While we look at moving back into the library (I’m back in the library two days a week now–starting today!), virtual programs continue. We are discussing how to transition to filming in the library, especially since our building will most likely be opening to the public soon, any regular programming spaces are being used for quarantine of deliveries or returns, and an open-office staff space with no area for private filming. Returning to the library gives others staff members who don’t have the at-home tech an opportunity to film storytimes…but that also means restarting a learning curve about the technology and the differences between an in-person and virtual storytime, at a time when the patron expectation in program quality is higher (after all we’ve been doing this a while).
Early Literacy Tip: Babies understand more than they can say. Using gestures, including simple hand signs is a great way to communicate with your little one. More, Stop, and No are great words to practice.
Book:Leo Loves Baby Time by Anna McQuinn
Song: She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain by Old Town School of Folk Music
Rambling Thoughts: I don’t have much to say about what I read this week–apparently I read some good stuff back at the beginning of this week, and I honestly can’t remember much of what those books were about. I remember thinking The Magic Fish could win the Newbery, but I’m stretching my brain to remember details. This has been a long week of multi-hour meetings and trainings, program prep and virtual program presentations to 700+ people, a personal covid scare, and, oh yeah, domestic terrorists breaking into the U.S. Capitol building. None of that is surprising (except having 700 people at a virtual program), and in some small ways I have a small sense of relief that the riot we have all been waiting for has finally happened and was unsuccessful. Is the world moving in a better direction from here? Probably not. What are we going to do about it? What am I going to do about it? I’m making a list. What are you going to do?
On a work level, I’ve been thinking a lot about this Library Think Tank – ALATT Facebook post that quickly got buried among all that is Library Think Tank:
Books and programs are important, but I like the emphasis here on the need to go beyond that. A lot of us tend to stop with those things that are easy–what we read, what we recommend, what we share in programs. Those things are nice and important, but they do not make real change. I especially appreciated the original poster’s response to people who shared book and program-related plans–simply reiterating that final question, again and again.
So….who’s ready for 2022?
Make sure to stop by on Tuesdays for short reviews of some of these titles!
Even though Dog Man won our last Book Tournament voting contest, and it is, without question, the most popular book series in our library, I underestimated its popularity going into virtual Dog Man Trivia. I expected a small crowd (Pokemon Trivia in June had around 55 attendees; surely Dog Man would be less). Nope. 101 people. 345+ comments. Even with technology issues during the livestream, people attended, participated, and were engaged with the questions and each other.
My questions were shared via screensharing a PowerPoint on Facebook Live (details below under Logistics). Twenty questions, followed by going back through the twenty questions faster to review the answers.
Watch the video here:
View and Download the PowerPoint below. The fonts I used (that didn’t seem to copy over) were Century Gothic, ObelixPro, and Grobold:
Like many of our school age programs, trivia was hosted on Facebook Live, though this could easily be translated to whatever platform your library is using for virtual events.
There are many great tools out there for trivia. Kahoot is a particularly popular tool that I’ve seen used frequently. That tool asks participants to play along on their phone or another device while watching the livestream, and the system times the questions and ranks participants. While I like that concept for an adult or maybe teen trivia, when there are no prizes involved, I don’t like that system for kids. Plus, it involves a second piece of technology, and for families playing along, it may be especially difficult to have each kid play individually.
My questions were added to a PowerPoint, shared to Facebook using their livestreaming screenshare technology.
How To Run a Trivia Program Using Facebook Live:
Make your slides “widescreen” so they fill up the viewers full computer, phone, or TV screen. Do this by going to Design – Slide Size in Microsoft PowerPoint.
I don’t like the clunkiness of viewers seeing me open my powerpoint after going live. To always just have the powerpoint as the center of your screen:
In PowerPoint, start the “Slide Show” mode, making your PowerPoint full screen.
Use the Windows key (not ESC) to exit the Slide Show presentation view. This key leaves it open in the background.
Start your Facebook Livestream. Instead of sharing your entire screen, just share one application — the Slide Show view of PowerPoint.
Return to the Slide Show view to change slides for your participants. Always use the Windows key to exit. If you use the ESC key, you won’t be able to restart the slideshow without creating a new livestream.
Using the steps above, you cannot easily see the comments during the presentation. I have my phone nearby with the livestream running, allowing me to see questions and comments as they come in. A coworker posts links and types responses to the comments, and I respond verbally as I can.
My program was supposed to last 30 minutes (I knew I was closer to 35 on practice). Between a solid 10+ minutes of technical issues in the middle, and participants asking me to slow down, the program went closer to 50 minutes, but participants stayed with me.
