Today I’m featuring a guest post from Dawn Babb Prochovnic, author of the excellent Story Time with Signs and Rhymes series (more about that here), about her upcoming releases and some exciting ways to use them in storytime!

Take it away, Dawn!

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Hello Readers and Signers!

Kathy was kind enough to invite me to write a guest post on her blog to celebrate the upcoming release of my two latest picture books: Where Does a Cowgirl Go Potty? and Where Does a Pirate Go Potty? These new books are geared for young readers ages 3-8, but they will appeal to potty humorists of all ages.

Although these new books don’t incorporate sign language like my Story Time with Signs & Rhymes series, in my experience, most books can be enriched with sign language with just a little bit of advanced planning. For example, I recently developed a detailed sign language story time lesson plan for folks who are interested in some comic relief while toilet training. You can find that lesson plan here.

That said, these new books are more aptly categorized as potty-humor books, vs. potty-training books. Given that I’ve taught Sing and Sign workshops for the past twenty years, music and sign language are infused in just about everything I do. Over the past couple of months, I had the unique opportunity to work with two different musicians to create a children’s song for each of my new books. I couldn’t be more pleased with how they turned out.

For the Where Does a Cowgirl Go Potty? song, I worked with singer, songwriter and performing musician, Marshall Mitchell.

You can listen to our song here.

Kids of all ages love to sing and sign AND they love to laugh. Singing and signing along with the Where Does a Cowgirl Go Potty? song creates a perfect opportunity to incorporate all three of these fun activities.

I’ve included the song lyrics for Where Does a Cowgirl Go Potty? below, noting in bold some of the words you might consider signing along with. TIP: Don’t feel pressured to sign more words than you are comfortable with. It’s perfectly okay to start by signing only one or two key words, (for example, WHERE or POTTY) that repeat throughout the song. As your American Sign Language vocabulary (and your confidence) develops and grows, you can add more signs each time you sing. Rest assured, kids are likely to ask you to repeat the song again and again!

Here are the lyrics:

Where Does a Cowgirl Go Potty?

Lyrics by Marshall Mitchell and Dawn Prochovnic; Music written and performed by Marshall Mitchell

When she’s exploring nature…out west.

And her belly starts to feel somewhat distressed.

Out in the canyon or the brush…when she feels the need to rush.

Where does a cowgirl go potty?

When she’s out there on the wide and open range.

And her tummy starts to feel a little strange.

Because waiting is the worst…she thinks she just may burst.

Where does a cowgirl go potty?

Now she can’t go just anywhere…’Cause other folks go potty there.

She’ll find a place and then…it’s just beyond the next bend.

She knew it when she saw…then gave a big, “Yee-Haw!”

This is where a cowgirl goes potty.

Now, this is where a cowgirl goes potty.

Here are links to some reputable video-based resources for the bolded American Sign Language vocabulary , along with some brief reminder notes to help jog your memory as you are learning the signs:

• BURST: Hands make exploding motion
• COWBOY/COWGIRL: Think of a gunslinger
• CAN’T (CANNOT): Pointer finger scolds/slaps other pointer finger
• DISTRESSED: Think of nervous jazz hands
• EXPLORE: Palm-down “V” handshapes looks/explores
• FEEL: Middle finger brushes chest
• FIND: Open hand becomes “F” Handshape
• KNOW: Hand taps forehead then moves downward
• NEXT: One hand passes over the other
• OTHER: Ten handshape points “other” direction
• POTTY/TOILET: The “T” handshape wiggles
• STRANGE: “C” handshape droops near mouth
• THIS: Pointer finger points to palm of other hand
• WAIT: Palms up, fingers wiggle
• WHERE: Pointer finger looks/searches
• WIDE: Hands expand/go wide
• YEE-HAW (APPLAUSE): Jazz hands raise and celebrate

As I mentioned above, I worked with singer, songwriter and performing musician, Marshall Mitchell for the Where Does a Cowgirl Go Potty? song. Marshall Mitchell is a frequent performer at schools and libraries around the country. He recently performed dozens of fun, educational shows for a variety of library summer reading programs. You can see snippets of his work here.

The story of how I met and developed a friendship with Marshall is here.

If you’re interested in bringing Marshall to your learning community, you can contact his booking agent here.

Thank you so much for inviting me to your blog, Kathy! I hope your readers have as much fun singing and signing along with this silly song as I had working on the lyrics and collaborating with Marshall Mitchell.

For those who can’t get enough of the song, keep an eye on my social media accounts about the release of the book trailer for Where Does A Cowgirl Go Potty? It’s in production now, and will be available to view, soon! Also, I’ll soon be making announcements about the song and book trailer for Where Does a Pirate Go Potty? ARRR!

Want an Advance Release copy of Where Does a Cowgirl Go Potty?

Comment below, and/or share this post on social media, and tag @KathysQuill (FB and Twitter) and @DawnProchovnicAuthor (FB) / @DawnProchovnic (Twitter) for chances to win. I have two advanced copies along with classroom sets of bookmarks to share. I’ll give them away sometime next week!

About the Author:

Dawn Babb Prochovnic is the author of Where Does a Cowgirl Go Potty?; Where Does a Pirate Go Potty?; First Day Jitters, featured in the award-winning book, Oregon Reads Aloud; and 16 books in the Story Time with Signs & Rhymes Series, including one title that was selected as an Oregon Book Awards finalist. Dawn is a vocal advocate for school and public libraries and was honored as a 2015 Oregon Library Supporter of the Year by the Oregon Library Association. She is a frequent presenter at schools, libraries and educational conferences, and the founder of SmallTalk Learning, which provides American Sign Language and early literacy education. Dawn loves to travel and has visited thousands of potties across the Pacific Northwest and around the world. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband, two kids, two cats, and a feisty dog. Learn more at http://www.dawnprochovnic.com or find her on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.