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Title: Save Me a Seat
Author: Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan
Published: 2016
Source: Edelweiss

Summary: Ravi is looking forward to his first week in an American school after moving from India. But his accent gets mocked, his habits are too formal, and he even gets sent to the resource room! And the other Indian kid in the class, who he expected to be his best friend, does some very peculiar things sometimes. Almost like he's not Ravi's friend at all.

Meanwhile, Joe, the class "dumb kid," watches Ravi try to fit in and make friends with the class bully. While he doesn't want to reach out and make himself even more of a target to Dylan, he can't help connecting with another outcast.

By the end of the week, both boys will have an unexpected new friend.

First Impressions: This was very good! It was so painful to see Ravi thinking the bully was his friend though.

Title: Just Like Me
Author: Nancy J Cavanaugh
Published: 2016
Source: Edelweiss

Summary: Julia is not looking forward to a week at church camp with Becca and Avery. They were all adopted from the same orphanage in China, but she's never felt close to them, and she's definitely never felt as in tune with her Chinese side as they are. But being put in the same cabin together with three bossy and unlikeable girls, and trying to work together to win the camp competition, will bring them all together.

First Impressions: This felt exactly like it had been written by an adoptive parent. It hit a lot of adoption tropes and summer camp tropes but I never really felt like any of them landed. I did like that it took place at a church camp, with bible verses and theology as an integral part but never overwhelming or evangelizing to the reader.

Title: Handbook for Dragon Slayers
Author: Merrie Haskell
Published: 2013
Source: Local Library

Summary: Princess Matilda wants to spend her life in a cloister, copying the beautiful books that she loves, away from people afraid of her deformed foot. But the threat of a scheming cousin and a forced marriage propels her out of her home and into a life of adventure, where she discovers that even a shy girl can save the day.

First Impressions: I like how this book handled her disability - no miracle cure. There did seem to be a lot of story threads by the end. One could have been dropped no problem.

Baby Time

Boy, those babies do a mean Hokey Pokey! You moms can't always see your baby's face while you're dancing around, but they're adorable! Some are smiling and laughing (or squealing) and some just look amazed by the commotion.

We also did:

Bounce You Here

I bounce you here
I bounce you there
I bounce you, bounce you everywhere!

I tickle you here...
I hug you here...

Icky Bicky Soda Cracker

Icky bicky soda cracker
Icky bicky boo.
Icky bicky soda cracker
Up goes you!

Just Like Me

(To the tune of "London Bridge")
Make your hands go clap, clap, clap,
Clap, clap, clap. Clap, clap, clap.
Make your hands go clap, clap, clap.
Just like me.

Make your arms go up and down...
Make your feet go tap, tap, tap...


Toddler Time

I introduced a fall rhyme today that they seemed to like.

Little Leaves

Little leaves fall gently down,
Red and yellow, orange and brown,
Swirling, swirling round and round,
Quietly, without a sound.

Preschool Storytime

This week our theme was "Clothing." We had fun looking at the colors on our clothing and singing the "Color Song" from Wee Sing Games. Our books were:

Whose Shoe, by Miller
Thomas' Snowsuit, by Munsch
Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing, by Barrett

The flannelboard story was Bit by Bit, by Sanfield, available at the library as a picture book.

I also used book props to tell the story The Mitten, which is an old Ukrainian folktale told many different ways and in many different picture book formats. One of my favorites is by Jan Brett, also available at the library - even at our branch!