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Here are some pre-school storytimes I have performed:



Bilingual Spanish/English theme

Stories

  • ¡Perros! ¡Perros! Dogs! Dogs! - Ginger Foglesong Guy
  • Listen to the Desert/ Oye al Desierto - Pat Mora
  • Oh No, Gotta Go! - Susan Middleton Elya
  • Counting Ovejas/ Counting Sheep - Sarah Weeks
Flannelboard
  • The Empanadas That Abuela Made - Diane Gonzales Betrand
Songs
  • Buenos Dias/ Good Morning (from De Colores and other Latin-American Folk Songs for Children - Jose Luis Orosco)
  • Cinco Deditos/ Five Little Fingers (from Mama Goose a Latino Nursery Treasury - Alma Flor Ada and F. Iabel Campoy)
  • De Colores/ Oh, the Colores - Ashley Wolf
Craft
  • Papel Picado

Bear theme

Stories
  • We’re Going on a Bear Hunt – Michael Rosen
  • Bear's New Friend - Karma Wilson
  • Goldilocks and the Three Bears - James Marshall
  • Where's My Teddy? - Jez Alborough
Flannelboard
  • Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? - Bill Martin, Jr.
Songs
  • The Bear Went Over the Mountain
  • Teddy Bear Teddy Bear
Craft
  • Paperbag bear

Bus theme

Stories
  • Little School Bus – Carol Roth
  • Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus - Mo Willems
Flannelboard
Songs
  • The Seals of the Bus - Lenny Hort
Craft
  • Bus craft

Cat theme

Stories
  • Cookie's Week - Cindy Ward
  • Kitten from One to Ten - Mirra Ginsburg
  • Kitten Red Yellow Blue - Peter Catalanotto
  • Feathers for Lunch - Lois Ehlert
Flannelboard
  • Millions of Cats - Wanda Ga'g
Song
  • 5 Little Cats
Craft
  • Paperbag cat

Color theme

Stories
  • Kitten Red Yellow Blue - Peter Catalanotto
  • Warthogs' Paint - Pamela Duncan Edwards
  • Color of His Own - Leo Lionni
Flannelboard
  • Dog's Colorful Day - Emma Dodd
Song
  • I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More! – Karen Beaumont
Craft
  • Color the paintbrushes sheet

Dog theme

Stories
  • Bark, George! - Jules Fiefer
  • Where's Spot? - Eric Hill
  • Be Brown! - Bottner
  • Dog's Colorful Day - Emma Dodd
Songs
  • B-I-N-G-O
  • Where Oh Where Has My Little Done Gone?
Craft
  • Paperbag dog

Farm theme

Stories
  • Dooby Dooby Moo - Doreen Cronin
  • Barnyard Banter - Denise Fleming
  • Spots, Feathers, and Curly Tails - Nancy Tafuri
Flannelboard
Song
  • Old McDonald Had a Farm
  • The Farmer and the Dell
Craft

Friendships and Feelings theme

Before Reading Ask Questions:
What makes a friend?
What do friends do?
Do friends always get along?
Do friends always have to be different?
Think about your best friend - What is one way you and your friend are the same?
What is one way you and your friend are different?

Stories
  • A Splendid Friend Indeed - Bloom
  • Pigeon finds a Hot Dog - Mo Willems
  • My Friend and I - Jahn-Clough
Q: How is bear feeling? How can you tell?
Do you think goose knows how bear is feeling? How can you tell?
Can you make a face like bear is making now? Can you make a face like goose?
How do you think bear and goose are feeling now? Why? What happened?

Song
  • If You’re….and You Know it!
    If You’re Happy and You Know it – Clap your hands
    If You’re Sad and You Know it – Wipe your tears
    If You’re Angry and You Know it – Stomp your feet
    If You’re Scared and You Know it – Hide your face
    If You’re Excited and you Know it – Shout Hurray
Q: What can you do to make your friend feel better if they are sad? Angry? Scared?

Craft
  • Friendship bracelets

Hat theme

Stories
  • Who Took the Farmer's Hat? - Joan L. Nodset
  • Twelve Hats For Lena - Karen Katz
  • Caps for Sale - Esphyr Slobodkina
Songs
  • My Hat It Has 3 Corners
Craft
  • Newspaper hat

Helping Others theme

Stories
  • The Little Red Hen - Barton
  • The Great Big, Enormous Turnip
Songs
  • 5 Little Monkeys
Flannelboard
  • The Lion and the Mouse

I Can Do It! theme

Stories
  • My Hands Can - Holzenthaler
  • When You Were a Baby - Ann Jonas
  • How do I put it on? - Shigeo Watanabe
Songs
  • I Can...
Craft
  • Handprint drawing

