Children's Literature Collection

Education Librarian

Profile Photo
Megan York
She/Her/Hers

Contact:
Mullins Library
MULN 419
(479) 575-4937
Website

Text reads Family Study Space. Two children in yellow shirts play with cars on a blue background. A man in a red shirt sits at a desk in front of a laptop.

The University of Arkansas Libraries support a diverse campus community, which include caregivers and their families. The Family Study Space is located on the fourth floor of Mullins Library in room 464. This room is large enough to fit 12 people, and it is encouraged that caregivers and families share this space when possible.

To ensure this space is readily available for caregivers and families, the Family Study Space remains locked when not in use. All caregivers and families looking to use this space will need to stop by the Mullins Library Help Desk upon arrival so staff may unlock the room. Families and caregivers will also need to stop back by the Help Desk when finished so the room can be relocked.

The Family Study Space includes:

  • Kid-sized furniture
  • Kid's books and toys
  • Adult-sized tables with seating for 8
  • Large display monitor with HDMI connection
  • WIFI
  • There are no computers in the room, so patrons must bring their own computer devices to connect to the display monitor

Guidelines for Use

  • Responsibility and care for children in the Libraries resides solely with the parent or designated caregiver.
  • Children may not be left unattended in the Family Study Space.
  • Libraries patrons using the space without children may be asked to leave the Family Study Space to make room for patrons with small children.

Children's Literacy & Learning Bags

The bags are available in the Children's Literature Collection on the fourth floor of Mullins Library. Each bag contains books, toys, and learning activities on a specific theme.

Bags are available in three levels:

  Book Reading Level Description
Red Pre-readers These backpacks contain materials for toddler and preschool aged children. Board books with colors and textures are emphasized along with gross motor skill activities.
Blue Beginning readers to grade 2 These backpacks contain materials for early elementary aged children. The books in these bags are for children who are beginning to read up to a 2nd grade reading level. Materials include games, puzzles, and other learning activities.
Black Grade 3 to grade 6 These backpacks contain materials for upper elementary aged children. Books included are at or above a third grade reading level. More complex learning activities, games, and puzzles are included.

Currently available bags:

Red

(toddlers)

Blue

(early elementary)

Black

(upper elementary)

Colors

Books

  • Black Bird, Yellow Sun
  • Colors
  • Green is a Chile Pepper
  • Blue Hat, Green Hat
  • Poke-a-Dot: First Colors

Learning Activities

  • Color sorting busy book pages
  • Jumbo counting and sorting bears
  • Stack and sort color board
Animals

Books

  • National Geographic's Weird But True: Animals
  • Stellaluna
  • In the Ocean
  • Cat Problems
  • Not Norma

Learning Activities

  • Ocean life puzzle
  • Animal tracks game
  • Toy animals with matching cards
Poetry

Books

  • Where the Sidewalk Ends
  • Change Sings
  • If it Rains Pancakes
  • Bow-Tie Pasta
  • National Geographic Book of Nature
  • Oxford Children's Rhyming Dictionary

Learning Activities

  • Write your own poems (composition notebook and pencils)
  • Haikubes
  • Storycubes
Seasons

Books

  • Very Hungry Caterpillar's First Summer and First Winter
  • Our Weather Touch and Feel Board Book
  • Do I Have to Wear a Coat?
  • Full STEAM Ahead: The Four Seasons

Learning Activities

  • 22 piece HABA wood seasons puzzle
  • Weather balancing toy
  • Dress-for-the-weather felt doll set
Pizza Fractions

Books

  • Pete the Cat and the Perfect Pizza Party
  • Pizza Day
  • Secret Pizza Party
  • Peg + Cat: Pizza Problem
  • Professor + Pollito: Fractions

Learning Activities

  • Magnetic pizza fractions toy
  • Draw your own pizza (paper plates and colored pencils)
Electricity

Books

  • Circuits
  • Find Out: Energy
  • Investigating Electricity
  • You Wouldn't Want to Live Without Electricity!

Learning Activities

  • Energy stick
  • Snap circuits exploration Kit
  • Magnetism and electricity poster
Vehicles

Books

  • First 100 Trucks and Things That Go
  • My First Trucks and Diggers
  • Little Blue Truck
  • Zoom, Zoom, Baby!
  • Busy Diggers

Learning Activities

  • Reusable vehicle stickers
  • Vehicle puzzles
  • Construction toy cars
Space

Books

  • Kit and Kaboodle Blast Off to Space
  • Hidden Figures
  • Planets
  • How to Catch a Star

Learning Activities

  • Constellation cards and craft
  • Solar system fidget toy
  • Mix and match magnetic space vehicles
  • Magnetic rocket ships build-it game
The Human Body

Books

  • Weird but True: The Human Body
  • The Skeletal and Muscular System
  • The Fantastic Body
  • Smithsonian: Human Body!

Learning Activities

  • Human body model/puzzle
  • Exercise and heart rate lab
  • Human x-rays
Senses

Books

  • The Five Senses: Hearing
  • The Five Senses: Taste
  • The Five Senses: Smell
  • The Five Senses: Sight
  • The Five Senses: Touch

Learning Activities

  • Five senses busy pages
  • Draw and smell Colored Pencils
  • Sensory Matching Tiles

 

Money

Books

  • I Spy Money
  • Using Money
  • What is Money?
  • A Dollar for Penny
  • Everything Money

Learning Activities

  • Money discovery can
  • Money flash cards
  • Counting money puzzles
Foods Around the World

Books

  • Alice Waters Cooks Up a Food Revolution
  • My Food, Your Food, Our Food
  • Dinner on Domingos
  • Fry Bread
  • Vamos! Let's Go Eat
  • Tomatoes for Neela

Learning Activities

  • Chopstick practicing with pompoms
  • Fill & Fold taco and tortilla play set
  • Draw your family dinner (paper plates and colored pencils)
Community Helpers

Books

  • Whose Hat is This?
  • Clothesline Clues to Jobs People Do
  • Helpers in Your Neighborhood
  • Hello! Hometown Heroes

Learning Activities

  • Doctor dress up coat
  • Community helpers puzzles
  • Community helpers coloring dolls
  • Toy community helper figures
Plants

Books

  • Du Iz Tak?
  • Seed to Plant
  • From Seed to Plant
  • How a Seed Grows

Learning Activities

  • Plants: magnetic activity tins
  • Flower garden building toys
  • Plant life cycle model figures
Reptiles

Books

  • Kecko the Gecko
  • Komodo Dragons
  • Ultimate Reptile-opedia
  • Everything You Need to Know about Snakes

Learning Activities

  • Reptile specimen kit
  • Reptiles coloring dolls
  • Turtle puzzle
  • Reptiles and amphibians game