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Baby-friendly card policies encourage literacy and library use from birth.
These discussion groups for kids in pre-K through third grade light up young readers.
Toddlers and their caregivers in Meridian, ID, have a cool new space to love with the arrival of the Tiny Library branch, geared toward early learning.
Research shows that from infancy, children categorize visual attributes and assign meaning to them. If we don’t talk about race from a young age, we miss a critical window.
School Library Journal has relaunched “First Steps,” its early learning column, with two new co-authors.
PREMIUM
Great Preschool Apps | Mix It Up
Here, experts pick their favorites for the preschool set (children aged three to five) and highlight key concepts explored in these notable apps.
Librarians and literature lovers join march in protesting the separation of migrant children from their parents.
Oklahoma educators Heather Cory and Becky Smith hope to stay connected with their elementary school kids in person and with a YouTube channel.
Here's how two Brooklyn librarians are making storytime more inclusive.
These literacy-themed computer terminals feature digital games, storytelling programs, and more.
The program at Bethlehem Public Library in Delmar, NY, is designed to feel less daunting than 1,000 books before kindergarten early literacy programs.
SLJ reviews the Starling, a word-tracking device for babies. Our "First Steps" columnist Lisa Kropp considers its potential use in libraries.
Storytimes in libraries and other community learning opportunities are viewed as critical components of young children’s preparation to enter school.
Tips for strengthening literacy through games, maker spaces, and reading and writing exercises.
Librarians and teachers, as well as government and school district officials, have spoken out against the revocation and vowed support for all students.
Librarians are addressing student concerns with "safe spaces," support groups, book displays, special programming—and lots of hugs.
The Joint Chiefs of Storytime Underground have a clear position: Librarianship is not a neutral profession, and libraries are not neutral spaces.
As with children’s books for, by, or about Latinos, the market for children’s music in Spanish has been mostly overlooked. Here are a few new and not-so-new wonderful titles.
Librarians around the country are showing ingenuity and resolve in early learning outreach. Lisa G. Kropp reports.
Public librarians are training early learning professionals in a range of literacy-boosting skills, from in-depth professional development to puppetry.
This issue, SLJ highlights titles that focus on everything you need to know to deliver an amazing storytime, a guide to helping female students get involved in STEM, and a primer on reading instruction.
During early learning programs with patrons who speak Russian, Turkish, and other languages at home, handouts with the words to rhymes and songs become adult learning tools.
This month's professional reading titles include global offerings for storytellers, a primer on developing literacy skills, and more.
A Houston library services specialist finds that the addition of technology motivates learning, helping both students and teachers overcome the challenges of low reading achievement.
Three libraries are leveraging kids' natural love of pooches to make reading come to life. The result? Little patrons clamoring to sign up for programs such as Book Barkers.
Being able to accurately size up language and literacy apps for young children isn't easy in today's online environment. Yet it is a crucial service, one that librarians are uniquely suited to provide.
The Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media carries on the life work of this beloved educational icon.
Making and tinkering have long-been staples of the Hispanic community. Tim Wadham shares Spanish-language, bilingual, and Latino-focused books and crafts that are just right for maker spaces looking to diversify their offerings.
Along with singing, rhyming, and clapping, the popular Guerrilla Storytime sessions at ALA addressed scenarios librarians might face: emotional children, an ambulance appearing outside the window, or a power outage.
At the American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting, teen services librarians dipped into the “challenge bucket” and talked fandoms, profanity, and crying teens during the YA Smackdown sessions.
Teen services librarians longing for practical yet convivial professional dialogue have found it online in the blog “Teen Services Underground,” which debuted during the American Library Association’s 2015 Midwinter Meeting in Chicago.
Embrace and celebrate the turn of the season with these wondrous and delightful stories featuring record-breaking blizzards and gentle snowy adventures.
Looking for new titles to replace storytime favorites? Look no further than these timeless selections from the editors at Junior Library Guild.
Allow me to explain why your library should not provide holiday programs this winter, or ever. Instead, get creative—and offer programs in which everyone in your community can participate.
Check out Betsy Byrd’s much-anticipated Wild Things, a look at children’s literature through the ages. Hoping to enhance your storytimes? Try Saroj Nadkarni Ghoting and Kathy Fling Klatt’s STEP into Storytime.
The Manhattan hospital's far-reaching implementation of this early literacy initiative, in which pediatricians hand out books to babies and young children during checkups, is changing lives.
On September 19, the Cuyahoga County (OH) Public Library hosted the Fostering Lifelong Learners conference presented by SLJ and sister publication The Horn Book with Robert Needlman proclaiming tears, Kevin Henkes talking about his children being "built by books," and Case Western University's Robert Fischer talking big data.
Using a community-wide digital reading program, Superintendent Ruben Alejandro of Texas's Weslaco Independent School District has made literacy a priority for not only his school district, but for all kids in the community ages zero to three.
To celebrate the recent Spanish-language launch of the early literacy initiative, Every Child Ready to Read, Libro por libro has selected kid-friendly bilingual and Spanish titles that work well with each of the five practices: talking, singing, reading, writing, and playing.
Mayhem, schmayhem. If your library's children's room is chaotic, it’s proof that the little ones are learning.
In light of increased attention on early childhood development, SLJ presents a selection of fun and engaging board books.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has announced a new policy that tells parents read to their children from birth in order to help close the achievement gap.
Friends come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes a friendship seems unlikely because of different cultures or even species, but despite differences, a bond forms. The following are books, selected by Junior Library Guild editors, will be a hit in storytimes.
The authors of Storytimes for Everyone: Developing Young Children’s Language and Literacy (ALA, 2013) provide guidance for incorporating science and math concepts into traditional storytimes.
The effects of the income gap are starkly evident in long-range studies of our youngest learners, making it critical for libraries to provide early learning services to those who need it the most: poor children.
The latest roundup by Betsy Bird of A Fuse #8 Production.
The Cleveland Public Library has opened 54 new Early Literacy Stations across its 27 branches in the hope of enticing young learners, ages 2-8, through gamification and other means.
Sharon Grover and Liz Hannegan explore the role singing plays in early literacy development and how audiobooks can be used to further this growth. From Janis Ian's The Tiny Mouse to Simms Taback's Joseph Had a Little Overcoat, these titles make excellent sing-along picks for preschool storytimes.
Storytime is the premium service for children in public libraries across the country. For many youth librarians, it's the most treasured part of their job. A storytime veteran shares her best practices.
Research has long supported the importance of play in early literacy, yet many parents remain mystified about how to engage with young children in fun activities, particularly at the pre-verbal stage. Enter the library.
On June 24, the National Museum of Mathematics in New York City kicked off its first annual National Pajama Party Week with the book launch of Bedtime Math: A Fun Excuse to Stay Up Late (Fiewel and Friends) by Laura Overdeck, author and founder of the Bedtime Math nonprofit, an organization whose mission is to make nightly the math problem as common as the bedtime story. The event included math focused games for families and a book giveaway and signing by the author.
Lovers of children’s picture books and early literacy advocates gathered earlier this month at Bank Street College for “Literature for Early Childhood: What Do You Need to Know?” an inaugural mini conference sponsored by the Bank Street Writers Lab. The event brought together child development experts, educators, and creators of children’s literature.
Filled with unlikely but enduring attachments, ostensibly incompatible Romeos and Juliets, and unexpected instances of true animal camaraderie, these books prove that affection can allow individuals to look beyond their differences and forge long-lasting bonds. Use these books to expand Valentine’s Day and friendship storytimes; tease out overarching themes; and initiate discussions of tolerance, compassion, and community.
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