adventures in songwriting, bellybuttons, and living the dream

I couldn't have asked for a better preschool storytime to start the fall season. Everyone enjoyed the books and activities about counting and there were zero meltdowns and lots of participation.

Here's how it went:

I wrote my very first hello song and I was super nervous about it being too difficult for everyone, but it went as smoothly as a song can go when you're learning it for the first time. You may be asking why the heck I would write a song when there are so many good hello songs out there. Sign language is pretty important to my crowd and one of the few things I get feedback on. I wanted to find a way to incorporate six relevant signs kids can benefit from learning. Hopefully the signs will also help them communicate when verbal communication is tough. It took me awhile to settle on a handful of words. I decided against food, water, yes, and no because those are easier to communicate whether kids use the signs or not. 'Want' and 'thank you' are two other words kids usually have down. I see these signs all the time so I left those out as well. I received a lot of pressure encouragement from my musically-gifted father to be a musician when I grew up. I rebelled for years of course, pursuing the public library path instead. But I finally came around and wrote my first (and perhaps, last) masterpiece.

Here is the hello song, which is sung to the tune of "I had a little turtle." The ASL words are in bold.

Hello to all our friends
Welcome to storytime
We’ll listen to lots of stories
And sing and dance and rhyme

If you’re happy and excited
Or you’re sad and feeling blue
There’s fun for everyone
And smiles and laughter too

We’ll play with all our friends
Learn more and more and grow
Count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
And share the things we know

Now we’re ready for a story
Let’s all play along
Sit down quietly
And finish up our song 

Quieting down fingerplay:

I have ten fingers 
and they all belong to me.
I can make them do things -
would you like to see? 
I can shut them up tight. 
I can open them wide. 
I can put them together. 
I can make them all hide. 
I can make them jump high. 
I can make them jump low. 
I can fold them up quietly. 
and hold them just so. 

First book:

Pretty Kitty by Karen Beaumont and Stephanie Laberis

Early literacy skill: "Saying a repeated phrase together is an exciting way to have fun with books. In Pretty Kitty we’re going to pretend to be grumpy and repeat the phrase, "I don’t want a cat” lots of times together."

This book was a HUGE hit in both storytimes. Each time we came to the part where the man says, "I don't want a kitty cat," we all repeated it together. This kept everyone engaged and they were excited to use their pretend grumpy voices. I thought about the way Robert says it to me at least one a week and I channeled his grumpy voice.

Magnetic board activity - Elephants Hanging on a String (I stumbled on the original here):

Here is my version:

Five Silly Elephants

1 silly elephant 

hanging on a string,

Whoopee, whoopee!

It’s such a funny thing.

He thinks to himself, 

“It’s amazing to fly!”

So he calls another elephant to swing on by.

2, 3, 4…

5 silly elephants hanging on a string. BOOM!! Too many things!

I brought three books but we were only able to read two in both storytimes. Everyone was pretty excited and unable to sit still after Pretty Kitty. Thankfully I brought Elephants Hanging on a string. I had some help from Robert with this magnetic board activity. I couldn't find magnets that were strong enough to hold the string up. I also needed to be able to pull the string out when I got to five elephants, which took some tinkering. Once it finally worked I realized that the original rhyme - elephants adding their feet - didn't work because I attached the elephants to the string by their backs. So I had to rewrite the rhyme, which was thankfully easy to do. I made the elephants out of scraps of gray paper and the inside of Yogi tea boxes, which is one of my favorite patterns.  The kids loved this rhyme so much I plan on bringing it out this fall any time there's an elephant in a book. Only one child was distraught that all the elephants ended up on the floor. She handled the situation waaay better than I ever would though. She simply jumped up and went about picking up the elephants and restoring order.

