Category: Library world

MSLA 2023: Gear Up: Moving Forward Together (Day 2)

Jenny2 Comments

See the Sunday summary (Day 1 of conference) here.

MSLA President Jen Varney introduced Monday’s keynote speaker, the Director of Amherst College Libraries, Dr. Martin Garnar, who spoke about Fighting the Good Fight: Supporting Intellectual Fredom in Your Library. He asked, “What is intellectual freedom?” It is actually three freedoms: freedom of expression, freedom of access, and freedom from surveillance (i.e., privacy). Garnar handed out scenarios on slips of paper, and each table group considered how we would respond to, for example, a parent challenging a book from the school library collection and the principal removing the book to their office; or, for another example, a parent requesting a list of every book their child has checked out from the school library. (Pro tip: remind your administrators, public or private, that if they ignore their own school’s policy, they are open to lawsuits. Pro tip #2: Make sure you have a solid, up-to-date policy! More on that soon.)

“It’s not enough to have equal access, it has to be equitable access.”

After the keynote, Garnar offered another session: The Importance of Policies: Promoting Our Principles in Practice. There are six key policies for libraries to have in place:

  • Collection development and resource reconsideration
  • Internet use (required by law if the library receives E-rate or LSTA funding; can be a district-wide policy)
  • User behavior and library use (e.g. anti-bullying)
  • Privacy and confidentiality (FERPA and state laws)
  • Social media (if the library uses it)
  • Use of meeting rooms and exhibit spaces

Garnar went in depth on each of these types of policies (I won’t do that here), and also offered solid reasoning about why are policies are important. Well-written, board approved policies and up-to-date procedures based on those policies achieve several things:

  • Encourage stability and continuity in the library’s operations while reducing ambiguity and confusion
  • Demonstrate that the library is running a businesslike operation
  • Give credence to the library’s actions
  • Inform the community about the library’s intent, goals, etc. (e.g. equity)
  • Give the public a means to evaluate library performance and show that the library is willing to be held accountable for its decisions
  • Help disarm critics
  • Serve as evidence of the library’s normal practices

Policy resources:

Best Features of the Statewide Databases for school libraries, Tressa Santillo, Massachusetts Library System (MLS)

Tressa (on behalf of MLS and also Transparent Language) and representatives from Gale, Britannica, and PebbleGo described and demonstrated some of the features and resources of their respective databases. I’m so grateful that Massachusetts libraries (public and school) work cooperatively to share print and digital resources; all school libraries with a certified librarian have access to databases for students and staff to use. I’ve been guiding patrons and students through and around these databases for years, but there are more resources than I realized – like alignments to standards and frameworks from PebbleGo, and a media literacy guide from Britannica. (Also from PebbleGo: an axolotl coloring page.)

Resources:

Well, I was hooked by the axolotl coloring sheet, so I went to hear Dr. Kelli Westmoreland talk more about PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next: Databases for Elementary. (Also, the only other session was the MA Teen Choice Book Awards, and since I’m not working with a teen population right now, PebbleGo made more sense. You can see the MA Teen Choice Book Award Nominees here.) Dr. Westmoreland offered a tour of PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next, explained the importance of modeling digital literacy – especially given the increased amount of time students spend on screens – and spoke about the science of reading and the importance of nonfiction texts. She showed off some of the features of PebbleGo, like the randomizer and the question of the day, and gave examples of how it can be used to support classroom teaching (e.g. librarians can create text sets). She showed examples of simple graphic organizers for inquiry (Person/Action/Trait, It Says/I Say/And So, Somebody/Wanted/And/So).

Perhaps one of the neatest features is the correlation to standards: you can look up content by standard, or standard by content.

Screenshot of Grade 1 Reading Standards for Informational Text

My goal at every conference is to have at least one useful takeaway from each session, and that definitely happened this year! Plus, it was just lovely to see people in 3D. (Previous conference committees did an amazing job the past few years putting together virtual conferences full of engaging presentations from librarians and authors, and I definitely enjoy “attending” from home, but it was nice to mingle in person too, and even meet some people I’ve known for years now, but only via zoom!)

I’ve already put some of Liza’s ideas and resources about comics to use (is it possible to say enough good things about Liza Halley? I don’t think so), and I’m looking forward to adding some of the new books I picked up at vendor booths to my school library collection and seeing kids scoop them up off the New Books shelf. Thanks again to everyone involved in the conference – please leave a comment if I missed anything here, or if you want to share something about a different session you attended!

MSLA 2023: Gear Up: Moving Forward Together (Day 1)

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The annual Massachusetts School Library Association (MSLA) conference was in-person again this year for the first time in a few years. The conference committee, sponsors and vendors (especially Odyssey Bookshop, which also put together the author panel), presenters, and venue all did a wonderful job putting together two very full days of learning and creating the opportunity for connections among colleagues, who are so often siloed in our own buildings, to share ideas and resources.

