Celebrate the made-up holiday of Backwards Day with funny books that encourage children’s imagination. You can also emphasize the concept of opposites using this theme. Sing Jim Gill’s “Backwards Day,” or do the “Hokey Pokey” but use the opposite of what is sung, such as your foot instead of your hand. For a craft project, make “Shoe Hats” by cutting out shoe pictures and stapling them to headbands.
App: Don’t Let the Pigeon run This App!
Carle, Eric. THE MIXED-UP CHAMELEON. A chameleon wishes he could be like other animals but is soon convinced his color-changing talent is a worthy quality.
Cyrus, TANGLE TOWN. The mayor can’t open his door, so he calls for help in this silly story with great wordplay.
Denim, Sue. MAKE WAY FOR DUMB BUNNIES. With clever cartoon illustrations by Dav Pilkey, the Dumb Bunnies do many things backwards or wrong.
Kraus, Ruth. THE BACKWARD DAY. In this classic picture book first published in 1950, a little boy does everything backwards.
Merola, Caroline. THE STORY STARTS HERE. A wolf insists his book start on the back page, and he continues doing things in a contrary way, such as wearing pants on his head.
Most, Bernard. THE COW THAT WENT OINK. The audience will call out the animal sounds in this story that promotes the importance of being bilingual.
Newton, Teddy. DAY & NIGHT. Two blobby creatures represent the title concepts in this book that shows opposites can cooperate.
Rosenthal, Amy K. DUCK! RABBIT! In this clever picture book, the main character could be a duck or a rabbit, depending upon how you view the pictures.
Stevens, Janet. TOPS AND BOTTOMS. Based on an Uncle Remus tale, a rabbit gets the bear to let him keep all the parts of the vegetables that are under the ground.
Wood, Audrey. SILLY SALLY. In this cumulative story, the title character walks to town backwards and upside-down.
Also see the previous Backwards Day storytime ideas page from June 2003.