This week, I am a guest writer for the Book to Boogie Project, which is a component of the Library as Incubator website. Book to Boogie explores books that can inspire movement activities during library storytime or in other venues with young children.
My post explores the playful book Dance with Me.
Click here to read the post.
——————–
I was thrilled to stumble upon Phyllis Root's book Flip, Flap, Fly! at the library this week. This book is perfect for a parent/child dance class with children ages 1-4.
The story explores numerous pairings – of a baby animal and its mother (fish, snake, bird, otter, etc). Each spread shares a different animal, and how the two move together.
The text can easily lead to an improvisational warm up or dance.
"Wiggle!" hisses baby snake.
"Wiggle with a squiggle!"
So the mama helps the baby snake
ziggle zaggle wiggle
Have fun dancing together in a variety of ways. Let's flip, flap, fly…..let's splish, splash, swim.
———————-
I am proud to share my post on the Book to Boogie Blog today. I wrote about the fun and playful picture book Tip Tip Dig Dig by Emma Garcia. It is a great book to explore at a library during storytime, in parent/child dance classes, and in preschool dance classes.
Read the blog here.
How can preschool story times include movement?
The Book to Boogie Project offers more ideas for the intersection of reading and dancing. Maria Hanley's recent post shares ideas to explore with Harold and the Purple Crayon. Check it out!
Not That Tutu!, by Michelle Sinclair Colman and illustrator Hiroe Nakata, is a great new book for little ones ages 1-5. It is actually in board book format.
The story has a common theme many little ones can relate to – wearing a tutu everywhere you go until it gets ragged and you must find something new and special to wear all of the time. The text and characters are playful as they say "not again" to Taylor, the main character, as she continues to wear her beloved tutu here and there.
I suggest this book for reading at home as well as at a dance studio.
*This is a reposting of a blog post from 2011.
As we head towards Sunday, May 12th, there are two great books to share about a child and mother dancing:
My Mama Had a Dancing Heart by Libba Moore Gray
Jonathan and His Mommy by Irene Smalls-Hector
My Mama Had a Dancing Heart is a sweet tale through the seasons of a girl dancing with her mother. The book is ideal to read in a preschool, kindergarten, or first grade classroom.
Jonathan and His Mommy is a picture book with a young boy dancing with his mother. They explore different ways of moving around town – big steps, zig zag walks, and more. After reading this book, you can easily translate this story into a dance. It is ideal for preschool and kindergarten age students.
Today's post is about a book with a simple but important mesage for young ones – thinking about and making art. The book explores multiple art forms, not just dance. The text is simple and in phrases…."Brainstorm…Blank Page….Scene set…Onstage…."
Think Big by Liz Garton Scanlon and Vanessa Brantley Newton is a great addition to preschool and kindergarten bookshelves. It pairs nice with the book To Be an Artist for students in first grade and up.
Let's make the language of artmaking an integral part of preK and kindergarten classrooms!
I was happy to stumble upon this book as well today at the library! Sora and the Cloud by Felicia Hoshino is a beautiful book in English and Japanese.
Sora is a little boy who dreams of being up in the clouds. The book is playful and imaginative in text and watercolor artwork. The story will easily lend itself to movement exploration of clouds, high and low levels, delicate movement, and more.
Sora and the Cloud will be a fun exploration with students in preschool and kindergarten.
I recently checked out the 1996 book Mimi's Tutu from the local library. I encourage you to check it out too, or buy it used from amazon.com. It is a lovely, unique picture book by Tynia Thomassie, with illustrations by Jan Spivey Gilchrist.
The main character, a young girl lovingly called Mimi, grows up in a family that loves music and dancing. Mimi observes the women in her family dancing together in African dance classes. One day another young girl shows up as well, but this time she is wearing a tulle tutu. Mimi wants to dance, and to wear a special outfit as well. Her family gives her her own lapa – a traditional African skirt. She proudly wears it and dances.
Mimi's Tutu is a great book to share with young children ages 3-8. It is a great story celebrating a young child's cultural history.
The other morning, we had a little yoga session at home with my 5 and 7 year old sons.
We used two books as our springboards for movement.
First, we used the Kid Moves Preschooler book as inspiration – simply looking at the images and me reading some of the text. Even my first grader still enjoys this book.
Second, we read Baron Baptiste's My Daddy is a Pretzel. It has a cute, simple storyline to help inspire the poses. "Niki says her mommy's a gardener. Sometimes, my daddy's a tree (leading into the tree pose)."
In My Daddy is a Pretzel, there are playful illustrations and clear instructions for parents and teachers new to teaching yoga poses.
Both books demonstrate the simple power and novelty of using a book as a springboard for movement. Kids like mine enjoy the visual component of the books, supporting their movement experience.
Dancing Words Blog 