Because it can be
tricky doing storytimes around holidays.
I love fall and the holidays in the fall. But after an experience of a family leaving
storytime when I started reading a Halloween book (and then they didn’t come
back the next week…or the next…or ever) I have avoided reading any holiday
specific books during my regular storytimes.
Although the District doesn’t have a policy against doing holiday themes
in storytimes we want to be aware and inclusive of all our families and I never
want another family to walk out of my storytime because of a holiday book! Many of our outreach storytime visits
discourage any holiday themes. So
instead of Halloween and Thanksgiving books here are some of my favorite fall
themes for storytime!
- Apples
- Dressing Up
- Food/Eating
- Gratitude/Saying
Thank You
- Hibernation/Animals
in Fall
- Leaves
- Pumpkins
- Spiders
- You Don’t
Scare Me! (Books
about being brave)
A few books to consider:
Super Rawr! (by Todd H. Doodler)
Just What Mama Needs (by Sharlee Glenn)
Apple Farmer Annie (by
Monica Wellington)
The Apple Pie Tree (by Zoe Hal)
Before We Eat: From Farm to Table (by Pat Brisson)
Snip, Snap! What’s That? (by Mara Bergman)
A
few rhymes and fingerplays you can use:
Dress-Up
A pretty princess wears a crown
Bunny's ears flop up and down.
A beautiful ballerina dances round and round,
A butterfly flies without a sound.
A cowboy with his boots and horse,
A doctor with a stethoscope.
I like to dress-up and to pretend,
On my own or with a friend!
5 Little Pumpkins
5 little pumpkins sitting on the gate
The 1st one said, "Oh, my! It's getting
late!"
The 2nd one said, "There's a chill in the
air"
The 3rd one said, "But we don't care"
The 4th one said, "I'm ready for some fun"
The 5th one said, "Let's run, run,
run!"
The whooooosh went the wind
And out went the lights
And the 5 little pumpkins rolled out of sight.
Fall Riddles
Beneath
your feet you hear them crunch
Then they get raked up into a bunch.
What are they? LEAVES
This drops off trees and there it lies
Til someone baked it into pies
What is it? APPLE
This stands in the field and scares a bird,
But it doesn’t say a single word.
What is it? SCARECROW
It’s cold in autumn, if it blows
It swirl the leaves to make a show.
What is it? WIND
Of all the flowers this one’s queen
When yellow petals and seeds between.
What is it? SUNFLOWER
It’s big and orange and quite a catch
When you pick it from the patch
What is it? PUMPKIN
My all-time favorite fall book:
The Little Old Lady who was not Afraid of
Anything (by Linda Williams)
