Scary Books Are Good For Kids! A Special Infographic To Share During The Scary Season & All Year Long.

 

Our readers love scary books. During scary season, I get a lot of requests for scary books, and questions from teachers and families too. 

My go-to resource to share is the Scary Books Are Good For Kids infographic from my friends at Capstone. As shared on their Scary Books for Kids site, they share...

Research shows that reading scary stories with children can actually help them cope with different situations they may face in life and help them learn how to confront their fears.  Learn more about how scary books are good for kids with our infographic. 

You will find the infographic here.  As I said, it's a great resource to share during scary season, but also throughout the year. 

Check Out The 2025 Spring Book Preview From Our Friends At Capstone!

 

One of my favorite things about being a reader and teacher librarian is learning about and reading upcoming books. 

Our friends at Capstone have announced the upcoming 2025 Spring Books and I couldn't be more excited to see all of these upcoming titles. 

As Capstone shared on the site, 

Dive into reading some of the books we’re most excited about for spring! 

Tour Sandy Shorts, an underwater town full of weirdly wonderful and friendly sea creatures in Axolotls!, and learn about cultural and religious holidays and celebrations in the new companion series to the beloved Yasmin stories in Holidays and Celebrations with Yasmin. 

Among our new picture books include two exploring and celebrating beauty—through honoring the Indigenous nations, cultures, and ancestral lands in I Am on Indigenous Land, and showcasing the stunning variation of beauty norms around the world in The Glam World Tour. 

Take a sneak peek at highlights of Capstone’s Fall 2024 titles before they hit the shelves.

You can get your sneak peek here, friends. 

I am extra excited about Axolotls! Hugs-A-Lotl Can't Show The Love, 

the new Holidays and Celebrations with Yasmin series, 

I Am On Indigenous Land, 

Do Super Heroes Make Mistakes, 

Write Here, Write Now, and so many more.  

I am excited about every single title! They are all wonderful new books. 

On the Spring 2025 Preview page, you will find lots of Previews of the books.  Just click on the button that says Preview, 

and it will open up into a preview of the book. 

There will also be resources added soon and I will be sharing them on my blog, and with the seasonal choice board we make of the new releases too.  Make sure to check out the poster for...

...The Glam World Tour by Rachel Werner.  It's such a special book. 

I can't wait for all of these new Capstone books to be on our shelves for our readers. I know you will love them too, friends. I can't wait to hear what you think. 

You've Been Book'd With 24 Books About Voting and Elections!

 

On this choice board, I brought together 24 books to share with our readers about voting and elections. 

You will find all of these books from Follett Titlewave here in this choice board. 

And the entire Titlewave list of these books, can be found here. 

If you want to make a copy and use this choice board with your own books and resources, copy it here.

I used the poster and added all of the books we had in our library. I then printed it off, put it in a poster holder, and added it to our Special Events Pop-Up Library at Van Meter. It's such a wonderful way to highlight books throughout the year. 

Cozy Tales for Fall from our friends at Capstone!

 

There is a new blog post from our friends at Capstone that I would love to share.  

Looking for an alternative to spooky season? Cozy Tales for Fall is here for you!

Every book was hand-selected & is longing to be paired with a cup of hot apple cider + a blanket by the fireside.

You will find the special post here, friends.

You Can Now Watch The Recording Of Our First Demco Webinar, Bring A Love of Reading to Your School Community This Year!

Friends, on October 1, 2024, did you join Brianna and I for the NEW Demco webinar, Bring a Love of Reading to Your School Community This Year?  

It was so much fun and we had such a great time sharing all kinds of ideas, inspiration, and resources during the webinar. 

You can now find the recording and slides on the Demco site here.

The second webinar in our series is coming up on October 29, 2024.  This one, Igniting a Passion for Nonfiction in Our Readers, will be on October 29, 2024.  You can register for this webinar here. 

There will be 10 MORE lucky winners announced to those attending the webinar too. 

We hope to see you there, friends.  And enjoy the first webinar too! 

Picture Books For Digital Citizenship and Media Literacy Conversations and Learning!

                  

Next week, we celebrate Digital Citizenship Week, friends. 

