Lovely!

Opener:
Oh Hey,Oh Hi!

Never to Little to Love (Jeanne Willis) 2-5
Oh, Mouse has a terrific bit of trouble...and that is that he just cannot reach the one he loves.  He tries, and tries, but, alas, he fails.  Enjoy the sweet solution in this endearing story of unlikely love.
Song:  Love Grows
Song:  One Little, Two Little Three Little Valentines








Guess How Much I Love You (Sam McBratney) 2-5
Just how big is love anyway?  This oh-so-sweet bed time tale helps us know that love is boundless.
Song: If You Love Me and You Know It

Felt Board:  How Many Hearts Do You See?
Craft:  marbleized heart bookmarks

Valentine Treat Bags...Yum!

elephants

Openers:  Oh Hey, Oh Hi!
Ceiling Stretch

Seven Blind Mice (Young) 3-5
As seven blind mice each explore an elephant in turn, we learn that the whole is greater than the parts--by quite a lot!  Imaginative and colorful, this book is a perspective stretcher for young minds.
Finger Play:  Quiet Little Mouse
Game:  Blindfold/touch and guess






Miss Mary Mack (Hoberman) 3-5
The classic children's rhyme takes flight with illustrations that rollick through a loony July day.  In the end, Miss Mary's enormous friend have great fun together.
Wiggler: Big Grey Elephant
Wiggler:  5 Elephants Went Out to Play










Maisy Makes Lemonade (Cousins) 2-4
Maisy makes lemonade for friends, but what happens when one of them has their own 'straw?'

FB:  Mouse Count
Closer:  Wave Goodbye

RED!

Openers:
Oh Hey Oh Hi!
PBJ Stretch

The Little Red Hen  (Jerry Pinkney) 3-5
Retold and beautifully illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, the classic moral lesson of the Little Red Hen shines through as she labors to make her own bread...no thanks to the other barn yard loafers. Personally, I think the illustrations are so good, this is a version worth keeping in my personal collection.
Memory Game:  Little Red Hen retell with masks


Red is Best (Kathy Stimpson) 2-5
Sometimes a color can capture a young child's heart.  This simple story helps us all remember when nothing would do but our most favorite of colors--in this case red.
Song: Bumpin' Up and Down in my Little Red Wagon






Who Said Red? (Mary Serfozo) 2-4
This book of vibrant pictures is just a fun way to explore the primary colors--what on earth could the boy be looking for that's RED?
Song: Sticky, Sticky Bubblegum












Big Fat Hen (Keith Baker)  2-4
Count through ten with with some colorful, chuckling hens and their clutch of chicks!


FB:  Fruit/Color Game
Closer:  Wave Goodbye (Rob Reid)

Tracks in the Snow

 Opener:
Oh Hey, Oh Hi!
Ceiling Stretch

The Snowy Day (Ezra Jack Keats) 2-4
With simple, colorful illustrations, this classic story captures the delight of discovering the joys of making tracks in the snow!  It marches out a child-like pace, just like those tracks, and is sure to capture your wee one's heart...and rekindle your own!
Wiggler:  Snowball Fight!
Wiggler:  Walking Walking

Footprints in the Snow (Michael Dahl) 3-5
Cleverly, author Michael Dahl makes use of biped tracks to teach the concept of counting by twos.  Delightful winter creatures help him out with this task, while hidden numbers on each page challenge young readers.  There is a lot to explore in this introduction to more complex counting.
Song:  Love Grows
Wiggler:  The Hokey Pokey

Whose Footprints? (Molly Coxe) 2-4
Explore a rural farm as mother and child head out to sled and discover many different kinds of footprints in the fresh snow. -A unique way to  look at life on a farm!
Wiggler: Old MacDonald

Project:
Trace footprints of children and color

Green

Openers:
Oh Hey, Oh Hi!
I'm a Snowflake
Snowball Fight!

