Planning Story Time Tips

I asked the Children's Librarians at Bellevue what resources they use to plan their story times. Here's what they gave me:

Erin Ostrander said she relies heavily on internet resources. She said she usually will try to find one poem/song/fingerplay in the theme she's working on, then put a part of the first line in to google in quotes. That will get her (usually!) to a results page listing things from other libraries and preschools and she can then pull ideas from those.
Resources for rhymes and things:

http://www.earlyliterature.ecsd.net/resources1.htm
http://www.answerpoint.org/teachers_place/preschool/themes.asp
http://www.preschooleducation.com/topic.shtml
http://www.wcls.org/kids/kidspdf/pssthandbook.pdf
http://www.preschoolrainbow.org/book-themes.htm

http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/storytime/index.html
http://abc.net.au/children/play/grownup/txsched.htm


http://www.perrypubliclibrary.org/Kids/Programs/Storytime%20themes%2006.htm

http://www.sclibrary.ab.ca/kids/framesets/preschoolersf.htm


Pam Dodson said that when she's looking for themes for story time she'll go to a children's dictionary to look for ideas. Her themes are based on the alphabet so when she gets to a tough letter like Q, U, X, or Y she finds great theme ideas like Quilt, Umbrella, eXercise, and Yoga.

She also gave me a list of books:
The Complete Book of Rhymes, Songs, Poems, Fingerplays, and Chants - Jackie Silberg & Pam Schiller
Creating Readers - Pam Schiller
The Big Book of Stories, Songs, and Sing-Alongs - Beth Maddigan
Musical Games, Fingerplays, and Rhythmic Activities for Early Childhood - Marian Wirth
Lapsit Services for the Very Young - Linda Ernst
Babies in the Library - Jane Marino


I found these titles in the KCLS catalog:
More simply super storytimes : programming ideas for ages 3-6 -Castellano, Marie.
Toddler Storytime Programs - Briggs, Diane.
I'm a Little Teapot! Presenting Preschool Storytime - Cobb, Jane.