105 Ways to Give a Book

ABC Storytime: A is for...

Last fall I introduced ABC Storytime here at MotherReader, a weekly preschool program centered on the letters of the alphabet, and I’m going to repeat it this year. I’ll be striving to make it a weekly feature. I have done these programs in my library for years, and have a full complement of them to share. Perhaps they’ll be useful to beginning librarians, preschool teachers, day care providers, homeschooling parents, or just plain parents.

I may skip words to some of the songs if they are particularly obvious. I also may have to play around with some of the songs or rhymes if I’m not sure of the copyright issue. As to my book selection, I generally pick books that have the letter of the week featured in the title. For instance, my pick below of Snip, Snap! What’s That? for alligator is unusual. I also welcome additional book titles in the comments, especially books that work well as read-alouds.

The Letter A

Book: Alphabet Rescue, by Audrey Wood and Bruce Wood

Song: “The Alphabet Song”


Book: Snip Snap! What’s That? written by Mara Bergman, illustrated by Nick Maland

Rhyme: “Five Little Monkeys”
Five little monkeys swinging in a tree
Teasing Mr. Alligator,
Can’t catch me, you can’t catch me.
Along comes Mr. Alligator quiet as can be
SNAP!!
(Continue with “Four little monkeys…”)

Book: Up, Up, Up! It’s Apple Picking Time, written by Jody Fickes Shapiro, illustrated by Kitty Harvill

Song: “Apples and Bananas”
I like to eat, I like to eat
I like to eat, eat apples and bananas…
(Repeat, substituting a, e, i, o, and u sounds for the vowels all through the song.)

Book: I Saw an Ant on the Railroad Track, written by Joshua Prince, illustrated by Macky Pamintuan

Song: “The Ants Go Marching”
The ants go marching one by one
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching one by one
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching one by one
The little one stops to have some fun.
And they all go marching
Down to the ground to get out of the rain
Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum
(Continue to four, using “The little one stops to say ‘no more!’”)

6 comments:

Vanessa said...

My 4-year-old daughter LOVES the Apples and Bananas song.

I like this feature idea a lot! Will follow with interest.

Boni Ashburn said...

Snip! Snap! is one of my all-time favorite read-alouds. Fantastic- so much fun!

Anonymous said...

Hi MotherReader! I read your blog all the time and I followed the ABC storytime series when you posted it last year but did you finish it last year? I kept copies and I only have them through the letter "S". I've tried scrolling back to see if I just missed them but I can't seem to find "T-Z".
Thanks! It's a great series!
Cathy

MotherReader said...

Cathy, I'm embarrassed to say that I kinda sorta forgot to finish it out. I debated starting off this year with the rest of the alphabet in one week, but decided to just start over. This year though, it will be easier to get the feature up weekly because I'll have last year's editions to work with. I hope to incorporate some of the suggestions and some newer books along the way. And this time I'll finish it up. Promise. ;^)

Anonymous said...

No problem, I wanted to make sure I hadn't just missed them. It's a terrific series - thanks for doing it!
Cathy

Caitlin said...

Oh my gosh. I just tried this, a little modified since I don't have all the books in my library.
We did:
Alphabet song
Chicka chicka Boom Boom by Martin Jr
Five Little Monkeys
Alligator Baby by Munsch
The Ants go Marching
Alfred Digs by George

Two minutes to blow bubbles, and it was a perfect half hour story time. Moms were happy and the kids were engaged. I feel like a rockstar.