Category: Kids

Are you looking for reading recommendations for kids? We can help! Use these book lists created by our staff to find new and favorite books for kids of all ages covering a variety of topics and interests. Would you like to see more? Browse all of our staff recommendations for kids. Would you prefer one-on-one help? Call or ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text, or email ask-a- librarian. For next step reading suggestions you can also browse What We’re Reading Teens.

Recommendations from Our Staff – October 2023

Stories of Modern Indigenous Life

Some people think that native culture is a thing of the past, but that could not be further from the truth! These books, some fiction and some nonfiction, explore the vibrancy and diversity of present-day culture across many different indigenous tribes and nations. Learn about things like family, food, and tradition and experience all the joy these indigenous authors and artists have put on the page!

Help kids celebrate/learn about Diwali – The Festival of Lights.

Diwali is the five-day Festival of Lights, celebrated by millions of Hindus, Sikhs and Jains across the world. Diwali, which for some also coincides with harvest and new year celebrations, is a festival of new beginnings and the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness. It is the most important holiday of the year for the millions who celebrate it. The dates change every year, but it usually falls between mid-October to mid-November. If you are interested in learning more about it, here are just a few of many books that you can share.

Books to Turn Halloween Fear into Halloween Fun!

Many small children don’t find Halloween fun at all! The masks, the jumping out surprises and all the ghosts, vampires & scary looking pumpkins can be too many surprises for little trick-or-treaters. Below are several stories that can help kids turn their Halloween fears into Halloween fun. If Arthur & Scaredy Squirrel can do it, so can your child! “It can be fun to be scared, as many of us will recall from Halloweens past. But if we think back, we’ll probably agree that there were two things that made it possible for that scariness to be fun. First, that we knew we were safe because someone we loved was nearby. Second, we knew that whatever was scaring us was only pretend.” Smart words from Mr. Rogers!

Title - Scaredy Squirrel Prepares for Halloween

Folktales from Around the World for Preschoolers

These tales and illustrations will feed your imagination! Folktales from around the world help us to answer the many questions that preschoolers ask, and usually teach a lesson at the end. Come join us online for Reading Ready Time: Latin American Folktales with Marian University Theatre.

Middle Grade Horror

The nights are getting the longer, the wind is getting louder, and the trees are starting to look barren. Halloween is coming! Lovers of this spookiest of seasons know that sometimes being a little scared is the most fun of all! As the weather turns colder, curl up with one of these novels just for middle-graders who love all things creepy! From classics to new releases, this list has stories from the mildly spooky to the bone-chilling!

LEGO Animals

Kids love to build animals out of LEGO bricks.

Latin American Comics: lighter reading

A list of comics made by people from or have some connection to South America. Some are educational, some are entertaining. A couple of them are both. When it came to more light hearted comics I was surprised at how few countries were represented. With the exception of one creator, almost all the other artists and writers are from Argentina.

Spanish Bilingual Preschool Books

Enjoy these colorful stories, rhymes, and poems in English and Spanish. Disfrute de estas coloridas historias, rimas y poemas en inglés y español.

Title - The hummingbird sings and dances

Monkey’n Around!

Looking for fun stories about monkeys? We have a list for you of silly monkeys doing what monkeys do!!

Title - Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Time for a Rest!

As Fall arrives, many creatures will move to their warm and safe homes to rest through the winter. Here are some books about animals who hibernate!

Music Legends for Kids

There are so MANY music legends whose lives and careers have changed the world. Here are a few books to help kids learn about and be inspired by musicians from a wide range of genres, cultures, and time periods. I hope these offerings spark kids’ curiosity.

At night!

Picture books about what happens when the sun goes down!

Kids all over the world

Stories about kids in different countries.

Picture Books for Those of Us with a Weird Sense of Humor

Admittedly, these picture books may be more for adults than kids, but I know a few kids who also have a dark sense of humor. These books are not for those that believe every children’s book should have a moral to the story. Unless the moral is that life is full of unexpected events.

E.T. Phone Home: Gentle Alien Encounters

Here are a list of books, movies and television shows that show aliens as our friends!

Life in the City

Living in a city means big buildings, lots of people, and in some cases, a whole bunch of noise! These stories show what city life is like and are great to share with young children to see themselves represented in stories.

Title - Everybody in the Red Brick Building

Tags What We're Reading

Cuando está de vacaciones, haciendo mandados o simplemente fuera de casa, leer historias es una excelente manera de convertir lo que pueden ser horas de espera en mucha diversión. ¡Es la hora del cuento en línea! Esta biblioteca de escucha está disponible todo el día, todos los días (¡y toda la noche!) para volver a sus viejos favoritos. “¡Leelo de nuevo!” nunca ha sido tan fácil! Haga clic en la portada de un libro para leer o escuchar una historias en español.

Para obtener más ideas que ayuden a los niños a seguir escuchando y disfrutando de grandes historias, pruebe International Children’s Literature Database: Los Libros en Español, Uniteforliteracy: Los Libros en Español con narración, o Plaza Sesamo en Español.

No te pierdas la Hora del Cuento Bilingüe – Español. Únase a la Señora Laura mientras presenta la hora del cuento bilingüe en inglés y español. ¡Los preescolares disfrutarán de libros, canciones y juegos!

¿Necesitas ayuda? Llame o pregunte a un miembro del personal de la biblioteca en cualquiera de nuestras ubicaciones o envíe un mensaje de texto a un bibliotecario al 317 333-6877.

title - Jorge el Curioso monta en bicicleta

title - Martí's Song for Freedom/ Martí Y Sus Versos Por La Libertad

title - Mike Mulligan y su maquina maravillosa

title - Silvestre y la piedrecita magica

Tags Hispanic/Latino

Comic books and graphic novels for kids are all-time favorites. Like Dog Man. He’s a policeman, he’s a crimefighter, he’s a dog! He’s the best of both, a canine and a crimefighter doing his best to outsmart his archnemesis, an evil cat, who does TERRIBLE things like plotting to destroy all books to make the world “supa dumb”! Read the whole series or have fun with these Dog Man Activity Sheets. These stories definitely aren’t just about superheroes anymore! In this list you will find a diverse cast of characters whose stories are set in different and interesting places. Also try Read Right Now: Superheroes.

Graphic Novel Reading Recommendations from IndyPL Staff

Browse our featured book lists and then find even more recommendations from our staff.

Graphic Novels About Space

Get ready for space camp! These fun and informative graphic novels will entertain even the most stubborn rocket scientist.

If You Liked Smile by Raina Telgemeier

If you liked Smile you might like these because they also use humor to talk about growing up, fitting in, making friends, and the importance of being true to yourself. And if you liked Smile, you’ll like the other books by Raina too–Sisters, Guts, Ghosts, Drama, and the Babysitters Club graphic novels!

Kristy’s Great Idea

The books on this list are all similar to the Babysitters Club series because they are graphic novels that feature friends and friendships. If you’ve finished all the books in the series this will be a great start to find your next read.

Heroes with Tails: Dog Man and 15 Other Graphic Novel Favorites

Need more help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian.

Tags Graphic Novels

The poet James Whitcomb Riley was born in Greenfield, Indiana on October 7, 1849. To give you an idea how long ago that was, he was about 12 years old when the U.S. Civil War started. Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell were both born around the same time. At the time of his death on July 22, 1916, Riley was a beloved figure across the country, but especially so in Indiana. Many of his poems were funny. People really liked that. During his life he traveled the country giving live shows reading his poetry. In his time, he was a rock star!

James Whitcomb Riley’s death was such news it made front page headlines in major newspapers all across the country. One of the newspaper headlines about his funeral said, “35,000 People Pass Casket of Indiana Poet”. That is a lot of people paying their respects.

Riley Recordings

During Riley’s life people did not have radios in their homes yet. In order to listen to music or readings people used a hand cranked phonograph machine to listen to audio recordings on cylinders. Today you can play a digital file of an audiobook on your phone or computer. In 1912 Riley recorded poetry readings for the Victor Talking Machine Company so that people could listen at home. You can listen to old Riley Recordings in The Library’s digital collection. Open the James Whitcomb Riley Recordings to listen to the man himself reading his own poetry.

James Whitcomb Riley Books

Mr. Riley’s most famous poems for children were and still are, “Raggedy Man,” “The Little Orphant Annie,” “When the Frost is on the Punkin,” and “The Old Swimmin’ Hole.” You can read them right now in these free e-books from IUPUI. I recommend the deliciously scary “The Little Orphant Annie.” Annie is a great storyteller! She tells the story of why you better mind your parents because “The gobble-uns’ll git you ef you don’t watch out!” To read it click on the first book below, Riley Child Rhymes, and then click on page 23.

Websites, Activities & Printables:

Boyhood Home Greenfield, IN
Museum and Home Indianapolis, IN
Crown Hill Cemetery James Whitcomb Riley’s Resting Place
Indiana Historical Society: James Whitcomb Riley
IUPUI Digital (Images) Collection: James Whitcomb Riley
Poetry Foundation: James Whitcomb Riley
Two Famous Portraits were painted of him by these two artists – T. C. Steele and John Singer Sargent.
Indiana Memory: James Whitcomb Riley

In the spirit of another beloved Hoosier, David Letterman:

Top 10 Ways to Know James Whitcomb Riley was a Rock Star of his Time:

10. His book Rhymes of Childhood, published in 1912, can still be found today over 100 years later. Find it at the library or go to an online bookstore. There are not very many books still available from that long ago!

9. In the late 1890s Riley encouraged the African American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. He wrote Dunbar a letter of recommendation that helped get Dunbar’s work published.

8. When Riley died, the President of the United states, Woodrow Wilson, and the Vice-President of the United States, Thomas Riley Marshall (who was from Columbia City, Indiana), both sent messages of condolence to his family. The Governor of Indiana allowed Riley to lay in state at The Indiana Statehouse Rotunda so that people could come pay their respects. Until that time, only Abraham Lincoln had been honored in that way.

7. Greenfield, IN, his birthplace, and Indianapolis, IN, his home for over 20 years, fought over the location of Riley’s grave. Over Riley’s Dead Body: Indy’s Weirdest Civic Fight. Indianapolis won. He grave is at Crown Hill Cemetery in a tomb at the top of a hill, the highest point in Indianapolis.

6. Both Riley’s boyhood home in Greenfield, IN and his adult home in Indianapolis, IN are museums and on the National Register of Historic Places.

