Story Time Monday

It's going to be an unusual week.

As if having my mother in the hospital wasn't unusual enough, the school's annual book fair has moved into my work space, taking over the library for the week. I like the book fair and support it, but it's just a fact that it disrupts the regular library routine. Story Time couldn't take place in the library, so I went down to the PreSchool wing to read to the students in their own classrooms. And since they couldn't check out books this week (the library books having been hidden by the book fair wares), I had extra time for a longer story, giving me the golden opportunity to read one of my favorites, A Cat in a Kayak by Maria Coffey with illustrations by Eugenie Fernandes.

Victor lives on Cloud Island, commuting to the mainland every day via kayak to work as a Veterinarian. As a vet, he is in a good position to find and take in various animals that need homes. The first of these is Teelo the cat. Teelo likes the peace and quiet of Cloud Island and everything is great until Victor comes home with more animals that need homes. First it's Ruby the Rooster, who squawks and crows and dances the flamingo on the kitchen floor. Then it's Terry the Terrier, who barks like crazy and chews up all the cushions. Then it's Sylvie the Snake, who slithers around the house surprising Teelo and wanting to give him a "friendly squeeze." Finally, there's Bonaparte the Parrot, who struts about shouting out orders and bossing everyone around. All this racket bothers Teelo, and when he hears Victor teasingly saying that he is going to take his kayak out to Thunder Island for some "peach and quiet," Teelo decides to stow away on board and go with him. But on Thunder Island he finds big scary sea lions with long yellow fangs, a pod of Orca whales that almost topple the kayak, an eagle that wants to snatch Teelo up with his talons, a crab that tries to pinch him, and an octopus that wants to snare him in his tentacles. He can't wait to get back to Cloud Island, and, when he does, finds that it's quite peaceful there compared to the harshness of Thunder Island. A great adventure and nature tale, with a message about the power we have to change how we view a situation.

For the three year-olds I needed a shorter story and couldn't resist reading Eric Carles' From Head to Toe. "Reading" isn't quite the word for it; "acting out" or "doing" might be better, since the book leads the reader in doing the various things that animals can do: "I'm a gorilla; I can thump my chest. Can you do it? I can do it!" I had so much fun with the threes that ended up sharing it with most of the other classes as well. No one seemed to mind taking the few extra minutes it took to enjoy this fun book!