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
This is wonderful! Just this morning I was re-reading the section on Storytime recommendations in your Child.Lit.Gems books & bemoaning the fact that The Noisy Counting was not owned by QBPL & that I could not even see a preview on Google Books….. till…. I realized that it was indeed being reissued…. and now…. glory of all glories, a master children’s librarian herself has treated us to a performance & viewing.
As a somewhat new children’s librarian still trying on a view different voices, I’m thrilled to watch for more of these Storytime Suggestions videos, thanks B!
Well, I think it speaks volumes that I teacher older kids, have older children of my own, know absolutely no one to whom I might read this counting book, and yet still sat here and listened to you read the whole thing over my coffee. (and laughed at every single Ga-DUNK.) Thanks! This was a fine way to start the morning.
Thanks, guys! And like I say, feel free to make your own. I’ll have to figure out something for the older kids, Kate. Booktalk videos, perhaps.
Slam ga-DUNK!
I can’t tell you how excited I am about this! I know I have a LOT to learn about storytelling before I get out there in the real world of children’s librarianship. I can only hang around library story times so often without starting to feel creepy– this will be an awesome (and creepless!) resource. Thank you thank you!
Hooray, hooray, hooray! I am indeed ancient of days and remember owning and loving The Noisy Counting Book during its first incarnation, and reading it aloud to my little one (who has now graduated from college! See? I told you I was ancient of days!) Your video rendition is FABULOUS! Thanks for making my morning!
I love this much mucher, muchest!
One question, is the book only being released as a board book? OK a second question, is the board book truncated from the original?
If I could stand to see myself on camera I would love to do this on my blog. I will give it some thought.
I love it! What a wonderful idea. Like a child, I like to be read to also.
Good idea, Fuse. Thanks for being willing to link to others’ video read-alouds as well. It is helpful to see a variety of styles and what works for others.
Emily, in my role as curmudgeon and librarian-storyteller and hoping to be helpful, I do have to point out that read-aloud is not considered the same as storytelling, which is oral tradition–no book in hand.
Ah, yes! It’s always a good idea to distinguish between storytimes and storytelling. I might do some storytelling posts at some point, but truth be told I really only comfortable with one story in particular (Margaret Read MacDonald’s “The Little Rooster and the Turkish Sultan”).
As for the release of The Noisy Counting Book, excellent question. I see that the record does say “Board” but that may refer to the fact that the covers don’t have jackets. They just have the cover image printed directly onto the board of the cover. I will need to get a new copy myself to make certain of this, though.
Oh! And Aunt Judy how INSANE is it that you not only know this book but read it to Jessie growing up! I had absolutely no idea we had a family connection to this title. I feel all the prouder.