Children’s Library Lady is an educational website created by Kirsten Gallagher, a former teacher and teacher-librarian.
The site helps elementary teachers, librarians, and parents find diverse picture books, read-aloud ideas, and literacy resources they can use without starting from scratch.
You’ll find book lists, discussion questions, classroom activities, SEL connections, character trait books, reading comprehension ideas, and IB Learner Profile resources. Picture books are not just for one-off storytime. They can start real classroom conversations, support literacy skills, and help children notice themselves and others in books.
I’m Kirsten, a former teacher and librarian with 20 years of classroom and library experience.
I started Children’s Library Lady to answer a question teachers ask all the time:
“Is there a picture book for that?”
Short answer — yes, and I’ll help you find it.
When I was teaching, I constantly ran into the same issue.
I could find great picture books. But I didn’t always have the time to:
Teachers are already stretched thin.
That’s why I created Children’s Library Lady.
I help teachers and parents save time by providing:
Everything I create is designed to help teachers spend less time planning and more time reading with students.
Children’s Library Lady at a Glance
On Children’s Library Lady you’ll find:
Everything is designed to help teachers quickly find the right book and use it effectively in the classroom.
What started as a hobby has turned into a full-time job I love. You’ll find hundreds of curated book lists, practical literacy activities, and ideas for using picture books to teach character traits, behaviours, and global perspectives.
My love of picture books (as an adult) began at Bradford University while studying for my BEd (Hons). I flew to Boston for a teaching practice at the Lesley Ellis School in Arlington and saw how the teachers used picture books in their teaching.
My interest grew while teaching in Frankfurt, London, Tokyo, and Kuala Lumpur international schools. From the British classics I was brought up with to global authors, I’ve built a passion for inclusive, translated, and diverse books.
My first teaching job was at Frankfurt International School, and my Pre-K students had a library lesson every week (something which inspired my later career).
While they were busy with the librarian and choosing their books to take home, I explored the shelves for books to support my teaching of the IB Learner Profiles.
Those experiences shaped the way I curate books today — looking for stories that work across cultures, classrooms, and age groups.
I continued exploring international authors as a kindergarten teacher at international schools in London and Tokyo. In Japan, I moved into a library role and earned my MA in Library and Information Management.
The many international school librarians in Japan started the Sakura Medal, a reading competition promoting Japanese and international books. This experience began my love of researching global, translated, and inclusive books.
It was also in Tokyo that I first heard, “Miss Gallagher, do you have a book about [fill in the blank], and I started to collate books on different themes.
My lists picked up a gear when I moved to Kuala Lumpur as a teacher-librarian, where I researched English, Chinese, and Bahasa books for the libraries.
After 20 years of teaching and being away from home, I moved back to the UK and settled in Manchester.
While figuring out what I wanted to do [and pay the bills], I worked as a library officer at a college for 16-18-year-olds [this was an education for me!] and volunteered at Manchester Central Library and at a free bookshop in my town.
My sister, Kate, suggested I create a website with all my book lists. So, while having a job with no homework and several long COVID lockdowns, I worked on figuring out how to create a website and then adding content.
When the lockdowns were lifted, I handed in my notice at the college and became self-employed four weeks later.
Since then, I’ve focused on helping educators, librarians, and parents find the right book for their needs.
I believe teachers know their students best. My goal is simply to help you find strong books and practical ways to use them.
You may notice that I don’t add strict age recommendations to books.
I believe picture books can be used with many age groups depending on how they are taught.
High school teacher Emily shared: “I love your site so much and have compiled a large list of picture books for teaching various ELA skills; my high school students really enjoy using picture books to learn and reinforce these skills.”
If you’re looking for ideas to use picture books in the classroom, these pages are a good place to begin:
You’ll also find me sharing ideas on Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and TikTok.
I send regular emails with book lists and tips on using books with children. You can sign up to start receiving picture book ideas today.
Your feedback is welcome! Please share your experiences using the website so I can continue to improve what I offer.