children’s librarians

When award-winning author and teacher Alayne Kay Christian agreed to write a guest post for Frog on a Blog, I was so excited! Her latest picture book Turkey On the Run! will be officially released on September 29th, but you can preorder it now. This action-packed book is perfect for Thanksgiving, and should appeal especially to vegetarians, to people who’d prefer to dine on something a little different from the usual main dish of the holiday, and, of course, to kids who love animals.

Alayne specifically wanted to write about fun activities that teachers and librarians can use with their kids while sharing her book. But parents can take advantage of the activities as well, perhaps on Thanksgiving or in a party setting. Here she offers a cornucopia of ideas, including a simple “theatre” play and several bonus activities. Plus, she has even more to explore in the teacher’s guides on her website. Let’s hear from Alayne!

Thank you for having me as a guest on your blog. Today, I am offering some fun activity ideas for teachers and parents to go along with my latest picture book Turkey On the Run! Following is the Penguin Random House description to give you a sense of what the book is about and why these activities would work well.

“A feather-filled fiasco about a turkey determined to see the dawn of another Thanksgiving Day. As the whole town gives chase, this plucky bird dashes, dodges, and schemes his way towards freedom, only to discover that what waits at the end of the dining tale might not be as disastrous as he originally suspected. Told in bouncy, rhyming verse that fans of The Gingerbread Man will gobble right up, this spirited twist on the traditional holiday tale is stuffed with humor, heart, and holiday cheer.”

Here’s a little slideshow sneak peek of Turkey On the Run!:

Turkey On the Run! is a perfect book to encourage fun and creative acting and playing for children. I hope some or all of the variations I offer below will encourage creativity, expression, listening, observing, and more from the children who participate. Also, I hope that this is just the beginning, and the ideas here spark additional ideas from your creative and teaching spirit.

The basic idea for most of the variations below is that children will either say, “Run, run, run as fast as you can. You won’t catch me for your roasting pan.” or shout “Wait!” If the situation allows, they can also act via motion and facial expressions, and so on.

1)Print out Turkey On the Run! character sheets (below).

TURKEY ON THE RUN! PUPPET CHARACTER SHEETS Download

2)Decide how students will display their character. On a paddle sign. On a headband. Clipped or pinned to clothing. As a hand puppet. Or simply hold it.

3)To make a simple hand puppet, roll the printout of the character into a tube and tape it together. Pinch the top of the tube and tape it closed. Slip the tube over child’s hand. (See the photo below.)

4)Assign children (or teams) a character role OR let children draw from a hat.

5)Reader will be the narrator that tells the story until it becomes the character’s chance to speak and act.

6)Determine how you want the children to present the play. Do you want them to actually chase Turkey around a defined area? Do you want the puppet holders to sit or stand in a circle and do a minimal chase with their arms, while maybe running in place with their feet? The actions will be up to you. Actions could include characters dropping an item and the next character picking the item up. The items dropped in the book are gloves, bandana, apron, and hat.

7)At the turning point of the story (the bakery scene), it will likely be easier if the narrator speaks for Turkey while the child acts. The child who plays the Turkey character might act out Turkey’s fear at the bakery, and his excitement at the race, and his concern on the final page.

8)You can take advantage of the “Run, run, run” sign and the “Wait!” sign that I have created by printing it out (perhaps making an easy grasp paddle to glue it to) and then hold each one up to prompt your different actors to speak. (See the signs below.)

Signs

BONUS ONE: DISCUSS THE STORY

After the play, you may want to consider this list of questions (below) for comprehension, observation, inference to help discuss the story on a deeper level. Some of the questions will require a closer look at the illustrations to help the children discover through observation. This list is from my Turkey On the Run! Teacher’s Guide/Classroom Companion One, which you can find on my website.

Quesions for students Turkey On the Run!Download

PLAY VARIATIONS

TEAMS: Instead of individuals, you could have character teams, so each team would say their assigned character’s part together and do any actions decided upon ahead of time.

MUSICAL CHAIRS/TURKEY TROT CHAIR RACE: If it is a small group, and you don’t have space for a fun chase, you could do a musical chairs type thing. So, as the story advances, every time Turkey says, “Run, run, run as fast as you can. You won’t catch me for your roasting pan.” the characters start going around the chairs. You will always have one chair less than the number of characters. The last character seated is the winner of the Turkey Trot Chair Race.

You will most likely want to start the chase first with a warning such as “1, 2, 3!” Before you start the “Run, run, run as fast as you can. You won’t catch me for your roasting pan.” refrain. And you may want to end the chase by saying, “Wait!” or “Stop.”

FULL PARTICIPATION

You may want to use the Turkey “Run, run, run” sign along with the “Wait!” sign after you divide the children into two groups. As you read the book, one group will recite the “Run, run, run” lines when you hold up the Turkey sign. The other group will shout, “Wait!” when you hold up the wait sign.

BONUS TWO: TURKEY DAY

Have children wear something to represent a turkey. It could be a turkey hat or shirt. Fall colors like the colors in the book. A pin. A necklace. A sticker. A temporary tattoo. Anything that says “turkey.” Then make it a turkey day by reading the book and doing a turkey craft or doing some of the many activities in my teacher’s guides. You can find a list of links to Turkey and Fall crafts in my Turkey On the Run! Teacher’s Guide/Classroom Companion Two, which you can find on my website.

BONUS THREE: MODIFIED DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE

If you have the space, a great game for Turkey Day is a modified version of Duck, Duck, Goose. The child goes around the circle tapping heads and repeating “turkey” until they tap and say “Run!” And the chase begins.

BONUS FOUR: THANKSGIVING THANKFUL STORIES OR CARDS

The perfect way to end Turkey Day could be to talk about the times in the story that Turkey might be thankful. Then have children either write and illustrate a short story about something they are thankful for. Or you could have the children make a Thanksgiving card for someone to let them know why they are thankful for them. It doesn’t necessarily have to be someone close to them. It could be someone that impacts their lives like trash collectors, wait staff, mailperson, doctor, and so on.

TURKEY ON THE RUN TEACHER’S GUIDES/CLASSROOM COMPANIONS

Visit my website to find worksheets and activities for compare and contrast, character sequencing, cause and effect, vocabulary, crossword puzzles, word scramble, word search, creating, writing, drawing, alphabetizing, foods, thankful story, maze, crafts, bingo and more!

Alayne Kay Christian is an award-winning author, a former acquisitions editor, and a writing teacher. Her picture books include An Old Man and His Penguin: How Dindim Made João Pereira de Souza an Honorary Penguin; The Weed That Woke Christmas: The Mostly True Story of the Toledo Christmas Weed; and Turkey On the Run!

Born in the Rockies, raised in Chicago, and now a true-blue Texan, Alayne’s writing conveys her creative spirit, a bit of her funny bone, and the kinship to nature and humanity that lives within her heart. She is available for school visits both via Zoom or in-person and will work with teachers and or school to customize the visit to their needs.

To learn more about Alayne, visit her website and blog at . . .

Website: https://alaynekaychristianauthor.com

Blog: https://alaynekaychristian.wordpress.com/

You can find and follow Alayne on social media at . . .

X: @alayne_kay

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alaynekay.christian

Bluesky: @alaynekaychristian.bsky.social

Facebook Author’s Page: https://www.facebook.com/AlayneKayChristianAuthor/

Amazon Author’s Page: https://amazon.com/author/alayne_kay_christian

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6yndWtpXwX6CIRoFi7X4g

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alaynekay/

Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/alayne-kay-christian/12/168/525/

Children’s Librarians (from left to right) Emily and Jennifer

Two of the busiest staff members at the Community Library of DeWitt & Jamesville are the children’s librarians, Jenny Burke and Emily Wormuth. They’re gearing up for the craziest time of the year, summer, when the Library draws in hundreds of kids for the Summer Reading Program. Right now, Jenny and Emily are in the midst of visiting local schools, telling the kids all about the myriad of events and activities the Library has lined up–all summer long–from the end of June until the end of August. School visits are also a great time to introduce the kids to some of the cool things the Library has to offer everyday.

