Welcome to my Storytime Blog!

You may be wondering where the "Longfellow" part came from in my blog title!  My maternal grandfather, Edmund Henry Longfellow, was a descendant of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the poet.  He and my grandmother had three daughters, one of which is my mother, so unfortunately this line of the family name ended with him.  Sadly, I lost my grandfather when I was 2 years old. 

His wife, my maternal grandmother, Mary Grace Orr Longfellow, worked for 17 years (1969 - 1985)  in the same library system where I work. Her favorite part of the job was the weekly storytime.  She's even mentioned in this book, Fountain City-Images of America by J. C. Tumblin.  Their oldest daughter, Anne, who is my aunt, also works as librarian and performs multiple weekly storytimes.

So, it seems fitting that I have carried on this legacy!  It's apparently in my blood, seeing that I have worked for the public library off and on for 20 years now.

The idea of this blog came to me as I often struggle for themes/ideas for my weekly storytimes.  I love browsing other storytime blogs/websites looking for inspiration.  I decided that I'd start organizing my storytime plans so that maybe they could help others get some new, fresh ideas when planning a storytime, a school/daycare lesson, or just for that stay-at-home mommy who wants to get some great new book suggestions!

Every week I plan/conduct a preschool storytime and every other week, a baby/toddler storytime.  My plan is to include the storytime plans each week, detailing the songs/books/fingerplays/flannelboard stories/crafts/etc. that I've used. 

I hope you enjoy visiting and I also hope that you will send me any suggestions/comments!  I welcome any guest posts that you'd be willing to share with my readers, also.
-Julie