VIRTUAL: Monthly Bedtime Storytime

Put on your jammies, and join authors Tina Athaide and illustrator Asa Gilland (Meena's Mindful Moment), Janet Costa Bates (Time for Bed, Old House), and Angela Burke Kunkel (Penguin Journey) for our monthly bedtime storytime! Register for this Zoom webinar here.

About Meena's Mindful Moment: (Asa will do a short drawing demonstration)

Meena is excited to visit Dada and explore all the exciting sights and sensations of his home with him. But Meena has so much energy, it becomes a whole imaginary character she calls her hurly-burly hullabaloo. Wherever Meena goes, her hurly-burly hullabaloo goes too. Together they’re never calm, as they run and cartwheel and make a lot of noise!

But when Meena makes a mess, her grandfather is there to teach her how to handle it with deep breaths and meditative poses—after all, he has a hurly-burly hullabaloo too.

With playful art and engaging characters (real and imagined), this charming story all about mindfulness will be wonderfully relatable to anyone with a rambunctious hurly-burly hullabaloo of their own.

Tina Athaide is an educator and the author of middle grade novel Orange for the Sunsets (HarperCollins), and multiple easy leveled readers. Born in Uganda, she grew up in London and Canada. She now lives in California with her husband, Ron, and their daughter, Isabella.

Åsa Gilland works in graphic design, packaging design and illustration. She has illustrated multiple picture books, including Flibbertigibbety Words (Page Street Kids). Originally from Sweden, she has lived in Indonesia for over twenty years.

About Time for Bed, Old House:

At Isaac’s first sleepover, he gets to help Grandpop with a very special routine—putting the house to bed—in a story that’s just right for children visiting a new place, or for adopting a new ritual at home.

Isaac is excited about having a sleepover at Grandpop’s house, but he’s a little nervous about being away from home for the first time. Luckily, his knowing Grandpop tells him it’s not quite time to go to bed yet—first, he needs Isaac’s help in putting the house to bed. Quietly and slowly, they move from room to room, turning out lights and pulling down shades, as Grandpop gently explains the nighttime sounds that Isaac finds unfamiliar. Now it’s time to read the house a bedtime story (Isaac is good at reading the pictures). By the time the house is settled in for the night, Isaac and Grandpop are ready for bed, too. Janet Costa Bates’s tender story and A. G. Ford’s cozy illustrations will have families—and extended families or friends—eager to take a wise Grandpop’s cue and embrace a new nighttime tradition.

Janet Costa Bates is the author of Seaside Dream, illustrated by Lambert Davis, which was named a Lee and Low’s New Voices Honor Book. She lives in Massachusetts, where she and her husband enjoy having their grandchildren visit for sleepovers.

About Penguin Journey:

A lyrical picture book exploration of emperor penguins’ incredible journey to parenthood, with stunning watercolor art

Packed Snow / Moon glow
Wind-blown / All alone
 
This young picture book is about the incredible lengths to which emperor penguins go for their young ones. Angela Burke Kunkel’s lyrical text and Catherine Odell’s gorgeous illustrations detail the penguins' amazing journey, and an author's note and bibliography provide added context.

Angela Burke Kunkel is a school librarian and the author of Digging for Words: José Alberto Gutiérrez and the Library He Built. After soaking up the sun in the Southwest for a number of years, Angela now lives in Vermont with her husband, two children, two dogs, two guinea pigs, and one rapidly growing bearded dragon. She hopes to meet a penguin (or three!) up close one day. Visit her at angelakunkel.com.