Recommended Read

CLOUD TEA MONKEYS by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham.  Illustrated by Juan Wijngaard.  (Somerville, MA:  Candlewick, c2010).

"Tashi took her bowl of sweet tea outside and stood beside the rough road in the blue morning."  I love that line, from the second paragraph of this beautiful, pay-it-forward story about a little girl named Tashi whose mother is ill.  Because she is ill, Tashi's mother is unable to work and thus cannot pay for a doctor's care.  Tashi is too young to pick tea leaves on the nearby plantation.  And she is sad because she cannot help earn money for a doctor.  But Tashi has always treated the monkeys in the village with kindness and respect.  And when the monkeys discover the reason for Tashi's sadness, they bring her a basket full of rare and valuable tea leaves.  This is a lovely story, gently told, and embellished with jewel-toned illustrations that perfectly capture the tenor of the tale.

Successful

Per Random House College Dictionary:  Successful = having achieved success; Success = the favorable termination of endeavors; Succeed = to accomplish what is intended.   It's not about how many programs are offered or how many people attend them.  It's about how well they are planned and presented.  Period.  Exclamation point.

Mismatch

I love Shannon Hale's books for young adults.  They are full of heart, intrigue, magical happenings, and rich description.  Her settings are places full of danger, but also where love can triumph over any treachery.  Hale's books are fairytales for teens.  But I hate the new covers of her books -- with realistic looking (superimposed photos?) of teenage girls wearing generically bland blouses.  The new covers, while probably a misguided marketing move, just don't do justice to the evocative pages within.  They make me cringe.  And wonder if the author had much say in the new look of her books.

On the prowl

One thing I do on an ongoing basis is seek out resources to glean ideas from, in order to enrich my programs.  When I'm on the reference desk and it's a bit slow (like the hour before closing on a Wednesday night), I check the library's catalog for any newly published titles that might have some good ideas to try out.  The correct subject headings, I've learned, are "Children's libraries -- Activity programs,"  or "Early childhood education -- Activity programs,"  or "Young adults' libraries -- Activity programs." The key words (literally) are "Activity programs."  I reserve the books and wait in anticipation for them to arrive so that I can skim through them and find activities (action rhymes, flannel boards, games, songs, etc.) that I think will work well in a program.  If I glean  just one new, solid idea, I'm stoked, and can't wait to put it into action.  Sometimes I find activities that can be modified to match a different theme or age group than suggested.  It's much like I do when I skim cookbooks.  I'm not actually looking for a perfect recipe to follow to the letter, I'm looking for ingredient combinations or new techniques to adapt in my own kitchen.  Sometimes I photocopy good ideas and create a folder for them until I can figure out a program to use them in.  Sometimes, as in the case of Twinkie sushi, I create a program around a really fun and unique idea.  I'm always on the prowl for program ideas.  The quest keeps me engaged in my work and with my audiences. 

Monster Puppets

This coming week's program theme is "Monster Mash."  I've never been especially thrilled about doing monster stories with little ones.   I've used only one monster book more than a couple of times at my Bedtime story times, and it's Emberley's Big Green Monster.  I let the kids shout out, "Go away, big green monster!" each time I turn to page, and that helps the monster go away.  It it empowers them.  Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are kinda scared me as a kid, so I've shied away from monster-themed storytimes as an adult librarian.  I don't want anyone to go away frightened from my programs!  But my box arrived with some pretty cute titles (including Emberley's book), and I decided to embrace the theme (for once)  and see if I can pull it off  without scaring anybody.  Of course, it's only with the preschoolers, not the babies or toddlers.  The flannel boards that were included in the program box didn't grab me.  So I even  made some very unthreatening monster puppets from two car duster mitts I picked up on sale months ago.  Usually I have my own back-up materials in case I'm underwhelmed with what's available in the program box.  But this time, since I've never really done the monster thing, I had none of my own materials to fall back on.  Making the puppets was fun.  And trying out a new theme after more than twenty years of doing storytimes will be too.  But mostly, I hope the kids have fun and are not fearful.  We'll see...

LOL

My storytime theme today was "Sillies."  The early literacy skill was print motivation.  The books I used were Audrey Wood's Silly Sally and Marc Brown's out-of-print (personal copy) Pickle Things, among others.  The first-timer little guy's name was Ryan.  And he was laughing out loud by the end of the program.  Afterwards I locked up the program room with a happy sense of accomplishment.  The most important one of the day.

January Bunnies?

In the large library system that I work for we share early literacy program materials that are rotated among branches on a regular basis.  The materials I received for use next week emphasize narrative skills, and the program theme is "Funny Bunny."  While I only loosely use the materials (having developed thematic flannel boards, songs, fingerplays, etc. of my own over the years), I do like having a designated theme, skill, and books for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers already pulled and ready to use (although I often augment with my own favorite titles).  Initially I wasn't too thrilled to be doing bunny/rabbit tales in January.  That's a springtime theme, I thought -- along with eggs, flowers, and butterflies. But, hey, this is Florida.  And even if it's cold, library moms and their "little bunnies"  need to get out of their warrens and hop around a bit.  My cottontail puppet awaits!