Book Baby

Hi friends!

Are you teaching your students how to take care of their library books? I've got a brand new way to talk about book care, and we're loving it! Meet my book baby!

I wrapped up my read-aloud in a baby blanket from the Dollar Tree. I made a poster, a song, and a game.

I know we need to teach our students about taking care of their library books, but I don't like to scold or nag them. I want to make this lesson fun AND memorable. I like to sing songs and play games and laugh as we learn.

I put all of my Book Baby activities together into a printable in my TPT store. It includes the Book Baby song, to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It," but with gentle pats instead of claps. I also include the Book Baby game, where you flip the pages and ask students  questions, like "do I leave my book baby outside?" The students answer "yes" or "no." I also have bookmarks that I send home in the student library books.

I'll go back and review this all year long with pre-K, kindergarten and first grade. As they line up to go back to class, I'll remind them, "hug your library book like a baby!" We can sing our song any time we need a little refresher during the school year.

I put my book pages into a presentation book from Staples, like this.

It cost $3.99, and it already has 12 page protectors bound into it. So I can store it on my office bookshelf, like a book, and take it out whenever I need it! If the papers were in a file folder, I might put them in the file cabinet and forget about them. It's highly likely, in fact.

It's so important to teach our students how to take care of their library books. I never want them to miss a checkout because of a lost or damaged book. I think I've finally found a friendly way to teach this skill.

I hope your school year is off to a great start!