Feelin' like dancin!'

Dancing is one of my most favorite themes for story time. In fact, I am known around my library as The Dancing Librarian - hahaha!! Believe me, it's very appropriate!!!

So, I found some awesome books about dancing, and we had a great time!!!

Opening Song: Shake My Sillies Out - Raffi

Book: Harriet Dancing by Ryth Symes


Song: If You're Happy and You Know It

Book: Baby Danced the Polka by Karen Beaumont


Song and Dance: Tooty Ta

Book: Dancing Feet by Lindsey Craig


Craft: Dancing Fans (inspired by the Native American Dance Fan Craft from Free Kids Crafts)


For FMRNS this week, we decided to go Old School and watch the original Frankenstein from 1931 with Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, and Boris Karloff.

I feel like dancin!'

Can I just tell you, yet again, how much I love my job? Seriously, you can't get any better!!!

Today, I did a fabulous story time with a dancing theme. I had just a small group today, but it was great to get them up and moving!!! We always start our story times off with "Shake My Sillies Out" by Raffi - a GREAT way to get moving and get rid of a little energy!!! And, I can't help it, I LOVE to shake my sillies out!!!
Then, of course, we read some great books:

Cha-Cha Chimps by Durango

Down by the Cool of the Pool by Mitton


Boing by Bruel

We also danced the Tooty-Ta by Dr. Jean and Friends. If you don't know how to Tooty-Ta, you need to learn!!! Way too much fun, I just gotta say!!

We also made a "Dancer's Wand" as our craft today. Just a wooden dowel (which they colored however they wanted!), and a long piece of ribbon! Super easy, but the kids loved it!! After we made our craft, I put on some music and we all danced (mom's included!!!). Soooooooo much fun.

And the best part? A little boy (who I've been told has really come out of his shell since I got here - he used to sit on his nanny's lap during story time, and now he sits on the carpet!!), waved his dancer's wand at me and said "Bye Miss Real!!! Thank you for letting me dance with you today!!!" Yeah. BEST.JOB.EVER.

What could make this day even better?! Why it's FMRNS Night!!! WHOOT WHOOOOT!!!! Last week at the time of posting, A and I weren't sure what we were going to watch. We decided on Sleeper, a Woody Allen futuristic comedy from 1973 with Woody (of course) and Diane Keaton. Well, it started out as entertaining, but then I realized that I can only take so much Woody Allen before I kinda want to puke. So about halfway through, we stopped it and deemed the movie (with a judging tone in our voices) NOT LIST-WORTHY!!!!!!!

This week, however, I am looking forward to Paris, je t'aime, a foreign film from 2006. We are confident that this movie will make the cut!!

P.S. Don't forget to enter in my latest giveaway!!!!!!!

Who wants to go dancing?

HOOORAY!! Once again, it's Tuesday. Like I always say, you can't get ANY better than Tuesday!! Today is also my 6 year anniversary for working for my library system - which is insanely cool. Go me!!
So, in honor of the fact that it's Tuesday, and my 6 year anniversary, I decided to go out dancing. Ok, not really...but reading books about dancing is JUST as fun!! Since the first two books are a little on the longer side (and I want to be sure to keep their attention!), I thought I would read a shorter audience participation story at the end...even though it has nothing to do with dancing.

Hilda Must be Dancing by Karma Wilson


Cha-cha Chimps by Julia Durango


Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin


**previous dancing storytime** (Yes, I'm reading Hilda again - I LOVE Hilda!!)

And, as always, the other reason why Tuesday is so.freakin.cool: FMRNS!! WHOOOOOOT!!! My friend A and I had a couple chances to get together last week for Bonus Night, so I've got some updates! We watched Children of a Lesser God, a drama from 1986 with William Hurt and Marlee Matlin. We also watched Revenge of the Pink Panther, a comedy from 1978 with Peter Sellers and Herbert Lom. We also got into The Original Kings of Comedy, stand up with Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, and Bernie Mac.

We have some options for today, so I can't even begin to guess what we'll be watching. Here's just a couple from the list of what we have to choose from:

Strictly Ballroom, a dramedy from 1992 with Paul Mercurio and Tara Morice.
Monte Python's Life of Brian, a comedy from 1979 with Graham Chapman and John Cleese.
Hotel Rwanda, a drama from 1994 with Don Cheadle.

WHOOT WHOOT Tuesday!!

It's going to be a great Tuesday!!! Today I've decided that we are going to read stories about dancing. Here are the books for todays story time!!



We are also going to do the Tooty-Ta!! Dr. Jean has a fun version on her Dr. Jean & Friends CD. I heard another fun rock-n-roll version at my children's workshop on Saturday, but I can't remember now who the artist was...hmm, I'll have to look into that. Anyway, I bet you know the Tooty-Ta, even if you don't think you do... Here are the words... It starts off with an echo chant and then you do the actions. By the end of it, you are doing all of this:

Chorus: A tooty ta, a tooty ta, a tooty ta ta!

Thumbs up...
Elbows back...
Feet apart...
Knees together...
Bottoms up...
Tongue out...
Eyes shut...
Turn around...

It's pretty freakin' awesome watching all these little kids dance around to this song!!! You can tell they are having a blast!!! Moms have come up to me weeks later after doing the Tooty-Ta and told me that their kids are STILL singing it!!! YAY!!!

And of course, it's Fabulous Movies Real's Never Seen Night!! Tonight's feature: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade!!