This week we told stories about cats, with several different visual adaptations of cat books. We had help from some of our feline friends:


Books We Shared

Sleepy Kitty uses adorable photos of kittens to illustrate its text about a kitten who doesn’t want to go to bed (asks for a drink of milk, a goodnight kiss, just like little kids do). Research has shown that babies and toddlers respond with great interest to books with actual photographs.

A Bed for Kitty by Yasmine Surovec tells the story of Chloe who loves her kitty, and her kitty who does NOT like his new bed. Chloe tries everything to get him to try his new bed, until she finally plops down on it herself!

Puppet Stories

What Will Fat Cat Sit On?

What Will Fat Cat Sit On? by Jan Thomas shows different farm animals’ responses to an odd threat: the threat of being sat upon by Fat Cat!

Great Big Cat and Teeny Little Mouse

There was a GREAT BIG CAT (say “great big cat” in a big voice)
and a Teeny Little Mouse (say “teeny little mouse” in a small squeaky voice)
Who ran around and around (Roll hands with cat and mouse around each other)
In a tall, tall house! (Stretch arms above head)
Until that teeny tiny mouse (say “teeny little mouse” in a small squeaky voice)
got caught at last (have cat catch mouse)
Because that GREAT BIG CAT (say “great big cat” in a big voice)
ran around so fast! (Roll hands with cat and mouse around each other)

Flannel Boards We Shared

Letter of the Day: C

We made a big capital “C” in the air, and brought out felt pictures of different objects that begin with C, and guessed what they were.

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by James Dean and Eric Litwin

Nursery Rhyme We Shared

The Three Little Kittens

Three little kittens,
They lost their mittens,
And they began to cry,
Oh, mother dear,
We sadly fear
Our mittens we have lost.
What! Lost your mittens,
You naughty kittens!
Then you shall have no pie.
Mee-ow, mee-ow,
Now we shall have no pie.

The three little kittens,
They found their mittens,
And they began to cry,
Oh, mother dear,
See here, see here,
Our mittens we have found.
What! Found your mittens,
You darling kittens!
Then you shall have some pie.
Mee-ow, mee-ow,
Now we shall have some pie!

The three little kittens,
Put on their mittens,
And soon ate up the pie;
Oh, mother dear,
We greatly fear
Our mittens we have soiled.
What! Soiled your mittens,
You naughty kittens!
Then they began to cry,
Mee-ow, mee-ow,
They began to sigh.

The three little kittens,
They washed their mittens,
And hung them out to dry;
Oh mother dear,
See here, See here,
Our mittens we have washed.
What! Washed your mittens,
You ARE good kittens.
But I smell a rat nearby!

Action Songs & Bounces We Shared

We share a lot of songs, bounces & rhymes during storytime!
You’ll find lyrics/words to those songs & rhymes we shared without CD accompaniment here.

Five Little Mice (my translation of Cinco Ratoncitos)

Five little mice, all gray from head to toe (hold up five fingers)
Wiggle their ears (wiggle baby’s ears)
and wiggle their nose (wiggle baby’s nose)
1,2,3,4,5, (open fingers one by one)
they run around the house (make your fingers “run” around)
Because the cat is coming, (act like you’re “stalking” prey)
and he’s hungry for some….MOUSE! (say the last word loudly and suddenly, tickling baby)

(See a video of me singing the original Spanish rhyme!)

“Open Shut Them”

Open shut them, open shut them.
Give a little clap, clap, clap.
Open shut them, open shut them.
Place them on your lap, lap, lap.
Creep them, crawl them
Creep them, crawl them
Right up to your chin, chin, chin
Open up your little mouth… Buuuuuuuuuuut…
Do not let them in!

“Goodbye Friends” (song in sign)

Click here for video:  Goodbye Babies (Friends) 

Goodbye babies, goodbye babies
Goodbye babies, it’s time to say goodbye.

Rhymes We Shared With Scarves

Kitty Cat POUNCE!

Kitty cat, kitty cat, sneaks out of the house.
Kitty cat, kitty cat, creeps up to a mouse,
And … POUNCE!
Kitty cat, kitty cat, creeps up to a bird.
Kitty cat, kitty cat, is not even heard
And … POUNCE!
But the mouse ran, and the bird flew away,
So kitty cat found a ball of yarn to play
And … POUNCE!
http://www.literaryhoots.com/2015/10/cats-storytime.html

Peek-a-Boo

(cover your face with the scarf)
Peek-a-boo, where are you
Hiding in your…
place! PEEKABOO! (throw the scarf off your face and tickle baby)

(cover your face with the scarf)
Peek-a-boo, I see you
and your smiling…
face! PEEKABOO! (throw the scarf off your face and tickle baby)

One Bright Scarf

One bright scarf waiting for the wind to blow (wave it gently)
Toss it up high (throw it high in the air and catch it)
And wave it down low
Wiggle it FAST!
and wiggle it s…l…o…w……
Hey! (hide it behind you)
Where did it go?
…. Here it is! (bring it back out)

(Source: jbrary–I don’t usually sing it with that melody though, I just say the words)

Music from CDs We Shared

Children love to sing and dance to music.  Here are some of the songs/bounces on CD that we used in storytime.

I tried a new opening song called “Song In My Tummy,” from The Best of the Laurie Berkner Band. I might go back and forth though and see if I can slowly acclimate everyone to this new song.

“Quiet as a Mouse,” from Shining Like a Star by Laura Doherty

“Shake My Sillies Out” from More Singable Songs by Raffi

Video We Shared

“Kitten’s First Full Moon” by Kevin Henkes, from the Day of the Dead DVD. A kitten sees the moon and thinks it’s a bowl of milk, which prompts her to spend a long, exhausting night of mishaps and embarrassing efforts to get it!

Continue the Fun

Here are some more books about cats to check out at your Pasadena Public Library Branch: