• Lifestyle

    National Book Award Finalists

    The National Book Award Finalists have been announced this week and the Young People’s Literature list has a number of great books.  I personally haven’t gotten a chance to read them all, but I have read Benjamin Ali’s The Truth About Jellyfish and Noelle Stevenson’s Nimona.  Which I think is a…

  • Lists

    2015 CYBILS Awards

    Today the 10th Annual CYBILS judges have been announced and I’m so excited to be a Round 1 judge for the 2015 Elementary/Middle Grade Non-Fiction category!  This is going to be a HUGE undertaking and I’m really happy to be a part of this amazing group of children’s book lovers! Here’s…

  • Lists

    Memorial Day – Books for Kids

    Although many people are excited about Memorial Day because they are off from school or work, spend time with family, have picnics, and more, it’s important to remember the reason we celebrate Memorial Day, so here are ten books for kids – fiction, nonfiction, picture books, middle grade and a…

  • Lifestyle

    2014 CYBILS Awards

    The 2014 CYBILS – the Children and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards were announced on February 14th – a perfect day for some book love!  And because it was the weekend, a few days got away from me, but I’m finally posting about it today!  For a list of all…

  • Lifestyle

    CLEL Bell Awards

    CLEL is short for Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy and offers resources focused on early literacy skills. Each year they announce the CLEL Bell Awards which includes one picture book winner for each of the ECRR 2’s early literacy skills – read, write, talk, sing, and play. This year’s awards…

  • Lifestyle

    Black History Month Book Display

    As many of you know, this month celebrates Black History and for the occasion, rather than putting up the typical biographies of African Americans, I took the time to create a Coretta Scott King Book Award table display with award winners and honor books galore!  I posted information about the…

  • Lifestyle

    Youth Media Awards – Initial Reactions

    This is one of my favorite days as a children’s librarian.  I know there are those that don’t take much stock in the youth media awards, believing that many of the awards are given to quality literature, yet are not as interesting or accessible to the children reading them.  But,…

  • Lifestyle

    Super Bowl Sunday means…

    Eating homemade pizza with friends and watching the commercials and halftime show. We’ve got the Susie’s for pepperoni, cheese, white and buffalo chicken pizza and I just might make some chocolate chip cookies as well! What I’m even more excited about is that the Youth Media Awards are being announced…

  • Activities

    Mock Caldecott Program

    This is the first time I’ve ever done a mock award program at the library. I had planned on doing this program in December but changed my plans last minute in favor of a dance party right before the holiday season. So, I’m back at my Mock Caldecott program for today with…

  • Lists

    NYPL's 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing 2014

    I’m currently working my way through the New York Public Library’s Children’s Books 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing 2014.  I’ve read a number of the books already, but I figured it would be a great start to the new year to work towards these 100 books.  I’m almost finished…