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12 Mindfulness Books for Parents, Caregivers, & Teachers
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…
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Storytime Theme: 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!).…
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12 Read-Alikes for the I Survived Series
Today I’m sharing 12 Read-Alikes for the I Survived series. The I Survived series by Lauren Tarshis is a popular one in my library. At just over 100 pages, these books are quick reads that bring history to life in action-packed text. And now they’re also being re-released as graphic…
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Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Heroes & Heroines
Today’s theme Favorite Heroines got adjusted just a little to Favorite Heroes & Heroines so that I could share some of my favorite middle grade fantasy titles! I tend to claim that I’m not much of a fantasy reader, but in truth, I am. I’ve found that I can find…
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2023 CLEL Bell Award Winners
The CLEL Bell Awards are announced annually by the Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy (CLEL). Five books are awarded “in recognition of five high-quality picture books that provide excellent support of early literacy development in young children.” CLEL doesn’t just award books an award. They also create early literacy activity…
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Storytime Theme: Mail Time!
I’m so surprised that I’ve never done a mail-themed storytime before! Who doesn’t love getting fun mail? Honestly, my reluctance probably stems from elementary school. For a few years, we’d spend the early part of February learning about the postal service system. We took a field trip to the post…
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2022 CYBILS Award Winners
The CYBILS or Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards were presented on Valentine’s Day (or February 14th). And with a crazy week at work, I’m finally getting a chance to sit down and check out all the winners this year! The CYBILS “aims to recognize the children’s and young…
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Top Ten Tuesday: First Crush Middle Grade Novels
It’s a Valentine’s Day freebie for Top Ten Tuesday today. And at first, I was at a loss as to what to share today. But then, I realized that first crushes was a perfect theme for today’s Top Ten Tuesday. Some might think that middle grade readers are too young…
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Bedtime Books for Little Ones
What theme is more popular than bedtime books for little ones? Bedtime is a prime time to snuggle together and spend time reading aloud. There are probably hundreds, if not thousands of picture books dedicated to bedtime, but today I’m sharing just a few. This post may contain affiliate links,…
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Storytime Theme: Favorites
Today’s post – Storytime Theme: Favorites could have easily been named Storytime Theme: Oldies, but Goodies! When I was doing storytime regularly as a children’s librarian, these titles were some of my tried-and-true, must-have books. They would work every time, no matter the crowd! So today, I thought I’d pull…