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It’s an understood fact that toddlers, when placed in large groups, respond to only a few things the poor librarian schmuck sitting in front of them might care to do during a storytime.  The poor librarian schmuck (or PLS) is then faced with several options.  I cannot vouch for everyone, but usually this means just one thing: singing.  Toddlers like it for some reason.  Even if you cannot hold much in the way of a tune they are inclined to perk up their ears and coo if they detect that you are engaging in some kind of a rhythm.

So it is that I premier for you today my first Storytime Suggestion with . . . singing.  Erg.  It’s not that I think I have a particularly bad voice or anything.  It’s just that singing for a large group of people who drool is much easier than in a room adjacent to where my husband is working on a screenplay.  In my mind, singing for one is always harder than singing for many.  So you will find me a chastened librarian in this week’s video.  A quieter Bird.

Fortunately, this week’s book is the best of its kind.  Behold the power and glory that is . . . Old MacDonald.

I noticed that in my last video I resembled nothing so much as a wet duck.  I have done my utmost to alleviate that problem.

Name: Old MacDonald
Author/Illustrator: Jessica Souhami
In Print?: Not unless you live in England.  You can buy plenty of used copies, though.
ISBN: 978-0531094938
Best For: Toddler Storytime

Storytime Suggestions:

The trick to this book is that it’s a surefire winner.  So if you have storytimes where there’s a danger that things might get a bit wild and you need something to win back their attention, consider this your secret weapon.

Now there are plenty of Old MacDonald books out there, but this is by far my favorite.  Why?  Several reasons.  I suspect that Ms. Souhami may have tested this book out on the wee ones, just to see how long she could prolong the song.  A lot of Old MacDonald books do too many animals.  The kids are willing to humor you for about four, but if you get to six or seven their attentions wane.  This book has the four animals plus the unexpected alien.

But really, it’s the lift-the-flap aspect that sets this apart.  When I lift each one of those flaps it gives the kids the chance to say what the animal is in an instant before I sing it.  Mind you, toddlers are sort of out of it.  They don’t always quite understand what I’m doing.  Preschoolers are way more on the ball, but I like using this one in toddler storytime because even if they don’t participate their nannies and parents will, and that gives them a clue as to how to act.  It makes for good prompting.

Best of all, this book has the unexpected gag that gets a surprise laugh out of parents.  You’ll note that I just sorta open that last flap without a pause in the singing.  That way they’re doubly surprised by both the content and the fact that I just plunged right into the unexpected.  The kids sometimes eye the alien with that look that says, “Is that scary?  Should I cry or something?” but since the subsequent lines involve me singing “Beep Beep” over and over, they’d have to be pr

We’re trying some new today, kids.  Bear with me.

Today marks the official re-release of one of the greatest storytime picture books of all time.  Ladies and gentlemen, I have been a one-woman-band for the power, glory, and overall wonderfulness that is The Noisy Counting Book.  It is my storytime staple.  I might forget the Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.  I might eschew the Old MacDonald lift-the-flap book by Jessica Souhami.  But never will I ever give up my Noisy Counting Book.

Until today, literally today, The Noisy Counting Book (written by Susan Schade and illustrated by her husband Jon Buller) has been out-of-print.  But as of RIGHT NOW it has appeared back on the market.  At long last, you too can buy a couple copies.  I won’t have to rely on New York Public Library’s single, dilapidated, near-death circulating edition for much longer.

Which got me to thinking about how I could properly celebrate this release.  What would be a proper send-off into the world?  Then it hit me.  For a while I have toyed with the notion of a regular series called Storytime Suggestions.  These would be fairly simple.  Children’s librarians are constantly in need of new ideas for their storytimes.  I know I am.  I have some fun staples on hand, but I always need new books.  Yet even when a fellow librarian tells me how great a book is to read for kids, sometimes I want to see them present it firsthand.  I mean, if you read Bark, George by Jules Feiffer while wearing rubber latex gloves for effect, I wanna see how you pull that off!  How do you modulate your voice for Snip Snap, What’s That? by Mara Bergman?  The solution?  Video.

Here’s the notion.  Starting with this book, I intend to regularly film myself reading some of my favorite picture books for different audiences.  My ultimate hope is that other children’s librarians will start doing the same thing.  Then maybe we could have an exchange of different ideas.  I’m sure people have been doing this on YouTube for years in some capacity, of course.  I’ll just dip my toe in.

Now first, I’ll show the video of me reading the book.  You won’t be able to see the pictures in the book all that clearly thanks to my use of a Flip Camera, but at least you’ll be able to get a sense of how I like to read it.  Then, I’ll offer background on the book and some alternative reading ideas.

We begin.

Name: The Noisy Counting Book
Author: Susan Schade
Illustrator: Jon Buller