36 Workshops to Get Kids Writing

Hurtado, Annmarie. 36 Workshops to Get Kids Writing from Aliens to Zebras. ALA Editions, 2018. ISBN: 978-0-8389-1648-3

Description: 

    Creative writing encourages imaginations to take flight, and when adults use the  right approach, building literacy skills becomes a form of play that gets kids excited to create their own stories. Packed with ready-to-use lesson plans designed for kindergarten- and early elementary-aged children, this book will help librarians add creative writing activities to more traditional storytime initiatives and school librarians enrich English Language Arts lessons. Hurtado’s resource provides an entire year’s worth of weekly lesson plans, adaptable as needed, that include instructions, handouts, and everything needed to plan and prepare: recommended read-alouds for each lesson plan; ideas and activities scaffolded for different ability levels; tips for using humor and silliness to grab kids’ attention and keep them engaged; information on how creative writing dovetails with Common Core standards, emphasizing skills and critical thinking over rote learning; and additional quality read-aloud picture books that can be used as inspiration to create new lessons.

    This book will serve as a handy lesson/program planning tool for any children’s or school librarian interested in exploring new ideas to teach creative writing and higher literacy.

Table of Contents: 

Chapter One    Writing in the Library: A Radical Idea

Chapter Two    All You Need Is a Good TERRIBLE Idea

Lesson 1    A Panda Parade Is a Terrible Idea

Lesson 2    If You Ever Want to Bring a Shark to the Park, DON’T

Lesson 3    Revising and Illustrating: Smartphones Are Definitely Not for Animals

Lesson 4    Don’t Let the Alien Play in the Toilet!

Lesson 5    Teach Your Zebra to Ride a Bike

Chapter Three    Fractured Fairy Tales

Lesson 6    The Very Old Bad Wolf

Lesson 7    Fairy-Tale Characters on Vacation

Lesson 8    Double Trouble

Lesson 9    Trickster Tales

Lesson 10    Small Actors Folktale Theater

Chapter Four: Animal Muses

Lesson 11    If I Had a Dinosaur

Lesson 12    How to Throw a Unicorn Party

Lesson 13    My Puppy Brother

Lesson 14    Take Your Poem for a Walk

Lesson 15    Don’t Sweat the Snow Stuff: Self-Help for Stressed Penguins

Lesson 16    Public Service Announcement: Beware the Giant Humans

Lesson 17    Diary of a T. Rex

Chapter Five    The Plot Thickens

Lesson 18    Chickens Can’t Sing

Lesson 19    Pirate Puppy

Lesson 20    Maybe It’ll Work This Time

Lesson 21    Every Hero Needs a Villain

Lesson 22    Meanwhile

Chapter Six    Playing with Words

Lesson 23    Go on a Word Hunt

Lesson 24    Insect Linguistics

Lesson 25    How to Make a Bear Burrito

Lesson 26    Riddle Me This

Lesson 27    Silly Split-Panels

Lesson 28    Scrambled Animals

Lesson 29    Bring a New Animal to Dr. Seuss’s Zoo

Chapter Seven    Advertising and Other Forms

Lesson 30    Grand Opening for a Literary Diner

Lesson 31    Write a Circus Poster for the Most Horrible Monster on Earth

Lesson 32    Make a Menu for an Ice Cream Truck Shop

Lesson 33    Make a Campaign Video for President Squid

Lesson 34    Propaganda: The Truth about Flowers

Lesson 35    What Will You Do with Your Idea?

Lesson 36    Make Your Own Jar of Happiness

Chapter Eight    Books to Feed the Young Author’s Spirit

Appendix A

Appendix B

Bibliography

Index

Stories, Songs, and Stretches

Scherrer, K. (2017). Stories, Songs, and Stretches! Creating Playful Storytimes with Yoga and Movement. Chicago, IL: ALA Editions. 978-0-8389-1544-8.

