Silly Storytime Ideas

Silly Stories for School Visits

 

Already planning for classes who visit your library on field trips? These silly stories will be surefire winners for reading aloud and for booktalking, for classes kindergarten through grade 3:

• Allard, Harry. THE STUPIDS. With the hilarious illustrations by James Marshall, this series is an obvious inspiration for “Captain Underpants.”
• Asbjorsen, Peter. THE MAN WHO KEPT HOUSE. Based on the Norse tale of the man who was a disaster at housework.
• Birdseye, Tom. SOAP, SOAP, DON’T FORGET THE SOAP! A silly Appalachian tale.
• Charlip, Remy. MOTHER MOTHER I FEEL SICK. From the Bay Area author/illustrator.
• Clements, Andrew. DOUBLE TROUBLE IN WALLA WALLA. People fall into double-talk in this cartoonish story.
• Compton, Joanne. ASHPET. The classic Appalachian tale.
• Cyrus, Kurt. TANGLE TOWN. When the mayor’s yelling is misunderstood, silliness ensues.
• Ehrlich, Amy. PARENTS IN THE PIGPEN. A fun, exciting story with lots of wordplay.
• French, Vivian. LAZY JACK. The classic folktale of the dolt who succeeds without really trying.
• Gerstein, Mordicai. STOP THOSE PANTS! A boy’s pants run amuck.
• Grossman, Bill. DONNA O’NEESHCUK WAS CHASED BY SOME COWS. Cows seek out Donna because of her well-loved pats on the head.
• Grossman, Bill. MY LITTLE SISTER ATE ONE HARE. Already a storytime favorite, this spoofs “I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly” while teaching counting!
• Hoberman, Mary Ann. SEVEN SILLY EATERS. A patient mother prepares special food for each of her seven picky-eaters.
• Lum, Kate. WHAT! CRIED GRANNY. Granny makes everything from scratch, including building a bed, to make her grandchild’s overnight enjoyable.
• Mahy, Margaret. THE GREAT WHITE MAN-EATING SHARK. Norman poses as a shark to have all the swimming area to himself.
• Root, Phyllis. TURNOVER TUESDAY. After eating turnovers, a little girl cannot stop flipping somersaults.
• Scheer, Julian. RAIN MAKES APPLESAUCE. A Caldecott Honor book full of nonsequiturs.
• Schneider, Christine. PICKY MRS. PICKLE. Mrs. Pickle won’t eat anything that isn’t green.
• Shannon, David. A BAD CASE OF STRIPES. A girl wakes up with a rainbow of stripes on her skin.
• Shannon, David. NO, DAVID! A wacky look at an exuberant little boy.
• Shannon, David. DAVID GOES TO SCHOOL. That same energetic boy goes to school.
• Simon, Francesca. TOPSY TURVIES. A family wakes at midnight, combs their hair with forks, and does other “backwards” things.
• Small, David. IMOGENE’S ANTLERS. A girl wakes one day with a full set of moose-like antlers.
• Westcott, Nadine B. THE LADY WITH THE ALLIGATOR PURSE. The silly song done with cartoon illustrations.
• Wood, Audrey. KING BIDGOOD’S IN THE BATHTUB. The kids will chant along with this story.
• Wood, Audrey. SILLY SALLY. Silly Sally walks to town, backwards and upside down.
• Yektai, Nikki. WHAT’S SILLY? A game of guessing what is wrong in each illustration.

August, 2000