Heartland Heroes Storytime: Animal Heroes!

The 2015 Summer Reading Program, entitled "Every Hero Has a Story", has given Michelle and me a great opportunity to highlight the wonderful work done by many men and women in our community.  We decided to call our main storytime "Heartland Heroes Storytime" as a way to honor and feature a variety of professions that might be of interest to children.  Each week we will invite two Heartland Heroes to be our guest at Storytime, where they will answer questions from the children and chat with them informally about the work they do.


We have chosen the song "Superhero" by Go Fish, as our Heartland Heroes theme song for the summer!  Here is the YouTube link to the song.

Our storytime children are ready to teach you the actions to the song:

"I'm a superhero, flying around."

"No need to worry."

 "You're safe and sound."

"Battling evil, fighting for good."

 "I'm a superhero"

"In your neighborhood!"

Rhyme:

Superhero, Superhero!

Superhero, Superhero, turn around.
Superhero, Superhero, touch the ground.
Superhero, Superhero, put on your suit.
Superhero, Superhero, put on your boots. 
Superhero, Superhero, jump up high!
Superhero, Superhero, fly, fly, fly!



"Superhero, Superhero, turn around!"

"Superhero, Superhero, touch the ground!"

Animal Heroes!

This week, we put our Storytime focus on Animal Heroes.  Our guest on June 17 was Christina Ferency, a Behavioral Specialist at the Nebraska Humane Society.  Kaitlyn Wiktor, a Great Apes Keeper and Sea Lion Trainer at the Henry Doorly Zoo, was our guest on June 18. 

Books:

(Read on Wednesday only)
Pablo Puppy's Search for the Perfect Person by Sheila Hamanaka

Curious George and the Puppies by Margret and H.A. Rey

Books:
(Read on Thursday only)
Ding Dong Gorilla by Michelle Robinson, illustrated by Leonie Lord

Gladys Goes Out to Lunch by Derek Anderson

Song:

(Used on Thursday only)
At The Zoo!
(tune: "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain") 

You can hear the lions roaring at the zoo.
ROAR!  ROAR!
You can hear the lions roaring at the zoo.
ROAR!  ROAR!

You can hear the lions roaring,

You can hear the lions roaring,

You can hear the lions roaring at the zoo.

ROAR!  ROAR!

Gray wolves howling...
Sea lions barking...
Green frogs croaking...


Rhyme:

(Used on Wednesday only)
Five Little Kittens

Five little kittens standing in a row.
They nod their heads to the children, so.
They run to the left, they run to the right.
They stand and stretch in the bright sunlight.
Along comes a dog who's looking for some fun.
M-E-O-W!  See those kittens run!



Rhyme:
  
(Used on Thursday only)
Five Little Monkeys

Five little monkeys jumping on the bed
One fell off and bumped his head
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said
No more monkeys jumping on the bed!

Four little monkeys… 
Three little monkeys… 
Two little monkeys… 
One little monkey…

We welcomed children and staff from two local childcare programs 

at our Thursday Storytime!

Miss Michelle led everyone in a game of "Little Mouse", a favorite staple of her 

Preschool Storytime.  In keeping with our Summer Reading Program theme, 

Little Mouse has transformed into...SUPER MOUSE!

"Super Mouse, Super Mouse, are you in the purple house?!"  (Nope!)

It took quite a few guesses before Super Mouse was finally found!

All eyes were on Thursday's guest, Kaitlyn Wiktor, as she talked about 

her work at Henry Doorly Zoo.

Kaitlyn Wiktor read "Gladys Goes Out to Lunch".

On Wednesday,Christina Ferency handed out stickers while children lined up 

to meet Michelle's dog, Chance,

 a rescue dog from the Nebraska Humane Society.

Michelle's husband lent a hand and held Chance during Storytime.

Christina Ferency read 

"Pablo Puppy's Search for the Perfect Person".

Unfortunately we did not get any video clips of Christina Ferency talking about the work she does with dogs at Nebraska Humane Society.  We learned that she spent time helping Chance feel less fearful and more content while he was at the shelter waiting for his forever family (Miss Michelle's family!) to adopt him.

Here is a video clip of Kaitlyn Wiktor explaining what a 

typical morning at the zoo is like for her:

Five little kittens, standing in a row."

Curious children enjoyed the pictures 
in "Curious George and the Puppies"!

I would love to tell you what song or rhyme everyone is acting out in the picture below, but there doesn't even seem to be a consensus on the actions!  Whatever it was, we seemed to be having fun doing it!

Each Heartland Heroes Storytime includes activities that support one or more of the five early literacy practices identified as essential in helping your child develop the skills they need before they can learn to read. The five practices – singing, talking, reading, playing and writing –were developed for Every Child Ready to Read®, an initiative of the Association for Library Services for Children (ALSC) and the Public Library Association (PLA).