Cowboy & Cowgirl Storytime

I thought I’d try archiving what I’m doing in Storytime both for the benefit of anyone looking for ideas and for myself in case I have partial memory failure someday (which, let's face it, could be any day now…).

A few things: 

All the librarians in our branch take turns doing a month (or two) of Storytime. I'll do four of the five Tuesdays in April (A co-worker will cover for me the one week my schedule flips for another program.) and also Storytimes in October.

I don’t use pre-recorded music, but perform all the songs myself, singing and playing guitar. (Sometimes I'll look for the chords online, which is fairly easy for the more familiar tunes; other times I'll just pick out the chords by ear.) Although I’m no great singer or guitar player, I do enjoy having the flexibility to change the music to fit the situation (adding verses, repeating, speeding up the tempo, slowing it down, etc.). 

I usually have more material than I can use. Sometimes I’ll make an on-the-spot decision to do something, repeat something, or not do something. Items marked with an * are things I left out for this particular Storytime (mainly because of time).  

Cowboy & Cowgirl Storytime April 2, 2013

Welcome & Introduction

“Shake Your Sillies Out” - Raffi (Always a good opening song!)

“The Little Cowboy Song” (to the tune of “I’m a Little Teapot”)

TheCowboy ABC (2001) – Chris L. Demarest

“Cowboy Boots” – Charlie Hope (If you aren't familiar with her music, you should be. Learn more here.)

Let’sSing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy (2012) – Jan Thomas

“She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round the Mountain” *

The Cowboy Pokey (dance - modified from this version)

“Home on the Range” *

Cowboy Bedtime (fingerplay)

“If You’re a Cowboy and You Know It” (to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It”, a good closing song)

“Happy Trails” * 

Crafts: 

Decorate your own sheriff’s badge

Make a cowboy moustache (various sizes and shapes)

Cowboy & Cowgirl coloring sheets

We had a pretty light crowd: 20 kids, 15 adults and very much on the young side. (I'd say the oldest kid was 4 years old.)  As usual, it was a lot of fun!

More next week!

Doug Unplugged (2013) - Dan Yaccarino

Doug Unplugged is a very cute story of a boy robot whose parents leave for work, but plug Doug up to their computer so that he can download all the information he needs for the day. Of course, Doug gets bored and wants to see the real world instead of learning about it through downloaded files.

The artwork recalls some of the great 50s and early 60s cartoons, although the subject matter is pretty current. Colors are bright and engaging and the story is one filled with wonder. Yet, the book is too small for a large storytime setting and would best work as a one-on-one read. Like many other current picture books, this one almost reads like a graphic novel with multiple "panels" (although without borders) on each page. I wish each "panel" had been given its own page treatment, but that would've made the story too many pages for a standard picture book. I really wish I could use this one for Outer Space storytime, but unless I have a really small group, this one won't be along for the ride. 

Storytelling  4
Color Attractiveness  5
Size of Book  3
Text Size  2
Illustrations 5
Participation Potential  2
Overall Appropriateness for Storytime 3.5

Boy + Bot (2012) - Ame Dyckman & Dan Yaccarino

Boy + Bot looks like a throwback to the 1950s with its robots and weird scientists, but it works well in modern times as well. It's a very cute story about understanding and helping others who are different from us, so for that, I give it high marks. The book is bright and colorful but it has several small pictures (or panels, for those of you who read comics/graphic novels), which would probably make it a difficult Storytime book. Still, it's probably worth a try. Good for Robot Storytimes or Friendship Storytimes.

Storytelling  4

Color Attractiveness  5
Book Size 3
Text Size  3
Illustrations  4
Participation Potential  3 
Overall Appropriateness for Storytime 3.5

Moo Hoo (2012) - Candace Ryan & Mike Lowery

Moo Hoo is a fun, silly, clever and maybe just a little hard to pronounce, book of rhymes. When I first started reading it, I was envisioning dividing up the Storytime crowd into too groups, the Moos and the Hoos, both of which would shout out their word on cue. Before long, I decided that this probably wouldn't work. :( It probably would work, that is, until Kangaroo shows up and things get phonetically complicated. I'm not sure I could pull it off, but it's a very cute book.

Once again, the book is a little on the small side, so it would probably work better for smaller groups than large ones. And the tongue twisters are not easy! Still, it's a very cute book. I just might try it....

Storytelling  4

Color Attractiveness  3
Book Size 3
Text Size  4
Illustrations  4
Participation Potential  3 
Overall Appropriateness for Storytime 3.5

Oh No, George! (2012) - Chris Haughton

Poor George... He tries so hard to do the right thing. This is a good book for kids, because it's sometimes hard for them to do the right thing, too.

Oh No, George! has a lot of purple and orange colors with some blues and greens thrown in here and there. It's a very attractive book with funky fonts, but a good story. The book is quirky enough to work for some kids, but others used to clear, bold lines may not fully appreciate the artwork. Some of the illustrations are small, but most are full-page-sized. So there are some slightly negative points, but the book's selling point is its charm.

Crowd participation (with a little instruction) is possible and recommended. A fun time!

Storytelling  4

Color Attractiveness  4
Book Size 4
Text Size  3
Illustrations  4
Participation Potential  4 
Overall Appropriateness for Storytime 4

Otto the Book Bear (2011) - Katie Cleminson

Otto is a very cute bear, which makes the story lovable and compelling. But, Otto is very small, both in stature and on the page, which makes for a frustrating storytime experience. This book would work wonderfully as a one-on-one and also for a storytime of a dozen or so kids. For larger crowds, this is probably not the bear book you're looking for.

Storytelling  4

Color Attractiveness  3
Book Size 3
Text Size  4
Illustrations  3
Participation Potential  3 
Overall Appropriateness for Storytime 3.5

Solomon Crocodile (2011) - Catherine Rayner

Solomon Crocodile is a quick, fun book that kids should enjoy, mainly due to the colors and alliteration. Solomon is the terror of the swamp (even though he's not very frightening), but he really just wants to play. You could probably find better crocodile books, but if you're doing a crocodile storytime, why not toss this one in? 

Storytelling  3

Color Attractiveness  4
Book Size 3
Text Size  4
Illustrations  4
Participation Potential  2 
Overall Appropriateness for Storytime 3