Let's talk trash!

One of my sure-fire, last-minute, don't-want-to-read-dinosaur-stories-again storytime go-to is TRASH. It's a concept that pre-schoolers are able to grasp and it's potentially gross - that's a win-win situation!

Let me share with you some of my favorite parts of each story!

I Stink!, Kate and Jim McMullan
This is a noisy, roughly drawn tale of a smelly trash truck. The best (and grossest) part of the story is when the ingredients for Alphabet Soup are listed - D for Dirty Diapers, M for Moldy Meatballs, K for Kitty Litter, Y for Year-old Yams. I like to pause after some of the more repungent-sounding items and smack my lips, rub my tummy, or otherwise indicate that for a trash truck? THESE are yum yum yum!

Smash! Mash! Crash! There Goes the Trash!, Barbara Odanaka
This is a gentler trash story that has some great imaginative elements in it - the rumble of the trash truck as it approaches has the neighborhood wondering if it's a "dragon snoring...giants jumping...cymbals clanging?" Kids are then taken on a tour of a typical trash truck route, and are introduced to different trashy items. The last page reveals two little piggies playing with miniature trash trucks. Overall, it's not as crude a story as I Stink! and as such, provides a nice complement.

Trashy Town, Andrea Zimmerman
By far, this is my favorite of the three and I almost always save it for last. This is the tale of Mr. Gilly (and, the keen-eyed among the audience might note, a couple of ratty friends); Mr. Gilly is a trash man. All over the town, Mr. Gilly drives his trash truck, cleaning up as he goes. Kids quickly catch on to the rhythmic chant, "Dump it in, smash it down, drive around the Trashy Town". This is a great audience-participation story and helps kids realize they, too, can help clean up the trash.

In-between stories, I help keep the kids focused by singing/dancing/generally making noise. One of the songs we've had fun with is a trashy version of The Wheels on the Bus: the hopper on the trash truck goes dump, dump, dump; wheels go round and round; flies in the trash truck go buzz buzz buzz; and so on. I've yet to sing the same version twice. Other songs we sing are crowd-pleasers, like Five Little Monkeys, or The Hokey Pokey. I recently thought that I could present a butchered version of Old MacDonald Had A Farm - Old MacDonald had a trash truck, EIEIO. And in that trash truck there were some . . . leftover lunches . . . EIEIO. With a *barf barf* here, etc. Haven't tried it with the children yet, but hopefully I can give it a shot this week!

Do you have any trashy tales or songs you want to share?