Storytime: Penguins

Have I been replaced at work?!

Penguins in March?! Yes. Because even though I originally did this storytime in January, penguins can be enjoyed all year long. Yep, I'm going with that reasoning rather than the truth, which is I'm two months behind on storytime posts. :P

BOOKS:

Ten Little Penguins by Jean-Luc Fromenthal

Penguins, Penguins, Everywhere! by Bob Barner

Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester

Penguin on Vacation by Salina Yoon

Up & Down by Britta Teckentrup

RHYMES & SONGS:

Two Little Penguins

Two little penguins, sitting on the ice (hold up two fingers)

One bows once, the other bows twice (made index fingers bow)

Waddle little penguins, waddle away. (put fingers behind back)

Come back penguins, time to play! (bring fingers to the front)

Source: King County Library System

"Have You Ever Seen a Penguin?"

(tune: "Have You Ever Seen a Lassie?")

Have you ever seen a penguin, a penguin, a penguin?

Have you ever seen a penguin swim this way and that? (make swimming motions with arms)

Swim this way and that way? Swim this way and that way?
Have you ever seen a penguin swim this way and that?

...slide this way and that? (make sliding motions with arms)

...waddle this way and that? (feet close together, make tiny waddling steps)

...flap this way and that? (arms close to sides, flap hands like "wings")

Source: Perpetual Preschool

"The Penguin Song"

by Carole Peterson from album Stinky Cake

This is a fun marching song. I handed out shaker eggs and had the kids shake and walk around pretending to walk like penguins.

Pippa's Penguins

Source: Susan M. Dailey

I used this story as a flannelboard. The story and pattern can be found on Susan Dailey's website (link above). I modified the story for the different age groups and for the colors of felt I had. I made it interactive by handing out felt penguins and calling the kids up one by one to put their color penguin on the board. They loved it!

CRAFT:

We made Tacky the Penguin as our craft! There are several ideas online, but I found a nice template on Sturdy for Common Things. It has all the penguin parts, which makes this librarian's life easy when it comes to prepping a craft for 20 kids. My assistant Kelly, who is a life-saver, cut out all the pieces ahead of time, so all kids had to do was assemble their "Tacky" with a glue stick and add wiggle eyes. Isn't he adorable?

One Cool Friend

By Toni Buzzeo.  Illustrations by David Small.  New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2012.

Young Elliot is a very proper, well-mannered boy.  He wears a suit complete with bow tie.  He says "please" and "thank you."  One day while at the zoo with his father, he visits the penguin exhibit.  He is very taken with these animals, so he asks his father if he may have one.  Thinking Elliot means a stuffed animal, his father agrees and gives him some money.  Elliot takes a small penguin and puts it in his backpack.  He names it Magellan (after the explorer), and sets up his room to take care of him.  He even goes to the library to do research on Magellan.  All is going well, and his father doesn't suspect a thing, until Elliot draws a bath for Magellan, and his father decides to take a soak at the same time!  Thankfully, his father knows a thing or two about unusual pets, since he has Captain Cook.  You'll have to read this story to find out who Captain Cook is.

This is a wonderful, hilarious story about finding the right pet.  David Small's pen and ink illustrations show great details in facial expressions and give the story such depth.  One of my favorite details is the little girl running out of the Hands-on Tide Pool Exhibit with a crab attached to her finger.  Small details such as that make this a great story for sharing with children.  Early on, visual clues will help children guess what animal Elliot's father loves.  This is one cool story.  Check it out today!