Authors, illustrators, and educators are stepping up to provide free resources for all ages designed to encourage creativity and learning at home!

Virtual Author Events, Resources and Read-alouds

    • Mo Willems will be hosting a livestream doodle every weekday at 1:00.
    • Ben Clanton will be doing Instagram Live events every Monday at 12:30pm EST, each of which will be available for 24 hours.
    • Oliver Jeffers will be doing Instagram Live read-alouds every weekday at 2pm EST, each of which will be available for 24 hours.
    • Mac Barnett will be doing Instagram Live read-alouds every weekday at 3pm EST, each of which will be available for 24 hours.
    • Jarrett Krosoczka will be doing a “Draw Every Day” Youtube webcast at 2pm EST that will also be available for viewing after the stream.
    • Carson Ellis will be posting drawing prompts on Instagram every weekday morning for her “Quarantine Art Club.”
    • Grace Lin hosts a new podcast called Kids Ask Authors, where she and a guest author answer questions submitted by young readers. At the end of each episode, they feature audio recordings of kids reading their own book review, poem, short story, or joke. Submit your own recording for consideration here!
    • Jason Reynolds, the 2020-2021 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, has a virtual storytelling and activity series on the Library of Congress website as part of his “Grab the Mic: Tell Your Story” initiative.
    • Naila Moreira, Forbes Library Writer in Residence Emeritus, hosted a nature journaling workshop on Thursday, March 26th via Stimola Live, which is available for viewing.
    • Tony DiTerlizzi will be hosting Daily Drawing sessions via Facebook Live each day at 1pm EST.
    • Kate Messner has a comprehensive collection of resources on her website, including writing prompts, read-aloud videos from many popular authors, and sneak peeks at upcoming books.
    • Dav Pilkey has launched a new live video series in partnership with the Library of Congress called Dav Pilkey at Home. This site will update each Friday morning at 8am with read-alouds, how-to-draw demonstrations, and other original content from Dav Pilkey himself.
    • Corinne Demas is sharing home-schooling resources, including an original picture book about kids living through these hard times that children can download and illustrate themselves.
    • Storyline Online is a video series hosted by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation featuring favorite actors and other celebrities reading popular children’s books.
    • Story Time from Space, a project of the Global Space Education Foundation, sends children’s books to astronauts so they can record themselves reading aloud–from space! Astronauts also demonstrate science concepts from space in special Science Time videos.
    • You can find more children’s author resources in this helpful round-up from the School Library Journal!

Other Resources

  • Coronavirus: A Book for Children: this informational picture book, created by infectious disease professionals in partnership with elementary educators in the U.K., provides information on the coronavirus for children ages 3-11.
  • The Academy at Charlemont is offering a range of free online summer learning opportunities for students in grades 6-12, including everything from Algebra classes to how to make sweater monsters!
  • Reading Rockets: Activity suggestions, reading recommendations, science projects, and more.
  • Scholastic Learn at Home: for families with children Pre-K to Grade 6+, Scholastic offers virtual field trips, author videos, and activities.
  • BookFlix: a part of Scholastic’s Learn at Home offerings, Bookflix provides read-along videos for many favorite picture book titles.
  • Jbrary: a favorite resource of librarians everywhere, Jbrary provides video demonstrations of  popular storytime songs and activities, as well as lists of resources for continuing storytime fun at home.
  • TumbleBooks: this enormous database of ebooks and learning materials is free and available to access until August 31st–no library card or login required!
  • Explore.org: Live nature cam network. Watch and listen to owls, puppies, jellyfish, and more in their various habitats!
  • Harry Potter at Home: this new resource from the publishers of Harry Potter includes puzzles, word games, how-to videos, quizzes, and more.
  • Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood: you can watch full episodes of this classic, educational children’s television show for free.
  • Virtual Museum Tours: visit some of the most famous museums in the world without leaving your home!
  • The Spanish Experiment: in addition to free Spanish lessons for beginners of all ages, this site hosts a collection of fairy tales told in Spanish by native Spanish speakers.
  • STEAM Ahead @ Home: Designed specifically for libraries and their patrons, these activities encourage STEAM learning and scientific exploration.
  • Stimola Live: this collection of livestream events from popular writers and illustrators allows kids, tweens, and teens to participate in live crafts, readings, science experiments, and art projects from home, led by their favorite creators! Past livestreams are available on the site’s Youtube channel.
  • SYNC, the free summer audiobook program sponsored by AudioFile Magazine for teens 13+ starts up again on April 30. To gain access to the audiobooks, interested teens can register for SYNC here.

And, as always, you can access many of our online resources with your library card, including encyclopedia articles, streaming TV and movies, and how-to courses!