There's An Alligator Under My Bed (Mercer Mayer)
This book is a delightful reminder of the power of a child's imagination.  Sometimes the best course of action to an imaginary problem is an imaginary solution...
Song:  Row, Row, Row Your Boat (w/ crocodile ending)











The Croaky Pokey (Ethan Long) 2-4
 The classic Hokey Pokey song gets all-twisted-up (well...sort of) when a serene fly braves the airspace above a pond full of frogs.  Leap into the action with young readers!
Song: Little Green Frogs

Where is the Green Sheep (Mem Fox)
Explore colors, action, and rhyme with a set of delightful sheep...And just where is that green one?

Song:  Sticky, Sticky Bubblegum

Felt Board:
Teasing Mr.Crocodile or Five Green and Spotted Frogs
Closer:
Wave Goodbye

Go Away Big Green Monster (Ed Emberley)
Green Sensory Bin

Thankful for Home and Friends

 Opener:
Oh Hey, Oh Hi!
Thanksgiving Pie Stretch (PBJ stretch, but pie)

One of Each (Hoberman) 3-5
Oliver Toliver is quite content with his one-of-each lifestyle until he realizes that there's no room for a friend!  Metered, rhyming verse carries us along through this tale of friendship and growth.
FP:  Apple Share
Game:  Let's Find a Friend


The House in the Meadow (Crum) 3-5
Follow the stages and workers involved in building a house in this count down book about a young family.  Bright, paper-cut illustrations are inviting to all ages.  Perfect for our little town of Naples where so many people build their own homes!
Song: Love Grows
Wiggler:  Jenny Works with One Hammer
OR (if enough older children are present)
Wiggler: Little Cabin in the Woods

 Home for a Tiger, Home for a Bear (Williams) 2-4
Travel around the world exploring the homes and habitats of many animals.  Can you find the spider threading his way through each page?

Prop:  I Knew an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie
FB:  Mr. Turkey's Feathers

Closer:  Wave Goodbye Poem

Toddler Read Alouds
Ariel and Emily by Adele Greenspun
Bears On Chairs by Shirley Parenteau***
Elmer's New Friend by David McKee
Fran's Friend by Lisa Bruce
Hi, Harry by Martin Waddell
Maggie's Ball by Lindsay Barrett George
Mine by Kevin Luthhardt
My Friend Lucky by David Milgrim
New At the Zoo by Frank Edwards
Noni the Pony by Alison Lester
Pudgy, A Puppy to Love by Pippa Goodhart
Stick by Andy Pritchett***
Ten Friends by Bruce Goldstone
Thank You Bear by Greg Foley***
What About Me? by Helen Stepens
Who's At the Door? (Dutton Children's Books)

Preschool Read Alouds
Adventure With Olivia Owl by Maurice Pledger
Anthony and the Girls by Ole Konnecke
Best Mouse Cookie by Laura Numeroff
Cat & Mouse: A Delicious Tale by Jiwan Oh
Chicken, Pig, Cow and the Purple Problem by Ruth Ohi
Cloud Boy by Rhode Montijo
Come Along, Kitten by Joanne Ryder
Fluffy and Baron by Laura Rankin
Fox Makes Friends by Adam Relf**
Friends by Rob Lewis
Friends by Kim Lewis
Gary and Ray by Sarah Adams
Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard ** 
Happy Dog by Lisa Grubb
Help! by Holly Keller
Henry and Amy by Stephen Michael King
Me and You by Genevieve Cote
Princess Aasta by Stina Ordal
Squish Rabbit by Katherine Battersby
The Surprise by Sylvia van Ommen
Together by Jane Simmons
What About Bear?  by Suzanne Bloom
What A Treasure by Will Hillenbrand

