Wednesday is probably my favorite day in the library. (0kay, Friday is up there too!) On Wednesdays, my little preschool friends come to visit me for story time and checkout. Not only am I blessed with one group of small visitors, but two!
For many children, this is the beginning of their experience with literacy. I take pride in choosing the “perfect” preschool read alouds, hoping to spark a love of books and the library.
The first selection I chose for this week is a vibrant counting book starring none other than familiar friends, Max and Ruby. Max Counts His Chickens is a cute tale of Max and Ruby hunting for their marshmallow chicks the Easter Bunny left, but poor Max can’t seem to find his. Sister Ruby, of course, has no trouble at all. In the end, Max’s chickens arrive and all is well.
I admit…I LOVE Marshmallow Peeps so the brightly colored chicks in the story are appealing to my eyes. It also gave my preschool friends practice counting. The numbers one to ten are written very big in the corner of the pages, helping with number recognition. Silly Max says his numbers in the wrong order while counting the chicks flying through the mail slot. This created a lot of laughter and the chance to practice numbers one more time.
The second book I read was Easter Mice. The story is more in the pictures than the words, which could be a challenge with a group of preschoolers. However, I carefully asked questions giving the kiddos a chance to think critically about what was happening. The true surprise is in the end when the sad mouse who played instead of hunting eggs, finds an egg that hatches. What comes out of the egg? An Easter Turtle, of course. You can imagine the roar of laughter. No one was expecting that!
Happy Reading!