5. Named in his honor, the James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children opened in 1924. In 1955 the hospital added Camp Riley, a camp for youth with disabilities.

4. In 1940, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 10-cent stamp honoring Riley.

3. Commissioned in 1942 during World War II, the cargo ship SS James Whitcomb Riley bears his name.

2. There used to be a Hoosier Poet Brand of coffee, oatmeal, vegetables, cigars and more.

1. James Whitcomb Riley donated the land Central Library is built on. The bronze gates at the main entrance on St. Clair Street were purchased with pennies donated by children. The bronze tablets on each of the iron gates say: The gates are the gift of the children of Indianapolis in loving remembrance of their friend James Whitcomb Riley

Famous Hoosiers for Kids

A look at an interesting group of the Indiana born or raised who have contributed to the history and life of the state and the nation from a millionaire businesswoman to a Disney animator to a lighthouse keeper (in Indiana!) as well as a U.S. President. #indyplkids

Tags History, Homework Help, Local History

Have you ever seen a “shooting” or “falling” star? These streaks of light are not actually stars at all, but space rocks falling through the earth’s atmosphere. These rocks, called meteoroids or meteors, rub against particle’s in the earth’s atmosphere as they fall. This creates friction, making the meteor extremely hot. Usually, the meteors become so hot they burn up and disappear before hitting the earth. The flame of that burning up is what we see and what makes meteors look like a star falling out of the sky. A meteor that survives its journey through the atmosphere and lands on the earth, is a meteorite.

At certain times of year we can see a lot of meteors all at once because the earth is passing through a field of space rocks. These times of year are called “meteor showers” because so many space rocks are falling through the earth’s atmosphere at one time. Each year in late summer the Earth passes through a trail of dust and debris left by an ancient comet called Comet Swift-Tuttle. This creates a lot of meteors that look like they are coming from the constellation Perseus. That’s we we call this time of year the Perseid Meteor Shower.

In 2023 the Perseid Meteor Shower will occur from July 17to August 24, and be at its peak around August 13.

The best way to see meteors is to go outside after dark when meteor showers are predicted, like the Perseid Meteor Shower, lie on your back and look straight up. You might have to wait. Bring a good snack like popcorn!

This meteorite is an Artifact at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. “Meteorites are one of the few extraterrestrial, from outer space, materials scientists have to study. Most meteorites found on the ground are iron, which are very dense and appear quite different from ordinary rock. This is a Gibeon meteorite made up mostly of iron and nickel.”

Websites, Activities & Printables:

NASA Space Place: Meteor Shower!
NASA: Meteors & Meteorites Overview
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: Perseid Meteors over Mount Shasta
American Meteor Society: Meteor Shower Calendar
European Space Agency for Kids: Meteors & Comets

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

Meteor Showers in Books

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about meteors at any of our locations, or check out meteor e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use it for both e-books and audiobooks.

Need more help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian. Additionally, the Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.

What to Read

title - On the Night of the Shooting Star

title - How the Meteorite Got to the Museum

Tags Homework Help, Science

The water on the earth is in constant motion. Water falls to the earth as rain and then evaporates back up into the air forming clouds. Evaporation is the process that changes liquid (like water) to gas (water vapor in the air). Water vapor in the air forms tiny droplets. When there are a bunch of these droplets clouds form. When a bunch of the droplets stick together raindrops form and fall back to earth again. After the rain falls, some of it soaks into the earth, and some of it evaporates into the air again. This cycle is call the hydrologic or water cycle. You can build construct a DIY terrarium and observe the water cycle in it.

Make a DIY Terrarium

To see how the hydrologic cycle works you can make your own miniature model of the earth in a terrarium. A terrarium is a little garden inside a clear, sealed plastic or glass container. A canning jar is a common glass container with a lid that might be easy to find at home. You can probably find the other things you need for your terrarium in your own backyard: small stones go in the bottom of the container, dirt, and a small plant or two. Look in shady areas for moss, it grows really well in a terrarium! You can also plant seeds and watch them grow.

Here are two videos that will help you. One explains how the water cycle works and the other will take you through step-by-step directions for building your own DIY terrarium.

What You Need

a Clear Plastic or Glass Container With a Lid
Stones
Soil
Plants
Water
Little Toys for Decoration (optional)

Instructions

After planting, add enough water just to moisten the soil. You don’t want to flood your garden. You don’t want standing water in the bottom of the container. When you poor water into your terrarium you are starting the water cycle. Eventually, it will “rain” in the little glass world you have made! When you set your terrarium in the sun the water inside the terrarium will heat up and turn into water vapor in the air. This is called evaporation. When the water cools back down, it turns back into a liquid. You will see condensation – water droplets – sticking to the lid of your terrarium. If the drops get large enough, they will roll down the sides of the container or fall from the lid – rain!

The close-up on the left shows the condensation that began to form on the inside of the jar after only 1 hour sitting in the sun. If there is too much water just open the lid and let some of the water evaporate into the air outside the container. If your plants look wilted or dry, try adding a little more water. It might take some trial and error to get the amount of water needed just right.

Science Experiment Idea

Make three identical terrariums. You have to use the same kind of container, the same amount of soil & the same plants. Make your variable (the thing you are going to test) the amount of water you put into the terrariums. Measure a different amount of water into each terrarium. Close the lids and watch the terrariums over several days to see which amount of water made the best environment for your plants. A terrarium with too little water will have dry plants. A terrarium with too much water will have plants with yellow leaves and maybe even mold growing on the soil!

