Not a Flannel Friday: I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some...

BUGS!

Eeeeeeewwwww!

Yuck!

Happy Flannel Friday, everyone! I hope you are having a better day than the lady in this week's featured book!

This week's Flannel Friday is in honor of Katie at her Recipe for Reading blog. Earlier this week, she was searching out books with surprise endings. This particular book is one of my favorite "surprise ending" books! It is:

There Was an Old Lady Who 

Swallowed Some Bugs

Adapted and illustrated by Johnette Downing

I like this book because, for one thing, it is a newer version of my old stand-by,  I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. There are many newer versions but most of them do not flow very well, in my opinion. This one has a very similar rhythm to the original. I also like the phrase, "Perhaps she'll cry." That is the phrase I use when telling the original. I replace "Perhaps she'll die" (in the original) with the kinder, gentler "crying" phrase. The children always join in with me with a "Boo Hoo Hoo!" each time the phrase is read.

The second reason I like this book is the "Eeeeww!" factor. My storytime friends get squirmy and love saying "eeewwww!" every time the little old lady eats another bug. Who doesn't squirm a little at the thought of eating a bug? ;-)

Another reason I like this book is the surprise ending. It is so much fun!

My presentation of this book is what I call a "Folder Story". I made a folder by re-creating four key pages of the book. I made each page the size of a piece of 9 x 12 construction paper. I layered on cut paper pieces to create the same affect as the illustrations in the book. 

I love doing paper cutting projects! They are simple and inexpensive. All you need is different colors of construction paper or cardstock, a good pair of scissors, and glue. I also use a laminating machine to make my finished story folder reusable and more durable. (You could use clear contact paper if you do not have access to a laminating machine.)

Here are the results of my paper-cutting:

***I apologize in advance for the glare on the photos. 

I am using my IPod camera and I still need 

to learn how to adjust the color and lighting of the photos.

This is the front of the story folder.

"There was an old lady

who swallowed a fly.

I don't know why 

she swallowed a fly;

perhaps she'll cry.

I add each new insect to the front of the folder using double-sided tape so that they are easily removed to make room for the next insect.

She "swallowed a spider  that wiggled and jiggled and tickled inside her."

"Golly gee, she swallowed a flea?"

"She was on a rant when she swallowed that ant."

She continued swallowing more bugs. Ick! She swallowed:

A slug, a worm, a mosquito, and, finally, a roach.

"When she was full, 

her tummy was tight.

Do you know what happened to her? 

She..."

I open the story folder to reveal this double page.

It is time for the surprise ending! Should I share? Or should I leave you hanging? Hmmmm... this is a tough decision! Have any of you guessed yet? Woooosh! I guess since I am going to be giving it a way with my link at the end of this post, I should go ahead and share the surprise ending. It is the back page of the story folder after all...

Aaaaahhh! I just don't know! Let me think about it for a minute... or two... or three...

Okay, okay! I think I'll share because I love the final page! Here it is:

Isn't she gorgeous?!??!!

She croaked

"... on her lily pad all night.

Ribbit, ribbit!"

Isn't that AWESOME? I love the surprise but I think I love the way she looks even more. LOL!


And that is my story folder. The end!

As you can see in this picture, the story folder is about the
same size as the book. I would like to make a bigger
one someday but, for now, this is a great way to have the story
ready even when the book is checked out  when I want to use it.  

For storage, I place the bugs into a ziploc baggie and then
place the baggie and the typed words inside the folder. This
makes it easy to "grab and go" when I have a last minute
storytime or an outreach storytime at a local daycare or school.

Since this week's contribution to Flannel Friday is about a frog, I though I would mention a new feature on my blog. I am planning to do Blog Hops two or three times a month. If you don't know what a Blog Hop is, you can find out more information on my very first Blog Hop invitation post here. 

My first one is Frog ABC'S Blog Hop so I will be linking this post to the hop ~ since it is about a frog! LOL! Please feel free to link any of your own posts that would add to a Frog storytime theme. I will add any links to the Frog ABC'S Blog Hop's Pinterest board, as well.

I quickly want to mention that I will be doing many different types of blog hops and I hope you will link up anytime you see one that you can contribute to. Many of the blog hops will include "ABC'S" (Activities, Books, Crafts, and Snacks) in the title because that is what my blog is based on. I am hoping that the hops will become a quick, easy reference when anyone wants to find new or old ideas for a specific storytime topic. The more link-ups we have for each Blog Hop the better it will be as a storytime resource. Please join in! It is simple to do. You will find the 3 step directions in my invitation post. The last step is critical to having a successful hop so please be sure to do it. Thanks! I look forward to seeing everyone's ideas!

One last thing before I go, I have also started two other features on my blog (which will get their very own Blog Hops soon). They are Fun Finds and Book Share posts. 

The Fun Finds posts will highlight interesting items that I find for free or for very little expense and that I can adapt for storytimes or for learning activities. My first Fun Finds post can be found here highlighting some very cute cupcake candy holders made into a game for preschoolers. 

The Book Share post will highlight interesting books that I come across in my day-to-day librarian duties. The first one is here and it highlights an interesting non-fiction frog book for preschoolers.

I hope you have a very enjoyable Friday and, as always,

HAPPY READING TOGETHER!

Flannel Friday information for this week:

Our host is at Library Quine at her http://loonsandquines.blogspot.co.uk/ blog. Thanks, LQ, for doing the round-up this week! My "Hippety Hop" contribution is a little "froggy" this week. ;-) LOL!

Round up archives and host schedule is at So Tomorrow.

Visually scan all the Flannel Friday posts at Pinterest.

Talk about storytime and flannelboards at the Flannel Friday Facebook Page.

Follow Flannel Friday on Twitter with the #flannelfriday hashtag. (You don’t have to be on Twitter to check this out.)

And, last but not least, if you’re a contributor, there is an awesome blog button from Melissa and you can grab it from the right hand menu at Mel’s Desk!