Here are recaps of the sessions I attended. I’ll try to keep it concise!

Sunday Keynote: Librarians as Leaders in DEIB, Lawrence Q. Alexander II

Photo of slide with text
“Diversity is a fact. Equity is a choice. Inclusion is an action. Belonging is an outcome.” -Arthur Chan

Alexander spoke engagingly on the topic of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging and the value proposition of a culturally inclusive curriculum. “It’s not enough to fly the flags, wave the banners, make the statements” – school districts must have policies that support DEIB, accountability, and money in the budget to support it. Alexander listed four questions students might ask about their school environment: “Do you see me? Do you hear me? Will you treat me fairly? Will you protect me?” Can students bring their full selves to school and feel welcomed, valued, and safe? (Think of the “Circles of My Multicultural Self” exercise.)

Alexander explained why it’s important to talk about race in schools: “When we ban dimensions of identity, when we ban books, we ban students. When we say that conversations are not important, we say that students and families are unimportant…Where can a student learn when they cannot fully be themselves?” He cited Batts, Capitman, and Brown’s Multicultural Processes of Change, from monoculturalism to pluralism. Reflection questions for faculty and administrators include: (1) Who feels at home here? (2) Who feels like they’re just visiting? (3) Who feels tolerated?

Alexander encouraged us to consider: “Where is our community on this continuum? What will it take to move us forward? Who do we need on our team to advance this work?” and concluded with the three dimensions of change for individuals and organizations: cognitive, affective, and behavioral – with a warning not to jump directly into behavioral changes without doing the cognitive and affective work first.

Medium Matters: Using Graphic Novels in the Classroom, Liza Halley

Cover image of Comics: Easy As ABCThe brilliant Liza, who insists she is not an expert on comics (but who is totally an expert on comics, and is also an excellent teacher) started us off with a variety of hands-on activities to choose from, as part of her presentation on how to teach comics/graphic novels in school, and how to get teachers, administrators, and parents on board (because GRAPHIC NOVELS ARE REAL BOOKS; this is supported by research).

“This is the gateway for students to become avid readers. Do not shame kids for reading what they want! We want to grow lifelong readers. We want them to be excited to pick out a book.”

Liza shared teaching materials, sample lessons, research, and resources (see her Medium Matters site for more resources). Each year, she teaches a three- or four-week unit to all her students (K-5) on graphic novels, and she showed us some examples of assignments and student work. She also writes about the topic on the MSLA Forum Newsletter (like this piece from February 2022). I’m excited to borrow many of Liza’s ideas and collaborate with the art teacher at my school to design a comics unit for at least one grade this year, and more next year!

Building Research Consistency K-12, Dr. Georgina Trebbe

Research K-12 mindset slide from Dr. Trebbe's presentation
Research K-12 Mindset

Dr. Trebbe is “passionate about information literacy” and has spent much of her career and education on it. In this session, she took us through the steps of building a research plan, from “pre-search” to the “a-ha moment” to developing a thesis statement (the “rudder” that steers the research) and questions (the “oars” that propel research forward); considering lenses (e.g. political, social, environmental, ethical), developing sub-research questions, recognizing multiple perspectives, creating an outline, identifying keywords and key phrases, selecting resources, recording information, and reporting. Reporting doesn’t need to be a paper or a report: it could be in the form of a board game, a comic, a quiz, a timeline, a diorama, a speech, or more. Throughout her presentation, Dr. Trebbe used two examples, one for elementary (beavers) and one for secondary (Puritan hysteria over witchcraft). She also described how to build citation awareness: young students can identify the title, author, illustrator, and publication date of a resource, and “gradually build appreciation for the creativity of others.”

Middle Grade Booktalks, Laura Gardner

One of Laura's realistic fiction slides, with book covers face out on a shelf
One of the 80+ slides

When Dartmouth Middle School librarian (and Newbery committee member!) Laura said she was going to talk about 50 books (during her allotted 50 minutes), I was pretty sure it was some sort of verbal typo, but it was not. She shared her collection of 80+ slides that she created during remote schooling and has continued to maintain because some students like using it. (Books with blue stars are novels in verse; in her library, these are shelved together, and it’s a very popular collection.) She focused on realistic fiction, mysteries, sports, survival, animals, graphic novels, historical fiction, and nonfiction, quickly highlighting appeal factors of dozens of titles: a unique setting, a compelling main character, a strong hook, interesting conflict, and any awards or honors the book has won. I spoke with Laura briefly after her presentation, and she encouraged me to copy her slides and adapt them for my library, which I would love to do…on a smaller scale, and over time. This is not a project to be done overnight!