Dog Man passion is huge here, and I’m going to host a Dog Man BINGO in August to continue that online camaraderie around this fandom. What virtual programs have worked well for you? Let us know in the comments!
Week 4 of virtual baby storytime! I am finally at a 30 minute storytime, woot!
Views dropped this week, with about 35 watching live and about 60 one-minute-views before the livestream was taken down. However, we did have more comments from regulars than we did on previous recent recordings. I’m also not sure if people just didn’t want to see my face twice in one week.
Folks on one of the state library web meetings also mentioned dropping viewers, and they had some interesting feedback regarding Facebook Live algorithms starting to stop notifying people when they go live due to the frequency–they could tell based on the decrease in impressions on their posts.
I’ve seen some libraries live streaming to multiple sources at once via two different devices, which is interesting. We have such a large built-in audience on Facebook, though we are also getting quite a response from our registered school age events. I can’t quite picture Zoom or a similar software working well though, just based on the number of meetings I’ve sat in on where people won’t turn their mute on–one person has rustling papers or pets in the background, and suddenly their face is the only one anyone participating can see, even if they aren’t the person talking or hosting. Any solutions out there?
Edit: A fantastic commenter pointed out the inaccuracy of the word “diverse” to describe these artists, and I’m working to correct that. You will see a mixture of terms used in this post as I take the time to better prepare for future posts in this series. The artists highlighted below are all from typically underrepresented backgrounds, including a mixture of Black, Latinx, Asian, and LGBTQIA+. I’ll better distinguish this on future updates to this post and blog series.
Are you using music from a diverse group of artists in storytime? I’ll ask another way: are the artists of all the songs you use in storytime white? There is a ton of conversation in the library world about the need to make sure your collections, displays, reader’s advisory, and programming books include underrepresented populations. Rudine Sims Bishop is often quoted, citing her wonderful Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors essay. That work is very important, and books are at the core of library services. But, we also highlight other forms of media in our programming, storytimes, and events. Think about your hired presenters and performers (virtual in 2020 and in-person in 2019). How many were white? Who are you supporting with your library’s limited funds? What about your storytime music playlist? How often do you share music by Black artists? Latinx artists? LGBTQIA+ artists?
Since my time on the ALSC Notable Children’s Recordings committee, I’ve been thinking a lot about children’s music, especially the music we use in storytime. Most of the artists I use are white. Jim Gill and Laurie Berkner are great, but there are some really fantastic Black, Latinx, and Asian artists that out there. There are artists from so many underrepresented groups–you just need to put in the time to look for them.
And it does take time. The music world is hard to break into at any level. Getting an agent isn’t easy or cheap, and the children’s music world is competitive. An artist might be able to self publish or perform locally, but that creates a very limited audience for a time consuming and costly pursuit. In some ways, the pandemic has opened up more opportunities for smaller presenters and performers to perform, virtually, on a national scale. But, the pandemic has also made it harder for those same smaller performers to survive. Money is tight everywhere, and many libraries who could never afford to bring a big name performer in person, might be able to afford them virtually. Libraries want to attract a large virtual audience, and that is easier with a name that caregivers will recognize. Caregivers recognize children’s musicians that they hear a lot–which they may mostly hear in storytime. So we are back to the beginning again: what musicians are you highlighting in storytime?
I am picky about my storytime music. I present for all ages now, but mostly babies and toddlers. I want music selections that are:
Short. Preferably 1-2 minutes, though I’m flexible with this (I can always stop the song myself where I need to).
Clear actions that are preferably repeated in a straightforward way. And actions that are appropriate for the age range. We can always adapt words and motions, but it is hard to spin a squirming one-year-old sitting on your lap.
Good pace. For me, I don’t want something too slow, but it also needs to be at a speed that is feasible for a toddler or preschooler to follow.
Your storytime music preferences might be very different. Some of my coworkers only use songs that have a rhythm that is way too slow for me, while others really want to theme their music to their storytime topic.
One more note: look at artists that you haven’t heard of. It’s great that you are highlighting Ella Jenkins and other artists that have been around for a few decades–but there are many new, modern artists creating amazing music right now that would appreciate your support.
I’ve been rambling on for months in other blog posts on how I have been working on a spreadsheet with artists from underrepresented populations and songs that particularly work for storytime. That full document isn’t ready yet, but I want to start to highlight diverse musicians regularly in preparation for that longer post. Many of these names may be familiar if you follow my weekly storytime outlines.
Children’s Musicians: A Starting List
All of these artists come from backgrounds that are typically underrepresented, particularly in storytime playlists: some are Black, some are Latinx, some are Asian, some identify as LGBTQIA+, and more. Some of these artists are my personal favorites while others are ones I plan to explore over the next few months. Who am I missing? Let me know in the comments!
