Children’s Book Week - November 4-10, 2024
Established in 1919, Children’s Book Week is a celebration of books for young people and is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the United States. We encourage you to discover or rediscover the joy of reading Children’s Books - from picture books to chapter books to graphic novels, we encourage you to read, read, READ! Reading provides many benefits for children, such as supporting cognitive development; improving language skills; increasing concentration and discipline; and encouraging imagination and creativity.
At YPL, we want to foster a love of reading for children of all ages through our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten initiative and a wide variety of sing-along and storytime programs.
Come into any of our library locations to pick up a book to read, ask a library staff member for a recommendation, check out these recommended reads on our catalog, or check out books online using any of our online resources including:
TumbleBooks - Comics Plus offers online digital graphic novels and comics available for free with your library card.
Comics Plus - Comics Plus offers online digital graphic novels and comics available for free with your library card.
OverDrive/Libby - Overdrive/Libby has downloadable eBooks, eAudiobooks, digital magazines, and streaming video for free with your library card.
Hoopla - With Hoopla, you can borrow eAudiobooks, graphic novels, eBooks, movies, music, and television, all with no holds. 10 items can be checked out at a time.
We encourage you to relive your favorite childhood reads or find new ones.
NaNoWriMo - November is National Novel Writing Month
Writing requires a lot of planning: drafting an outline, creating compelling characters, building your world, and finding time to sit down and write! All of this work might be daunting, so how do you get started?
November is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. The non-profit organization that organizes the event encourages writers of all experience levels to commit to one goal: write 50,000 words in 30 days.
Maybe you don’t have time to write the next bestselling novel, but any bit of writing is good writing!
Check out Gale Courses for instructor-led courses that are free with your library card. There are writing classes in business writing, creative writing, grant writing, and publishing.
Hear from professional authors about their writing processes and inspirations through Virtual Author Talks! Register online with your library card for any of these upcoming speakers online on Zoom.
Children’s Books about Writing Stories
Look at My Book: How Kids Can Write & Illustrate Terrific Books by Loren Leedy
Picture Book by Dog by Michael Relth
How a Book is Made by Aliki
How to Write A Story by Kate Messner
The Story of A Story by Deborah Hopkinson
From Pictures to Words: A Book About Making A Book by Janet Stevens
Bear’s Book by Claire Freedman
Words of Wonder from Z to Z by Zaila Avant-Garde
Celebrate Telling Stories
Children’s Book Week is a great opportunity to celebrate stories as well as storytelling. Each of us has a story to tell, from the youngest child who may recount the day’s events to their parents to the senior citizen who has a lifetime of experiences to share. Shaping those experiences into words and then a story with a cast of characters, a setting, a conflict, and solution is what makes a book.
Now, that’s even easier with the power of AI. One such AI site that is fun to play around with is Perchance.Org’s story generator. It even can create images to go along with the story! On the home page, you can either give a few words in the text box to get started or click on Begin. The latter will create images as you give prompts. You can regenerate the story and images until it feels just right to you.
Check out some of these resources for young ones to learn about storytelling and create stories of your own!
Alison Robles is a Part-Time Junior Clerk at the Crestwood Library. She is an avid reader with a passion for YA lit, historical fiction and fantasy. A Yonkers native, she is currently pursuing an MS in Information and Library Science from the University at Buffalo.
Nancy Wissman is a part-time Children’s Librarian at Crestwood Library. With many years experience as a librarian in a variety of settings, Nancy is happiest working with children and their caregivers helping them to find the books that are just right! She also enjoys connecting with children during her Saturday storytimes at Crestwood.
Z is the Branch Administrator at the Crestwood Library. She enjoys cultivating library experiences for patrons of all ages and connecting people with resources and has been doing so for over 30 years.