Hello, I'm Patrick Adams. And I am Caroline Legere.
And this is Librarians of Littles, a podcast
where we review books, share makerspace ideas,
and give tips and tricks for working with our
youngest learners in the library setting. Today,
we have two really fun books to share with you,
the first of which is How to Make a Peanut Butter
Sandwich in 17 Easy Steps. It's published by
OwlKids Books in 2023, and it's written and illustrated
by Bambi Edlund. Some awards for Bambi Edlund.
She was a Lane Anderson Award finalist in 2024,
and a Junior Library Guild selection list 2024
for Operation Cupcake, How Simple Machines Work.
And she's on the Texas 2x2 list for 2024 for
how to make a peanut butter sandwich in 17 easy
steps. Bambi Edelin has written and illustrated
Operation Cupcake, How Simple Machines Work,
and Squirrel -ish. She is also the illustrator
of What a Waste, Where Does Garbage Go? by Claire
Emner. So the summary for how to make a peanut
butter sandwich in 17 easy steps is that there
are wild animals attempting to make a peanut
butter sandwich. They go through a very unique
set of steps in the process of completing the
sandwiches. This is a really fun story. I enjoyed
it. It's these animals in getting into these
really silly situations to... complete the goal.
I love that the book starts right away with a
list of all the things that you'll need. And
they're just some rant like a donkey, you need
clogs, there's like oranges. And so like, just
starting by looking at all of those things with
the students really gets their brains working
right away. Like what do you need oranges for
to make a peanut butter sandwich? And why are
you using clogs? And Having a fun conversation
explaining what clogs are All of these things
and then as the story goes through you can have
the students count the steps along with you and
see what all of the All of these items are being
used for and some of the kind of crazy Routes
at which they go to to get to the end goal And
then there's a lot of fun vocabulary words to
include and kind of explain to students because
at one point the animals have to settle up with
the people in the story and so kind of explaining
what that means and like we said clogs because
i don't think a lot of kids will know what a
clog is um and so it was just a fun story the
pictures are amazing they're very kind of lovable
character designs these cute animals doing some
weird things to get to the end result of being
able to eat a peanut butter sandwich. I really
enjoyed it. I love this book, too. It was really
funny. Very silly. I'm so glad you said that
about the first page with all the different things
that you'll need to make the peanut butter sandwich.
That was easily my favorite part of the book.
I love how you could really you could do a really
fun Lesson on this with just using predictions
like you could make a copy of that first page
So the kids can like and like keep it posted
for the kids to see as you're reading through
and like kind of cross off what they've already
used and As you're going through I would love
to like cross it off and just like okay. What's
next? How could they use that? Like yeah, what
on earth would you use clogs for and clogs are
for me? That's what stuck out the most that was
like Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned that one in
particular too because I was like, huh? What
are we doing with clogs people? Let's find out
together like Yeah, it was just so silly and
fun and Very creative and how they came to the
process. So it was yeah So I would definitely
give this a high score because it is like, even
though it's a relatively simple thing, you can
also, you could also use this as a sequencing
lesson for the kids. Like you could like make
like a picture of each of the steps and give
the kids the pictures and have them put them
in order and that kind of thing. There's a lot
that can be used. This book can be used for,
and so I really enjoyed it. I'm thinking this
one is one of those five out of five bookmark
books because. It's very, very good and very
engaging. And I think it's a perfect kind of
book for read aloud with our younger students.
I agree. I actually I was thinking five out of
five as well. It's it's just that engaging. It's
just super silly. And I think the kids will really
engage with it very quickly. So Excellent choice.
Good work. This was a great one. I'm glad that
it is being recognized by the Texas 2x2 list
because it is such just a fun book. Gets in that
counting, that sequencing, that predictions,
and then just the great pictures and the silliness
of it. It's just a fun book. And so if we're
going to do a makerspace activity, I was trying
to decide what I would like to do with this.
