Storytime Magic

Today, while leading storytime at Falmouth Elementary Preschool, we read some really wonderful books and had such a magical time. The overall theme was rhythm. After singing our hello song, borrowed from Kindermusik, we read “How to Sing a Song” by Kwame Alexander & Randy Preston, illustrated by Melissa Sweet. This book requires the presenter to really commit to a dramatic vocal interpretation. It begins by noticing the small things and feeling them deeply within. The intensity builds with each page, and by the end, a symphony of self-induced song leaves everyone listening with chills.

That’s how it went for me today. It was so magical. This book’s final words include “just sing, sing, sing, sing a song,” and so we sang, “Sing, Sing a Song” by the Carpenters. I used only the one line, “Sing, sing a song, make it simple, to last your whole life long, don’t worry that it’s not good enough for anyone else to hear, just sing, sing a song.” I repeat that while I hand out the egg shakers. Then we move on to other activities with the egg shakers. Alternatively, egg shakers could be handed out after the book and then used with the linked video of the song.

Our second book today was “Still This Love Goes On” by Buffy Sainte-Marie, a Cree artist. There is music in the back of the book, and it can be sung. Today, I read it as a poetry performance piece, like our previous book. The link above is a video of the book being sung with acoustic guitar accompaniment. Eighteen preschoolers and three teachers were mesmerized by my reading. When I finished, there was a pregnant pause, a sacred silence. Then one little boy whispered, “That was a great book.” Chills! Again! This is the magic of storytime! It is the reason we do this job.