Young children love to move—and that’s a great thing! Because in addition to supporting early learning, storytime can provide young children with opportunities to explore physical movement. The centuries-old contemplative movement practice known as yoga is more than just a passing trend; it can offer physical, emotional, and mental benefits to practitioners of all ages, including young children. And getting started with yoga storytime doesn’t require any previous yoga experience. This new book from accomplished library trainer Scherrer shows how to use yoga and movement to create playful, active storytimes.

A complete guide for library staff and others serving young children, this resource draws on Scherrer’s experience as a children’s librarian and a yoga teacher, as well as research from the health and education fields, to introduce yoga, exploring its history while dispelling myths about the practice; demonstrate how yoga and movement can support children’s early learning and social-emotional development; explain the differences between children’s yoga classes and yoga storytimes; lay out step-by-step directions on how to design and launch a yoga storytime program, including guidance on materials selection, the logistical arrangements of physical space, props, and marketing; provide descriptions of more than 35 basic, child-friendly yoga poses suitable for anyone to use with children; offer 12 ready-to-use yoga storytime plans; and include an extensive bibliography of helpful print and online resources for future program planning.Readers will find the complete guidance they need to immediately begin incorporating yoga and movement into their storytime programs.

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Nonfiction in Motion

 Dietzel-Glair, J. (2016). Nonfiction in motion: Connecting preschoolers with nonfiction books through movement. Chicago, IL: ALA Editions.

An underutilized source for storytime programs, quality nonfiction books can help bridge the reading gap between preschool boys and girls; boys enjoy facts and “true stuff,” and including these books in storytime helps boys see that reading can be fun.  Here, Dietzel-Glair spotlights a multitude of nonfiction titles published since 2005 that will engage young children’s curiosity while activating learning through movement-based activities. A huge time-saver for storytime planners and presenters, and a useful collection development tool, this guide

• identifies 200 quality nonfiction books suitable for preschoolers, all in print or easy to find, covering fun topics like animals, construction, and science;
• includes recommended art, movement, music, and prop ideas for each book that will fire up children’s imaginations;
• shows how to incorporate the five practices for early literacy and offers other helpful storytime tips;
• provides several outlines for art projects; and
• features multiple indexes to aid in finding just the right title, author, or subject.

Using this book as a springboard for programming will ensure that storytime is a delightful, educational experience for children and adults alike.

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Once Upon a Cuento

Naidoo, Jaime Campbell & Scherrer, Katie. (2016). Once Upon a Cuento: Bilingual Storytimes in English and Spanish. Chicago, IL: ALA Editions. 978-0-8389-1411-3.

It is imperative that library programs reflect the rich diversity of the entire community. That includes Spanish-speaking children, who need opportunities to hear their home and school languages spoken, and to see their lives validated through engaging cuentos (stories) that reflect their cultural experiences. Additionally, when combined with other forms of targeted outreach, offering bilingual storytimes in English and Spanish is an effective strategy to attract Latino and Spanish-speaking families to your library. This all-in-one resource, written by two experienced specialists who understand the nuances of library services, collections, and outreach to this population, shows you how. Suitable for libraries just getting started as well as those with programs already in place, this guide

• discusses the importance of bilingual programming in the lives of Latino and Spanish-speaking children, addressing the unique educational and informational needs of bilingual children;
• provides 18 ready-to-use program plans for bilingual storytimes, suitable even for storytime leaders who don’t speak Spanish;
• includes several templates for designing bilingual storytimes, arranged by specific age groups;
• recommends numerous children’s books, songs, and professional resources to assist librarians as they plan their bilingual programs;
• explores the opportunity for digital media usage in storytimes for Latino and Spanish-speaking families, with examples of apps that can help meet the multiple literacy needs of bilingual children; and
• suggests ways to perform outreach to Spanish-speaking and Latino communities, emphasizing the importance of relationship-building and community collaboration.

