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I'm a new children's librarian outside of Chicago. This blog contains book reviews, posts about programs I've done, ideas for programs, and anything else about my hip librarian life. ;)
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Have you heard of
Serial Reader?
Okay, so first of all, Serial Reader is not paying me to say any of this stuff. I am telling you about it because I love it so much.
Serial Reader is a free app for iPhone and Android that brings you 10-20 minute snippets of classic books direct to your phone each day. If you, like me, find your experience with the classics, erm, a little lighter than you would like, this app makes it really easy to tackle the classics without giving up your other reading or getting bogged down.
(I have to take a pause here to say that the books I'm calling "classics" are basically British, European, and American writing that's now in the public domain. I don't know the app developer's exact process for inputting additional books, but you can make suggestions for titles to be added to the app. Okay, back to it.)
I first read about it on Book Riot and decided that it was worth a try, if only to find out what it was. I didn't think I would stick with it. After I went through that phase of catching up on classics during summers home from college, I have been MUCH more about NEW books than old books.
But it's been about a month and I am completely loving it. I look forward to getting my issue of
Wuthering Heights each morning and I purchased the deluxe edition of the app ($2.99) so that I could read ahead and unlock other features of the paid app, which include creating a list for future reading and syncing your reading across devices.
Each issue is a manageable length while giving enough of the story that I don't feel lost each time I pick it back up. For me, it really helps make my morning phone time a little more productive. I generally spend 20-30 minutes each morning on my phone as I'm waking up and getting ready: checking Facebook, looking at Timehop, seeing what's happening on Twitter. Directing 10-20 minutes of that time towards reading classic literature is way more rewarding than aimlessly surfing the internet.
Even though I FULLY support the right of people and myself to read whatever we want without judgment, I do admit that it makes me feel smart to be reading classics that I never got around to.
So, if you're looking to insert more classics into your repertoire, Serial Reader makes it really easy. Go forth and download!
Last year, I posted about some awesome adult books I had been reading because - guess what?! - youth librarians can (and should!) make time to read adult books, too. It is so easy to get caught up in the feeling that everything we read has to be something we can use at work. Take a break! Read something that you love, not just something you would booktalk or program around!
Here are some of my favorite adult reads since I posted my last list:
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay (Harper, 2014). This collection of essays on everything from feminism to racism to competitive Scrabble made me feel like a smarter person for having read it. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by our girl Bahni Turpin (am I the only one who considers audiobook narrators who sometimes narrate children's books "ours"?). If you haven't read this one yet, do yourself a favor and pick it up.
Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue (Random House, August 2016). I devoured this engrossing story while on my honeymoon this year. In the fall of 2007, Jende, an immigrant from Cameroon, feels incredibly lucky when he lands a job as a chauffeur to a rich businessman. But when the financial world comes crashing down, Jende and his family will have to figure out how to deal. I would especially recommend this title to fans of modern immigrant stories like
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie or
Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok.
Born With Teeth by Kate Mulgrew (Little, Brown & Co, 2015). I love me a good celebrity memoir and this one is a cut above many. In addition to being a talented actress, Kate Mulgrew is a talented writer and she has had a fascinating life, living and working all over the world in theater, TV, and movies. I listened to the audiobook, read expertly by the author, and it was definitely a book that motivated me to get my workouts in!
The Gilded Years by Karin Tanabe (Washington Square Press, 2016). This historical novel is right up my alley. Set in the 1890s at Vassar College, it fictionalizes the life of Anita Hemings, the first African American (passing for white) graduate of Vassar College. Because Vassar did not yet admit African American students, Anita had hide her true identity. I knew nothing about her and really enjoyed reading about her story.
In the Country We Love: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero (Henry Holt, 2016). Here's another celebrity memoir with some meat on its bones. When she was 14 years old, this
Orange is the New Black actress was left in America alone when the rest of her family was deported. Born in the US, Diane had to make it on her own, floating between family friends' houses until she was old enough to set out on her own. This is both a fascinating story and an important perspective on immigration in this country.
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (Crown, 2011). Here's another great audiobook, especially if you are a player of or close to players of video games. Set in the year 2044, much of Wade's life happens in a virtual reality world known as OASIS where he is competing to solve a massive puzzle set by the game's creator. Wil Wheaton is an excellent narrator and since much of this story takes place "in game", the audiobook format works nicely.
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson (Random House, 2010). I had had this book on my to-be-read list for a loooong time, but I felt daunted by it. A 500+ page nonfiction history book? Yikes... But then, wonder of wonders, my sister-in-law suggested this title for our book club, which gave me the motivation to pick it up. IT WAS WORTH IT, FRIENDS. Wilkerson weaves the stories of three different African Americans who ended up in three different places as she presents the history of this movement. This is a great choice for readers who like character-based novels and who are interested in history.
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (Random House, 2016). Ohhh, save this one for when you need a good cry (maybe to release all the stress of Summer Reading Club?). This memoir was written by a neurosurgeon who, at age 36, was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. Suddenly, the doctor becomes the patient and has to face his mortality at a very young age. It's a beautiful slim book. Pick up a box of tissues, too.
What great adult books have YOU made time for lately?
This was my favorite summer program this year:
I Survived the Library
I know, I know. I'm late to the party. While we still have kids who look for and enjoy Lauren Tarshis's
I Survived series, the heyday of its popularity is starting to pass here. But I had some ideas, so I wanted to do this program anyway. And since SURVIVAL is a pretty popular topic ANYWAY, I had great attendance and it was a really fun time.
I aimed this program at kids in grades 3-5, thinking that was the age most likely to be familiar with the series. I ended up with about half the attendees familiar and loving the I Survived series and about half who had only casually read one or two of the books or who hadn't read any of the books. It didn't matter whether kids had previously read any of the books; this program was designed to appeal to everyone!
Here's what I did:
Reading time:
I chose three I Survived books to feature and came up with a related activity for each book. I started the program by reading just the first chapter of each book and booktalking some related titles in between. If you're not familiar with the series, each I Survived book starts with a bang - the first chapter is designed to hook the audience and present the drama of each disaster. That makes the first chapters perfect for booktalking and reading aloud to spark interest.