Websites, Activities & Printables

PBS Kids: Plant a Terrarium
NASA ClimateKids: What is the Water Cycle?
NASA ClimateKids: Make a Terrarium Mini Garden
USGS: Water Cycle for Kids
USGS: Evaporation and the Water Cycle
National Geographic Kids: The Water Cycle
American Museum of Natural History: Create a Coral Reef

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books & Audiobooks

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about plants at any of our locations, or check out plant e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use it for both e-books and audiobooks.

Little Indoor Gardens for Kids – Terrariums & the Hydrologic Cycle

To see how the hydrologic (water) cycle works you can make a miniature model of the earth in a terrarium. A terrarium is a little garden inside a clear, sealed plastic or glass container. After making one, you can watch how water evaporates, condenses and rains. Here are some books to help you learn about the hydrologic cycle and put together a terrarium of your own.

Title - A Family Guide to Terrariums for Kids

Tags Gardening, Homework Help, Science Experiments

In How to Make Ice Cream in a Bag follow step-by-step directions at home for making your own ice cream. Find out the science behind how this works. Smart as well as delicious! Watch a demonstration of how this works in the video below. With a few simple ingredients you can be eating a DIY slushie cold treat in no time! Even on a very hot day!

A little bit simpler science recipe you can try is making a DIY slushie from your favorite drink. The same science principles apply! Your favorite drink is pretty good with ice floating in it. When your drink has ice cubes in it, the ice cubes make the drink colder, but the ice cubes don’t make the drink itself freeze. The ice cubes IN the drink melt because they are colder then the drink itself. The drink melts the ice cubes by lowering their temperature. If you want a slushie you need to put ice AROUND your drink instead of IN it.

Melting point is the temperature at which a solid will melt. For ice this temperature is 32 degrees. If you put a drink in the freezer, where the temperature is 32 degrees or colder, the drink itself will freeze. Solid. You won’t be able to drink it!

To make your DIY slushie you want the temperature around your favorite drink to be lower than 32 degrees so the drink itself will get really cold. Keep an eye on it and stir it a lot so it doesn’t freeze solid. Make an easy slushie using ice cubes and salt. Note: the salt does NOT go IN your drink!

Salt lowers the melting point of water. Adding salt to ice cubes makes them stay frozen longer. If ice with salt added to it is packed around a liquid, like your drink, the salted ice will make your drink so cold that it will turn into a slushie!\

What You Need:

Your Favorite Drink (Soda, orange juice, lemonade, etc.)
Quart-size zip-lock bag
Gallon-size zip-lock bag
2 cups ice
1/4 cup salt
Bowl

Fill the quart size bag with your favorite drink and zip it closed. HINT: Make sure the bag is zipped really good or your slushie will taste bad when some of the salt leaks into your bag. Put the quart size bag inside the gallon bag. Add the ice and salt to the gallon bag. Next, zip the gallon size bag closed. Finally, shake the bag a lot – even play catch with it…gently. In about 15 minutes you will feel the ingredients in the quart size bag starting to firm up. What started out as a liquid is changing to a solid. When it feels done take the quart size bag out of the gallon size bag. Rinse it off good in clean water. Then open the bag, squeeze the slushie into a glass and enjoy!

When you add salt to the ice cubes you lower the melting point of the ice cubes by several degrees. The ice cubes stay colder, longer – long enough to turn your drink slushie. The secret is the catalyst – the salt. A catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a reaction.

Science Experiment Idea

Make 3 different quart size bags each filled with the exact same amount of your favorite drink. Fill each of three gallon size bag with the exact same number of ice cubes. Add 1/8 cup of salt to the first gallon size bag and label it with a sharpie, “1/8”. Then add 1/4 cup of salt to the second gallon size bag and label it “1/4”. Finally, add 1/3 cup of salt to the third gallon size bag and label it “1/3”. Have a couple friends help you shake and smoosh the bags to make the slushies. Time how long it takes each of the bags to turn into a slushie. Which amount of salt makes a DIY slushie the fastest?

Websites, Activities & Printables:

PBS Kids: Fetch Ice Cream Shake
Chem4Kids: Changing States of Matter
Lunar and Planetary Institute: Melting Point
High Touch High Tech Slushie Science
Steve Spangler Science: Instant Freeze Water
National Geographic Kids: Make Ice Cream

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books & Audiobooks

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out kitchen science books at any of our locations, or check out kitchen science e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use it for both e-books and audiobooks.

Need more help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian. The Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.

Ice Cream and Other Edible Science for Kids

Let your kitchen become a science lab and bake, melt, freeze, or boil an experiment you can eat!

Title - The Complete Cookbook for Young Scientists

Title - Hack Your Kitchen : Discover A World of Food Fun With Science Buddies

Title - Awesome Kitchen Science Experiments for Kids

Title - Curious Pearl Explains States of Matter

Tags Homework Help, Science Experiments

In the month of May in Indianapolis attention is focused at The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, or less formally, “The Brickyard,” or as we simply call it here at home, “the track.” It is time for the Indy 500!

