Budding Bookworms Storytime - My First Ever! Plus some chickens!

When I originally scheduled this post, I imagined it as a reflection: I would facilitate my first story time in a public library setting, and I'd would be brimming with ideas on how to tweak it to make it the BEST 45 MINUTES EVER.
Fast forward to the day of. I came in, set up all my materials. Woefully regarded our nasty carpet and prayed that today would be the day I could order a rug for the children's area. I sat in my chair and waited.
Now, let me be perfectly clear: I didn't think that the masses of children would come. I advertised for about three weeks, chatted with patrons at the desk, and posted on Facebook. This branch has been without consistent children's programming for about 8 months, so I expected attendance to be low and start to creep up as word got around and families got used to the new schedule. With all these thoughts in my head, this is what I was NOT prepared for:
I was not prepared for not one, single, solitary human to show up.
And yet, on a dreary Monday, this is exactly what happened. I sat in the children's area, surrounded by empty chairs for a half hour, waiting for the preschool babies that never came.
All humor aside, I was pretty heartbroken. I'm hopeful that attendance will increase as awareness increases, and my next plan of action is to call daycare and child care centers to let them know about programming.

Here are a couple of photos of my space for the day.

With all that out of the way, I'd still like to include my loose plan and photos of how I had everything set up, in case my readers need a quick, pre-planned story time in the future.

Stories
Chickerella (Auch)

  • This is an older book, but still a gem. As the title might suggest, the story is a retelling of Cinderella, except with chickens. The really great part about this book is the illustrations, which are photographs of chicken "models" made from pose-able wire and polymer clay created by Mary Jane and Herm Auch. The listeners get a kick out of seeing all the different chickens, as well as the funny language of the story. 

The Chicken of the Family (Amato)
  • Henrietta's two older sisters are SO MEAN! In fact, they're so mean that they convince Henrietta that she is a chicken. However, their plan backfires when Henrietta discovers that she really likes being a chicken. Cute and funny story about relationships with sisters, and how maybe being a chicken isn't so bad after all. 
Minerva Louise (Stoeke)

  • Minerva Louise loves the house with the red curtains. There are so many interesting things inside: a tractor (a tricycle), a nest (the fire place), and a chair (a flower pot!). Preschool kiddos will love Minerva Louise's funny take on life inside the house with the red curtains. Best of all, there are more Minerva Louise books, so she can become a regularly appearing chicken!

Chicken, Chicken, Duck! (Krilanovich)

  • A beautifully illustrated picture book with the names and sounds of various farm animals. The illustrations feature the animals in different arrangements. This is a great story that allows listeners to pop in with their own versions of animal sounds and names. 


Songs
The Wheels on the Bus
Old McDonald Had a Farm

Craft
Handprint Paper Plate Chicken
This is a super easy craft both to make and prep. Each participant needs:

  • one white paper plate
  • a half sheet of red construction paper (for hand print)
  • one yellow triangle
  • one red "squiggle" (for lack of a better term)
  • glue
  • black marker
  • scissors
Care giver will need to help the child trace their hand on the red construction paper and cut it out. After that, it's just gluing things onto the plate! The end result is super cute. 
(I got this idea from Pinterest, I did not create it.)

Here's a photo of mine: 


Let me know if you use any or all of this program - I'd love to know how it goes for you (and if people come!)

Happy reading!

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