"Tails and Tales" summer reading games may be over, but we'll love that narwhal mascot for life! If you’re not ready for the end and want to learn more about narwhals, we can help!

Did you know that you have access to World Book Online with your library card? World Book Online helps you find answers and learn at any reading level––both at school and at home! You can find info on narwhals here! Did you know that the narwhal’s tusk is actually a long tooth?! You can also find resources for early literacy, student research, beginner’s Spanish language tools, eBooks, and more! Read more about Narwhal Appreciation Post

Just before the Library closed to help contain the spread of the coronavirus, librarian Amy Caswell prepared a display of this year's nominees for the Indiana Early Literacy Firefly Award. This state award encourages parents, caregivers, and young children to interact together with exceptional picture books––which serve an important role in the first years of a child's life.

Due to the crisis, the Indiana Center for the Book is opening up remote voting for this award. Children ages 0–5 who live in Indiana can experience the five nominated titles through the videos below, then parents can assist them in voting for their favorite! Read more about 2020 Indiana Early Literacy Firefly Award Videos and Voting

Here in the Children’s area, I have the privilege of working with caregivers, parents, and children almost every Tuesday at a program called Little Makers. This is an arts-based program where we strive to engage children and their caregivers with open-ended projects that support early literacy skills, an inquiry-based learning style and foster creativity. This week we did pasta painting and used pasta noodles in exchange for paint brushes!

Whether you’re using the noodles as a brush or using them as stamps, this is a exciting project to explore. It’s a great way to discover different materials and how they interacted with each other as well as incorporate everyday objects into your child’s play and literacy. We were ready to experiment and talk about the different shapes and textures of the pasta and had a variety of noodles including spaghetti, macaroni, fiore, and rotini.

In addition to building creativity, art is a great way to build early literacy skills. It can incorporate some of Every Child Ready to Read’s five daily practices: reading, writing, singing, talking or playing. While experimenting with our pasta paint technique, we combined early literacy practices by engaging in talk and play by asking open-ended questions such as: What are you drawing? What’s happening in your painting? Creating an abundant verbal atmosphere, while having fun, gives preschoolers an advantage for when they enter kindergarten.

 Early literacy shouldn’t be a chore, so make it fun! Bring out the markers, paint, and chalk. You are your child’s first and most important teacher and enjoying art together can help build the skills that lead up to reading. Come join us at Little Makers or ask us at the reference desk about other programs that incorporate early literacy skills!

Groundhog's Day has come and gone, but the shadow of its promise of longer, warmer days lingers! For preschool science in February, we explored the world of light, reflection, and shadow. These activities are meant to promote lively discussions between children and their adult partners, which builds vocabulary and knowledge of the world.

Read more about Light and Shadow: Preschool Science and Math

With a wry wit honed as an Emmy Award winning writer and animator for Sesame Street, author and illustrator Mo Willems broke into the world of Children's Literature in a big way in 2003 with a bus obsessed pigeon. The following year he endeared himself to children and parents alike with his spot on depiction of a distraught toddler who has lost her stuffed animal in the picturebook Knuffle Bunny, which also earned Willems his second Caldecott Honor medal from the American Library Association (ALA). Read more about Elephant and Piggie: In a Book and At the Library!