Librarian Ginny

Graham Cracker Houses

Around November and December of each year, I start getting excited about the holiday season. There’s something about the crisp air, lights and vivid greens against the otherwise gray world, and the anticipated time with family. I love the feeling. But I know not everyone celebrates the same way I do, so I try to have secular options to celebrate the season. One of the options we did this year, was a building challenge with graham crackers!

ECRR: Singing!

The second in our series on Every Child Ready to Read’s five daily practices is here! If you missed last week’s edition of Talking, find it here! This week’s practice is Singing. This is one of my absolute favorite ways to promote early literacy. Singing comes so natural to kids and it helps them learn in a very fun and playful way! Let’s dive in!

Storytime: Dragons!

Dragons are one of my very favorite themes to do in storytime! The kids love the imagination play that dragons bring and love roaring and acting like dragons even more! Because of this, it can be kind of a raucous storytime, but if you lean into it, it’s so much fun!

LGBTQ+ Positive Chapter Books

Here’s part two of my LGBTQ+ positive booklist series! This booklist features chapter books for kids ages 7-12 years. If you missed the first post of picturebooks for ages 2-7 years, it can be found here.

LGBTQ+ Positive Picturebooks

Get ready because this is a long one! Plus, it’s a two-parter, as I’ve separated picturebooks (for 2-7 yr. olds) and books for older readers (7-12 year olds) into two different lists. Though there are classics such as Heather Has Two Mommies or Daddy’s Roomate, publishing has really done well lately with focusing on positive LGBTQ+ themes! Not to mention the additional themes of gender roles, identity, and self-acceptance! It’s so important for kids to self reflect and get the chance to see themselves in literature. I wish some of these books had existed when I was younger! Anyway, here are some of my absolute favorites!

ECRR: Talking!

For the next few weeks, I’m going to talk a bit about one of Every Child Ready to Read’s five daily practices and some examples of how to incorporate it into programming. This week’s practice is Talking. Children learn about language by listening to parents and adults talk and by joining in the conversation. Sounds super simple, right? It actually is! Let’s look at it a bit more in depth, though.

Let’s Talk About Racism and Bias Booklist

With everything going on and our current political climate, racism, prejudice, implicit bias, and microaggressions are more rampant than they’ve ever been. Or maybe that’s my privilege showing that I’m only noticing it more now. We’re all privileged in some way or another, so why not self-reflect and see if we can use those privileges to lift up voices that need to be heard?

The following booklist doesn’t contain titles about the civil rights movement or black history, though those are closely intertwined with what’s currently happening. It’s meant to contain a broader sense of the injustices and prejudices pertaining to race and differences among people. Here, you can find titles that deal with current events such as racism in America, Black Lives Matter, intolerance to immigrants, the U.S. border, etc. It’s my hope that these books can open discussion about race, racism, bias, etc with children 0-12 years of age. It’s never too young to start talking about this important topic.

Picturebooks to Promote Letter Knowledge

Before kids can begin to read, they need to build certain early literacy skills such as letter knowledge, print awareness, and symbolism. They have to know what the letter A looks like and sounds like. Essentially, they have to know that the letter stands for a sound. I put together this booklist of picturebooks that encourage and play with letter knowledge, whether it’s written notes, “examples” of preschool writing, books with lists, stories told through letters, or line tracing.

Storytime: Dance!

Dancing is such a fun and beneficial thing to do with preschoolers! They’re so creative with their movements and most are so happy to show you their moves! That’s why the storytime theme of dance is one of my favorites.

Books for Singing Booklist

Books that lend themselves to singing are a great storytime addition and helps build early literacy skills! Sometimes I’ll teach everyone the song before breaking into the book, but other times I’ll just let them catch on and join in when they’re comfortable. Some of these books are to old familiar tunes, some provide the necessary notes for the tunes inside, some provide nothing at all but with a little imagination, the reader can make up a tune!