Like I said, you could do like a sequencing activity
with this where they put the different steps
in order. There's a lot of different things,
but I decided that since we're trying to feed
animals, I thought it would be fun to make a
bird feeder of some kind. Using either pine cones
or I've seen it done with toilet paper rolls
Get some bird seed you could use peanut butter
or sun butter or even honey if there's an allergy
I also like the idea of using like those plastic
little plastic knives for students and have a
conversation about safety first kind of thing
but have them Be able to use those plastic knives
and then just piece of string or yarn and have
the students use those plastic knives to practice
spreading the food adhesive, whatever you're
going to use, peanut butter, sun butter, or the
honey onto either a pine cone or onto a toilet
paper roll and then rolling those things into
the birdseed and then you just tie a string or
piece of yarn to hang them, ideally hanging them
outside near a window in the library or if you're
doing this in the classroom. outside your classroom
so that you can see the birds and that come to
feed on the bird seed. That would be a pretty
cool way to kind of introduce some of that natural,
you know, be able to let the kids see some birds.
And I think that would just be maybe a little
messy, but it would be a fun activity to do.
And then you can always send them home if you
wanted to. You can put them in plastic bags,
send them home, let the parents hang them in
there. Trees and their homes that kind of stuff,
too But I just I think that would be fun and
I like the idea of having the kids use the plastic
knives to be doing the spreading because I think
that's a skill that Builds up some of that the
fine motor That some of the kids maybe haven't
been able to practice before so just something
like that I love that idea. I really do. And
I did, I think I did this one in the classroom
like a long time ago, like maybe 10 years ago.
And I think we did send, we used Crisco when
we did it. Okay. And Crisco worked pretty well
for, and I think we did it for allergy reasons.
Cause that's another one that not many people
are allergic to that. I don't think anybody's
allergic to Crisco actually. No, they think about
it. But I think we sent them home in plastic
bags, but Now that you're mentioning it, I just
haven't really thought about doing it in the
library. And I do actually really like the idea
of doing that in the library. And I think I would
probably, another way I might do it is like not
necessarily do it as an individual, like maker
space activity, but more of like an extension
of like the story time lesson where like we're
kind of all doing it together, or maybe like
doing it in more of like a small group, maybe
like have five kids come to the table at once.
And we just make like five bird feeders with
the whole class. And then the kids could take
turns spreading whatever on the toilet paper
roll or pine cone. So that everybody kind of
takes ownership, but then you don't have 25 of
them. Yeah. I like that idea. Yeah. And then
I like hanging it outside the library. I think
that's a really fun way to like. Because honestly,
when you do activities like that and send them
home, I think there's maybe like a 50 -50 chance
that the parents will actually like hang it somewhere
for the kids and like continue that extension.
And then sometimes that can be really sad when
the kids worked hard on something and then their
grownups don't follow through at home. So I kind
of like the idea of doing it like a smaller setting
and then hanging it outside the library if you
can, if you have windows, which I'm fortunate
enough to have real big windows in both of my
libraries right now. So Well, and I get it. I
get to give credit where credit's due. took that
part of the idea from one of our coworkers, Miss
Jenna, her classroom outside her classroom window,
she has a bird feeder to get the birds to come.
And so the kids it's right at the kids level
too. So the kids could go over and watch the
birds. So I thought if we're going to make a
bird feeder having it somewhere where the kids
might be able to see it so they can see the birds
that come would be great. So kind of piggybacking
off of something that she does in her classroom
that I've seen before. So I love that. Yeah.
Alright, so for this week's Library of Littles
management tip that we talk about picture schedules.
So many of our friends are visual learners, which
we've discussed quite recently. Even as adults,
sometimes we need those visuals to help us. So
you do a great job of using a picture schedule
with your students so that they know what's going
on and have the predictability of the lesson.
So why don't you tell us about your picture schedule?
Yeah, so in both of my libraries I have a storytime
puppet that I know we've talked about our storytime
song before and we can refer back to our previous
episode where we have our storytime song listed
for you guys. But we start with a storytime song
and we always sing our song with our school mascot.
So at one campus it's a lion cub and the other
campus it's a bear cub. So we start with the
picture schedule. It's just a picture of the
mascot so the kids know okay I see a picture
of or a little puppet or mascot, we're going
to sing our story time song. The next step is
always a picture of the book that we're going
to read for the day. For that one, I just go
to Google images and do a Google Google image
search, print that out. And I put that one right
below the picture of the mascot so the kids can
see, OK, the mascot's here. that's where we're
going to sing and then right below it is a picture
of our book that's the book we're going to read
and then below that there's always a picture
of our tables because the kids we have a story
time rug where we sit for our story time where
they listen to the book and any whole group instruction
that we have and then after that they go to our
makerspace centers and that's always at the tables.
that I have set up in the library. There's a
total of five tables and there's always a bucket
of toys, our makerspace manipulatives at each
one so the kids can kind of see where to go and
the space is well defined. So for that one I
just have a picture of the tables where it's
just empty because the kids know that's where
we're gonna go have our makerspace time because
that's where they do their makerspace. So our
picture schedule always looks like mascot at
the top. below that is the book and then below
that is the picture of the tables and after that
I know I should probably have a visual of cleaning
up but at that point like when the kids come
into the library we always sit down we always
look at our schedule and we point out the things
that we're going to do um but they don't really
sit down again after the tables So that we never
refer to it because they never, they're not sitting
and looking at the schedule again. Like we look
at it the first time, but they don't, you know,
like I'll like refer to it as I'm going through
my lesson for my whole group instruction. But
then once they get to the tables, they don't
see it again. So I don't really have a visual
for cleanup, which maybe I should just so they
know it's coming. But they, I've also already
taught them that that's part of our Maker space
table time. So that's something you could add
if you were so inclined. I just don't have it
on my schedule in particular Yeah, and I think
the picture schedules are so important. I have
a similar schedule Mine is more generic. I use
a note of like a musical note and that's our
story time song and then I have a generic picture
of an open book that I use for the fact that
we're going to read a book and then I'll use
that same I have more than one so I'll use a
second music note symbol to say if we're going
to do a dance or something like that and then
I have a picture of students building that's
for the makerspace activities. And so I use more
generic clip art just because I printing out
and having each book that we're going to read
each week takes a little bit of forethought and
planning that I am not always able to ensure
that I have done. So using it generic. But as
long as the students, as long as you've explained
to the students in advance what each of the pictures
represents, they're going to get the same out
of it. They're going to be able to look at and
know what's happening. And so yeah, you can use
specific pictures of like your puppet or of your
book that you're going to use. But as long as
there's some visual to give those kids being
able to see, okay, we're here. We've done this.
This is the next thing we're going to do. That's
the purpose of the schedule. And it works so
well for so many of our friends. A lot of these
kids have like are anxious about what's going
to come next and so having that schedule to tell
them what's coming so that that can kind of help
them calm themselves and regulate and just having
that predictability makes it just it runs so
much smoother and the kids feel so much more
comfortable knowing in advance what's going to
happen. That's why so many kids even in elementary
school so many of them come to you as soon as
they come into the library what are we doing
today it's because they want to know and so if
you Hold on a second. Let's we'll go through
exactly what we're gonna do today kind of thing
It just helps with that anxiety It helps with
a lot of the behaviors because they know that
they're gonna be able to get up and do this or
gonna Be going to the tables to build that kind
of thing. So it really helps with a lot of things
and a lot of the kids React positively to picture
schedules. They they're so useful Mm -hmm. It
is. Yeah, I agree it really Like you said, it
helps calm their anxiety because they're a lot
of our kids, especially our younger learners
that those three and four year olds, like they,
when they're dropped off at school, they don't
really like, they don't know what to expect because
they've never done it before. And they, some
of them like kind of panic a little bit. They
think that like they've been abandoned forever.
And if you have something like a picture schedule
to kind of show them, okay, this is how long
you're going to be in here. And you can go through
the things and like, what my more anxious students,
I do take down, you know, when I sing our picture,
our storytime song, I'll take off the picture
of the mascot so they can see, okay, that's done.