I read the first chapters of:
Activity Stations:
After our readaloud, I opened the room up for kids to explore our activities. Since I did this as a drop-in program, having mostly self-directed activity stations was a great way to accommodate whatever number of kids I would have. I did have one additional staff member in the program with me to run our volcano station, which worked out really well. This could have easily been a teen volunteer if we didn't have a staff person available.
Kids could choose between the following activities and spend as much or as little time at each as they wanted:
This activity came from
Amy Koester on the ALSC Blog and I had used it previously at a volcano program several years ago. I purchased play dough from the Dollar Tree (you could also make your own play dough, which might be cheaper) and we used half of toilet paper tubes instead of the prescription bottles because we always seem to have those on hand (and they make for smaller volcanoes and less supplies).
I had Mr. S run this station just to keep the mess of explosions at a minimum and to make sure our baking soda and vinegar would last through the entire program.
For this stations, I challenged kids to build a boat that would float while holding a passenger. I provided materials we had around our office: aluminum foil, craft sticks, pipe cleaners, modeling clay. You could use really anything you have on hand for this. I think my "passenger" was a little too light to really make this station challenging, but some kids really experimented a lot, trying out different designs and materials.
- Lego Earthquake Challenge
The idea behind this station is to design a building out of Legos that would stand up to an "earthquake". I used the instructions from Scientific American for their
Earthquake-Proof Engineering for Skyscrapers activity because I had all the stuff on hand. You can also try
a similar activity with a mini-trampoline if you have one of those (or if a local fitness center or school would lend you one?)
Legos are always super popular and kids enjoyed building their creations and testing them out on the earthquake simulator. It wasn't very easy to actually stick the Lego buildings onto the base while it was attached to the simulator. If I tried it again I might take the base out for each new building, especially if I had staff or a volunteer to specifically man this station.
I was surprised at how many kids stayed for the entire program and spent a lot of time visiting the stations. Of course, I had a couple who blitzed through the activities and then left and I had some kids arriving halfway through the program, but since the stations were all self-directed that was fine.
And of course I put out a huge book display with lots of I Survived titles and other survival books that kids were encouraged to check out.
Of course, I am far from the only librarian to do an I Survived program. For more ideas and inspiration, check out these other great programs:
It's a rite of passage. I've been wearing our CSLP Summer Reading Club shirts all summer long - a nice option for the summer when I may not have the brainpower left to pick out a whole outfit.
Now Summer Reading Club is over and it's time to put those shirts away for awhile.
Oh, I will get them back out again at some point, especially this year's shirts, which will make really great workout shirts at some point.
But immediately after SRC is over, I reserve the right to bury those shirts in my closet and pretend I never saw them. This summer has been especially difficult, so I just need some time to pretend like it didn't happen, to forget that summer will come eventually once again.
And after some time has passed, maybe after the heat of the summer is gone, I'll dig one out and put it on for my workout.
But for now, bye bye, shirts.
This past weekend was the 24 in 48 Readathon where participants tried to read 24 hours of the 48 hours from 12:01am Saturday through midnight on Sunday. This was my first time participating in this particular readathon and I already have my calendar marked for the next one because it was a LOT of fun!
Here's what I ended up reading:
Plus about 2 hours of the adiobook
Born with Teeth by Kate Mulgrew and about 1.5 hours of the audiobook
The Fireman by Joe Hill (read by Kate Mulgrew).
Total, I read for 24 hours and I read 1881 pages (plus 3.5 hours of audiobook time).
I had a blast checking in on Litsy throughout the readathon, which ended up being the easiest way for me to post quick updates. I wanted to use as much time for reading this weekend as I could, so quick updates were way easier than blog posts. I did have to take some time out on Sunday to deal with a work issue and to help deal with our AC going out (ack!). Having some good audiobooks to turn to allowed me to get some exercise this weekend and do some chores around the house (plus give my eyes a little break!).
For future readathons, I will probably set my reading goal a little lower because I do enjoy taking some time to check in on social media and I would have liked to be blogging throughout the readathon. I think I did a good job at having a variety of genres and formats at my disposal, which makes it easier for me to switch things up and keep going.
This was a really great way to delve into some books I'd been meaning to get to and books that I am really excited about sharing. I really want to thank everyone who made the
24in48 Readathon happen, especially our hosts Rachel and the folks at
Litsy.
My calendar is already marked for the next readathon weekend: January 21-22, 2017! Mark yours, too, and join in the fun!
The 24 in 48 Readathon is this coming weekend and I am getting excited! Since MotherReader's 48 Hour Book Challenge retired, there has been a readathon-shaped hole in my heart, so I'm super excited to join the community of readers who will be dedicating this weekend to reading!
I have LITERALLY hundreds of books on my TBR bookshelf, so I will not be at a loss for choices, but I have pulled out a few that I have been super looking forward to, which I hope to get to this weekend. There's no way I will finish all of these, but I've got some great titles to choose from!
My husband will be joining me in the readathon this weekend and he's picking out a stack of graphic novels to devour. I'm not sure if I'll make it to 24 hours, but I'm going to shoot for at least 20 hours with a stretch goal of 24 hours. We'll see!
I'll be posting updates here and also probably on Litsy (@abbylibrarian) and maybe
Instagram, so feel free to follow!
Want to join in the fun? Head over to
24in48.com to sign up and follow hashtag
#24in48 to see how everyone's doing!
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| Here is Howie, looking as overwhelmed as I feel |
In December,
I wrote about feeling overwhelmed on the ALSC Blog. I want to write about how overwhelmed I have been feeling this summer. But when I start, everything gets bogged down in details that I don't feel entirely at liberty to share.
Suffice to say:
- It has been summer.
- I am short-staffed.
- I have had to face a reality check about the amount of programming we can offer at our new staffing levels.
- Even with reduced programs, everyone (including me) will be working extra evenings and weekends to help cover. Maybe not indefinitely? But maybe indefinitely.
- I have a lot of emotions about this.
- I am feeling extremely burnt out.
And that is why I haven't been blogging very much over the past couple of months. I have been feeling uninspired. When I am at work, I don't generally have time to blog because there is So Much Else Right Now. And when I am at home, I just desperately want to unplug from the library world.
And I would love to say that this post is my entry back into the world of regular blogging, but the truth is that the light at the end of the tunnel is still basically a pinprick. Blogging will continue to be sporadic.
Counting Thyme by
Melanie Conklin. Grades 4-7. Putnam, April 2016. 320 pages. Reviewed from ARC provided by publisher.
Booktalk:
Cancer is the worst. Because of cancer, specifically her five year old brother's cancer, Thyme (that's Thyme with an HY like the herb) and her family have picked up and moved across the country, leaving California for New York City where there's an experimental treatment that might help her brother. In New York, Thyme has to share a bedroom with her moody older sister, they deal with a total crab of a neighbor who's always complaining that they're too loud, and Thyme has to start over in a middle school where she knows no one.
Thyme has no interest in building a life here. The treatment is supposed to take three months and then Thyme is planning on being back home with her best friend, living in the house she's grown up in, going to the school that she knows. She is literally counting down the days and hoping that by doing chores and earning "time" (her parents' version of an allowance) that she hopes she can use to visit her best friend back home.
But Thyme's parents aren't being completely honest with her. With cancer, there are no guarantees. And while Thyme will discover some things she likes about New York, like cutie Jake who seems to like her, too, and their housekeeper Mrs. Ravelli's amazing cooking, she's also going to have to accept that you can't always plan out your future.
My thoughts:Combine the friendship story of Rebecca Stead's
Goodbye Stranger and the sibling love of Jordan Sonnenblick's
Drums, Girls, & Dangerous Pie and you have this book. It's both a poignant story of one family dealing with cancer and a story about girl who's navigating friendships and alliances as the new girl in school. It'll appeal both to readers who are interested in reading stories about kids dealing with cancer and fans of realistic friendship stories.
I particularly appreciated seeing how different members of the Owens family dealt with Val's cancer. Although the story is told from Thyme's point of view, Melanie Conklin does a nice job of showing us how each member of the family is reacting, even if Thyme doesn't fully understand where everyone is coming from.
Readalikes:
The two books I mentioned above might make good readalikes, depending on what readers like about this story. Readers who are riveted by the frenemies, competition, and crushes that Thyme deals with at her new school may enjoy Rebecca Stead's
Goodbye Stranger. Readers who love the relationship Thyme has with her little brother Val may enjoy Jordan Sonnenblick's
Drums, Girls, & Dangerous Pie.
Readers who enjoy reading about life in New York City might enjoy
Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead or
Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff, realistic novels with very different plots but a strong element of New York City apartment life.
Faceless by
Alyssa Sheinmel. Grades 7 & up. Scholastic, 2015. 345 pages. Review copy provided by publisher.
Booktalk:
What if you looked in the mirror and saw someone you didn't recognize?
When Maisie wakes up, she's in the hospital. Her memory is fuzzy, but she slowly learns the truth: she was running and it started storming. Lightning hit electrical wires which hit her and she was burned. She has second-degree burns all down her left arm and side. But worse than that, her face was burned. Her face was burned off. And she gets a face transplant.
Everyone keeps telling Maisie that she's lucky. She's lucky that a donor came up just when she needed it. She's lucky that the fire didn't take her eyes or her mouth. But Maisie doesn't feel lucky. Now, she's kept on a strict regimen of intense medications to ensure that her body doesn't reject the new tissue. Her boyfriend Chirag remains steadfastly by her side, but he can't bring himself to touch her.
What if you had to go to school wearing someone else's face?
My thoughts:I picked up this book because the plot sounded absolutely fascinating and it did not let me down. I'm always a little wary with books like this that could easily veer into sensationalism, but what I found here was a well-grounded contemporary story about a girl piecing her life back together after a traumatic event. It's fascinating to me (and, I think, to teen readers) to put myself in Maisie's shoes. How would I deal with this if it happened to me?
Alyssa Sheinmel has that angsty teen voice down in a way that is realistic and recognizable without being annoying. Maisie's actions and decisions were realistic in a way that made me sympathize and root for her, even when I could see that she was making mistakes.
I especially liked Maisie's relationships with people in her life and how they evolved after her injury and as she started to accept what had happened to her. Her boyfriend Chirag is trying to "be a good guy" and stand by her, even though Maisie is a different person now (both physically and mentally). Her best friend Serena actually does remain steadfastly loyal, even when Maisie is not able to give much back to their friendship. As Maisie comes to grips with what happened to her, these relationships change in ways that are both interesting and believable.
Readalikes:
I would hand this book to middle schoolers and high schoolers who enjoy reading stories about teens dealing with something bad happening to them.
The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen and/or
A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman would both make good readalikes for kids who enjoy reading about teens dealing with traumatic physical events (leg amputation in both those books).
Teens who are fascinated by the concept of dealing with facial injury might enjoy Lucy Grealy's memoir
Autobiography of a Face, published for adults in 1994.
We visit the YMCA Afterschool groups at each of our nine public elementary schools once a month during the school year, so I am always on the lookout for great readalouds for K-4th. This year, I was really trying to include some more diverse titles and I did succeed in taking more than I did last year (which isn't saying a lot!!), although I would still love more suggestions! Here are ten of my very favorites that I took to my groups this year.
Epossumondas by Colleen Salley, illustrated by Janet Stevens (Houghton, 2002). This is one of my very favorite readalouds and makes for great oral storytelling, too. It's a version of a Jack Tale called Lazy Jack in which the silly possum Epossumonas keeps getting gifts from his auntie with no idea how to carry them home, starting with the piece of cake that he squishes up in his paw. It's a silly tale and one that's great to do fun voices with.
Hoot Owl, Master of Disguise by Sean Taylor, illustrated by Jean Jullien (Candlewick, 2015). Hoot Owl tries using disguises to help him catch his dinner... with varying success. One of my staffers reads this in a Batman voice and it is hilarious.
The Long-Nosed Pig by Keith Faulkner, illustrated by Jonathan Lambert (Dial, 1998). We don't circulate pop-up books, but this is a fun one that we have in our programming collection and it makes a great readaloud. Way back when pigs had long noses instead of short snouts, one pig couldn't stop bragging about his gorgeous, long nose.
Nino Wrestles the World by Yuyi Morales (Roaring Brook Press, 2013). Whether or not you have kids that are into lucha libre, read this with your best wrestling-announcer voice and it WILL be a hit. I promise. (Practice the Spanish words first if you are unfamiliar with them!)
