Friday, May 13, 2016

School Age Storytime–Imagine the Possibilities!

A storytime for K-4th grade celebrating creativity and imagination, with suggestions for art projects, art-inspired story-starters and a brief introduction (with further suggestions) for the artists Rene Magritte and Rob Gonsalves.

Book: That’s Good, That’s Bad by Marjorie Cuyler (used with some classes as kids were arriving – kids loved to chorus “No that’s bad/good!”)

Book: The Pink Refrigerator by Tim Egan (Dodsworth leads a very dull life until a rusty old refrigerator filled with different supplies each day opens his eyes to amazing new possibilities.)

Dinner at Magritte's

Book: Magritte’s Marvelous Hat by D. B. Johnson or  Dinner at Magritte’s by Michael Garland (great lead in to the art of Rene Magritte – can share pages from Now You See It—Now You Don’t: Rene Magritte (J759.9493 WEN and/or Google: “Rene Magritte paintings.)

Book: Where’s Walrus by Stephen Savage

Book: Changes by Anthony Browne (a boy's imagination runs wild as he waits for his parents to return)

Read selections from: Imagine a Place by Rob Gonsalves and Sarah Thomson (also showed Imagine a Day and Imagine a Night).  Sarah Thomson used Gonsalves’ paintings as “story starters” for her short pieces – your kids can too: www.boredpanda.com/magic-realism-paintings-rob-gonsalves (Google image search “Rob Gonsalves” if you want more.)  David Wiesner’s book Free Fall  is a wordless book that uses similar magic realism.

Nonsense/surreal poem: One fine day in the middle of the night / Two dead boys got up to fight / Back to back they faced each other / Drew their swords and shot each other / A deaf policeman heard the noise / Came up and shot those two dead boys / If you don’t believe this tale is true / Ask the blind man, he saw it too!


Book: Are We There Yet? by Dan Santat (Caldecott winning author illustrator of The Adventures of Beekle: An Unimaginary Friend) (A boy in the backseat of a car takes the road trip of a lifetime in this book that encourages kids to savor the moment!)  Kids can see similar page turn-around magic in D.B. Johnson’s Palazzo Inverso inspired by the amazing lithographs of M.C. Escher. (Lots of images if you Google: “Escher”)

Book: If… by Sarah Perry (imagine if cats could fly, leaves were fish, mice were hair, caterpillars were toothpaste, toes were teeth, or frogs ate rainbows…)   Similar titles: Guessing Game Book: What is This? by Antje Damm (have kids imagine possibilities) Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert  (leaf pictures), Here a Face, There a Face by Arlene Alda (quick book showing photographs of  "found faces" in nature and in man-made objects), Rain Fish by Lois Elhert (wonderful “fish” created from found objects.)

Book: Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg (mistakes can be inspiration!)

Close: What a Wonderful World singable book by George David Weiss and Bob Thiele, illustrated by Ashley Bryan

Encouraged kids to explore possibilities of their own …this afternoon, weekend, month, year and throughout their lives!
5.16 Bedm

6.16 Bedminster – continued theme with “Dream On”:

Appelemando’s Dreams by Patricia Polacco (Because he spends his time dreaming, the villagers are convinced that Appelemando will never amount to much but in time his dreams change the village and all the people in it.) Booktalked: Frederick by Leo Lionni.

I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont (Fun chanting book about an irrepressible and incorrigible artist!)

H.O.R.S.E. A Game of Basketball & Imagination by Christopher Myers (Two kids create an out-of-this-world game…)  Mentioned this year’s summer reading theme – On Your Mark, Get Set, Read! – encouraged them to sign up at Clarence Dillon Library (& come see me at Bridgewater Library)

The Bear Report by Thyra Heder (related to their animal reports this year – a child’s boring school report on a polar bear gets significantly more interesting when the subject shows up in her living room!)

Elephants Can Paint Too! by Katya Arnold (Asked whether previous title was fiction or non-fiction, then asked about this one – showed true book: 599.67 ARN)…fabulous facts and photos of these amazing creatures – who knew they had 150,000 muscles in their trunks (humans have 639 in their whole bodies!) or that baby elephants suck their trunks like human infants suck their thumbs…or that an elephant can swim the distance between Bedminster and Newark airport without resting! – Cool stuff all!)

Puppets/Song – Deep in the Jungle (left over from Rainforest story time last week – promised the kids we’d do this – lyrics here: http://www.hellojoe.com/lyrics-ditj.html)

Perfect Square by Michael Hall (A perfectly happy square with four matching corners & four equal sides discovers the possibilities of change and realizes stasis isn’t as alluring as he first thought! (also nice reinforcement of the days of the week))

Encouraged kids to follow their own dreams this weekend & all summer long!
6.16 Bedm

Display? Some Things I’ve Lost by Cybele Young (objects morph then change entirely)

 

Harold and the Purple Crayon inspired craft – squiggle pictures. (draw a squiggle then have kids “finish” the picture):

image


5.14 Bedm used:Andrew Draws -- David McPhail
Margritte's Marvelous Hat -- D.B. Johnson
The Day the Crayons Quit -- Drew Daywalt
If - Sarah Perry
Little Green -- Keith Baker
Palazzo Inverso -- D.B. Johnson
Froodle -- Antoinette Portis
Call Me Gorgeous -- Giles and Alexandra Milton

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