#MiddleGradeMay

June 6, 2019 JennyLeave a comment

Abby the Librarian’s #MiddleGradeMay wrap-up made me think of all the middle grade books I’ve read this spring (and of course it lengthened my to-read list; I’m especially excited to get my hands on Dear Sweet Pea, Pie in the Sky, and Roll With It).

My reading has certainly shifted along with my job in the last couple years; when I was the adult fiction buyer for my library, I read mostly adult literary fiction, young adult fiction, and some nonfiction (I was also the “speed read” buyer, for especially high-demand titles). Now that I’m working partly in children’s, I’m reading a lot more children’s books, especially middle grade books. In May, I got to go along and give book talks to classes of fifth graders in two different elementary schools in town – not about their required summer reading books for middle school, but a list of books we’d come up with that we thought they’d really like. (There’s actually a little bit of crossover with their middle school list, which is great.)

Some of the books I book-talked most enthusiastically at the schools were: New Kid by Jerry Craft (graphic novel), Blended by Sharon M. Draper (realistic fiction), The Next Great Paulie Fink by Ali Benjamin (realistic fiction), To Night Owl From Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer (epistolary realistic fiction). I also really liked Wild Bird by Wendelin Van Draanen (realistic fiction), We’re Not From Here by Geoff Rodkey (science fiction), and It Wasn’t Me by Dana Alison Levy (realistic fiction) but my co-worker talked about those ones. Teamwork!

Here are some of the (mostly new) books I’ve read so far this year. Books on our list for students entering sixth grade next fall are in bold.

Cover image of Night Owl New(ish) middle grade books:

Wild Bird by Wendelin Van Draanen (2017)
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt (2017)
The Dollar Kids by Jennifer Richard Jacobson (2018)
Breakout by Kate Messner (2018)
Save Me A Seat by Sarah Weeks (2018)
The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani (2018)
It Wasn’t Me by Dana Alison Levy (2018)
Ana Maria Reyes Does Not Live In A Castle by Hilda Eunice Burgos (2018)
So Done by Paula Chase (2018)
The Girl in the Locked Room by Mary Downing Hahn (2018)
Blended by Sharon M. Draper (2018)
Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake (2018)
Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson (2018)
You Don’t Know Everything, Jilly P! by Alex Gino (2018)
Funny Girl: Funniest. Stories. Ever, edited by Betsy Bird (2018)
The Next Great Paulie Fink by Ali Benjamin (2019)
To Night Owl From Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer (2019)
We’re Not From Here by Geoff Rodkey (2019)
A Place to Belong by Cynthia Kadohata (2019)

This kind of diversity did not exist in kid-lit when I was a kid. There is so much here and it’s wonderful. These books tackle issues head-on: contemporary racism, poverty and wealth, restorative justice, Deaf culture, historical fiction that isn’t set in WWII Europe or the American home front…lots of mirrors, lots of windows.

Classics:

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (1961)
Beezus and Ramona, Ramona the Pest, and Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary (1955, 1968, 1975)
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien (1971)
Frindle by Andrew Clements (1996)

These all stand the test of time with flying colors. I read Frindle in print on a friend’s recommendation, and listened to the audio of the others; Stockard Channing reads the Ramona books (and Neil Patrick Harris reads the Henry Huggins ones!). I appreciated The Phantom Tollbooth more as an adult than I did as a kid (“it goes without saying”), and I’d never read Mrs. Frisby before but it’s pretty timeless.

Cover image of New Kid Graphic Novels:

Princeless: Save Yourself by Jeremy Whitley and M. Goodwin (2014)
Awkward, Brave, and Crush by Svetlana Chmakova (2015, 2017, 2018)
The Babysitters Club (Kristy’s Great Idea, The Truth About Stacey, Mary Anne Saves the Day, Claudia and Mean Janine) by Ann M. Martin/Raina Telgemeier (1986/2015, etc.)
Little Robot, Mighty Jack, Mighty Jack and the Goblin King by Ben Hatke (2015, 2016, 2017) (See also: Zita the Spacegirl)
Bingo Love Vol. 1 by Tee Franklin, Jenn St. Onge, Joy San (2018)
Illegal by Eoin Colfer, Andrew Donkin, Giovanni Rigano, Chris Dickey (2018)
New Kid by Jerry Craft (2019)
Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy: A Modern Retelling of Little Women by Rey Terciero (2019)
The Giver by Lois Lowry/P. Craig Russell (2019)

The rebooting of classics like Little Women and The Babysitters Club and The Giver is an interesting trend. In some cases, the graphic novel adheres closely to the original (e.g. The Giver). In other cases, there’s a major update and overhaul: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy is set in present-day New York, the Marches are a blended family, and…I don’t want to give too much away, but some other major plot points change as well. (I really liked it. That said, I’m not a die-hard fan of Louisa May Alcott’s version.) The Babysitters Club books fall somewhere in between, but closer to the “faithful to the original” end of the spectrum. (There is also, for those who are interested, a funny podcast called The Babysitters Club Club. More for a teen or adult audience.)

