Storytime About Insects

Toddler Read Alouds
Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! by Bob Barner
Buzz, Buzz, Baby! by Karen Katz (2014)
Caterpillar's Wish by Mary Murphy
Caterpillow Fight by Sam McBratney
Don't Worry Bear by Greg Foley - MY FAVORITE
How Many Bugs in a Box? by David Carter
Kitten's Big Adventure by Mie Araki
Ladybug on the Move by Richard Fowler
Ten Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth
Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert
What's the Sound, Wooly Bear? by Philemon Sturges
Who's Bugging You? by Charles Reasoner

Preschool Read Alouds
Aaaarrgghh! Spider! by Lydia Monks
Bear and Bee by Sergio Ruzzler
Bugs for Lunch by Margery Facklan
Ed and Fred Flea by Pamela Duncan Edwards
Flea's Sneeze by Lynn Downey
Fly by Karl Newsom Edwards (2015)
Gotcha by Gail Jorgenson
Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle
Not So Itsy-Bitsy-Spider by Dawn Bentley
Old Black Fly by Jim Aylesworth
Roly Poly Spider by Jill Sardegna
Sam's Sandwich by David Pelham
Some Bugs by Angela DeTerlizzi (2014)
Soup for One by Ethan Long - bugs in your soup? Ewww....
Ten Little Caterpillars by Bill Martin, Jr.
Tiny Little Fly by Michael Rosen - A CROWD PLEASER!
Very Lazy Ladybug by Isobel Finn

School Age Read Alouds
Bee-Wigged by Cece Bell
Bug Dance by Stuart J. Murphy
Bugs! by Lynn Munsinger
Buzz by Eileen Spinelli
Gentleman Bug by Julian Hector
Inchworm and a Half by Elinor Pinczes
I Saw An Ant On the Railroad Track by Joshua Prince
La Cucaracha Martina by Daniel Moreton
Locust Pocus: A Book to Bug You by Douglas McKelvey
Perfect Percy by Bonnie Pryor
Sitting On the Farm by Bob King - A CROWD PLEASER
Spider and the Fly by Tony DiTerlizzi
Ugh! A Bug by Mary Bono
Very Impatient Caterpillar by Ross Burach  (2019)

Flannels, Songs and Story Extensions

Books That Translate Well Into Flannels
La Cucaracha Martina by Daniel Moreton
Ladybug Counting
Snappy Little Bugs by Claire Nielson
Very Lazy Ladybug by Isobel Finn

Books That Translate Well Into Puppet Stories
There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly by Simms Taback
Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Songs to Share
Five Little Frogs on Raffi's Singable Songs for the Very Young
There's a Spider On The Floor on Raffi's Singable Songs for the Very Young

Ants Go Marching
(flannel script)
The ants go marching one by one, harrah, harrah,
The ants go marching one by one, harrah, harrah,
The ants go marching one by one,
The little one stops for a hamburger bun,
And they all go marching on…

(Repeat with:)
The ants go marching two by two.... piece of fruit...
The ants go marching three by three... slice of cheese...
The ants go marching four by four... ear of corn...
The ants go marching five by five... French fries...
The ants go marching six by six... carrot sticks...
The ants go marching seven by seven... slice of heaven... (chocolate cake)
The ants go marching eight by eight... a grape
The ants go marching nine by nine... melon rind...
The ants go marching ten by ten... a burger again...

Who Is Buzzing in My Yard?
(Tune: "London Bridge")
Who is buzzing in my yard,
In my yard, in my yard,
Who is buzzing in my yard?   It's a bee.
(repeat with: other insects fluttering, crawling, hopping, etc.)

Little Miss Muffet
Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet, eating her curds and whey.
Along came a spider, and sat down beside her,
And frightened Miss Muffet away...

Spider, Spider, Come to Tea
(flannel or puppet script)
SPIDER: Bee, bee, come to tea.
BEE: No, no, Spider – not me!

SPIDER: Ladybug, ladybug, come to tea.
LADYBUG: No, no, Spider – not me!

SPIDER: Caterpillar, caterpillar, come to tea.
CATERPILLAR: No, no, Spider – not me!

SPIDER: Dragonfly, dragonfly, come to tea.
DRAGONFLY: No, no, Spider – not me!

SPIDER: Butterfly, butterfly, come to tea.
BUTTERFLY: No, no, Spider – not me!

SPIDER: Grasshopper, grasshoper, come to tea.
BUTTERFLY: No, no, Spider – not me!

BIRD: Spider, spider, come to tea.
SPIDER: No, no, Bird – not me!

Two Little Butterflies

Two little butterflies landed on my hand.
One named Sally; the other named Sam.
Fly away, Sally!  Fly away, Sam!
Come back, Sally!  Come back, Sam!

Birthday Party Storytime

Toddler Read Alouds
Baby Party by Rebecca O'Connell (2015)
Benny Bakes A Cake by Eve Rice
Blue Balloon by Mick Inkpen
Brownie and Pearl Step Out by Cynthia Rylant
Brown Rabbit's Shape Book by Alan Baker
Come Back, Ben by Ann and John Hassat ~ his balloon takes him away
Dog's Birthday by Emma Dodd
Emily's Balloon by Komako Sakai
Flower Garden by Eve Bunting
From Gran by Ron Campbell
Happy Birthday, Biscuit!  by Alyssa Satin Capucilli
Happy Birthday, Lulu by Caroline Uff
Jack: Happy Birthday by Rebecca Elgar
If You're Happy and You Know It by Jane Cabrera
Little Gorilla by Ruth Bornstein
Little White Fish Has a Party by Guido van Genechten (2015)
My Birthday Cake by Olivia George
Surprise by Sally Noll
Thank You Bear by Greg Foley
Titch and Daisy by Pat Hutchins
Where Is Baby's Birthday Cake? by Karen Katz

Preschool Read Alouds
All Wrapped Up by Thera Callahan
Bears and a Birthday by Shirley Parentau (2015)
Bernice Gets Carried Away by Hannah Harrison (2015)
Bird, Balloon, Bear by Il Sung Na (2017)
Best Pet Ever by Victoria Roberts
Birthday Box by Leslie Patricelli
A Birthday for Cow! by Jan Thomas
Boa's Bad Birthday by Jeanne Willis (2015)
Buzzy's Birthday by Harriet Ziefert
Cake All for Me by Karen Beil
Don't Spill the Beans!  by Ian Schoenherr
Don't Wake the Bear!  by Steve Smallman
Guinea Pig Party by Holly Surplice
Happy Birthday, Cupcake by Terry Border (2015)
Hooray for Hat by Brian Won (2014)
If You Give A Pig a Party by Laura Numeroff
I Love Birthdays by Anna Walker
It's MY Birthday by Pat Hutchins
Ivy Loves to Give by Freya Blackwood
Just the Way You Are by Marcus Pfister
Make A Wish, Honey Bear! by Marcus Pfister
Mouse, the Cat and Grandma's Hat by Nancy Williard
Mouse's Birthday by Jane Yolen
My Pop Pop and Me by Irene Smalls
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Jane Cabrera
Otto Has a Birthday by Todd Parr
Perfect Little Monster by Judy Hindley
Snail's Birthday Wish by Fiona Rempt
Three Kind Mice by Vivian Sathre
What's Alice Up To? by Harley Jessup

School Age Read Alouds
Anansi's Party Time by Eric Kimmel
Billy's Bucket by Kes Grey
Birthday Fish by Dan Yaccarino
Bunny Cakes by Rosemary Wells
Cake Girl by David Lucas
Caterina and the Perfect Party by Erin Eitter Kono  (2014)
Fantastic Mr. Wani by Kanako Usui
If You Give A Pig A Party by Laura Numeroff
Monster Cake by Rebecca Dickinson
Preposterous Rhinocerous by Robert Bender
Piggy's Birthday Dream by Anka de Vries
Rocko and Spanky Go to A Party by Kara LaReau
Shy Guy by Gilles Tibo
Whopper Cake by Karma Wilson

Flannels, Songs and Story Extensions

Books That Translate Well Into Flannel Stories
Dress I'll Wear to the Party by Shirley Neitzel
Jack: Happy Birthday by Rebecca Elgar
It's MY Birthday by Pat Hutchins

Books That Inspire Flannel Stories
Dinosaur Vs. Birthday Cake ~ based on the books by Bob Shea

Books That Inspire Prop Stories
If You Give a Mouse A Birthday Cake ~ based on the books by Laura Numeroff

Books That Translate Well Into Puppet Stories
Ask Mr. Bear by Marjorie Flack
Little Gorilla by Ruth Bornstein
Never Mail an Elephant by Mike Thaler

Books That Translate Well Into Prop Stories
Bunny Cakes by Rosemary Wells - extend with notes
Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present by Charlotte Zolotow
Surprise by George Shannon

Additional Flannel Scripts

Five Bright Balloons
Five bright balloons went out to play,
Over the hill and far away.
The little child called "Come back, back, back!"
Four bright balloons came floating back.
(Count down until none are left) 

Five Balloons Up in the Sky
Five balloons up in the sky...
See them fly up way up high?
But if one of those balloons should happen to POP!
Then how many books would you have left?
Countdown until none are left...

Pat-A-Cake Birthday Cake
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man
Bake me the birthday cake as fast as you can
Mix-it-up, stir-it-up, scrape it in the pan
Then put it in the oven as fast as you can

Now lets count... 1, 2, 3
Out comes the cake, yummy as can be
But something is missing...
Which else do we need?      (icing, candles)

Today Is My Birthday   (or a puppet's birthday)
Today is my birthday,
I think I'll make a cake
Mix-it-up, stir-it-up
Bake-bake-bake

Out comes the cake,
Yummy as can be
But something is missing
What else do we need?

