Empathy, Diversity, Cultural Awareness and the Political Process...for kids!

Empathy is a buzzword nowadays and with good reason. When we empathize with someone we can imagine what it is they are feeling and we can better understand their point of view. I am an avid public radio listener and I heard a story not too long ago about what parents wanted their children to know versus what teachers wanted. For young ones games that are inventive and relevant are excellent teaching tools. Here we find several games and apps that do just that.

My own children are feeling much better now but the results of last week's election left them saddened. I know that many children are still coming to terms with what happened. I have searched for some reads that parents and caregivers can use to help. The past few months have seen many difficult issues come to the forefront and although as parents we often try to shield our little ones from the ugly truths, there will come a time when we have to talk. This site lists many good books that can be used to help talk about many of life's difficult issues.

My children are one of a few ethnically diverse children in their school. Thus from time to time we often have some very deep conversations at home about race. This site talks about teaching kids about people who may look or do things differently than they. A big part of that is also understanding and respecting similarities and differences. Lately it seems that people who are "different" have been in the news a lot. For adults who want to gently broach the subject, picture books are a good way to do so and this website has some books that talk about diversity and inclusion.

I have been as surprised as anyone with the level of vitriol spewed in the campaign. It is no wonder that a week later there are still protests and rallies nationwide. Commonsensemedia has a great set of tools to help kids of all ages navigate the campaign season (don't forget, midterm elections are around the corner!) as well as deal with the negative aftermath of an election.

These are just a handful of resources however and if you wish to find more head to your local library!

STEMmy books for younger readers

 I have been reading books to my sons at night before bedtime. I like chapter books that way we can continue a story for a few nights but since I have a nine and a six year old I usually choose books that are just long enough to get through with a week's time, so that usually rules out really in depth ones with lots of characters and plot points. There are lots of books with hijinks galore but I searched high and low to find books with some action but a little bit of science or scientific thinking in there as well..

The DATA set are a group of kids who like Danger, Action Trouble and Adventure. In March of the Mini Beasts we see the club encounter an eccentric scientist called Dr. Bunsen. He is working on an invention called a growth ray and when the ray accidentally hits some figurines, these come to life. This book has short chapters but they are packed with a ton of action, chuckles and a bit of suspense as well. Author Ada Hopper has created a great new series here.

Cari Meister's Buzz Beaker series features a young boy who tries to solve problems by using various inventions. At last count there were nine books in the series. Some of my favorites are  Buzz Beaker  and the Race to School in which perennially late Buzz  must figure out a way to get there on time.

Another good juvenile fiction series featuring an inventor is J.C. Greenburg's Andrew Lost series. In No. 1, On the Dog, ten-year old Andrew invents a shrinking machine and is sucked into it only to end up on his dog's nose.

With a name like Eliza Boom you can't not be an inventor and this is the case with this young girl whose father is an inventor (and perhaps more) and whose dog is called Einstein. In My Explosive Diary, when her father loses some very important document, Eliza, Einstein and her brand-new assistant Amy are called into action.

Patricia Reilly's Zigzag Kids is another good series that talks about the exploits of various kids at a   place called the Zigzag Afternoon Center. Book 3 in said series, Flying Feet  we meet Charlie, a kid who often thinks of  inventions that seldom work. His latest idea just might be able to help Jake the Sweeper get rid of a big pile of trash and save "Come as a Character" day, too.  

These are just a tip of the iceberg and with STEM being a buzzword more and more of these books

are coming on the market. Feel free to share some of your faves in the comments!

Five Children on the Western Front by Kate Saunders

When I first started reading this novel it reminded me of the old Famous Five book by Enid Blyton that I devored growing up. These books consisted of a team of siblings and their strong-willed cousin and a dog that got into a variety of scrapes.

Saunders' novel starts in a similar way with a close knit family featuring children of various ages discovering a cute sand fairy called the Psammead. Psammead however is a being that has lived for millennia and as such has lived a very colorful life. In his present state however he is greatly diminished and is forced to reflect upon his previous exploits.

The novel is set in London at the start of the First World War and at first the childrens' lives continue as normal. Things change however and their older siblings find themselves involved in the war.

Saunders does a good job of showing how the children strived to find a sense of normalcy despite the chaos around them. The Psammead may very well have been an imaginary creature (no one but the kids could see him) but he served his purpose well.


Wars have been fought throughout history for various reasons, some fair and some not. More often than not it is the young who bear the brunt of it. Whether or not young people experience harm or not they bear some toll. I recommend this book for children in third grade and up. I think it is an excellent conversation starter and a great way to generate dialog about thorny issues.

School's in!

  The summer is over, leaves have started turning yellow and here in Denver the temps are already dipping into the sixties. That can only mean one thing, school's back in!  Parents and caregivers fear not, I have scoured the interwebs for resources to help your little ones with even the most obscure assignment.


I love abcya, there are sections devoted to each grade level and the site is optimized for use on mobile devices which is a big plus.

Starfall has lots of great math activities and they are aligned with Common Core standards. Speaking about said standards, teachers now have to teach math concepts in very different ways. It helps to be able to have a reliable video that can show both parents and caregivers how to work out those sums. This is why I like Khanacademy's early math page.