Cover image of The Poet X Young Adult:

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (2018)
Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram (2018)
The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James (2018)
Picture Us In the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert (2018)
500 Words Or Less by Juleah Del Rosario (2018)
With the Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo (2019)
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas (2019)
Sunny by Jason Reynolds (2019)

I’ve been reading less YA lately but I absolutely loved both of Elizabeth Acevedo’s novels. I read With the Fire On High in print, and listened to the audiobook of The Poet X, which the author reads – I’d highly recommend the audio version.

And what about adult literary fiction? I still love it, and there are a bunch of new novels coming out this summer and fall that I’m excited about, but that’s a post for another day.

MLA 2019: School libraries, Neutrality, Youth Services

May 23, 2019May 23, 2019 JennyLeave a comment

Read about the Keynote and breakout session with Deborah L. Plummer here.

11:45am “Advocacy for Access and Equity to Massachusetts School Libraries,” Greg Pronevitz, James Lonergan, Robin Cicchetti (Concord-Carlisle Regional High School)

In memory of Judi Paradis

Greg Pronevitz (formerly of MLS, currently a consultant) introduced this session off by acknowledging the great impact of Judi Paradis, a school librarian and advocate for school libraries. Judi was instrumental in the formation of the Legislative Special Commission on School Library Services in Massachusetts, which produced the report The Massachusetts School Library Study: Equity and Access for Students in the Commonwealth. “This study is a result of her efforts,” Pronevitz said.

The report concluded that there is a lack of equity in Massachusetts schools. In its long-range action plan to build equity, it suggests hiring someone at DESE (the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) to manage school library services; at present, it isn’t even possible to get a complete count of the number of schools that have libraries (let alone librarians, book budgets, and appropriate technology). A possible partnership between DESE and MBLC could conduct a census of school libraries, librarians, and services. School libraries should also be included in ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) funding. The report also recommends that the state set regulatory minimum standards, to ensure at least some level of equity and access for students, whether they’re in rural, suburban, or urban districts.

Equity v Privilege James Lonergan from MBLC (Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners) mentioned a number of other possible partnerships and stakeholders, including COSLA, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, EveryLibrary, and MLA. MBLC already supports school libraries through LSTA grants, the Commonwealth Catalog, and access to statewide databases; in fact, schools account for two-thirds of the use of state databases – would DESE consider contributing?

Robin Cicchetti, Head Librarian at Concord-Carlisle Regional High School and one of the authors of the Equity and Access study, spoke about the important takeaways from the school library impact studies:

A strong school library program (SLP) leads to higher overall test scores
Access to better libraries means higher reading scores
School librarians provide much more than access to books
High levels of poverty mean little access to books
Access to books appears to offset the impact of poverty
Economically disadvantaged children benefit at a higher rate

Unlike a classroom teacher, a school librarian can have a relationship with an elementary student for six years (in a K-5 school), getting to know their interests and preferences and helping them find the right books and other resources for them. Because many schools have lost their librarians due to budget cuts, nearly a whole generation of students (and teachers) does not know what a librarian can offer – “And you don’t know what you don’t have.”

More information about the Massachusetts School Library Research Project is located on this LibGuide hosted by Salem State.

EVERY Student Needs A School Library

1:45pm “Neutrality in the Library – A Continuing Conversation,” Laura Saunders and Rachel Williams

Simmons School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) associate professor Laura Saunders and assistant professor Rachel Williams each spoke for several minutes before opening up the conversation to the audience. “Neutrality” has been a hot topic in libraryland over the past year, especially around the Library Bill of Rights as discussed, amended, and un-amended at ALA last summer and last winter. (See Meredith Farkas’ take in American Libraries, “When Values Collide,” November 1, 2018.)

“Neutrality replicates existing oppression. Being true to our professional core values around access, diversity, and social responsibility requires finding ways to make historically marginalized members of our communities feel that they belong in our libraries and are reflected in our collections, staffing, and services.” -Meredith Farkas

Some questions that arose during the session (from the speakers and the audience) included: Are libraries ever really neutral? How do we define “neutral”? What does that mean in practice? What/who are we including/excluding? Our libraries reflect our communities; how do we make sure our libraries reflect everyone in our community? Do all library users feel safe? What voices do we support and amplify?

Are libraries neutral, can we be neutral, should we be neutral? (Remember, a position of neutrality doesn’t necessarily mean an outcome of neutrality.) As information professionals, do we want to promote/defend intellectual freedom when it comes at the cost of social responsibility? What are the impacts of intellectual freedom? Which voices will be limited, which will be amplified? If access to information is a human right, should the education to be able to evaluate information be a human right also (information literacy)?

