Horton hears a...wha?

Had our Dr. Seuss Birthday party this weekend. We had a really great turn out for our Dr. Seuss' Birthday party, which was held this past weekend. We had 56 people of all ages come out for an hour spent reading Dr. Seuss books, Dr. Seuss themed art projects: create the cat in the hat, decorate red fish and blue fish, and create Horton's egg, and we also sang "Happy Bitrthday Dr. Seuss," complete with a Cat in the Hat cake.

My Mom and sister A1 brought Monster Niece S and Nephew A. It was totally adorable--when they walked in Monster Nephew A walked up to me while I was reading our first story, McElligot's Pool, and said, "Monster," (using my real name of course) and just grinned at me. Such a sweet child and talking so much these days.

We also read Horton Hears a Who! since I know that people will be taking their kids to that blasted movie!! Is anyone else dissapointed to see that a book which takes all of ten minutes to read is being turned into a movie! And Jim Carrey again--YUCKO!



Otherwise, plugging away at planning Summer Reading: CATCH THE READING BUG! activities, and yep, you guessed it, the theme is bugs. I get some of the older kids for a change (Kindergarten-2nd grade), and while I will miss my babies and toddlers, this change will be refreshing and give me a chance to work with this age group more. Found lots of fun and helpful things so far and so thought I would share in the event that anyone out there may also be planning their summer reading events as well.

Helpful links:

DLTK's

Wisonsin DPI

LibraryPalooza

And here is a Bibliography of books for elementary kids, which I complied from a few different online sources:

SUMMER READING 2008 BIBLIOGRAPHY:

ANTS:

Climo, Shirley. THE LITTLE RED ANT AND THE GREAT BIG CRUMB.In this Mexican fable, an ant thinks he needs help lifting a crumb of cake, so he asks various animals to assist him.

Edwards, Pamela Duncan. THE WACKY WEDDING: A BOOK OF ALPHABET ANTICS.At the wedding of two ants, various animals in attendance experience several accidents at the reception.

Heap, Sue. ANTS IN YOUR PANTS. TIn this rhyming counting book with flaps, ants in pants end the simple story.

McDonald, Megan. ANT AND HONEY BEE - WHAT A PAIR.Ant and Bee dress up for a costume party.

Mizumura, Kazue. THE WAY OF AN ANT.An ant tries to climb a hill as high as the sky.

Nickle, John. THE ANT BULLY.After squirting ants with his water gun, Lucas shrinks to the size of an ant to feel what it is like to be bullied. This book was made into an animated film in 2006.

Pinczes, Elinor. ONE HUNDRED HUNGRY ANTS.While marching to a picnic, the 100 ants form different groups to show readers how to count by tens, or twenties, etc.

Poole, Amy. THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER.This retelling of Aesop's fable is set in China, and tells of a hardworking group of ants who prepare for the winter, while Grasshopper does nothing to get ready.

Prince, Joshua. I SAW AN ANT ON THE RAILROAD TRACK.The engineer tries to stop the train before it runs over an ant.

Van Allsburg, Chris. TWO BAD ANTS.After they venture out on their own, two ants realize they need to return to the safety of the colony.

Wells, Rosemary. MAX'S ABC. TEscaping from the ant farm, Max's ants crawl over everything in this alphabet book.

http://www.bayviews.org/storytime/stants.html

BEES:

Carle, Eric. THE HONEYBEE AND THE ROBBER.A popup book with tabs and other moveable elements, about a bee who defends the hive from a bear out to steal the honey. T

Cole, Joanna. MAGIC SCHOOL BUS INSIDE A BEEHIVE. Ms. Frizzle takes her class on a fieldtrip to a beehive in her magic school bus.

Ernst, Lisa Campbell. A COLORFUL ADVENTURE OF THE BEE WHO LEFT HOME ONE MONDAY MORNING… TA
concept book about colors.

High, Linda Oatman. BEEKEEPERS.A girl helps her grandfather who is a beekeeper.

Lobel, Arnold. THE ROSE IN MY GARDEN. TA cumulative story about a bee, a snail, and other creatures on the rose in the garden.

McDonald, Megan. ANT AND HONEYBEE - WHAT A PAIR!The two insects choose costumes for a party, with disasterous results.

Smallman, Steve. THE VERY GREEDY BEE.Lots of sound effects words are included in this amusing story of a bee that eats too much nectar.

Wong, Janet S. BUZZ. TA young boy hears a buzzing bee outside his window one morning, then hears all the other things that buzz like dad's shaver, the juicer, the garage door opener, etc.

Yorinks, Arthur. HAPPY BEES. TWith great rhymes, we hear about the easy life of the bee.

http://www.bayviews.org/storytime/stbees.html

BUGS

Dussling, Jennifer. BUGS BUGS BUGS! Describes the hunting activities of various bugs, including the praying mantis, wood ant, and dragonfly.

Dussling, Jennifer. INSECTOS! Describes the hunting activities of various bugs, including the praying mantis, wood ant, and dragonfly.

