Kids Blog

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.

Noodlehead Stories & Why Kids Love Them

You're a noodlehead, I'm a noodlehead, we're all noodleheads! We all have moments when our brains take a vacation and we misunderstand a figure of speech for the literal meaning. ("Let's toast the new year!" - would you like strawberry or blueberry jelly on your toast?) But the "noodlehead" genre is also a storytelling tradition around the world that children gravitate to because of the humor and hi-jinks. (It might also remind them of their own journeys from literal to metaphorical understanding.)

Wonder Twins, Activate! Listening + Reading Along Increases Comprehension

If you are parents to young children right now, you probably do not know what the 1970s cartoon "Wonder Twins" even are (though if you're grandparents of young children, there's a good chance you do!). Still, I think of this duo because of its importance in audio books for young readers. Namely, when kids listen to a book while reading along - using two senses - it can be a game-changer, especially for reluctant or struggling readers. First, it's just fun, and there is a game-like quality to following along while enjoying the story.

Reading on the Level (& When It Doesn't Matter)

Can you imagine walking into the library or bookstore and asking, "Where do you keep the books for retirees?" Sounds silly, right? You already know that while some of the books in our adult fiction section will appeal to older readers more than twenty-somethings, they're still all "adult fiction" books and we shelve them in the same section. And yet, we at the library get a number of well-meaning parents and grandparents who come in asking, "Where are your third grade books?" or "Where do you keep books for ten-year-olds?"

Music, Music, Dance, Dance! The Brain Benefits of Your Favorite Songs

Quick - what song, when you hear it on the radio or in the grocery store or on a TV show, never fails to make you want to get up and move - and sing along? I'm an 80s girl myself, so if Duran Duran is playing anywhere, I'm likely to at the very least tap my toe - and at the most, sing loud and bop around in the front seat of my car. (Yes, I'm THAT person in the car in front of you on your morning commute.)