There are more books on Chinese New Year than the New Year that takes place on December 31st- at least at my library, but there are enough picture books to do a New Year’s Storytime. Add books on the twelve months, an important Kindergarten Readiness element, and you have plenty of choices. For a craft, you can decorate computer-printed calendars. Or, make Christmas Craft Crackers: put a small prize and some confetti inside a toilet paper roll, then wrap in colored tissue paper. Tie the ends with ribbon, and cut the paper sticking out of the ends into fringe. Everyone grabs one and pulls open the ends, and gets a prize!
Carlstrom, Nancy. HOW DO YOU SAY IT TODAY, JESSE BEAR? Short rhyming verse describes the twelve months.
Day, Nancy Raines. A KITTEN’S YEAR. A kitten grows into a cat over a year, focusing on the activities of the cat each month.
Grifalconi, Ann. THE BRAVEST FLUTE: A STORY OF COURAGE IN THE MAYAN TRADITION. In a tradition for the New Year, a young Mayan boy leads a procession down a mountainous trail to the cathedral.
Katz, Karen. TWELVE HATS FOR LENA: A BOOK OF MONTHS. Lena creates a new hat for each month of the year. The hats can inspire a simple paper hat craft!
Martin, Bill. THE TURNING OF THE YEAR. Soft paintings illustrate each short verse that describes a month of the year.
Modell, Frank. GOODBYE OLD YEAR, HELLO NEW YEAR. Martin and Milton are too young to stay up until midnight, so they greet the New Year at dawn and wake up the neighbors!
Piernas-Davenport, Gail. SHANTE KEYS AND THE NEW YEAR’S PEAS. Going from neighbor to neighbor to borrow black eyed peas for New Year’s, a little girl learns about the holiday’s traditions around the world.
Rockwell, Anne. BEAR CHILD’S BOOK OF DAYS. A brief description of days and months of the year.
Sendak, Maurice. CHICKEN SOUP WITH RICE. This classic is available in a Big Book edition, with humorous rhymes for each month.
Updike, John. A CHILD’S CALENDAR. A short poem describes each month.
Ziefert, Harriet. FIRST NIGHT. A little girl leads the town’s New Year’s parade.
Also see the previous New Years Day storytime ideas page from December 1999.