Also, not a specific music group, but check out the Trans & Nonbinary Kids Mix by Ants on a Log and Friends.
Storytime Music: Favorite Songs
Again, I haven’t listened to every song by every artist listed above (yet–that is the plan by the end of the year), but if you are looking for some storytime music by artists from underrepresented populations to add to your storytime playlist *right now*, I’ve highlighted some of my current favorites below!
Jazzy Ash
Teddy Bear (preschool or school age)
Baby Loves Beignets (great with shakers)
Leap Frog (great with shakers – wish this didn’t gender with boys and girls)
Kymberly Stewart
I Am a Robot (toddlers, preschoolers)
Timmy the Turtle (Tiny Tim rhyme)
Down Down Up Up (all ages–could be a fun work out for caregivers with babies)
Nathalia
Animal Bop (toddlers, preschoolers)
Alina Celeste
Clap Hands (wish this wasn’t strictly mama and papa repeatedly, but the beat and actions are great)
Little Miss Ann
Shake & Sing (with shakers)
Aaron Nigel Smith
Everybody Loves to Dance (featuring Ziggy Marley) (all ages)
Itsy Bitsy Spider (featuring Zion Nigel Smith) (all ages)
Culture Queen
Super Shaker Song (with shakers! or scarves!) (all ages)
Take-and-make kits; craft kits; programs to go: whatever your library calls these programs in a bag that have become a staple of no-contact offerings, one thing is fairly standard: these kits are well loved, but they take time to make. I love creating materials for kits and thinking about how a family might interact with program materials at home. I’ve introduced a new pair of kits for ages 6-11: Book Club in a Bag (also known as Leap Off the Page, since we already have book club kits at our library, and the original name became confusing). This week: Last Kids on Earth by Max Brallier.
The Book Club in a Bag kits look a bit different from some of my previous kits. Instead of focusing on just one book universe, these kits each feature four characters, hopefully some old favorites as well as some new, diverse characters.
In May, these featured characters or books included (links provided as the bag contents are shared on Book Cart Queens):
The Last Kids on Earth Kit can be as simple or as elaborate as you’d like. Most of this kit can be re-created simply using a printer, with the addition of extra items (like board game pieces) depending on your budget.
Want to use make a Last Kids on Earth Kit at your library? Download the PDFs at the links below, or write a comment or send an email (bookcartqueens@gmail.com) for editable files.
Last Kids on Earth Kit General Materials
Each bag contains some of the same basic materials, and the Last Kids on Earth kit is no different.
Slideshare not working? Download the PDF featuring all kit activities here.
Slideshare not working? Download the PDF listing all book titles here.
Slideshare not working? Download the PDF listing readalikes here.
The Last Kids on Earth readalikes bookmark features these titles:
Slideshare not working? Download the PDF listing discussion questions here.
The Last Kids on Earth Discussion Questions included:
What do you think caused the monster apocalypse?
At the beginning of the series, Quint wanted to stay in his house to do research in his lab. Do you think he made the right decision to go to the treehouse with Jack?
Jack has made many improvements to his treehouse. What would you add to your end-of-the-world treehouse?
How do Jack and his friends pass the time in the treehouse (besides fighting zombies and monsters)? What would you do if you were in Jack’s situation?
Jack faces off against many evil villains. Would you prefer to battle against a monster, a zombie, or an evil human villain? Why?
What advice would you give Jack and his friends before their next adventure?
This bag also included two bookmarks, printed on white cardstock.
First up: Last Kids on Earth survival guide! Learn about the characters and the villains and complete simple games and puzzles to build your Last Kids survival skills.
Slideshare not working? Download the ready-to-print survival guide here.
And finally, one of my absolute favorite things I’ve designed for a program: a Last Kids on Earth board game! Players tried to move around the book the fastest, traveling to a magical portal and back to the treehouse before the other players.
The game included:
2 11×17 Board Games (printed on regular 11×17 printer paper)
As many of us will be telecommuting for a few weeks longer than initially anticipated, I updated some of the links below and added a few more suggested resources.
Please share other great resources in the comments!
In the next few weeks, I imagine many of us will be either working at our libraries without patrons or working at home because of the coronavirus. While we all have plenty of tasks to keep us busy, this may be an advantageous time to complete online professional development work. There are many great resources out there–some costly, but many free.
I’ve completed a few of the below programs, and others are on my to-do list. Send me additional recommendations in the comments below, and I will happily add them to the list. I’m currently only listing programs that may be especially of interest to youth or teen services librarians.
Librarians Guide to Homelessness: Created by Ryan Dowd, learn best practices for library staff on how to understand and better serve the homeless population. Includes tips on how to deal with and de-escalate common situations and issues and make staff feel empowered and safe. May only be available to Ohio librarians.
Mel’s Desk Professional Storytime Development: Not quite an official course like many of these other offerings, but may be the most useful in practical day-to-day storytime improvement. Practice storytime flow, create your own storytime mission statement, and make and evaluate your storytime top 40 list.
Project READY: Reimagining Equity & Access for Diverse Youth: In-depth diversity training specifically designed for youth librarians in public and school library settings. Broken down into three sections covering foundational knowledge, transforming your practice, and continuing the journey. Time to Complete: 30+ hours (not including activity and program planning and execution)
Raising the Bar Early Literacy Training: Access early literacy storytime training by the New York Public Library including a plethora of valuable resources for early ages. Time to Complete: 10+ hours
Sesame Strong: Access bundles of resources focusing on family engagement, particularly focusing on hosting mini-programs with parents or caregivers. Time to Complete: 3+ hours
Supercharged Storytime: Discover ways to improve your storytimes with intentionality, interactivity, and assessment. Time to Complete: 10+ hours
Supporting Caregiving Families: Learn about serving families of military personnel and veterans in particular with helpful vocabulary, digital resources, and hands-on activities. Time to Complete: 3+ hours
Trauma Basics for Youth Workers: Learn the basics for practicing and implementing trauma-informed care in youth settings including what trauma is, how it impacts the brain, and how to foster interpersonal safety. Two-hour course is free with options for lengthier in-depth training at a cost (8-hours or 30-hours). Time to Complete: 2 hours
Webinars
Advancing Racial Equality in Your Library: This webinar, presented by the Race Forward Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE), presents an overview of concepts and approaches libraries are using to reduce racial barriers in their work.
Conflict as Opportunity: Library Restorative Practices for Youth: Pima County (AZ) Public Library (PCPL) has radically shifted its approach toward interacting with youth in violation of the library’s Customer Code of Conduct. Using restorative justice practices, PCPL created a justice board with community partners to facilitate more mindful approaches to incidents involving youth, focusing on creating opportunities for growth and engagement rather than barriers to library access.
Countdown to Coding: Computer Science for Preschoolers: Learn ways to incorporate coding concepts into storytimes and playtimes for 3-5 year olds.
Improving the Quality of Youth Programs: Through a series of trainings and assessment tools from the David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality, Houston (TX) Public Library made changes to create engaging programs where youth want to be instead of have to be.
Thinking Sideways: Compuational Thinking and Early Literacy: This on-demand webinar explorers components of computational thinking, what it looks like in early childhood, and how library staff use developmentally appropriate activities to support whole-child development. Young children can become successful problem-solvers, creative thinkers, and lifelong learners at the library.
Using Your Library’s Virtual Presence to Reach Users with Disabilities: Is your library working towards improving online accessibility to customers with disabilities? Have you developed new programs and services that intentionally welcome individuals with disabilities, but are struggling to connect with your target audience? Developing inclusive library services will be more effective if your library connects with the disability community, and leveraging your organization’s virtual presence will help you do that.
Championing Children’s Services Toolkit: Encompasses a variety of easy to use advocacy resources to empower librarians to engage their communities to build healthy successful futures for children.
Middle Grade Magic Virtual Conference: While the conference occurred on April 8, login to view excellent presentations from many diverse authors and information about upcoming children’s books.
Public Library & School Library Collaboration Toolkit: When public and school librarians and library workers engage in collaboration, community members reap the benefits. This toolkit includes context and suggestions for creating partnerships of all sizes.
Revisiting the Potential uses of Media in Children’s Education: Journalist Chris Berdik interviewed more than 20 experts from a range of fields, including developmental psychologists, educators, media historians, app developers, as well as education nonprofit leaders and funders, to understand some of the lessons that can be learned from the successes and failures of children’s educational media over the past 50 years. Together, they explore what we must do to make the most of new technologies and the changing role of families and teachers, and grapple with questions about media, learning, and educational equity.
Virtual Events
April 25-26: YALLSTAYATHOME: Features panels and speakers ranging from middle grade through young adult lit.
May 1-2: Everywhere Book Fest: A virtual gathering of kidlit authors, illustrators, and books that will bring the book festival experience to young readers everywhere.
May 27: SLJ Day of Dialogue: Learn from authors, librarians, and educators from around the globe in this first-time-virtual event.