School Age Read Aloud
Audrey and Barbara by Janet Lawson
Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship by Edward Hemingway
Being Friends by Karen Beaumont
Best Friends by Charlotte Labaronne
Don't Need Friends by Carolyn Crimi
Grumpy Cat by Britta Teckentrup
Half the World Away by Libby Gleeson
Hole in the Middle by Paul Budnitz
I Know A Rhino by Charles Fuge
Jessica by Kevin Henkes (an invisible friend)
Little Sweet Potato by Amy Beth Bloom
Lonely Moose by John Segal
Once There Was A Hoodie by Sam McBratney
Pearl Bailey and Charlie Parsley by Aaron Blabey
Scaredy Squirrel Makes A Friend by Melanie Watt
Secret by Lindsay Barrett George
Swim! Swim! by Lerch
That's What Friends Are For by Florence Parry Heide
Together by George Ella Lyon
Two Cool Coyotes by Jillian Lund
Two Girls Can by Keiko Narahashi
A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker
Yuck, A Love Story by Don Gillmor

Caregivers
Being Friends by Karen Beaumont

Under the Sea

Openers:
Oh Hey, Oh Hi!
PBJ Stretch

A House for Hermit Crab (Eric Carle) 3-6
Hermit Crab navigates transitions (from new shell to new shell), one after the other, and finds that he grows in confidence as he goes...a very relevant book for youngsters going through changes...family, school, you name it.  The calendar format is also a nice introduction to the idea of months and their names.
Finger Play:  Ocean version of "Five Little Monkeys"




The Biggest Thing in the Ocean (Kevin Sherry) 2-4
Giant squid discovers that he is the BIGGEST thing in the ocean and goes about comparing himself in size to many sea creatures until he meets with an unexpected surprise...  Vivid and colorful pictures make this a delightful book to explore.
Song:  Ocean Hokey Pokey
Song:  Row,Row, Row Your Boat






I Spy Under the Sea 2-4
In a very appealing peep-hole and count down format, author Edward Gibbs introduces us to many familiar types of ocean residents.
I Spy Game (Using items/ pictures of sea life)

Felt Board:  Five Little Shells
Closer:  Wave Goodbye

Toddler Read Alouds: 
At the Beach by Anne Rockwell
Baby Loves Summer!  by Karen Katz 
Ben Goes Swimming by Jan Ormerod
Big Fish, Little Fish by Ed Heck
Brownie and Pearl Take A Dip by Cynthia Rylant  ~ simple narrative for Toddlers
Fish Wish by Bob Barner
Hooray for Fish!  by Lucy Cousins 
Jack It's A Sunny Day by Rebecca Elgar
My New Sandbox by Donna Jakob
One Sun by Bruce McMillan
Sea, Sand, Me! by Patricia Hubbell
To the Island by Charlotte Agell
Where Is Baby's Beach Ball? by Karen Katz
Who Sees You At the Ocean? by Carla Dijs

Preschool Read Alouds: 
All You Need for A Beach by Alice Shertle
George's Store at the Shore by Francine Bassede
How Will We Get to the Beach? by Brigitte Luciani
I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry
I Saw the Sea and the Sea Saw Me by Megan Cash
I Spy Under the Sea by Edward Gibbs = fun guessing book
Louie's Goose by H. M. Ehrlich
Little Fish, Lost by Nancy Van Laan
Ocean Parade by Patricia McCarthy
Rub-A-Dub Sub by Linda Ashman
Sand Castle by Brenda Yee
Six Sandy Sheep by Judith Enderle
Smiley Shark by Ruth Galloway
10 Little Hermit Crabs by Lee Fox
There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Shell by Lucille Colandro
Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea by Jan Peck = MY PERSONAL FAVORITE

Kindergarten Read Alouds:Beach Day by Karen Roosa
Billy's Bucket by Kes Gray
Flip Flop Bop by Matt Novak
Hello Ocean by Pam Munoz Ryan
Pig Kahuna by Jennifer Sattler
Seaweed Soup by Stuart J. Murphy
There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Trout by Teri Sloat
Fins and Flippers, Scales and Nippers by Ann Garrett