Food...big eater or picky eater? Loves her veg or hates her veg? One thing we can almost all agree on: pizza is the best! But rhyming is also big fun, so we have books about both, as well as all kinds of food books for every type of eater :) Check out the book list at the end of the post!
Here's what we read today:

Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett

Lunch by Denise Fleming

I know our attendees like to rhyme because I got them to read Emily Gravett's most excellent book, Orange Pear Apple Bear, back to me (out loud ; ) today! There's just something so wonderfully simple about this book, but I think you must participate to experience it! When you read out loud with me at storytime, it can help your child focus on a book whose simple beauty might otherwise get lost. You can also help your child focus by asking quietly "What do you see on that page?" "Do you see the ____ in the corner?" "What color is that apple?"....etc. to help bring a child's attention back to the book. I see soome grownups doing that already! Thank you for reading with me today!

Denise Fleming is a prolific author whose work supports early literacy in many ways. She uses her quirky art in Lunch to share food, colors, and shapes. I used the felt board with the book to add another layer of interest.

I was going to read Pizza!, a fun, pop-up book by Jonathan Emmett, to get us ready for our paper plate pizza craft today, but we were having too much fun with our scarves! That's OK because playing with scarves helps stimulate imagination and build gross motor skills (large movements like walking, hopping, kicking and dancing...all of which were in great evidence today ; )

Since we didn't get to read the book about pizza, let me share a song about pizza that you can sing together at home (if you happen to be one of the many pizza lovers out there! Warning, it may make you CRAVE pizza!!)

The Big Pizza Pie

Sing to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus (preferrably with an Italian accent....)

The Big pizza pie needs lots of sauce,

Lots of sauce, lots of sauce!

The big pizza pie needs lots of sauce

To make a perfect pie!

The big pizza pie needs lots of cheese…

The big pizza pie needs lots of ‘shrooms…

The big pizza pie needs lotsa pepperoni…

Lots of olives,

Lots of onions

Lots of peppers, etc.!

 

What else would you like to put on your pizza?

 

We also chanted Toast in the Toaster, a favorite of mine. We shared our favorite toast toppings! What's yours?

Toast in the Toaster!

 

Toast in the toaster

Getting very hot!

Tick-tock, tick-tock

Up you pop!
 

And don't forget Popcorn Kernels! If you have thin scarves at home, give this one a try:

Popcorn!

Popcorn kernels, popcorn kernels (Squish your scarf up in your hands!)

In the pot, in the pot

Shake them, shake them, shake them! (Shake them up!)

shake them, shake them, shake them!

‘Til they pop! ‘Til they pop! (Throw your scarf up in the air and catch it on the way down!)

 

Be prepared to do this over and over again!

Time to get ready for our Pets theme next Tuesday! Also, I forgot to mention today that next week I will be out of town (visiting one of my kids at college ; ) Our Baby Storytime Librarian, Cassie, will be helping you with Toddler & Preschool Storytime on the 13th. She's a gem, so I know you'll have a great time :)

Don't forget to check out the book list at the end of the post for an astonishing number of wonderful books about food, including a few that may be of help with *picky eaters!

See you next time,

Miss Kelly

Booklist:

• Today is Monday in Louisiana by Johnette Downing;Ills. by Deborah Ousley Kadair
• Tops and Bottoms adapted and illustrated by Janet Stevens
• *Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal; Ills. by Jen Corace
• Wild Boars Cook by Meg Rosoff and Sophie Blackall
• This Little Bunny Can Bake by Janet Stein
• Huggly’s Pizza by Ted Arnold
• This is the Sea that Feeds Us by Robert F. Baldwin; Ills. by Don Dyen
• Happy Belly, Happy Smile by Rachel Isadora
• Cheese Belongs to You! by Alexis Deacon; Ills. by Viviane Schwarz
• Soup Day by Melissa Iwai {includes recipe!}
• *I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child
• The Story of Chopsticks by Ying Chang Compestine;Ills. by Tong Sheng Xuan
• Pancakes, Pancakes! by Eric Carle
• Several books in the “Everybody” series by Norah Dooley with illustrations by Peter J. Thornton {includes recipes!}
• Pigs Love Potatoes by Anika Denise and Christopher Denise
• *Who’s Hungry? by Dean Hacohen; Ills. by Sherry Scharschmidt
• Cupcake by Charise Mericle Harper
• *Mouse Went Out to Get a Snack by Lyn Rossiter McFarland; Ills. by Jim McFarland
• 1 Big Salad by Juana Medina
• One Potato: A Counting Book of Potato Prints by Diana Pomeroy
• Groovy Joe: Ice Cream and Dinosaurs by Eric Litwin; Art by Tom Lichtenheld
• Ten Hungry Pigs by Derek Anderson
• Cupcake by Charise Mericle Harper
• The Beastly Feast by Bruce Goldstone
• Nanette’s Baguette by Mo Willems
• Escargot by Dashka Slater; Ills by Sydney Hanson (This one is just fantastically, precociously adorable)
• How the Queen Found the Perfect Cup of Tea by Kate Hosford; Ills. by Gabi Swiatkowska
• Auntie Yang’s Great Soybean Picnic by Ginnie Lo
• Eat Like a Bear by April Pulley Sayre
• Non-fiction:
  • Bread Comes to Life: a Garden of Wheat and a Loaf to Eat by George Levenson; Photos by
  • Samuel Thaler J641.8 Levenson
  • A Pizza the Size of the Sun by Jack Prelutsky; drawings by James Stevenson J811 Prelutsky
  • Pizza Counting by Christina Dobson; Ills. by Matthew Holmes
  • The Popcorn Book by Tomie dePaola