Life Lately

This picture pretty much sums of life lately... The laundry continues to pile up on the bed. Dishes pile up in the sink. Will is busy with school. I'm busy with work and restyling my blog. L is busy being a two-year-old. Sleep has become an afterthought. We've been working on finding some semblance of peace to keep us sane. Sometimes it feels like I only see my husband in fleeting moments. As soon as we wake he leaves, as soon as he comes home, I'm out the door. Something's gotta give. But for now, our only commitment is to the hope of a some shut eye. Even if it has to be on three loads of laundry.

Pirate Storytime

Yo, ho, ho ya scurvy dogs! International Talk Like a Pirate Day is tomorrow, September 19th! To celebrate, the Sunday Storytime was everything pirates! We talked like pirates, read books about pirates, sang pirate sea shantys, and dressed up like pirates-- eye patch and all! ARRR!!!!

Pirate Storytime Line-Up:

How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long, illustrated by David Shannon

A favorite book among children and pirates alike! It was also a great introduction into how to talk like a pirate. After the story was over I introduced a few phrases listed below and we practiced aloud as a group. All phrases and definitions were found and modified from Talk Like A Pirate.

Avast!-- Stop and give attention. It can be used in a sense of surprise.

Aye-- "Why yes, I agree most heartly with everything you just said or did."

Aye, aye!-- "I'll get right on that sir!"

Arrr!-- Can mean, variously, "yes", "I agree", "I'm happy", "My team is going to win it all", "I enjoy reading this book", and "That was a clever remark you or I just made".

Jolly Roger-- a pirate's flag including white skull and crossbones over a black field

Seadog-- old pirate or sailor

Thar she blows!-- whale sighting

Yo, Ho, Ho!-- cheerful exhortation to demand attention

Port Side Pirates by Debbie Harter, illustrated by Oscar Seaworthy

I thought I would try to sing a couple pirate sea shanties with the kids, but when I started to look a few up they were... er... not quite appropriate for storytime. Even this Disney version- yikes! But this book sung to the tune above work out extremely well.

Pirate Song

I came across this flannel board from the blog In The Children's Room and was so happy I did! It was the perfect addition to Sunday's Pirate Storytime! It goes like this...

Pirate Song (Sung to "This Old Man") via Work of Heart

This old pirate, has a hat

Where a skull and crossbones sat.

With an Ar, Ar, Ar, and an Ay Matey!

This old pirate sailed the sea.

This old pirate had a patch

Sailed the sea without a scratch.

With an Ar, Ar, Ar and an Ay Matey!

This old pirate sailed the sea.

Additonal Verses:

This old pirate has a hook, uses it to hold a book.

This old pirate has a map, keeps it handy in his lap.

This old pirate has a bird, barely knows a single word.

This old pirate has a ship, travels the world in a single trip.

This old pirate looking for treasure, more than anyone can measure!

Started out with this old pirate decorated with only a few mere pirate accessories...

...And then continued to add on items with each verse.

This flannel was so fun. It was stressful creating it at the last minute (Sunday morning), but it all came together in the end. All of these flannel pieces are my own except the ship. I used this ship template from Rovingfiddlehead Kid Lit.

Pajama Pirates by Andrew Kramer, illustrated by Leslie Lammle

For our last Pirate Storytime book, I read a new picture book with lovely illustrations about three siblings and their fantastic pre-bedtime pirate adventure.

Pirate Craft: EYE PATCHES AND PARROTS! ARRR!

You ain't a pirate if you don't have an eye patch and a trusty parrot!

I pre-made eyepatches for each storytimer to tie around their head after storytime and then they made their very own parrots to perch on their shoulders.

Materials used: Black foam sheets, black yarn, colored cardstock, feathers, glue, scissors, googly eyes, and tape.

For the eye patch, I used these instructions found on About.com as a general guideline. Since I wanted a slightly larger patch, I drew one free hand on the foam, cut it out, and then used that as a stencil for the remaining eye patches.

Cut out your patch/patches. After they are cut, carefully using scissors or an exacto knife, make small slits on each side.

Cut a piece of black yarn slightly bigger than the eye patch wearer's head. For the storytime kids, I cut 16 in. strands.

Thread the strand through the slit.

So that it looks like so.

Fit by placing the patch on the eye and then tying the ends to the back of the wearer's head.

AVAST! Now... for the parrot!

Using this template I found on Family Fun, I printed out parrot figures on red and green cardstock.

And cut them out. That was all the prep. ARRR!

After storytime and after the kids afixed their eye patches to their faces, they went on to decorating their very own pirate parrot using crayons...

...Googley eyes

...and feathers. Lots of feathers!

"Polly wanna cracker?"

Bend the tab on the line marked "A" and tape to child's shoulder.

Weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen! It's a pirate's life for ME!

Miss Becca's Storytime Mixer

I've been waiting for a few books to come in that I've inter-library loaned specifically for storytime, so I decided this week would be a good time to have another storytime mixer. A storytime mixer is when I read some of my favorite books and also a few brand new books that I think the storytime kids would enjoy. It has also been a very busy couple weeks with the start of Read Across Lawrence for Kids, so a mixer and a simple craft were the perfect remedy.