Please, Mr. Panda by Steve Antony (Scholastic, 2014). Kids are entranced by 1) yummy-looking donuts and 2) this grumpy panda who refuses to share his donuts with anyone who cannot ask for them politely.
The Princess and the Pony by Kate Beaton (Arthur A. Levine, 2015). Farting pony. Need I say more? I do? Okay, kick-butt warrior princess, how about that?
Shark in the Park by Nick Sharratt (Corgi, 2000). I am so, so sad that this book is out of print, but it's worth an ILL if you can. Timothy Pope loves to look through his telescope and he thiiinks he sees a shark at the park. Have the kids make their own "telescopes" with their hands and look up, down, left, right, and all around with you on the chorus.
Take Me Out to the Yakyu by Aaron Meshon (Atheneum, 2013). How is a baseball game the same and different in the US and Japan? This book was a great one to inspire discussion about cultural differences.
Vegetables in Underwear by Jared Chapman (Abrams, 2015). I love this one so much that I accidentally brought it to one group two months in a row. It was okay, they loved it, too! This is just what the title suggests: cute and funny vegetables in underwear.
The Whale in My Swimming Pool by Joyce Wan (Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux, 2015). What to do when a whale is taking up your entire swimming pool? This kawaii picture book is filled with creative attempts to get rid of the whale and makes for a fun read.
There are ten of my favorite school-age picture book readalouds that I took to my groups this year. Need more suggestions? Check out
Ten Great School-Age Readalouds to see what my hits were last year. What were your favorite school-age readalouds this year??
My summer in images (so far):
We're raising butterflies and it is just as easy and engaging as it was last time!
First contribution to our Field Journal:
They started so tiny and then got BIG:
The kids are reading and reading. As of the morning of June 15 (first day for prizes), kids in our county had read 4,809 books.
We challenged them to read 20,000 books this summer and we're right on track!
Of course, your librarians are reading, too!
Children's books:
And teen books:
And adult books!
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| Also pictured: Howie the cat. |
My family book club chose
Servants' Hall: A Real Life Upstairs Downstairs Romance by Margaret Powell to read for our July meeting and I am enjoying it. We're all Downton Abbey fans and this book reads pretty much like a season of Downton Abbey, so it's right up our alley and pretty easy reading for summer.
Life is not quite all butterflies and book clubs. My two teen librarians are leaving for new adventures soon and it's making me feel like this:
But life goes on! It means some creative new approaches to our programming and we'll manage.
How is YOUR summer going??
Coral Reefs: Cities of the Ocean by Maris Wicks. (Science Comics)
Grades 3-6. First Second, March 2016. 128 pages. Review copy provided by my local library.
Booktalk:
So, this is one entry in this cool new series called Science Comics, which is just what it sounds like: comics about science. This book is all about coral reefs and I guarantee that you will learn something you didn't know before, even if you are a super ocean expert.
Did you know that scientists have developed cancer-fighting drugs from coral reefs?
Did you know that coral reefs are home to a quarter of the animals in the entire ocean?
Do you know what a cnidarian (NIE-darian) is?!
You'll learn all that and much more in this comic book all about coral reefs. What I love about this book is that it's told in a cute, funny style that will have you laughing even as you're learning. If you like science and comics, this is definitely the series for you!
My thoughts:
A fun and informational introduction to coral reefs, this book contains TONS of science info. Maris Wicks does a great job of starting from the beginning with each subject, whether it's the difference between animals & plants when introducing the reader to coral or what climate change is when talking about how the environment affects coral reefs. Even kids who think they know a lot about coral reefs and the ocean will probably learn something new from this book.... and they will enjoy doing it!
Wicks's cute, cartoony style is a great medium for the information. She puts in lots of funny little asides and cute, humorous illustrations. One of my favorites is an illustration of flowers "eatin' up the SEE-OH-TOO"/"fartin' out the oxygen". The book is filled with funny little things like that that will keep readers laughing and poring over the illustrations for more.
Readalikes:
Readers who enjoy Maris Wick's funny style would do good to pick up her
Human Body Theater.
Tumbling by
Caela Carter. Grades 7+. Viking. June, 2016. 432 pages. Review copy provided by publisher.
Booktalk:There's the gymnast who hasn't played along with the Olympic coach's master plan. There's the gymnast who would rather be anywhere than at the Olympic trials. There's the gymnast who isn't eating anything. There's the gymnast who doesn't think she has a chance. There's the gymnast carrying a secret.
For these five girls, the next two days are a pivotal point in their lives. It's the Olympic trials, an intense last gymnastics meet that will decide the American Olympics team. Dreams will be realized. Dreams will be crushed. Mind games will be played. Secrets will be spilled. Friends will be betrayed. Decisions will be made.
And at the end of it, there will be an Olympic team. A handful of girls who will go on to compete for gold and glory.
This behind-the-scenes look at the Olympic trials is a great choice for anyone who's waiting eagerly for the Olympics to start back up in August.
My thoughts:
Couldn't. Put. This. Down.
I am definitely one of those people who can't wait for the Olympics in August, so this was right up my alley. I don't have the experience to know for sure, but the book seems very well researched, including lots of details of the minutiae of gymnastics life. A lengthy glossary includes lots of gymnastic terms.
Besides being a solid sports book, this is a great book for teens who enjoy the ~drama~ of it all. Any sport has psychological aspects to it. Combine that with a gaggle of teenage girls, all thirsty for a chance at their Olympic dreams, and you get quite the soap opera (in a good way, I mean).
The cast of narrators is diverse in a surface-level way (there's the African American, the Jewish girl, the half-Asian girl, the closeted lesbian), but the focus here is on the sport and the relationships of the characters to one another and to their own goals.
Readalikes:
For younger teens looking for more gymnastics this summer, try
Gold Medal Summer by Donna Freitas (Arthur A. Levine, 2012). Older teens might enjoy gymnastics memoirs like
Off Balance by Dominique Moceanu (Touchstone, 2012).
Readers who gravitate toward the drama between the girls might like
Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton (HarperTeen, 2015).
Readers may also enjoy dance stories like
Up to This Pointe by Jennifer Longo (Random, 2016) or
Pointe by Brandy Colbert (Penguin, 2014).
It's summer.
The kids were out of school today.
The air conditioner was out at the library today.
And you know how the rest of that story goes. (Hot. It was hot.)
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| I can't wait for summer... to be over. |
Our schools had no snow make-up days added to the end of the school year, so I'm feeling about a week behind in planning and getting ready. I was out for a couple of weeks this spring and I have been dealing with planning for some upcoming staffing changes for the past month. We have a part-timer on unexpectedly early maternity leave, so we've been understaffed during our heaviest planning and school visit time of the year. So... yeah. I'm feeling really behind.
I need the Calming Manatees.
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| Hey. You got this. |
Our Summer Reading Club officially starts tomorrow. And although I am really taking this summer one day at a time, I am also really eager to see how many books the kids in our county read this summer. (We challenged them to read 20,000 books.) It has been nice to see so many kids who proclaim "You came to my school!" I adore handing out books we've booktalked through the months. I am nerdily excited to add books to our
staff summer reading "logs".
So, yeah. Summer is exhausting, but there are some good things about it. And, as Victory Baby says:
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| The only way out is through! |
I am NOT a big series reader. As a youth services librarian, I usually feel like reading the first book in a series is good enough. I get to know what the book is like and who I would hand it to. No need to read the rest of the books when there are so many more first books to read. Plus, it's hard for me to keep track of characters and plots for months or a year while waiting for the next book to come out.
So it's a special series that grabs my attention enough that I keep reading subsequent books. There are a few, and I want to write about them. Starting with:
The Thickety by J.A. White Gr. 4-7. Katherine Tegen Books. Review copies provided by publisher.
Booktalk:
When Kara Westfall was six years old, her mother was convicted of the worst of all crimes: witchcraft. She was sentenced to death and ever since that happened, Kara’s family has been shunned by the community because to them, magic is the most evil thing there is… except maybe the enchanted forest that covers much of their island home and grows larger every day: The Thickety.
One day Kara is lured into the Thickety by a colorful bird and she discovers her mother’s grimoire, her witch’s spellbook. She knows that she should take the book straight to the town Elders, she knows that it's illegal for her to have this book, but this last connection to her mother means too much to Kara to give it up. So she opens the spellbook…
And that’s just the beginning of the story.
If you like a fantasy magic adventure story that’s a little bit scary and completely engrossing, this is a great choice for you. Even though the book is really thick, the pages are small, so it’s actually a pretty fast read. I love that it almost feels like you’re holding a spellbook as you read.
And this is the first book in the Thickety series, so if you like this one the adventure continues in the next books.
Books in the series:
Why I Love Them:
The books in this series are fast-paced and magical with a strong heroine. I have always been drawn to witch stories, but more than that, this series is about a girl against the world, a girl that few people in her community (including her own family) really see or care about. She's imperfect, she's fallible, but Kara would do anything to protect her little brother. I just love Kara so much and I'm rooting for her the whole way through.
The world that J.A. White has created here is intriguing and detailed. Magic is not to be trusted, even by those who may wield it themselves, and yet it's an irresistible force. There's history here.
And I think the format of the books have a lot to do with my love for them. When I booktalk this series, I always mention the design of the books. They're thick and long, but because the trim size is small, the pages go by in a flash. You can read a quite long book in a relatively short amount of time (and then feel very accomplished). The pages have beveled edges (those rough-hewn pages) and the overall effect is that you might actually be reading from a spellbook, which adds to the allure of the magical story.
Readalikes: The Castle Behind Thorns by Merrie Haskell (Katherine Tegen Books, 2014) for its blend of mystery and fantasy.
Dreamwood by Heather Mackey (Putnam, 2014) for its fantasy wilderness adventure. The Septimus Heap series, first book
Magyk by Angie Sage (Katherine Tegan Books, 2005) for readers who love the small "spellbook-y" format and a magical story (although the tone is different).
So, there you have it: a series I love and have actually kept up with. There are a few more, so look for more series features in the weeks to come!
What series do YOU love??
You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen by
Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by
Jeffery Boston Weatherford. Grades 5 and up. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, May 2016. 80 pages. Review copy provided by publisher.
You guys. I am so, so pleased to be able to share an amazing behind-the-scenes look at this awesome new book. If you (or your kids/students) love adventure stories, war stories, and/or learning about American history, you are not going to want to miss this book. I am a huge fan of Carole Boston Weatherford and her latest does not disappoint.
First, check out the book trailer:
This small package packs a powerful punch. Like Kadir Nelson's
We Are the Ship, the narrative is written in the second person (using "you"), which puts the reader right into the middle of the action. Using prose poems, Carole Boston Weatherford is able to get across a lot of information about the Tuskegee Airmen in an engaging read.
Back matter includes an author's note, a detailed timeline, and resources for further information. Ms. Weatherford includes an
extensive list of lesson plans and teacher resources on her website. Black and white illustrations by her son Jerry Boston Weatherford illuminate the action.
And I am privileged to share a special Q&A with debut illustrator Jeffery Boston Weatherford. If his name sounds familiar it may be because he is author Carole Boston Weatherford's son.
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| Jeffery Boston Weatherford poses with Tuskegee Airman portrait |
How did you come to illustrate children's books?I doodled a lot in elementary school. In middle school, my mother enrolled me in studio art classes. I illustrated my first children’s book manuscript for my high school senior project. I used my mother’s unpublished manuscript Which Way to Dreamland? In college, during an internship with author/illustrator Jim Young, I created digital illustrations of the Airmen. Shortly after college graduation, I got my first contract. That project was killed and eventually reborn—with scratchboard illustrations—as You Can Fly.
When did you first hear about the Tuskegee Airmen?I first heard about them when I was a boy. My family visited the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site. I saw the Tuskegee Airmen’s planes, uniforms and other World War II artifacts.
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| Archival photo provided by the author |
What was your inspiration for the illustrations?I always had dreams of flight. I watched the movie Red Tails and researched documentary photographs on the Library of Congress and National Archives websites. While doing my research, I had some dreams of meeting Tuskegee Airmen.