And that's not coming back. And so they can kind
of check things off their list. And they know
that there is an end point. I think that helps
them a little bit. You know, what I've also started
doing this year that I don't think I've told
you about is You're right, it is a lot of work
to go through. It's not a lot of work to go through
and find that Google images and print the picture,
but it's kind of annoying, to be honest. And
it is an extra step. And it doesn't take a ton
of time, but it's a little bit of pain. So what
I've done this year is I kind of created a display
that kind of goes along with it. I made a new
bulletin board in the library. I'll take a picture
of it and I'll send it to you so we can post
it. But at the very top of the display it says
books we've read so far and then it has like
twine underneath it like two rows of twine and
we just when we're done with our book for the
week we. Clothes pin it over there and then the
kids can see all the books that they've read
in the library all year long And at this point,
this is the first year I've done it and I really
like it because as soon as you walk in the library
It's like the first thing you see it's like right
next to our story time rug So it's one of the
first things you see when you walk in and you
can really get a good visual of like wow They've
read like 90 books in the library so far this
year and like I've gotten to now at this point
like the kids like go up to it now and they're
like I remember reading that one and they'll
like ask me like oh do you remember when we read
polar express it's up there like and they'll
like not it doesn't happen like daily but at
least once or twice a week like I'll have kids
come up to me and be like hey remember that one
can we read that again that was fun so that's
another thing that you could do with it is like
and that that doesn't really create that doesn't
now doesn't create any extra work for me because
that's just part of the picture schedule it just
moves over and i don't forget what books i've
read that's exciting too because i've been doing
this so long that i'm like i don't remember which
ones so that helps yeah it helps me as well i
love that idea that would be worth it for me
is to print the book covers just so that you
could have that display that's really cool because
yeah like you said that'd be really awesome to
be able to see how many books you've read with
the students. It would be really cool for them
to be able to go back and look at them. And then,
yeah, once you start doing it, the years start
running together. So you're like, have I read
that book with this group yet? So having that
to help you, that's awesome. I love that idea.
Now I'm going to have to do that. Okay. Yeah,
I'll send you pictures this week. Yes. Thank
you. That would be great. Yeah. And we'll add
that in our show notes for this episode so everyone
can see them. But no, that's, I love that idea.
Now I'm going to have, now it's one more thing
I'm going to have to do in the library. Okay.
Oh no. That's okay. That's okay. This will be
a good one though. This'll, this is nice. Cause
then, and then just like, not that it matters,
but added bonus that if any administrator ever
comes into the library, it's an easy thing to
be like, look, this is all the stuff we've done
so far. they don't even have to talk to you they
can just see it and then yeah that's another
example of how visuals work real well for grown
-ups we need them we all need them i love that
uh -huh all right the next book we have for you
guys today is how to count to one and don't even
think about bigger numbers the publisher is nosy
crow ink published in 2022 The author is Casper
Salmon and the illustrator is Matt Hunt. This
book is on the 2024 Texas 2x2 list and the District
of Columbia Capital Choices 2024 list for books
for ages birth to five. Casper Salmon grew up
in France and he is currently a freelance writer
and lives in North London with his two children.
He does not have any other children's books,
but he is like I said, a freelance writer so
he has published many articles and other pieces
of writing for adults. And the illustrator Matt
Hunt currently lives in Redditch, UK. He holds
a BA in Fine Arts from Birmingham School of Art
and some of his other books include some of his
other books include a first book of dinosaurs
by Simon Moll, Little People, Big Dreams, King
Charles by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vergara, The
Cat and the Rat and the Hat by M. Linus, The
Goat and the Stoat and the Boat by M. Linus,
and The Pirates Are Coming by John Condon. And
he wrote and illustrated the book. up high and
in this book an unseen narrator tells the reader
that they're going to try a new way of counting
in a new kind of book and on each page the narrator
repeatedly asks the readers to count to one however
the number of items pictured grows with each
turn of the page i thought this was a really
cute book it was a really funny twist on counting
books As you turn the page, like, then the first
page, the kids just have to count, you know,
one apple, and then it tells you, we're gonna
count something bigger now, and then you turn
the page, and it's literally bigger, and it's
just one elephant. And then after that, it's
like, it says, okay, you have to go find something
else now, and it has pictures, it's like really
two huge whales, so naturally that's where your
eyes go, but then there's a tiny... little sausage
up in the spout of the whale and it tells you
to count the one tiny little sausage so like
the kids have to the narrator tells you to count
the one and then has ellipses sausage and so
like the kids are already focused like visually
on the whales but then naturally you have to
count the sausage and it keeps kind of going
on like that so I love that it was like the kids
like really really have to listen and follow
directions in this book because they're gonna
naturally like just the way it's written they're
intended to like look at all the different things
on the page but they're gonna have to like really
tune in and listen to like what they're supposed
to be counting and like it repeatedly tells you
it's only gonna be one but we know those kids,
they're gonna be tricked. So I loved and on the
back of the book, there's also a QR code that
takes readers to an audio version of the book.
