Storytime Monday

Another story time Monday, a fun but busy day. For the pre-K classes I read Eric Carle's The Very Busy Spider. I used to love reading it to Paul -- amazing how many books for the three and four year olds are chosen that way. The children enjoyed the sounds of the various animals who talk to the spider --"Wolf, Worf, want to catch a cat?" said the dog"-- and the repetition of the answering phrase "But the spider didn't answer. She was very busy spinning her web." Since the book was so short we had time to make our own web by "spinning" yarn from child to child, which they all enjoyed.

The Kindergarten kids heard Cinderella as retold by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Mary Blair. Last year, my first year on this job, I was asked by a teacher for the Cinderella story and I found we had nothing. At the first storytime of the year, someone asked for a "princess book" and we had nothing. So this year I set out to buy some suitable books. After browsing book stores and reading reviews, I bought Princess: the Essential Guide by Naia Bray-Moffett and two different versions of Cinderella, first one by Max Eilenberg and, later, the version by Rylant. I also bought Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: a Worldwide Cinderella by Paul Fleishmann. Princess is a guide to the Disney princesses and was such a bit hit with my preschoolers and Kindergartners that I ended up buying eight copies (yes, eight!) so I could ration it out, one to a class. Although wonderful as a multicultural exploration of the worldwide Cinderella story, the Fleishmann book is not recognizable to my kids as a "Princess book" and isn't a hit. But the Eilenberg Cinderella has been in circulation since it came in, so when I received the Rylant version I decided to read it for storytime before putting it into circulation. I made that decision mindful that it might not appeal to boys.

After a lot of thought I decided to introduce it by showing a picture of the glass slipper from the Fleishmann book and describing the story in the most dramatic terms...."Today we will read an exciting book about a young, strong and handsome Prince; about a poor, lonely, but beautiful girl; about an old king; about a shattered glass slipper; and about a mean, wicked Stepmother." Whoa, that got them! All three classes were captivated by the story. Rylant's version is beautifully worded and sentimental. I worried that the boys might be turned off by phrases like “Who can say by what mystery two people find each other in this great wide world?” and “How does a young man find his maiden? His heart leads him. He finds her in a room. He asks her to dance. And when he touches her, he knows.” But they listened raptly and sighed contentedly when I read "The End."