Describe your creative process.Of course, I began by reading the poems. After I did my picture research for each poem, I drew a graphite study to layout the composition. Once that was completed and approved by the publisher, I refined the image and transferred it to scratchboard. I used various nibs for different effects.
Do you have a favorite illustration?I like the one of boxer Joe Louis punching the German Max Schmeling during their historic rematch.
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| Illustration by Jeffery Boston Weatherford |
Do you have military ties in your family?My great great great grandfather fought in the U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War. And my mother’s father was in the Army during World War II. He served in New Guinea and the Philippines. My grandmother still has his uniform. I think he would be proud of me and my mom.
I want to thank the author and illustrator for stopping by and providing some great content today. I've said it before and I 'll say it again: don't miss this book!
At today's Reading Wildly meeting, we discussed funny books. We've discussed funny books in the past and we keep on doing it because this is a genre that kids want all the time and it can be hard to identify these books using the catalog.
We talked about some sources for identifying funny books, including lists on the internet and getting recommendations from friends or colleagues. We also talked about how a lot of funny books have parts that are funny and parts that are serious and that there are different kinds of humor that kids may be interested in. Some kids are really looking for wacky, weird humor and others like something more subtle.
Here's what we read:
SUMMER IS COMING, so next month will be Reader's Choice, though I have challenged my staff to read something from the room they don't normally gravitate towards. Staff who normally choose books from the Children's Room should pick something from Teen, staff who normally gravitate towards teen books should choose something from the Children's Room. And if anyone feels like they read pretty equally then they can choose.
We probably won't be able to meet over the summer months because we're so busy in our department, but I'm definitely intending a return to our library staff "summer reading log" where we'll share our reading with staff and patrons!
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| This was the start of our "reading log" last summer. |
Last week, I visited one of our local childcare centers to do storytime about spring. I know I have posted spring storytimes on my blog before, but since I was using some different materials, I wanted to share this one, too. You can see my previous spring-themed storytimes here and here.
Opening Song: My Hands Say Hello - This is our standard opener and it works in the library and outside the library.
Book: When Spring Comes by Kevin Henkes, illustrated by Laura Dronzek (Greenwillow Books, 2016). Oh, new storytime gold! This bright, colorful book is a great book for talking about spring. In simple text, the book introduces lots of spring concepts like snow melting, grass turning green, eggs hatching, flowers growing. There's a lot here, but it's not too much and it's a great storytime starter because you could make a lot of different connections to move to your next book.
This is a great book to practice or demonstrate dialogic reading (encourage kids to talk about what you're reading about and have a dialog with you) because there are lots of spreads with many different things to talk about. And don't forget the endpapers: the beginning endpapers show lots of spring things and the ending endpapers show lots of summer things!
Book: Lola Plants a Garden by Anna McQuinn, illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw (Charlesbridge, 2014). After reading the poem "Mary, Mary Quite Contrary", Lola wants to plant her own garden and this book follows the steps she takes to do so. I love that their first step is to visit the library to read books about gardening and I always exclaim about how that's such a good idea. ;) This book is a great book to introduce the activity of planting a garden and I love that it includes some everyday diversity, too.
Song: Ten Little Flowers. I use this song pretty much every time we do a spring storytime because it's easy to teach the kids, gives them a chance to stand up and get some wiggles out, and it's a great way to include a little STEM knowledge that flowers need water and sunshine to grow.
Source:
Storytime Katie(Tune: Ten Little Indians)
One little, two little, three little flowers
Four little, five little, six little flowers
Seven little, eight little, nine little flowers
Ten flowers in the spring
Give them rain and lots of sunshine
Give them rain and lots of sunshine
Give them rain and lots of sunshine
So they'll grow up tall
Book: Duckie's Rainbow by Frances Barry (2004, Candlewick). This is another book that I use ALL THE TIME. It's a neat book for reinforcing color knowledge and the rounded pages create a rainbow as the story unfolds, which kids love, so this is a great book for developing print motivation. I like to read the story straight through and then pass out scarves and read it again, having the kids help me retell it by waving their color scarves when we read their color.
Scarf Play: Since we had the scarves out and scarves are my favorite, we did a few activities with them. All of these activities help reinforce basic concepts and help kids practice following instructions:
- wave scarves high and low
- wave scarves fast and slow
- wave scarves behind and in front
- toss scarves up in the air on the count of three (always their favorite!)
Rhyme with Scarves: While I say this rhyme, I ask the kids to hold their scarves in the middle and flap them around the room.
Butterflies, butterflies, flapping around.
Visiting flowers, not making a sound.
Flapping your wings, as you go.
Flapping your wings, up high, then low.
Butterflies, butterflies, flapping around.
Visiting flowers, not making a sound.
Source:
Jean Warren's Scarf Songs
Putting Scarves Away: To put the scarves away, I sing the following song. This is another activity that reinforces color knowledge, listening, and following directions.
(Tune: Do You Know the Muffin Man?)
If you have a red scarf, a red scarf, a red scarf
If you have a read scarf, please bring it up to me
(Repeat with different colors until all the scarves are put away.)
Felt Story: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. This is a felt story that I bought from Lakeshore Learning when I was a baby librarian and it looks like it's not available there anymore. Since this is a classic story that many children are familiar with, I like telling it in a different format and will usually use my felt set or the pop-up version of the book so that it's something a little different from what the children have probably seen before. Not only does this story follow the life-cycle of a butterfly (STEM knowledge! Egg - caterpillar - chrysalis - butterfly!), it can be used to practice counting and to talk about different foods.
Additional Resources:
There are TONS of great books about spring and spring things! If you don't like or don't have any of the materials listed above, here are more great resources for storytimes about spring and you may also want to search for storytimes about flowers, gardens, bugs, eggs, birds, weather, etc.:
One of my #YesWeCrab goals was to write up this fall's storytimes that I never got around to posting. I normally like to write in more detail about the books and activities that I chose, but due to the delay in posting, you're just getting my bare bones outline.
I did this monsters storytime the last week of October as a slightly scary option that wasn't actually HALLOWEEN. But one nice thing about monsters is that you can use this theme any time!
Here's what we did:
Opening Song: My Hands Say Hello
Book: Big Scary Monster by Thomas Docherty (Templar, 2010). Big Scary Monster loves scaring all the other creatures, but when he heads down the mountain in search of more creatures to scare, he finds himself getting scared and lonely.