It was pointed out that freedom of speech is a “negative right” (i.e., “Congress shall pass no law…”). Government cannot get in the way of freedom of speech, but it doesn’t have to promote it either.

The session closed with Saunders’ reference to Dante’s Inferno, in which neutrality was found to be “not just unethical, but damning.”

2:45pm “Youth Services Quick Start for Everyone,” Monica Brennan, Turner Free Library (Randolph, MA)

Brennan brought plenty of energy and enthusiasm to this session, which wasn’t quite what I expected but had an important core point: Identify your “tribe” (or team, or pack), what they need to know, and what you can learn from them. There are a couple “tribes”: one is library staff, especially those who may be working only a few hours a week in the children’s department and may feel especially overwhelmed and underprepared to answer specific questions about levels from kids, parents, teachers, and caregivers. Make sure everyone who works in the children’s department feels comfortable answering those questions, or knows where to find the information. (This might be preparing a binder full of pathfinders, posting the various levels and their grade equivalents and some representative books, or whatever else works for you and your staff.)

Another “tribe” includes those who come into the children’s department and may have knowledge to share with you: parents, teachers, caregivers, coaches, kids, siblings, peers, librarians. Find out what the schools are using, talk to teachers (especially if they have very specific requirements). People are usually happy to share what they know, what they like, and what they don’t like.

Brennan shared two readers’ advisory tips that I liked: one was simply asking the kid to give a thumbs-up/thumbs-down when you show them or tell them about a book. This saves them from talking if they’re shy, but quickly allows you to gauge their interest and move on. Another strategy involves tiny colored post-it notes, which she sticks on/near books in the stacks so kids can browse without a librarian hovering; if it’s busy, you might use different colors for different kids.

Wipe Clean Workbook Uppercase Alphabet “Everyone deserves to be trained in kid’s services, but not everyone is” – Brennan gave an overview of the areas of the library (fiction/nonfiction, picture books, early readers, chapter books) and the different levels (Lexile, Fountas & Pinnell, DRA). Kids need books at their “level” to learn certain skills and grow as a reader, but can “reach” for books they’re interested in and are motivated to read. She is a big fan of the NoveList K-8 database, which can be a useful tool for those who aren’t as familiar with children’s books.

Brennan is passionate about children’s services and early literacy in particular; to that end, she has developed backpack kits that kids can check out for pre-K, toddlers, and infants. It’s never too early to start reading together; “families that read together achieve together.”

Librarians can “model it”: be open, be cool, be confident, be fun. Encourage a growth mindset with a “Let’s find out together” approach. Remember that “There’s no more important library patron than our youth,” and “The windows and mirrors you have as a kid literally shape the rest of your life.”

Read about Wednesday’s MLA sessions here.

MLA 2019: Active Bystanders, Civic Hub Grants, Little Women, Usability and UX

May 22, 2019 Jenny1 Comment

Wednesday, 9am: #WeToo: Becoming Active Bystanders, Sharon Schiffer of the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC)

This was a slightly smaller group, so we all introduced ourselves (including pronouns!) and Schiffer had us discuss the following questions in pairs or small groups: Have you ever felt uncomfortable? What did you do when you felt uncomfortable? Why do you think people do not talk about things that make them uncomfortable? Why should people talk about what makes them uncomfortable? What’s a bystander? What’s an active bystander? When you see a situation, why DON’T you get involved? Why DO you get involved?

Schiffer presented the “Four Ds,” strategies for active bystanders: Direct, Distract, Delegate, Delay:

Direct: Direct action can be verbal or physical actions that aim to address and stop the problem behavior.
Distract: Distraction will not solve the root of the problem, but can help someone out of an uncomfortable or dangerous situation.
Delegate: Delegation is a way to get others involved interrupting in problem behaviors
Delay: It’s never too late to take action. Delay action until you have a better understanding of the situation. Check in with someone after the fact.

10:15am: “How I Became A Warrior Mother,” Marianne Leone

Leone read a little from one of her books, Ma Speaks Up, and spoke about raising her son Jesse, and fighting for him to be included in public school classrooms. Their story reminded me very much of two novels: Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper (middle grade) and Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern (YA).

11:20am: A Force for Good: Bridging Civic Divide Through Discussion, presented by MBLC Consultant Shelley Quezada, Desiree Smelcer of South Hadley Public Library, Molly Moss of Forbes Library (Northampton), and Jessica FitzHanso of Chelmsford Public Library

The three libraries represented at this panel had all received the Civic Hub grant through the MBLC. The aim of the grant was “to strengthen the role libraries play in promoting civic engagement, providing impartial, trusted information on a variety of issues as well and providing a neutral space for the public to participate in community conversations.” Each library took a different approach to programming, collection development, and promotion; the librarians showed a knowledge of what worked in their communities (book groups in Chelmsford, lecture series in South Hadley), and had some surprises as well.