Facklam, Margery. BUGS FOR LUNCH/INSECTOS PARA EL ALMUERZO. Rhyming text introduces bug-eating animals such as geckos, trout, or even people. Includes additional facts about each creature.

Llewellyn, Claire. THE BEST BOOK OF BUGS.Learn how bugs and spiders differ and the characteristics of two dozen arthropods.

O’Neill, Amanda. A CURIOUS KIDS GUIDE. Learn how spiders make thread, find out which insect listens with its legs, and explore how insects and bugs are good for people.

Wise Brown, Margaret I LIKE BUGS. This poem is a rhyming ode to all the types of insects the narrator likes.

Ziefert, Harriet. BUGS, BEETLES AND BUTTERFLIES. Learn the difference between bugs and beetles and other insects with rhyming phrases.

http://www.library.pima.gov/about/news/?id=613

BUTTERFLIES

Horacek, Petr. BUTTERFLY, BUTTERFLY.Lucy's garden is full of various insects, including butterflies.

Kroll, Virginia. BUTTERFLY BOY. Set in Mexico, a boy and his grandfather look for butterflies.

Millbourne, Anna. THE BUTTERFLY. Lovely soft watercolors illustrate this very simple look at a butterfly's life cycle.

White, Nancy. BUTTERFLY BATTLE. When they start a unit on butterflies, Ms. Frizzle accidentally turns all the kids in her class into butterflies.

http://www.library.pima.gov/about/news/?id=613 , http://www.bayviews.org/storytime/stbutterflies.html

CATERPILLARS:

Brawley, Helen. PERCIVAL THE PLAIN LITTLE CATERPILLAR.A book about colors that has a great story about how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly.

Carle, Eric. THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR. TListeners will chant the days of the week, the food items, and the repeated “but he was still hungry!” when reading this storytime classic.

Edwards, Pamela Duncan. CLARA CATERPILLAR.An ususual story about a cream-colored, plain butterfly, who finds out she is just as good as the colorful butterflies.

Swope, Sam. GOTTA GO! GOTTA GO!A little caterpillar knows she needs to get to Mexico, but doesn't know that is she is going to become a Monarch Butterfly.

Tarbett, Debbie. TEN WRIGGLY, WIGGLY CATERPILLARS. TPop-ups and 3-D elements highlight this counting book.

http://www.bayviews.org/storytime/stbutterflies.html

FIREFLIES:

Burke, Katie. LIGHTNING BUG THUNDER. Three friends have a lightning bug in a jar, hoping the lightning attracts thunder during a drought.

Carle, Eric. THE VERY LONELY FIREFLY. TOn night, a lonely firefly goes out in search of other fireflies.

Eastman, P.D. SAM AND THE FIREFLY.Sam the owl befriends a firefly in this classic easy reader.

London, Jonathan. FIREFLIES, FIREFLIES, LIGHT MY WAY. TIn this chant celebrating nature, the repeated phrase “Lead me to the place…” will engage even young listeners.

Sturges, Philemon. TEN FLASHING FIREFLIES. TA counting book that also encourages children to let fireflies go free.

Waber, Bernard. A FIREFLY NAMED TORCHY. Unlike his usual “Lyle Crocodile” cartoon illustrations, Waber has illustrated this story with fingerpaints. Torchy's light is so bright it disturbs the other forest creatures.

http://www.bayviews.org/storytime/stfireflies.html

FLIES:

Arnold, Ted. HI FLY GUY!A boy meets an amazing fly and thus begins a very funny friendship!

Aylesworth, Jim. OLD BLACK FLY. TThis rhyming ABC book is hilarious, with riotous watercolor paintings by

Stephen Gammell. Available in a Big Book edition, too!

Faulkner, Keith. THE WIDE MOUTH FROG. TIn this pop up book, a frog asks various animals what they eat, volunteering that he eats flies.

Howitt, Mary. THE SPIDER AND THE FLY.Droll illustrations depict the Victorian-era poem in this Caldecott Honor book best suited to older preschoolers and school-age children.

Jorgensen, Gail. GOTCHA!A fly interrupts a bear's birthday party, causing the bear to chase the fly.

Kennedy, Kim. FRANKENFROG.After creating an enormous fly, the scientist needs to create an equally large frog to catch it!

Oppenheim, Joanne. YOU CAN'T CATCH ME! TA fly challenges several animals to catch him; the storytime crowd will chant the repeated phrases.

Taback, Simms. THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY. TThe traditional song done with brightly colored, die-cut illustrations.

Trapani, Iza. SHOO FLY. TEveryone will be singing “Shoo fly, don't bother me!” when you read this book version of the folksong.

http://www.bayviews.org/storytime/stflies.html

Comments

Kevin Musgrove said…
Many thanks for this, Monster. Gives me an idea for a new booklist on our Kids' pac.
Anonymous said…
Dr. Seuss's Horton Hears a Who is classic, i forgot how much that guy packed into such simple storylines... they didn't add much to the original story either except for the usual Jim Carreyisms.

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