Instruments (aka reveling in the delicious joy of making an obscene amount of noise in the library):

The Shakers on the bus go 

shake-shake-shake

Shake-shake-shake

shake-shake-shake

The Shakers on the bus go shake-shake-shake

All through the town

Sticks – Tap

Bells – Jingle

Sand Blocks – Scrape

Clatterpillar – Clack

Drum – Boom

Tambourine – Ting

Cymbals - crash

After our magnetic board activity we all played instruments for a few minutes. My library branch owns a box of drums, maracas, clatterpillars, bells, etc. and it's a lot of fun for the kids to choose an instrument and sing a song. I didn't try too hard to get the kids to play their instrument during the part of the song that called for it. That didn't work for me last time and a parent was a little cranky about it afterwards. This time I set aside one of each instrument, and I played the instruments when they came up in the song so the kids could make the connection. I saw a few kids get this and they waited until their instrument was featured in the song to play them. The rest of the kids were broken up into two groups - Too Shy to Make Noise Even Though Their Grownup was Encouraging Them To Do So and Let's Make as Much Noise as Humanly Possible. Harmony!

Quieting Down Fingerplay (a favorite from a previous season):  

my hands upon my head I’ll place

on my shoulders

on my face

at my waist and by my side

then behind me they will hide

then I’ll raise them way up high

and let my fingers fly fly fly

now clap 1 2 3 

and let’s see how quiet they can be

Second Book: 

20 Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street

Early literacy skill: "Talk about activities in the order that they occurred. In 20 Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street, in what order do the trucks appear?"

They liked this book but didn't love it. We did spend a little time talking about ice cream trucks, which was fun.

Song Cube (I stumbled on this idea here):

What's a song cube? It's this giant inflatable dice I found that I taped six familiar songs to. I roll it across the floor (a little like bowling if the kids don't move out of the way), and we sing whatever song it lands on. The songs are all ones I hear kids singing all day long in our activity space. My cube is a little larger than normal (and not only a pain in the butt to store but also bigger than our toucan puppet), so I may try the kleenex box version next spring.

Hokey Pokey:

The most exciting moment that happened during hokey pokey came during the bellybutton part of the song. A little boy nearly ripped his shirt off so he could shake his bellybutton all about without his shirt cramping his style. The song actually came to a halt for a couple seconds while we all shared a giggle.

Goodbye Rhyme:

See you later, alligator

Gotta go, buffalo

See you soon, raccoon

Take care, polar bear

Hit the road, bumpy toad

Bye bye, butterfly

Toodle-loo, kangaroo

Time to scoot, little newt

Adios, hippos

Blow a kiss, goldfish

My coworker did a variation of this rhyme for preschool the last few seasons and I wanted to continue the tradition but choose and make my own animals out of my paper scraps. The best part happened with the goldfish. Nearly everyone blew kisses. It was an unexpected and delightful surprise. Some of the paper scraps I used for this rhyme are pretty special. At the last library branch I worked at the patrons always brought us donations in the prettiest shopping bags. I always nabbed them for collage projects. Now that I'm at a different branch a friend who still works at that branch sends me the prettiest bags. A couple of the animals have scraps from those bags. The fish is made partly out of a chocolate wrapper that I loved but never found a use for. And possibly the best paper story is the polar bear. One of my favorite library volunteers makes artistic cards to sell. She will often give me the scraps leftover from making cards that she cannot use. This volunteer used to work at my previous branch but now works at my current branch! When I showed her the polar bear she was touched that her paper went on to live yet another exciting life. First, a message to let a person know someone cares. Then, a polar bear for kids to enjoy. This is the stuff of happiness right here!

life stuff

My life has been so crazy.  Mostly the good kind of crazy, but still absolutely crazy.

My back is still healing. I am driving and sort of going for walks and swim-walking at this point. At this week's PT I started working on learning how to bend over again. My current go-to method is to stare helplessly at whatever thing I drop on the floor until someone walks by or I roll a chair over to it (if the chair rolls) and spend several minutes carefully trying to reach it. I've also been picking up a lot of stuff with my right foot, which is on the side of my body that still knows what's what. 