Smelcer spoke about a successful lecture series, skillfully moderated by a local debate coach. She said that by creating a safe space for people to ask questions and not get attacked for their views, more people began to open up. (“By not talking about politics and religion, you never learn how to talk about politics and religion, and it gets harder to do.”) She also mentioned a finding from the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC, parent of FactCheck.org) that “incivility” in Congress has actually remained relatively flat since they began monitoring it in the 1930s, but people who watch cable news believe that it has become much more uncivil (as opposed to people who watch network news).

Though Northampton is close to South Hadley, the communities are quite different; Northampton has a lot of activists, and the library wanted to raise its profile within the town by positioning itself at the center “passively and serendipitously.” Moss explained how they had divided the year into quarterly themes: Racial justice, community divides (which turned out to be “too broad”), climate change, and safety and justice. They had World Cafe-style conversations (facilitated conversation around open-ended questions) about each. For their “All Hamptons Read,” they chose Never Caught: the Washingtons’ relentless pursuit of their runaway slave, Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar; Moss also mentioned The Common Good by Robert B. Reich.

Chelmsford came up with a great logo and acronym; read more about their “REACT Grant” (Read, Engage, and Come Together) on their library website. They incorporated their theme (and branding) into existing programs like book clubs and lecture series, created displays, made handouts and booklists, partnered with many other organizations, and for their popular “One Book” program, chose Counting Descent by Clint Smith, an advocate for racial justice.

Lunchtime Spotlight session: Anne Boyd Rioux, author of Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters

Takeaways:

Little Women Helps girls figure out who they are and who they want to be. Each March sister is unique and has a different personality. There isn’t just one or two ways to be a girl, there are an infinite number of ways. Readers, too, can try on and reject different identities.
Jo March: She is ambitious, she wants to be famous (taboo!), powerful. No one IN the book tells her she can’t or shouldn’t. Jo is defined by what she DOES.
Little Women is important to people not just when they’re children but as adolescents, young adults, and parents.
Coming-of-age narrative focused on boys; Little Women broke the mold and showed girls growing up. (And not the conventional “wild child becomes tamed” narrative – none of the March sisters are forced into a role they don’t want.)
Meg gets married in the middle of the book – marriage isn’t the end. When else does that happen? (Not Shakespeare, not Jane Austen…)
Marmee to Jo, admitting she shares her temperament: “I am angry every day of my life.” Maybe we’re ready to think of mothers as human beings, hmm…
What about boys, do they read Little Women? “There are real-world implications of telling boys they don’t need to understand girls’ experience.” Shout-out to author Shannon Hale, who has written a lot about this. (Here’s one article by her in the Washington Post.)
Librarians can help kids choose books about people different than themselves.
Descendents of Jo March: Katniss Everdeen, Rory Gilmore, Hermione Granger

1:45pm Do-It-Yourself Library Website Usability Testing, Jenny Arch, Callan Bignoli, Ran Cronin

Our slides are here. We talked about designing and conducting usability tests in our libraries (Winchester Public Library and the Public Library of Brookline) in order to identify areas of frustration or friction for people using the library website. Where are the problems? What do people have trouble finding? What do they not know about, and how can we make these things more obvious? How can we make the experience smoother and more successful? Running a usability test with as few as five participants and six tasks can be illuminating.

2:50pm Patron First: Patron-Focused Design and User Experience, Callan Bignoli and Roy MacKenzie, Public Library of Brookline

More user experience! UX is how a person feels when using a product or service. (Delighted? Frustrated?) Usability impacts UX. Key elements of usability are navigation, familiarity, consistency, error prevention, feedback, visual clarity, flexibility, efficiency. (If, for example, most people recognize that blue text with an underline is a link you can click, don’t reinvent the wheel by making your links orange with no underline.)

UX design is a process

Bignoli advised making UX part of the library’s strategic plan and action plan, if it isn’t already, and said that it’s a process that will never be completed. Observe, identify improvements, develop, implement, repeat. “Done is better than perfect. Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good. You’re never done. You’re always going to be offering new services and evaluating your services. The final step of this process is to repeat it, and keep doing so.”

MacKenzie spoke more about library space, collections, and policies. Ideally, there is a committee with members from every library department that revisits every policy every year or two (so that you don’t end up with an Internet policy from, say, 2011). Questions to ask: What is the real goal of the policy? How does the policy impact users? Is this policy improving things for patrons or for staff? Is this policy really necessary? Is this policy enforceable?

Regarding the library space, consider “desire lines” (do patrons keep moving furniture to different locations?) and noise levels. If the children’s area and the local history area are right next to each other, can you rearrange the space to make both audiences happy? In Brookline, they closed the main library for two days to shift the entire adult fiction collection off the ground floor, leaving the ground floor completely for youth services; they used the time they were closed for staff training.

