Tag Archives: kids

Exploring Kits

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You might have noticed a new addition to our website – Kids Kits. We’ve had requests for a list or even a menu of kits, and it seemed like the perfect time, especially now that our kits can be put on hold.

We have three main sections of kits – Early Learning, Beginning Reading, and STEAM. Here’s a few of my favorite kits from each section. If you need a kit recommendation or want to learn more, our librarians are happy to help.

 

Early Learning: Princess

Newly updated with fun bedtime books and even a Princess cookbook! The cape fits all ages – yes, even I can put it on.

 

 

 

Early Learning: Black and White

Our babies aren’t born with fully developed eyes. They slowly gain the ability to see color and focus on objects farther from their face. Providing high contrast black and white books is a great way to engage our littlest ones, especially during activities like tummy time!

 

 

Beginning Reading: Hot Dots

Hot dots are a fun way to learn words and sounds. With the smart pen enabled, kids can press the dots on each page, and the pen will tell them whether their guess is right.

 

 

Beginning Reading: Word Family Tiles

These fun tiles can be used to make different words. Best of all, they’re magnetic –– you can put a few on the fridge, dishwasher, or even a cookie sheet and let your kids sound out words to their hearts’ content.

 

 

STEAM: Capacity and Volume

Okay, serious question here: What kid doesn’t like playing with water? This fun, approachable kit lets your kiddos learn more about capacity and volume with hands-on measuring tools.

 

 

STEAM: Dinosaur Fossils

This is by far one of our favorite, best-circulating kits. Take a look at fossil replica teeth and claws, make rubbings of fossil arrangements, and learn more about dinosaurs. It’s the perfect kit for your budding paleontologist.

 

 

Disability in Children’s Literature

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Given the prevalence of disabilities and chronic conditions, it is likely that you either have or know a child with a disability. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to find adequate and/or accurate representation of characters with disabilities in children’s literature. The following resources can help if you are on the lookout for books for your child, their siblings, or peers.

Schneider Family Book Award

The American Library Association uses the Schneider Family Book Award to “honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.” You can find lists of both current and past awardees on their website.

We Need Diverse Books/OurStory

After creating a free account for OurStory online or through their app, an interactive quiz can help you find the book you are searching for. In addition to searching for books based on types of disability (i.e. Sensory, Physical, etc.), you can also search by age, genre, and even story elements such as sports, music, animals, etc.

Rethinking Kid Lit/Representation Matters

The Representation Matters project of RethinkingKidLit.com, from Ball State University, contains reviews of books featuring characters with disabilities. Rewriting the Story features free, online original stories or retellings of classic stories featuring disabled characters.

Disability in Kidlit

Disability in Kidlit features reviews of middle grade and young adult books with a focus on the disabled perspective. All of the site’s contributors identify as disabled. While they are on a hiatus from new submissions, past reviews and their “Honor Roll” of recommended books can lead to some great finds.

Teaching Books

Teaching Books features author interviews, lesson plans, book trailers, and other resources. They feature lists of books in various cultural collections, including a Disability Collection featuring over 1,000 books.

If these lists have given you some ideas feel free to browse or catalog or ask a librarian to help you find what you’re looking for. GPL’s Children’s Department also has a Childhood Experiences section featuring books on disabilities. Come in and browse, or let us help you find your next great, inclusive read!

 

My Summer Reading List

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All this time at home has given me an opportunity to read many new children’s books. I thought I would share with you some of my new favorites. Many of these books are on order and will be available soon.

 

FUNNY BOOKS (My favorite genre):

Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat
by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth

Interest Level: 8-12 yr.
Lexile Level: 660

Personally, I love funny books so reading Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat was a delight! Klawde, an intergalactic overlord/emperor feline has been overthrown and exiled to planet Earth by teleporter. He lands in Elba, Oregon and is taken in by a young man (Raj) who has recently been transplanted with his family from Brooklyn, New York. Raj is dealing with his own crisis of being a city boy and having his mother sign him up for survival camp on an extinct volcano. Klawde reveals his situation to Raj who orders equipment from the internet so Klawde can build an escape transporter. There is laugh-out-loud dialog in this hilarious book. Fast read.

