Apple Storytime

This is a fun storytime that I do each fall! I start out by asking who likes apples and applesauce and apple juice and apple pie. I explain that today we will be reading books about apples. If I have mostly preschoolers, I ask them to raise their hands if they like red apples....yellow apples....green apples...pink & purple polka-dot apples...

My favorite books for this storytime (toddler & preschool) are:

Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins
Ten Red Apples by Virginia Miller
Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington
Up, Up, Up! It's Apple-Picking Time by Jody Shapiro
All for Pie, Pie for All by David Martin

I use the following action rhyme when doing this storytime:

Way up high in the apple tree,
[put fisted hands up into the air]
Two red apples smiled at me.
I shook that tree as hard as I could
[mime shaking a tree trunk in front of you]
And down fell the apples
[let your fists fall to your lap, then pretend to bite into one]
Mmmmmmm....were they good!

And today's storytime is brought to you by the letter A:

[to the tune of "C is for Cookie" by Cookie Monster]
A is for Apple, I eat one every day,
A is for Apple, I eat one every day,
A is for Apple, I eat one every day,
Oh, apple, apple, apple, starts with A!

I also do the following craft:

The children can color a picture of a tree, and then dot on red paint with Q-tips to put apples on the tree. I just put a dab of red paint in those 3oz bathroom cups - with that & the Q-tips, there is rarely much of a mess to clean up. You can find the tree template here: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dqps86v_3ds85jxgn

Ways to use the books:

Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins:

• This book is highly repetitive and lends itself to having the children chant some lines along with it - especially the final line, "Save one for me!" I repeat it twice, because the kids like saying it and shaking their fingers.
• It is also a "countdown" book, because animals keep coming one by one and eating an apple off the farmer's tree. I encourage the kids to count with me to determine how many apples are left on the tree.
• There are also farm animals, so you can get participation with making animal noises - there is "foreshadowing" in the picture, and some children might catch on and be able to "predict" which animal is next.
• You can also pause partially through the story and ask if they remember who ate an apple 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc, for older kids.

Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington:

• Monica Wellington's illustrations are always very detailed, so after delivering the words on the page, sometimes I'll go through and point out certain items or discuss what the children see in the pictures.

All for Pie, Pie for All by David Martin:

• This is a sweet story about Grandma Cat who makes an apple pie that is enjoyed by her whole family, a whole mouse family and a whole ant family. As the pie is eaten - all but one piece - and then all but six crumbs - and then all but one crumb - and then it is all gone - I stop and recap the process so far [whole pie, piece, crumbs, crumb, gone] after each family has a go at that pie.
• Near the end, when Grandma Cat announces she is hungry and asks if she should make another pie, I ask the audience, "What do you think her family will say?" And then, "What do you think the Mouse family will say?" And finally, "What do you think the Ant family will say?"