Books We Shared
Spunky Little Monkey by Bill Martin Jr. and Michael Sampson, illustrated by Brian Won
Little Monkey is tired and doesn’t want to get out of bed. Mama calls the doctor and the doctor says — Exercise! The listeners get to have fun moving along with Little Monkey in this dancing and grooving story.
Little Monkey Calms Down written by Michael Dahl, illustrated by Oriol Vidal
We all have bad days. Little Monkey is having a very bad one. This short little board book has some great techniques that can be used to turn a bad breakdown moment into a good day. It’s a small book on mindfulness that all parents and little ones can relate to.
American Sign Language: Monkey
We learned the ASL sign for monkey! See how to do the sign at Signing Savvy.
Flannel Board Letter
M is for Monkey
Monkey starts with the letter M! We identified the letter, drew it in the air, made the sound that H makes, and talked about some other things that start with M: magnifying glass, mouse, moon and monkey.
Flannel Board Counting
7 Monkeys
We counted seven monkeys during our counting flannelboard!
Flannel Board Stories
Five Yellow Bananas
Idea taken from one little librarian
4 yellow bananas, so yummy to see.
The monkey ate one, & then there were 3
3 yellow bananas, & he knew what to do.
The monkey ate one, & then there were 2
2 yellow bananas, hanging in the sun.
The monkey ate one, & then there as 1
1 yellow banana, well for goodness sake.
The monkey ate that one, & he got a tummy ache
Now there are no little bananas hanging on the tree
Monkey, your tummy wouldn’t hurt if you shared them with me!
Video We Watched
“Mitzi’s Mess” from Little Bear: Rainy Day Tales
It’s raining, so Little Bear, Owl and Mitzi have to play inside. But Mitzi wants to do things like fly Little Bear’s plane — inside the house. Of course this makes a mess! Will the friends have time to fix things before Mother Bear comes home?
Rhymes & Bounces & Songs We Shared without Music
We sing a lot of songs during storytime! You’ll find lyrics to those songs without music here.
Welcome Song
(to the tune of: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”)
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
Open, shut them. (Spread fingers wide, then close into fists)
Open, shut them. (Spread fingers wide, then close into fists)
Give a little clap, clap, clap. (Clap hands on “clap”)
Open, shut them. (Spread fingers wide, then close into fists)
Open, shut them. (Spread fingers wide, then close into fists)
Place them in your lap, lap, lap (Pat lap with hands on “lap”)
Creep them, crawl them (creep fingers up stomach to chin)
Creep them, crawl them (creep fingers up stomach to chin)
Right up to your chin, chin, chin (tap chin with hands on “chin”)
Open up your little mouth (open mouth wide and pretend to put fingers in)
But do not let them in! (Hide hands behind your back quickly)
For a video of me (Jennifer) doing this rhyme, watch the video below:
The Itsy Bitsy Spider
The itsy bitsy spider (L shape with both hands. Place thumb of one hand on forefinger of the other)
went up the water spout. (“walk” your fingers up thumb to forefinger, alternating.)
Down came the rain and (wiggle fingers and bring then downward)
Washed the spider out. (make baseball “safe” motion)
Out came the sun and (hands above head in a circle)
and dried up all the rain. (hands out at side of body)
And the itsy bitsy spider (L shape with both hands. Place thumb of one hand on forefinger of the other)
went up the spout again. (“walk” your fingers up thumb to forefinger, alternating.)
Storytime’s Over
Hands up high! (Put your hands in air)
Now give a big sigh (sigh and bring hands down)
Our storytime’s over
So wave bye-bye (wave)
Music from CDs We Shared
Sometimes it’s fun to sing along with music. Here are some of the songs and cds used in today’s storytime.
“Clap Everybody and Say Hello” from Sally Go Round the Sun by Kathy Reid-Naiman
Clap everybody and say hello.
Clap everybody and say hello.
Clap everybody and say hello,
No matter what the weather.
Other Verses:
Jump everybody and say hello…
Wiggle everybody and say hello…
Sing everybody and say hello…
“Roll Your Hands” from Toddlers on Parade by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel
Roll, roll, roll your hands
as fast as fast can be
do it now, let me see
do it now with me
Other verses:
Tap tap tap your feet…
Shake, shake, shake your feet…
Roll, roll, roll your hands …
“Row, Row, Row Your Boat” from Songs for Wiggleworms by the Old Town School of Folk Music
Row, row, row your boat
gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
life is but a dream.
Other verses:
Twist, twist, twist your boat…
Bounce, bounce, bounce your boat…
Sway, sway, sway your boat…
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle your boat…
Tickle, tickle, tickle your boat…
“Two Little Blackbirds” from Fingerplays and Footplays for Fun and Learning by Rosemary Hallum and Henry “Buzz” Glass.
Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill
One named Jack and the other named Jill
Fly away Jack
Fly away Jill
Come back Jack
Come back Jill
Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill
One named Jack and the other named Jill
Continue the Fun
Want to share more books about monkeys? Check out some of these books at your Pasadena Public Library branch:
