Dublin City Libraries launched a Children’s Literacy Project in Croke Park in cooperation with the Dublin GAA County Board for 6th class children from schools in the Dublin City Council area.
Going to school for the first time is a big milestone in a child's life. It's an exciting, yet somewhat nervous time for the whole family. We have put together a list of some of our favourite 'Going to School' books, which we hope will help your family navigate this new experience. All books are available to borrow or reserve in your local library.
Get Reading! Now that school is over you can still spark your imagination, join in activities and take part in our exciting Summer Stars challenge. This year you can do a marathon read, a sprint read or a read from your couch; if you would like to register for the Summer Stars reading challenge, contact your local library.
The section’s main aim is to go out into the community and let people know about all the amazing things available in their library, both in branch and online.
Tips to encourage good reading habits in your child
Children who are encouraged to read, are most likely to enjoy reading later in life, but also develop several skills that will help them improve their personality and build a healthier brain. The key to encouraging reading habits in kids is reading with them at home from a young age.By reading together often, your child will learn first hand the joys reading can bring, helping him or her develop a motivation to read. There are several ways to inculcate reading habits, which includes going to a local library. The library plays an important role in the community and offers equal access to information and education.Make reading a daily habit.Read in front of your child.Create a reading space.Take trips to the library.Let your child pick what to read.Find reading moments in everyday life.Re-read favorite books.Learn more about how kids read.Making reading funTeach your child that reading is more than just for books. Practice reading menus, movie names, road signs, game instructions, and more—show your child reading is everywhere. Make connections between reading and real life. Act as a role model and read in front of your child. Watching you reading magazines, newspapers, and books shows your child that reading is important. Encourage your child to join you with his or her own book while you are reading.Keep reading materials in the house. Make an area for your child to read in with his or her help. Grab a bean bag chair, fun accessories, a variety of books, and your child will have his or her own cozy reading corner.Join your local library. Making reading fun can be easy with a library card. Take advantage of the selection at your local public library by letting your child pick out a book that catches his or her attention. Talk about what your child is reading. Give your child easy access to books and other reading materials at home. This helps him or her understand that reading doesn’t only happen at school—it can happen anywhere.After your child has finished a book, talk about what happened and ask what his or her favourite part was. This will enhance your child’s comprehension skills, and make reading a family activity. Find a book that interests your child. Explore different genres like mystery, science-fiction, comic books, and more. The more interested your child is in a subject, the more he or she will be excited to read!Make reading part of your child’s night-time routine. This habit helps your child learn to associate reading with relaxation. Read each night.
Get Reading! Now that school is over you can still spark your imagination, join in activities and take part in our exciting Summer Stars challenge. This year you can do a marathon read, a sprint read or a read from your couch! If you would like to register for the Summer Stars reading challenge, contact your local library. Check out our eBooks and eAudio books with the special Summer Stars collection.Check out our Dublin City Libraries Tumble Book recommendation every day. Get Critical!Do you have strong views about a book you read? Was there a brilliant character that you wanted to shout about? Or was there a big twist in the plot that startled you? Have your review published here. Get Active!Flex Your brain muscles with activities like word searches, spot the difference, code scramblers and much more. The solutions are there too-but do not be tempted until you finish!Watch out for our special Dublin City Libraries Summer Stars Quiz. Get Creative!This year we have a very special competition –write your own short story and win a fabulous prize. The story should be about An Unexpected Adventure. Maybe you had one, maybe you would like one or maybe you dreamed up one! Either way it’s time to fire that imagination and enter. Age groups apply but the competition will be fierce!Get helpful!Tell your parents that there are great tips for reading to younger children here.Get in Touch!Keep up to date with all our Dublin City Libraries activities at www.dublincitylibraries.ie or email [email protected] Contact your local library to register for the Summer Stars reading challenge. For more information, go to www.summerstars.ie