Home life has been great but different in ways I didn't expect. I have been spending most of my time focused on a big change in my life (Robert's too, but no we're not expecting). But I can't talk about it at the moment. I'm still figuring out a way to talk about it, but don't want my family and friends to think I've just disappeared or don't care.  I do! And I'll explain soon.

Rachel is enjoying her college classes (biology, chemistry, and two design courses) but has been buried under homework since the first day. She is glowing, snarky, ridiculously happy, and will not shut up about college life, which is just about the most amazing thing ever considering how quiet she normally is. I usually have to ask about a thousand questions to get her to talk about most things.  Now I just stand there, open-mouthed, as she goes on and on about college. Margo and I feel a little rejected but we are super happy for her.  Ella keeps looking for her, which is a kick in the gut whenever I see her heave her creaky self off the floor and go sniffing around the house for her.  I'm not sure about Robert, who is so busy I barely see him, and Josie, who hasn't figured out who she loves best and is just happy to take anyone's love.

Work has been nuts! Storytimes began this week, and I'm currently giving two of them while we do some shuffling at work. Having two storytimes and two teen programs is awesome but tiring, and I've been finding a new kind of balance.  

I also have several art projects going, and have been making an earnest effort to set up different stations in my office so I can jump from project to project. A good portion of the hours of tennis I played weekly has been put into my writing and art, and I enjoy the hours I spend pottering about my office. My back injury has definitely made me think about what is most important to me and what I most enjoy out of life. I may not go back to tennis. I'm considering taking swim lessons when I've been given the go-ahead by my doctor. I have to decide if it's more important to nourish my spirit but at the risk of more injuries or find another sport that's easier on the body but not as nourishing for the spirit. I may get lucky and find out that swimming laps is good for everything - the soul, spirit, and body. I thought I'd play tennis forever, but I also want to take care of myself, and it's quite the commitment. Hours of playing each week just to stay at my level. I've learned that I really enjoy coming home a night or two a week, and it's going to be tough to go back to playing most evenings.  I still have time to figure everything out though.  I have to figure out how to pick up things off the floor first!

August Favorite Books Part 2

Mindful Me by Whitney Stewart (juvenile nonfiction)

Mindful Me is one of those books I can apply to all aspects of my life - family, work, personal growth etc. The journal prompts are my favorite part of this book. I also appreciate how simplified the meditations, definitions, and tips are. Self care vs. selfishness, the definition of neuroplasticity, and replacing negative thoughts with positive thoughts (with examples!) are just a few things I think the author does an exceptional job simplifying. My favorite meditation - sending kindness, is one Robert has kind of already been doing, but we've been calling it his care bear stare. It's basically where you send positivity to someone by imagining a light in your heart (or your belly if you want to do it care bear style) and sending it to a loved one, or for an extra challenge, someone who's been a real crab to you. Mindful Me is a great book for anyone, any age, and I'll be recommending it to everyone.

20th Century Children's Poetry Treasury selected by Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by Meilo So (juvenile nonfiction)

I originally picked this book up to read because of the illustrator, Meilo So, whom I adore. I thought I'd like a few poems but wasn't expecting anything different from the heaps of children's poetry anthologies out there. I am delighted to say I was wrong! First of all, while reading this I realized that because there are so many children's poetry anthologies, an amazing illustrator like Meilo So can make all the difference in the world. Secondly, there were a handful of poems included in this anthology I hadn't read before. My favorite poems were 'At the Library' by Nikki Grimes, 'The Secret Place' by Dennis Lee, 'Some People' by Rachel Field, and 'Dragonfly' by Rebecca Kai Dotlich.

Classic Cookies with Modern Twists by Ellen Jackson (adult nonfiction)

This is a great book for anyone who wants to take a favorite dessert and change it up a bit. For the most part the twists are pretty simple. For example, the chocolate chip cookie recipe calls for an additional tablespoon of maple syrup and/or honey, which adds some complexity. In addition to the chocolate chip cookies, the ginger molasses cookies were the favorites in my house.