Teaching Students Why Media Literacy is Important, Colleen Simpson

Colleen Simpson's slide of essential understandings for the course
Essential Understandings for the course (slide)

Middle school library media specialist Colleen Simpson teaches a six-week unit for eighth grade students guided by two essential questions: (1) Why is media literacy important for citizens in today’s democracy? (2) What role do individuals play as digital citizens? This course covers several of the DESE frameworks for Digital Literacy and Computer Science. Students complete a First Amendment project on a topic of their choice (Colleen showed examples of student work).

“To be news literate is to build knowledge, think critically, act civilly and participate in the democratic process” -Robert R. McCormick Foundation

Resources:

The final event of the day was the author panel, organized by Odyssey, and moderated by yours truly (thus, not nearly so many notes). Here are the panelists, followed by their most recent (or soon-to-be-released) book in parentheses:

  • Janae Marks (On Air with Zoe Washington)
  • Hannah Moushabeck (Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine)
  • Jeannine Atkins (Hidden Powers: Lise Meitner’s Call to Science)
  • Sarah Prager (Kind Like Marsha: Learning from LGBTQ+ Leaders)
  • Charnaie Gordon (Lift Every Voice and Change: A Sound Book: A Celebration of Black Leaders and the Words that Inspire Generations) (Charnaie also has a new book coming out in October, in collaboration with Roda Ahmed, author of Mae Among the Stars. I am so excited for this!)

I asked the panelists about their inspiration (how did you come to write this book, at this time), their research process, collaboration with illustrators, and important takeaway messages. Regarding the latter, Jeannine said: “Take time to find small beauties in life.” Charnaie: “Be kind to one another. Show empathy.” Sarah: “LGBTQ+ people have been here throughout history.” Janae: “There’s always hope. Anyone of any age has the power to make change.” Hannah: “It’s the first Palestinian picture book [by a Palestinian author] in 30 years.”

Whew, and that’s a wrap on Day 1. Notes on Day 2 coming soon!

ALA Youth Media Awards 2023

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Cover image of Hot Dog
What a day for a dog!

Last year, I followed the ALA YMA on Twitter while preparing to teach seventh graders online research skills; the year before, I watched in my pajamas with my five-year-old on my lap. This year, I missed the beginning of the livestream, but the timing worked out so that a third grade class was in the library when the Caldecott awards were announced, and they were so excited!

As I watched not just the Caldecotts but all the other awards roll in, it struck me more than any previous year how many deserving books there are. Not that I disagree with the committees’ choices – plenty of books I cheered for, others I hadn’t read – but there are just so. many. good. books in any given year! And because I was on this year’s Heavy Medal committee (Mock Newbery) and ran a Mock Caldecott program at my school, I was more attuned than usual to award predictions.

So rather than recap today’s winners, I’m going to list a few middle grade and picture books I think could have gotten awards, and just happened not to, but are still wonderful and you should read them:

Middle grade:

  • A Rover’s Story by Jasmine Warga
  • Violet and Jobie in the Wild by Lynne Rae Perkins
  • The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill
  • Different Kinds of Fruit by Kyle Lukoff
  • Where the Sky Lives by Margaret Dilloway
  • The Insiders by Mark Oshiro
  • The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander
  • Black Bird, Blue Road by Sofiya Pasternak
  • A Duet for Home by Karina Yan Glaser

Picture Books

  • Mina by Matthew Forsythe
  • Blue: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, illustrated by Daniel Minter
  • Sweet Justice by Mara Rockliff, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
  • A Spoonful of Frogs by Casey Lyall, illustrated by Vera Brosgol
  • I Don’t Care by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Molly Idle and Juana Martinez-Neal
  • Endlessly Ever After by Laurel Snyder, illustrated by Dan Santat
  • Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall
  • Snow Horses by Patricia MacLachlan, illustrated by Micha Archer

Squirrels that turn out to be cats, magic doors that lead to a refuge and friendship, a Mars rover with human emotions, a choose-your-own-adventure fairytale, escaping frogs, an unsung civil rights hero, some beautiful collage, and more – there’s something for everyone, and awards are only a piece of it all. Congratulations to all authors and illustrators who put something out into the world in 2022; readers are grateful.

Mock Caldecott 2023

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In my first year as an elementary school librarian, I had to do a Mock Caldecott. It was one of the programs I’d heard other elementary librarians (and some children’s librarians at public libraries) talk about for years and it always sounded like a fun way to get kids engaged and excited. Plus, it’s a good chance to focus on the (incredible) art, and consider things like trim size and shape, endpapers, use of the gutter, use of color, light and dark, and media. I always look to see if there’s an art note on the copyright page about what materials the illustrator used, and kids are sometimes surprised (especially the born-digital art).

Here’s how I ran our program, loosely based on Travis Jonker’s:

Intro/practice week (first week of January):

  • Introduce the Caldecott Award. What is it for? Who decides? Which books (illustrators) are eligible? Even the youngest students grasp the difference between an author’s job and an illustrator’s job, and learn that if there’s one name on the cover, it means that person did both jobs.
  • Read two past Caldecott books, and have a vote (by show of hands). Make the tally visible on the whiteboard. In kindergarten and first grade, we read Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes (2005) and This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen (2013). In second and third grade, we read Beekle by Dan Santat (2015) and Watercress by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Jason Chin (2022).

Week One:

  • Now it’s onto this year’s Caldecott contenders! I requested several books from my public library, using my own reading from the past year as well as The Horn Book’s Calling Caldecott blog and Betsy Bird’s predictions on her Fuse8 blog at SLJ. Ideally, I’m looking for books with less text, because classes are only 40 minutes and we want to do book checkout too. I use the Whole Book Approach, which means I welcome students’ observations while we’re reading – which means it takes longer to read a book aloud.
  • Kindergarten and first grade read I Don’t Care by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by real-life best friends Molly Idle and Juana Martinez-Neal, and Like by Annie Barrows, illustrated by Leo Espinosa. Second and third grade read The Blur by Minh Lê, illustrated by Dan Santat, and This Is Not A Story About A Kitten by Randall de Sève, illustrated by Carson Ellis. I note when illustrators have previously won a Medal or an Honor.

Cover images of I Don't Care and Like

Cover images of The Blur and This Story is Not About A Kitten

Week Two:

  • Kindergarten and first grade read Somewhere in the Bayou by Jerome and Jarrett Pumphrey, and Little Houses by Kevin Henkes, illustrated by Laura Dronzek. Second and third grade read Knight Owl by Christopher Denise and Hot Dog by Doug Salati. Actually, this week we mixed it up a little bit; one of the first grade classes read the second and third grade pair of books, and one of the other first grades read Hot Dog and Little Houses. Attention spans vary, and it seemed like the right call at the time.

Cover images of Hot Dog and Little Houses

Screen Shot 2023-01-25 at 8.40.44 PM

Week Three:

  • Here we started to run into a few scheduling snags, including a (planned) holiday and some (unplanned) weather-related time off (a full snow day, a delayed start, and an early dismissal). It’s winter in New England, after all. That’s okay! We’re not being super scientific or mathematical about this, though I am keeping track of the tallies and figuring out the total votes for each book each week, and noting the number of classes that read each book.
  • Kindergarten and first grade read Don’t Worry, Murray! by David Ezra Stein and Witch Hazel by Molly Idle. Second and third grade read Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall (who has already won twice!) and Snow Horses by Patricia MacLachlan, illustrated by Micha Archer. This final pair of books is absolutely gorgeous, and my second- and third-grade students are an observant bunch, so we’re pretty squeezed for time given that these two are more text-heavy than some of the others (and Farmhouse is all one long sentence!).

Screen Shot 2023-01-25 at 8.42.49 PM

Cover images of Farmhouse and Snow Horses

Now, are the titles we read my top picks for the 2023 Caldecott? Not necessarily, although I think a lot of them have a very strong chance and I’d be delighted to see them get a shiny gold or silver medal. A few contenders we’d read earlier in the year: Endlessly Ever After by Laurel Snyder, illustrated by Dan Santat; Mina by Matthew Forsythe; Berry Song by Michaela Goade, John’s Turn by Mac Barnett, and The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen. So, these are the ones that were fresh for my students, and that I could get from my public library in time.

Bulletin board of 2023 Mock Caldecott with images of book coversVisual supports: The award is for illustration, after all, so I wanted to create a visual environment to support our Mock Caldecott. Here are a few ways I did that:

  • A few years ago at a conference I got a poster with all of the Caldecott winners on it, plus that year’s honor books. I put that up on our whiteboard, and kids frequently pointed out books they’d read (even pre-readers could recognize the book covers). (Note: I would love an updated poster like this, and no one seems to make one! Let me know if you know of a source…)
  • On the easel whiteboard, I kept each week’s tally (photographing it regularly in case anyone erased it, accidentally or on purpose). Results were so different from class to class!
  • On my bulletin board, I printed out cover images of the Caldecott contenders we read, along with title, author, and illustrator info. This helped us remember what we’d read in past weeks, and make connections; for example, one third grader noticed that The Blur and Farmhouse took place over a long span of time, whereas This Is Not A Story About A Kitten and Snow Horses took place over the course of just one day/night.
  • I covered several tables with face-up Caldecott winner and honor books from past years and encouraged students to check those out – many did! (And some just wanted My Weird School or A-to-Z Mysteries or Wimpy Kid or the Biscuit books, and that’s fine too. But at least they saw them as choices, and picture book circulation increased! Though lots of students were baffled about why some books had “the sticker” and some didn’t.)
Caldecott poster
Whiteboard with vote tallies