Cost, Available Anytime
ALSC Archived Webinars: If you are an ALSC member, these one-hour educational sessions are free. If not, each webinar costs $25 to access. Many topics available from advocacy and storytime to STEAM, child care,diversity, early literacy, and more. Some webinars available to everyone for free.
Spanish for Libraries from the iSchool @ UW-Madison: Learn vocabulary, pronunciation, common phrases, and other skills as you progress through the course by watching videos, listening to recordings, and reading relevant literature. Available March 27. Cost: $100
Bilingual Storytime at Your Biblioteca: Learn how to successfully deliver the various elements of bilingual storytimes, either on their own or with a bilingual community partner. Participants will discover new books, rhymes, songs, plans and resources that they can immediately put to use in their bilingual storytime programs. Time to Complete: 4 weeks Cost: $175 Next Session: Begins May 4
Cultural Competence for Librarians: For the library profession, which has historically struggled with developing a workforce that is reflective of the communities being served, these changing times will require cultural competence, defined by the Association of College and Research libraries as “a congruent set of behaviors, attitudes, and policies that enable a person or group to work effectively in cross-cultural situations” (ACRL, 2012). While cultural competence has become a part of some library and information science programs, for librarians currently working in the field, cultural competence may be an enigma. This course will introduce librarians to the concept of cultural competence in the library and information science profession. Time to Complete: 4 weeks Cost: $175 Next Session: Begins May 4
Foundations of Early Literacy: Both using and expanding on the early literacy information in the Every Child Ready to Read® initiative, you will become familiar with the early literacy skills and practices. Building on this knowledge, we will explore ways to apply them to your work, including ways to make library environments supportive of staff sharing early literacy information and activities with parents and caregivers. Time to Complete: 4 weeks Cost: $175 Next Session: Begins May 4
Library Resources and Services for Patrons on the Autism Spectrum: This course will provide librarians with a better understanding of Autism Spectrum Disorder, effective means of communicating individuals with ASD, strategies for designing inviting and accessible library environments and programming, and suggestions for building relationships with community partners to better serve the needs of patrons with ASD. Time to Complete: 4 weeks Cost: $175 Next Session: Begins May 4
Practical Library Services for Grade School Kids (Kindergarten through Second Grade): R. Lynn Baker will provide information and hands-on practice to help library staff create intentional, literacy-based programs for children in kindergarten through second grade. You’ll gain practical knowledge and skills and an understanding of how to put them to work. Cost: $175 Next Session: Begins April 27
I am a Disney fan. I worked at Disney for about a year though the Disney College Program, we grew up growing to the parks and watching the movies, in non-pandemic days I vacation there fairly regularly. So hosting Disney Trivia was a bit of its own dream come true.
We didn’t have a big audience for this – about 45 people (this was no Dog Man Trivia). I think the questions might have been a bit too hard for the intended age range (6-11), though for the players who stuck through to the end, everyone had near perfect scores.
Content
I shared the questions via screensharing a PowerPoint on Facebook Live (details below under Logistics). Twenty questions, followed by going back through the twenty questions faster to review the answers.
Watch the full video here:
*The video cuts off at the very end. I think the internet went out.
View below and download the PowerPoint here. The fonts I used (that didn’t seem to copy over) were Century Gothic and Grobold:
Like many of our school age programs, trivia took place on Facebook Live, though this could easily be translated to whatever platform your library is using for virtual events.
There are many great tools out there for trivia. Kahoot is a particularly popular tool that I’ve seen used frequently. That tool asks participants to play along on their phone or another device while watching the livestream, and the system times the questions and ranks participants. While I like that concept for an adult or maybe teen trivia, when there are no prizes involved, I don’t like that system for kids. Plus, it involves a second piece of technology, and for families playing along, it may be especially difficult to have each kid play individually.
I added the questions to PowerPoint, shared to Facebook using their livestreaming screenshare technology. Some detailed tips for those interested in trying a program this way:
Make your slides “widescreen” so they fill up the viewers full computer, phone, or TV screen. Do this by going to Design – Slide Size in Microsoft PowerPoint.
I don’t like the clunkiness of viewers seeing me open my powerpoint after going live. To always just have the powerpoint as the center of your screen:
In PowerPoint, start the “Slide Show” mode, making your PowerPoint full screen.
Use the Windows key (not ESC) to exit the Slide Show presentation view. This key leaves it open in the background.
Start your Facebook Livestream. Instead of sharing your entire screen, just share one application — the Slide Show view of PowerPoint.
Return to the Slide Show view to change slides for your participants. Always use the Windows key to exit. If you use the ESC key, you won’t be able to restart the slideshow without creating a new livestream.