Felt: Go Away, Big Green Monster (based on the book by Ed Emberley) Not only does this felt story reinforce body parts vocabulary, it shows kids that they have nothing to fear from monsters.
Book: Go to Bed, Monster by Natasha Wing (HMH, 2007).
Song: If You're a Monster and You Know It
(gnash your teeth, show your claws, stomp your paws, wiggle your tail, give a roar)
Source:
Miss Meg's StorytimeBook: Jeremy Draws a Monster by Peter McCarty (Henry Holt BYR, 2009). Jeremy is a lonely little boy but when he attempts to draw himself a friend, he ends up with a rude monster.
Felt: Five Little Monsters Jumping on the Bed. Miss T made me this super cute felt with the template from
Falling Flannelboards.
Book: Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters by Jane Yolen (Candlewick Press, 2011).
Closing Song: Do You Know What Time It Is?
Play Stations:
- Blocks (we always get the blocks out!)
- Monster paper bag puppets
I'm getting married on Saturday!
And of course we're integrating books into our wedding in a couple of ways.
My fiance designed these awesome Game-of-Thrones-themed bookmarks with sigils for each of us. We sent them out as save-the-dates and every time I use one to mark my page or see a friend using one, it makes me happy!
I saw the lovely
Rita Meade's book-page bouquet from her wedding and I had to have one, too! Krista from
Krista Mae Studios did an awesome job with my bouquet and the bridesmaid bouquets...
...she even made us custom comic book boutonnieres and corsages!
And what better place for a bookish couple to honeymoon but The Wizarding World of Harry Potter?!
Fiance has even read/reread all the Harry Potter books in preparation for our vacation.
All this is to say that I'll be back in a couple of weeks! See you then!
This morning, a preschool class visited us for a storytime on bugs. Here's what I did:
Opening Song: My Hands Say Hello
Book: Lenny in the Garden by Ken Wilson-Max (Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2010). This sweet British import has simple text to introduce a variety of bugs that Lenny finds in his garden. This was a good basic introduction to some of the bugs we'd see throughout our storytime. One thing to note is that the book uses the British word "ladybird" instead of the American "ladybug". Depending on the age of your kids, you can either just substitute the more familiar word or you might explain why the book uses a different word from the one American kids typically hear.
Felt Rhyme: Five Little Ladybugs. I used our felt ladybugs with a flannel mitt that fits over one hand. As we said the rhyme and I removed ladybugs, we practiced counting.
Five little ladybugs, ready to explore
One flew away, and then there were four
Four little ladybugs, crawling up a tree
One flew away, and then there were three
Three little ladybugs didn't have a clue
One flew away, and then there were two
Two little ladybugs, looking for some fun
One flew away, and then there was one
One little ladybug, alone in the sun
She flew away and then there were none
(Apologies, but I don't have a source for this!)
Book: Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert (HMH, 2001). This is one of my favorite books to share about bugs or spring or flowers! Simple, rhyming text takes you through the life cycle of a butterfly from eggs on a plant to caterpillars to chrysalis to new butterflies. The bright illustrations and varied sizes of the pages hold a group's interest very well, even young children. The pages you turn start out very small and then get bigger as the eggs hatch, caterpillars grow, and new butterflies fly in search of nectar. This is a great book to insert some STEM knowledge with the life cycle of a butterfly. It also shows how a chrysalis looks different as the butterfly inside changes and grows. We flipped back and forth between the two illustrations and talked about what was the same and different.
Scarf Activities: I passed out the scarves and we warmed up a little bit by waving them high and low, fast and slow, and tossing them in the air. Then we fluttered our scarves like butterflies as I said this rhyme:
Butterflies, butterflies, flapping around.
Visiting flowers, not making a sound.
Flapping your wings, as you go.
Flapping your wings, up high, then low.
Butterflies, butterflies, flapping around.
Visiting flowers, not making a sound.
Book: The Itsy Bitsy Spider by Richard Egielski (Atheneum, 2012). This pop-up book is a fun book for storytime and it's a book that can be sung. Singing with children helps them hear that words are made up of smaller sounds. I love to use pop-up books in storytime because they really capture the interest of the children. As I sang the words, I invited the kids and teachers to sing with me and do the motions that go with this song.
Book: I Love Bugs! by Emma Dodd (Holiday House, 2010). This is another great book to share because the large trim size and colorful pictures capture the attention of a group and this book uses lots of really great vocabulary words. Though it doesn't actually name bugs, it uses descriptive words for the myriad types of bugs that this child loves: springy, slimy, spiny, fuzzy, whiny, frilly... this book is full of great words! One reason it's great to read books with children is that books expose kids to lots of different vocabulary words that they might not hear in typical conversation. It's much easier to read a word that you've heard before than one that's brand-new, so vocabulary knowledge is one of the six early literacy skills kids need before they learn to read.
Closing Song: Do You Know What Time It Is?
One of my #YesWeCrab goals was to write up this fall's storytimes that I never got around to posting. I normally like to write in more detail about the books and activities that I chose, but due to the delay in posting, you're just getting my bare bones outline.
I did this clothes storytime in November and it was really fun. I especially liked getting our scarves out with one of our books. Here's what I did!
Opening Song: My Hands Say Hello
Book with Scarves: What Can You Do with a Rebozo? by Carmen Tafolla (Tricycle Press, 2008). I passed out the scarves and we pretended that our scarves were rebozos and used them for all the things the book mentions.
Felt: Mittens in Washing Machine. Source: Miss Mary Liberry. This is one of my ALL-TIME favorite storytime props because it is always a hit; the kids have so much fun with it! We adapted it to use mittens, which we use quite often for winter storytimes.
Usually, what I do is I tell the kids that I need their help to finish my laundry. It's been in the dryer, but I need help matching up my mittens. I pull out a mitten and we talk about what color it is. I put it on the felt board and then pull out another mitten and ask them if it matches. I pretend that I think it matches when it doesn't, etc. and the kids have a blast correcting me.
Once we've paired up all the mittens, we count - this is a great opportunity to count by two's or you can just count each mitten, depending on your age group.
