School Library Journal: With 25 theme-based chapters, this is a handy resource. Each theme includes book recommendations, often 10 or more, with a nice mixture of classic and newer titles, and a suggestion to choose two or three per session. Words and instructions for fingerplays, rhymes, and songs are provided, while a discography provides melody sources for all songs. Each theme includes a flannel-board activity, complete with reproducible patterns and brief directions on how to present the story or song on the board. Safe and simple crafts ideas are presented as optional activities. Activities are listed by type, rather than in an ordered list, so tellers can pick, choose, and order according to individual style and preference. An introduction provides tips and rationale for all of the types of activities. A couple of sentences note the potential impact on brain development and early-literacy skills, but the focus is on the activities themselves; strategies for sharing early-literacy information with parents and caregivers are not addressed. Judy Nichols's Storytimes for Two-Year-Olds (ALA, 2007) and Linda L. Ernst's Baby Rhyming Time (Neal-Schuman, 2008) provide more comprehensive looks at all aspects of storytime planning and presentation. This update of Briggs's Toddler Storytime Programs (Scarecrow, 1993) will be most useful as a resource for programming ideas and fleshing out themes.

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!

Provides fifty storytime programs for two-year-olds, including ideas and suggestions for storytime content and encouragement to serve this age group.

Librarians, teachers, and others who work with toddlers will find a treasure trove of useful material in Toddler Storytime Programs. Part I of the book contains twenty-five theme programs which feature book suggestions, fingerplays, puppetry ideas, games, activities, songs, and crafts. Among the program themes offered are: Gone Fishing, Teddy Bear's Picnic, Jungle Safari, Yummy!, Daddy and Me, Toddler Snow Party, and Spring Fling. Part II features a collection of flannel board stories, poems, and songs with full-size reproducible patterns. Each selection coordinates with a program theme in Part I and has simple directions for successful storytelling. A literature index, an index to fingerplays, and a music appendix with guitar chords are also included.

Short stories, poems, catchy verses fro children ages 2 to 6.

A new, interactive approach to storytime, The Whole Book Approach was developed in conjunction with the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art and expert author Megan Dowd Lambert's graduate work in children's literature at Simmons College, offering a practical guide for reshaping storytime and getting kids to think with their eyes. Traditional storytime often offers a passive experience for kids, but the Whole Book approach asks the youngest of readers to ponder all aspects of a picture book and to use their critical thinking skills. Using classic examples, Megan asks kids to think about why the trim size of Ludwig Bemelman's Madeline is so generous, or why the typeset in David Wiesner's Caldecott winner,The Three Pigs, appears to twist around the page, or why books like Chris Van Allsburg's The Polar Express and Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar are printed landscape instead of portrait. The dynamic discussions that result from this shared reading style range from the profound to the hilarious and will inspire adults to make children's responses to text, art, and design an essential part of storytime.

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.