Timmy Green, who loves anything blue, uses his imagination to turn an old sheet of blue plastic into a lake, road, and space shuttle.

Story time at the public library is the first exposure to books outside the home for many preschool children. For the librarian, it is an exciting opportunity to instill in youngsters a love of reading and books. But coming up with new ideas that hold the children’s attention can be trying. Until now. Here are 55 tried-and-true story hour programs with a thematic approach. All are highly flexible and adaptable across the full preschool age range. Most of the ideas are arranged under one of eight specific themes that include four to eight one-hour programs: barnyard animals, the Caldecott Medal, colors, families, a storytelling feast, the five senses, reptiles and amphibians, and around the world. There are also 18 individual holiday and seasonal programs. All story hours provide ideas for name tags, suggested audiovisual materials, recommended story, poetry and song selections, additional titles and a full description of the activity.

Reading Horizons began in 1960 by Dorothy J. McGinnis as a local reading education newsletter and developed into an international journal serving reading educators and researchers. Major colleges, universities, and individuals subscribe to Reading Horizons across the United States, Canada and a host of other countries. Dedicated to adding to the growing body of knowledge in literacy, the quarterly journal welcomes new and current research, theoretical essays, opinion pieces, policy studies, and best literacy practices. As a peer-reviewed publication, Reading Horizons endeavors to bring school professionals, literacy researchers, teacher educators, parents, and community leaders together in a collaborative community to widen literacy and language arts horizons.

Color and Shape Books for All Ages calls attention to more than 450 titles focused on the concepts of color and shape. The purposes of the color and shape books range from simply learning the names of colors or identifying simple shapes, to recognizing intricate geometric shapes, or even understanding how color affects responses, moods, and attitudes.