Preschool and Kindergarten
    
Storytime

I help the students notice how to read and look at a picture book.

While reading The Strange Egg, for example, I always read the title,
point to the illustration, and ask: “Does this look like an egg?”

Of course it does not. (It is an orange).

However, it is often an act of courage for a young student to say it does not.
I want students to understand that they can trust and stand up for their own knowledge and observations. Students should be able to politely question things that they find puzzling, and it also starts a discussion of why the title might be ‘The STRANGE Egg.’

During the story I often stop and ask questions such as: ‘why did the little bird do that?’ ‘how does the little bird feel?’ ‘how do we know what the little bird is feeling?’ ‘what information is in the illustrations that are not in the words?’ ‘How would you examine something new?’

We chat about eggs, oranges, planting seeds, the five senses, birds, and feelings. It is good for students to be thinking and making connections about what they are reading and seeing.

Before reading my book A Grand Old Tree, I talk about when my brothers and sisters and I were young, and how we dug holes in our backyard and collected buckeyes, acorns, ‘noses’ and osage oranges. I show or draw these seeds, and the class and I talk about different trees and how I decided to write about a tree.

I also ask “how do we know something is a living thing?” and we brainstorm about that a bit until we establish that a living thing is born, grows, reproduces, and dies, and that a chair is not a living thing. And then we are usually ready to read through the book, which is about the life cycle of a tree.

When reading The Nutcracker Doll, I talk about my daughter Kepley, I show a photo of her. I ask if anyone takes ballet lessons or is on a team. I talk about preparing for a show or a game--how we packed her bag, did her hair, took the subway to practices and the theatre. We read through the book, thinking about what it is like at a theatre, in the audience, onstage, how Kepley is feeling throughout.

I am happy to answer questions from the students, sometimes they are interested in how books are made. I usually have an original piece of art from a book to show them.