Using the steps above, you cannot easily see the comments during the presentation. I have my phone nearby with the livestream running, allowing me to see questions and comments as they come in. A coworker posts links and types responses to the comments, and I respond verbally as I can.
These are supposed to be 30 minutes, but I talk too much, and this, like previous similar programs was closer to 45 minutes.
This is part of a weekly livestream “after school” series on Tuesdays at 4:30 pm in September. I’m not sure if our audience will stick around, but I sure hope we keep up a following with this style event at a consistent weekly time.
It’s book list season! I’ve read a lot this year, and I am excited to highlight my favorite releases of 2020. I’m thrilled to start this year’s lists with 2020 favorite storytime books.
These lists are personal. The storytime books that work for me may not work for you–and that is okay! We each have our own storytime preferences. Also, I very well may have missed some great titles that were released over the last year–so make sure to check out all of the great lists all over the internet.
I had so many favorites this year that I split picture books over two lists: storytime favorites and picture book favorites. Make sure to check both places for amazing 2020 titles!
Which titles were your favorites of the year? Please share in the comments!
#Baby by Michael Joosten Adorable baby photographs paired with humorous hashtags will make this a winner for both babies (who will love the close ups of other babies) and grown ups (who will appreciate the humor). Fun choice for virtual baby storytime.
A is for Another Rabbit by Hannah Batsel “A is for A Rabbit. B is for Bunny. C is for Can you believe how many rabbits are on this page?” A rabbit-obsessed narrator makes an owl angrier and angrier as this alphabet book fails to follow normal expectations. Try this out at an elementary school storytime.
Animals Brag About their Bottoms by Maki Saito Bottoms are cool. Animal bottoms are SUPER COOL. For toddlers, focus on identifying the animal by their bottom. For preschoolers, read through the story and talk about loving our bodies in all their unique shapes and sizes. Pair with a nonfiction book about animals, Whose Poop Is That?, or any Steve Jenkins title.
The Babies and Kitties Book by John Schindel and Molly Woodward Redd A companion to the adorable The Babies and Doggies Book, this book features photographs of babies…and kitties! Wonderful photographs featuring diverse babies are paired with fun actions that work well in a storytime environment (climbing, hiding, jumping).
Bedtime Bonnet by Nancy Amanda Redd and illustrated by Nneka Myers “In my family, when the sun goes down, our hair goes up!” A little girl shows us her Black family’s nighttime hair routines, but when it comes time for her to go to bed, she can’t find her bonnet! Where could it be? A fantastic own voices book that centers a diverse narrative in a bedtime storytime.
Do Sharks Bark? by Salina Yoon These lift-the-flap books are perfect for toddler or preschool storytime. Read them as they are written–opening each animal mouth for that sound–or try retelling them with puppets.
Don’t Feed the Coos! by Jonathan Stutzman and illustrated by Heather Fox Coos are so cute! And they are begging you for a snack…but don’t give in! If you feed one, they will all come! Lots of humor and giggles about what happens if you feed pigeons (or seagulls or ibis or ducks depending where you live).
The Elephants’ Guide to Hide and Seek by Kjersten Hayes and illustrated by Gladys Jose Elephants love playing hide and seek–but they aren’t very good at it. Consult this handy guide for tips and tricks to improving your hide and seek game. Ask storytime attendees to think of new places or ways for an elephant to try to hide–maybe even places in your library!
Federico and the Wolf by Rebecca J. Gomez and illustrated by Elisa Chavarri A clever retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood.” Frederico tries to take food to his grandfather’s store, but a hungry wolf has other ideas. A bouncy rhythm makes this fun to read aloud. Spanish words are scattered throughout, with a glossary and pronunciation guide in the back.
Fussy Flamingo by Shelly Vaughan James and illustrated by Matthew Rivera Lola is one fussy bird–she doesn’t want to eat shrimp like her fellow flamingos. She is determined to try any other food, and each of those foods changes the color of her feathers. Lots of repetitive text and humor make this a fun family read aloud.
The Ghosts Went Floating by Kim Norman and illustrated by Jay Fleck A spooky Halloween story sung to the tune of The Ants Went Marching. Perfect for counting practice, with a catchy tune that will soon have everyone singing. The last few pages include a Halloween tie in with the spooky friends all attending a Halloween party, though those could be skipped.
Going Up by Sherry J. Lee and illustrated by Charlene Chua Sophie and her dad are excited for Olive’s birthday party! Sophie pushes the elevator button, and they start the long journey up their building–but at each floor, the elevator stops, and more neighbors crowd in. Repetitive text helps keeps readers engaged as they meet the diverse residents of this apartment building.
