A few weeks (or months?) ago I posted about some audio book talks I created, aimed for grades 2-5, for our library’s SoundCloud platform. I knew that eventually I wanted to return to video book talks, as our book talk audience typically uses YouTube more than SoundCloud (2nd-5th graders), my library has a larger following on YouTube, and YouTube adds a visual element that allows for deeper exploration of picture books and graphic novels.
My first few videos are below. I expect these to evolve over time. They are all edited using the YouCut app through an Android phone. Due to the quick cuts and simple editing, these actually take me less time than an audio book talks–I never like to read from a script, and this format allows me to write out my thoughts but only have to worry about a few sentences at a time–I don’t memorize my script, but only having to talk through 1-3 sentences that take no more than 30 seconds total allows me to have a few potential retakes for each snippet and still be done filming in no more than 15 minutes. Editing takes about 20 more minutes. Of course upload speeds are always changing, but at least that can happen in the background while I work on other projects.
These video book talks span ages a bit more as well, with a baby and preschool title added to the mix.
Learn more about my Virtual Book Talks – with many more video examples – in this post.
Woke Baby by Mahogany L. Browne:
Grandma’s Tiny House: A Counting Story by JaNay Brown-Wood:
Meet Yasmin! by Sadia Faruqi:
Ana & Andrew by Christine Platt:
Jada Jones Sleepover Scientist by Kelly Starling Lyons:
What Lane? by Torrey Maldonado:
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia:
The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi: