Welcome to the Storytime at Home series! Every other week, we share a list of book options tied to a kid-approved theme, a craft you can set up to go along with the theme, songs/rhymes you can do during storytime, and additional enrichment activities. All books are available at Richmond Public Library, and crafts will involve items you likely have at home already! Our hope is that we can make it easy for you to share stories with your little ones and create a little bit of library magic at home.
P.S. Love library storytimes? Take a look at all in-library storytime options here. There is a storytime for your child every morning at our various branches!
Okay, now to the fun stuff…
Today’s storytime theme is LIBRARY LOVE!
Each April we celebrate National Library Week, an annual tradition highlighting the valuable role libraries, librarians, and library workers play in transforming lives and strengthening our communities. Now, we may be a bit biased here at Richmond Public Library, but we think libraries are the bees’ knees. From storytimes to craft and STEAM programs to life skill seminars to a wide variety of books to choose from, and so much more, libraries have something for everyone! To ring in National Library Week this year, which will run from April 6-12, 2025, we are hosting a variety of events and activities. To add to the fun, this week’s theme is library love. It’s never too early to introduce your child to libraries and show them the wonderful world of books and early literacy. This week’s book selections highlight libraries and all the adventures you can go on in them, as well as general library rules and histories of our treasured institutions. Help us spread the library love among your kiddos! We have some wonderful books about libraries, and we’ve included some of our favorites below. When you visit, you can also search in our catalog or ask a librarian to help you find the perfect book for you and your child.
Books
Reading to your kiddos turns them into confident thinkers. Making books a regular part of your daily routine is a great way to build children’s love of reading and learning. Storytimes also help build excitement around reading to support their literacy development.
Here are a few book options you can choose from for your library-themed storytime.
Preschool
- Jack The Library Cat by Marietta Apollonio
- A Library Book For Bear by Bonny Becker
- We Love The Library by Mike Berenstain
- The Library Book by Tom Chapin
- The New LiBEARian by Alison Donald
- No Cats In The Library by Lauren Emmons
- Do Not Bring Your Dragon To The Library by Julie Gassman
- A Library by Nikki Giovanni
- A Starlit Trip To The Library by Andrew Katz
- A Love Letter To My Library by Lisa Katzenberger
- Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk
- The Midnight Library by Kazuno Kohara
- The Little Library by Margaret McNamara
- Lola At The Library by Anna McQuinn
- Abuela’s Library by Lissette Norman
- The Library Bus by Bahram Rahman
- Library Day by Anne Rockwell
- Library Lily by Gillian Shields
- The Library by Sarah Stewart
- The Night Library by David Zeltser
Toddler/Baby
- Maisy Goes To The Library by Lucy Cousins
- Pete The Cat Checks Out The Library by James Dean
- Find Spot At The Library by Eric Hill
- Lola At The Library With Mommy by Anna McQuinn
- Library Babies by Puck
- Curious George Visits The Library by Margret Rey
- Dinosaurs vs The Library by Bob Shea
There are many ways to make reading fun and engaging for your little one!
Click here to see some of our favorite tips for bringing stories to life at home.
- Point at the pictures and ask your child what they see. Help build their vocabulary by pointing to pictures and saying the word aloud.
- Ask your child questions about the story: What do you think will happen next? How do you think this character is feeling?
- Read with expression and enthusiasm, and use different voices for different characters.
- Act out what’s happening in the story.
- As your child gets older, count objects in a book, discuss the different colors they see, point out shapes in the story, etc.
- Snuggle up and be patient. Reading is great bonding time for you and your child. Take your time walking them through the story. If your child wants to turn the page or be finished with reading, that’s OK too. You don’t have to read every word or even every page for reading with your little one to be beneficial for their development.
Songs and Rhymes
We love adding songs and rhymes to our storytimes. This is a great way to practice language with your child and support their physical (motor) development through movement.
Here are is a fun movement song you can use for this themed storytime.
The lyrics are:
These are my glasses,
This is my book.
I put on my glasses,
And open up my book.
Then I read, read, read,
And I look, look, look.
I put down my glasses and whoop! close up the book.
Arts and Crafts
Adding a craft along with a book is a great way to continue allowing your child to learn, explore, and grow. Crafts are a nice supplement as they encourage motor development, creativity, self-confidence, and more.
In fact, art and craft activities:
- Build fine motor skills. Actions such as painting, coloring, gluing, and cutting develop small muscles in small hands and improve coordination skills as children learn to use both hands at the same time.
- Support early literacy. When children make art, they learn vocabulary and how to follow directions when getting verbal instructions from parents and caregivers. They also boost their communication skills via talking about their work!
- Teach early math concepts. Math skills are used frequently in arts and crafts. Kids learn about and recognize different shapes, count and sort art supplies, and even measure out materials.
- Encourage creativity. Art helps develop creativity, self-expression, problem-solving, and curiosity.
- Boost self-esteem. Doing arts and crafts can give children a sense of achievement and allow them to take pride in their work, which builds confidence.
- Offer bonding time. Kids love spending quality time with parents and caregivers, and arts and crafts are a great opportunity for this.
Here is a craft activity you can do along with the library theme.
Make-Your-Own Bookmarks Craft
Materials Needed
- Construction paper or cardstock
- Stickers
- Markers, crayons, etc.
- Other decorative materials like foam stickers, paper scraps, etc.
- Glue (optional)
- Scissors (optional)
Source: Live Well Play Together
Directions
- Cut bookmark-sized rectangles out of the paper.
- Lay out decorative materials and allow your child to decorate their bookmarks as desired.
- If your child is old enough, this is a great opportunity to practice using scissors. Encourage them to cut small pieces of paper to glue onto their bookmarks.
- Let their creativity flow! This activity is great for fine motor skills practice, as cutting, pinching, placing, gluing, and coloring all require fine motor skills.
Additional Enrichment Ideas
The fun doesn’t have to end at books, songs, and a craft. There are many ways to enrich a storytime with additional activities and lessons. Here are a few ideas for you and your child to celebrate National Library Week with Richmond Public Library:
- Come celebrate National Library Week with us in our branches!
- Each day during the week of April 6 to 12 one branch will host a special storytime with our mascot, Ripple. View the full calendar here.
- We are also hosting several other special storytimes including a Tasty Tuesday, parachute playtime, and bubble dance parties.
- Join us for other events like coffee filter flowers, rainbow “mud” sensory bins, and a music and cartoon program featuring everyone’s favorite pig.
- Join us for a storytime and craft hour at SCRAP Creative Reuse. We host these storytimes on the first Monday of every month!
We share these Storytime at Home posts twice a month, so be sure to check back soon for more. You can also search “#storytimeathome” to see all past posts.
Have a suggestion for the next theme we cover? Email Sarah at sarah.fenninger@rva.gov and let us know!