Enhanced with interviews and advice from experts affiliated with REFORMA (The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking), this book will become a trusted resource for children’s librarians, school library media specialists, outreach and programming librarians, ESL educators, teachers, and professionals in child-care agencies.

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Supercharged Storytimes

Campana, Kathleen; Mills, J. Elizabeth, and Ghoting, Saroj Nadkarni. (2016). Supercharged Storytimes: An Early Literacy Planning and Assessment Guide. Chicago, IL: ALA Editions. 978-0-8389-1380-2.

Based on the groundbreaking research of VIEWS2—the first systematic study of storytimes done to date—this book recommends simple interactive ways to emphasize early literacy techniques and encourage children to use and practice their pre-reading skills while preserving the delight inherent in storytime. And unlike many other storytime resources, the authors use the findings of VIEWS2 to offer guidance in performing assessment, as well as giving tips for planning and conducting storytimes. Put simply this book assists storytime presenters, children’s librarians, and others involved with early literacy by

• presenting ready-to-use planning tools based on early learning benchmarks with a clear focus on developmental stages;
• demonstrating how to foster early literacy development by inserting the VIEWS2 early literacy domains into the five practices from the second edition of Every Child Ready to Read® @ your Library®;
• interweaving testimonials from storytime practitioners throughout the text to provide real-world insight;
• showing how storytime presenters can connect with parents and caregivers to promote family engagement;
• providing guidelines, worksheets, and recommendations for storytime assessment, with particular attention to self-reflection and peer-to-peer community learning;
• highlighting professional development resources that encourage sharing and problem-solving within the larger community of children’s and youth librarians; and
• providing administrators with research-based evidence that supports current and future advocacy for early literacy in public library programming for children.

Using this book’s systematic approach, readers will be able to plan their storytimes with a clear idea of what to look for in the children they serve, and then continually improve how they meet the needs of their communities.

Check out this book’s Web Extra now!

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More Storytime Magic

More Storytime Magic by Kathy MacMillian and Christine Kirker. 2016. Chicago, IL: ALA Editions. 978-0-8389-1368-0

MacMillian and Kirker’s knack for creating storytimes that engage and delight young ones have made their previous books bestsellers. Now they’re back with an all new assortment of original fingerplays, transitional rhymes, movement songs, flannelboards, sign language rhymes and other activities to spice up storytimes for ages two and up. This ready-to-go sourcebook for children’s librarians, early literacy specialists, and other adults who work with young children offers everything needed to plan and host quality storytimes, including

• more than a dozen thematic groupings of activities, featuring such fun topics such as “All About Me,” “Bugs and Insects,” “Fairy Tales and Castles,” and “People in my Neighborhood”; 
• recommended storytime books for each theme, along with material lists, patterns for flannelboards and stick puppets, and illustrations of American Sign Language signs; and
• coding for each entry indicating which Common Core State Standards for Kindergarten skills it supports.

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The Handbook for Storytime Programs

The Handbook for Storytime Programs by Judy Freeman and Caroline Feller Bauer. 

Chicago, IL: ALA Editions. 978-0-8389-1265-2.

Librarians, teachers, parents, and caregivers can energize storytimes and curricula with this informative and entertaining resource filled with engaging and creative ways to integrate storytelling and story-related materials into programs for children, ages birth-12. Readers will find a treasure trove of tales, books, songs, and poems to share, plus a host of exciting and easily adaptable children’s literature-based activities. This handbook provides

• Descriptions of a variety of programs for young children, from lap times for babies to programs for toddlers and nursery school age children, on up to grade 2
• A “quicklist” of 150 thematic program-starters for children ages 1-7, on popular topics such as animals, the natural world, families, vehicles, and holidays
• Story jokes, think stories, convoluted logic puzzlers, scary tales, funny stories, and dozens of other thematic program-starters for tweens
• Methods for telling stories using pictures, objects, crafts, puppetry, songs, creative drama, and magic
• Materials such as story scripts, songs, wordplay, poems, annotated booklists, and non-narrative sources for storytelling
• Guidance to help story programmers pull together cohesive themed programs and story hours

No storytelling programmer will want to be without this expansive and instantly useful handbook.