At the end of our program, I figured out all the tallies and reported our results to the 2023 Mock YMA blog. Knight Owl got the most votes, followed by Somewhere in the Bayou, The Blur, Don’t Worry Murray, Farmhouse, and Hot Dog. And today, it worked out that one of my third grade classes was in the library during the live Caldecott announcements, and they went wild for Knight Owl and Hot Dog. It was gratifying to see them throw their hands up and cheer for books they recognized (I was cheering too, of course!).

Did we predict the winner? Not exactly, but two out of five ain’t bad. Did we read some great picture books? Absolutely! Will I do it again next year? Yes! What will I do differently? Mainly, I’ll start requesting books from my public library ahead of time, really concentrating on the ones with less text, so we can focus on the illustrations without being rushed during our 40-minute periods. I could change the way we vote – I was thinking of some clear jars and colored pom-poms that kids could use as their votes after reading four or five books over the course of a few weeks, instead of having two books go head to head each week.

Overall, it was a fun program I hope to run again next year. Now, as we’re about to enter Black History Month, I’m thinking of doing something similar (minus the voting) with Coretta Scott King award and honor books. Heck, there are enough awards to focus on a different one each month of the school year…

Update: Back to School

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Bulletin board with WELCOME BACK message and paper hearts and rainbow border

As the veteran educators say, August is the Sunday of months – and now it’s back to school! (For this analogy to work perfectly, September would be Monday and school would not start until September, but here we are, starting school in August.)

This year I’ll be the Library Media Specialist at an elementary school for preschool through sixth grade. I’m looking forward to getting to know the people and the space, and developing the library program, from the curriculum to the collection. (Hat tip to the excellent library staff on the MSLA listserv, who have been so generous in answering my questions lately.)

Here’s one of my first displays, featuring books that have themes of kindness and friendship:

Display of books on Kindness and Friendship

Picture book read-alouds to make you laugh

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What makes a picture book funny? A sense of humor is unique and personal – what makes one person laugh out loud might elicit only a small smile from another, and vice versa – but there are a few themes. Slapstick, physical comedy is one; “potty” humor is another (the farting pony in The Princess and the Pony by Kate Beaton, Who Wet My Pants? by Bob Shea). Cleverness is appreciated, especially the kind that winks at the reader and lets them in on the joke; kids like the feeling of knowing more than the main character does (hide-and-seek books use this tactic). Interactive, fourth-wall-breaking humor often works equally well in storytimes and one-on-one reading, as kids are ready and willing to engage. Some readers delight in the absurd (the increasingly strange to-do list in Bathe the Cat, the pile of unlikely “solutions” in On Account of the Gum). A twist or surprise ending can be very effective as well, such as in A Hungry Lion or Tyrannosaurus Wrecks!, especially if it follows a sweet emotional moment of resolution.

Recently I ran into a friend who is a youth services librarian at a public library. She said that they’d just put up a display of funny picture books, but realized they were not a diverse bunch. She thought I might have some ideas, and…I do!

onaccountofthegumTo be quite upfront, the first picture book that jumped into my head in the “funny” category was Adam Rex’s On Account of the Gum, which I maintain is one of the all-time funniest books to read aloud, and which absolutely does not get old, no matter how many times you read it. Though adults tend to think of picture books as being for little kids, this one appeals just as much or more to older kids, and even teens and adults; they can use the rhyme scheme to anticipate what’s coming next, and they have more context (e.g. they know what Picture Day is). But littles enjoy the over-the-top illustrations and the pattern and flow of the story…it’s just, hands-down, a brilliant read-aloud. Rex also wrote Pluto Gets the Call, illustrated by Laurie Keller (just think about the title for a minute) and School’s First Day of School, illustrated by Christian Robinson. (This book, narrated by a brand-new school building, contains the phrase “nose milk.”) Rex is a funny guy, but let’s move along…

Cover image of I Don't Want to Be A FrogI Don’t Want to Be A Frog by Dev Petty, illustrated by Mike Boldt, is told entirely in dialogue between a young frog (who, you guessed it, would rather be a rabbit or an owl or a pig or anything but a frog), their dad, and…I won’t give it away, but this book really lends itself to the read-aloud experience, and it has delightful companions (I Don’t Want to Go to Sleep, I Don’t Want to Be Big, and There’s Nothing to Do). Dev Petty also wrote Claymates, which has some of the most unique illustrations (by Lauren Eldridge) I’ve ever seen, and plenty of humor.

wolfiethebunnyIf you can hear the title Wolfie the Bunny and NOT want to read that book immediately, then we probably don’t have much in common. Ame Dyckman’s words paired with Zachariah Ohora’s illustrations absolutely live up to the promise of the title. In a neighborhood based on Park Slope, Brooklyn, a family of rabbits finds a wolf pup on their doorstep, but only little Dot is freaked out by the new addition to the family (“He’s going to eat us all up!”).

