Stuffy Sleepover

Staff in Jammies

Our library recently hosted a stuffy sleepover. If you missed this incredibly adorable event, don't worry, we plan on having another at some point in the future. For those of you who do not live near Portland you should absolutely beg your local library to host one, because the little ones here loved it. Basically the kiddos came to the library with a stuffed friend for a special evening story time. We encouraged all the kids to wear jammies and the staff had theirs on too. I don't know about you, but I am always up for going anywhere in my pj's and a couple of parents told me that their children could not wait to wear theirs to story time.

Upon arrival the kids had their pictures taken and filled out an information sheet about their stuffy. This included their stuffy's name, favorite snack, favorite color, and it also had a place for them to draw a picture of their stuffy. The photo and information sheet would become part of the book that each participant would receive when they picked up their stuffy the next day.

During the story time portion of the program the kids listened to bedtime stories, sang songs, and made a super cute sleepy teddy craft.

After story time the kids tucked in their stuffies for the evening. First they wrote the stuffy's name on a sleep mask made of craft foam and yarn and put them in the story time room.

Once all the kids had left the staff took tons of pictures of the stuffies reading books, playing with trains, coloring, taking over the director's office, etc. The next morning the kids picked up their stuffed friends and received a book (complete with photos and simple text) all about their stuffy's overnight adventures in the library.

Planning this program made me think about all of my favorite stories, rhymes, and songs that are about bedtime and sleeping. Even if you cannot attend a stuffy sleepover any time in the near future, you can still share a wonderful sleepy story time with your little one in the comfort of your own home.

Of course, since it was the Stuffy Sleepover I had to read Bedtime for Yeti by Vin Vogel. Yeti spends every moment with his stuffed doppelganger, Chunk, but one evening Chunk disappears right before bedtime.  Not only is Yeti (and Chunk) super cute the book has some fantastic onomatopoeia (sound words like rawr, boom, crash) to get kids involved in the story.

A couple of classic picture books about sleeping and bedtime that may not be as well known as say Goodnight Moon are The Napping House by Audrey Wood and Moritmer by Robert Munsch. Both of these are silly and feature some fun repetition.

I don't know about you, but I gravitate towards picture books with some humor. Not only do kids love books that make them laugh, but they are just so much more enjoyable to read.
Jory John's book Goodnight, Already! is sure to make parents and kids giggle. Poor bear just wants to go to bed but his bothersome neighbor, Duck, won't let him. Will Bear ever get Duck to go away and let him sleep? If you like Goodnight, Already! check out this hilarious duo in their latest adventure, I Love You Already!

Kids are sure to think that Don't Blink by Amy Krause Rosenthal is a hoot (haha, pun intended!). This whimsical and interactive picture book promises the reader that they can skip bedtime and stay awake if they can just avoid blinking. Every time you blink you have to turn the page and bedtime awaits the reader at the end of the book. After all sorts of tricks like staring and holding your eyes open, the reader discovers that the best way to avoid blinking is to close your eyes and go to sleep.

Before I end this post I just want to share one bedtime song. Goodnight by Laurie Berkner is a sweet and charming lullaby that is simple to remember and sing. You can easily add extra verses with different animals (as long as you know what sound they make since one child at the program suggested giraffe and I had no clue what that noise would be). Also, when I sing it to my two year old I always sing "I'm a little Zacky" instead of "I'm a little kid" for the final verse.

We all have our favorite bedtime stories and songs so feel free to share a few of your in the comments.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Ha! You thought that this post was going to be about Christmas didn't you? Nope, the best time of the year is most definitely Halloween!! My love of October and everything spookalicious that the month brings comes from my Dad. The man introduced me to Stephen  King and horror movies and frequently referred to his massive collection of Halloween decorations as my inheritance.

I have already written two blog posts about Halloween and scary books for kids (which you should absolutely read) but I cannot help myself. Every year I find new ghost, witch, monster, and jack-o-lantern stories that are so much fun I just have to share them.

One of my two year old's favorite books are Don't Push the Button by Bill Cotter so I was thrilled to see that Cotter had written a Halloween story featuring Larry the purple monster. In Don't Push the Button: A Halloween Treat Larry is out trick-or-treating when he happens upon a house that looks a little scary. Of course he implores the reader not to push the doorbell button on what looks like a haunted house (but we know that is exactly what the young reader is going to do). Interactive picture books are incredibly popular right now in children's literature and all of Cotter's books are spectacular. Little ones are instantly drawn in and become not just listeners but integral characters in the story.

