Adding a song or two to your storytime is a great way to encourage phonological awareness -- the ability to hear the smaller sounds that make up a word. One of the cds I LOVE is Songs for Wiggleworms, which sadly isn't available anymore except in downloadable form. Many libraries still have it though! It has great participatory songs like "Walking Walking" and "Wheels on the B
CLEL members who were able to attend last November's annual meeting heard about the latest LSTA grant project we are working on, which is to create a website with videos of rhymes/fingerplays and songs with early literacy tips. Patricia Froehlich, Youth Services Senior Consultant with the Colorado State Library, has submitted this report on CLEL's progress on the grant so far:
As new picturebooks are published, I automatically evaluate them not only for their illustrations, text and authority but also for their potential to focus on an early literacy skill. The other day however, I came across an older title that I had forgotten about: Good Night Pillow Fight by Sally Cook and illustrated by Laura Cornell.
By now I'm sure you've all heard that Jerry Pinkney's beautiful book The Lion and the Mouse is the recipient of this year's Caldecott Medal. I was personally so taken with this book, that uses only pictures (and a few animal sounds) to retell the Aesop's fable of a Lion who lets a mouse go and how the mouse is able to return the favor. Sharing wordless books, or nearly wordless books (like Jez Alborough's Hug
I just got through reading a new book published this year called Moose on the Loose by Kathy-jo Wargin, Illustrated by John Bendall-Brunello. It begins with a basic question, "What would you do with a moose on the loose? Would you chase him or race him, or stand up to face him?" On the subsequent pages, you are asked what you would do if the moose was in your yard, your house,
If you haven't read the book, The Doghouse by Jan Thomas, you have missed out on a very fun book about fear, misconceptions and friendship. The pictures are colorful yet distinctive enough for a large storytime crowd. The barnyard animals are playing with a ball that accidentally rolls into...the doghouse. Now, who will be brave enough to get it back? One by
Kathryn Totten, an Experience Expert with the Anythink Libraries in Adams County, wrote a new book called "Family Literacy Storytimes: Readymade Storytimes Suitable for the Whole Family"!
The book is published by Neal Schuman; you can read more about it on their site.
Many libraries provide handouts and printed materials to the caregivers who attend baby storytimes with their children. Here are some sample handouts from Poudre River Public Library District.
The list of resource books below is a compilation of recommendations from Colorado baby storytime providers. The first eight books were each mentioned more than once.
Denver Public Library has posted several videos on its YouTube page in which patrons talk about why they love the library. Check out
Good Night Pillow Fight by Sally Cook and illustrated by Laura Cornell. 
By now I'm sure you've all heard that Jerry Pinkney's beautiful book The Lion and the Mouse is the recipient of this year's Caldecott Medal. I was personally so taken with this book, that uses only pictures (and a few animal sounds) to retell the Aesop's fable of a Lion who lets a mouse go and how the mouse is able to return the favor. Sharing wordless books, or nearly wordless books (like Jez Alborough's Hug
I just got through reading a new book published this year called Moose on the Loose by Kathy-jo Wargin, Illustrated by John Bendall-Brunello. It begins with a basic question, "What would you do with a moose on the loose? Would you chase him or race him, or stand up to face him?" On the subsequent pages, you are asked what you would do if the moose was in your yard, your house,
If you haven't read the book, The Doghouse by Jan Thomas, you have missed out on a very fun book about fear, misconceptions and friendship. The pictures are colorful yet distinctive enough for a large storytime crowd. The barnyard animals are playing with a ball that accidentally rolls into...the doghouse. Now, who will be brave enough to get it back? One by 