Tyrannosaurus WrecksZachariah Ohora also illustrated Tyrannosaurus Wrecks! by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen. (Every list of picture books has to have a dinosaur book, right? Pretty sure that’s a rule.) This is a sure-bet hit for the toddler and preschool set, and there’s a sweet social-emotional learning (SEL) component in addition to the slapstick humor. (While we’re talking about Zachariah Ohora, he also illustrated Who Wet My Pants? by Bob Shea, another very funny book, despite its serious-sounding title.)

herecomesvalentinecatDeborah Underwood and Claudia Rueda’s “Here Comes…Cat” books (Tooth Fairy Cat, Valentine Cat, etc.) star a cat that only communicates through signs (sometimes with words, often with images), facial expressions, and body language. The narrator is in dialogue with the curmudgeonly cat, and these books definitely tickle my funny bone; Valentine Cat makes an appearance at our house every February.

sparkyJenny Offill has produced such delightful gems as Sparky! (a book about a girl and her pet sloth; just look at the juxtaposition between the name – with an exclamation point! – and the sloth on the cover), While You Were Napping, 11 Science Experiments That Failed, and 17 Things I’m Not Allowed to Do Anymore. The titles are descriptive enough, I think, and any grown-up who has read Offill’s books for adults is in for something completely different with these.

Cover image of A Hungry LionA Hungry Lion, Or, A Dwindling Assortment of Animals by Lucy Ruth Cummins: The sheer genius of this title, oh my goodness. And the vocabulary. And the smile on the little turtle’s face. And the moment the lights go out. And the double twist ending. And, and, and….If you liked the slightly macabre humor of Jon Klassen’s I Want My Hat Back but you haven’t read this, go ahead and remedy that now.

grumpypantsGrumpy Pants by Claire Messer: “I’m grumpy,” declares a little penguin, and it tries a number of solutions to improve its condition, finally stripping off its clothes piece by piece and diving into a nice cold bath. Children (and adults, too!) might find that a bath, clean clothes, and a cup of cocoa are just the thing to soothe a grumpy mood.

stillstuckStill Stuck by Shinsuke Yoshitake: You’re getting undressed and your shirt gets stuck over your head – it’s happened to everyone, right? It happens to this kid, who definitely does not want assistance from Mom, and decides to accept their new state. In their imagination, they spin out what life will be like with a shirt over their head. Despite the kid’s adaptability (or resignation), Mom does swoop in to move the bedtime process along, but there’s another snag when it’s time to put on pajamas.

mightbelobstersThere Might Be Lobsters by Carolyn Crimi, illustrated by Laurel Molk: Poor little Sukie is afraid of everything at the beach, but when beloved toy Chunka Munka is swept out to see, Sukie must find her courage. This is an excellent read-aloud for summer storytimes for all ages – get kids to repeat the titular refrain together –  and if you happen to have props with you for this read-aloud (a stuffed lobster, say, or a beach ball) all the better.

Cover image of The Oboe Goes Boom Boom BoomThe Oboe Goes BOOM BOOM BOOM by Colleen AF Venable, illustrated by Lian Cho: A band director introduces instruments one by one, but little Felicity just can’t wait to bang on the drums and keeps interrupting – until she’s blown away by the sound of the tuba. There’s actually quite a lot of information in here about different instruments, and the way that Cho translates sound into a visual medium is outstanding.

notapenguinI Am Not A Penguin: A Pangolin’s Lament by Liz Wong: A poor pangolin wants to give a presentation, keeping its cool while confused audience members interrupt, until a penguin arrives to steal the show. One little girl remains for the pangolin’s informative presentation. (See also: The Angry Little Puffin by Timothy Young, which taught me permanently that penguins live “at the bottom of the world” (i.e. Antarctica) while puffins live “at the top of the world.”)

kingbabyKing Baby by Kate Beaton might be funnier for adults than for kids, but kids enjoy it too; it’s one of my go-to recommendations for families who are about to add a sibling. And let’s not forget Beaton’s other picture book, the crowd-pleasing The Princess and the Pony (pony farts feature prominently).

bathethecatBathe the Cat by Alice B. McGinty and David Roberts: A cat who definitely does not want a bath scrambles up a family’s to-do list as they rush to tidy before grandma arrives. Clever use of fridge magnet alphabet letters, plenty of pride, and increasingly ridiculous tasks all add to the joyful hilarity.

wedonteatourclassmatesWe Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins: Pink, overalls-wearing Penelope is nervous about the first day of school, and indeed, it doesn’t go as well as she’d hoped…she discovers that it’s hard to make friends when everyone is afraid you’ll eat them. Penelope learns to exercise self-control with the help of Mrs. Noodleman and a fearless goldfish named Walter.

Finally, every kid I know would insist that The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak be included on any list of funny picture books, and they’re right. BLURP.

What are your favorite funny picture books?

MSLA 2022: final session recaps

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The final two sessions I attended this afternoon were “Building and sustaining an effective school library program: Exploring state impact studies for ideas to improve the evaluation of school libraries” and “Pleasure Reading for ELL.” I’m combining them into one post not because they are related but because I am tired.

Deeth Ellis, a PhD candidate at Simmons and the head librarian at the Boston Latin School, presented “Building and sustaining an effective school library program: Exploring state impact studies for ideas to improve the evaluation of school libraries.” It’s a pretty big topic for a 50-minute session, which started late because of technical difficulties, but here are some takeaways:

  • School library impact studies show that school libraries make a difference to student learning.
  • The role of the principal is important; a Mississippi study showed that the attitude of the principal toward the school library program had a significant effect.
  • “Advocacy is powerful. Research that underpins advocacy is really powerful.” Yet advocacy (”cheerleading”) takes time away from other library work and can lead to burnout. “We can do some things, but we definitely need partners to help us”; advocacy needs to be a combined effort.

Resources:

The Fault in Our Stars cover (Spanish)“Pleasure Reading for ELL” was presented by Katy Gallagher, library teacher at Hingham High School, and Erin Dalbec, library teacher at Newton North High School. Katy cited research on immersion and dual-language education programs that showed positive outcomes for students who maintained their native language in addition to English; libraries can support English Language Learners (ELL) by providing materials in other languages. First, however, you need to figure out what language(s) the students in your school speak. Even then, it may be difficult to build a collection of books in that language; librarians using the chat feature discussed the difficulty of finding affordable, popular titles in various language, from Portuguese to Arabic.

Public libraries can fill in the gap somewhat; high school students don’t need parental approval to get a public library card, and can request books throughout the consortium. School librarians can bridge the gap by showcasing some of the titles from the public library; Katy used a padlet to do this. She also went to the public library to pick up books for students who couldn’t get there on their own. Students can also get BPL cards and use e-books and audiobooks from Sora. (There was much love for Sora at this conference; it has been “a lifesaver” during the pandemic.)

For her part of the presentation (the last few minutes of which I missed because I had to go pick up my kiddo at the bus stop), Erin talked about identifying your ELL students, encouraging them to share their own stories via writing, reading, and speaking. Her students did active listening activities and podcasting: they listened to a sample podcast, wrote one page on a topic of their choice, practiced reading it aloud with peers, then recorded it. Erin and Katy also mentioned that ELL teachers and world language teachers could be good resources.

Resources:

  • Colorín Colorado
  • MA DESE School and District Profiles: you can look up the percentage and number of ELL in your district and school, although to get more detailed information about which languages they speak, you’ll need to ask your “district data person” or ELL teachers
  • WIDA
  • Deep L (an alternative to Google Translate)
  • Narrative4: “Share Today. Change Tomorrow.”

So that was my MSLA experience. Whew! Check out recaps of other MSLA sessions and keynotes here. Did you attend the conference? What were your key takeaways?

MSLA 2022: Book Challenge Panel

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Bonnie McBride, Anja Kennedy, Collen Simpson, Lizz Simpson, and Luke Steere are all librarians who have experienced, or are currently experiencing, some form of book challenge in their school libraries, whether it’s a formal challenge or “soft censorship.” Although national news has focused on widespread challenges in states like Texas and Florida, Bonnie said, “Book challenges have always been a part of librarianship….They are happening here.”

