Picture Book Review: One Love by Cedella Marley

Sometimes the smiles on an illustration can make your own face light up.  I found that was definitely the case with "One Love".  Bob Marley's oldest daughter, Cedella Marley takes the basic lyrics of her father's well-known song and puts together a short and endearing little book.

Little C, a happy little brown girl with dreadlock pigtails, is joining her family and neighborhood to build "One Love Park", while she remarks on how she finds love throughout her world. Small nods to Bob Marley are found within the pages as his likeness is found on coffee mugs, t-shirts and posters.

Storytime Theme: Yummy In My Tummy!

Who doesn't like a good story about food?  Eating tends to bring people together.  It gets us all started talking about what we like and don't like, and it's the one thing that ALL of us do.  No matter who we are, where we live, or what we believe in, we all eat something.

There are so many great picture books about food that I just couldn't fit them all into this one list, and I'm sure you can find others you like if none of these get your stomach grumbling.  One word of caution though:  if you choose to do this theme for your library or home storytime, I would advise having an edible treat for your kiddos (and yourself) immediately afterwards.  Reading about all these tasty tidbits will have everyone leaving a little peckish.

Storytime: It's Raining Cats and Dogs

So I came up with this theme today as I worked on my storytime for this month and I thought I'd hit on some amazing idea, then I found that there have actually been a few other witty librarians who have come up with the very same.  You know what they say about great minds. A couple of the titles: Raindrop, Plop and Kitten's Summer, are great to tie this theme together because they actually feature cats and dogs in the rain. However, if there is anything I've learned from libraries and librarians over the past few years though, its that no matter how simple the theme, each person will execute it differently.  So, that being said, here's my take on the Raining Cats and Dogs theme.

I tried this theme with my nieces last weekend and I think it'll be great for my library kids.  I do Family Storytime, which consists of a LOT of different age groups.  In that respect, I've added books for toddlers as well as older preschoolers.  With the amount of summer storms we've been having, I think this one will be great.

Theme: It’s Raining Cats and Dogs

Books for Babies and Toddlers:

Kitten’s Summer by Eugenie Fernandes

Bad Dog, Marley by John Grogan

Raindrop Plop by Wendy Cheyette Lewison
I Got Two Dogs by John Lithgow
Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin

Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat, Are You Going to Sleep by Bill Martin

Good Boy, Fergus by David Shannon

Cat the Cat, Who is That by Mo Willems

Books for Preschoolers:

Diggy Takes Charge by Caroline Jayne Church

Doggy Dreams by Nancy Kapp Chapman

Dogs Colorful Day by Emma Dodd

The Cat Barked by Lydia Monks

There are No Cats in This Book by Viviane Schwarz

Splat the Cat by Rob Scotton

No Dogs Allowed by Anne Davis

Storytime: Father's Day/Dads

The actual theme of this storytime was Dads and Families because we do like to be cognizant of the fact that all children don't have dads. The books I found were sweet however, and had nice overarching themes that could fit any kind of family. Interrupting Chicken can also be used for a Fairytale or Bedtime theme, and Daddy is a Doodlebug was a great find for touching on how we're alike or different from our parents.

Opening Song: My Hands Say Hello
(To the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell")
My hands say hello, my hands say hello
Every time I see my friends, my hands say hello!

(Second verse, etc. my body/feet/head/etc.)
First Story: Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein

FingerPlay: Counting Sheep by Susan M. Dailey(to the tune of This Old Man)

Counting Sheep, Counting Sheep
Helps My (daddy/mommy)
go to sleep.
(Stretch and Yawn)

One sheep, two sheep,
(Hold up appropriate number of fingers.)
three sheep, four--
Soon my mommy
starts to snore.
(Snore.)
(Repeat, replacing family member)

Story #2 - Daddy is a DoodleBug by Bruce Degen

Short Poem:

There are all kinds of families that I see

Some families are large. (spread arms out wide)
Some families are small (bring arms close together)
But I love my family (cross arms over chest) best of all!

Story #3 - I Love My Dad by Anna Walker

Closing Song/Rhyme - We Wave Goodbye:
(Same tune as with My Hands Say Hello)We wave goodbye like this,
We wave goodbye like this,
We clap our hands for all our friends,
We wave goodbye like this.

Craft:

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