If you sit outside in Indianapolis on a spring day in May and the wind is just right in relation to where you are, you can hear the distant high-pitched hum of cars practicing, careening around the track. On race day you can see other signs that something big is happening. If you look up you can see the Goodyear blimp floating above the city giving the world a birds-eye view, or at start time, watch the fighter jets fly in formation over the city, both traditions leading up to “Drivers, start your engines!”

While you wait for this year’s race, have fun learning about the history, physics and amazing records of the greatest spectacle in racing – the Indianapolis 500! The Spectacle is a complete history of the Indianapolis 500. It includes a hundred year’s worth of memories from legendary drivers and details about memorable races. It’s like you were in the pits yourself watching the drama unfold. Listed below are online activities and books about the Indy 500 you can check out with your IndyPL library card. You can even learn how to draw or build a race car of your own!

Websites, Printables & Activities

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indy 500 Photo Gallery
Motorsports Hall of Fame
The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis: Indy 500 Artifacts
Art for Kids Hub Video: How to Draw a Porsche Race Car
DrawinGeek: How to Draw a Race Car Step-by-Step
Printable: Rahal Coloring Sheets
Printable: Crayola Formula One Race Car

e-Books & Audiobooks

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about car racing at any of our locations, or check out car racing e-books and a udiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use it for both e-books and audiobooks.

Need help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text, or email Ask-a-Librarian. The Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.

Books for Kids Crazy about Indy Cars

Title - Draw 50 Cars, Trucks, and Motorcycles

Tags Local History, Sports & Fitness

Have you seen one of our IndyPL Bookmobiles driving around Indianapolis? We have two that visit neighborhoods and schools all over the city delivering books to people who don’t have a library branch nearby. Kids love trucks, books, and cozy little spaces – our Bookmobiles are all three! Watch this video to meet one of our book cruising teams, ride on the bookmobile with Emilie and Bruce. Our Bookmobiles are filled with both great books and great people! Happy National Library Outreach Day to Miss Emilie, Mr. Bruce, and all our staff in Outreach!

Bookmobile History

A librarian in Maryland in the early 1900s is credited with coming up with the idea of the first bookmobile. That first one was a horse-drawn wagon. No one had ever seen one of those before! Soon book wagons were appearing in other parts of the country, and by 1922, the book wagon idea was very popular. The bookmobile was born!

Bookmobiles: Then and Now – A Fascinating timeline of the evolution of bookmobiles, including the features, technology, and vehicles responsible for bringing library services to the public. Note: green entries on the timeline are bookmobile history in general. Purple entries in the timeline are IndyPL Bookmobile history.
50 Vintage Photos of Libraries on Wheels
Indianapolis Public Library Digital Collections: Bookmobiles

We’ve picked our favorite photos from our Digital Collection for this Bookmobile photo gallery. It’s fun to see how our Bookmobiles have changed over the years!

To learn even more about bookmobiles check out one of the books below. Each one tells the story of a bookmobile. You can ride on the bookmobile with Emilie and Bruce or ride a lot of other things to deliver books! Some of them are from a different part of the world where it makes sense to deliver books by boat, burro or camel!

Bookmobiles: On the Road for Reading All Over the World

Book lovers and librarians have loaded up books and taken them on the road for decades. What people use to transport the books depends on where the books need delivered. Bookmobiles can be trucks, boats, bikes, or pack animals! Which animal is chosen depends on where in the world the books are being delivered. Horses, burros and camels are all excellent at book transportation. Here are some of our favorite stories about how mobile libraries get books to people who don’t have a library building nearby.

Picture book read along stories play like a movie and are great for listening practice as well as really fun! You can stream picture book videos free with your IndyPL library card. Illustrations move as you watch the narrated stories. Video picture books are especially convenient for car trips. You can check out several at a time and play them multiple times while you have them checked out. They are perfect for “read it again!”

To stream these videos for kids you will need a Hoopla account. Hoopla is the service the Library uses to deliver these videos to you.

Get Started Streaming Picture Book Videos on Hoopla

You can access Hoopla to stream picture book videos from any device, including iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, and Chromecast.
Visit hoopladigital.com to sign up with your library card.
Once you borrow a movie, you have 3 days to view it as many times as you like.
Your total borrows reset on the 1st of the month.
Once you have reached your 10 items a month borrowing limit, you will not be able to borrow any Hoopla content until the new month starts and your 10 borrows reset.
Need help? Watch a video tutorial.

Here are a few favorites to get you started, or see Hoopla’s complete list of picture book videos for kids.

Need more help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text, or email Ask-a-Librarian. The Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.

Tags e-Books & Streaming, Storytime Online

Take a backstage tour.

Learning about puppets is a great first step to get the skills you need to make your own puppets. You can get an inside look at puppets by taking a video tour of Peewinkle’s Puppet Studio in Indianapolis. For even more behind-the-scenes inspiration watch this video to learn how the Sesame Street puppeteers bring Elmo, Big Bird, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Abby Cadabby, and Rudy to life!

Watch a puppet show.

Tune in to the Edmonton Public Library on Youtube to see these puppet shows:

Watch a video tutorial with your IndyPL Library card.

Learn how to make your own puppets by watching this video tutorial for kids from Creativebug. Just enter your IndyPL library card. Creativebug Kids is a collection of crafting video tutorials just right for preschool and elementary makers. Other videos include drawing, origami, sewing, holiday decorations, and more. If you have never used Creativebug before, start here.

