Oh My! A Great Pizza Pie! - A Storytime Outline

This was for the first storytime of the Fall season. Still recovering from the summer I prepped from this storytime right before I had an adventurous vacation (of which I would return only two days prior to the start of storytime!). This was a super easy program and super fun! It was also very YUMMY!

BOOKS
Pete's a Pizza written and illus. by William Steig (T)
How can you not read Pete's a Pizza. Parts of the story the toddler did not quite get, but the guardians greatly enjoyed it.

"Hi, Pizza Man!" written by Virginia Walter and illus. by Ponder Goembel (T, P)
I managed to get this through ILL, which was amazing! I told this story, which the help of the children, by using puppets. The toddlers loved visiting with the puppets.

The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza written by Philemon Sturges and illus. by Amy Walrod (P)
To make this story more fun, I tried to make the preschoolers make the animal noises and to ask them what they thought the animals would say.


SONGS & RHYMES
Open, Shut Them (T, P) 

follow actions

Open, shut them

Open, shut them

Give a little clap

Open, shut them

Open, shut them

Lay them in your lap

Creep them, creep them up to your chin

Open your mouth wide, but don't put your fingers in!

Open, shut them

Open, shut them

Give a big clap

Open, shut them

Open, shut them

Lay them in your lap.

Pizza Man, Pizza Man (T, P)
Pizza man, pizza man, turn around
Pizza man, pizza man, touch the ground

Pizza man, pizza man, smell a rose
Pizza man, pizza man, touch your toes

Pizza man, pizza man, touch the sky
Pizza man, Pizza man, wave goodbye

Pizza man, pizza man, turn around
Pizza man, pizza man, sit back down

Pizza man, pizza man, shake your head
Pizza man, pizza man, go to bed
Source: SurLaLune Storytime

Touch Your Nose (T, P) 

follow actions

Touch your nose

Touch your chin

That's the way this game begins

Touch your eyes

Touch your knees

Now pretend you're going to sneeze!

Aaachooooo!

Touch your hair

Touch one ear

Touch your two red lips right here

Touch your elbow where it bends

And that's the way this touch game ends.

FLANNEL BOARD
Pizza Toppings (T, P)
This activity was really designed for the toddlers, but the preschool children enjoyed it too. Basically, we had a pizza crust and sauce and the little ones had to add all the toppings. It looked delicious!

ACTIVITIES
"Pizza Man, Pizza Man" pizza box balancing (T, P)
To make the "Pizza Man, Pizza Man" ever more interactive, I made pretend pizza delivery boxes out of square pieces of cardboard. To decorate them, so that they are recognized as a pizza box, I simply glued on a piece of paper that had a logo printed on them. The children loved doing the rhyme while holding the boxes in one hand. The preschool children expanded the rhyme by coming up with their movements.

CRAFTS
Custom Pizza Slice (T)
To continue the flannel board idea, the toddlers got make their own pizza slice and top it any way they wanted. Typically I add all the elements into the storytime craft bags (where the crayons and glue hang out), but this time I left the toppings out on the table so that they can really pick and choose which toppings they wanted for their pizza. No mushrooms on mine, please!

Delivery Pizza "Boxes" (P)
This was such a fun craft! Not only did the children got to make a pretend pizza "box", which really two pieces of paper used to make a flap, but they also got to pick their own toppings to customize the pizza that was inside of it.

PICTURES

Custom Pizza Slice, Toddler Storytime craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013.

Pizza Delivery "Box," Preschool Storytime craft,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013.

"Pizza Man, Pizza Man" balancing activity prop,
created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2013.

Flora and the Flamingo - Picture Book Gush!

This is not entirely a book review (in some form and fashion it really is). This is more of a book gush. I don't know if I can put into words or complete sentences on how much LOVE this book. I have seen so many different types of picture picture over my lifetime as a reader and as a Children's Librarian. Generally, adjectives I've used in the past to describe the books include "cute," "adorable", "pleasant," "lovely," "funny," "icky," "gross" "ugly," (those last three are describing book illustrations are not my cup of tea). I cannot remember a time of when I used the word "beautiful" ... until now. Also, I am not only referring to the illustrations. I am referring to the entire book itself. Cover art. End pages. Illustrations. Book design. Flora and the Flamingo is a beautiful book. Hands down. I don't care what other people may say.

Another way I can describe this book is that it's like finding a friend and never wanting to let it go. I am constantly looking at this book, I had it on display during a My Favorite Stories storytime, I have a poster in my storytime room, and I am getting to the point that I will have buy this book so that it can grace my home for forever. This beautiful book makes me happy.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Idles, Molly. 2013. Flora and the Flamingo. Illus. by Molly Idle. San Francisco: Chronicle Books LLC. ISBN: 9781452110066.

BOOK REVIEW
Though Flora and the Flamingo is a wordless, flip-the-flap book it does not mean that this book lacks characters or a story. Unlike some lift-the-flap books, but not all, this book has a real storyline. A beautiful flamingo is resting by by the water when Flora appears in a bathing suit, flippers and adorable swim cap. She follows the bird's movement creating a graceful dance between the two of them. Then... a flop. through their twists and turns they have become friends and the flamingo encourages her back to the dance before splashing into the water at the end.

As you are turning the pages, in tuned with the story, and flipping the flaps to reveal the next move, you can hear the music they are dancing to in your head (at least I do!). The sense of movement you get of Flora and the flamingo dancing around the pages is excellent.

A study of lovely pink hues and a pop of yellow from Flora's swim cap is calm and soothing. All picture books are works of art. Art in writing. Art in illustrations. Art in book design. Plain and simple. Flora and the Flamingo is an example when all three things (yes, there are no words, but a story had to be developed somehow. Perhaps note taking? Also, don't forget the cover flap description!) combined creates the ultimate book. This book is a masterpiece. The fonts used on the cover and cover flaps are perfect. The delicate yellow scalloped border of the vignette on the cover. Matching plain yellow end pages. The black and white stripe at the top of the spine. A word for design: Perfect.

For those who enjoy picture books on eReaders I have seen the Adobe EPUB version as well as the Kindle Book version. I was disappointed in the EPUB format as the illustrations did not fill up the whole screen (it did better in the landscape view). The Kindle Book version was better. Not only are you required to view the picture book in landscape (and it fills the entire screen!), but it is still interactive like in the real book. Whenever there is a flap the reader will have to double-tap to "flip" it. The only downside side is that you cannot do both flaps at once like you can with the real book. I still recommend reading/sharing the real, original book format, but the Kindle version is my second best choice. 

It will be a sad day when the book's flaps will be separate from the book pages. However, that means that this book was read over and over again and was loved. Which is also a wonderful thing! A must read and own book!

CONNECTIONS

• View the book trailer at Chronicle Books' webpage (scroll down to the bottom). Ask the children if the music that was used matches the music that played in their head while they read the book.
• Play different types of music while reading the book (perhaps several times) and allow the children to decide which one they think fits the best. Different answers are encouraged!

EXRTA
I am not the only one who thinks so. I came across this blog post by Carter Higgins (Design of the Picture Book). Her review of the book is beautifully written and she echos the same thought I have:

 "... if I had to put all of my money on the top Caldecott contender for this year? This one, by leaps and bounds."

For the first time, my fingers will be crossed when it comes to the Caldecott Medal announcement next year!

Have I gushed enough? I don't know...