Movement stories for young children ages 3-6

Early childhood teachers interested in exploring dance and creative movement with their students may find a use for this title and its novel approach to learning. The authors explain in a clear and succinct manner the reasons for integrating movement in the classroom and provide a solid rationale and several instructional tips for their methods. Teachers will also discover how these movement activities benefit a child's development, as the authors discuss the relationship between movement and social, emotional, physical, and mental skills. After explaining their concepts and rationale, the authors provide 10 stories containing movement exercises that demonstrate those concepts. Children and their teachers then can perform the movements together while the teachers tell the story. The stories are simple, and incorporate the movements smoothly, realistically, and in a complementary fashion. The authors suggest conducting a half-hour movement lesson as a part of the classroom's daily structure, and include a sample lesson plan. A discography and bibliography contain source information, but not enough recent sources or information on ordering and availability. While these stories and activities may not be suited for a traditional story program, public libraries could consider this as an additional resource for their early childhood collections. School libraries will want to consult with early childhood staff to determine need.‘Kevin Wayne Booe, Boise (ID) Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.