School Age Storytime: Houses Homes & Habitats

A program combining fiction & non-fiction, folk stories,
and reader’s theater.

Whose House Is This? -- A Look at Animal Homes -- Webs, Nests, and Shells -- 591.564 GREGOIRE (guessing game book & fun facts)
A Squash and a Squeeze – Julia Donaldson (folktale retelling of story about a complaining woman who, after she first brings in and then lets out 4 farm animals, discovers her little house isn't so crowded after all...)
Flannel/Song  -- "A Squirrel Lives in a Tree" (source unknown)  (Kdg. only)
Tune: The Farmer in the Dell”


A Squirrel Lives in the Tree (Tune: Farmer in the Dell)
A squirrel lives in a tree.  A squirrel lives in a tree
He’s as cozy as he can be -- A squirrel lives in a tree.
Continue with:
A snail lives in a shell…Oh, yes it suits him very well.
A bear lives in a cave…He comes out to give a wave.
A fish lives in the sea…We will all just let him be.
A bird lives in a nest…That’s where she goes to take a rest.

Flannel:  abridged version of Mr. Pine's Purple House – Leonard Kessler (stresses value of individuality) -- mentioned it was a childhood favorite, 2-color printing...lead in to:
Round Trip -- Ann Jonas (B&W printing deliberately chosen to enable the magical, reversible illustrations...compared with the work of artist M.C.Escher - here are some of his amazing pictures https://www.google.com/search?q=escher&hl=en&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS409US409&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=3Ym-T6W4POia6QHN5tEk&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CFoQ_AUoAQ&biw=1146&bih=754  and his official website : http://www.mcescher.com/ )

Moving House -- Mark Siegel  (fantasy about a house that gets up and moves to escape the fog (actually factory smog) that has engulfed the city, children's delight in seeing the real stars at last...lead in to...)Stars Beneath Your Bed: The Surprising Story of Dust -- 551.511 SAYRE  (fascinating non-fiction) (omitted for Kdg.)

...and one more look under the bed
The Monster Bed -- Jeanne Willis (humorous story - role reversal - monster is frightened by the boy in his bedroom!)  (omitted for some groups - no time)

Additional possibilities (no time): Puppets/Reader's Theater "The 3 Little Pigs"; The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs - Scieszka; Falling for Rapunzel -- Wilcox; Blue Rabbit and Friends - Wormell; Book/Song/Flannel:  A House is a House for Me - Penner/Hoberman; My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken, and Me -- Maya Angelou; My House (Poems) -- Lisa Desimini; You and Me and Home Sweet Home -- Lyon (Habitat for Humanity House)
5/12
S.T.E.A.M. idea: http://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2012/10/the-three-little-pigs-the-preschool-science