• Lists

    24 Best Books for Baby Shower Gifts

    baby shower

    Baby showers are a wonderful way to celebrate the addition to a family! And as a librarian, I will always gift books for the family. In my honest opinion, you can never have too many books and you spend a lot of time snuggling a baby in their first few…

  • Activities

    Storytime Theme: Chickens

    chickens

    How is it possible that in the years and years I’ve done storytime, I’ve never done a chicken theme? Well, I’m changing that now with these adorable chicken stories. But have no fear, if you need a few more ideas, check out this list from a few years ago that…

  • Lists

    Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish People I’d Like to Meet

    Top Ten Tuesday

    I’ve been really lucky to meet a lot of amazing authors at conferences across the country. I also “know” a lot of authors, illustrators, and other bookish people on social media. But, for today’s Top Ten Tuesday post, I pulled together a list of people I’d love to meet and…

  • Lists

    12 Middle Grade Titles Set at Sea

    mindfulness

    Whether you love the rocking of the waves or you get seasick just thinking about it (sorry about that!) these 12 middle grade titles set at sea are sure to have you yearning for a trip to the water. When I pull together book lists about specific topics or themes,…

  • Activities

    Storytime Theme: Friendship

    friendship

    Friendship is an important and sometimes difficult part of life and little ones need to know how to behave to be good friends. I selected a lot of really fun books, but you can always add quick little asides about things that make the characters good friends. Add in a…

  • Lists

    9 Books Inspired by The Magician’s Elephant

    elephant

    Kate DiCamillo is an author whose books I will read no matter what they’re about. She has a way with words that is absolutely beautiful. And Kate can delve into tough topics in an age-appropriate way that just works. Her book, The Magician’s Elephant is being made into a movie…

  • Lists

    Top Ten Tuesday: Art Heist Middle Grade Mysteries

    Top Ten Tuesday

    In today’s blog post for Top Ten Tuesday, we had the chance to choose a “genre freebie.” And I’ll tell you how I ended up in sharing books in this tiny little niche of a sub-genre – art heist middle grade mysteries. When I sat down to choose a genre,…

  • Lists

    12 Mindfulness Books for Parents, Caregivers, & Teachers

    mindfulness

    I think just about everyone can benefit from a little mindfulness! “Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, through a gentle, nurturing lens” (Greater Good Magazine). This is often easier said than done, but with anxiety, high levels of stress, and mental…

  • Activities

    Storytime Theme: Black Voices

    Black Voices

    Although Black History Month is almost over, you can use this storytime lesson plan anytime during the year! Extremely important, Black history can be a little difficult to cover in a thirty-minute storytime for toddlers and preschoolers, so rather than focusing on history or biographies (which you could also do!).…