Halloween is around the corner so we indulged in books about a pumpkin named Stumpkin and a monster who learns not to play with his food.  We also shared a story activity that involved six white ghosts!  Its never boring at storytime!

Here are the books, songs, story activity, action rhymes and video we shared.

Books We Read

 

In the funny picture book, Buddy and the Bunnies in Don’t Play With Your Food, Bob Shea introduces us to Buddy – a monster who happens to eat bunnies. That all changes when he runs into a special group of bunnies who trick him into becoming their friend.  The story completely switches gears when the bunnies remind Buddy of what his mama always taught him – “Don’t Play With Your Food!”

Stumpkin by Lucy Ruth Cummins is a sweet Halloween tale about a pumpkin without a stem!  All of the pumpkins are sitting on the store shelves waiting to be chosen to become someone’s very special jack-o-lantern.  As the days pass and Halloween nears, Stumpkin loses hope that anyone will pick him.  Who wants a pumpkin without a stem? Finally its just Stumpkin and a gourd and one last customer comes by and chooses…THE GOURD.  Stumpkin is devastated.  But all is not lost!  The shopkeeper takes Stumpkin inside and begins to carve out his triangle eyes and nose and a smiling mouth.  If you want to find out how this story ends, make sure to pick up a copy of the book from the library.  I don’t want to give away the ending!


Storytelling Activity

The Chocolate Chip Ghost (version 1)

Credit:  Sunflower Storytime 

  

This is a story about some little white ghosts who should only eat things that are white, but when Mama leaves the house they get into some mischief.  They each try eating food of a different color, and when they do they change colors themselves!  What will happen when Mama returns?  Will she be able to help them change back to ghostly white before Halloween?  I enacted a shorter version of this story but there is a longer, more in-depth version which I ‘ve used with older children.

The Chocolate Chip Ghost (version 2)

Credit:  Sandy Toes & Popsicles

Once upon a time, there lived 5 little ghosts. As everyone knows, ghosts are white and to stay white, the only thing they can eat is vanilla ice cream and the only thing that they can drink is milk. One day when Mama ghost went to the refrigerator, there was no vanilla ice cream and no milk. So she had to go to the grocery store and before she left she said, “No matter how hungry you get, do not eat anything or something dreadful will happen. We don’t have anymore white food left, so I must go out and get some. I will be back soon.”

While mommy was gone, the first ghost became so very thirsty.  He looked in the refrigerator and saw a little glass of lemonade and thought, “just one teeny sip wouldn’t hurt.” So he took a one teeny sip of lemonade and what do suppose happened? He turned yellow! The other ghosts looked at him and said “Mommy told us that something dreadful would happen and she was right.” The little ghost did not want his mommy to see him all yellow so he ran upstairs and hide in the toy box.

The second ghost became so hungry that he just had to look in the refrigerator for something to eat. He saw some broccoli and thought, “just one teeny bite wouldn’t hurt.” So he took a one teeny bite of the broccoli and what do suppose happened? He turned green! The other ghosts looked at him and said “Mommy told us that something dreadful would happen and she was right.” The little ghost did not want his mommy to see him all green so he ran upstairs and hide in the closet.

The third ghost became so hungry that he looked in the refrigerator and saw a bowl of blueberries and thought, “just one teeny bite wouldn’t hurt.” So he took a one teeny bite of a blueberry and what do suppose happened? He turned blue! The other ghosts looked at him and said “Mommy told us that something dreadful would happen and she was right.” The little ghost did not want his mommy to see him all blue so he ran upstairs and hide under the bed.

The fourth ghost became so hungry and he looked in the refrigerator and saw a bowl of strawberries and thought, “just one teeny bite wouldn’t hurt.” So he took a one teeny bite of a strawberry and what do suppose happened? He turned red! The other ghosts looked at him and said “Mommy told us that something dreadful would happen and she was right.” The little ghost did not want his mommy to see him all red so he ran upstairs and behind the door.

The fifth ghost said, “I’m so hungry but I will not do what my brothers did. I’ll look in the freezer and see if there is just maybe a little vanilla ice cream left.” When he looked in the freezer there was some ice cream….and it was almost vanilla – it was chocolate chip ice cream. So the ghost said, “This shouldn’t hurt me – those chocolate chips are so tiny.” So he ate one spoonful and became a chocolate chip ghost! He certainly didn’t want his mommy to see him all spotty so he ran upstairs and hid in the bathtub.

When Mommy ghost returned, she knew something was wrong when she didn’t see her children, so she started looking for the little ghosts. She found the first one upstairs in the toy box, and an 2nd one in the closet, and the 3rd one under the bed, the 4th one behind the door and the 5th and last one in the bathtub. When she found all of them, she said, “Little ghosts, I told you that something dreadful would happen and it did.” Whatever can we do to get you white again for Halloween?

Mommy Ghost called the ghost doctor and this is what he told her to do. Keep all the little ghosts in bed for five days and give them nothing but vanilla ice cream and milk to eat.  If you do this, they should be ready and all white again for Halloween. So that is what she did and by Halloween night, the five little ghosts were all white again to go out haunting and spooking and shouting “BOO!” And they never again ate something they shouldn’t. The End!

Action Songs & Fingerplays

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 Everyone
(to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle)

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

Open Shut Them – Video:  Open Shut Them

Open, shut them, open, shut them, (open and close hands)
Give a little clap, clap, clap.  (clap three times)
Open shut them, open shut them (open and close hands)
Put them in your lap, lap, lap. (place hands in lap and bounce them 3X)

Creep them, crawl them, creep them crawl them, (crawl fingers up arms)
Right up to your chinny  chin chin. (place fingers on chin)
Open up your little mouth (open mouth and say ahhhhhh)
But do not put them in!! (put hands behind your back)

Credit:  Mel’s Desk

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star – Video:  Twinkle Twinkle

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle Twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

The itsy bitsy spider
Went up the water spout
Down came the rain and
Washed the spider out
Out came the sun
And dried up all the rain
Now the itsy bitsy spider
Went up the spout again

You are my Sunshine

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You’ll never know dear, how much I love you
And I love you more every day.

Goodbye Friends (in sign) – Video:  Goodbye Friends

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

Music from CDs We Shared

Children love to sing and dance to music.  Here are some of the action songs & rhymes on CD that we used in storytime.  Click onto the CD titles to find these items in our library catalog.

“Clap Everybody and Say Hello” from Sally Go Round the Sun by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

“We’re Going to the Market” from I Love to Hear the Sounds by Kathy Reid-Naiman [With Shaker Eggs]

“Oh Children Ring Your Bells” from I Love to Hear the Sounds by Kathy Reid-Naiman

“Jazzy ABCs” from  Go Baby Go!  by Baby Loves Jazz

Video We Shared

“The Perfect Pumpkin”

Continue the Fun at Home

If you’d like to read more books about monsters, pumpkins or other things Halloween, check out these books from your local Pasadena Public Library!