This was my first storytime here at Chelmsford Public Library! As the new Head of Children’s Services, I am so happy to jump right into programming, especially storytime with little ones. 🙂

Yesterday we read some of our BIG books! These oversized picturebooks are great for big groups, as it’s much easier for all children to see the beautiful pictures that form such integral parts of the stories.

We started with Little Miss Muffet. While many of us knew the first verse of this popular rhyme, it was fun to learn that Miss Muffet was not only frightened by a spider but by several other critters and creatures, too!

We carried on this theme of expanding nursery rhymes by reading The Itsy Bitsy Spider, discovering that the spider’s journey did not end at the waterspout! We watched as the spider climbed other things, including a rocking chair and a tree.

After working out some wiggles and shaking out some sillies, we moved on to a flannel story version of Eric Carle’s classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Telling a story with flannel or felt pieces is just one of many ways to make the tale more interactive. Children were delighted to play with the pieces at the end of storytime. Check out this video for instructions on how to make your own flannel or felt board at home!

Finally, we read Pumpkin, Pumpkin. As we read this story about a boy planting a pumpkin seed and watching it grow, we paid special attention to the growing size of the animals on each page.

Thanks for joining me! I hope to see you again next week! 🙂

~*Nicole