Another recently published book that has instantly become one of my favorites for an October story time is Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere by Smriti Prasadan-Hall. The adorable rhyming story follows four trick-or-treaters as they encounter a variety of jack-o-lanterns lit with happy, sad, surprised, frightened, and angry faces. Not only is Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere a charming Halloween picture book it's also an excellent introduction to emotions and how are face can express said emotions. Nothing is more hilarious than a group of toddlers giving you their best surprised or silly faces:)

So, a monster named Larry and lots of jack-o-lanterns. How about ghosts? I particularly love Ghosts in the House by Kazuno Kohara. The high contrast illustrations and simple text are perfect for babies and toddlers but even older listeners will enjoy how the tiny witch and her cat take repurpose the ghosts in the house. I highly recommend Kohara's other books: Here Comes Jack Frost, The Midnight Library, and The Little Wizard.

 Another graphic picture book for Halloween is Ten Orange Pumpkins by Stephen Savage. This may appear to be just a simple counting book, but the silhouette illustrations are beautiful and striking. I also like how the author gives clues in the text and pictures so little ones can guess what they think is going to happen to each pumpkin.

 

Although not specifically Halloween I always read Creepy Carrots and Creepy Pair of Underwear this time of year. You have to watch this hilarious video created by Peter Brown in which he talks about his inspiration for the illustrations.  Even adults will be laughing hysterically at Jasper Rabbit as he is haunted first by his favorite snacks and then by a ghoulishly glowing pair of briefs.

I am pretty sure that I have made just about every Halloween craft there is to make by now. From cotton ball ghost and tissue paper pumpkins to puff ball spiders and Q-tip skeletons. My story time kids have actually been getting quite a bit younger in recent years so I have had to simplify not just my books but my activities. One of the crafts that I really enjoyed this year was plastic bag painting. Basically I put a pumpkin in a ziploc bag with red and yellow paint and the little ones had to smush it around till they made orange. I actually laminated the pumpkins so they would not soak through with paint. The kids loved that they got to play with paint and the grown ups were very happy that the mess was all contained.

I love making things that kids can actually play with so puppets are always fun. If you look in the scrapbooking section of the store they have these little circle punches that make perfect holes for finger puppets. The foamy eyes that I used for the bat puppets were 50% off and they are much less likely to fall off than google eyes. I like to use poster board for puppets because it is stiffer, but if you don't have any on hand cut up old cereal boxes. With four kids I always have a few dozen sitting in my recycling bin. You can paint or color over the cardboard or cover them with colored paper. Monsters are easy because you can cut out a bunch of crazy parts or draw them on and the weirder the better.

The kids definitely seemed to have the most fun making their haunted houses this year. Meijer always has holiday sticker books for only $1 and I have yet to meet a young child who does not light up at the sight of stickers. I traced a simple outline of a haunted house on black paper and cut out yellow rectangles for windows. Then the kids went batty (Halloween pun!) sticking ghosts, witches, skeletons, pumpkins, etc. all over the houses (and themselves).

So, that covers the little kids for another Halloween. I will talk about books for the older kids in another post.

Novels in Verse

If you are familiar at all with juvenile or young adult fiction you may have noticed that novels written in verse are a current trend. For those of you not as acquainted with youth literature a novel in verse is exactly what it sounds like; a novel length story told through poetry rather than prose. Unfortunately, even when these books are beautifully written and get rave reviews they are slow to check out.

One of the main reasons that readers are wary of novels in verse is probably because poetry seems so inaccessible.  Most of us have an incorrect assumption that poetry has to be difficult to understand. I cannot be the only one who has nightmares of analyzing Wordsworth in high school English class. (If you are a huge Wordsworth fan please don't send me angry messages. I really do think that his poetry is beautiful I just don't want to agonize over what every metaphor means.)

Boys especially seem to avoid novels in verse like the plague because they believe that poetry is not a "boy" thing. Well, obviously this is complete nonsense. I think that the word poetry brings up images of sappy love sonnets written in Shakespearean English for a lot of boys (and girls). Of course, men and women can be poets and poems and novels in verse can be about any subject from sports and music to history and current events.

Sadly, I have also seen parents deter their children from picking up a novel in verse because it is "not a real chapter book". I totally get wanting your kid to be challenged when it comes to reading and all of that empty white space in a novel in verse makes it look too easy. Also, novels in verse tend to have low AR levels and points because they are usually shorter and have unusual sentence and paragraph structure compared to traditional chapter books. I am not going to get into AR (Accelerated Reader) right now other than to say that these numbers are only meant to be a guiding tool and (in my opinion) should never be used to discourage a kid from picking up book.