Digital citizenship and media literacy are two topics that we focus on this week, and all year long, with our learners and with our own families. I loved finding picture books for hooks to conversations, deep dives into important topics, and as a platform when creating projects, sparking debates and even writing new stories. 

And using picture books for teaching digital citizenship isn't just for your youngest learners. In fact, I have used several picture books with even my oldest students and you wouldn't believe the conversations that came about after introducing a topic through a picture book.

To bring these books together, I created a Padlet to share and for others to add ideas too. 

Here are a few of my favorites...

My new book, Sonia's Digital World, written by ME and published by Capstone and ISTE, is one of my new favorite books to add to this list. 

As shared on the Capstone site, 

We are all connected in so many ways! Find out how with a bird’s-eye view as Sonia, her friends, and her community chat, create, and play together with digital tools. Follow the virtual trail at home, at school, and all around the world as Sonia, friends, and families make discoveries and connections. Whether face to face or far away, find out how Sonia—and you!—are part of the digital world! Created in collaboration with ISTE and authored by award-winning superstar librarian Shannon McClintock Miller (ISTE Making IT Happen Recipient, Future Ready Librarians Spokesperson, Follett Thought Leader, AASL Leadership Luminary Social Media Superstar, and more!), this delightful picture book celebrates the many digital opportunities for kids and launches Capstone’s ISTE Young Innovators series. Full-color illustrations and back matter supporting ISTE standards for Digital Age Learning provide even more for children, teachers, and parents to explore.

Check out the companion site for Sonia's Digtal World at soniasdigitalworld.com 

I love love love Selfie, a brand new Capstone book by Sandy Horsley. 

Selfie is perfect for talking to our younger kids about using social media. I love this story about Sylvie, who loves to take #selfies but learns its more important to be a good friend and to live in the moment having fun.  

You can find Selfie here on the Capstone website. 

Another one of my favorites from Capstone and Cantata Learning is the picture book I wrote called Staying Safe Online.  I am very proud of this book and especially love that it is about digital citizenship.  To make it even more impactful and fun for our learners, Cantata Learning pairs their stories with engaging illustrations and amazing music.  My friend and songwriter, Emily Arrow, wrote and sang for Staying Safe Online, which is part of my Library Skills series.

You will find Staying Safe Online here on the Capstone website. 

And lastly, if you haven't seen Me, Myselfie and I...A Cautionary Tale by Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell you must add this one to your library and book collection.  

It's such a fun story and one that so many readers will be able to relate to.  You will find out more about it here.

You will find the Picture Books for Digital Citizenship and Media Literacy Conversations and Learning Padlet here.  

Feel free to add more books to this Padlet by clicking on the hot pink circle with the plus sign in the right hand corner.

Have fun sharing these special picture books with your readers too, friends. 

Adventure Awaits For Our Readers With Online Book Fairs....Join Me For This NEW Follett Content Webinar, and For a Chance To Win The $150 Titlewave Credit!

I hope you can join me for my upcoming Follett Content webinar, Adventure Awaits For Our Readers With Online Book Fairs!  It's going to be super information and a lot of fun. 

And guess what?  One lucky attendee will be chosen during the webinar to receive a $150 Titlewave Promotional Credit.  How cool is that! 

As shared in the invite, 

Renowned teacher librarian Shannon McClintock Miller is no stranger to hosting a book fair. In fact, she hosts them bi-annually as they support her readers with books, and library with new books and resources.

Find out why she’s added online Follett Book eFairs into the mix, how she took them to the next level, and how her students responded. And she’ll be the first to unveil the theme and book selections for the Spring 2025 Book eFair season!

Attendees will learn:

• How to quickly and easily set up an online Follett Book eFair
• Ideas and key takeaways that will help you bring your online fair to life
• Ways to get teachers, students, families, and communities involved and excited
• The new theme and book highlights for the Spring 2025 Follett Book eFair season

One lucky attendee will be chosen during the webinar to receive a $150 Titlewave Promotional Credit*!

*Titlewave® Promotional Credits are valid for two years from date issued.

You will find the invite to register here at this link. 

Hope to see you there, friend.