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Using movement to connect preschoolers with books

NEWS For Immediate Release April 25, 2013

Contact: Rob Christopher

CHICAGO — Librarians and educators can shake up storytimes, help children stay healthy and encourage a lifelong love of reading with Julie Dietzel-Glair’s easy-to-use resource “Books in Motion: Connecting Preschoolers with Books through Art, Games, Movement, Music, Playacting, and Props,” published by ALA Neal-Schuman. Demonstrating exactly how to use children’s books to engage preschool-age children through movement, it’s loaded with storytimes that will have children standing up tall, balancing as they pretend to walk across a bridge or even flying around the room like an airplane. Presenting hundreds of ideas, this all-in-one book is divided into five sections:

  • Art” spotlights titles that are natural hooks for art or craft activities alongside ideas on how to create art just like the character in the story, while an appendix includes art patterns that can be used as coloring sheets;
  • Games” includes searching games, follow-the-leader games and guessing games to enhance the books in this section;
  • Movement” features books that kids can jump, stomp, clap, chomp, waddle, parade, wiggle and stretch with;
  • Music” chooses books perfect for activities like shaking a maraca, singing, dancing between the pages and creating new sound effects;
  • Playacting” lets kids pretend along with the characters in these books, whether it’s washing their face, swimming with fish or hunting a lion;
  • Props” encourages storytime leaders to bring out their puppets, flannelboard pieces and scarves—these books have enough props for everyone in the program to have a part.

Dietzel-Glair is a freelance writer and library consultant. She was a children’s librarian in public libraries in Maryland for 11 years. Active in the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), she has served on the John Newbery Medal Selection Committee, is a past president of the Children’s Services Division of the Maryland Library Association, and served on the Maryland Blue Crab Young Reader Award Committee.

ALA Store purchases fund advocacy, awareness and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide. Founded in 1976 by Patricia Glass Schuman and John Vincent Neal, Neal-Schuman Publishers, now an imprint of ALA Publishing, publishes professional books for librarians, archivists, and knowledge managers. Contact us at (800) 545-2433 ext. 5418 or editionsmarketing@ala.org.

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