Provides fifty storytime programs for two-year-olds, including ideas and suggestions for storytime content and encouragement to serve this age group.

This manual is a "one-stop shop" on how to present storytimes to suit different audiences including bilingual learners, special needs children, and those in a variety of settings such as Head Start, preschools, and day care situations. This beginner's guide to storytelling traces the developmental stages of very young children, illustrating how to present storytime for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers as well as in family settings to be most effective. Author Penny Peck will teach you the fundamentals of reading with the intent of capturing children's imaginations, showing you how to incorporate music, play, and hands-on activities into your routine. She offers expert advice on how to choose the best picture books and provides lists of books for addressing particular literacy needs. A perfect primer for those new to the task, this guide illustrates how to make this activity a favorite of children and provides tips for progressing in the role of storyteller, with ideas for engaging your audience and enhancing enjoyment. Beginning with the basics of performing a library storytime, each subsequent chapter builds on that knowledge, offering ways to infuse technology, special needs adaptations, and music into the story. The revised edition addresses such current topics as iPads, apps usage, online options, and dance programs.

Provides practical strategies for developing children's early literacy skills, and contains information on phonological awareness, vocabulary, narrative skills, and more.

This text presents a compilation of the best of ideas from a group of library science graduate students, providing creative and engaging programs geared especially for children ages 0–12. What are the concepts, activities, and topics that will hold the attention of today's children? And what are the best ways to provide a valuable learning experience while they're having fun and being entertained? Many of the most original, creative, and wildly effective ideas in storytime are contained in Storytimes for Children, a collection of fresh and vibrant programs created to be relevant, interesting, and fun for today's youngest generations. This collection of themed storytimes includes suggestions for opening and closing sessions; crafts and activities; songs, poems, fingerplays, and movements; as well as the accompany literature. Several of the included storytimes comprise a series of programs, allowing for related activities that build upon each other. The text is organized into six chapters, each prefaced by an introduction that clarifies the strengths of the programs within. Each chapter covers a highly targeted age range to give practitioners the ability to easily choose the most appropriate storytimes for any given audience.

School Library Journal: With 25 theme-based chapters, this is a handy resource. Each theme includes book recommendations, often 10 or more, with a nice mixture of classic and newer titles, and a suggestion to choose two or three per session. Words and instructions for fingerplays, rhymes, and songs are provided, while a discography provides melody sources for all songs. Each theme includes a flannel-board activity, complete with reproducible patterns and brief directions on how to present the story or song on the board. Safe and simple crafts ideas are presented as optional activities. Activities are listed by type, rather than in an ordered list, so tellers can pick, choose, and order according to individual style and preference. An introduction provides tips and rationale for all of the types of activities. A couple of sentences note the potential impact on brain development and early-literacy skills, but the focus is on the activities themselves; strategies for sharing early-literacy information with parents and caregivers are not addressed. Judy Nichols's Storytimes for Two-Year-Olds (ALA, 2007) and Linda L. Ernst's Baby Rhyming Time (Neal-Schuman, 2008) provide more comprehensive looks at all aspects of storytime planning and presentation. This update of Briggs's Toddler Storytime Programs (Scarecrow, 1993) will be most useful as a resource for programming ideas and fleshing out themes.

Join the world of balloons, pancakes, and musical instruments—just a few items to help improve early literacy in the library, the classroom, and at home. Literacy-builders covered range from music and instruments to magnetic letters, alphabet beads, and food. Literacy is a popular topic of discussion among librarians. Especially important is "early literacy," what children know about reading and writing before they can actually read and write. In this book, experienced librarians Kathy Barco and Melanie Borski-Howard share hands-on techniques that they have used to successfully promote early literacy and encourage family involvement. Storytime and Beyond teaches readers how to use "literacy doodads"—inexpensive props that add excitement to storytimes and can be used outside the library or classroom—to enhance the basic components of any early literacy program: talking, singing, reading, writing, and playing. Many of the doodads can be created as family do-it-yourself projects, and some can be adapted to work with non-readers of any age. Instruments can also be a great way to get children's attention and teach literacy skills, whether it's a drum to beat while reading a story or a maraca for children to shake during a song, and lesson plans for musical storytimes address how to use rhythm, singing, and dancing to make early literacy fun.

This is the first book to provide practical guidance for library staff on virtual storytime planning and production. Learn how to design virtual youth services tailored to patrons in different communities, and how virtual programs serve as a form of community outreach. Included in this guide: Case studies of successful virtual storytime programs Creative examples of potential programs, which can be developed and adapted Simple tips on how to increase production value, regardless of available space and equipment Features of virtual storytime software with which presenters should familiarize themselves A comprehensive list of websites, software applications, and assets for creating and sharing virtual programs An overview of laws concerning online privacy and the use of copyrighted materials in virtual storytimes Background information and talking points addressing the benefits and drawbacks of screen time for young patrons Sample training syllabus, outline, script, and reflection questions for virtual storytime staff Children’s librarians will find useful case studies, tips, and resources in this volume.