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For the Cougar-Read hosted by BYU Alumni Rochester MN, I decided to host a Zoom Storytime featuring books that fit a BYU theme. It was my first Zoom Storytime, and it went okay! BYU’s mascot is Cosmo Cougar, and Cougars figured prominently into the program.
So, um, yes. This is me, outside my apartment. I told the kids that the Cougars (Pumas) from the Minnesota Zoo heard about a storytime for Cougars and were so excited that they left the Zoo, and traveled to Rochester. I needed the kids to help me convince the Pumas to return to the Zoo–my apartment is too small for Cougars to live in!
The Books I Shared…
Fanny’s Dream by Caralyn Buehner and Mark Buehner–Fanny wants to marry a prince. She’s a farm girl who lives a modest life. She waits and waits for her fairy godmother to show up, but instead…it’s Hyrum. And Fanny finds out dreams can come true in ways she never expected. This book is one of my absolute favorites OF ALL TIME. I love how Fanny realizes how life is what you make of it. And Fanny has a beautiful life, despite all the difficulties and trials that come her way. The illustrations are fantastical and just make me happy.
- Buy from Amazon–paperback
- Listen from Amazon–Audible (free with Audible Plus membership trial!)
- Other Favorite Cinderella Stories!
- Jouanah: A Hmong Cinderella by Jewell Reinhard Coburn
- James Marshall’s Cinderella retold by Barbara Karlin, illustrated by James Marshall
- Walt Disney’s Cinderella (Little Golden Book)
Have fun with playing with LEGO! This is Cinderella’s Royal Carriage–find it from Lego Retail!
Blue by Laura Saccaro Veeger–BYU’s dark blue color has stuck with me ever since I graduated 20 years ago! I love this super simple picture book that has deep, mature, bright colors showing off all the shades of blue. The book even goes into the metaphorical types of blue–a chilly blue on cold days, and true blue for real friends. A truly lovely book to share with very young children, and to treasure as adults.
- Buy from Amazon–hardcover
- Other favorite “Blue” books!
- My Hands Sing the Blues: Romare Bearden’s Childhood Journey
- The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse
- Little Blue and Little Yellow
- The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family
- Little Blue Truck
Cougars (Our Wild World) by Patricia Corrigan–what a great non-fiction book to learn about cougars! In this storytime, we didn’t read the book all the way through. Instead there was a running activity in which cougars chosen by the participating kids “told me” what page to go to in order to find a fact about cougars, and we’d read that fact. Excellent photographs, and fun facts that I had not yet learned.
- Buy from Amazon–paperback
- Other great Cougars stories (and other stuff, too!)
- How the Cougar Came to Be Called the Ghost Cat/Ta’n Petalu Telui’tut Skite’kmujewe (Algonquian Languages and English Edition)
- Cougars/Pumas (Animals That Live in the Mountains/Animales de Las Montanas) (English and Spanish Edition)
- Becoming Cosmo…the Cougar of BYU
- Cougar Crossing: How Hollywood’s Celebrity Cougar Helped Build a Bridge for City Wildlife
- Hello, Cosmo!
- Men’s BYU Cosmo Sock
Hiking Day (A My First Experience Book) by Anne Rockwell–A fun picture book about a young girl and her family who are hiking up a mountain for the first time. The book documents all that they see and experience along the way. While this isn’t specifically about hiking Y Mountain, it’s a nice introduction to the concept of hiking and mountains, especially for those of us living in areas without.
- Buy from Amazon–hardcover
- Read on your Kindle
- More books to read about Hiking!
- The Hike: (Nature Book for Kids, Outdoors-Themed Picture Book for Preschoolers and Kindergarteners)
- Llama Llama Loves Camping
- Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking, and Other Natural Disasters
- Henry and Mudge and the Starry Night
Thought Provoking Reads 