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| Roxie Munro & Julie Gribble shooting Ready Set Draw! |
By
Roxie Munrofor
Cynthia Leitich Smith's
CynsationsIn August of 2014, I traveled from my Long Island City studio to downtown New York City, lugging
KIWiStorybook frames and rolled-up giant walk-in picture books, about to be the first author interviewed for the media start-up,
KidLit TV.
The film crew, lighting technician, makeup artist, sound engineer, and Julie Gribble, founder, and interviewer Rocco Staino, of School Library Journal and the Huffington Post, were ready.
Four hours later we had a wrap, edited into a lively eight-minute piece, which aired that November, launching one of the most original concepts in the world of children’s literature in years.
That popular interview feature of KidLit TV is called
StoryMakers. Every month Rocco chats with several prominent authors and/or illustrators, like Paul O. Zelinsky, Pat Cummings, Hervé Tullet, Sophie Blackall, Tim Federle, Mo Willems, Rosemary Wells, and Aaron Becker. We get a peek into their creative process - making mistakes (and fixing them!), creative tricks and habits, childhood inspiration, and exciting news about upcoming projects.
Although most of the content is accessible to any literate person, there can be a lot of fun esoterica. For example, librarians may talk about how award committees work or recommend seasonal books; for the 2015 StoryMakers Holiday Special, Maria Russo (New York Times), John Sellers (Publishers Weekly), and John Schumacher (Scholastic) discussed their favorites with Rocco. Other children’s literature movers and shakers are featured, like Lin Oliver and Stephen Mooser, talking about founding
SCBWI, and Judy Blume and Neil Gaiman discussing censorship.
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| Jerilyn Williams of TLA interviewed by Rocco Staino |
Aimed specifically at children is the
Read Out Loud show where authors engage kids with lively readings from their books. On
Ready Set Draw!, illustrators inspire viewers to do art and show details on how to draw characters from their books. Dan Yaccarino taught kids how to make Doug from “Doug Unplugged”; Nick Bruel drew Bad Kitty; I showed children how to
draw the owl from “Hatch!” and how to
make a maze.
Children send in their own drawings based on the videos, and KidLit TV posts them online in their new
Fan Art Gallery section, using #ReadySetDraw to share fan art.
KidLit Radio is launching podcasts for children, filling an important niche. Radio is as popular as ever, and podcasts are gaining ground. Audio is an important medium – many children learn, and are entertained, by listening. Recently Barbara McClintock and Peg + Cat creators Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson did podcasts.
KidLit TV also covers events under their Red Carpet feature, like the Eric Carle Awards, interviewing such luminaries as Jerry Pinkney, Roaring Brook’s Neal Porter, and Hilary Knight. The most recent Field Trip is a six-minute video of the
4th Annual 21st Century Children’s Nonfiction Conference, with uber librarian and reviewer Susannah Richards doing the interviews, including one with Steve Sheinken about his process and his next book.
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| Founder Julie Gribble & Dan Yacarrino |
All of this content is found on the main KidLit.TV site; there’s also a robust social media presence and an extensive
YouTube channel. It’s the go-to place for kid friendly videos about favorite authors and illustrators, book-based crafts and activities, and to check out content dear to the hearts of children’s literature aficionados. Not to mention how to draw a Great Horned Owl!
So how did this come about? Well, multiple Emmy-award-winner and Stony Brook Children’s Literature Fellow, Julie Gribble, who worked in the television industry for years, founded KidLit TV to create fun new ways to reinforce an appreciation of reading that children will carry with them for the rest of their lives– it’s the first online resource of its kind for kids, parents, librarians and teachers. She’s an author in her own right, with
Bubblegum Princess, illustrated by Lori Hanson (NY Media Works, 2013)(based on a true story about Kate Middleton) and another picture book out soon.
Julie’s KidLit TV family of teachers, librarians, authors, illustrators, and tech folks are all deeply committed to working together to bring great books to kids.
Cynsational NotesRoxie Munro, Julie Gribble, and
Sarah Towle (Time Traveler Tours & Tales) will be doing several pro-grams, including “Promoting your Library Community through Social Media & New Technology: Cutting-Edge Techniques,” at the
Texas Library Association Conference in April 2017 in San Antonio.
In addition, Julie and Rocco Staino are doing a KidLit TV presentation. KidLit TV will cover the conference, doing author and librarian interviews, live-streaming events, and attending award presentations. Come visit Booth 2301!
And Roxie has contributed a piece to
TLA’s Disaster Relief Coloring Book, which will be available at the Conference.
Right on time for back to school, KidLit TV is teaming up with Pragmatic Mom, Jump into a Book, Franticmommy and Multicultural Children’s Book Day to give parents, teachers, and librarians a chance to win a multicultural book bundle for their school library.
