Crash Course in Storytime Fundamentals

by Penny Peck

This manual is a "one-stop shop" on how to present storytimes to suit different audiences including bilingual learners, special needs children, and those in a variety of settings such as Head Start, preschools, and day care situations.

This beginner's guide to storytelling traces the developmental stages of very young children, illustrating how to present storytime for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers as well as in family settings to be most effective. Author Penny Peck will teach you the fundamentals of reading with the intent of capturing children's imaginations, showing you how to incorporate music, play, and hands-on activities into your routine. She offers expert advice on how to choose the best picture books and provides lists of books for addressing particular literacy needs.

A perfect primer for those new to the task, this guide illustrates how to make this activity a favorite of children and provides tips for progressing in the role of storyteller, with ideas for engaging your audience and enhancing enjoyment. Beginning with the basics of performing a library storytime, each subsequent chapter builds on that knowledge, offering ways to infuse technology, special needs adaptations, and music into the story. The revised edition addresses such current topics as iPads, apps usage, online options, and dance programs.

Genres: Professional Development, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2008

About the author

Penny Peck has been a children's librarian for over 25 years; before that, she was Snow White and Mother Goose at Children's Fairyland in Oakland, ran a nightclub, worked as the wardrobe mistress for the Berkeley Ballet, and was an agent for a standup comedian. Her experience includes performing thousands of storytimes, leading hundreds of book club discussions for students in grades 4-12, conducting hundreds of school tours and assemblies, reviewing children's books and media, and originating the Performers' Showcase for auditioning library entertainment. She is editor of BayNews, the newsletter for the Association of Children's Librarians of Northern California. Her goal is to create libraries as place, where the community meets for educational and cultural programming, as well as facilitating the love of literature in youth so they will be life-long readers.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly helpful and reassuring, with some basics about the nuts and bolts of storytime for the completely clueless, but I think the lack of much of any info at all on promotion and designing PR materials is a real drawback.

[Philip Burt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This "Crash Course" book touches upon most storytime-related topics in a general sense. In addition, I found the 75 theme-based preschool storytime outlines in the appendix very resourceful for adapting to storytime.

[CML OSU]

CML
027.6251
P367c

[D.peabody · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great resource for themed story times and excellent how-to advice.

[Suzie Bookgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great resource for themed story times and excellent how-to advice.

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

An overview of everything storytime, including helpful resources in print and online.