Library collections are changing too. Ask, What do we have? What do we need? This is another area that will depend very much on the library location and population. Do your patrons want portable DVD players, cake pans, board games? Many libraries have begun building a “Library of Things” collection, from seed libraries to household tools to kitchen equipment to games, and they tend to be really popular.

Once again, there were plenty of great sessions that gave us a lot to think about at MLA this year. Thanks to the conference organizers, presenters, panelists, and everyone who was tweeting #MassLib2019.

MLA 2019: The Greatest Job on Earth

May 20, 2019 Jenny1 Comment

The Massachusetts Library Association’s annual conference theme this year is “the greatest job on earth.” And I guess we can claim that, because a quick internet search shows there’s not a lot of consensus on the issue. Moving on!

The keynote speaker was Dr. Deborah L. Plummer, Vice Chancellor and Chief Diversity Officer at UMass Medical School and UMass Memorial and author; her presentation was called “Radical Respect in Troubling Times,” and it was followed by a “Communicating Across Differences Workshop.” Plummer spoke about how to turn “Us and Them into We” through conversation – and not just conversation with the people you already agree with. It’s easy to respect people who look / think / talk / behave / worship / vote like you; it takes work to get out of your echo chamber. But bumping up against difference is how we learn about others and about our own identities.

The paradox of diversity, said Plummer, is that (1) we are unique and like no one else (personality); (2) we’re each like some other people (similar backgrounds, views, genes, etc.); (3) we’re all like everyone else (i.e., human). And we don’t each have one identity; we have multiple and intersecting identities. We may emphasize or project one or another of these depending who we’re with. “Identity pulling” is okay if you’re the one choosing to do it, but it’s not okay for one person to do it for someone else.

Plummer gave the attendees strategies for successful “bumping”: (1) Focus on being respectful rather than being right; (2) Check your assumptions, and de-escalate if necessary by saying something like “I’m sorry, I made an assumption”; (3) Mirror the other person’s style by “grabbing their handle” – figure out if they are coming from the head, the heart, or the gut/soul; (4) “Take a helicopter ride” and observe from a distance if the other person doesn’t have the capacity to change their viewpoint or behavior.

Plummer also listed her three components of radical respect:

Admiration: “Wouldn’t it be great if we treated differences like a challenge instead of a threat?” (We have different physiological responses to these: we react to a challenge with adrenalin, and to a threat with cortisol.)
Civility: Listen for understanding, rather than for rebuttal
Dignity: Honor that needs and concerns exist. Where do they come from?

There was a break after the keynote, and then the next set of morning sessions. I chose to stay with Plummer for the “Communicating Across Differences Workshop,” which included some of the same material as her keynote with additional exercises and examples, starting with a few of the classic Psych 101 images to demonstrate our ability to make perceptual shifts. You can’t actually hold multiple realities or perspectives at once, but you can shift back and forth between them – and if you don’t see another reality on your own, sometimes you can once someone points it out to you. (Ah, see what she did there? Clever.)

In this session, Plummer spoke about the traditional approach to difference compared to the contemporary one, and used an analogy of an hourglass: If the sand in the top is the dominant culture (white, male, Christian, healthy and able-bodied, adult, heterosexual, upper-class, educated), those on top are afraid of simply flipping the hourglass; “we have a better chance for creating equity if we tip the hourglass on its side.”

Communicating successfully across differences is tricky; Plummer’s “Intention vs. Impact” slide shows how a sender’s intended message might impact a receiver. If the impact is positive, we have effective communication; if it’s negative, we need to acknowledge and clarify. Intent and impact are both important; one of Plummer’s examples was a Black Lives Matter display. Some people thought it was an anti-police message, which wasn’t exactly the sender’s intended meaning (it was more like, Black Lives Matter too).

intention vs impact flow chart slide

Following this slide was one with a number of conversational “bounce backs,” ways to recover and things to say when a conversation goes wrong, such as “Help me to understand…” and “My experience has been…” Everyone will make mistakes, and these can help move the conversation forward if done with a degree of cultural humility and commitment to learning.

Next was a “diversity petal” exercise: we identified the dominant or “up” identities for race, gender, age, mental/physical ability, sexual orientation, class, education, and religion and then our own identities within each category, then placed a check mark next to any category where our own identity matched the dominant one. Plummer pointed out that marginalized people know more about the dominant culture; part of privilege is not having to learn about how life is for others. “Black people know a lot more about white people than white people know about Black people. Women know a lot more about men than men know about women. People who have a disability know a lot more about the world that’s designed for people who are healthy and able.”

We came back to the “multiple realities” images to hammer home the point that just because you don’t see (or experience) something doesn’t mean that it isn’t there (or doesn’t exist). Plummer is a champion of cross-racial friendships (Some Of My Friends Are…), and pointed out how going through life with people who are different than you can highlight the ways in which you experience the world differently (or ways in which the world treats you differently).

