Preschool Storytime Ideas
El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day)
Even those working at a small library can do a simple El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day) storytime. If you have some Spanish-speaking parents, you can do a bilingual storytime with a library staff member or volunteer who can do the Spanish part if you don’t feel comfortable speaking Spanish. You can even do the storytime in English if that is what works best for your community; the idea is to promote reading and books. Make it a party, with craft projects and simple refreshments at the end of the storytime to give it a “party” feel.
Bloom, Becky. WOLF! With the help of some farm animals, a wolf learns to read.
Bruss, Deborah. BOOK! BOOK! BOOK! The animals are bored, so they visit the library.
Bunting, Eve. OUR LIBRARY. Miss Goose tells the animals the library is in need of repair or it will close, so they look in books for solutions to this problem.
Christelow, Eileen. FIVE LITTLE MONKEYS READING IN BED. The five little monkeys won’t go to sleep because they want one more book before bedtime.
Faller, Regis. POLO, THE RUNAWAY BOOK. An alien takes Polo’s book in this nearly wordless story.
Fore, S.J. READ TO TIGER. Tiger distracts the young boy trying to read a book, but listens when he discovers the book is about a circus tiger. With lots of sound effects words.
Gore, Leonid. THE WONDERFUL BOOK. Forest animals wonder what the red square object is for, until a boy comes along to read stories from it.
Harris, Robie. MAYBE A BEAR ATE IT! With a very brief text that will even engage toddlers, a little creature imagines what has happened to his missing book.
Hills, Tad. HOW ROCKET LEARNED TO READ. A yellow bird decides to help a small white dog learn to read.
McQuinn, Anna. LOLA LOVES STORIES. A little girl enjoys visiting the library each Saturday with her father, who reads aloud to her.
Mora, Pat. BOOK FIESTA! In this brief but joyful bilingual picture book, Mora celebrates children and their books, in this perfect complement to Dia De Los Ninos. The colorful illustrations by Rafael Lopez are equally celebratory.
Mora, Pat. GRACIAS THANKS. A young boy describes things he is thankful for, including books and reading, in this simple bilingual book.
Parr, Todd. READING MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD. With his signature boldly colored illustrations, Parr demonstrates the many positive aspects of reading.
Schoenherr, Ian. READ IT, DON’T EAT IT! Animals explain how to take care of library books in this very simple rhyming tale (and perfect choice for a preschool library tour).
Yates, Louise. DOG LOVES BOOKS. Dog loves books so much he opens a book store.
Yolen, Jane. BABY BEAR’S BOOKS. A rhyming tale of a bear who loves books.