Hey Baby!: A Baby’s Day in Doodles by Andrea Pippins Lovely photographs follow a 1-year-old through everyday activities. The black and white contrast is great for young eyes (if a little busy for a virtual storytime setting). Great actions and motions to compare the baby’s day to your family’s day.
I Love Me! by Laronda Gardner Middlemiss and illustrated by Beth Hughes Celebrate diversity, identity, community, and everything that makes you special. Rhyming text, vibrant illustrations, and the repeated “I Love Me!” makes this a great fit for toddler and preschool storytimes
I Love My Fangs! by Kelly Leigh Miller Little Dracula loves his two, pointy, beautiful fangs! But then–oh dear–one falls out. How can Dracula be a vampire with just one tooth? Why won’t it pop back in? Lots of humor and drama surround our adorable young vampire, including a hilarious battle with the tooth fairy. Bright, colorful illustrations will keep the youngest readers engaged.
Jules vs. the Ocean by Jessie Sima Jules wants to build the best sandcastle ever! But the ocean has other plans, washing away all of Jules’ attempts–and eventually it takes her bucket too. A fun summer beach story filled with dry humor in both the words and illustrations.
Lia & Luís: Who Has More? by Ana Crespo and illustrated by Giovana Medeiros Lia and Luís argue over who has more of their favorite snacks. A great way to include math concepts in storytime including measuring, counting, estimating, and weighing. Perfect for STEM programs!
Llama Unleashes the Alpacalypse by Jonathan Stutzman and illustrated by Heather Fox I am a fan of everything Llama! While this sequel isn’t quite as amazing as the original, Llama gets into even more hilarious shenanigans in an effort to never have to clean his house again.
Lift by Minh Lê and illustrated by Dan Santat Wow! This book is visually gorgeous, but also contains serious storytime potential. Iris tapes a broken elevator button to the wall of her room. When she pushes the button, a new world opens up. A great book for older readers paired with an activity where kids create their own imaginary worlds that they would like to find behind magical elevator doors.
On Account of the Gum by Adam Rex A poor kid wakes up with gum in their hair, and their grown up is determined to get the gum out. Instead, they make things much, much, much worse along the way. Lots of laughs.
One of These Is Not Like the Others by Barney Saltzberg Three cows and one elephant–one of these is not like the other! A great read-aloud for toddlers practicing similarities and differences (and celebrating both). Easy to skip spreads to shrink the length of the book.
Our Favorite Day of the Year by A.E. Ali and illustrated by Rahele Jomepour Bell Musa’s kindergarten teacher, Ms. Gupta, proposes a yearlong show and tell, where each child shares with their classmates about their favorite day of the year. As a class, they celebrate Eid Mubarak, Rush Hashanah, Christmas (with some Lantinx cultural elements), and Pi Day. A great way to have a conversation about holidays without focusing on one religion (or, in the case of Pi Day, any religion at all).
Sloth Went by Adam Lehrhaupt and illustrated by Bensom Shum Is there ever an audience where poop books don’t get a good laugh? Encourage young sloth to climb down a tree for his weekly poop. Pair with fascinating facts about how sloths poop in the wild, or a conversation about bathrooms and potty training.
Smug Seagull by Maddie Frost Smug Seagull can snatch more snacks than you! But…who is this new crab? How is crab so good at swiping? Is there enough room at the beach for two snack snatchers? A perfect read aloud to pair with Mo Willems’ Pigeon.
Speak Up by Miranda Paul and illustrated by Ebony Glenn When you see something that doesn’t feel right, when you make a mistake, when you can help someone in need, use your voice and speak up! While this book’s message is simple, it approaches kindness, activism, and using your voice in a tone perfect for preschoolers, kindergarteners, and first graders.
Turtle Walk by Matt Phelan “Turtle walk! Nice and slow. Here we go. Are we there yet? No.” This repetitive story is delightful. Adorable turtles make their plodding walk, exploring the wonders of the world, slowly making their way through the seasons to the cave where they will nap for the winter. Lots of fun to read aloud with a great refrain to repeat as a group.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Diaper You by Ellen Mayer and illustrated by Ying-Hwa Hu Mama changes baby’s diaper in this simple board book. While the action is straightforward, the book excels in modeling ways a caregiver can turn a small exchange, like changing a diaper, into an early literacy experience by singing a modified version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, practicing animal sounds, identifying body parts, and more. A great board book to highlight in a virtual storytime.
