Books That Might Make Good Storytimes

Little Gorilla by Bornstein Cute, easy and fast. Good for little kids.
Lola Loves Stories by McQuinn I like the Lola books for little kids and getting them excited about libraries.
Grumpy Bird by Tankard Grumpy Bird gets ungrumpy thanks to his animal buddies. Cute, great pics, wide range of ages.
Are You a Horse? by Rash Great for 1st and 2nd graders, maybe even really smart kindergarteners. A boy gets a saddle for his birthday and goes around asking different animals if they're a horse. Fun!
Read to Tiger by Fore A really good reading and sharing story for wide age range.

Storytime Books That Worked

City Dog, Country Frog by Willems Cute friendship and loss story.
Franklin's Big Dreams by Teague Great story for older kids because its a bit longer and uses bigger words. A boy dreams of travel adventures.
Dragon Stew by Smallman Hilarious tale of five bored vikings who go out in search of a dragon to put in some stew. I had a class of 3rd graders (the ones that think they're too old for storytime kind) rolling with this one and...
Interrupting Chicken by Stein Another hilarious story. Its little chicken's bedtime and she wants her dad to tell her a story, but guess what happens every time he gets started? A great way to start or end this book is by telling my favorite knock-knock joke: KNOCK! KNOCK! Who's there? Interrupting cow. Interrupting co... MOOOO!!

Impromtu Art Activity

Magazines, tissue paper die cuts, feathers and old flyers.

After a while of specialized programs, and especially if you're a pack rat like me, you've got a lot of left-over, and almost-run-out materials. And when you look at your disheveled craft supply shelves and start thinking of just throwing it straight into the dumpster, stop yourself cold. It's finally time for a collage art activity!
Gather all the supplies you would like to see rid of, then some standard supplies, i.e. markers, crayons, scissors, glue (I already have these in a kit ready to go, just in case), as well as some blank construction paper. Take them out at your regular art activity time and explain to the kids about collage art. Show them some pictures of collage artists' works e.g. Romare Bearden, Bettye Saar. Introduce them to some collage art books like Cool Collage by Hanson. Definitely show them some picture books that use collage art as illustrations including Eric Carle, Amy Wilson Sanger, and Louis Ehlert books, and titles such as Tar Beach by Ringgold. You get the idea.
Then let them at it. Things will get real simple or real interesting depending on their skill and imagination.

The Night Before Christmas Song

I love traditions. They make me feel warm, loved and safe. So when I come up with new programs for the library I like to try and do stuff that can repeated every year. Something that the kids can look forward to and hopefully incorporate into their personal lives as they grow too old to participate. At the library I'm at they already had a couple standing traditions that I have continued since I started, but I also have begun a couple of my own: The Valentine Cookie Decorating Party, the Sidewalk Chalk Festival, the Monarch Butterfly Project and the Halloween Costume Making Workshop.
What I really would like to do is to come up with a tradition for Christmastime, but I've had to find a way to overcome the political hurdles (you can't have "Christmas" programs, they have to be "winter holiday" programs) and the fact that regular patrons are most likely out-of-town or not interested in coming to the library.
Last year I tried the Winter Reading Challenge, which I'm also going to try again this year, although participation was very low. But my big idea that I've basically been too scared to do, is a reading of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Today I found the song version of the poem online! I sang this in my high school concert choir and it was so much fun to sing! In fact, I might have to say that this is one of my all-time favorite songs.
Now I'm really motivated to try and build a program around it.
Thinking....thinking...