If you didn't read the title in tune with the Reading Rainbow theme song, I'm disappointed. Clearly, we are on a Reading Rainbow binge & have been for the past month. There is nothing more soothing after a hectic day than snuggling up to the sound of LeVar Burton reading to you. So with rainbows & reading on my mind -- let's read some books & make a rainbow.
Also it's our first blog of June -- HAPPY PRIDE!
If you follow us on Instagram, you know that we recently had the opportunity to set up a booth at our local Pride event. At the event, we met some absolutely incredible individuals. We made connections talking all about books, about education and about how we can make a difference in the lives of our youth. We also, because of our online community's immense generosity, were able to hand out over 100 LGBTQIA+ books to kids, teens & families. Let me tell you, it is an incredible feeling to hand a book over to a teen and for them to immediately hug you, thanking you for giving them a book in which they are represented in. For giving them a book that makes them feel seen. Unbelievable feeling. We want to help make these books more accessible to kids & teens as book banning becomes more prevalent across the country. Now more than ever before our queer community is under attack. We believe that by making diverse and inclusive books more accessible to our youth, we will raise kinder, more understanding, empathetic, accepting kids who will ultimately change the world.
We even raised enough money at the event to refurbish, charter, fill (with diverse & inclusive books), & donate another Little Free Library to our community! We are so grateful to those who donated. GO US!
did you know?
You can dedicate a Little Free Library from us in your name, in honor of someone you know & love, or in honor of a cause of your choosing. For a $150 donation, we will refurbish, charter (in your name or whoever you choose), fill with diverse & inclusive books & donate to an underserved community. Click the button below to make your donation. In note, put Little Free Library & we will reach out via email to get all of your information! You can even help pick out the books we fill it with. Be sure to download the Little Free Library app so we can find our libraries & more in your local area.
Look how cute they turn out^^
Rainbow reads:
We recently posted to our instagram all of the LGBTQIA+ books we handed out at the Wilson Pride event this past weekend. Click to see our board book & picture book picks, middle grade picks & young adult picks. Those are only a few from our full LGBTQIA+ book list. Please tap the button below to check out the full list. Every week, we work extremely hard to curate these book lists for you. We hope you will take a minute to look, write a few down & head to your local library to check a few out. Yes, we would love it if you used our affiliate links to purchase them. However, we understand that it's unrealistic buying new books all the time. So PLEASE utilize your local library. If you do head to your local library & they don't have the books you took from our list, REQUEST THEM. It's simple. Usually just a form in person or online. But if you're not sure how to at your specific library, email us at hello@mosskidsbooks.com we would love to help bridge the gap & get these new diverse & inclusive titles into your library, into the hands of more kids.
We also have a new book list on Rainbow Reads. Our favorite books celebrating rainbows & rainbow colors. We specifically focused on diverse & inclusive books that maybe you've never heard of or seen before. We hope you will check out our full list by tapping the button below & stay tuned for our favorites from this list on Instagram on Friday.
now that you have a few books with rainbows....
let's craft!
This craft is quick and so easy to make. Perfect to use up those scraps you've been saving & for kids to work on color recognition/color matching. You can hang them up to celebrate Pride. You can hang them in your little's rooms to brighten up their days when they first wake up.
Materials:
Thin cardboard (think cereal boxes, granola bar boxes), regular cardboard (great way to recycle boxes from online purchases
Writing utensil
Scissors
Glue (wet Elmer's Glue works best for buttons, yarn, feathers, pipe cleaners; stick Elmer's glue works best for scrap papers, cardstock)
Scrap materials in rainbow colors -- we used magazine cutouts (think back to our collaging days of the late 90's/early 00's), scrapbook papers, stickers, yarn, pipe cleaners, buttons, tissue paper, felt, wrapping paper *If hanging: tape, string/yarn, hole punch
Instructions:
1. Start by drawing a rainbow shape on your cardboard. I prepped this ahead of time for my own kids & for our story time at the library. Older kids can draw their own. Size is up to you. I made large rainbows for my own kids because we had the time to sit and complete. Please note large rainbows are more time consuming. I prepped smaller rainbows (see below) for story time at the library. 2. Cut out your rainbow. Again, I prepped these for my own kids & the story time kids.
3. Collect your materials. You can pre-prep this step too, but I found having the kids help search for the colors to be a great activity to work on color recognition for my 2.5yo & color matching for my 5yo. Older kids may even enjoy looking through magazines to find the colors for themselves. Here you can also work on fine motor skills by ripping up the paper, working on that pincer grasp that will come in handy for holding a pencil/opening snack bags/zipping up jackets.
4. Once you have all your materials collected & sorted, CREATE. I made my rainbow in traditional colors & pattern. My 5yo started to do that too, but realized that he would much rather express himself randomly & not have to adhere to a strict pattern. Go 5yo! Have your child choose from the materials & begin glueing onto their cardboard rainbow.
5. Be sure to talk about the colors as they place them on. This is even a great time to read those rainbow & LGBTQIA+ books that we recommended above!
6. Once your kid is all done, hang them up! Just use some yarn/string, tape & a hole punch. And don't forget to take pictures of their work & share with us on our socials!!
That's it, a cute easy rainbow craft to brighten your day & to celebrate PRIDE! Again, we would love to see them if you've crafted, tag us @mosskidsbooks & use #mosskidscrafts
come see us at our upcoming events:
Sat 6/17 Wilson County Public Library Summer Reading Kick-off 1pm
Mon 6/24 Story time & craft at the Wilson County Public Library 4pm
did you know?
We started a Patreon to help fund all the fun we are having creating/stocking Little Free Libraries, our Kid's Book Club, donating to underserved schools, daycares, & throughout our communities. If you're able, we would appreciate any and all support. There are some pretty cool tiers with lots of fun goodies. If you enjoy our diverse book lists & our crafts, we would love for you to help show your love by sharing our page with our Patreon (this post right here) or joining a tier (link below). This month's Patreon-only giveaway is a LGBTQIA+ book!
Check out all our tiers here: MOSS Kids Patreon
last thing, I promise. The Moss minute:
We need your submissions! We would love to feature YOUR KIDS at the end of each blog post & on our socials for a new section called The MOSS Minute where we will be sharing kid's book reviews/recommendations. Send us a photo of your kid (use the book to cover their face) with their book that they would like to review/recommend, their age; what state they live in and their mini review/recommendation. Try to write exactly what they say-- kids really do say the best things. Each blog post we will feature a child at the end of the blog and 1x/wk they will get their own post to our socials. MOSS Kids is all about community and we want to hear from you and your kids. Just email us at hello@mosskidsbooks.com with The MOSS Minute as the subject line. We can't wait to see what you're reading!
Thank you all so much for all your love & support of what we're trying to do in our small rural communities & nationwide. Please continue to share so we can keep getting our name out there. The more people who see about us & see what we are doing, the more books we can get into kids' hands. Until next time,
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