A B See by Elizabeth Doyle (board book)

This ABC board book is so captivating and beautiful. Each textured letter is comprised of all kinds of objects that begin with that particular letter and has potential to entertain for hours. I think it's also a great 'look and find' book if a child and grownup read it together. A coworker pointed out that if kids are looking for a bigger challenge they can try to find something with their eyes closed thanks to the slightly raised objects.

Favorite August Reads Part 1

August was a great month for reading so this will be a double post.

Good Night, Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian (adult fiction)

This bittersweet read took me on a rollercoaster of emotions. It's one of those rare books that completely absorbed me, chewed me up, and then spit me back out still feeling like I'm living in the world it created. Mr. Tom is a wonderful character - caring, attentive, wise, and funny in a grumpy kind of way. He lives in a small town outside London, and takes in Will, a 9 year-old evacuee who has endured horrific abuse at the hands of his mother. Witnessing Will flourish and grow within the cocoon of Mr. Tom's patient love was my favorite thing about this book. When Will first arrives in Little Weirwold, he's scrawny, covered in bruises, doesn't know how to read, wets the bed every night, and is both frightened and awestruck by everything, including Sammy, Mr. Tom's dog. Will blossoms into a talented young artist who attends school, makes friends, and learns how to trust. The author's incredible attention to detail made me feel as if I was living the book. Whether Will was picking blackberries, going on a picnic, or enjoying his first "birthdee," I felt like I was right there with him, enjoying his surprise and delight. The word, "huskily" is used frequently to describe the enormity of emotion behind spoken words and I find myself growing fond of the word. I attempted to describe this book to my husband, and rather than gushing like I normally do, I found it hard to wrap words around how profoundly this book has impacted my life. But I smiled a little when I realized I was huskily describing the beautiful, heartbreaking, and poignant moments of this book.

Forever or a Day by Sarah Jacoby (picture book)

This is one of those books that has grown on me. Every time I see it at the library I can't help but pick it up and flip through the pages. The illustrations are lively and simple (my favorite is the family racing to embrace each other). And the message, though murky at first, emerges clear and poignant pretty quickly. I also really enjoy the language: "Perhaps it is the twitch of a whisker, or a wildly wagging tail..." I'm not going to tell you what 'it' is though! You will have to read this book to find out ; ).

Scraps by Vera Vandenbosch (adult nonfiction)

This book has me jazzed up about crafting. Scraps has a handful of crafts that combine both jewelry and textiles - bangles, cuffs, braided necklaces, lace earrings. I also like how Vandenbosch lets you know the level of the craft and whether or not it requires a sewing machine.

Things that Join the Sea and the Sky by Mark Nepo

Mark Nepo's wisdom helps me organize my thoughts, think about my priorities, and gives me the push I need when I'm not giving my life 100%. This is a great book to have lying around for moments when you need a spark, change of perspective, or you're feeling sluggish. It's comprised of a handful of Nepo's journal entries, which are short so you can read one or more depending on the time you have that day. My favorite moment of this book happens on page 165. Nepo writes about a friend, who is a painter, and how this friend wanted to meet Ted Kooser (one of my favorite poets) while he was in the town where Kooser lives - Dwight, NE. So the painter stopped by Kooser's home and left a note for him. Later, the painter made a painting of a barn he saw while he was visiting Dwight and sent it to Kooser. How cool is that?

Once Upon a Goat by Dan Richards and Eric Barclay

You never know when you need a goat in your life (or an unexpected and delightful surprise that makes you question and reevaluate your priorities), and you can always change for the better if love is the catalyst. I also love a happy ending, especially if it involves goats, and I appreciate what I hope is an attempt to talk about nontraditional families.

10 years of gratitude journaling part 8

When I began adding extra things to my journal, I would often have what I call 'dump days,' which are days when I have more physical material than words. I have these days a few times a month. I'm simply out of words. 

Yesterday was such an emotional day. I'll be able to explain more later, but one of the big things we did yesterday was take Rachel to her university for her move-in day.  It was much more emotionally taxing than I expected it to be.  Foolishly, I had carved out time to write this morning, but when I closed my office door and sat down to write, I ended up dissolving into a puddle tears and snot. I really love that kid.

