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Meika

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Some new seasonal books that I’m adding to the school library today! My 1st-3rd graders are going to love the “Grim Falls Academy” illustrated chapter books, and I can’t wait to do a readaloud of “Mr. Crump the Heartless Grump”- it is the sweetest!
“What Makes a Family” is our first book about Undas, the Filipino Day of the Dead, and I love that it is a book about a cultural tradition while simultaneously celebrating diverse family structures.
“I am a Leaf” uses photography to reimagine what a leaf can be, and “Time for Haiku” features tons of beautiful nature and season-inspired haiku poems.
This collection has something for everyone!
Shoutout to @pubspotlight as well as @lantana_publishing, @florisbooks, @flowerpotpress, and @redcometpressbooks for generously sharing these books with us! by @readingexpressions

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7 days ago

The school library is open and we’re back in business! I just published 2 new posts on Substack about all of these lovely books as well as some changes I made to our library systems that are already making things run a lot more smoothly! Check them out and let me know what you think! 📚❤️
#schoollibrary #picturebooks #kidlit #bookrecommendations by @readingexpressions

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11 days ago

Today is National “Open the Magic” day (or so I’m told) and for our weekly school assembly, we celebrated the magic of books. It seemed like the perfect day to read “The Day the Books Disappeared,” by dream team Joanna Ho @joannahowrites and Caroline Kusin Pritchard @carolinepritchardwrites and illustrated by the wonderful Dan Santat @dsantat . So we had a school-wide read aloud, with teachers and administrators popping up all around the auditorium to take turns reading a few pages from the book at a time. It ended up being such a fun way to celebrate the magic of reading and the importance of having the freedom to read what we choose!
The book follows Arnold, a child who loves to read books about airplanes and flying. He can’t understand why anyone would be interested in reading books about other topics, so as he notices what his classmates are reading, he makes a wish for their books to disappear. And Poof! They do. One by one, books disappear from the hands of their readers, and only when Arnold accidentally makes his own book disappear does he see how unhappy he has made everyone. He then listens as his classmates explain what is special about their books, and he begins to see that their stories have value as well. Thank goodness he’s able to wish all the books back!
I’ll probably add this book to our library read-aloud rotation this year as well, since we had a few technical difficulties this morning and weren’t able to project all of the illustrations during the assembly. Repeated readings are good for comprehension too!
Happy “Open the Magic” Day!! I hope you find some time today to enjoy a good story!
#freedomtoread #librariansagainstbookbans #schoollibrarian #kidlit by @readingexpressions

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21 days ago

These books from @messy_press are so cute! “The Boring Drawing Book” is full of fun art prompts and would be especially great for kids who like a little direction to guide their creativity. I know I struggle with decision making when I’m staring down a blank piece of paper and I love a silly and easy prompt to get the creativity flowing.
“The Pizza Shape Book” is perfect for a preschool or kindergarten student/classroom, and it will have your kids noticing shapes all around them.
“Where Do They Sleep?” is a sweet board book about sleeping animals and would make a very cute baby shower gift.
Thanks to @pubspotlight and @messy_press for sharing these! by @readingexpressions

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a month ago

Your Child’s Teacher Will Love You if You Read Books Like These at Home

This is the most click-baity title I have ever written and I apologize for appearing so desperate for your attention. But I stand by it!
I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with other teachers who tell me that they wish families would front-load a bit more at home so that students can start school with some concept of the diversity of the world outside of their home. When our children enter school for the first time, they join a community of people with a huge range of life experiences, income levels, racial and ethnic backgrounds, neurotypes, physical abilities, gender identities, religious values, etc. etc. etc. There is no combination of picture books that can possibly account for every life experience out there, but it’s always a good idea to check in regularly with your book collection at home and make sure a diverse range of voices is represented. This list below is just a small selection of books to check out at your next library visit (or better yet: buy some of these from a local bookstore if your budget allows- these are definitely worth owning).

Featured titles and their authors/illustrators for quick reference:

❤️Skin Again, by bell hooks, illustrated by Chris Raschka
🧡Pink, Blue, and You: Questions for Kids about Gender Stereotypes, by Elise Gravel
💛Stella Brings the Family, by Miriam B. Schiffer
💚Every Body: A First Conversation about Bodies, by Megan Madison, Jessica Ralli, Taquitia Andrews
💙What Happened to You? by James Catchpole, illustrated by Karen George
💜A Family is a Family is a Family, by Sara O’Leary, illustrated by Qin Leng
🩷The Together Tree, by Aisha Saeed, illustrated by LeUyen Pham
❤️Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress, by Christine Baldaccino, illustrated by Isabelle Malenfant
🧡No One Owns the Colors, by Gianna Davy, illustrated by Brenda Rodriguez
💛Maddi’s Fridge, by Lois Brandt, illustrated by Vin Vogel
💚Too Much! An Overwhelming Day, by Jolene Gutierrez, illustrated by Angel Chang
💙Your Name is a Song, by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, illustrated by Luisa Uribe
💜Danbi Leads the School Parade, by Anna Kim by @readingexpressions

