LIS 568 Week 5: Bookmojis
Image: Bitmoji of a smiling Ms. B holding two books in one arm and an open book in the other hand.
I recently attended a PD through my district with Jennifer LaGarde (of The Adventures of Library Girl fame) and she introduced us to bookmojis through Bookelicious. That was not the main point of the training, BUT it was super fun and got me thinking that it would be a great beginning of the year activity to get to know my students. I didn't even know about Bookelicious until that training, so it was fun to explore the website and learn about what they do. Essentially, Bookelicious matches books to kids and allows you to purchase books through them and they also list local libraries that have the books. They blend research on reading motivation with personalization and really hope to connect kids to material they want to read. With a staff of dedicated librarians and experts, they have a wide database of engaging books and claim to have a diverse selection (more on that later!). Enter the bookmoji!
Image: Homepage of bookelicious.com where you can create your own bookmoji.
The bookmoji is a way to create a personalized character from which you are provided a virtual bookshelf with book recs based on your choices. Oh, and it's FREE! I created a bookmoji for myself and I think kids would love this activity. You get to choose your skin tone, hair, and eyes, of course, but you also get to choose your outfit, hobbies, and other fun extras. There are some pretty fun options, and everything you choose influences the book recommendations you get.
Image: Bookmoji of Ms. B with 5 book recommendations.
Another fun component is the ability to make changes and watch your bookshelf grow with other book recs.
Image: Bookmoji of Ms. B and her book recommendations after clicking one book for more information.
And, because you don't need an account or any personal information to create a bookmoji, this is compliant with COPPA and Ed Law 2D.
I haven't yet had the chance to introduce this to my students, so I'm not sure how great the book recommendations will be for them. I didn't get too many diverse titles on my first go around, and only after making some changes got a few more titles featuring non-white characters. Others have reported success with diverse recommendations, so I'll give it a go.
I am looking forward to starting the school year out with this activity. I think this is best suited to older elementary students, but maybe 2nd graders could participate in the second half of the year.
Have you used Bookelicious before or created your own bookmoji?
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