Story Time Recommendation

There was an old lady who swallowed a bat. It wouldn't be hard to find stuffed animals of all the animals she swallows, it has a Halloween theme to it, and you can pass out little bat rings that are everywhere right now. :)

ADDED:
There is a book called There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Shell, but trust me there is also There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed a BAT. I have read it many many many times through my first grade teacher years. :)

How about the "If you give a...." books by Laura Numeroff (If you give a mouse a cookie, if you give a pig a pancake, if you give a moose a muffin, etc.) - then a mini cookie or muffin could be the handout at the end.

I have a flair for the dramatic when it comes to kids' stories, and the hands-down favorite around here is "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Book?" by Lauren Child. My girls loooove it (yes, even my older daughter, who is in 4th grade!) because I get into it and have different voices for the different characters. It's about a little boy who falls asleep on his fairy tale book and actually falls INTO the book. Along the way, he encounters a bratty Goldilocks, the three bears, Cinderella (who is missing from the ball, where the King and Queen are in a tiff with each other), and of course, the fairy godmother, who really doesn't want to help the little boy escape from the book. The reason for all the mayhem in the story is that the little boy cut characters out of his story book and pasted them elsewhere. Of course, when he wakes up, he finds all the characters and pastes them back into the right places in the book so they're happy again. (Except for bratty Goldilocks - he pastes a brown wig on her, and colors in a lock onto the three bears' front door so she can't get in!)

You could give the kids little baggies of cutout fairy tale characters for your handout. Easy and cute. Here's a link to the book:

http://www.amazon.com/Whos-Afraid-Big-Bad-Book/dp/0786809264

With Halloween coming around the corner, what about "Go Away Big Green Monster!" by Ed Emberly? It's perfect for show and tell, because the only way to get rid of this monster is to take away a piece of his face until it is gone, as you turn the pages. It's very interactive for the kids who can help by playing along.

To make an actual monster to send away, you could photocopy the face and cut the pieces out, and put velcro on the back of the cut out paper shapes/pieces or trace the shapes onto felt and use a felt board to construct and deconstruct the face as you read the story.

You could give a Halloween trinket like a rubber monster or whatever as a keepsake. www.orientaltrading.com is a good place for stuff like that, or any party supply store or Target.

Here's a link to the book:
http://www.amazon.com/Go-Away-Big-Green-Monster/dp/031623...

.

Pete the Cat! He's the cat that loves his white and walks down the street. Singing about how he loves his white shoes. Then he steps in different things that changes the color of the shoes.

You can pretend to walk around and then kick your feet like you stepped in different things.

If you can find little shoes (like ornaments or something) that would be great. Or maybe get some fun colored shoes strings to hand out?

Gertrude McFuzz by Dr. Suess. Very dramatically pull feathers out of a Boa, which could be Gertrude's tail. This is a great story with a good message for kindergarten kids IMO.

Pete the Cat And His White Shoes sounds great. He steps in strawberries, blueberries, and mud, so if you don't find a cute shoe, maybe a piece of his shoelace? Or a pretend strawberry?

There's also a "pete the cat and his school shoes". He visits the library and the cafeteria so maybe you could get a pretend library card or a bookmark that "pete found while he was in the library."

If you do Pete the Cat, bring your pretend guitar! He carrys a guitar and sings a little in both books.

I just looked thru my son's bookshelf and it's hard to do the 'acting it out' AND a trinket.

Maybe "Don't let the pigeon drive the Bus" by Mo willems (give a bird feather to each child).

Maybe you should figure out your cheap trinket FIRST, then search books with that trinket. ie: a bead, an eraser; THEN go search your library for subject or keyword "eraser"

@Kim's idea: There's a book "There was an old lady who swallowed a SHELL." I think they sell shells at the $1 store.

@Dawn's idea: If you read Corduroy, you could give each child a button. YELLOW button I believe.

How about Inside Outside Upside Downside. You can used stuffed animals and a cardboard box. Have fun with it whatever you choose!