Of course, Jenny and Emily are busy the rest of the year too, presenting daily story times, special themed events, and lots of opportunities for kids to engage in reading, learning, crafting, dancing, and having fun. They also help patrons find just the right books.

Aside from all of that, they make purchasing decisions, choosing books and media that they believe will be good additions to the Library’s children’s collection. Picture books make up a large portion of the items that they order. Lucky for us, Jenny and Emily found some time to answer a few questions about picture books!

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Q. How do you decide whether or not to purchase a particular picture book for the library’s collection? What criteria do you use?

Jenny: I follow my library’s collection development policy in choosing books to purchase for the Children’s Collection. I want to ensure our collection meets the needs of our community, is well rounded, and appeals to a variety of people. I focus on books I know will be popular with kids, whether it’s because of a subject area, popular author or series.

Q. How important are reviews, such as those found in Kirkus Reviews or School Library Journal, in making a purchasing decision?

Jenny: Pretty important. I’d say the majority of my book selections come from reviews in Kirkus Reviews and School Library Journal. Like most public libraries, I have a set budget for the year that I need to adhere to, so I want to focus monies on books that are well-reviewed or that I know our patrons will want. But, the review journals are just a guiding point. I will purchase books that kids ask for, or I know are popular series.

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Q. How do you use picture books in story-time settings? And for different age groups?

Jenny: No matter how old they are, kids love being read aloud to! At the library, I do story time for ages 0-5 and one for preschoolers ages 3-5. For these ages, I choose picture books with a rhyming quality, or sing-along books – they love those! Basically, you want less text and engaging illustrations, so you can talk about what is going on in the story. For older age groups, I still use that model, but will pick picture books that may be longer. You can’t lose with a funny story, I’ve found!

Emily: The best picture books for story time are the ones with big, beautiful pictures and an easy-to-follow story. Our story times are organized by age, so we choose books that are appropriate for that particular age. I present the Babies and Books story time, so I’m looking for books with fewer words, bolder pictures and repetitive language. I love it when the kids can read the book along with me.

Q. How do you choose your story-time themes? Do you always have a theme?

Jenny: Themes are a guiding point for me. I pick them based upon the season, what I’ve done in the past that’s successful, or sometimes I’ll find books and base a theme upon the book. I don’t always have a theme, but when I do, it helps me plan my songs, rhymes, and crafts. That being said, I don’t let the theme dictate what I’m doing in story time. Sometimes I find books that I just want to read aloud and I go with it!

Emily: I find it easier to put a story time together if I’m working with a theme. I can then choose books, music and activities that follow that theme. I think it’s easier for the children to actively participate if there’s a theme. “What animal are we going to sing about today?” “Elephants!” shout the toddlers. After doing this for a few years, Jenny and I both have a pretty good idea of what books and materials we have to support a theme, so that helps when we’re choosing themes. It’s best not to get too complicated; animal, trucks and seasonal themes all work well. For example, we always do an Apple Picking story time in the fall because that’s an activity many kids are doing.

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Q. Is there anything you’d like to see more of in picture books published today-either fiction or nonfiction (e.g. subject matter, characters, settings, themes, concepts, etc.)?

Jenny: With the We Need Diverse Books campaign, I’ve seen some great books – both fiction and nonfiction – that have been published in the past couple of years. Keep ‘em coming! We need their stories, now more than ever.

Emily: I love books about girls doing things we (traditionally, unfairly) associate with boys. Bring on the books about women truck drivers and construction workers. And kids love books about misbehaving children, but they’re often too often boys.

Thank you, Jenny and Emily, for taking time out of your busy schedules to talk picture books! Hooray for children’s librarians and all that they do for kids in our communities!

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