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2 months ago

PSA for teachers and families (from a food allergy parent):
It’s Back to School time and if you’re like me, you are reading a LOT of picture books with your kids about social-emotional skills and how to be a good friend.
There are so many great picture books that encourage sharing as a way to be a good friend, and while I LOVE the sentiment, almost all of these books show characters sharing their snack or lunch with new friends.
Please, PLEASE have a talk with your kids (especially the younger ones) about how sharing their food might come from a kind place, but it can be really dangerous and they should not share their food at school.
Teachers and school staff should be enforcing this policy in the classrooms and lunchrooms but kids are usually unaware that their friends might have allergies, and often our children with allergies don’t even know their own trigger foods.
Thank you for doing your part to keep our food allergy kiddos safe this school year, and feel free to share this post to raise awareness!
#backtoschool #foodallergyawareness by @readingexpressions

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2 months ago

New picture books from @pawprintspublishing feature the impossibly cute Troll and Goblin, a beautifully illustrated Emily Dickinson poem (my favorite of hers), a lovely bedtime meditation, and a fairytale fairy who just can’t help that she has serious soccer skills. Which one would you read first?
Many thanks to @pubspotlight and Paw Prints, it was a happy mail day for me!
#picturebooks #teachersofinstagram #kidlit by @readingexpressions

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2 months ago

These 8 books give my 5 year old the giggles and as an added bonus, they crack me up too! Reviews of our top five listed in order of laughs generated:
1) We Are Definitely Human, by X. Fang- an alien spacecraft crashes in a family’s backyard and their hilarious attempts to blend in with people will have you cackling. The book also has a surprisingly sweet message of understanding and community beneath the humor.
2) Telling Stories Wrong, by Gianni Rodari and illustrated by Beatrice Alemagna- I have read this one sooo many times at bedtime and it is still getting laughs like it’s the first time. In this story, a grandfather tells his granddaughter the story of Little Red Riding Hood, but he keeps messing up the details so she has to correct him and tell the story herself.
3) See the Cat (three stories about a dog), by David LaRochelle and illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka. On the surface, this book looks like your basic early reader with short words and sentences. But it’s actually a masterful example of fourth-wall-breaking storytelling. It’s simple but highly engaging.
4) A is For… A Rabbit’s Tale, by Jackie Hoskins, illustrated by Lucinda Gifford- another book that flips a traditional format on its head. You think you’re about to read an ABC book, but instead you get a story about a kid who’s obsessed with rabbits. Special thanks to @pubspotlight and @walkerbooksaus for sharing this one with us!
5) There’s a Ghost in This House, by Oliver Jeffers. Another fourth-wall breaking book that is super engaging. This book is really creatively designed, with vellum paper overlays that allow you to see the illustrations with and without ghosts.
Happy reading!
#picturebookrecommendation #kidlit #parenting #readaloud #funnybooksforkids by @readingexpressions

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3 months ago

Summer is for checking out books from the public library and then deciding which ones to buy for the school. My problem is that now I want all of them. #elementarylibrarian #kidlit #picturebooks by @readingexpressions

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4 months ago

What we’ve been reading for fun this month:
- A is all about hilarious, absurdist picture books
- H read his first full chapter book and he didn’t hate it! Progress!
- I’m ping-ponging between romantic comedies and feminist dystopia.
The full run-down is up on Substack!
#picturebookrecommendations #kidlit #librariansofinstagram by @readingexpressions

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4 months ago

Felt like stirring the pot, might delete later.

But seriously, I have yet to come across a computer program that knows my students as well as I do. I also really like my job; if I didn’t love reading books and choosing the best ones for my students, I simply would not be a school librarian. When I need a great book recommendation, I turn to other librarians, readers, and educators who use their human brains and emotions to read and experience the books that they review. I can’t imagine ChatGPT getting downright giddy like we kidlit lovers do when we stumble upon a book that is just plain magic. There is no code or algorithm that will ever be able to match our nerdiness and whimsy, and I love that for us. by @readingexpressions

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4 months ago

We had a relaxing kid-free weekend in Laguna Beach a few days ago and picked up these cuties at the lovely @lagunabeachbooks 📚Andrew found an Ursula K. LeGuin book he’d been looking for, along with a few other sci-fi books, and I was kid-in-a-candy-store excited about their children’s book selection. I ended up with four that I’ve wanted to read for a while now, and each of these books gets a 10/10 for cuteness, originality and kid-appeal. Check out this bookstore the next time you find yourself in Laguna!
#kidlit #librariansofinstagram #picturebookrecommendation by @readingexpressions

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4 months ago