 

Bernice Buttman, Model Citizen
by Niki Lenz

Interest Level: 8-12 yr.
AR Level: 5th grade 1st month/ 7 points
Lexile Level: 780

If you’ve ever read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever you might remember the irascible Imogene Herdman. Picture a cross between Imogene and reality star Honey Boo Boo who intersects with Nonnatus House from Call the Midwife and you have yourself quite a book! I couldn’t put it down! Bernice is being raised in a trailer park by a “distracted” mother and 4 rowdy brothers. She is renown in school as a hateful bully and her dream is to be a famous Hollywood stunt woman. She has not been taught any manners and is rude and crude. When her mother leaves the family for some scheme to be on a reality show, Bernice is sent to live with her aunt who is a Catholic nun. OH MY!!!! The transformation is similar to Korman’s best seller: Restart.

 

A Zombie Ate My Homework
by Tommy Greenwald

Interest Level: 8-12 yr.
AR Level: 4th grade 1st month/ 5 points
Lexile Level: 560

This is a new series (trilogy) about a young zombie that was developed in a government laboratory who escaped and was taken in by a very kind family. This is a fast (short chapters) and fun read that I think the entire family will enjoy. (Great for reluctant readers!)

 

 

NONFICTION:

The Day the Universe Exploded in My Head
by Allan Wolf

Interest Level: 8-12 yr.

The Day the Universe Exploded in My Head is an enjoyable poetry book filled with great illustrations and funny informative poems dealing with space.

 

 

Gross as a Snot Otter: Discovering the World’s Most Disgusting Animals
by Jess Keating and Jessica Anne Morrison

Interest Level: 5 – 8 years (This seems like a very low leveI- I found it interesting and I’m 67.)

This book will have your children enthralled, horrified, and completely hooked! Great illustrations and amazing facts team up to make this a great selection!

 

FANTASY:

The Whispering Wars
by Jaclyn Moriarty

Interest Level: 8-12 yr.
AR Level: 5th grade 1st month/ 15 points

The Whispering Wars is a beautifully written fantasy filled with enchantments, nonstop action, stolen children and a magical flu (which creeped me out since I read it while quarantined with the COVID). For those who love a well plotted fantasy – this book comes highly recommended.

 

The Mystwick School of Musicraft
by Jessica Khoury

Interest Level: 10-12 yr.

This book is a Harry Potter-esque book with music as the vehicle of the magic. Amelia Jones has always dreamed of following her dead mother’s footsteps in studying at the Mystwick School to learn the magic of music. After she completely blows her audition she is thrilled to get the invitation to attend – but later finds out that it was issued by mistake and now she must prove her worth. This is a charming fantasy and sure to prove a worthwhile series.

 

 

GRAPHIC NOVEL:

InvestiGATORS
by John Patrick Green

Interest Level: 7-10 yr.
AR Level: 3rd grade 3rd month/1 point

This is a series of goofy fast-paced graphic novels based on the exploits of alligators who solve mysteries by traveling through toilets. If your kids love Dog Man and Captain Underpants this will be a winner!

 

 

 

SURVIVAL:

Lifeboat 12
by Susan Hood

Interest Level: 8-13 yr.
AR Level: 4th grade / 4 points
Lexile Level: 610

Lifeboat 12 is a fictionalized account of a World War 2 survival story. During the bombing of London children were sent to the countryside (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) for safety but they were also sent on ships to Canada. This was a great idea except that Nazi U-boats were torpedoing the ships. Ken Sparks a 13 yr. old Londoner is on the ship with 89 other children when the ship is hit and sinks. Because their boat was not swamped like the others and made it farther from the wreck, the rescue boats missed them. The book chronicles the horrific days of little water, scorching sun, cold nights, and the pain of “trench foot” while trying to row back to the motherland. It’s written in verse – so an easy read- especially for reluctant readers who love survival stories.

 

REALISTIC FICTION:

Finding Orion
by John David Anderson

Interest Level: 8-12 yr.
AR Level: 5th grade 3st month/ 13 points
Lexile Level: 790

This book is bizarre. Rion Kwirk’s family is very quirky. His mother named the children after constellations and his father works for a candy factory where he concocts unusual and sometimes disgusting flavors. Everything is turned even crazier when a clown arrives with a singing telegram to inform them that their grandfather has died. His dad’s father is the polar opposite of his son. Rion’s grandfather rides motorcycles and gives gifts like a taxidermied squirrel and crossbows. The story REALLY gets going when they attend the “FUN”NERAL and then discover that they must follow through with a scavenger hunt to find Grandfather’s ashes. As weird as it seems in the description, this is a poignant read and delves into forgiveness and what it means to be “family”.