Coolmath has lots of math and math-based games that provide good extension activities for kids who have mastered their basic math operations and want to move on to pre algebra and so forth.

Do you have a kid who loves to spout random facts all day long? Fear not, I have a site that can satisfy even the most voracious reader-Factmonster.  There are also online quests and handouts for homeschoolers and classroom use.  Infoplease has a trove of information about the US and the links on the top of the page have info on the world at large.

Most readers will recognize the name Scholastic from the many book fairs they put on at schools. Their website also has excellent resources on all sorts of topics.  Time for kids is another one that I highly recommend as well, as it has relevant content and accessible articles on current world events.

World languages are becoming more and more useful and with the ease of global travel it helps to be able to speak a language or two or three. I like to use Noah as he is a funny, well-meaning kid who because of his struggles with Spanish gets into all kind of scrapes. He repeats words and phrases just enough so that they stick. The site has practice activities as well.  Onlinefreespanish is another site that I have used for years and it is fun for younger language learners.  Charlotte Mecklenburg Library's fantastic Storyplace is another good resource for early learning in Spanish.  The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has some excellent resources for a variety of languages for example French and Mandarin.

Learning to work with computer code is a good skill for young ones to have and there are some sites I have used with my young'uns. Code.org's site has several great resources to help kids learn the basics of coding. For those who want something that explains things in more detail try Khan Academy's Hour of Code.

Have a great school year!!

Books to help discuss difficult topics

Recent events have shaken the country to the core. There are many people who are hurt and angry for various reasons and rightly so. Little children, even if they don't watch the news or listen to the radio can still be exposed to the goings on through friends and talk at school. They may then come home with questions about matters that parents are not ready to discuss. Books then are a way for parents and caregivers to broach difficult subjects.



As a bonus, drug use and abuse is rampant across the United States. For those who may have been the victims of this or who may have seen family members suffer due to addiction, Zetta Elliot's book Bird is a book that deal with addiction in a touching way without giving too many details and which ends in a somewhat hopeful way.

Carol Swartout Klein's book Painting for Peace in Ferguson uses verse to tell the story of the events in Ferguson and how the community came together to paint for peace. The before and after pictures are amazing to look at as well.

In terms of books that help kids solve problems Keeping the Peace: The Kids' Book of Peacemaking by Anders Hanson is a wonderful resource. It teaches kids to recognize when a problem has occurred and then proceeds to give them the tools to work through problems.

We are not all the same and we are not all equal. Regardless of parents' best intentions and the lessons they impart at home kids will realize that some kids are different. Those differences may be readily apparent or they may be mores ubtle. Susan Martineau's Dealing With Differences is a wonderful little book in which she gives examples and provides some role playing situations that can be used in the classroom or at home.

These books are mostly centered on events here in America but if you are looking for books that deal with issues worldwide this blog has some excellent resources.

Olympic-themed crafting for kids

For those who love crafts with an athletic theme this summer is something that they have been eagerly awaiting. The Olympics start in early August but I have already seen a nearby library with a craft program based on the Olympics. At our branch we are fortunate to have a big green space in the front of the building which is perfect for games such as running tic tac toe and so forth.

For me, I love to see the Olympic flame enter the stadium. Crowds line up on the streets just to cheer whoever is carrying it.  The craft below allows any child to pretend that just for a moment they are the ones with all the glory. How cool would it be to have kids make this in a program and then parade through the library.

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Whenever we see images of Greek gods they are often wearing a toga and one of those cool wreaths. Little ones may well want to put one of these on after gluing and sticking it together.

                                                              

The Olympic rings are iconic symbols known the world over. Here are some ideas I found across the web to represent said rings.

 

Instead of the rings perhaps little ones can use hand prints (be careful with the mess!)

                           Cool glasses that the kiddos can use to show their Olympic spirit.

These are just a few of what's out there but they are a good starting point. The Olympics only come around once every four years so it's perfectly fine to be hyped about them!

A Librarian's Summer of Reading pep talk

Here in the city of Denver the Summer of Reading program gets underway today and I wanted to pause for a moment before the craziness starts (besides the increased numbers of folks at the branch and the adjustments made to schedules, one of our prizes is a ticket to Elitch Gardens and this can cause people to line up outside the library on the day we start distributing them).

With all that going on it's easy to lose sight of the reason for a summer reading program in the first place- to help combat the summer slide, to foster a love of reading etc etc so I have been searching for some vids, blogs and so forth that can be a source of hope and encouragement for librarians young and old for the inevitable low points this summer.

I love TED talks and I keep telling myself that I need to watch one of them a day and in some cases watch some every day in order to fully gleam what the talker is trying to convey. Check out these talks that accurately convey the importance of libraries- one of them talks about why books are like secret doors.

I love feel good stories about the library helping people. I follow this blog on tumblr and this story made me swell with pride. Sometimes it takes someone from a different country to help us see what we have here in North America.

A library without books?!?!  Yes! It has 3-d printers and powerful pcs and free access!  This is the future of libraries right here. The Denver Public Library's idealab already provides a space space for kids and teens.

Libraries are fun places to work most of the time but this town takes it a step further. I have always wanted a red car but I guess I may have to settle for a red library cart.  It sure beats the dull beige all our carts are painted.

Have a great summer!!