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Crash Course in Storytime Fundamentals

Peck, Penny. (2015). Crash Course in Storytime Fundamentals, 2nd Ed. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited. 978-1-61069-783-5.

This beginner's guide to storytelling traces the developmental stages of very young children, illustrating how to present storytime for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers as well as in family settings to be most effective. Author Penny Peck will teach you the fundamentals of reading with the intent of capturing children's imaginations, showing you how to incorporate music, play, and hands-on activities into your routine. She offers expert advice on how to choose the best picture books and provides lists of books for addressing particular literacy needs.

A perfect primer for those new to the task, this guide illustrates how to make this activity a favorite of children and provides tips for progressing in the role of storyteller, with ideas for engaging your audience and enhancing enjoyment. Beginning with the basics of performing a library storytime, each subsequent chapter builds on that knowledge, offering ways to infuse technology, special needs adaptations, and music into the story. The revised edition addresses such current topics as iPads, apps usage, online options, and dance programs.

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The Handbook for Storytellers

Freeman, Judy & Bauer, Caroline Feller. (2015). The Handbook for Storytellers. Chicago, IL: ALA Editions. 978-0-8-8389-1100-6.

Ideal for both beginners and more experienced storytellers, this exhaustive primer includes everything adults need to start sharing the wonder of stories with children, from babies to tweens. The lively text imparts easy-to-follow guidelines and practical advice on how, when, where, and why to tell stories. Each chapter incorporates a wealth of delectable folktales to read and tell, plus the authors’ hand-selected, annotated lists containing hundreds of classic and cutting edge children’s books, professional books, and relevant websites. Demonstrating the joy of stories and storytelling, this book

• Provides an overview of the history and types of storytelling
• Shows how to select, learn, prepare, and tell stories
• Begins with more than two dozen easy-to-learn stories that adults can read today and tell to children tomorrow
• Looks at the major types of folk and fairy tales, including many sample stories and booklists
• Offers a comprehensive list of stories reworked, reimagined, reinvented, parodied, satirized or recreated from folk and fairy tales
• Includes “Favorite Stories to Tell,” a compendium of more than 500 suggested tales, easily accessible by subject and theme, from which tellers can find the perfect stories to fit every occasion and begin to build their own repertoire of wonderful tales to tell
• Provides tips for publicizing and promoting storytelling programs

This handbook instructs, inspires, and entertains like no other resource of its kind.

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Wordplay for Kids

Wadham, Tim. (2015.) Wordplay for Kids: A Sourcebook of Poems, Rhymes, and Read-Alouds. Chicago, IL: ALA Editions. 978-0-8389-1266-9.

Instilling a love of reading in a child pays dividends long after early literacy skills have been mastered. The key to successful programming is to make children become participants, encouraging a “literary ear” and love of the beauty of language itself. To help children develop artful language patterns, correct grammar, and a large and rich vocabulary, Wadham offers a range of complete programs for children ages 5-12 that introduce literature in a systematic way. Organized by age, each program 

• Begins with a list of suggested age-appropriate poems, ranging from choral poetry and nursery rhymes to short, humorous selections and longer narrative poems, all designed to be shared orally
• Includes read-alouds that encourage engagement, such as folklore, fairy tales, mythology, and fables
• Suggests an activity directly based on each read-aloud, with handy information about target audience and size, program length, setup time, and materials and supplies needed
• Comes with a planning calendar showing the length of time necessary to complete the program
• Features a booklist of additional titles that can be used to create even more programs

A fun way to transmit cultural literacy while helping to create a love of poetry, the rhythm of language, and verbal skills, Wadham’s programs help children’s librarians, school librarians, and storytime leaders encourage all children to be lifelong readers.

