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Sleep-over While the Sun Is Up |
This program is a great storytime, PTA event or fundraiser! Have children come in pajamas and bring pillows. Teddy bears optional. The storyteller should be costumed, too! Read a selection of sleepytime stories, for example:
Good Night, Gorilla, by Peggy Rathmann
Ten, Nine, Eight by Molly Bang
The Caterpillow Fight by Sam McBratney
The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle
There's a Nighmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer
Everything to Spend the Night from A to Z by Ann Whitford Paul
Poetry, such as "The Seal's Lullaby" by Rudyard Kipling and "Three Jolly Gentlemen" by Walter de la Mare, both beautifully sung on the cassette Lullabies and Nightsongs Eric Wilder and William Engvick
Sun is Falling, Night is Calling by Laura Leuck
Can't Sleep by Chris Raschka
Sweet Dream Pie by Audrey Wood and Mark Teague
Good Night, Owl! by Pat Hutchins
Pajama Party by Amy Hest (short chapter book)
Captain Pajamas by Bruce Whatley (comic book form)
I Love You, Good Night! by Jon Buller and Susan Schade
Wind Says Good Night by Katy Rydell
In The Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
Hush! A Thai Lullaby by Minfong Ho
Dreaming by Elaine Greenstein
The Mouse that Snored by Bernard Waber
The Mermaid's Lullaby by Kate Spohn
A Lot of Otters by Barbara Helen Berger
Ira Sleeps Over by Bernard Waber
To adapt for older children, read spooky stories! I especially like the collection Short and Shivery retold by Robert D. San Souci, and cSary Stories for Sleep-overs by R.C. Welch. The kids love Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark retold by Alvin Schwartz, but that's too scary for me! I never read from that book without making a nightmare disclaimer first. The eighth graders happen to love Ira Sleeps Over, so it doesn't have to be scary! It's fun to just come to school in your pajamas, bring a pillow and flashlight and read any book of your choice.
To make it a fundraiser, add the following options:
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