Best Laid Plans

Storytime last week was going to be perfection. It was going to be grande! We were using egg-shakers! We had rhymes and rhythm and Early Literacy tid-bits! I had such high hopes...

The best-laid plans of mice and men oft(en) go astray, and best-laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley.

Prov. Things often go wrong even though you have carefully planned what you are going to do. (The gang aft a-gley version is Scots dialect, and comes from Robert Burns' poem "To a Mouse.")

Oh, Robert Burns, you handsome devil, you.



Robert Burns could not have said it better. Sometimes you just have to roll with it...

[Disclaimer: This is a little long-winded but if you read to the end there is a surprise! ... Or you can just scroll to the bottom.]

I am the system-wide storytime trainer for the CH-UH Public Library and last week I had a trainee. I planned a program laden with early literacy tips and tricks so she could get the gist of where we're heading with storytimes. (Side-Note: Cleveland Heights laid off all of the elementary school librarians this year, so there is a big push for more early literacy programming and resources on our end.) I was so excited about the content of the program that I overlooked one very important factor. Remember when I told you about children and attention spans and that my current group of children is very young? Always take this into consideration. Lesson re-learned. Also, screaming infants, children playing in the curtains, parents talking while I'm reading; these sorts of things usually happen independently of each other. It was one big pile of pandemonium. At least the trainee got to see a classic case of a chaotic storytime? It can only go up from there? I think she may have been a little shell shocked.

It wasn't that bad. Nobody got hurt and I'm pretty sure everyone had fun, but it was a wild rumpus to say the least. The theme was "Books with Beat" and anyhoo, here is how it was supposed to go:

**Early Literacy Tip: Rhymes and rhythm help you hear the different parts a sounds of words.

Chicka Chick Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Achambault is almost 25 years old. Can you believe that?

A told B and B told C, I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree!

Chicka chicka boom boom, will there be enough room?

With the brightly colored illustrations from Lois Ehlert and clever rhymes and rhythms, it's no wonder this book has stayed so popular. (We made it through this without any major breakdowns.)

SONG: My Ups and Downs - Jim Gill Sings Do Re Mi on his Toe Leg Knee

I passed out shaker-eggs to read We're Going On a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury. Another classic! (Here is where the little librarian voice inside of me should have said, "Stop! Long book. Two-year-olds. Turn back now." Instead I thought, "Shaker eggs! It's going to be so fun!" It was pretty fun until about halfway through. Le sigh. We plowed on.)

We're going on a bear hunt. We're going to catch a big one.

What a beautiful day! We're not scared!

Micheal Rosen doing a fantastic performance. And who doesn't love an English accent?

SONG: Can't Wait To Celebrate - Jim Gill's Irrational Anthem and More Salutes to Nonsense

ACTION RHYME: Remember Miss Mary Mack from the playground? We did the first three verses. Verse one clapping, verse two slapping our knees, and verse three stomping our feet.

Tanka Tanka Skunk by Steve Webb is my new faaaaavorite book for rhythm. It uses the syllables in animal names to create different beats, with the refrain of "tanka skunka tanka skunka tanka tanka skunk!" Say it outloud. Do you hear it?! Now try five times fast...

tiger cheetah tiger cheetah panda polar bear

lemur llama llama lemur zebra badger bat

cat-er-pil-ler big gorilla yakety yakety yak

Aaaaand scene. Along with some improvising and extra fingerplays thrown in, we made it though, but hooooly cow. The good news is this sort of thing only happens once in a blue moon. Next time I'm just going to put on the music and have a dance party. 

And as promised...

Surprise! It's a new picture book. I'm enthralled...

Journey by Aaron Becker

It is absolutely fantastic. A young girl draws a magical door in her bedroom which leads her to beautiful places. The story is told entirely through illustrations.

I want to go to there.

Happy Monday and happy reading!