This week, we are going to take a look at TumbleBooks, an online resource especially designed for the little ones in your life. TumbleBooks are animated, talking picture books which teach children the joy of reading in a format they'll love. TumbleBooks are created by taking existing picture books, and then adding animation, sound, music and narration to produce an electronic picture book which you can read, or have read to you. This resource also includes National Geographic videos and games.(Example of National Geographic Videos)Available on TumbleBooks:Story Books: This option features animated, talking picture books for the younger reader. The reader has the option to automatically or manually turn the pages. Chapter Books/Read-Alongs: While this option does not include animation, the ebooks are narrated. They also include Chapter menus so that you can jump chapters, and a bookmarks and notes feature which are cookied onto your computer. Chapter Books also allow readers to change the colors of the background and text, as well as the font style, size, and line spacing. This helps to make the ebooks even more accessible to a wider range of readers. Videos are from the world renowned National Geographic! Simply click on "Watch Online" to watch the 2-5 minute clips on various topics. Most of these videos have been paired with ebooks as a way to introduce a topic! Featured is where teachers, librarians, parents, students, and TumbleBooks staff can recommended a book! It's a quick and easy way to find books on those rainy days! Puzzles & Games accompany each book and reinforce concepts from the books, allowing for a fun and educational learning experience. Language Learning is an easy way to access our French and Spanish titles! Non-Fiction contains a growing collection of non-fiction titles in subjects such as health, science, astronomy, biology, and nature.Playlist allows you to access the pre-loaded playlist. The eBooks play back-to-back just like a music playlist! In addition, you can create your own playlist! Simply click on the "Add to Playlist" button below a TumbleBook to create your own!(Example of Foreign Language eBooks)Access How:Website; Follow link below. To register; select the "My Cloud" tab, click where it says "Register" and enter your library card number and pin as your username and password.App; Select "Library" tab, in country box fill in "Ireland" (Note; state is NOT required), select Dublin City Council Public Library and enter your library card number. In main menu select "View by Detail" to add your favourite books to "My Favourites."URL: http://www.tumblebooklibrary.com/autologin.aspx?UserID=08Hezhy7Lfgp480vNdjp%2bw%3d%3d
This spring children in Dublin are urged to keep their eyes peeled for mysterious aliens at their local library as Bumpfizzle – the Best on Planet Earth by Patricia Forde, has been chosen for the 2019 Citywide Reading Campaign for Children.Bumpfizzle is an alien, sent to Earth from Planet Plonk on a research mission. Or is he really just a ten-year-old boy who is feeling a bit disgruntled at all the attention his parents are lavishing on The Baby? It is up to readers to make up their own minds. The author, Patricia Forde, has published numerous books for children in English and in Irish, two plays, in addition to several television drama series for children and teenagers. She has worked as a writer on both English and Irish language soap operas. In another life, she was a primary school teacher and the artistic director of Galway Arts Festival.The illustrator Elīna Brasliņa is an illustrator from Riga, Latvia. She has illustrated fifteen titles to date, most of them picturebooks, children’s books and young adult novels. Her work has been nominated for many local awards as well as the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal. She has twice received the Zelta Abele Award for Book Design, as well as the Janis Baltvilks Baltic Sea Region Award (2017).This is the eighth year of the city wide reading initiative. Previous books selected for the Citywide Reading Campaign in previous years include; Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent by Alan Early, The Nightmare Club series featuring Annie Graves, The Powers by Kevin Stevens, Danger is Everywhere by David O’Doherty and Chris Judge, The Book of Learning by E.R. Murray, Knights of the Borrowed Dark by Dave Rudden and last year’s book was Making Millions by Erika McGann. The aim of the campaign is to encourage children to read for pleasure. There will be author visits to many Dublin City Council branch libraries as well as city-centre based events in bookshops, the National Library of Ireland and Dublin City Gallery – Hugh Lane. The campaign ends with fun events based on the book, as part of the St. Patrick’s Festival’s in Merrion Square. Copies of the book are available in all Dublin City Public Libraries as well as in all good bookshops. Dublin City Council Library stock can be borrowed from libraries nationwide.Key Events;• Author visits to Dublin City Public Library branches between January and March. Class visits booked locally at branch libraries.• Cabra Library, Navan Road, Dublin 7, Tuesday 29th January at 3.30pm (Booking Essential; [email protected] or ph. 8691414).• The National Library of Ireland, Kildare St, Dublin 2. Thursday 7th February at 10am (Booking required: Contact Bríd O’Sullivan [email protected])• Dublin City Gallery - The Hugh Lane, Charlemont House, Parnell Square North, Dublin 1 Saturday 16th March 11am-12pmAuthor Patricia Forde says: “I am delighted and very excited that Bumpfizzle The Best on Planet Earth is the 2019 Citywide Read. Bumpfizzle is an alien- which may attract some funny business from other planets - but I think Dublin children are up for that. I sincerely hope so. We may need heroes before this is over.”(Dublin City Public Library Staff, Patricia Forde and Kids at Launch)(Photo Credit Fennell Photography)You can download a Reading Guide to the book, suitable for teachers and parents at http://www.dublincityofliterature.ie/projects/citywide-read/The campaign is run by Dublin UNESCO City of Literature and Dublin City Council Public Libraries, in partnership with Little Island Books, and is funded by Dublin City Council’s Public Library Service and the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