On days when I'm out of words it's nice to grab my stack of journals and flip through them. Past dump days often get me out of a slump. It helps me realize that, as important as it is to create my own words, the words of others are what keep me going.

This is one of my favorite dump days for a few reasons. In 2013, while I was a clerk at a different library, we had a new manager. One of the first things she did was ask everyone to describe their coworkers. After she collected everyone's answers she created a wordle. Everyone's wordle was different and incredibly positive. We already knew we were a good team, but the wordles brought it to life. Also on this page is a note from one of my favorite patrons, a patron I am still friends with, even though I've changed branches and positions. She showed up on my first Saturday as a youth services specialist and completely surprised me. "I knew you'd be here on a Saturday," was what she said, and I couldn't have been more surprised and delighted to see her.

Today I am thankful for lots of things. I am thankful Rachel chose a university that's so close. I'm so darn grateful I had the day off yesterday to be a part of the moving-her-into-a-dorm experience (which was a little louder than any of us expected). I'm also thankful for my stack of old journals.  A few years from now I'll look back on this dump day filled with Rachel pictures and drawings I've been compiling all morning and remember that was this was the month she spread her wings and took off. 

Scarlet Zen

I started this doodle at the airport while we waited to take off for London. I stitched any time I needed a break from the constant excitement or whenever we waited in lines or for transportation. I stitched most of the 12 hour flight back home, and when my back problems began, I stitched whenever I could sit up. It is a weirdly sentimental piece.

I try to always have a zen project going (collage, drawing, embroidery). For me a zen project is a piece of art that doesn't require any decisions to be made while I work on the piece. I randomly select the color of thread and do the same pattern over and over again. This is how I meditate. I can disappear into a zen project for hours and it helps me clean up some of the clutter in my mind and spirit. 

I particularly enjoy zen embroidery because I use only thread scraps from other projects that I keep in a special box. It's like watching past projects emerge but only through their colors.

it feels a little like losing an arm and also homemade pasta

Rachel is moving out and starting college in just a few days. She will be taking a piece of my heart with her (which I'm hoping she'll bring back whenever she comes home to do laundry).

I'll miss coming home from work to surprises like this:

Since her university is so close I'll probably just call her whenever the kitchen is looking too clean.

Be Patient. The fish will tell you what kind of eyeball it wants.

This friendly fish is my first attempt at beading. I used my go-to split stitch and stitched one bead at a time. I am going to learn some other beading techniques, but I will use the split stitch method again.  

This was also my first attempt at using fabric markers in addition to my chalk pencils. I am definitely never going back to chalk pencils. The fabric markers are easier to use, never need to be sharpened, and stay on the fabric the entire time I'm stitching. I've been so nervous about using something permanent, but that's why I have piles and piles of fabric, right?

The flower design in the fish was inspired by the endpapers of an Indian cookbook I read. I usually sketch my designs a few times on paper before stitching, but occasionally I get too impatient excited and skip the sketching part. This fish was one of those times. Because it's the first time I drew those designs they look a bit different from the endpapers, but I still like them. I will definitely be playing with those endpaper designs a bit more in other projects.

In this progress picture you can see both the chalk and marker if you're not completely distracted by the terrible eyeball. I'll probably go back to my method of not using any kind of marker or chalk to draw the eye and freehand it once I feel like I'm getting close to finishing and the spirit of the animal is coming through. Eyeballs are so tricky!

Favorite July Reads Part 2

Reading Magic by Mem Fox (adult nonfiction)

A few things I loved about Reading Magic: 

1. The seven different things we can do with our voices to keep our listeners engaged (high, low, soft, loud, fast, slow and pausing). This was such a simple tip, but for someone who's constantly testing out the limitations of her voice and has insecurities about trying out different voices, this made sense to me and makes voices easier and fun to try. 

2. Take time with the endings. "Without this drawn-out final line, our listeners will feel an uncomfortable sort of incompleteness." 