Kite theme

Stories
  • Kite Flying - Grace Lin
  • Someone Bigger - Jonathan Emmett
  • Kites - Demi
Songs
  • Let’s Go Fly a Kite (Mary Poppins)
Craft
  • Make an animal kite using instructions from Kites by Demi

Library theme

Stories
  • Edward and the Pirates - David McPhail
  • Beverly Billingsly Borrows a Book - Alexander Stadler
  • Library Lion - Michelle Knudsen
  • But, excuse me, that is my book - Lauren Child
  • Maisy goes to the library- Lucy Cousins
  • Wild About Books - Judy Sierra
  • Beatrice Doesn't Want To - Laura Numeroff
Songs
  • The Library by Cursor Minor
Craft
  • Make your own bookmark

Lost and Found theme

Stories
  • Come Back Puppies - Jan Ormerod
  • Roar! - Pamela Duncan Edwards
  • Knuffle Bunny - Mo Willems
  • The Blanket - John Burningham
  • Sam's winter hat - Albert Lamb
  • Olivia and the Missing Toy - Ian Falconer
  • Flora's Blanket - Debi Gliori
Songs
  • Oh Where oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone?
  • 5 Little Ducks
Craft

Manners theme

Stories
  • Manners - Aliki
  • Please Play Safe - Margery Cuyler
  • Time to Say Please - Mo Willems
  • Do Unto Otters : A Book About Manners - Laurie Keller
  • Whoopi's Big Book of Manners - Whoopi Goldberg
  • Please Say Please! : Penguin's Guide to Manners - Margery Cuyler
  • Monster Manners - Bethany Roberts
Song
  • Don’t Just Take it Away from Yo Gabba Gabba
Flannelboard
Craft

Mice theme

Stories
  • Watch Out Big Bro's Coming - Jez Alborough
  • If You Give a Mouse a Cookie - Laura Numeroff
  • Gruffalo - Lou Donaldson
Song
  • Three Blind Mice
Flannelboard
  • The Lion and the Mouse - Aesop's Fable
Craft
  • Paperbag mouse

Pizza theme

Stories
  • The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza - Philemon Sturges
  • Pizza at Sally's - Monica Wellington
  • Pete's a Pizza - William Steig
  • Grandpa and Me - Karen Katz
  • Hi, Pizza Man! - Virginia Walter
Song
  • Pizza Song
Craft
  • Paper Pizzas

Roosters and Chickens theme

Stories
  • Rooster Who Lost His Crow - Wendy Cheyette Lewison
  • Rosie's Walk - Pat Hutchins
  • Hattie and the Fox - Mem Fox
Flannelboard
  • Bossy Gallito (El Gallo de Bodas) - Lucia M. Gonzalez
Song
  • Chicken Dance
Craft
  • Paperbag rooster

Silly Animals theme

Stories
  • Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing - Judi Barrett
  • Bark George - Feiffer Jules
  • The Cow That Went Oink - Bernard Most
  • Do Monkeys Tweet? - Melanie Walsh
Songs
  • 5 Little Monkeys
  • Down By The Bay
Flannelboard

Sleep theme

  • Goodnight, Gorilla – Peggy Rathman
  • Shhhhh! Everybody’s Sleeping - Julie Markes
  • How do Dinosaurs say Goodnight? - Jane Yolen
  • Sheep Asleep – Gloria Rothstein
  • When Sheep Sleep – Laura Numeroff
  • Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late - Mo Willems
Songs
  • Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
  • 5 Little Monkeys

Winter theme

Stories
  • Snowballs – Lois Ehlert
  • Froggy Gets Dressed – Jonathan London
  • The First Day of Winter – Denise Fleming
  • If You Take a Mouse to the Movies – Laura Numeroff
Fingerplays
  • 5 Little Snowmen Sliding on the Sled
  • 10 Little Mittens
Craft
  • Make snowball people with buttons, peanuts, popcorn, raisins, sunflower seeds (as seen in Snowballs)
  • Popcorn strings for decorating a tree (as seen in If You Take a Mouse to the Movies)
  • Construction paper mitten

Zoo theme

Stories
  • A Children’s Zoo - Hoban
  • 1,2,3 to the Zoo - Eric Carle
  • Dear Zoo - Campbell
Song
  • 5 Little Monkeys
Craft
  • Elephant finger puppet craft

Toddler Animal theme

Stories
  • Spots, Feathers, and Curly Tails - Nancy Tafuri
  • Peek-a-Zoo - Marie Torres Cimarusti
  • Who Hops? - Katie Davis
Song
  • 5 Little Monkeys
Craft
  • Elephant finger puppet craft

>> Some of my favorite storytime books can be found on my listmania!

>> Storytime Sites:
SurLaLune Storytimes
Strathcona County Library
BayViews Storytime Themes
Storytime Source

all images © rebecca
(except where noted)