READING ADVENTURE TREASURE CHEST KIT #30
DEEP IN THE WOODS

This Reading Adventure Treasure Chest Kit has been assembled to provide a thematic list of storytime materials for use by enhanced members and their patrons.  The kit is geared toward the preschool age group yet is flexible enough to capture the interest of toddlers and early school age children.  The Activity Ideas are designed to be aids to use the materials listed in the kits.

If you would like more information concerning this project, contact SERLS via e-mail at dirserls@oplin.org.

Material Type	Title	Author
BOOK	Annie And The Wild Animals	JAN BRETT
BOOK	Bears Out There	JOANNE RYDER
BOOK	Deep In The Forest	BRINTON TURKLE
BOOK	Forest Animals: Wild Animal Pop-Ups	LUISE WOELFLEIN
BOOK	Fox: See How They Grow	MARY LING
BOOK	The Gunnywolf	A. DELANEY
BOOK	In A Cabin In A Wood	DARCIE McNALLY
BOOK	Hattie And The Fox	MEM FOX
BOOK	Making Tracks	DAVID HAWCOCK
BOOK	Nanny Fox	GEORGIE ADAMS and SELINA YOUNG
BOOK	Nature Hide And Seek: Woods And Forests	JOHN NORRIS WOOD
BOOK	Nuts To You	LOIS EHLERT
BOOK	Possum Come A-Knockin'	NANCY VAN LAAN
BOOK	Red Riding Hood	JAMES MARSHALL
BOOK	She'll Be Comin' Round The Mountain	TOM BIRDSEYE
BOOK	Sleepy River	HANNA BANDES
BOOK	Somebody And The Three Blairs	MARILYN TOLHURST
BOOK	Squirrel Park	LISA CAMPBELL ERNST
BOOK	The Tree In The Wood	CHRISTOPHER MANSON
BOOK	What's In The Cave?	PETER SEYMOUR
BOARD BOOK	The Sleepy Little Puppy
BIG BOOK	In The Tall, Tall Grass	DENISE FLEMING
RESOURCE BOOK	My Nature Craft Book	CHERYL OWEN
BOOK & TAPE	In The Forest	MARIE HALL ETS
CASSETTE	Comin' Round The Mountain	PHIL ROSENTHAL
VHS	Blueberries For Sal
PUPPET	Fox Puppet

---

ACTIVITY IDEAS AND FINGERPLAYS

Share the picture book She'll Be Comin' Round The Mountain by Tom Birdseye, then listen to Phil Rosenthal's recorded version of this song on his cassette tape Comin' Round The Mountain.

Read James Marshall's version of Red Riding Hood. Then share Burton Turkle's twist to this story in his Deep In The Forest. Have the children narrate this wordless version. Invite them to offer suggestions for another version. Write down their narration. Have them then illustrate a group book.

Share the big book In The Tall, Tall Grass. Encourage children to repeat the delicious phrases "crunch, munch, caterpillars lunch" and rich, ratch, moles scratch." Kids may also pantomime the antics of the animals in the tall, tall grass. Invite children to draw their own pictures of an insect's view of the woods.

Before viewing the VHS Blueberries For Sal, discuss the differences and similiarities between adult and baby animals. Ask "What kind of things can adult animals do that baby animals can't? How do mother animals care for their babies?" After viewing the VHS, ask "How is the way the mother bear cares for her cub like the way Sal's mother cares for her?" Finally, share blueberries (fresh if possible) for a special treat.

Read The Gunnywolf and invite your children to participate by joining in and singing the A B C Song.

Bunny in the Wood
There was a bunny lived in the woods.
He wiggled his ears as a good bunny should.
(Put 2 fingers on each side of head and wiggle)
He hopped by a squirrel.
(Hop two fingers along arm)
He hopped by a tree.
(Take another hop)
He hopped by a duck.
(Take another hop)
And he hopped by me.
(Hop quickly over other fist)
He stared at the squirrel,
He stared at the tree,
He stared at the duck,
But he made faces at me.
(Wiggle nose)

Squirrels
Five little squirrels sitting in a tree.
The first one said, "What do I see?"
The second one said, "Some nuts on the ground."
The third one said, "Those are nuts I found.
"The fourth one said, "I'll race you there."
The fifth one said, "All right, that's fair."
So they shook their tails and ran with glee!
To the nuts that lay at the foot of the tree.

Whisky Frisky
Whisky frisky, hippety hop
Up he goes to the treetop.
Whirly, twirly, round and round,
Down he scampers to the ground.
Furly curly,
What a tail,
Tall as a feather,
Broad as a sail.
Where's his supper?
In the shell,
Snappy, cracky,
Out it fell.

Ask your local children's librarian about more fingerplays, activities and books such as these recommended titles:

• North County by Daniel S. Souci. While man sleeps, forest animals in the North Country awaken to various activities.
• Stop Thief! by Robert Kalan. A nut travels from animal to animal until it returns to the original squirrel who buried it.
• Think Of A Beaver by Karen Wallace. These beavers will be fascinating to preschool children.
• Woodpecker Forest by Tejima. Told in bold woodcuts, this story follows a young woodpecker as he expands his world from a hole in a tree to the entire forest.

Top