3. I know the benefits of pointing out repeated words to children, but I've struggled to do so during my storytimes. Pointing out words in a book is great when parents read to one or two children, but is tough to do during storytime. Fox writes about using magnets for print recognition, which is such a great idea for repeated words that are three or four letters long. I'm excited to try out this magnet idea in my fall preschool storytime!

Ellie's Story by W. Bruce Cameron (juvenile fiction)

The beginning slogged along, but I hung on because of how much I enjoyed Ellie and Maya's characters. Towards the end, when Ellie makes an unexpected rescue, I was completely swept up and unable to take my eyes away from the story. Ellie is such a sweet dog who is serious about her work, which is search and rescue. Her first handler, Jakob is injured in the line of duty, which surprised me. It was definitely an intense moment, but I was more concerned that Ellie would get to continue being a search and rescue dog than I was about Jakob's injury. Ellie's next handler is Maya, a character I instantly connected with. Her positivity, compassion, and determination makes her a strong role model for anyone, but especially kids. My favorite thing about this book is definitely how it's told. I think Cameron does a great job getting into a dog's mind, and Ellie's perspective was even better than Bailey's in the book, "A Dog's Purpose." Spoiler alert - Unlike "A Dog's Purpose," Ellie doesn't die in this book and get reborn again and again as different dogs. I'm actually more than ok with this. Death and reincarnation are heavy topics for kids, and as for myself, I appreciated not crying the whole way through Ellie's Story.

Love the Fur You're In (picture book)

Inspirational advice from our friends at Sesame Street. My favorite words of wisdom? "You're never too old for storytime."

Hands by Lois Ehlert (picture book)

Every single page is filled stunning photographs of objects you use to make things and the cool stuff you can make using them. Some of the pages are even shaped like the objects - scissors, a set of watercolors, gardening gloves. The message in this book - about how Ehlert connects with her parents through the things she makes - is so lovely. I read somewhere that the potholder in this book was made by Ehlert when she was a child. I think it would be really cool if the other objects in this book were also authentic pieces of her childhood.

Favorite July Reads Part 1

July was a great month for reading so this will be a double post.

The Poetry Pharmacy edited by William Sieghart (adult nonfiction)

Though I think Sieghart's prescriptions are lackluster and sometimes cheesy, I still think this is an excellent anthology with poets I'm familiar with (Mary Oliver and Rumi) and poets I haven't heard of (Izumi Shikibu). Shikibu's poem was one of my favorites: "Although the wind blows terribly here, the moonlight also leaks between the roof planks of this ruined house."

Truman by Jean Reidy and Lucy Ruth Cummins (picture book)

A turtle and his girl, it's a beautiful thing. I love how Sarah kisses her finger, touches his shell and whispers, "be brave." The illustrations are bright, cozy, and do a great job showing a house from a turtle's perspective (I felt exactly like a turtle as I stared up at the window, which was so far away). Truman's brave and proud faces were spot on as well. The ending is quite sweet and I couldn't help but do a little 'Yay for Truman' dance.

Leila in Saffron by Rukhsanna Guidroz and illustrated by Dinara Mirtalipova (picture book)

The illustrations are detailed and warm, the message about searching for the best parts of yourself in the similarities you share with your loved ones is beautiful, and Leila's grandma is just about the most adorable picture book grandma ever. My favorite moment is Leila's response to her self-doubt - "Sometimes I'm not sure if I like being me. When I look in a mirror, I see skinny arms and knobby knees...Tonight I'm on the lookout for parts of me that I like..."

The Wall in the Middle of the Book by Jon Agee (picture book)

I was about halfway through this book when I realized the water was rising on one side of the wall. Sneaky sneaky! I had to read it several times to absorb all the details, which is great news. I plan on sharing this with the preschoolers in my storytime this fall. I just know there's going to be at least one kid who notices all the strange things happening. The only downside of this book is that I've got that Johnny Cash song - "Five Feet High and Rising" - stuck in my head.