A faulty magician creates quite an uproar at a party when he turns the birthday girl into a rock and the guests into different animals.

A faulty magician creates quite an uproar at a party when he turns the birthday girl into a rock and the guests into different animals.

Fresh, fun ideas for children's storytime fill this book. The author, a long-time storytime facilitator, has put together 52 weekly themes plus additional plans for holidays, all with detailed instructions for talking about the theme and choosing the books, crafts, songs, poems, games and snacks. Each storytime idea is illustrated with photographs of a suggested craft and snack for easy reference. Libraries, bookstores, preschools and parents alike can use this book to offer themed storytimes that include discussion, literature, art, music, movement and food. Options are provided for each storytime, so the ideas can be used year after year.

Promote reading and literacy with this wonderful assortment of lively, fast-paced, fun-filled children's programs specifically designed for children aged 4 through 8. You and the children will delight in such program themes as Creepy Crawlies, Forest Friends, Frosty Frolics, and After School Adventures. The book presents an entertaining mix of multisensory activities that appeal to a variety of literacy levels and learning styles—rhymes and songs, awesome activities, crafty crafts, and great games. Unlike other programming guides, this one uses a developmental approach with literature-based activities fitted to specific learning needs. More than an idea book, it includes all the nuts and bolts for initiating children's programs—from foundations and guidelines for understanding various stages of learning to everything you need to get started: book lists, step-by-step instructions, reproducible patterns and illustrations, even tips on publicity and public relations. Whether you're a novice or a seasoned children's programmer, this book gives you fresh programming ideas that foster lifelong literacy and love of reading. Grades PreK-3.

Whether used for thematic story times, program and curriculum planning, readers' advisory, or collection development, this updated edition of the well-known companion makes finding the right picture books for your library a breeze. Generations of savvy librarians and educators have relied on this detailed subject guide to children's picture books for all aspects of children's services, and this new edition does not disappoint. Covering more than 18,000 books published through 2017, it empowers users to identify current and classic titles on topics ranging from apples to zebras. Organized simply, with a subject guide that categorizes subjects by theme and topic and subject headings arranged alphabetically, this reference applies more than 1,200 intuitive (as opposed to formal catalog) subject terms to children's picture books, making it both a comprehensive and user-friendly resource that is accessible to parents and teachers as well as librarians. It can be used to identify titles to fill in gaps in library collections, to find books on particular topics for young readers, to help teachers locate titles to support lessons, or to design thematic programs and story times. Title and illustrator indexes, in addition to a bibliographic guide arranged alphabetically by author name, further extend access to titles.

This practical handbook provides more than 30 ready-to-use lesson plans that connect picture books to the national language arts standards set forth by NCTE and IRA. Designed for the primary grades, all lessons have been classroom tested and come with dozens of reproducible patterns and worksheets. Each lesson plan includes bibliographic information, a description of the standards applied in the lesson, skills and objectives, grade level, lists of props and materials, costume ideas, a step-by-step lesson description, comprehension questions, and follow-up activities. A wonderful tool for anyone who works with young students, this guide will generate hours of creative exploration, learning, and delight. Grades K-3

Teaching phonemic awareness can be boring and repetitive in the hands of a teacher who wishes to just use a workbook approach. This delightful book packs loads of fun into 75 lesson plans, providing educators with myriad creative strategies for integrating word study with children's picture books. Each lesson includes a read-aloud book description, literacy experience activity, direct instruction, follow-up activities, recommended poem, and related reading. The lessons build skills in phonemic awareness, morphemic analysis, letter identification, rhyming, and sight words, through singing, dancing, games, art activities, cooking, and interesting experiences, as well as a wealth of humorous picture books. The early childhood teacher who is committed to making literacy development meaningful, and as much fun as possible, will enjoy the wealth of valuable material here. Grades K-2.