Food Storytime
Scott Bahlmann
Opening: Shake My Sillies out – Raffi
Book: Burger Boy - Alan Durant
(This is a book I've wanted to share since before I was hired for storytimes. So glad I finally could!)
Shadow play: from Hungry Hen
by Richard Waring
(Borrowed from a fellow librarian. Told the story using a projector and transparencies, with chicken and fox shadow puppets)
Book: Gobble Gobble, Slip Slip - Meilo So
(I love having the opportunity to bring in other cultures, this is a new favorite.)
Song: I’m Hungry!
I'm hungry, I'm hungry, I want something to eat.
Wait, never mind I found a raisin in my seat!
I found a raisin in my seat, I found a raisin in my seat.
Wait, never mind I found a raisin in my seat!
(Pantomime eating the item. Then repeat with pretzel, cracker, peanut, cookie, and earthworm! I had a group shout out 'Don't eat it!' when I got to the earthworm...so it ended up back in the seat that day. I also had the kids identify each item as I pulled it out. I used real food, and a rubber earthworm.)
(variant of the song from the CD Road Trip by Hullaballo)
Book: The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle
(The kids were excited to see this in the lineup, they all love it already!)
Activity: The Greedy Python
adapted from the book by Eric Carle
(I acted this out rather than reading the story. I had a green tube scarf on hand with a lot of stretch that I added eyes and a tongue to for the python. Changed some of the animals from the original to match what I had to stuff inside it. The kids got excited when all the animals were coughed up...and it took a little effort to get their attention back for the ending.)
Half hidden in the jungle green the biggest snake there’s ever been
Wound back and forth an in between
The giant snake was very strong and very, very, very long.
He had a monstrous appetite. His stomach stretched from left to right.
He quickly gobbled in one bite whatever creatures came in sight:
A mouse that scampered to and fro, a frog that jumped from up below,
A fish that swam a bit too slow, a bird that flew a bit too low,
A tortoise resting half asleep, a monkey who was in mid-leap,
An elephant, complete with trunk, was swallowed in a single chunk.
“I’m far too big to eat!” he cried. “Oh, no you’re not!” the snake replied.
At last the python’s meal was done and he lay resting in the sun.
The animals inside his skin were making quite a dreadful din;
And when they all began to kick, the snake began to feel quite sick.
He coughed the whole lot up again— Each one of them—then coughed again.
He soon felt better, and what’s more was hungrier than just before.
He hadn’t learned a single thing: His greed was quite astonishing.
He saw his own tail, long and curved, and thought that lunch was being served.
He closed his jaws on his own rear then swallowed hard...and disappeared!
Book: Me Hungry - Jeremy Tankard
(So simple and engaging. Defiantly a book you want to establish voices for [there is just the boy, the dad and the mom].)
Activity: My Name is Joe
Hello, my name is Joe, and I work in a pizza factory.
I have a wife, a dog, and three kids.
One day, the chef said to me:
"Hey Joe, can you stir some sauce with your right hand?"
I said "Sure!" (pantomime action, and build with following)
Hello, my name is Joe, and I work in a pizza factory.
I have a wife, a dog, and three kids...
(Continue adding other actions until Joe is stirring sauce, chopping vegetables, opening the garbage, holding open the door, and licking stamps, end with...)
I have a wife, a dog, and three kids.
One day, the chef said to me:
"Hey Joe, are you busy right not?"
and I said "Yeah, I'm kinda busy."