Friends!

Two weeks ago, I did friends storytime before rushing off to San Diego for ALA’s Midwinter meeting. (Loads of fun!) This is the first time I’ve had a moment to breathe since coming back, and that means finally catching up on the blog — here we go!

I started off with one of my favorite storytime books, “A Splendid Friend Indeed” by Suzanne Bloom.

This story is so simple, and the ending makes my heart melt. The kids also enjoyed this one, proudly proclaiming at the end of the book, “They’re friends!” (This will be a trend throughout the post, by the way.)

Fingerplay: “Where Is Thumbkin?”
Where is thumbkin? Where is thumbkin? (put hands behind back)
Here I am! Here I am! (bring hands around from behind the back)
How are you today, sir? Very well, I thank you! (wiggle thumbs, one at a time)
Run away, run away! (hide hands behind back again)
(Repeat for each finger; I did leave out middle finger. It was too early in the morning and I feared I would burst into giggles.)
Credit: Childhood

Next book, “Katie Loves the Kittens” by John Himmelman.

I really enjoyed reading this book, and I kept asking as I went “Do the kittens like Katie?” and the kids went, “NOOOO!” until we got to the end where several of them shouted in unison, “They’re friends!” This storytime had amazing participation. Which worked *great* for the flannel I had planned: “Friends Match.” I had laminated popular book character pairs (Arthur and D.W.; Max and Ruby; Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat; Dora and Diego; Elmo and Big Bird; and Clifford and Emily Elizabeth) and the kids matched the pairs of friends on the flannelboard. Super cute, super easy to make.

Next, I read “Bear’s New Friend” by Karma Wilson.

This book is a little on the older side, but my storytime is pretty skewed towards 4/5s this session. Afterwards, the kids needed to move around so we did our movement activity:

“Let’s Be Friends” (Tune: London Bridge)
Let’s be friends with one another
One another, one another
Let’s be friends with one another
Let’s be friends today
(You can sing with a friend, you can shout with a friend, you can hum with a friend, you can jump with a friend, you can clap with a friend, you can hop with a friend)
Credit: Step By Step – Friendship Theme

A quick book that I share at many of my storytimes, “Pepo and Lolo Are Friends” by Ana Martín Larrañaga.

Everyone loves this book with its bright, colorful pictures and simple text. A great pick for friends storytime. Our fingerplay was super simple and we did it several times for effect:

Fingerplay: “Two Little Friends” (hold up fingers as you go)
Two little friends are better than one,
And three are better than two
And four are much better still
Just think! What four little friends can do!
Credit: King County Library System

Next up, I read the book “Will You Be My Friend?” by Nancy Tafuri.

I really liked this book, and the kids were very attentive during it. It was a great closer to the storytime. And that was left was our craft, which I got again from KidsSoup.

(That’s my best friend Jessica and me.)

The kids LOVED this craft and went craft gluing tissue paper squares to make their friends. A very successful craft and a very successful storytime theme!