Make your own puppets and put on a show!

There are several workshops available online from puppet theatres all over the country. A wonderful one comes from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Watch Fort Wayne Youtheatre’s video and use their workshop guide to learn how to create your own shadow puppet theatre and shadow puppets.

Also try New Victory Theatre’s Arts Break at Home Puppetry Week.

Still looking for puppet activities? The Jim Henson Foundation is providing links to online performances and workshops provided by grantees from their Foundation.

Are you ready to create yet? Here are some printable patterns and templates to get you started!

PBS Video: How to Make Animal Finger Puppets
PBS Kids Craft: Make a Puppy Marionette
PBS Video: How to Make Shadow Puppets – Make your own shadow theater with just a few household items! Mya shows your how to make some shadow puppets and tells the story of the dinosaurs in her own play.
PBS Kids Video How-to: Put on a Puppet Show Includes directions and printables for a Peg + Cat Shoe Box Puppet Theatre and Peg + Cat Stick Puppets.
Palmer Public Library – Author/illustrator David Hyde Costello shares the process of making a table-top puppet show. Part 1 and Part 2
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County: Dinosaur Shadow Puppet Directions and Printable Template
Printable: Curious George Finger Puppets
Printable: Crayola Dragon Puppet
Printable: Story Place Monkey Paper Bag Puppet
Printable: Story Place Gorilla Stick Puppet
Printable: Story Place Puppy Stick Puppet

Puppet Project Ideas from Old Socks to Paper to Clay!

Upcycle items from your craft bin or trash can, add your creative storytelling, and put on a puppet play!

Title - Puppets Unlimited With Everyday Materials

Title - Nick and Nack Put on A Puppet Show

Title - The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

Title - The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppett

Title - How To Create And Animate A Clay Puppet With Stop Motion Pro

Tags Arts & Crafts

There are lots of stories kids can rattle off without even thinking very much. The Three Little Pigs, The Three Bears, and Cinderella are examples of some commonly told stories children all over the world often know. Told in different places, the stories take on interesting differences that reflect a country’s environment or culture. Fairy tale variants like these can be great introductions to new places and new people!

Sometimes storytellers like to have fun with a traditional story too. Cinderella plays in a hockey game instead of going to a ball. The Big Bad Wolf tells HIS side of the story. The story happens in a new or unique place. Try one of these for a unique twist on classic tales!

Have fun with fairy tale variants – unique spins on these classics!

The Three Ninja Pigs – IndyPL_CarrieW
The Three Armadillies Tuff – IndyPL_CarrieW
Cactus Soup – IndyPL_CarrieW
The Princess and the Packet of Frozen Peas – IndyPL_CarrieW
The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza – IndyPL_CarrieW
Jacqueline and the Beanstalk – IndyPL_CarrieW
Hank (Hansel) and Gertie (Gretel) – IndyPL_CarrieW
Moldilocks and the Three Scares – IndyPL_CarrieW
The Ninjabread Man – IndyPL_CarrieW
Cinderella Stories Around the World – IndyPL_CarrieW
Cinderelephant: Unique Spins on a Classic Favorite – IndyPL_CarrieW

Hispanic Retellings of Classic Tales

Here are some favorite classic tales and traditional stories told with details and cultural traditions of the American Southwest, Mexico, Central or South America.

Title - The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred

I’m sure you’ve heard people say that dogs are man’s best friend. When you read some of these books, you’ll discover that there are a lot of animals that have been man’s best friend as well as best friends to each other! Who would have thought that a deer and a dog or a dog and a duck could be friends? Some of these animals just have the best life stories. Some are famous, like Koko the gorilla who learned American Sign Language. Or the 21 elephants that walked across the Brooklyn Bridge when it was built, just to prove it was safe! Or Eclipse, the dog that learned how to catch the bus to the dog park all by himself! Theses are true animal stores and they are amazing!

Can We Be Friends: Unexpected Animal Friendships from Around the World tells the stories of five unlikely animal friendships:

a hippo and a tortoise
an elephant and a sheep
a gorilla and kittens
a cheetah and a dog
a dog and dolphin

Check out even more books that tell the true animal stories of some special members of the animal kingdom!

Amazing and True Animals Stories for Kids

Read about the 21 elephants that walked across the Brooklyn Bridge when it was built, just to prove it was safe, or about Eclipse, the dog that learned how to catch the bus to the dog park all by himself! Check out some of these books for amazing stories about some special members of the animal kingdom.

Title - Twenty-one Elephants and Still Standing

Man’s Best Friends – Dogs, Horses, Cows, Bears, Pigeons and More – IndyPL_CarrieW
Unlikely BFFs – True Stories of Amazing Animal Friendships – IndyPL_CarrieW

Need help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian. Additionally, the Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.

Tags Animals

For kids who love to draw, two illustrators offer online classes for hours of creative fun! Start drawing today by tuning in to these drawing shows or by checking out an e-book with your IndyPL library card.

Mo Willems

Mo Willems, creator of Knuffle Bunny, the Pigeon books, and the Elephant and Piggie books, hosted a daily writing show called Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems. See the Lunch Doodles Playlist.