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*Many of the nursery rhymes and some of the poems are appropriate for preschool children. Most are great for developing phonological awareness! (Katie)

Animal Shenanigans (book)

Reid, Rob. (2015). Animal Shenanigans: 24 Creative, Interactive Story Programs for Preschoolers. Chicago, IL: ALA Editions. 978-0-8389-1271-3.

Featuring our four-legged, no-legged, winged, scaled, and feathered friends, this new series of story program lesson plans from bestselling author Reid will help librarians and teachers unleash kids’ curiosity and learning. Using a combination of high-quality picture books, fingerplays, movement activities, songs, and games, these ready-to-use, mix-and-match lesson plans focus on universal themes such as family, friendship, and school—but with animal protagonists. Useful for both school and public libraries, for teaching as well as collection development, Reid’s book

• Includes two dozen complete 30-minute story programs for preschoolers that can also be adapted for K–2 children
• Offers 70 new “in-between” activities such as fingerplays and movement activities, songs and musical activities, chants, creative dramatics, imagination exercises, and more
• Provides alternate book lists at the end of each story plan so readers can further customize their own storytimes
• Gives tips on how to energize presentations and encourage audience participation

Using Reid’s sure-fire story programs, kids and grownups alike will have a howling, barking, clucking, roaring good time.

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The Essential Lapsit Guide (book)

Ernst, Linda L. (2015). The Essential Lapsit Guide. Chicago, IL: Neal-Schuman. 978-1-55570-761-3.

Not just a sourcebook or a reference, but a complete multimedia guide, this innovative, comprehensive resource will help you stimulate the minds of your youngest patrons with rhymes, songs, fingerplays, books, and other creative activities. The engaging materials and methods in this book are equally useful for experienced children’s librarians looking for new ideas and new librarians starting to build their own program for the very young. Through researching the latest in early learner and developmental theories, Ernst

• Carefully details the physical, mental, emotional, and social development of children 12 to 24 months
• Guides you through using Lapsit programming to perform effective outreach to all segments of your community
• Shows how to build and maintain effective partnerships with caregivers, child-care providers, early childhood educators, and others
• Offers tips for seeking funding for early childhood services

A detailed Web Extra provides further ideas and instructional techniques not featured in the book. Included are a bibliography of chapter resources, a list of rhyme lyrics that appear in the book, full-page sample handouts and templates, and 47 video clips featuring rhymes and activities that encourage audience interaction, performed by the author.

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STEP into Storytime (book)

Ghoting, S.N. & Klatt, K.F. (2014). STEP into Storytime: Using the StoryTime Effective Practice to Strengthen the Development of Newborns to Five-Year-Olds. Chicago, IL: ALA Editions. 978-0-8389-1222-5.

Story Time Effective Practice (STEP), developed by the authors, is an approach that articulates the link between child development theory and storytimes. This important resource shows how presenters can use STEP to craft a storytime that is effective for mixed-age groups and adheres to best practices for emotional, social, physical, and cognitive support. In this book, Ghoting and Klatt, both early literacy experts,

• Offer more than 30 complete ready-to-use storytimes appropriate for newborns to children age 5, along with extension activities
• Show how STEP relates to emotional, social, cognitive, and physical development
• Explain how storytime materials and activities directly connect to language and literacy development
• Include preparation, planning, and performance tips, plus guidance for interacting with parents and caregivers
• Provide lists of recommended additional resources, including organizations, websites, and sources for storytime time activity ideas

This book is a must-have guide for storytime presenters, preschool teachers, child care providers, and parents of young children.

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Baby Storytime Magic (book)

MacMillan, K. & Kirker, C. (2014). Baby Storytime Magic: Active Early Literacy through Bounces, Rhymes, Tickles and More. Chicago, IL: ALA Editions. 978-0-8389-1216-4.

