5 Children's Books to Promote the Use of Libraries
You can encourage your children to read through different actions and activities. However, one of the most important actions to instill in children is the use of libraries.
Children sometimes believe that a library is a dark, cold space with very old books, where they have to be quiet. And this is precisely the first thing you have to change: their perspective of libraries.
In addition to going to a library and showing your child the many activities they can do there, the hundreds of children’s books hidden in their shelves, or the beauty of their decoration, you can also promote the use of libraries through children’s books themselves.
In this article, we decided to share children’s books that talk about libraries, books, and the staff who work in them, librarians, who are very stereotyped in most cases.
Children’s books to promote the use of libraries
1. The Librarian and the Robbers by Margaret Mahy
A fun adventure starring a librarian and a group of robbers who decide to kidnap her to ask the City Council for a ransom for her. During her kidnapping, the librarian tries different ways to escape. Will she succeed?
The funny illustrations and the number of dialogues in its pages make this book ideal for early readers or children who find it difficult to read.
In addition, they’ll be able to learn about the different tasks that are done in libraries in a fun way and shown by the librarian herself: records, storage of copies, or book placement on the shelves.
2. The Monster and the Librarian by Alfredo Gomez Cerda
A great book that mixes humor and the promotion of the use of libraries between its pages to build its story. The main character is a monster that can’t withstand the heat. For this reason, one day, he decides to get inside the air conditioning unit of a store. What he doesn’t know is that this air conditioning unit is going to be transferred to a library.
There, the monster meets a wonderful librarian who shows him the wonderful world of books and where the monster awakens his love for reading.
3. El bibliobús mágico (In English: The Magic Library Bus) by César Fernández García, a fascinating book to promote the use of libraries
Children should know there are different variants of the libraries they know. The most common way of taking books to places where libraries don’t exist is through a library bus. And this is precisely the main character of this story. However, it isn’t a run-of-the-mill library bus, as it has magical powers!
The library elves live inside it. These beings are the elves of the books of the library bus. These funny elves prank the children who come looking for books: Casandra will know how to predict the future after finishing her book on fortune tellers, Catalina can’t stop speaking in verses after she finishes her poetry book, and Pablo disappears when he finishes his book on ghosts.
A fantastic and fun story with simple text that will make children understand how fascinating the world of reading is and all the adventure and fun that books have to offer.
4. Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen
A story that your children will love, as its main character is a lion. However, this lion isn’t just any lion. One day, he decides to go to the children’s section of a library to listen to the storyteller.
Delighted with the stories he hears, the lion decides to return every day at storytime. Thus, he’s accepted into the group of the other children who also go to the library to listen to stories.
A simple story with beautiful illustrations that show a spectacular children’s section of a public library. In addition to the library, your children will also get to meet the librarian and the storyteller. In other words, the staff who work in libraries and that children should also be familiar with.
5. La hormiga Miga en la biblioteca (In English: Miga the Ant at the Library) by Emili Teixidor
This book tells the story of Miga the ant, who decides to go to the library to get some books for the queen ant, who’s sick.
While she’s perusing the shelves, she’s fascinated by famous books, such as the Iliad, The Metamorphosis, or poems by Lorca. This ant becomes so fascinated by the library that she decides to visit it every day to keep discovering books. This is a fantastic story to help children discover the wonders that a library can offer them.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Mahy, M. (2008). El secuestro de la bibliotecaria. Alfaguara Infantil.
- Gómez, A. (2007). El monstruo y la bibliotecaria. Edelvives.
- Fernández, C. (2011). El bibliobús mágico. Brief.
- Knudesen, M. (2015). León de biblioteca. Ekaré.
- Teixidor, E. (2012). La hormiga Miga en la biblioteca. SM.
