"How do You Find the Books You Read to Nathaniel?"
An Instagram follower recently asked the title question. This school year I have been posting pictures of what we read on that platform. It seemed an easy way to show how my booklists for our Book of the Week, Social Studies, and Science were parceled into weekly units. I wrote a lengthy response on Instagram comments sharing my tips. But then in an effort to fix a spelling error, I accidentally deleted the whole comment. Sigh.
I love children’s books and love to talk about them. I’ve been reading hours a day to children for thirty years like it’s my job. Well, because as a mom and homeschool teacher, that has been my job.
Actually, I’ve been reading to children since before I became a mom. When I was camp director for a large suburban summer day camp in 1987, I quieted all hundred campers and their twenty counselors and read aloud to them for fifteen minutes after lunch. The Mouse and the Motorcycle was a favorite that year. When we married, I moved into Rich’s apartment with boxes of children’s books in tow. My mom’s cousin, Marilyn, had recently retired from a lifetime career as a second grade teacher. She invited me to have first choice from her classroom books. Since I was marrying a man with two small children, the books were as valuable to me as the full set of Pfaltzgraff Heritage stoneware that I had received as a wedding present. We still use that Pfaltzgraff. And many of the books. Add twenty-eight years using a literature based approach to teaching - I have book titles, author names, and series floating around in my head. This topic deserves a blog post, not just a comment. I can’t really transfer all my prior knowledge as a direct download to my readers. But I can explain the practices I use, especially during Covid, to add to my data base. Let’s Go!
Homeschool Company Catalogs
As I mentioned above, I have always homeschooled using a literature approach. This means I teach by reading books rather than using textbooks. There are companies that market to parents like me. Their catalogs are extremely helpful to learn about books. Some of my favorites include Sonlight, BookShark, Five in a Row, Simply Charlotte Mason - scroll to the middle of the page for lists, Veritas Press, Beautiful Feet, and Noeo Science. This is not a direct support for these companies or their curriculum, just that I value their book lists.
Publisher’s Websites
Some people enjoy scrolling the internet for decorating ideas… I scroll publishers and authors. It is the best way to find new releases. Usborne and Kane Miller full catalogs are easiest to find through a private (pyramid set up) book distributor. The above link is someone I buy through. Find someone you know personally selling for the company, and ask for the link to their store. I also enjoy Crabtree Publishing Company and Sleeping Bear Press. You can find the big houses online as well like HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster. Authors and illustrators almost always have websites. Search for a favorite to find what else they’ve published.
Children’s Book List Makers and Influencers
There are a few main children’s book list makers that I return to again and again. Check out Pragmatic Mom (300 lists of lists!) Rebekah Gienapp, and Read Aloud Revival.
Instagram has been my go to for finding children’s book influencers. A few that I enjoy following include: hereweeread, librarymombooks, luggylibrary, littlebookbigworld, thebookreport, secretsocietyofbooks, bookoholicmom, childrensbooksofficial, and thelittleliterarysociety. Also following book related hashtags on Instagram is a great way to find not only new books but new influencers. I like #childrensbookstagram.
Pinterest
Does anyone do Pinterest anymore? I don’t really. Except to find children’s books. I’m not kidding, it is a fantastic way to find lists pertaining to specific topics. Want a bunch of titles about lions for your big cat loving kid? Type “Picture books about lions” in the Pinterest search and you will find links to blog posts delivering the goods. The internet is full of homeschool moms, teachers, and librarians blogging about books. You can find them through Pinterest.
Amazon
Of course Amazon, right? I don’t send you to Amazon to buy. They have a few tools that are super helpful when searching for books. Their “Look Inside” feature is a fantastic way to get the gist of the book. I often check the inside of a book through Amazon before even requesting it from the library. This has been an amazing help during Covid when we can’t stand inside a library and browse. I wish Amazon would provide this option on their mobil app.
Additionally, Amazon’s “Products related to this” and “Customers who viewed this item also viewed” list generators are wonderful to scroll through. Reading customer reviews on one book can provide other titles that someone suggests considering.
You Tube
Another Covid season friendly tool that I have used for browsing books is You Tube. Children’s book authors showed up in full force when the pandemic started. They made videos reading their books or gave permission for librarians and teachers to do the same. In addition to finding books being read aloud, you can also find briefer peek inside videos. This has been particularly helpful for me to see books that my library doesn’t have before I purchase.
This all takes time. But many of these practices, like adding some book influencers to who you follow on Instagram, can be built into what you might be doing already. Find a few good avenues that work, and you’ll soon have a head full of your own favorite children book titles, authors, and publishers. Have fun!
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