Whether you’ve been presenting baby storytimes for fifteen years or fifteen minutes, you probably already know that the first five years of life are key for brain development and early literacy. Many public libraries have instituted baby and toddler programs, but finding exciting materials for baby storytime that go beyond nursery rhymes can be a challenge. Baby Storytime Magic is a treasure trove of new and exciting ideas for programs, all of which revolve around themes from a baby’s world. Inside this resource you’ll find

• Fingerplays, bounces, flannelboards, activities with props, songs, American Sign Language activities, and more, with items arranged by type of material
• Tips for planning storytimes, with advice on logistical issues such as age grouping, scheduling, formats, and physical setup
• Guidance on involving caregivers in baby storytimes, including suggested scripts for explaining the benefits of each activity and how to use it at home
• Age-appropriate book recommendations
• Information on the stages of early childhood development, plus an appendix of recommended additional resources
• A thematic index to find the right storytime quickly
• Links to full-sized, downloadable flannelboard patterns, craft patterns, and worksheets

Packed with ready-to-use activities, reducing prep time substantially, this book is a valuable early literacy tool for every children’s librarian.

Check out this book’s Web Extra now!

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A Year in the Story Room (book)

Roginski, R. D. (2014). A Year in the Story Room: Ready-to-Use Programs for Children. Chicago, IL: ALA Editions. 978-0-8389-1179-2.

Preparing storytime programs can devour the time of the even the most experienced children’s librarians, especially when several different age groups must be taken into account. Infants and toddlers, pre-readers, and emergent readers all have different needs, and who has time to dig through a multitude of resources to gather suitable programming materials? Roginski offers the perfect solution with this all-in-one planner for young children, providing everything needed for a year's worth of story room fun. Filled with ready-to-use programs for winter, spring, summer and fall on themes children know and love, this handy volume

• Presents materials perfectly tailored to each group, including ideas for infants, traditional story programs for children toddling toward kindergarten, and book clubs for emergent readers
• Gives easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions for each program, with suggested books, poems, activities, sound recordings, craft ideas, printable patterns, supply lists, and more
• Features a special section on guiding children from reading along to reading alone, and other transitional programs

Librarians can take this amazingly useful resource right into the story room to encourage fun and learning the whole year round.

 

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Cooking Up A Storytime (book)

Snderson-Newham, S. (2014). Cooking Up A Storytime: mix-and-March Menus for Easy Programming. Chicago, IL: ALA Editions. 978-0-8389-1203-4.

Tired of leftovers? Ready to cook up some new storytimes, ones that integrate books and games with math, science, and early literacy activities? These mix-and-match menus featuring kids' favorite topics, like animals, families, farms, and food, will engage young ones while easing their transition to school. Whether you’re hungry for a full-course feast or prefer to order à la carte, this flexible resource dishes up

• Practical, up-to-date early literacy information that helps storytime organizers understand how children grow and learn
• Detailed program menus to enable storytime planners to establish uniformity in content, important for early literacy
• Original flannelboard activities, poems, games, and fingerplays incorporating science, math, and poetry
• A varied selection of mix-and-match books to help create appealing, perfectly seasoned menus

With the guidance provided by this resource, the storytimes you cook up will be delicious and nutritious!

Check out this book’s Web Extra now!

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Folktales Aloud

Del Negro, J.M. (2014). Folktales Aloud: Practical Advice for Playful Storytelling. Chicago, IL: ALA Editions.

A good folktale triggers the imagination, connecting children to a wider world as well as increasing their vocabulary and comprehension skills. In this delightful and easy-to-use book, teacher and storyteller Del Negro gives librarians, teachers, and parents the keys to storytelling success. Including more than a dozen original adaptations of folktales from around the world, tailored specifically for library and classroom use, she

• Reviews storytelling basics such as selecting a tale and learning the story
• Offers tips for dealing with stage fright and reluctant listeners
• Presents a bibliography of recommended online and print resources, steering readers to more wonderful tales to tell

For young listeners the folktale is a perfect gateway to the exciting worlds of culture and literature, and Del Negro’s book invites their engagement with proven techniques and original story scripts that can be used by experienced as well as beginning tellers.

