Rob Reid (2)Critiques

Rob Reid functions on the assumption that one of the only ways to truly get a child’s attention is to make them laugh. In his book, Something Funny Happened at the Library: How to Create Humorous Programs for Children and Young Adults, he provides ideas for programs for different age levels, listing several examples of programs he’s used in his own practice. He also includes book titles matching his themes, songs, poetry, games, and any physical or craft-making activity that might correspond with each idea.
Many of his suggestions are easy to adapt and could be effective: for younger children, for example, librarians can change lyrics to familiar songs to fit in with the theme of your storytime. For older children, his suggestions begin to lose traction, like proclaiming that programs need a “snappy name” to attract their attention. Reid incorporates many comedic references that his adult readers may remember, but it is guaranteed that the children will not know how to read a script in a “Dragnet” voice. Nor will children have interest in--or a need to--create a funny answering machine message for their family. Many of his jokes are real eye-rollers (Library raps? Egads.), and not every librarian will share his sense of humor. The most valuable resource for librarians is the list of humorous books provided in the index, many titles which will most likely exist in their collections.

A fun fun bibliography that you can hand to a teacher, parent volunteer, a library assistant, teachers, older kids (to read to younger ones), school visitors and yourself to charm the funny bone of a group of listeners.

Storytime programs provide young children with early exposure to books and libraries as well support the development of intrinsic enjoyment and fulfillment associated with reading. Programming books such as Storytime Slam provide a framework from which library professionals can construct engaging, well-sequenced sessions. Preceded by a brief introduction with a first-person account of the purpose and goals of the book, the table of contents outlines the diverse array of topics addressed in the 15 lessons, such as: “B is for Bulldozer,” “Just Ducky,” “I’m Telling! Tales of Naughty Children and Animals,” and “Oh, No! Stories and Activities that Feature the Letter O.” An explicit, consistent format is reinforced throughout each lesson and begins with a summary paragraph explaining the topic. Picture books, music activities, and in some cases poems, movement activities, fingerplay activities, and craft projects follow in alternating chunks, illustrating the suggested structure of the 30-minute programs. Basic bibliographic information is provided for each of the recently published (2000-2006) books introduced in the lesson along with a concise description of the storyline. In addition, back-up and “throw-back” book lists are provided. Musical activities are fully described with lyrics, tune (paralleled with common songs), accompanying movements, and resources (albums) for locating a recording of the songs. With its wealth of literary resources and imaginative activities, this programming book provides detailed scaffolding for library personnel seeking to create entertaining and educational lessons for preschool and primary storytime.

Gives great ideas for read-alouds; very specific and well organized.

I ended toddler storytime with this one, and it worked out really well. A LOT of the adults joined in the singing and the kids joined in on the "extras" that you shout at the end of the lines.

There is always room for another recommended list of rea-alouds. This one, creadted by this popular author covers a wide variety of titles, grade levels, and interests. The main part of the book gives you a summary of the title and there are indexes galore to help you find just the right title within the collection. Highly recommended.

Dozens of ready-to-do picture book programs with activities and activities can be given to a parent or paraprofessional to do with children in either school or public libraries. Recommended.

Classroom teachers, music teachers, and librarians would often like to integrate music into lessons, play, and topical activities if they just knew the right song and have it available at the right time. Combine an iPod with this book and you have a solution. The authors have indexed hundreds of children’s recordings under topical headings. They have also provided a number of sources to download or purchase downloads of the songs they list. So, for example, if you were doing a lesson on friendship and wanted to include a song, you would find a number of possible songs listed under that topic, go to the Internet and listen until you found one you liked, download it to your iPod or to your computer for fee or for free, and then use it in your lesson with the children. If this sounds like something that you would use, then this is an excellent resource. Recommended.

24 creative programs; booklists & theme ideas + songs

3.00

A wonderful resource for storytime programs suitable for the whole family. Some themes are standard, while others are zany, such as "Mouthsounds" (about making sound effects) and "Altered Endings & Twisted Tales." For each of the 24 themes, Reid includes a combination of suggested books, crafts, felt or string stories, fingerplays, movement activities, poems, reader's theater scripts, riddles, songs, and videos. Each program outline is followed by lively annotations and performance suggestions. A final "Mix and Match" section includes alternatives for adapting programs to suit personal style.