SERLS READING ADVENTURE TREASURE CHEST KIT #46
A POTPOURRI OF FAVORITES

This Reading Adventure Treasure Chest Kit has been assembled to provide a thematic list of storytime materials for use by enhanced members and their patrons.  The kit is geared toward the preschool age group yet is flexible enough to capture the interest of toddlers and early school age children.  The Activity Ideas are designed to be aids to use the materials listed in the kits.

If you would like more information concerning this project, contact SERLS via e-mail at dirserls@oplin.org.  

Material Type	Title	Author
BOOK	The Berenstain Bears' Sampler: The Best Of Bear Country	STAN AND JAN BERENSTAIN
BOOK	The Cow Buzzed	ANDREA ZIMMERMAN AND DAVID CLEMESHA
BOOK	Flip-Flap	SANDRA JENKINS
BOOK	The Gingerbread Boy	SCOTT COOK
BOOK	The Gingerbread Man	JOHN A. ROWE
BOOK	Go Away, Big Green Monster!	ED EMBERLEY
BOOK	Goldilocks And The Three Hares	HEIDI PETACH
BOOK	Good Night Dinosaurs	JUDY SIERRA
BOOK	Henny Penny	H. WERNER ZIMMERMAN
BOOK	June 29, 1999	DAVID WIESNER
BOOK	Make Way For Ducklings	ROBERT MCCloskey
BOOK	Mr. Bear's Chair	THOMAS GRAHAM
BOOK	Peter And The Wolf	IAN BECK
BOOK	Peter's Chair	EZRA JACK KEATS
BOOK	Raffi's Top 10 Songs To Read	RAFFI
BOOK	Rainbow Fish To The Rescue	MARCUS PFISTER
BOOK	Sleepy A B C	MARGARET WISE BROWN
BOOK	Soap! Soap! Don't Forget The Soap!	TOM BIRDSEYE
BOOK	What Am I: Very First Riddles	STEPHANIE CALMENSON
BOOK	What Shall We Do When We All Go Out?	SHARI HALPERN
BOOK	Whatley's Quest: An Alphabet Adventure	BRUCE WHATLEY AND ROSIE SMITH
BOARD BOOK	Big Red Barn	MARGARET WISE BROWN
BOARD BOOK	Yike! Yike! Where's My Trike	STAN AND JAN BERENSTAIN
BIG BOOK	If You Give A Moose A Muffin	LAURA JOFFE NUMEROFF
RESOURCE BOOK	Party Rhymes	MARC BROWN
BOOK & TAPE	Caps For Sale	ESPHYR SLOBODKINA
CASSETTE	My Little House Songbook And Cassette
VHS	Peter And The Wolf
PUPPET	Blue Fish
EXTRA ITEM	Goldilocks And The Three Bears Book and Costume (Bow, headband, bears paws & bear ears)

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ACTIVITY IDEAS AND FINGERPLAYS

In the Goldilocks And The Three Bears Book and Costume Kit you'll find everything you will need for hours of fun with kids. Before introducing the bow and ears, read the story by itself a few times. When you are ready to act out the story, let the children choose the role they wish to play. At first, it will be easier if you read the story and let the children join in where they can. Find propsbowls, chairs, and cushions for beds. Add to the costumes so that each member of the Bear Family can be recognized. If you need more actors, complete the cast with teddy bears and dolls.

Encourage creative thinking by making up new fairy tales. Think about ways you might change a story familiar to your children. Talk to your class about your ideas. For example, change the "gruff" in "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" to "nice" or "kind." Encourage the children to suggest what a nice troll or a nice billy goat would say. Change Cinderella to a boy and give him a fairy godfather. These are wonderful experiments that develop creativity in children by showing them how to look at something familiar from a new point of view.

After reading Go Away, Big Green Monster encourage children to talk about their fears. This book is a favorite with many children because they can make and unmake a monster by turning die-cut pages. At the end of the book children turn a page and the monster is quickly banished and told not to return "until I say so." This helps to give children power over their fears. Invite children to make monster pictures or monster masks. Make monster masks out of large paper bags, scrap paper, yarn, markers and crayons.

Invite children to wear their favorite color or their favorite clothes and to bring in their favorite books from home. Suggest that they share them with the class. Take turns reading their favorite stories aloud.

Prepare a handout for parents asking them to help their children think of their favorite song or rhyme. This might be a favorite lullaby or finger rhyme they have heard since they were little. Maybe this will be something which is a part of their family folklore, passed on from Grandparent to parent to child. Have the children teach their favorite song or rhyme to you and the rest of their classmates.

Ask your children about their favorite toys. After they have named a few toys, ask them if they can be a certain toy. Start with something simple like a jack-in-the-box or talking doll. Invite children to take turns pretending to be a toy while the other children see if they can guess the toys

Play a "Three Blind Mice Game." Children form a circle with one in the center (farmer's wife). As children dance and sing around, the farmer's wife tries to catch one person (mouse) who will become the next farmer's wife:

Three blind mice!
See how they run!
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife.
Did you ever see such a sight in your life
As three blind mice?

Three Billy Goats Gruff
Three little goats went walking
(Three fingers held up)
One lovely summer's day.
They crossed a bridge to get some grass
(Three fingers walk up arm)
But a troll got in their way.
They tricked the troll and down he fell
(Diving motion.)
Into the water wet.
Now three little goats are getting fat
(Three fingers held up)
And the troll hasn't come back yet.

Ask your local children's librarian about more fingerplays, activities, and books such as these recommended titles:

• Little Red Riding Hood by John S. Goodall. In this interpretation there are no words, the heroine is a mouse and the villain is all dressed up in a top hat.
• Noah's Ark, retold and illustrated by Lucy Cousins. This simple retelling of a favorite Bible story features bright cheerful pictures.
• The Story Of Chicken Licken by Jan Ormerod. This classic tale is presented in this book as a play performed on stage for parents.
• Tomie de Paola's Favorite Nursery Tales by Tomie de Paola. These favorite stories are richly illustrated by this favorite author illustrator.

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