Tag Archives: Children’s Literature

AASL Best Digital Tools 2020: TeachingBooks

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL)  has announced their top choices for “electronic resources that provide enhanced learning and curriculum development for school librarians and their educator collaborators.” These resources were formerly separated into the Best Apps and Best Websites for Teaching and Learning and are now combined into the Best Digital Tools for Teaching & Learning.

TeachingBooks introduces students and teachers to authors and teaches them the correct pronunciation of their names. It also includes book guides, activities, lesson plans, and readings and is the perfect resource for teachers and librarians looking to bring authors and their work into classrooms and libraries.”

Shared foundations: Explore, Curate, Inquire

Read a review of TeachingBooks from Common Sense Media and the Mendocino County Library has this article about the app on their website.

Watch this four minute video to get an introduction to the TeachingBooks resource:

Episode 411: Children’s Biographies

Hello! Thank you for joining us on Reading With Libraries! We’re so glad you could be here to enjoy our book group podcast.

Check out our full show notes page here, with links to the books we shared, more info about this genre, and of course – links to the beverages we were enjoying!

This week we’re discussing biographies for kids! We’re excited to welcome back Guest Host librarian Kate!

Join us for this fun topic, and explore all kinds of interesting kid biographies.

Become a full book group member on Patreon! Click here to be part of the “inner circle” of this book group, and get access to behind-the-scenes info and photos. Support levels start at $1/month – and you get a postcard from Official Office Dog Lady Grey! More swag is available at higher levels of support; check it all out today.

We love doing this, but podcasts aren’t free to create; so thank you so much to our book group members who have joined us. We love having you as part of the team. ❤

Episode 110: Children’s and YA books

Check out our full information page to get all the info on this episode.

Welcome, everyone, to Books and Beverages! This week we are discussing Children and YA books! This is definitely not a comprehensive look at all good books for these ages! We are sharing a few we like, and some resources you can use to find other good books.

We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, and we support all types of libraries. This is our book group podcast, where we discuss different genres of books each week, while we all sit in our comfy chairs and drink our beverages. And you are, of course, an important part of this book group. So if you do not already have a nice beverage please go get one, so you can join the experience.

There are no “right” or “wrong” books to read and chat about for our book group – we are just here to explore all kinds of books. We love books, and want to talk about them – and we want you to share what you are reading. All of us will take away at least a title or two that we want to read at the end of our time together!

Who is joining our reading group this week? This week our guest hosts are experts in the genre, as they  are book readers and in the targeted age groups for these books. Welcome to Jordan and Grace!

 Beverages

We have guests, we have our genre. We just need our beverages. Fortunately, we all came prepared with something to sip while we talk about our books. Each week we like to connect the theme of our books with our beverages. Each beverage will have a recipe or a link on our episode page, so you can try them yourself!  Obviously, feel free to sip your coffee as you listen, or any other beverage you enjoy. Just join us in celebrating books, and discussing books!

Check out our full information page to get all the beverages we discuss!

This is, as we have discussed in other genres, a huge range of possibilities! We could easily spend an entire episode looking at each of the category breakdowns of this genre, but today will just be giving an overview and sharing a few favorites from each of us.

The importance of diversity in children’s books has been emphasized over and over again. So much research now is showing the lack of diversity of all sorts in books aimed at kids; it really means everyone needs to be deliberate in seeking out books about people who look different than you, live in different places, have different abilities, and all sorts of other things. Reading is a fantastic adventure, and you can really broaden your ideas and your experiences of the world!

Booked for the Evening event

Are you a school, children’s or teen librarian looking to connect with others in your field and get some great book suggestions at the same time? Definitely check out Booked for the Evening, an event at St. Kate’s in St. Paul. Attendees will be able to “hear from expert panelists as they review the best new literature for kids and teens.”

The event is only $20 and takes place Monday, November 13, 6:00–8:45 p.m. in the Rauenhorst Ballroom.

The event features a “panel of expert librarians, who are graduates of the St. Kate’s master in library and information science (MLIS) program, will highlight books for primary, intermediate, and young adult readers. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear about the best in recent literature for youth.”

Read the schedule, meet the experts, and register for this fun event here!

Minnesota State University Moorhead’s (MSUM) Comstock-Gág Read Aloud Book Awards

It Came in the Mail, by Ben Clanton

“For the thirteenth year, children have chosen the best read aloud picture books in the Minnesota State University Moorhead’s (MSUM) Comstock-Gág Read Aloud Book Awards program.

The 2017 winner of the Wanda Gág Read Aloud Book Award for the preschool to eight-year-old category is It Came in the Mail written and illustrated by Ben Clanton and published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. This humorous book reminds us that imagination is a powerful thing, especially when a child’s desire for some mail encourages him to think outside the “mail” box. The Wanda Gág Honor books are The Darkest Dark written by Chris Hadfield and Kate Fillion and illustrated by Terry and Eric Fan, The Night Gardener written and illustrated by Terry and Eric Fan, and What to Do With a Box written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Chris Sheban. The Fan Brothers mark the first time that an illustrator team has won two Wanda Gág Read Aloud Honor awards in the same year.

Continue reading Minnesota State University Moorhead’s (MSUM) Comstock-Gág Read Aloud Book Awards