Jarrett Krosoczka

Jarrett Krosoczka, author of Hey Kiddo as well as the graphic novel series Lunch Lady and Jedi Academy is hosting Draw Every Day with JJK. Browse his YouTube page for all kinds of drawing tutorials and prompts.

Drawing Books:

We have a lot of drawing books for kids at the library. You can find one for just about any interest you have. Learn to draw NASCAR, forest animals, sea creatures, cartoon characters, buildings and much more. Some of the books feature simple cartoon style drawings and others, for more experienced artists, go into great detail. Each one includes step-by-step directions though, so even if you are a beginner you can create some pretty amazing pictures!

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out drawing books at any of our locations, or check out drawing e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use it for both e-books and audiobooks.

Video Read Alouds about Drawing

Just click on one of the book covers to hear the story.

How to Draw Favorite Book Character Printables

How to Draw Dog Man
How to Draw Jeff Kinney’s Greg from Diary of a Wimpy Kid
How to Draw Lincoln Peirce’s Big Nate
How to Draw Babymouse and Squish
How to Draw Curious George
How to Draw James Dean’s Pete the Cat
How to Draw Mo Willem’s Piggie
How to Draw Mo Willem’s Gerald
How to Draw Ludwig Bemelman’s Madeline
Draw Butler’s Blue from Good Boy Blue
You can find more activities at Favorite Book Character Printables

Tags Arts & Crafts

We have thousands of audiobooks for kids on various platforms. All can be checked out instantly with a library card. Each audiobook platform is unique. You can learn how to use each platform below.

Audiobooks for Kids from OverDrive/Libby

You can borrow up to 20 titles using your IndyPL Library card from OverDrive Kids. If you have never borrowed from OverDrive before both app directions and browser directions are available as well as a video tutorial and Overdrive Support.

Here are some quick shortcuts to OverDrive’s audiobook collections for kids.

Skip the Wait!

Hold lines can get very long for new and popular titles. Here are two helpful links for young readers: No Wait, No Problem Audiobooks for Kids and No Wait No Problem e-Books for Teens.

Audiobooks for Kids from Hoopla

You can borrow 10 Items each month using your IndyPL Library card. If you have never borrowed from Hoopla before directions are available as well as a video tutorial.

Here are some quick short cuts to some of Hoopla’s audiobook read along collections:

Hoopla Disney Audiobooks for Kids
Hoopla Audiobook Bedtime Stories for Kids
Hoopla Read Alongs for Kids

Skip the Wait!

You don’t have to put Hoopla titles on hold, you are allowed to borrow whatever titles you want, up to 10 per month.

However, if you’ve already read your 10 monthly borrows, Hoopla frequently offers Bonus Borrows. Bonus Borrows don’t count against your monthly borrowing limit – look for them on Hoopla.

Audiobooks for Kids from Kanopy Kids

Kanopy Kids has one collection of read along picture books in their Story Time collection. Read them in a computer browser or in the Kanopy app. Videos from the Kanopy Kids section do not require any play credits to view. Feel free to watch as many videos from Kanopy Kids as you’d like without seeing a reduction in your play credits! If you have never borrowed from Kanopy before here are some directions and a video tutorial.

Audiobooks for Kids from Tumblebooks

You can read Tumblebook read alongs in a computer browser or the Tumblebook Library app. If you have never borrowed from the Tumblebook Library before here is a video tutorial to help you get started. Here are three examples of the read along stories you can find in the Tumblebook Read Along Library. See the full list of Tumblebook read alongs here. The best thing about Tumblebooks – there are no loan limits and no waiting!

VOX Audio Enabled Print Books

If your kids like e-book read alongs try our VOX audio enabled books. You can check them out at any of our locations. VOX books are print books that have an audio player permanently attached to them. You don’t need a computer, tablet, CD, or the internet. Children simply push a button to listen and read. The next time you visit one of our libraries, ask where the VOX book shelf is! See the list of VOX books you can check out here.

Free Audiobooks that Don’t Require a Library Card

World Book Day Free Audiobooks
World Book Day’s World of Stories audiobook collection get refreshed frequently. Audiobooks are taken down after 6 months and then are replaced with new ones so check back often for new stories.

Audible’s Free Audiobook Library for Kids
Audible, Amazon’s audiobook library, offers free audiobook streams on a select number of children’s stories. See the Free Audible Library. The books are separated into six categories: “Littlest Listeners,” “Elementary,” “Tween,” “Teen,” “Literary Classics” and “Folk & Fairy Tales for All.” Books are available in English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Italian.

Free Video Read Alouds Online
Children also shouldn’t miss these outstanding opportunities to hear old classics like Where the Wild Things Are or a newer favorite like Little Jumbo, often read aloud by the book’s author or a celebrity reader. It isn’t library story time…but you will still hear “I want to hear it again!”

Tags Audiobooks, e-Books & Streaming

If you love airplanes, try out some of these paper creations in Building Vehicles That Fly. These paper engineering projects will help you learn the science behind how planes are designed and built. If you understand how the forces of aerodynamics work, you can make a paper airplane that flies really far! In several of the books listed below the directions are really clear with color photographs to help you make the folds correctly. Start out with a couple easy ones and then try something more challenging.

What You Need

Paper
Pencil
Ruler
Paper Clips

Do an experiment with three paper airplanes folding the exact same way with the exact same size of paper. Fly all three planes and measure how far they go. What happens if you add one paperclip to each? What happens of you add 2? Or 3? Record your results.