Unicorns Are the Worst! by Alex Willan Unicorns are the worst! Goblin is not happy when unicorns move in next door with their glitter and tea parties. Why are unicorns so well loved while goblins are so underappreciated? Funny story perfect for fans of unicorns, magic, humor, and new friendships. Bright illustrations will draw in young readers and also make this a good book to share virtually.
We Will Rock Our Classmatesby Ryan T. Higgins We Don’t Eat Our Classmates is one of my favorite storytime books–and I am so glad Penelope is back for more fun! She is excited to play her guitar at the school talent show until she hears a classmate say that dinosaurs can’t rock and roll. Her classmates have a lot of opinions about what dinosaurs can be…does Penelope have the courage to show off everything she is capable of? A great elementary read, especially to start a conversation about bullying and microaggressions with kindergarteners and first graders.
Welcome to the Party by Gabrielle Union and illustrated by Ashley Evans This is a baby storytime win! Beautiful illustrations, wonderful rhymes, and perfect actions for a group of babies or toddlers.
What Color Is My Hijab? by Hudda Ibrahim and illustrated by Meenal Patel A simple book that highlights both colors and diversity as a little girl chooses what color hijab she will wear today. Great choice for toddlers or preschoolers.
What Will Fit? by Grace Lin Grace Lin’s new series of math board books are perfect for introducing simple math concepts for toddlers. Make sure to check out the whole series!
When We Are Kind by Monique Gray Smith and illustrated by Nicole Neidhardt Celebrate kindness with this beautiful book by a Native author and illustrator. Perfect for talking to preschoolers and kindergarteners about being kind and helping others.
Your Name Is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow and illustrated by Luisa Uribe A girl tells her mother how frustrated she was after her teacher and classmates couldn’t pronounce her name. Her mother teaches her that her name is a song as well as how to embrace your name and identity. A beautiful book perfect for elementary school conversations about the importance of pronouncing names correctly.
Does anyone know why all of the Weird But True books have been checked out with long holds lists since the pandemic started? I know Disney+ expanded the National Geographic TV show, and these books have always been popular, but our books have been checked out for months, and nearby larger systems also have very high circulation rates. If you have an idea why, let me know in those comments–otherwise, read on for everything Weird But True Trivia!
My live audience was small for this one, though it slipped past me that this event didn’t have a Facebook event or any advertisement beyond our website. My handful of players definitely spanned all ages, so this had a different kind of appeal than some of our past trivia events.
I shared the questions via screensharing a PowerPoint on Facebook Live (details below under Logistics). Twenty questions, followed by going back through the twenty questions faster to review the answers.
As always, if you would like any editable files, please send us an email at bookcartqueens@gmail.com or comment below.
Watch the full video here:
View below and download the PowerPoint here. I used Century Gothic and Cartoonist fonts:
Like many of our live school age programs, Weird But True Trivia took place on Facebook Live, though this could easily be translated to whatever platform your library is using for virtual events.
There are many great tools out there for trivia. Kahoot is a particularly popular tool that I’ve seen used frequently. That tool asks participants to play along on their phone or another device while watching the livestream, and the system times the questions and ranks participants. While I like that concept for an adult or maybe teen trivia, when there are no prizes involved, I don’t like that system for kids. Plus, it involves a second piece of technology, and for families playing along, it may be especially difficult to have each kid play individually.
I added the questions to PowerPoint, shared to Facebook using their livestreaming screenshare technology. Some detailed tips for those interested in trying a program this way:
Make your slides “widescreen” so they fill up the viewers full computer, phone, or TV screen. Do this by going to Design – Slide Size in Microsoft PowerPoint.
I don’t like the clunkiness of viewers seeing me open my powerpoint after going live. To always just have the powerpoint shared on your screen:
In PowerPoint, start the “Slide Show” mode, making your PowerPoint full screen.
Use the Windows key (not ESC) to exit the Slide Show presentation view. This key leaves the presentation open in the background.
Start your Facebook Livestream. Instead of sharing your entire screen, just share one application — the Slide Show view of PowerPoint.
Return to the Slide Show view to change slides for your participants. Always use the Windows key to exit. If you use the ESC key, you won’t be able to restart the slideshow without creating a new livestream.
Using the steps above, you cannot easily see the comments during the presentation without toggling back and forth (and creating the risk of you using the ESC key and having to start a new stream). I have my phone nearby with the livestream running, allowing me to see questions and comments as they come in. A coworker posts links and types responses to the comments, and I respond verbally as I can.
These are supposed to be 30 minutes, but I talk too much, and this, like previous similar programs was closer to 45 minutes. An easy way to shrink the length of the presentation would be to run through all of the answers immediately after the questions, instead of going back through them again later.
