Props O

by Iris van der Heide

We all know this situation, we see something that makes us think this will be the answer, the thing that will make us happy,

especially when other people make it all look so easy. This book beautifully depicts what happens when you just keep trading up to the next best thing, not bothering to become familiar or skilled before you trade up. Eventually our protagonist Sara goes back to the simplest object, some red chalk which in the end brings her the companionship of others. Our prop includes the desired objects made of fabric; the red chalk, some marbles, a brightly colored lollypop, a yoyo, a flute, a hopscotch board and some rain to wash it away. We’re quite sure you will love our “rain glove”, a solution fueled by the depth of our experience with it here in Oregon.

Prop Price: $245 Hardback book: $15.95

With wonderful rhyming language, this story of Samantha and her brother Sam making a sandwich together will both stand your hair on end and get your stomach growling. As Samantha enthusiastically builds her sandwich, Sam slyly slips creepy, crawly creatures between each layer. Our prop is ominously delectable, featuring the entire sandwich made out of fabric with two oversized, stuffed pieces of bread and the nine beautifully detailed sandwich fixings. Sam's repulsive additions are plastic and will easily slip between layers as you tell the story. The lunchroom may be quieter than usual after your audience hears this tale!

(Note: We’ve been making this popular prop for many years now. One of the most difficult things about it is finding all the correct rubber or plastic bugs. At the moment nobody seems to be making rubber slugs, imagine that, so we are forced to make our own. If anyone stumbles on across a good supply,

and not the live ones in your backyards... please let us know.

Prop Price: $245 Hardback book: $12.99

by Jane Cabrera

In this dazzling update on an old classic tale, after finding the cupboard bare, Mother Hubbard goes into town to fetch her dog a

bone. While there, sidetracked, she finds him a coat, a hat, a wig and a pair of shoes. Meanwhile, at home, her dog busies himself with his own set of tasks. He rides a goat, washes the cat, dances and reads the newspaper. After Mother Hubbard returns home, newly outfitted, her dog takes a dramatic bow under the spotlight, bow-wows and then is presented with the bone of his dreams. This set includes all you need to tell this wonderful tale. We provide the dog with bendable legs, Old Mother Hubbard, the bare cupboard and everything Mother Hubbard finds irresistible on her shopping trip: the fine coat for doggie, Scottish Tam-o-shanter hat, red shoes and orange wig. For doggie’s activities at home we include the goat he sits atop atop, the wet cat and the newspaper. In the end you can offer him a large bone.

Prop Price: $285 Hardback book: $15.95

by Tina Matthews

This book sparked my interest because the wisdom of the child triumphs. It’s the old story of the little red

hen, with a twist. The hen wants help planting a seed that she has found. The fat cat, the dirty rat and the greedy pig can’t be bothered, since the large screen tv is on and they are in lounge mode. So she plants and waters and weeds and protects the growing seedling until one day she lays an egg at the base of what has become a fine tree. The egg hatches into a wise red chick who lives and plays under the tree until one day a small kitten and piglet and ratty come and want to play. The hen drags out her ancient grudge and says no but her offspring calls her mother on her attitude and the mother reconsiders. When the visitors leave the hen gives each one a seed of their own.

Our prop consists of fabric red hen, the seed, the seedlings, a watering can, a shovel to weed, an upturned flower pot to shelter the seedling, a tree, an egg with a chick that comes out, the pig, rat and cat and three tiny, green seeds.

Prop Price $305

Hardback Book: $12.95

by Keith Baker

This is the best counting book to come along in years. The simple but charming illustrations show cavorting potatoes in lines, grids and rows, somehow managing their shenanigans in rhyme. Our prop includes all 10 potatoes,

a lasso, ten red bandanas, a tomato, a crow, a watermelon, a grid made of sticks, a drift of snow and a fine plot of dirt, all made of our durable brushed nylon fabric. All ten potatoes slide back into their own little spots in the dirt for the finale. This is a fun story to tell because of all the action. The prop would also be a great teaching tool to teach simple math and counting in a fun, tactile way.

Prop price: $305

Hardback book: $16

Prop for Rhyming Dust Bunnies

Jan Thomas

This is a simple, humorous story about the short and dangerous lives of dust bunnies.

I have them gathered under all of my furniture but I had no suspicions about their intellectual capacities. The furballs in this book get so involved in rhyming words with each other that they fail to see danger just ahead. Luckily there is one dust bunny who is more interested in the survival of the species.

Half the fun for us was figuring out how to “make” dust bunnies. We settled on some pretty fantastic fake fur and then designed faces. Our prop includes four fuzzy, furry fellows so convincingly real that Otis the office dog barked nonstop until he was given one to guard. We also offer for the sweeping, a fabric broom and most fun of all a fabric upright vacuum which somehow resembles a monkey. When the fuzzy bunnies let their guard down they are all sucked (tucked) into the gaping maw of the vacuum only to be revealed by unzipping the dust bag.

This is a rhyming frolic of a book and we think our prop will change the way children view furry friends under the sofa forever.

Prop price: $285.00

Hardback book price: $12.99

BookProps, LLC 1120 McVey Avenue Lake Oswego, OR 97034

Phone: 503-636-0330 or 800-636-5314 FAX: 503-636-8724