All of this is ongoing; no one has “arrived,” but we can commit to continuing the conversation.

To Be Continued (more sessions from Monday, and sessions – and a presentation library website usability testing – on Wednesday)

Step Into Storytime, May 13

May 13, 2019May 13, 2019 JennyLeave a comment

Stack of storytime titles

This morning was the last Monday Step Into Storytime for the spring; our summer schedule is different, and I’ll only have a couple of all-ages storytimes until the regular schedule starts again in the fall. I will miss seeing these kiddos for storytime every week!

For our last storytime, I requested enough copies of the book Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson so that every adult/child pair could have one. It’s an interactive book (tap, pat, swish, tilt, shake, etc.) so I wanted all the kids to have a chance to be involved throughout. (I borrowed this idea from Miss Lauren, who did it with her 3- to 5-year-old storytime group.) There are plenty of other interactive titles, too, if this is something you’d like to try in your storytime, or if this is a type of book your kid likes; see list below.

Copies of Tap the Magic Tree

Welcome and announcements
“Hello Friends” song with ASL from Jbrary
Hello Hello by Brendan Wenzel: This is a storytime favorite because it allows for a lot of interaction, like checking clothing for spots and stripes, and saying hello to friends and neighbors sitting nearby.
Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson: Copies for everyone. This got loud (which is fine!) as kids and their grown-ups explored each page.
88 Instruments by Chris Barton: Because we were pretty loud already, I handed out instruments (shaker eggs and jingle bells on sticks) for this musical story. (Storytime tip: if the group is loud, getting everyone to make the same noise makes things more manageable.)
Song: “Shake Your Sillies Out” (then collect instruments)
Pete’s A Pizza by William Steig: We did this one just a couple weeks ago, but it works so well. Kids can do a movement to go along with each page of the story: kneading and stretching dough, tossing it, spreading oil, sprinkling cheese, etc.
Song cube: “ABCs”
A Parade of Elephants by Kevin Henkes: Five of the kids got to put an elephant on the felt board, and those who didn’t got to come up and give the elephants pats to make sure they were stuck up there firmly. Then we marched round and round, trumpeted, yawned, and stretched.
The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith: Kids could come up and say hello to the donkey puppet before and after the story. (Note: some kids like being nibbled on, and SOME DON’T. Keep it to “hee haw” and ear wiggling!)
“Goodbye Friends” song with ASL from Jbrary
Clean up mats, put out butcher paper and crayons, hand out surveys* to adults, remind everyone about summer schedule.

*Surveys: I’ve been wanting to do a brief survey for this group for a while, to see if there was anything I could tweak to improve the program. I based my four-question survey largely on Jbrary’s Sample Evaluation Forms. LibraryAware also has a long post about feedback on programs.

Seven adults filled out and returned the survey; two of the seven said that the books/songs/movement/crafts were “not engaging enough”; the other five respondents felt that the books/songs/movement/crafts were “just right” for their children. I may try to do fewer, longer stories in the fall (three or four books instead of five or six), still with plenty of songs and movement. Then again, it could be a different group in the fall. We’ll see!

A few other interactive picture books:

Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson
Press Here and Mix It Up by Herve Tullet
Don’t Push the Button by Bill Cotter
Bunny Slopes and Hungry Bunny by Claudia Rueda
Tickle Monster by Edouard Manceau

Step Into Storytime, May 6

May 6, 2019 JennyLeave a comment

This is our second-to-last Monday Step Into Storytime before our schedule changes for summer (which seems optimistic, as spring has barely arrived, but so it goes). A few a my favorite families were there, which made it extra special, and all of the books really lent themselves to movement and interaction (though we still did plenty of extra songs and movement in between them as well).

Stack of picture books with bag of shaker eggs on top

Welcome, announcements
“Hello Friends” song with ASL from Jbrary
Chu’s Day by Neil Gaiman and Adam Rex: Chu’s fakeout sneezes got some laughs. If you are looking for humor in books, sneezes are a sure way to go.
Yoga: stretch to ceiling, touch toes, repeat; step feet apart, touch toes; touch opposite toes (e.g. left hand to right foot – cross-body exercises stretch the body and the brain!)
This Beautiful Day by Richard Jackson and Suzy Lee: Perfect, as we’ve been having plenty of gray and rainy days and very little sunshine. “Beautiful” is in the eye of the beholder. And there’s some built-in stomping and toe-tapping.
Yoga/music: “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”
Oh No, George! by Chris Haughton: The BEST thing happened at the part where George sees the cat: When I read “What will George do?” one of the kids called out “He ate the cat!” which made everyone burst out laughing. (Don’t worry, cat lovers: no cats were eaten in the reading of this book.)
Song cube: “I’m A Little Teapot” and “Wheels on the Bus”
Yoga/music: Make stars with bodies (feet apart, arms out) and sway to “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”
My Heart Is Like A Zoo by Michael Hall: I brought out the flannel animals one by one and the kids yelled out what they thought they were. Pretty high accuracy on this, actually, and even when someone called out “a heart!” they weren’t wrong – all of the animals are made out of heart shapes.
Now by Antoinette Portis: Another book with some built-in opportunities for participation/movement, plus an audible “Awww” from lots of the grown-ups at the end (“And this is my favorite Now / because it’s the one I am having / with you”).
Song cube: “Itsy Bitsy Spider”
Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett: With animal impressions, of course.
“Goodbye Friends” song with ASL from Jbrary
Clean up mats, hand out shaker eggs, put on music (“Shake Your Sillies Out” and “Wheels on the Bus”), dance! Collect eggs afterward.