So, I have given you a few reasons why I think people may bypass novels in verse. Now, let me tell you why you should give one a whirl. First and foremost, many are just fantastic stories with amazing characters, settings, etc. (even though they are not written in traditional prose). Secondly, all that white space (that makes some parents say no) is a huge selling point for reluctant readers. Even if you are an avid reader sometimes you  need something that isn't a huge time commitment. Especially if you are a student with a ton of homework, practices, lessons, etc.  Finally, we all get into reading ruts. I have seen kids who will read nothing but Goosebumps and teens who won't touch anything that isn't a paranormal romance. I myself prefer fantasy. Trying an unfamiliar genre may be difficult but you also just might discover something incredible! That being said here are a few of my favorite novels in verse.

For middle grade readers I highly recommend Love That Dog by Sharon Creech (even though they will probably cry). The story is told in free verse by a boy named Jack who doesn't want to write a poem for his teacher, Miss Stretchberry, "because boys don't write poetry.  Girls do." Gee, I think I have heard that sentiment before.  Anyways, Jack discovers that poetry is not just for girls and it gives him a wonderful way to express his feelings. The back of the book contains several of the poems that Miss Stretchberry introduces in her class as well as a sneak peak of Hate That Cat, the sequel to Love That Dog. Even struggling readers will be able to finish these sweet stories in less than a day, but they are sure to think about them much longer.

Karen Hesse is another juvenile/young adult author who has written several novels in verse including the 1998 Newbery Medal winner, Out of the Dust. The novel is set in Oklahoma during the dust bowl years of the depression.  I know. Kids are probably screaming right now that they are not going to read poetry AND history.  However, Out of the Dust is an amazing way for kids to learn about the depression and dust bowl because it is more about the people and emotions they experience versus dry dates and facts. I cannot imagine any reader not being moved by 14 year old Billie Jo's tragic yet ultimately hopeful story.

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander is one of my absolute favorite novels in verse. Twelve year old twins Josh and Jordan excel at basketball, but life off of the court is not always so easy. Sports fanatics will appreciate the basketball setting, but The Crossover is so much more than a sport book; it is about growing up, choices, change, and consequences.

My daughter and Kwame after he autographed her copy of The Crossover!

If you think that The Crossover is just for boys or basketball players YOU ARE SO WRONG!!! My daughter, Zoe, read The Crossover (because I made her). She was reluctant since it had a basketball player on the cover, but she ended up loving it.  Her comment was that it had basketball, but it was so much more than that.

If you enjoy The Crossover check out Kwame Alexander's other juvenile novels in verse, Booked and Rebound. Last year he also came out with Solo, which is a spectacular novel in verse for teens!

Speaking of novels in verse for teens Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds was the BEST book that I read last year. I know, I know that I have talked about Jason Reynolds in multiple posts. What can I say? I think he is an absolutely amazing author, speaker, activist, inspiration, role model, etc. Long Way Down is the story of Will, an inner city kid determined to avenge the murder of his older brother. With a gun in his waistband, Will boards the elevator of his apartment building. Instead of heading straight for the lobby, though, the car stops at every floor and a new passenger gets in the elevator. Each of these passengers is someone from Will's past who was a victim of gun violence. Are they ghosts or just figments of Will's conscience and will they be able to convince him of the futility of vengeance and violence? Long Way Down is an incredibly powerful story told in a fascinating way. I cannot recommend it enough!

Jason Reynold's latest book for teens is also in verse but it is almost more of a letter than a novel. It was originally performed live at the Kennedy Center at the unveiling celebration at the new Martin Luther King Jr. monument in Washing D.C (how cool is that!). For Every One is just that; something that everyone, young and old should read and I am so happy that it was published in book form. The poem is all about the importance of dreams and not just big dreams like being a rock star or an award winning author. Your dream may be to be a parent or a teacher (or a librarian) and those dreams are just as beautiful and significant. I actually cried while reading For Every One and I made my kids read it too. Honestly, I plan on buying copies for all of the graduates that I know because I cannot imagine more inspiring words to carry them through the next stage of their lives.


A more recently published novel in verse is Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo. The story was so compelling that I couldn't put it down and ended up reading it in one sitting. That is another great thing about novels in verse is that you can read them in one sitting and it isn't going to take you all night. I loved how sassy and strong the protagonist, Xiomara, was and I also appreciated being introduced to the Dominican culture which I had no previous knowledge of . Through Poet X Acevedo stresses the importance of creative writing and and especially poetry as an outlet for kids who do not feel heard and want to express themselves. I hope that lots of young people want to give slam poetry a try after reading Poet X and listening to Acevedo perform.

I hope that you are encouraged to check out a novel in verse after reading this post. Here are a few more outstanding selections.