Handbook for Storytime Programs. By Judy Freeman and Caroline Feller Bauer. Chicago: ALA, 2015. 616 p. Paper $65.00 (ISBN 0-8389-1265-2).

The Handbook of Storytime Programs, a classic resource by Caroline Fellar Bauer originally published in 1977 and 1993, has been masterfully updated to include vetted websites and YouTube videos to augment program planning. The earlier editions fluidly interwove many different types of literature, music, drama, and magic, making Bauer’s programs flow seamlessly from one aspect of storytime to another. The authors do not disappoint with this update. True to Bauer’s style of storytime programs, this book is not only filled with additional fingerplays, stories, poems, and activities, but has kept Bauer’s magic as well.

The book begins by exploring how librarians can use pictures, everyday objects, and puppets to extend the storytime experience. All of the standard elements are there: flannel boards, draw and tell stories, paper craft stories, and props. The author discusses how to use music, magic, and creative drama to engage children in the love of books and reading. The music chapter includes the notes and chords, so librarian with musical skill can play the songs on a musical instrument. Each chapter is full of stories, ideas, and activities, as well as booklists suited to each type of storytelling and suggested websites to explore about each topic. Chapters include YouTube references for watching magic tricks or hearing the music for a song. Throughout the book, a “web” icon is used to indicate a complete script or score that the reader can access at ALA’s Web Extras (http://alaeditions.org/webextras).

The second half of the book is divided into two parts, one covering programs for preschool through age seven and another for programs for ages eight to fourteen. The chapters for each age group includes an exhaustive list of program outlines on topics such as places, people, objects, and values (such as honesty and responsibility). Each storytime program comes with a variety of book titles, a verse or song, and an activity pertaining to the theme. The book is a veritable encyclopedia of storytime resources. The booklists consist of carefully chosen classic books as well as new storytime favorites. The booklists and lists of websites are annotated, and the volume ends with a subject, author, and title index.

For storytellers and school and public librarians, this book is essential, serving as one leg of the foundation of storytelling and storytime planning, along with its companion volume The Handbook for Storytellers also recently updated by Freeman and Bauer (and reviewed in RUSQ 55, no. 3, Spring 2016) and Every Child Ready to Read, Second Edition Kit, to build an outstanding children’s storytime program at your library.—Jenny Foster Stenis, Readers’ Services Manager, Pioneer Library System, Norman, Oklahoma