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School Library Storytime

 

Copeland, Brenda S., and Patricia A. Messner. School Library Storytime: Just the Basics. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2013. ISBN: 978-1-61069-202-1  

Publisher's Description

This book is an invaluable resource for school library aides who conduct storytime activities, providing everything from instruction on how to read to children to a week-by-week read aloud curriculum for the entire school year...The fifth title in the highly regarded Just the Basics series, this book starts with an introduction, followed by explanations of how to read aloud and tips for managing and working with children in the primary grades. The authors suggest specific picture books that tie into school year-based themes and supply materials that can be used as listed or easily modified to meet the individual library's needs. Event-specific lessons are supplied for many weeks within the school year, making this title one that educators will rely on for storytime ideas from September through May.
 

Features

• Follows the school calendar, providing a lesson for nearly every week of the school year

• Uses both fiction and nonfiction readalouds
• Supplies a resource page for each month

Sample Topics
April Fool's Day
Chinese New Year
Columbus Day
Election Day
Groundhog's Day
Growing a Garden
Kwanzaa
Library Orientation
Music in the Schools' Month
Proper Book Care

Storytimes for Everyone (book)

Ghoting, S.N. & Martin-Diaz, P. (2013). Storytimes for Everyone: Developing Young Children's Language and Literacy. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.

Recognizing that informed, caring adults are critical to supporting early literacy development, Storytimes for Everyone! builds on the concepts introduced in the second edition of the Every Child Ready to Read® initiative to offer practical suggestions for incorporating early literacy information and strategies into the storytime setting. Early literacy experts Ghoting and Martin-Díaz, coauthors of the best-selling Early Literacy Storytimes @ your library® demonstrate how parents and caregivers, children with their eyes and minds wide open, and the storytime presenter can come together to create a storytime that is informative and, most of all, fun. Presenting a variety of songs, projects, and activities, their book

• Explains how young children develop knowledge critical for reading comprehension
• Discusses five vital storytime practices (singing, talking, reading, writing, and playing), which adults can be taught to use at home
• Presents dozens of storytimes for babies/toddlers, twos, and preschoolers, that engage adults while keeping their children in focus
• Addresses how young bilingual children acquire language, and other current research

This book can be used at the library, at home, or anywhere else storytimes take place.
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Artsy Toddler Storytimes (book)

Hopkins, C.G. (2013). Artsy Toddler Storytimes: A Year's Worth of Ready-To-Go Programming. Chicago, IL: Neal-Schuman.

For toddlers, every storytime can be a new adventure, while art activities are important for developing impulse control, hand-eye coordination, and fine motor dexterity in the hands. Hopkins’ new book fuses them together. Designed for children ages 1 to 3 years old, the book’s 52 storytimes promote pre-reading skills such as print motivation, vocabulary, and narrative skills. Based on themes familiar to children, including bears, bugs, springtime,clothing and hats, flowers and gardens, weather, music, pets, transportation, pirates, and many more, each storytime includes a list of books, action songs or rhymes along with their words, a flannelboard experience, plus instruction for two to three art activities. This complete toddler storytime resource also includes

• An introduction which discusses the differences between art activities and craft activities, a toddler’s ability in creating art, and why children this age should be exposed to art activities
• Advice for using different art mediums, such as food, plus important safety considerations
• Pointers on conducting playful yet educational storytimes  
• Tips for finding inexpensive art materials, with a list of recommended supplies to keep on hand
• More than 100 drawings, all easy to reproduce and modify
• Weblinks to “Artsy Helper Sheets,” downloadable supplements complete with phrases, tips, and tricks that inform parents and caregivers about the benefits of doing art activities with toddlers

Pick up Hopkins' book and you'll be ready to conduct a storytime within moments!

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