Volunteering at my son's Montessori School

I'm not a Children's Librarian by training, however, I enjoy reading to my son. I enjoy reading to him using all the voices and inflection I can muster because my dad used to read to me that way when I was a child. (I have loving memories of his re-enactment of the creation story in Geneses, flashing lights and all.) As a reward for getting to school on time, I read to my son in the lobby area on the couches. A 3-5 minute him and me time before starting out day.

I was unaware that the director of the school was listening in. To Captain Underpants and Ook and Gluk: Kung-fu Cavemen from the Future, and any other assortment of books that the school had on display from which my son would select. So imagine my surprise when he asked if I would be willing to talk about being a librarian and read books to the kids and then let slip that he was looking forward to it. What a great compliment! Now what do I do?

The Children's Librarians with whom I work have been very helpful in making suggestions, even encouraging me to take what they have planned for the summer to use. So I'll do a little bit of that, because I am not for re-inventing the wheel. I also found the following resources:

• A Storytime Year: A month-to-month kit for preschool programming by Dailey and illustrated by Wagner.
• Silly Books to Read Aloud by Reid
• The Storytime Sourcebook I & II by Cullum
• The Storyteller's Sourcebook: A Subject, Title and Motif Index to Folklore Collections for Children: 1983-1999 by Read MacDonald and Sturm
• Books Kids Sit Still For (3): A Read Aloud Guide by Freeman (apparently there's a 1 & 2 as well)
• Storytimes for Two Year Olds by Nichols
• A to Zoo: Subject Access to Children's Picture Books

Essentially the structure of a storytime at my institution is :

1. Start with a song (the same one each time) so the kids know it's time to get down to business.
2. Read a book or two along the theme.
3. Have an activity such as a felt board or physical activity that is interactive.
4. Read another book.
5. Have a craft.
6. End with a song (the same one each time).

The school has themes for each of their days. And I plan to use them where appropriate, but I also have many favorite books that I've shared with my son that I think I want to revisit:

• Paper Bag Princess or The Fire Station by Munsch (this man is pure genius and the narrator on TumbleCloud is also genius for getting Munsch's pacing down perfectly).
• Flotsam by Wiesner, David (really any of his "wordless" stories) - great for the Sea theme
• Anansi and the moss-covered rock by Kimmel and illustrated by Stevens (actually I really like this trickster and I may want to do a recurring storytelling of Kimmel's Anansi series)
• The Quiet Place by Stewart, Sarah (themes: culture (shock), language acquisition, private spaces)
• The Rooster Who Went to His Uncle's Wedding by Ada, Alma Flor (I also love her poems, especially the collection Pio Peep! traditional nursery rhymes)
• My Asian favs: The Real Story of Stone Soup by Compestine, Ming Lo Moves the Mountain by Lobel and Three Samurai Cats by (lo and behold) Kimmel
• Someone Bigger by Emmett, Jonathan

I'm all over the place with these. There are so many elements that I want to choose from, from funny stories to strong (female) characters, to exposing kids to different cultures. I guess really this is just an opportunity to share my favorite books with the kids with whom my son attends school.

And of course, no list would be complete without recommendations from Jennifer:

• Author Mo Willems's stuff in general, but specifically the Piggie and Elephant books and Edwina, the dinosaur who didn't know she was extinct
• I want my hat back by Klassen, J.