In our first storytime for Summer session, we celebrated cats.

Books We Shared

I had some puppet help while reading Matilda’s Cat by Emily Gravett. The book is about listing all the things that Matilda’s cat supposedly likes to do, but we see in the pictures that the cat is none too fond of them. I used a hand puppet of a little white kitten, who reacted animatedly to the activities suggested in the book, with fear or disgust. One kid –so cute– said, “Silly kitty!” whenever the kitty puppet acted scared.

Meeow And The Little Chairs by Sebastien Braun is one of a bright, colorful series from France, a series about a little black cat with a big imagination. In this one, Meeow and his friends make a train out of their chairs.

Flannel Boards We Shared

Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat

Kitty cat, kitty cat,
Are you behind the blue hat?

(We say each color and reveal the animals hidden beneath until we find the cat)

Action Songs & Rhymes 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.

Welcome Welcome

Welcome, welcome everyone
Now we’re here, let’s have some fun!
First you clap your hands just so,
Then you bend and touch your toe.
Welcome, welcome everyone
Now we’re here, let’s have some fun!

Five Little Mice

This is a translation I did of a Spanish nursery rhyme.

Click here for video: Cinco Ratoncitos

Five little mice, all gray from head to toes
Wiggle their ears and wiggle their nose
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 they run around the house
Because the cat is coming, and he’s hungry for some…
MOUSE!!

Open Shut Them

Click here for video: 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 Babies (song in sign)

Click here for video:  Goodbye Babies (Friends) 

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

We used scarves with the next three songs:

Peekaboo

Peekaboo, where are you
hiding in your… PLACE! PEEKABOO!
Peekaboo, I see you
and your smiling… FACE! PEEKABOO!

One Bright Scarf

One bright scarf waiting for the wind to blow
Toss it up high, and wave it down low
Wiggle it fast, and wiggle it slow (then hide the scarf behind your back)
Hey! Where did it go?
(Bring it out in the open and say:) Here it is!

Kitty Cat POUNCE!

(roll up the scarf slowly while you say the words, then toss it high in the air on “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!

(Source: http://www.literaryhoots.com/2015/10/cats-storytime.html)

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.

“Clap Everybody and Say Hello” from Sally Go Round the Sun by Kathy Reid-Naiman

“Wheels on the Bus” from Songs for Wiggleworms by Old Town School of Folk Music

Video We Shared

We watched “Hondo and Fabian” on the Chrysanthemum DVD. It’s a gentle story about a dog and cat spending very different days, the dog at the beach and the cat at home with the baby.

Continue the Fun

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