We All Want An Ice Cream Cone
(Tune of: Mary Had a Little Lamb)
We all want an ice cream cone,
Ice cream cone, ice cream cone
We all want an ice cream cone, we'll eat it every day.

Strawberrry's our favorite kind, favorite kind, favorite kind
Strawberry's is our favorite kind, we'll eat it every day.

Chocolate mint's our favorite kind, favorite kind, favorite kind
Chocolate mint's our favorite kind, we'll eat it every day.

Chocolate is our favorite kind, favorite kind, favorite kind
Chocolate is our favorite kind, we'll eat it every day.

Fingerplays, Songs and Rhymes
Birthday Song
(Tune of “Do You Know the Muffin Man”)
Oh, do you know the birthday song?
The birthday song, the birthday song…
Do you know the birthday song?
We love to sing along.

Oh, do you know how old you are?
How old you are, how old you are…
Do you know how old you are?
You are ____ years old!

Here We Go Round the Birthday
(Tune of “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush”)
Here we go round the birthday cake,
The birthday cake, the birthday cake
Here we go round the birthday cake
At the birthday party

This is the way we bounce the balloons
Bounce the balloons, bounce the balloons
This is the way we bounce the balloons
At the birthday party

This is the way we eat the ice cream
Eat the ice cream, eat the ice cream
This is the way we eat the ice cream
At the birthday party

This is the way we wear the hats
Wear the hats, wear the hats
This is the way we wear the hats
At the birthday party

My Big Balloon
Here I have a big balloon, Clasp hands
Watch me while I blow. Blow into hands
Small at first, then bigger, Form circle with fingers
Watch it grow and grow Form larger circles with hands

Do you think it’s big enough? Continue enlarging circle
Maybe I should stop Nod head
For if I blow much longer Tilt head to one side
My balloon will surely pop! Clap hands once

Once I Had A Red Balloon
Once I had a red balloon,
I blew and blew and blew… Blow into hands
Until it got so big and fat
It grew and grew and grew… Spread hands apart
I kept it in the air and I never let it drop Mime this
Until one day, it hit the ground
And suddenly went POP!

Never Stop (Debbie Howard)
I'm going to blow up this balloon
And never, never stop.
I'll blow and blow and blow and blow and
POP!
(Hands make the shape of the balloon and get bigger, then clap loudly on the pop.)

Polly's Birthday
Polly had a birthday
Polly had a cake
Polly's mother made it
Polly watched it bake.

Frosting on the top
Frosting in between.
Oh, it was the nicest cake
That you have ever seen

Polly had some candles
Count them now with me
1- 2- 3- 4- 5 candles
That’s how much I see!

Splat! (M. Perez-Mercado)
I helped my dad; we baked a cake.
I think it was a big mistake.
The frosting fell, it hit the floor…
It hit the wall.
It hit the door.
It hit the dog.
It hit the cat.
It hit my dad with one big SPLAT!
It hit my mom.
It hit my snake.
But it NEVER EVER hit the cake!

Storytime About Pigs

After seeing this fabulous display that one of my fellow librarians created, I just had to post a storytime about pigs!


Toddler Books Alouds:
Cornelius P. Mud, Are You Ready for Bed? by Barney Saltzberg
Little Pink Pig by Pat Hutchins
Peek-A-Moo by Marie Torres Cimarusti
Pepo and Lolo Are Friends by
Piggies by Audrey Wood
Spots Feathers and Curly Tails by Nancy Tafuri
This Little Piggy by Jane Manning

Preschool Read Alouds:
Can You Make A Piggy Giggle? by Linda Ashman
Eat! Cried the Little Pig by Jonathan London
If I Had A Pig by Mick Inkpen
If You Give A Pig A Party by Laura Numeroff
I’m A Pig by Sarah Weeks
Little Pink Pig by Pat Hutchins
Squeaky Clean by Simon Puttock
Ten Dirty Pigs, Ten Clean Pigs by C. Roth
To Market, To Market by Janet Stevens

School Age Read-Alouds:
Me First by Helen Lester
Olivia by Ian Falconer
Pig in a Wig by Alan MacDonald
Pigs in the Mud in the Middle of the Rud by Lynn Plourde
Pig Named Perrier by Elizabeth Spurr
Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini
True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka

Flannels, Songs and Story Extensions

Books That Translate Well Into Flannel Stories:
Pig Pigger Piggest by Rick Walton
Six Perfectly Different Pigs by Adrienne Geoghan
Three Little Pigs (Traditional)

Additional Flannel Scripts:

This Little Piggy Hurt His Toe
This little piggy hurt his toe;
This little piggy said, "Oh, oh, oh!"
This little piggy laughed and was glad.
But this little piggy cried and was sad.
This little piggy was so very good --
She got the first aid kit as fast as she could!

Ten Little Piggies Rolling in the Mud
Ten little piggies rolling in the mud
Squishy-squashy, felt so good!
The farmer took one pig out
"Oink, oink, oink!" that pig did shout.
Countdown.

Fingerplays:
To Market, To Market
This Little Piggy