This is a great activity for practicing same-and-different and identifying colors. The kids are always on the edge of their seats waiting to see what will come out of the washing machine next!
Book: Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash by Sarah Weeks (HarperCollins, 1997). This silly story is another storytime favorite with its rhyming words and funny imagery.
Action Song: If You're Wearing Red Today. This is not only a fun, active song, but it helps kids practice listening and following directions (school readiness skills!).
Closing Song: Do You Know What Time It Is?
Stations:
- Dress up! I put out our dress up boxes, which are full of random things we've collected over the years.
- Blocks - I always put the blocks out.
This month, our Reading Wildly genre was survival. Whether it's the zombie apocalypse or a natural disaster, kids and teens are fascinated with survival and pick up these books often, so it's a good genre to dip into every now and then. Many survival books are fast-paced with lots of action that keeps readers turning the pages. They may be scary or thrilling. Readers may enjoy learning survival techniques JUST IN CASE and exploring characters' responses when disasters happen can help children feel more secure as they find out what characters do to survive whatever happened.
Here's what we read this month:
Oh, man. April is going to be sad books and tearjerkers. That always makes for an emotional discussion!
This was SUCH a fun storytime! The kids were into the books, the activities were really fun, and we had a great time. Since our schools are on Spring Break this week, I was not sure how attendance would be, but we ended up with a great crowd and they were just really into everything. Here's what we did:
Opening Song: My Hands Say Hello
Opening Activity: Mail call! Today, I introduced our topic via some mail. I showed the kids the giant letter they had gotten (addressed to them) and we went over each part of the address (name, library name, street address, city, state, zip code). Then I opened up the envelope and read the letter to them. (Source:
Youth Services Shout-Out post by Amanda Struckmeyer)
Book: Delivering Your Mail by Ann Owen (Picture Window Books, 2003). This is a simply and straightforward introduction to mail carriers and it talks about what they do and how they deliver the mail. Several of the kids chimed in that they know their mail carrier or they have seen a mail truck driving around their neighborhood. Children are curious about their world, so I love to read books that explain something that is familiar to them. I bet kids were anxious to help check the mail that evening!
Book: Mule Train Mail by Craig Brown (Charlesbridge, 2009). Expanding on what we had just talked about, this book tells the true story of Anthony Paya, the mail carrier to the village of Supai on the Havasupai Indian Reservation in Arizona. This village at the bottom of the Grand Canyon is the only place still getting mail delivered by mule train. The text is too long for preschoolers, so I paraphrased some pages and skipped a few pages to make it shorter. Before I started reading the text of the book, I read a little bit from the author's note in the back to introduce it and so that kids and parents would know that this is a true story.
Felt: Six Little Valentines. We got this one from Storytime Katie, of course. The kids loved it! We talked about rhyming words as we read the Valentines and it's a great introduction to the parts of a letter (stamp, address, opening up an envelope).
Stretch: We had been sitting for a long time at this point, so we got up and did one of my favorite wiggle songs:
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. I like to stretch this song out by first asking kids to find some of the body parts mentioned in the song to "test" them ("Where are your... knees? Where are your... toes?" etc.). Then we sing the song at a normal/slow speed. Then we sing it again faster. Then we sing it SUPERFAST, which always ends in lots of giggling.
Book: Hi! by Ann Scott (Puffin, 1994). In this book, little Margarita and her mother visit the post office to mail a package and Margarita wants to wave hi to everyone, but no one pays her any attention. This book not only introduces kids to what a post office looks like and what people go there to do (mail letters, post cards, packages, etc.), but we talked about Margarita's expressions and feelings. How does she feel when no one will wave back to her? How does she feel at the end when the lady at the post office counter is friendly to her? Talking about feelings helps children expand their vocabulary and prepares them to feel and express empathy.
Activity: Mail carrier letter game. I took this one from Ms. A who does our Reading Rockstars storytime for beginning readers. Each week, she puts letters into envelopes and passes them out and then the kids do a song with them and a game identifying words that start with that letter. First, the kids hold up the letters and we sing our song:
(Tune: Do You Know the Muffin Man?)
Oh, have you seen the letter M
The letter M, the letter M
Oh, have you seen the letter M?
It makes the sound muh-muh-muh
Oh, yes I've seen the letter M
The letter M, the letter M
Oh, yes I've seen the letter M
It makes the sound muh-muh-muh
Then I say words and if they start with "M", kids hold their Ms up in the air. If the word does NOT start with "M', kids put their Ms down on their lap. This can go as long or as short as you want, but I did about 6-7 words, really emphasizing the starting letter sounds.
After we were done, I asked the kids to put their letters back in the envelopes and bring their envelope up to put it in the mail basket.
This is a great activity for practicing making and listening for letter sounds. It's a game, which makes it fun for the kids, but it's also a great way to insert some new vocabulary and to help children hear the smaller sounds in words.
Closing Song: Do You Know What Time It Is?
Activity Stations:
- Write a letter! I put out paper (plain and I found some graph paper that I thought would be fun), pencils, crayons, and envelopes (I found these rainbow ones in a cabinet, but plain would also be fine!) so kids could draw a picture or write a letter and send their own mail. This is a great activity to insert some writing into your storytime.
- Blocks
- Alphabet puzzle
- Alphabet letter matching games
Additional resources:
So, we got snowed out for our February Reading Wildly meeting, which was discussing sports books. When we have to cancel our meeting, my first choice would be to reschedule it; I do think it's important to devote time to our readers' advisory discussions. However, because I have to schedule everyone on staff to be here and arrange for desk coverage, that is almost never feasible. Usually what we do is combine our RW meeting with our next department meeting or, like we did this time, combine our RW meetings and briefly discuss two genres. It's not ideal, but we have to be flexible to make it work!
Because we had so many books to share, I asked everyone to do a quick round of sports books and then we moved on to survival books. Today I'll round up our sports books.
This is a topic that seems to come up every year, I think because none of us in my department truly gravitate towards sports books on our own, so we make sure to include sports books when we're planning our reading year. This is definitely one of those genres that stretch us as readers, and it's a subject that LOTS of kids LOVE, so it's definitely important for us to be aware of key authors and titles to suggest.
Here's what we read for sports:
You can see our previous sports reading here:
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