• Reviews

    Love You Head to Toe

    baby

    Synopsis: “Pairing creative rhyming similes with cut-paper collage art, Love You Head to Toe is an adorable book that compares newborn babies to baby animals on every page. Bright, playful illustrations show a different baby and a different species of animal, both engaged in similar behavior: babies stretch their limbs like sea stars,…

  • Lists

    24 Must-Have Books for Toddlers

    Last year I created two lists of must-have titles for babies – 0-6 months old and 7-12 months old. Now, as a huge proponent of early literacy and lifelong reading, I’ll let you in on a little secret, these books can be read to kids (and adults) of all ages!…

  • Lists

    24 Must-Have Books for Babies (7-12 Months)

    baby reading

    After talking briefly with a new momma/blogging friend, we brainstormed creating a list like this for new parents who may not have any idea where to start when creating a library for their little one. If you’re looking for Goodnight Moon and The Very Hungry Caterpillar, you won’t find them on this…

  • Lists

    24 Must Have Books for Babies (0-6 Months)

    baby reading

    I love when my friends announce their pregnancies – it’s another excuse for me to love on their kids by buying them lots and lots of books. In fact, I’m really starting to regret that I didn’t create a spreadsheet with kids’ names and books gifted to them because I…

  • Lifestyle

    Cruise Into Kindergarten Bulletin Board

    Pennsylvania Public Libraries have created the Cruise Into Kindergarten model to promote early literacy programs and book lists in public libraries.  Many states libraries and associations are adopting similar models to promote just how much public libraries offer their residents in terms of early literacy – in storytimes, STEAM programs,…

  • Lifestyle

    5 Early Literacy Practices Resources

    There are some amazing resources out there to help you promote or better understand the 5 Early Literacy Practices. Every Child Ready to Read Saroj Ghoting, Early Childhood Literacy Consultant Zero to Three National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Reading Rockets Get Ready to Read, National Center for…

  • Activities

    Storytime Theme: Winter Clothing

    mittens

    I am so impressed with this group of kids, I’ve chosen some longer books and they will sit through them!  The kids were absolutely giggling over Froggy Gets Dessed this morning and love doing our wiggle song, “Zoom, Zoom, Zoom” and really liked jumping to Jim Gills’s “Jumping & Counting”…

  • Lists

    Board Books for Baby Showers

    I’m at that point in my life where it seems like I have a baby shower once a month.  And as a librarian, my go-to baby shower gifts are books.  Books are awesome because parents can begin using them as soon as they receive them, reading to their baby in…

  • Lifestyle

    Arts & Crafts Thanksgiving Weekend

    I took the day off yesterday and created these adorable creatures!  I found a lot of great ideas on Pinterest and online and created my own pattern and went to town!  Many of my bookclub friends have had babies over the past year and I thought it would be sweet to…

  • Lifestyle

    1,000 Books Before Kindergarten Update

    We’ve had a 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program for about two years now.  I created most of our information with great tips and tricks for parents/caregivers to use in their daily lives to encourage early literacy skills.  Our original log had 10 different log-in papers (one for each 100 books)…