lot of fun doing it.  I haven’t tried to challenge myself like that since then because I knew that a new job and a new baby would cut into my reading time.

But I’m starting to feel like I’m ready to challenge myself again.  I’ve thought about participating in various challenges I’ve seen on other blogs, but I think I’d just like to set my own goal again and see what happens.

I’ll write more about the challenge for 2012 as the new year approaches, but I thought in the meantime I would set up a mini-challenge for myself.

A short explanation to set up the mini-challenge…  For the last several years I’ve been attending Annual and Midwinter Conferences of the American Library Association.  One of the really fun things about these conferences is picking up Advanced Reader Copies of books that publishers want to promote for the upcoming months.  While I’ve tried to limit myself only to books that I’m actually interested in or that I think someone I know would like to read, I’ve still ended up with way too  many books.  Every few months I go through and clean out a few, saving children’s titles for giveaways at my library and passing along teen and adult titles.  Yet, I still have a stack of about a dozen titles left to read.

So, my mini-challenge for December will be to get through as many of these ARCs as I can and make way for the books I want to read next year as part of my new Yearly Challenge.  At the end of December I’ll throw in the towel on the titles I haven’t gotten to and add them to my giveaway stash instead.   I’ll begin 2012 with a fresh start!

Let the reading begin!