(Last updated January 19, 2021)

To help educators during the pandemic, I have been creating free (pre-recorded) virtual visits, read-alouds, activities and more since March 2020. This page will help you find some of these, but I've lacked the time to keep it updated properly.

Best place to find new videos for educators and homeschoolers is my Youtube channel, which includes cover-to-cover read-alouds (online until the end of Mar/2021, thanks to Simon & Schuster), Ask Me To Ask! series with kidlit book creators, activities for kids, tips for those interested in the craft and business of illustrating children's books, and more. ****NOTE: you can use VideoLink to safely share my YouTube videos with students in a classroom environment in a safe and friendly way without distractions. Please note that some YouTube creators count on ads for their income, so you should ask permission before sharing their videos this way (see the Important Notice at the bottom of the main VideoLink page).

Thanks to those who have spread the word about my resources, including Publishers Weekly, CBC News: World At Six (26:14 timestamp), We Are Teachers, BuzzFeed News and others.

I'm also happy to do live virtual visits, book talks, art and writing workshops, Q&A with schools, libraries, conferences, literary festivals, etc. I have experience doing visits in Google Meet, Zoom, Flipgrid, Facebook Live and other venues. Please visit my Virtual Visits page for more info.

MY READ-ALOUD VIDEOS (thanks to Simon & Schuster for permission to post these publicly), posted on my YouTube channel - Share art & writing with Debbie here:

** Also, did you see Josh Gad (actor who did the voice of Olaf, the snowman in Frozen) do his awesome read-aloud of I'M BORED?

A note about READ-ALOUDS: If you are an educator, librarian or bookseller inquiring about doing a read-aloud of one of my books dring school closures, please note that my book publishers are allowing this under certain guidelines: Simon & Schuster Online Book Reading Guidelines - Penguin Random House Open License Online Story Time and Classroom Read-Aloud Videos and Live Events - HarperCollins Children's Books Outlines Online Reading Policy.

MY CANADIAN CHILDREN'S BOOK WEEK VIDEO:

See CCBC's full Virtual Book Week playlist on their Biblio video channel.

MY VIDEOS FOR SIMON & SCHUSTER:

Snack & Read Live / Gurple and Preen:

Snack & Read Live / Sam & Eva:

MY ACTIVITY & CREATIVE CHALLENGE VIDEOS (created specifically for those affected by current school closures) - Share art and writing with Debbie here:

My ASK ME TO ASK series with children's book creators on YouTube:

Most recent:

Episode 01 - Kevin Sylvester: "How do you draw without hurting your hand?"

Episode 02 - Christina Farley: "How do I make my fantasy world unique?"

Episode 03 - Susan Tan: "What do you do when you're writing a story and get stuck?"

Episode 04 - Mirka Hokkanen: "How do you draw a dog?"

Episode 05 - Melissa Iwai: "What is an easy, healthy snack you can make at home?"

Episode 06 - Anna Humphrey: "Can you be a good writer if you aren't a good speller?"

Episode 07 - Diane Magras: "How do I write an action scene?"

Episode 08 - Jennifer Mook-Sang: "How do I make a balloon animal dog?" + writer advice

Episode 09 - Kathleen Burkinshaw: "How do I decide what info to use in my historical fiction?"

Episode 10 - Mahtab Narsimhan: "What is Raita and how do I make it?" + writer advice

Episode 11 - Sue Fliess: "What is a song parody and how do I write one?"

Episode 12 - Miri Leshem-Pelly: "Is is hard to draw with watercolors?"

If you're a children's book creator interested in participating, please fill out this form.

FREE ZOOM BACKGROUNDS:

For those who use virtual backgrounds in Zoom, I'm gradually creating a library of fun Zoom backgrounds you are free to use, as long as you keep the copyright info intact.

FREE PRINTABLES:

On my Free Print-Ready Archives, you can download tons of activity sheets for K-8 including art, writing and comic templates. Here are just a few samples:

Also find Teacher's Guides (each packed with activities) for all my picture books. For those interested in my templates for creating picture books, please visit my Creating Picture Books page.

RESOURCES FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN CREATING PICTURE BOOKS:

Creating Picture Books: How-to guides and templates for childrens book creators, plus "How This Picture Book Was Created" step-by-step guides for young writers and illustrators.

OTHER PLACES YOU CAN FIND RESOURCES:

Again, please note that this is NOT intended to be a comprehensive list. I am trying to focus on directories of resources that are regularly updated, categorized somehow if possible (to make it easier for people to browse and find resources appropriate to their specific child), and especially that are FREE. I am not attempting to list resources from individual authors and illustrators; there are so many!

**** Please note that there are FAR more resources appearing online all the time, so I am not attempting to keep a comprehensive list. Here are just a few that I have found to help you get started:

Hashtags to search online:

I've found the following on Twitter so far: #KidLitQuarantine, #cv19ReadAloud, #FreeBookResources, #StoryStarters. 

Hashtags I use: #KidsDailyDebbieOhi (not ego but to make sure hashtag is unique)

Resources that include a schedule where you can find timed events:

Michelle Cusolito's Google Calendar: Users can link to submit their own live events.

Dee Romito's list of activities/videos for kids: Organized by time to tune in!

Publisher-focused resources created for families during Coronavirus/COVID school closings:

Harper At Home: HarperCollins has a schedule of new content for kids and when it goes live.

Scholastic Learn At Home: "Day-to-day projects to keep kids reading, thinking, and growing."

Resources created by kidlit authors and illustrators:

(Please note: each of these is a collection of resources by a group of authors and/or illustrators. I am not attempting to compile a list of individual author/illustrator websites.)

The Big List Of Children's Authors Doing Online Read-Alouds & Activities: On WeAreTeachers.com.

Read, Wonder, and Learn (compiled by Kate Messner): Authors and illustrators share resources for learning anywhere.

Authors Everywhere! on YouTube, maintained by Dr. Susan Tan.

General resources created for use during school closings:

Free Isolation Activities and Resources on Libraries4Schools.com

Librarian Bookends Present: #UnitedByBooksCOVID19 - Brilliant Book Resources (Twitter: @lbookends): Organized by categories including Author & Illustrator videos, Middle Grade, Publisher-approved Read-Alouds etc.

Mia Wenjen (aka PragmaticMom)'s list of Activities & Learning Resources For #KidLitQuarantine: Includes a Coronavirus Primer For Kids, resources organized by subject (eg math, science etc)

Laurie Stowell's "Resources for educators during school closings due to the Coronavirus": No categorization, but the visual element makes it easier to browse.