I love sharing book titles on various themes—you may have noticed from some of my previous blog posts. Celebrating Women’s History Month: Inspiring Children’s Books About Trailblazing Women – ALSC Blog Back to School, Picture Book Style – ALSC Blog Hello! My Name is… – ALSC Blog Then I learned that April is the ”Month of the Military Child.” Military families sacrifice so much for our safety and security, and there seems to be an uptick of books to support the children who are separated from their loved ones…especially their moms. Below is a smattering of titles that can support these families. At the Mountain’s Base by Traci Sorrell, illustrated by Weshoyot Alvitre Okay, this one is a few years old, and historical, but highlights little known history. It focuses on a Cherokee family, who live at the base of a mountain, awaiting the return of a loved one who…
Tag: Military Families
Serving Military Families in the Public Library
Have you ever presented a program and learned something unexpected about your library users? At Williamsburg Regional Library in Virginia we ran a storytime focusing on military families and two nonagenarians saw the event listed in the local paper and attended, complete with walkers! They decided not to stay for picture books and songs, but first they regaled us with tales of traveling with their soldier husbands to ravaged, post-World War II Germany. What did we learn? Firstly that “All Ages” in the local paper may be interpreted literally. Secondly, that there is plenty of community interest in military family lifestyles. You may think services to military families are not relevant to your library, but consider that over two million American children have had a parent deployed since 9/11, and current military families total over five million people. If you include veterans, military retirees, Department of Defense civilians, grown military…