 

Are we there yet?

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We’ve all been there.  You’re going to the beach for a nice, relaxing week-long vacation.  The only problem is we live in the Midwest and the beach is several hours away by car.  How do you keep the kids occupied without driving you crazy by constantly asking, “Are we there yet?”

I recently cataloged a new children’s book titled Sleuth & Solve by Victor Escandell.  It features 20 mind-twisting mysteries that can be solved using either logic or imagination.  The author included instructions to turn each mystery into a game.  One person will be the Investigation Director and will read the mystery to the other players.

Here’s one example using imagination:

“Marco lives and works in his home by the sea where he has lived alone for many years.  His life is very routine, and each night before going to bed he turns on the light.  But one night Marco is so tired that he forgets to turn on the light.  When he wakes in the morning, he hears terrible news.  Marco is distraught, and then runs straight to the police to confess his guilt.  Why is Marco at fault?”

The answer is under a flap that only the Investigation Director can see.  Now the other players have an opportunity to ask questions that require a yes or no answer, and they continue to do this until someone comes up with the correct answer.

Younger children will enjoy any one of Walter Wick’s and Jean Marzollo’s I Spy books.  They have at least a dozen different books, but I Spy Treasure Hunt is one of my personal favorites.  Marzollo has written rhymes which provide clues, and Wick has created detailed miniature villages which provide answers.  Children can be captivated for hours looking at these delightful pictures.

What an awesome way to engage the entire family!  Playing a game like this is going to make the hours in the car fly by, and you’ll be running in the surf and soaking up the sun before you know it.

A Glowing Recommendation: The Indiana Early Literacy Firefly Award

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When I was a kid, my favorite book was Harold and the Purple Crayon. I loved the idea that, with enough imagination, one could create their own magical world, just by thinking it so. Picture books serve an important role in early childhood development. They promote early literacy and language development and provide a special opportunity for children and their caregivers to spend quality time together.

The folks at the Indiana State Library’s Center for the Book think these books are important, too. The Indiana Center for the Book program, an affiliate of the Library of Congress’s program of the same name, sponsors events and serves as an information resource at the state and local level promoting reading, writing, literacy, and the literary heritage of the state.

Each year, the Center for the Book grants the Indiana Early Literacy Firefly Award to one outstanding children’s book. Now in its sixth year, the Firefly Award aims to encourage caregivers and young children to enjoy exceptional picture books with each other. Past winners include There’s a Monster in Your Book by Tom Fletcher and Noisy Night by Mac Barnett.

How the award process works

Youth librarians from across the state send in their nominations to the Center. The Indiana Early Literacy Firefly Committee, comprised of Indiana librarians, caregivers, and program coordinators involved in early childhood development, then selects five titles to be finalists for the award. Finally, children five years and younger are encouraged to vote for one of the five nominated titles, and the title with the most votes is that year’s winner.

This year’s nominees

B is for Baby

Written by Atinuke and illustrated by Angela Brooksbank

“Baby’s brother is getting ready to take a basket of bananas all the way to Baba’s bungalow. What about his little baby sister? Will she come along for the adventure too?”

 

 

Don’t Blink!

Written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrated by David Roberts

“A page turns every time you blink, bringing you closer to the end of the book–and bedtime– Win the staring contest and you don’t have to go to bed! An interactive bedtime story that gives young readers a chance to avoid bedtime, provided they don’t blink, but for every blink, a page turns, bringing the end of the story and sleep closer.”

 

Firefly Home

Written by Jane Clarke and illustrated by Britta Teckentrup

“When Florence is lost, she has to decide which bright lights in the night sky are home.”

 

 

 

Pirate Jack Gets Dressed

By Nancy Raines Day and Allison Black

“Through illustrations and simple, rhyming text a pirate invites the reader to help as he selects his very colorful outfit.”

 

 

The Rabbit Listened

By Cori Doerrfield

“A person dealing with grief or depression often needs someone who will just sit quiet and listen.”

 

 

Find out more

Check out the Firefly Award webpage at https://www.in.gov/library/firefly.htm. There, you will find information on past nominees and winners, as well as activities related to this year’s stories for your child to do at home.

You can also view recordings of each of this year’s nominees being read by a librarian and decide which is your choice for #1!

The winner of the 2020 Indiana Early Literacy Firefly Award will be announced in July.

Please note: Book descriptions were taken from Worldcat.org