Miss Becca's Storytime Mixer:

My No, No, No Day! by Rebecca Patterson

I decided to share a recent favorite in our house. The kids and parents were rolling with laughter.

King Bidgood's in the Bathtub by Audrey Wood, illustrated by Don Wood

I remember this book being read to me in grade school. It's rhythmic tone and hilarious pictures continue to capture the imagination of kids today.

Olivia and the Fairy Princesses by Ian Falconer

Love me some Olivia! Other than the first Olivia book, this newest addition to the series is by far my favorite to date!

Press Here by Herve Tullet

After writing about Press Here here, I made a note that it might make a nice read for a future storytime. Press Here is an interactive book that encourages children to be apart of the story by pressing, rubbing, tapping, shaking, and blowing on the book. I stood up to read aloud and had all the kids sitting close to me help with the prompts. I've added pictures of the first few pages, so you'd get the idea. It was a hit!

Press Here Book Craft:

I came across this wonderful dot collage idea inspired from the Press Here book featured on Share & Remember and thought it was so creative! Using Stacy's idea of a dot collage with color coding labels, the storytime kids made their very own mini interactive dot books.

Materials used: colored cardstock/construction paper, white printing paper, color coding labels, scissors, stapler, and a sharpie.

Before storytime, I halved a stack of white printing paper. Enough for 4 sheets per book for 35 kids.

I halved red, green, yellow, and blue cardstock and construction paper for the covers.

If you want to write on the covers with sharpie, I recommend you do so before you staple them together so that the sharpie doesn't bleed through. I ended up not writing on them and leaving the covers blank.

Take two halves of colored paper and sandwich four halves of white paper.

Staple together to make books! That was the extent of my prep for storytime. 10 minutes tops! Love a quick craft prep.

Using colored label dots we already had on hand from our library's craft supplies, the kids used the sticker dots to make their own interactive Press Here book. If you'd like to do this craft at home or in your library or classroom, you can purchase color coded labels here or at your local office supply store.

Below is the example I made for the kids... Of course they did a much better job than I was able to do.

Since September 19th is "Talk Like a Pirate Day", next week is Pirate Storytime! Aye aye!

68 Tiny Distractions

Those rooms you breezed through just now... they're miniature.

Go ahead, scroll up, and take another looksie.

Incredible, right?

These pictures above are only a sampling of a permanent gallery of miniature rooms called The Thorne Rooms in the Art Institute of Chicago. A few weeks ago, I read The Sixty-Eight Rooms by Marianne Malone, a children's middle grade fiction book about two friends, who discover they can shrink themselves to the size of the miniature Thorne Rooms. It isn't long before they also learn the Thorne Rooms are even more real than they appear.

Have you ever heard of the Thorne Rooms? I never had until reading this book. After I finished The Sixty-Eight Rooms, I immediately loaned Miniature Rooms: The Thorne Rooms at the Art Institute of Chicago, a large book about the rooms and how they came to be, to put their reality to what I had envisioned while reading. Per The Art Institute of Chicago:

"The 68 Thorne Miniature Rooms enable one to glimpse elements of European interiors from the late 13th century to the 1930s and American furnishings from the 17th century to the 1930s. Painstakingly constructed on a scale of one inch to one foot, these fascinating models were conceived by Mrs. James Ward Thorne of Chicago and constructed between 1932 and 1940 by master craftsmen according to her specifications."

The book is truly a fascinating story of Mrs. James Ward Thorne and her love off all things miniature. She collected many of the pieces while traveling abroad in Europe, and commissioned dozens of craftsmen to create rooms to house her findings. The rooms she sketched were inspired by historic castles, museums, and homes of Europe and North America.

 

After flipping through the book I went to The Art Institute of Chicago's website to look through the rooms there, but I also came across Escape From Thorne Mansion, an interactive way to tour the rooms virtually. So fun!

 

Every person I talked to about the Thorne Rooms are unfamiliar with their existence, so I thought I would pass on my indulgence so you could explore their master and magic.

This one is my favorite...

 

South Carolina Ballroom 1775-1835, c. 1940, American, Created by Mrs. James Ward Thorne. Can't you see this room in candle light with a a waltz softly playing? The furniture pushed to the side and people dancing or mingling out on the terrace. A grand southern soiree with a warm breeze and flushed faces.

Then I remember this room is only a little larger than a breadbox....

image sources: thorne rooms:  Tennessee Entrance Hall, 1835, French Dining Room of the Louis XIV Period, 1660-1700, c. 1937, English Reception Room of the Jacobean Period, 1625-55, c. 1937, English Drawing Room of the Georgian period, 1770-1800, c. 1937, French Salon of the Louis XVI Period, c. 1780, c. 1937, French Dining Room of the Louis XIV Period, 1660-1700, c. 1937, New York Parlor, 1850-70, c. 1940,   Virginia Drawing Room, 1754, c. 1940, Massachusetts Bedroom, c. 1801, c. 1940, mrs. thorne, South Carolina Ballroom, 1775-1835, c. 1940