I keep finding titles that are related to this year’s theme–maybe you can figure out a way to use them in your programs this summer!

Storytime choices:

Yum! Yuck! A Foldout Book of People Sounds. By Linda Sue Park and Julia Durango, illustrated by Sue Rama. Charlesbridge, 2005. This book is just what it sounds like–each spread shows several kids with expressive faces saying a word in a variety of languages. It is fun to guess what they might be saying. When you open up the fold-out pages, you get the word in English. The inside illustrations tell a wordless story that explains why the children are saying the things they are (Yikes! when the spice cart tips over; “Achoo!” when clouds of spices fill the air; “Yuck!” when the clouds contaminate the ice cream cones everyone is eating). I think this would be a fun one to use in storytime for a variety of ages.

Mung-mung: A Foldout Book of Animal Sounds. By Linda Sue Park, Illustrated by Diane Bigda. Charlesbridge, 2004. Following the same basic format of Yum! Yuck!, this book asks kids to guess what animal is on the inside of the flap, and then gives the sound it makes in several languages, including English. This title would work even better with younger children.

For Older Kids:

Man Eating Bugs: The Art and Science of Eating Insects. By Peter Menzel and Faith D’Alusio. Ten Speed Press, 1998. If you didn’t find this book a few years ago during the 2008 Catch the Reading Bug SLP, it is time to take a look at it. It includes some important analysis about diet and culture and our own assumptions, but the fascinating photographs of people hunting, raising, preparing and enjoying bugs are what will draw your audience.