If I were to pick my most favorite theme ever it would have to be MONSTERS. This is a super fun theme because there are so many great books about monsters. I have done Monster theme before and it really never gets old. If you take a look at the craft on that page, you will see Storytime Katie peeking out from behind the mask.
Here are the books we read:
If You’re a Monster and You Know It by Rebecca Emberley and Ed Emberley
I like to sing If You’re Happy and You Know it as an opener each week. I was going to sing this song with a monster twist anyway so when I discovered the book, I felt like I hit the jackpot! It has really great illustrations and is so silly, it was the perfect opener for storytime.
Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems.
This is my all time favorite monster book. I love reading it aloud and I love sharing it with new kids. I am pretty sure everyone is familiar with this book because it’s been featured before
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendek
This is one of those books that I assumed everyone has heard but there were a lot of children in my storytime who had not heard it before. What a pleasure it was to share it with them! This might be my favorite picture book of all time (cliché I know) and so I always try to find a way to use it in story time.
There Was an Old Monster by Rebecca Emberley, Ed Emberley and Adrian Emberley.
Full disclosure: this book was sitting next to If You’re A Monster and You Know it and I had to include it. Usually I shy away from multiple books by one author (no good reason, just do) but this book is so great, it had to be included! Set to the tune of I Know an Old Lady who swallowed a fly, this book was more like a song and the kids really got into it.
Mostly Monsterly by Tami Sauer, illustrated by Scott Magoon
This is a very sweet story about Bernadette who is mostly monsterly but she sometimes likes to do very unmonsterly things (like pick flowers and bake cupcakes!) Of course, the other monsters at monster school think she is strange but in the end, she wins them over.
The Extras:
Yes, this week was a bit book heavy but since they were so interactive, I was all right with that. There are tons of great monster songs out there. this week, we sang Monster, Monster to the tune of Teddy bear, Teddy Bear. The inspiration for this came from Sur la Lune’s monster storytime.
We also did the 10 Little Monsters Flannel Board. Feel free to go take a look!
The Craft:
We made monster masks this week with paper plates! I did monster masks before and these were a bit different. The kids were able to make whatever kind of monster they wanted and of course it’s always cute to see them march around with their masks on.
Posted by Katie on November 4, 2011 at 11:17 pm
I like this monster mask too! Monster crafts are so fun and creative — do your kids roar at the end, too?
Posted by Belinda on January 10, 2012 at 5:39 pm
another good monster book–Maggie and the Monster by Elizabeth Winthrop
Posted by Belinda on January 12, 2012 at 3:12 pm
I was wondering, when you read Where the Wild Things Are in storytime, how do you handle the wordless sequence?
Posted by Sarah H. on February 2, 2012 at 9:30 pm
I guess it sort of depends on the group. If they are a squirrely bunch, I will narrate the action to keep their attention. But if they are all into the book, I just let the pictures speak for themselves.