Kids Blog

Five for Rhyme Time!

Last week, I briefly touched on the importance of including rhyming in your interactions with children, whether in conversation or reading aloud. Phonological awareness is a key skill necessary to learn how to read, and the stronger a child's sense of rhyme before they begin to learn to read, the better! Here are 5 excellent picture books with great rhymes in them:

Rhyme Time! How Rhyme Helps Prepare Kids for Reading

In a recent episode of the telenovela/drama/comedy "Jane the Virgin" on the CW network, the eponymous character is surprised when her son's teacher suggests that he need more support in reading. (It's surprising because Jane is a published author and voracious reader.) "Play rhyming games with him!" she suggests, and that's exactly what she does. "What word rhymes with 'heart'?" she asks. He thinks a moment. "...Fart!"  Jubilation and laughter follow.

Great Early Readers Series Alert: Anna Hibiscus

"Anna Hibiscus lives in Africa. Amazing Africa!" That is how most of the chapters in the various Anna Hibiscus early reader series begin, and you easily see the amazing-ness that author Atinuke creates of young Anna's life. Living with her parents and twin brothers (Double and Trouble), Anna goes through her everyday life with curiosity and delight. From taking a family vacation, to starting school, to preparing to visit her grandmother in Canada, Anna's experiences are similar enough to American children's lives to be familiar, but different enough to hold novelty.

THE SUMMER READING PROGRAM IS HERE!

Hooray, hooray, summer reading is here! The Tulsa City-County Library wants babies, preschoolers, and children to LOVE reading and learning. That's why we are once again offering a Summer Reading Program for Birth to Pre-K and Children. (There are also programs for teens and adults!) Learn more at www.TulsaLibrary.org/Summer - or visit one of our 24 library locations and the bookmobile around the city and county!

Summer Reading: Cool Stuff Kids Can Earn

Starting on May 28 (that's in less than a week!), babies, preschoolers, and children can register for the Summer Reading Program at any of the 24 locations - and the bookmobile - of the Tulsa City-County Library!  This program is simple: This summer, between May 28 and August 3, when babies or children read (or, in the case of babies and young children, have read TO them) 8 books... AND Visit the library 4 times...

Summer Reading Program: FREE Entertainment!

Tulsa City-County Library's Summer Reading Program begins on May 28! There's a program for every person in your family - babies and toddlers, children, teens, and adults - to earn great prizes just for reading this summer. But there's another side of the Summer Reading Program that is especially great for families: hundreds of FREE entertainment programs at every one of our 24 library locations throughout the summer!   Do your kids like magicians? What about juggling? Are they into zoo animals? Or jamming to sweet tunes?

Picture This: Learning Through Photographs

The month of May is National Photography Month (NPM)! Use this celebration to support the literacy and learning growth of your child. Here are just a few ways to use NPM to create rich learning moments:

It's a Pleasure! The Importance of Pleasure Reading for Kids

Why does the library emphasize pleasure reading for children? Easy. Because people - including kids - tend to do the things they like doing. (Not a terribly radical notion.) When kids read materials they find interesting, valuable, and, well, pleasurable, they are more likely to enjoy reading. And if they enjoy reading, they will read more. And the more they read, the better they will become as readers.

Storytime Break in May! Why Does the Library Do This?

Every May, the 24 locations of the Tulsa City-County Library take a break from offering Build A Reader storytimes. We know this can be distressing for your toddlers and preschoolers who love their librarians and their Tuesday (or Monday, or Thursday) morning talk-sing-read-write-play times. But there are good reasons why we take this break!

Kids Are Natural Poets - National Poetry Month

For many adults, poetry is either a dead or boring format, with no relevance, resonance, or rightness to it. "I think that I shall never see / A poem lovely as a tree"? Oh, brother! Kids know better. Poetry is their natural language. Starting in first and second grade, they begin to hear the end rhymes of words and will repeat rhyming words with delight (theirs, not necessarily yours). They start understanding metaphors and similes - "You're shaking like a leaf!" "It's raining cats and dogs!" - and enjoy using language that captures their feelings and ideas.