Multilingual Storytime?

Lately I've been working Sundays at the library, doing storytime for preschoolers. One Sunday I had a grand total of one child and her mother, and English was not their first language. Painful - trying to encourage a child to sing along when she is staring slack-jawed at you and you're not even sure if she understands 10% of what you're saying.

Last Sunday was a vast improvement. Nearly a dozen kids, parents in tow, traipsed into my storytime class. All it takes is one or two outgoing children to join in with me and then the whole group comes alive. We had a fantastic time reading stories, singing songs, jumping around like bunnies and being snapping turtles.

I also had the opportunity to view my storytime from another angle. My new fellow dropped in to observe. He is European and English is not his first language. Most of the rhymes and songs I did with the children were foreign to him and of course the books were vastly different from those of his childhood. A few things, however, seem to be universal. "I'm a Little Teapot" and "Head and Shoulders" are known in multiple languages. Now that I've taught him the Canadian winter version* of "Head and Shoulders", he promises to teach me the lyrics in three other languages.



For those of you who are interested, I made my own Canadianized and winterized version of "Head and Shoulders". (Please note: a winter hat is called a "toque" and it's pronounced "took" with a long "oo" as in "cool" or "pool", not a short "oo" like in "book". A parka is a warm winter coat.)


Toque and parka,
Snowpants, boots,
Snowpants, boots.

Toque and parka,
Snowpants, boots,
Snowpants, boots.

Scarf and mitts
And a bright red nose,

Toque and parka,
Snowpants, boots,
Snowpants, boots.