ACL

Association of Children's Librarians

Storytime

Flannel-board Storytime Ideas

mother goose's playhousePreschool Storytime Ideas

Flannel-Board Book Storytime Ideas

Here’s a list of great books that can be made into flannel board figures.  Our favorite book on how to make a flannel board and use them in storytime is out of print, but you can try to see if it can be borrowed from another library if you don’t have a copy: Mother Goose’s Playhouse: Toddler Tales and Nursery Rhymes, with Patterns for Puppets and Feltboards by Judy Sierra, Folkprint, 1994. Flannel boards are an “old fashioned” but sure-fire way to liven up storytimes, especially toddler time or lapsit. Here is a list of popular picture books that adapt well to the Flannel Board format.

  • ASK MR. BEAR by Marjorie Flack.  (Make the animals and the potential gifts.)
  • BARNYARD BANTER by Denise Fleming.
  • BROWN BEAR BROWN BEAR WHAT DO YOU SEE? by Bill Martin.
  • BUSY LIZZIE by Holly Keller.
  • CORDUROY by Don Freeman.
  • THE COUNTRY BUNNY AND THE LITTLE GOLDEN SHOES by Du Bose Heyward.
  • DOG’S COLORFUL DAY by Emma Dodd.  (As you mention each animal, the child comes up with the piece.)
  • DRUMMER HOFF by Barbara Emberley.
  • THE ELEPHANT IN A WELL by Marie Hall Ets.
  • THE ENORMOUS CARROT by Vladimir Vagin.
  • THE FAT CAT by Jack Kent.  (Kids remember the name of each character who gets eaten by the cat, as well as cat’s refrain as he eats them.)
  • FIVE LITTLE MONKEYS JUMPING ON THE BED by Eileen Christelow.
  • FREIGHT TRAIN by Donald Crews.
  • FROGGY GETS DRESSED by Jonathan London.  (The kids get to put on his socks, boots, coat, hat, scarf.)
  • THE FUNNY THINGS by Wanda Gag.  (Make the tail on the animal so it can “grow” by making the tail separate and feed it through a slot on the body.)
  • GO AWAY, BIG GREEN MONSTER by Ed Emberley.
  • GOODNIGHT MOON by Margaret Wise Brown.
  • GOOD NIGHT OWL by Pat Hutchins.
  • GOSSIE by Oliver Dunrea.
  • HELLO, GOODBYE by David Lloyd.  (Opportunity for lots of participation.)
  • A HOUSE FOR HERMIT CRAB by Eric Carle.
  • HOW DO I PUT IT ON? by Shigeo Watanabe.  (Dress him “wrong” first, and then let the kids tell me how to do it -it’s a favorite!)
  • IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE by Laura Joffe Numeroff.
  • IN A SMALL, SMALL POND by Denise Fleming.
  • IT LOOKED LIKE SPILT MILK by Charles Shaw.
  • THE JACKET I WEAR IN THE SNOW by Shirley Neitzel.
  • JESSE BEAR WHAT WILL YOU WEAR? by Nancy White Carlstrom.
  • JOSEPH HAD A LITTLE OVERCOAT by Simms Taback.
  • JUMP, FROG, JUMP! by Robert Kalan.
  • JUST ENOUGH TO MAKE A STORY by Nancy Schimmel.  (Make the tailor like a paper doll and peel off the layers as he remakes his coat, jacket, vest, etc.)
  • A KISS FOR LITTLE BEAR by Else Holmelund Minarik.
  • KNOCK KNOCK, by Anthony Browne.
  • LITTLE GORILLA by Ruth Bornstein.
  • THE LITTLE OLD LADY WHO WAS NOT AFRAID OF ANYTHING by Linda Williams.
  • THE LITTLE RED RABBIT WHO WANTED RED WINGS by Margaret Zemach.
  • LISA CAN’T SLEEP by Kaj Beckman.
  • LUNCH by Denise Fleming.
  • MASTER OF ALL MASTERS by Joseph Jacobs.
  • MAYBE A MONSTER by Martha G. Alexander.
  • THE MILLER, THE BOY & THE DONKEY by Brian Wildsmith.
  • THE MITTEN by Alvin Tresselt or Jan Brett.
  • MIXED UP CHAMELEON by Eric Carle.
  • MONKEY & THE CROCODILE by Paul Galdone.
  • MONKEY FACE by Frank Asch.
  • MOTHER, MOTHER, I WANT ANOTHER by Maria Polushkin.
  • MOUSE PAINT by Ellen Walsh.
  • MR. GUMPY’S OUTING by John Burningham.
  • MY RIVER by Shari Halpern.
  • THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING RED MITTEN.by Steven Kellogg.  (Hide each of the false alarms – sweater, boot, etc. – under the item connected to the activity. Have the mitten on the smallest sized snowman and layer larger, less-melted snowmen on top so that they can be peeled off to reveal the “mystery.”)
  • THE NAPPING HOUSE by Audrey Wood.
  • ONE MONDAY MORNING by Uri Shulevitz.
  • “PARDON?” SAID THE GIRAFFE by Colin West.
  • PETUNIA by Roger Duvoisin.
  • PIGGY IN THE PUDDLE by Charlotte Pomeranz.
  • POLAR BEAR, POLAR BEAR, WHAT DO YOU HEAR? by Bill Martin.
  • SAM WHO NEVER FORGETS BY EVE RICE.
  • THE SINGING CHICK by Victoria Stenmark.
  • SPLASH! by Ann Jonas.
  • SPOTS, FEATHERS AND CURLY TAILS by Nancy Tafuri.
  • THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT by Beatrix Potter.
  • THE THREE BEARS by Byron Barton.
  • TOO MUCH NOISE by Ann McGovern.  (Kids make all the animal sounds and hold their hands to ears on the refrain “It’s Too Noisy” which gets progressively louder each time.)
  • THE VERY BUSY SPIDER by Eric Carle.
  • THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR by Eric Carle.  (Kids identify and count each food and say the refrain.)
  • WHO SANK THE BOAT? by Pamela Allen.
  • WHO TOOK THE FARMERS HAT? by Joan M. Lexau.
  • “YOU LOOK RIDICULOUS,” SAID THE RHINOCEROS TO THE HIPPOPOTAMUS by Bernard Waber.

Classic Stories by Various Authors:

  • Chicken Little
  • The Gingerbread Man
  • Goldilocks and the Three Bears
  • The Great Big Enormous Turnip
  • Hickory Dickory Dock
  • Hush Little Baby
  • Little Red Hen
  • Little Red Riding Hood
  • Mama’s Going To Buy You a Mockingbird
  • Mary Had a Little Lamb
  • Old MacDonald Had a Farm
  • Over in the Meadow
  • Stone Soup (Great for interactive involvement. Pass out vegetables and let each child bring up a vegetable as it is mentioned for the soup, although it’s more fun to bring in pot, 3 stones and the actual veggies!)
  • There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly
  • The Three Billy Goats Gruff
  • Wide Mouth Frog
  • The Teeny Tiny Woman
  • The Three Bears
  • The Three Billy Goats Gruff
  • The Three Little Kittens
  • The Three Little Pigs
  • The Three Wishes
  • The Pancake