International Children's Digital Library: A Library for the World's Children

International Children's Digital Library

In watching a webinar titled Technology to Aid the Struggling Reader, I learned about this digital library where the mission of the ICDL Foundation is "to build a collection of books that represent outstanding historical and contemporary books from throughout the world." 

ICDL recognizes that language barriers and programing for language learning students continues to grow.  As noted in the website, "a fundamental principle of the Foundation is that children and their families deserve to have access to the books of their culture, as well as the majority culture, regardless of where they live. The ICDL Foundation's goal is to build a collection of books that represents outstanding historical and contemporary books from throughout the world."

In searching the digital library I found some fantastic books!  I searched by authors/illustrators where I found books by Molly Bang, Walter Dean Myers, Louisa May Alcott, David Shannon, and many more.  I encourage teachers to share this with families, and hope it is another digital book resource used in the classroom.

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

In celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and encouraging Reading Without Walls, some books to highlight in the article 13 Must-Read Titles for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month include:

Hello Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly - I plan to read this along with the award winning book Land of Forgotten Girls by Erin Entrada Kelly.

Amina's Voice by Hena Khan - I look forward to reading this book this summer.  The setting is in suburban Milwaukee.

Flying Lessons & Other Stories edited by Ellen Oh - This is a wonderful collection of stories written by many authors highlighting and connecting with diverse readers.

Learning more about the 2016-2017 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Selected by APALA (Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association) here are winners/honors for elementary and middle school readers:

The Children’s Winner: The Land of Forgotten Girls by Erin Entrada Kelly,

The Children's Honor: Momotaro Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters by Margaret Dilloway,

The Picture Book Winner: Puddle by Hyewon Yum 

Reading Aloud to Kids, Read Aloud Books, and Fantastic Book Lists for Summer Reading

Reading Aloud to Kids, Read Aloud Book Lists, and Fantastic Summer Reading Book Lists 

The following three articles (Why Reading Aloud to Kids is so Important..., 20 Read-Aloud Strategies for Grades 4 and Up, and Read2Me Tonight) that I recently read emphasize the importance of reading aloud, and provide great read-aloud strategies to promote vocabulary development, fluency, reading with expression, and supporting ideas with text evidence.  The ideas in these articles are great to share with parents along with reading lists to give them and the students in your class ideas for summer reading.  The information from Scholastic: Read2Me Tonight provides a list of 100 Best Read Aloud Books that can be conveniently sorted by age, and a great collection of curated parent articles.

11 End of Year Books to Bring Your Class Closure highlights books to help in the transition from one routine to another (school to summer) , and in saying goodbye for the summer.  The part of this article I found to be important to consider is where it makes suggestions for after reading each book with talking about the kind of endings (straightforward, implied, unresolved, twist, and tie-back endings) in these books, and ask the kids to share what ending they wish would happen this school year.

Summer Reading Lists help give students and parents great book ideas.  Below are to share with students or send home to parents:

ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children) Summer Reading Lists by age group:
Birth - Preschool
Kindergarten - 2nd grade
3rd through 5th grade
6th through 8th grade

More Summer Reading Lists:
Historical Fiction for Tween Girls: Our 10 Favorite Picks
Historical Fiction for Tween Boys: 10 of Our Favorite Picks
15 Life-Changing Middle Grade Books

Keeping up with Children's Literature with The Yarn

Keeping up with Children's Literature with The Yarn

Are you looking for a wonderful way to promote fantastic children's authors and engage students in outstanding literature?  The Yarn is a wonderful podcast for teachers, librarians, and lovers of children's literature, and another way to promote summer reading.  Travis Jonker, an elementary school librarian, and Colby Sharp, an elementary school teachers began this podcast series in August 2015. Since then Travis and Colby have chatted with many wonderful authors about their books, including:

Kevin Henkes and his book titled Waiting;  

Jon Klassen and his books - I want my hat back, This is not my hat, and We found a hat;

Mo Willems and the Elephant and Piggie series;

Jason Reynolds and the first book in his new series - Ghost;

Javaka Steptoe with his Caldecott winning book titled Radiant Child