Interview with Miss Lauren: What makes a good storytime book?

April 30, 2019 JennyLeave a comment

Doing “Step Into Storytime” (my library’s name for its weekly storytime for two- and three-year-olds) has been a hugely fun experience. Over the past eight months, I’ve developed a long list of picture book titles that seem to work well for this group: longer lead-off books and shorter books for when the attention span starts to get wiggly. Funny books and serious books. Stories with repetition or rhyme and those with more complex plots. Animal books, counting books, color and shape books, peekaboo and surprise books, #WeNeedDiverseBooks.

I read a lot of picture books at home with my daughter as well, and others by myself in the library. Some of these are a little longer; they work beautifully one-on-one with a kid in the right mood, but they probably won’t hold the attention of twenty toddlers at once. (Other books rely on their illustrations for much of the story, which is fabulous if you are looking at the pages up close and can take your time, but works less well in a large group.)

My friend/mentor Miss Lauren currently does a storytime for three- to five-year olds. We have some overlap in the books we read (I definitely got Just Add Glitter and Harold Loves His Woolly Hat from her, and we both love Bark, George! and Oh No, George!), but she’s able to read longer books with her group. She was kind enough to answer a few questions about storytime books and audiences. Thank you, Miss Lauren!

What do you look for / what do you think is most important in a read-aloud book for younger kids (2- and 3-year olds)? What about for preschool-aged kids (3-5)?

This is such an interesting question. I am amazed how many times I’ve asked other librarians their go-to story time books and how everyone’s are unique. Now that I have been on both ends of story time (the reader! the listener!), I’ve really come to appreciate the power of the reader. The best advice I got from one of my mentors in grad school was to read books that you love and to know them inside and out. The excitement and familiarity translates into very positive energy for the audience.

With that said, when evaluating books as the reader, I always find myself looking for an opportunity for participation. Engaging the audience to join in the story in some way is both fun and energizing. It may be an ongoing, intended part of the story (such as whispering “Shhh” and shouting all the loud sounds throughout Valeri Gorbachev’s) or something small I add on my end (for example, if a story involves eating something, I invite the listeners to take a big pretend bite of that food too). It is nice to give kids an outlet for a wiggle or noise release when they are sitting and listening. Plus, it’s fun to growl / stick out your tongue / pretend to sleep / blow out the birthday candles / vote to go or not go into the big dark cave / etc.

What makes a “good” storytime book? How do you gauge whether a book is a storytime success, or maybe better for one-on-one?

The biggest element of a story that has tripped me up is length. The illustrations are beautiful! The story is wonderful! I want to jump into the pages! But my audience is losing it! These days, I can tell pretty quickly if there is too much text for the listeners in front of me. (Please note I’ve never had a problem with a book being “too short”). This changes with an audience of kindergarteners or older; but, for pre-K, I am extra sensitive to length. Like many librarians, I lead with the longest book and look for a wiggle or noise release to add in.

Other elements I find myself evaluating: does the text have a good rhythm / flow or does it feel clunky to read aloud? Do the illustrations reach the back of the room? Does it check the boxes of good rhythm, illustrations that work with and for the story, opportunity to participate AND leave me with a warm and happy feeling? Home run book. A few of my home run books from recent story times for ages 3-5 are Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall, The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers, Little Gorilla by Ruth Bornstein, and Blackout by John Rocco.

What are some of your favorite go-to storytime books (for either age group or both)?

A few of my favorites for the 3-5 year olds:
The Snowy Day by Jack Ezra Keats
A House in the Woods by Inga Moore
A Boy and His Bunny by Sean Bryan
Tiny Little Fly by Michael Rosen
Lizard from the Park by Mark Pett
How To Be Friends With a Dragon by Valeri Gorbachev
Where’s Teddy by Jez Alborough
Pete’s a Pizza by William Steig
Can You Make a Scary Face by Jan Thomas
Otto the Book Bear by Katie Cleminson

Finally, what’s your favorite source for storytime research?

Observing other story times in action is extraordinarily helpful. Easier to do now that I have my undercover partner… [Ed. note: even if you don’t have a kid you can bring with you, plenty of librarians would be happy to let you “audit” or observe their storytimes; just ask first!]