And that was I gave that one a listen. And that
was actually a pretty I would still rather like
as a librarian, read it. But if I was reading
this at home, or if I had this at home with my
kids, I would probably like read it and then
you know play the QR scan the QR code and listen
to the audio and kind of go back and forth because
there are like Audio cues and like on the page
with the whales like you hear splashing and things
like that So kind of that might be a good way
especially for like for parents reading this
at home with their kids to kind of get kids to
cue in because It can be difficult to be an engaging
Reader sometimes for for younger children. So
that might be a good way for others to read it
as well. So Yeah, I really liked this book. It
was a lot of fun. Yeah, I enjoyed this. It was
very cute and just the different ways that they
were able to kind of make you focus on just the
one of everything because as the numbers of items
on the page get bigger and there's more and more
things and it's still just looking for one specific
thing every time. It was cute and clever and
kind of silly at times. I think this is definitely
a very engaging book for our readers. I think
that, like you said, definitely they're gonna
get tricked and they're gonna count more than
one on a lot of the pages, but it's a fun book.
And I think that a lot of those kids, especially
the ones that are really bright and can count
pretty high already, are gonna find it amusing
in the end. And then at the very, very end, there
is the hundred things that they can count and
everything. So, you know, I really liked this
book. It was a good one. It was a good choice.
Yeah, it was, it was fun. It was kind of a where's
Waldo, I guess of counting books. So I think
I would probably give it a five out of five.
I think for like a read aloud in the library,
it's really engaging because you have to really
make the kids listen to what you're saying because
sometimes they kind of zone out a little bit
and sometimes they'll just pay attention to the
pictures and Like that's a good pre -reading
skill looking at the pictures and just focusing
on that is a good pre -reading skill That is
what comes first, but we have to listen and pay
attention So I think like for a whole group.
It's a lot of fun I would give it a five out
of five and even like listening to it at home
too because it's got that QR code like If I was
just recommending it for like a parent to read
with their child, I would still give it a five
out of five because that too. Yeah, I think it's
a great one. I think you're right. Five out of
five for it. Like you were saying at the very,
very last page, it finally does let you count
100 things and you get to count to a higher number
than one. So I think I would use this for. a
hundredth day or close to a hundredth day activity.
I think that might be a fun way to like just
tell the kids, okay, it's time to celebrate the
hundredth day and then can't count the last one.
Ha ha. But then surprise, we really are going
to count to a hundred. Yeah, I think that this
would be a great one for the hundredth day. So
I think really any kind of one hundred activities
would work like for makerspace and more unique
one. might be like building a 100 domino dash
with kids and like creating a chain reaction
using 100 dominoes but really 100 of anything
could work because it is at the very end it's
just 100 so whatever your favorite 100th day
activity is could tie in with this really easily
that's great yeah i love this book and i think
For sure. You're right. 100 dominoes or give
them 100 Legos to build with. Any of those things
would absolutely be great for this book. Very
engaging. And some of those kids just love to
count. So give them 100 and let them count that
out and then have them build with it or set up
the dominoes or whatever. That would be great.
I love that idea. And I think that that's, I'm
going to try this next year on the 100th day.
We're already past it this year for me, but I
think that this would be a really fun book, you're
right, for the 100th day. Especially when it
starts out just kind of tricking them all to
only be counting to one for the first... Forever.
Yeah, for the whole book until the last page.
Except the last page. Yeah. So I think that would
be very funny and a lot of fun. You could maybe
do it for April Fool's Day too. Like, surprise!
Tricked ya! We're counting! Now you have to work.
That's actually a really good idea. Awesome.
Thank you all for joining us today on this episode
of Librarians of Littles. We hope you found some
fresh ideas for inspiring young readers. Please
be sure to subscribe and connect with us on social
media. Thank you for listening to this episode
of Librarians of Littles. We hope that you've
enjoyed it. Check back each Wednesday for a new
episode. Librarians of Littles is a podcast produced
and hosted by Patrick Adams and Caroline Ligier.
Editor Patrick Adams. Our theme song is performed
by JD Adams. You can follow us on Instagram at
Librarians of Littles. You can follow us on blue
sky at littleslibrarian .bsky .social. And you
can send us your emails at librarianoflittlespod
at gmail .com. I like the book that you picked
for this one too. That was a really cute. The
how to count to one was a lot of fun. I like
this book. It was a lot of fun. It was really
hard finding information about the author because
apparently he's like really into only adult things
and stuff. And I was like, Whoa, okay. Yeah.
But it was really cute. I enjoyed it.