2021 Blogging A to Z: Theme Reveal

In the midst of one blogging challenge and I’m already working on the next month’s! I’ve been participating in the Blogging A to Z Challenge since 2016. It’s such a fun way to blog and really pushes me to create content in a really unique way. Each letter of the alphabet is assigned a day of the month. If you skip Sunday, the schedule works out perfectly!

I’ve had some really fun themes over the years:

• 2016 – Storytime Themes – The first year I focused on providing some titles and songs that could be used in a toddler or preschool storytime.
• 2017 – Leadership Traits – WIthin six months of taking on my new role as director of the public library where I was working, I thought this would be really interesting to focus on for this year.
• 2018 – Library Programming -great ideas on a tight budget that work well with all different age groups!
• 2019 – Diverse Books – each letter was about a diverse group of people with books highlighting those voices.
• 2020 – Books & Cooks – combining a love of reading, cooking, and eating! Each letter was a different spice, which I paired with a children’s book and recipe.

This year, I started thinking about what I wanted to do and was having trouble coming up with an idea that really excited me. And then, while talking to some patrons and coworkers at the library, I realized I had a perfect idea! Families with young children are often at a loss as to what books they should be reading to their kids. As a librarian and bibliophile, I want to share my knowledge of the importance of practicing early literacy skills and picture book titles with families.

Early Literacy Tips

Early literacy is not about teaching kids to read, but preparing them to be ready to read. These are all things that a lot of families already do, but I’ll try and give you the reason behind why it’s important to practice these skills. For each letter of the alphabet, I’ll share an early literacy tip about the importance of reading aloud to very young children. And I’ll also be including a 12-title book list with some of my favorite picture books.

I love kid lit and I get to share over 300 picture books in April! It’s a little daunting to think about in advance, but I’ve got a great list already started! My goal is to share a lot of really new titles that you might be familiar with and of course, ensure that we’re highlighting own voices and diverse books too.

Join me during the month of April as I participate in the A to Z Blogging Challenge!