Thank you, Lauren! Happy storytiming, everyone!

Step Into Storytime, April 29

April 29, 2019 JennyLeave a comment

IMG_20190429_095418 — Storytime books and scarves for Huff & Puff

It has been a very wet and windy April, but today was sunny and we had a slightly smaller group – I imagine some others were taking advantage of the weather to go to the playground. But we had a great time at storytime, with several regulars, a couple of younger siblings, and a pair of older kids (older kids are almost always less shy and more able to answer questions like “What’s this animal?” so I like having them in the group).

Welcome, announcements
“Hello Friends” song with ASL from Jbrary
Name song (“___ is here today”): I usually do this if there are 10 kids or fewer, as was the case when we started today (a couple more came in later)
Hugs From Pearl by Paul Schmid: I chose to use this as a lead-off book because it’s on the longer side for this age group, but it’s got a gentle humor and shows good problem-solving.
“Sun and rain yoga”: stretch up to the sun, then bring the sunshine down to your toes; stretch up to the rain, bring the rain down to your toes
Huff and Puff by Claudia Rueda, with scarves for the huffing and puffing parts. (We keep our scarves stuffed into empty tissue boxes.)
Song: “Where is Thumbkin?”
Song: “Kookaburra” (I put the words up on the whiteboard, along with a picture of a kookaburra)
Pete’s A Pizza by William Steig: This one is fabulous for incorporating movement into the story, as the kids pretend to knead their pizza dough, toss it in the air, spread oil on it, decorate it with tomatoes, sprinkle it with cheese, and slide it into the oven. Yum!
“Pizza yoga”: sit in a forward fold and “spread” oil, sauce, cheese, and toppings over your legs
Bark! Park! by Trudy Krisher: Simple, minimal words but plenty going on in the pictures, and an opportunity for kids to join in (“Bark, bark bark!”). Someone actually checked this out afterward, hurray! I brought out four dog puppets/stuffed animals for kids to come up and pet before and after the story.
One Very Tired Wombat by Renee Treml: They were super wiggly and kind of noisy during this one; I’m not sure how much is due to the book itself (a kind of counting book of Australian animals, with illustrations in mostly black and white, and somewhat detailed) and how much it had to do with the book’s place near the end of the lineup.
Song: “Kookaburra” reprise, to start cementing it in memory so it becomes part of our regular rotation. Maybe I will make a new song cube…
Spots in a Box by Helen Ward: A favorite, with simple text and a lot of visual interest, and a nice message as well: “So the best spots to choose if it’s friends that you seek, are the spots that you find put a smile on your beak.”
“Goodbye Friends” song with ASL from Jbrary
Clean up mats
Spots/dots craft: using gluesticks to stick spots to butcher paper

IMG_20190429_104359

Step Into Storytime, April 22

April 22, 2019 JennyLeave a comment

Yet again, a minor sore throat/cold caused me to lose my voice, and it still wasn’t at full strength today – but I explained to the kids and they were SO QUIET. It was astonishing.

Our magical puppet/stuffed animal closet once again delivered, so we had Mr. Panda and the patient penguin from I’ll Wait, Mr. Panda. I also borrowed an idea from a parent/child yoga class I went to at another library recently, and we made stars with our bodies (feet apart, arms out to the sides) and rocked back and forth (balancing on one foot at a time, or just swaying) while singing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”

Welcome, announcements
“Hello Friends” song with ASL, from Jbrary
Edward Gets Messy by Rita Meade: This story has a lot of words per page for this age group, but whether because of my quiet voice or the easily graspable subject matter, the kids sat and seemed to be listening!
Yoga
Worm Loves Worm by J.J. Austrian: A sweet story of two worms who just want to be married – and eventually they are, because Worm loves Worm.
Who in this room has thumbs? Okay, now hide your thumbs behind your back. “Where is Thumbkin?”
I’ll Wait, Mr Panda by Steve Antony, with panda stuffed animal and penguin puppet.
Yoga/song: Stand in “star” pose, balance/sway, and sing “Twinkle, Twinkle”
Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
Carrot and Pea by Morag Hood
“Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”
Perfect Square by Michael Hall (tie-in activity at the end)
“Goodbye Friends” song with ASL, from Jbrary
Clean up mats, put out project: Paper squares to tear, crumple, and glue

Bird's-eye view of kids gluing squares to paper

We still did six books as usual, but a little less singing (still, five songs/rhymes including our hello and goodbye), and wrapped up a little bit earlier than usual. The project was popular, though next time I’d cut the squares a little smaller; I had cut sheets of colored construction paper into six pieces each (not exactly squares, but close). With older kids, they could have worked on their own projects and used scissors and a hole punch to recreate some of the pictures in Perfect Square, if they’d wanted. Michael Hall’s books really lend themselves to craft tie-ins!