If you're a kid in San Patricio County, there's a good chance you know Mr. Kippy — the librarian in the overalls, sometimes spotted on a unicycle.
Now, he's bringing that same energy to YouTube, helping kids learn their ABCs one video at a time.
During the pandemic, Mr. Kippy saw an opportunity to help kids keep learning through video. His idea was a video series, each showcasing a different adventure — one for every letter of the alphabet.
"I had an idea of teachers teach letters each week. It's a different letter. And most of the videos you see on YouTube are all of the letters. And I thought, I should just do a video on the letter A and then have an adventure. I learned how to sign it, how to write it, all those things. But then go out and find anteaters and ants and anything that starts with an A, A, apple," Mr. Kippy said.
What started as an idea to help kids learn their ABCs turned into an adventure years in the making. Mr. Kippy set out to make these videos to take viewers beyond the classroom — to meet real people, explore new places and discover something new.
"It's funny though, the more I filmed, the more I realized how much South Texas has. Like Taft has a pickle factory, downtown Taft. And I did pea pickles. Sinton has a candy factory. I did C, candy. And she showed me how they make the candy there… And just all of these animals in South Texas, I had no idea," he said.
The videos also include music, art, and even sign language, giving kids a chance to learn in many different ways. For Mr. Kippy, the best part is knowing those lessons can stick with them.
"And so it's really the best part of the video is just watching the ASL. And parents have said kids have actually learned some of the things too… And I think even if they didn't learn sign language, they would still see that there are people that communicate different ways," he said.
It's one more way Mr. Kippy is connecting with the kids he's spent decades getting to know — a connection that's easy to see.
"But I get so much positive reinforcement all the time from little kids who don't know better, who just are excited to see me," he said.
After 35 years of storytime, Mr. Kippy is still finding new ways to make learning fun. With his alphabet videos, he's sharing a little piece of that magic with kids even when he can't be in the room.
If you want to see more of Mr. Kippy, you can visit his YouTube channel or look for him at a local event — possibly on his unicycle.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