School libraries play an integral role in the life of students. Many students can cite their school library as a place where a love of reading and learning is fortified. Throughout the country, budgets for school programs are being slashed, school libraries have been heavily hit. Hours for library time are cut in some schools, and non-existent in others. Furthermore, the tight budget impacts a school librarian’s ability to secure funds to purchase new books.
Starting today, September 15th and through September 30th you can enter to win a curated bundle of multicultural books featuring StoryMakers guests and additional kid lit authors.
Watch this fun video, to see some of the kid lit your school library can win!
Books featured in the giveaway bundle include:
The Whale in My Swimming Pool by Joyce Wan
Beauty and The Beast by Pat Cummings
The Truth About Twinkie Pie by Kat Yeh
Gone Crazy In Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia
The Seeds of Friendship by Michael Foreman
Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh
Mama’s Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation by Edwidge Danticat
PLUS three more to be announced soon!
Current and former librarians share why they believe school libraries are essential:
Happiest is the school that provides its children with access to information in all its myriad forms and has a professional on hand to help direct them. — Betsy Bird
Collection Development Manager, Evanston Public Library
School Library Journal (Fuse8)
Every child should have access to a school library accessible throughout the school day and well-stocked with materials to engage, entertain, educate, and inspire. — Matthew Winner
Library Media Specialist
The Busy Librarian
Let’s Get Busy Podcast
As a retired school librarian, I certainly know the importance of school libraries. With more and more school librarians being eliminated it is of the utmost importance that we advocate and publicize the important role they play. — Rocco Staino
Contributing Editor, School Library Journal
Director, Empire State Center for the Book
Host, KidLit TV’s StoryMakers
Here’s how it works:
- Enter to win via the Rafflecopter widget below.
- Winners are chosen randomly. We’ll notify all winners via email.
- You’ll give us the name of your librarian, and address of your school library.
- We’ll send the books to your school library, in your name!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Entrants must be at least 13 years old and reside in the United States
More than 60 education and library research studies have produced clear evidence that school library programs staffed by qualified school librarians have a positive impact on student academic achievement. Yet, many students are returning to school without a resource essential for success: a strong school library program lead by a certified school librarian. — I Love Libraries
We couldn’t have done this without wonderful publishers who’ve graciously donated books. Please give a round of applause to the publishers participating our giveaway!
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
HarperCollins
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Candlewick Press
Abrams Books
Dreamscape Media
Dial Books
Want to increase your library’s chances of winning? SHARE this post with other librarians, parents and educators in your area!
ABOUT
Pragmatic Mom
Pragmatic Mom was born of several circumstances; one child’s lackluster academic year, a mishap during a reading session, and realizing it was okay for a mom to love kid lit more than adult fiction. Mia Wenjen chronicles her family’s journey through education, parenting, and children’s literature via Pragmatic Mom. Mia is a leader in literacy and parenting. She is one of the co-founders of Multicultural Children’s Book Day.
Connect with Pragmatic Mom on Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and Twitter.
Jump into a Book
Jump into a Book (JIAB) is a site about the love of children’s books and how they can be incorporated into our everyday lives through play, crafting, cooking, movies, games, traveling and author visits. At JIAB, they strive to pull books off shelves and stories off pages to create reading experiences for families. Amazon and iTunes best-selling author and founder of Audrey Press, Valarie Budayr is a play and reading advocate, whose mission is to inspire children, families, and communities to experience and create a world together through books while having fun.
Connect with Jump into a Book on Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.
Franticmommy
Rebecca Flansburg (a.k.a Franticmommy), is a freelance writer, blogger and virtual assistant. Franticmommy.com, is filled with laughter and love about the joys of parenthood. Rebecca is also committed to helping women realize their work-from-home dreams, enjoying life beyond the cubicle, and find clarity in the work/life/family balance.
Connect with Franticmommy on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.
Multicultural Children’s Book Day
Multicultural Children’s Book Day’s (MCCBD) mission is to not only raise awareness for the kid’s books that celebrate diversity, but to get more of these of books into classrooms and libraries.Children’s reading and play advocates Valarie Budayr from Jump Into a Book and Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom have teamed up to create an ambitious (and much needed) national event. On January 27th, 2014 Jump into a Book and Pragmatic Mom presented the very first Multicultural Children’s Book Day as a way of celebrating diversity in children’s books. The results and support overwhelming as authors, publishers, parents, teachers, bloggers and librarians joined forces to offer up an online event designed to shine the spotlight on diversity in children’s literature.
Connect with Multicultural Children’s Book Day on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.
KidLit TV
KidLit TV is a community of authors, illustrators, educators, and parents all working together to bring great books to kids. We hope to reinforce an appreciation of reading that children will carry with them for the rest of their lives. Click here for more.
Connect with KidLit TV on Facebook (page), Facebook (group) Pinterest, Twitter, and YouTube. Sign up for the newsletter too!
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The post Back to School Library Book Bundle Giveaway! appeared first on Jump Into A Book.
