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12 Middle Grade Titles Set at Sea
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,…
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Storytime Theme: 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…
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9 Books Inspired by The Magician’s 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…
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Top Ten Tuesday: Art Heist Middle Grade Mysteries
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,…
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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…