Websites, Printables & Activities

NASA: How to Make a Dart Airplane
NASA: How to Build a Paper Jet Model
NASA: How to Make a Blunt Nose Airplane
NASA: Four Forces on an Airplane
NASA: What Is Aerodynamics?
Printable: PBS Kids Fetch Hang Time
Exploratorium Try This! Paper Airplanes
The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis: Airplane Models & Toys

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books & Audiobooks

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about paper airplanes at any of our locations, or check out paper airplane e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use it for both e-books and audiobooks.

Paper Airplanes – Draw or Fold These Aerodynamic Marvels

If you love airplanes, try out some of these paper creations and engineering projects to learn the science behind how planes are designed and built.

Title - Out of This World Paper Airplanes Ebook

Title - Making A Paper Airplane and Other Paper Toys

Title - Draw 50 Airplanes, Aircraft and Spacecraft

Tags Homework Help, Science Experiments

Sometimes when atoms come together to form a molecule, one end of the molecule has a positive charge and one end of the molecule has a negative charge. When this happens the molecule is called a polar molecule. Molecules that do not have two different electrical poles are called non-polar molecules. For today’s demonstration you will make a lava bottle to observe polar and non-polar molecules.

This experiment will show you how polar molecules and non-polar molecules behave when added together. If two kinds of molecules are added together that are both polar molecules, they will mix. They are miscible. Miscible means that the two things can mix together. If two non-polar molecules are added together they will also mix and are miscible. However, if a non-polar molecule and a polar molecule are added together, they will NOT mix together. This is called imiscible. Imiscible means that the two kinds of molecules CANNOT mix together.

What You Need

Plastic Bottle
Water
Vegetable Oil
Food coloring
Measuring Cups
Alka Seltzer

Instructions to Make a Lava Bottle

Fill the bottle about 3/4 of the way up with vegetable oil. Fill the bottle the rest of the way up with water. Now add some drops of food coloring. Close the cap on the bottle and shake it up. What happens?

Break the alka seltzer tablet in half. Open the bottle and drop in one half. What happens? Once the bubbles settle down drop in the other half. What happens again?

Water is a polar molecule. Vegetable oil is a non-polar molecule. These two substances do not mix together, they are imiscible (they will not mix together). That’s why you see the blobs of water bobbing around in the oil. Food coloring is a polar molecule so it WILL mix with the water. The water and the food coloring are both polar molecules and will mix together. That’s why the water blobs turn the color of the food coloring and the oil does not.

The alka seltzer just makes the lava bottle more fun because it makes the colorful water blobs move without shaking the bottle. The alka seltzer tablets dissolve in the the water and make carbon dioxide gas (like we saw vinegar and baking soda do in the Exploding Ziploc experiment). The carbon dioxide gas bubbles attach to the colorful water blobs and make them float to the top of the bottle. When the gas bubbles pop there is no gas bubble to hold up the water blob, so it slowly floats back down to the bottom of the bottle.

Websites, Activities & Printables

National Geographic for Kids: Groovy Lava Lamp
Steve Spangler Science: Make Your Own Lava Lamp
Science Bob: Blobs in a Bottle
Exploratorium: Glitter Globe
Glasgow Sciece Center: Lava Lamp
Science Fun for Everyone: Lava Lamp

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books and Audiobooks

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about Science Experiments at any of our locations, or check out science experiment e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use it for both e-books and audiobooks.

Atoms, Molecules and the Elements in the Periodic Table for Kids

The photographs, diagrams and creative storytelling in these books make the building blocks of the universe understandable…and fun! Find out about the scientists and discoveries which helped us find out what makes up all the stuff of the universe.

Title - The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Elements

Title - Astonishing Atoms and Matter Mayhem

Tags Homework Help, Science Experiments

Sir Isaac Newton, an English scientist born in 1642, discovered three important principles of physics that describe how things move. Consequently, the principles bear his name, Newton’s First, Second, and Third Laws of Motion. Today’s experiment demonstrates Newton’s Third Law of Motion. It says that for every action there is an equal and opposite re-action. Basically, if an object is pushed, that object will push back in the opposite direction, equally hard.

Websites, Activities & Printables

Groovy Lab in a Box: 4 Groovy Ways to Teach Newton’s Third Law
Lego Challenge: Newton’s Third Law
NASA: Newton’s Third Law of Motion
IndyPL Blog: Newton’s First Law of Motion
IndyPL Blog: Newton’s Second Law of Motion

You can ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books and Audiobooks

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about Sir Isaac Newton at any of our locations, or check out Sir Isaac Newton e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use it for both e-books and audiobooks.

Newton’s Laws of Motion: The Science Behind How Things Move

Newton’s Laws of Motion explain force and motion, or why things move the way they do. They are great concepts to explore by doing a science experiment. These are especially good science project ideas for kids who like to move! The concepts can often be explained using sports equipment or by understanding how amusement park rides work. These books offer ideas for physics experiments that demonstrate force and motion and the laws that govern them. Some of them provide the background information needed for the report that is often required to go with projects for the science fair.

Title - Isaac Newton and the Laws of Motion

Title - Awesome Physics Experiments for Kids

Tags Homework Help, Science Experiments