Welcome Back! - A My Name is Alice

Our library has our family story times in the evening, one time per week, during the fall/winter and winter/spring "semesters".  During the summer, we devote our time to the summer reading program which includes story times as well. 

We take about a month off or so between summer reading and when family story time begins, normally after school begins and after the Labor Day holiday. 

We promote the beginning of our story times in the library, of course, with bookmarks, posters, handouts, etc.  We also promote in our local newspaper and radio station.  Posters get hung up in the downtown area of our town in the stores, and we take handouts to all the elementary schools for the kids to take home to their parents.  All in all, I do think we do a pretty good job of promoting out story times, and we have not changed the day of the week or the time for quite a few years.  We have a pretty good, faithful group of families who come fairly regularly, with a new family joining in every now and again.  We can always take more though :)

For the Welcome Back! Story Time, I wanted to do something with names.  The book that came to mind was A My Name is Alice, but unfortunately, believe it or not, we didn't have a copy of the book. It had apparently gotten weeded.  I love this book!  So, I didn't change my "theme" but just used other 'name' books.

Books:
My Name is Elizabeth, by Dunkle
Chrysanthemum, by Henkes
Naming the Cat, by Pringle

Song:
"Willoughby Wallaby Woo"

Willoughby, wallaby we
An elephant sat on me,
~ I point to me

Willoughby, wallaby woo,
An elephant sat on you
~point to group of kids

Willoughby, wallaby wandy,
An elephant sat on Andy!
~move from child to child through the whole song...)

Willoughby, wallaby wed,
An elephant sat on Ed

Willoughby, wallaby wusAn elephant sat on US~fall backwards flat

Craft:
Tonight was a very simple, very basic item...we made a reading log for each of the months for the kids to color in a picture to keep track of the books they read. When they fill up their page for each month, they will get to come in an pick a small little token.  We put them in a large folded piece of construction paper, stapled it like a book, and decorate the cover with their name and a picture.