A few themes and solid pieces of advice were repeated throughout the panel:

  • Be prepared. Have a collection development policy that includes selection guidelines and a procedure for the request for reconsideration of materials. This policy should be approved by the School Board and the administration should be aware of it. “Your first line of defense is a strong policy that people can’t argue with” – not even the superintendent.
  • A challenge or ban in one part of the country affects us all: Fears of challenges may cause librarians to self-censor (avoiding purchasing or promoting certain texts), and may cause teachers to make changes to the texts they use in their curriculum.
  • Some good things can come from challenges: while one panelist said “I wouldn’t wish this on anyone,” she acknowledged that some good things came out of it: there was a good examination of policy (which was strong), thoughtfulness about what we present in our curriculum, teachers chose more current books (in collaboration with librarian), more voice and choice in lit circles, students came to school committee meetings, increased transparency, and school committee has educated itself on public forum measures and the law.
  • “Promoting and defending our books should be a given.” A majority of the books being challenged have LGBTQIA+ content, and “there are LGBTQIA+ kids and families in every community, whether you know it or not.” Luke said, “I like using the word ‘challenge’ because it’s something to rise to” and not something to work against. Libraries are for everyone.
  • Be proactive. When a new administrator is hired, go and talk to them. They might not know the history of the district, if there have been challenges in the past and how they were handled. Ask them, “Where do you stand on this? What do we do when this happens?”
  • Keep the focus on the book. If it’s a student bringing the challenge, offer to sit with them and help them fill out the form. This can be a learning experience, and it keeps the focus on the book, not the complainant or the librarian.

Resources:

  • Library Book Challenge Resources Wakelet, curated by Bonnie McBride
  • Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) online manuals
  • Massachusetts Library System (MLS) Policy Collection
  • ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom (ALA OIF) Challenge Support
  • the MSLA listserv
  • Library Link of the Day: there has been an significant uptick in links that have to do with censorship, book challenges, and bans in school and public libraries over the past several months.

MSLA 2022: Cynthia Leitich Smith keynote “Brighter Days”

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Author, teacher, publisher, and Muscogee Nation citizen Cynthia Leitich Smith delivered this morning’s keynote, “Brighter Days: Decolonizing Hearts, Minds, and Books for Young Readers.” She began by zipping through a number of essential fiction and nonfiction titles for young readers, from picture books through YA; children’s literature created by Indigenous authors shows that “we have a past, a present, and a future…[we are] 3D human beings with a full range of emotion.” Still, Native books make up just under 1% of books published for kids. “Why does that matter? Because we are still here….There are Native families in your communities whether you realize it or not.” Some of these families may “fly under the radar,” partly because of distrust of schools due to past experience. That makes it more important, not less, to seek out, include, and promote literature from Native authors, because “erasure hurts kids” and “Native kids deserve more from all of us.”

Cynthia acknowledged that publishing is a slow-moving industry and “it’s hard to shake up the conventional wisdom,” but with new imprints, new interest, and demand from readers, librarians, and booksellers, change is happening. Ellen Oh and the WeNeedDiverseBooks movement have been a force for positive change, as have conferences like LoonSong and Kweli. “A single voice…is not enough,” Cynthia said, referencing times that she had been told by people within the publishing industry that there was no room, or no need, for more Native voices beyond one or two established ones. But we need more: Cynthia said, “factual information won’t matter or stick if we don’t focus on humanity. Native people are modern people. Every kid, Indigenous or not, can benefit from exposure to Native values” like honoring ancestors, and protecting land and water. Young readers deserve a chance to read the work of many Native authors.

Librarians, Indigenous or not, have an important role to play; we are ambassadors to young readers. “We can’t do it without your continued support and activism,” Cynthia said. When purchasing and recommending books, she had a few tips: look for tribal specificity, contemporary settings, present tense, accuracy, and stories of daily life. It’s important to balance the historical with contemporary, tragedy with joy. “Unfortunately, much of what happened in the past is terrible”: Acknowledge oppression, integrate joy and achievement, address miseducation, and be aware that there is diversity within each tribal nation and “identity is nuanced.”

This is year-round work and should not be limited to Native American history month or just around Thanksgiving. Cynthia encouraged us to integrate Native books into year-round reading, and across the curriculum: “We are Native every single day…[it is] otherizing and marginalizing” to limit reading books by and about Indigenous people to one time of the year. “All kids deserve a truthful education.” She closed on a hopeful note, declaring, “We are seeing tangible progress” in the publishing industry and in Hollywood.

Resources:

MSLA 2022: Melissa Stewart, champion of nonfiction

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Melissa Stewart gave an excellent presentation (“Tips and Tools for Nonfiction Read-Alouds“) at last year’s MSLA conference, so I was looking forward to hearing from her again this year, this time on the topic of “The Role of Equity in Creating Passionate Nonfiction Readers.” She started out by asking attendees to do an activity: jot down “five children’s books you love.” Then, put a check mark next to the nonfiction ones. No check marks? You’re not alone. However, we shouldn’t let our own preferences, biases, and assumptions get in the way: research shows that kids love nonfiction, both expository (nonfiction that explains, describes, and informs) and narrative.

Melissa’s talk was heavier on the “nonfiction” part than the “equity” part, but she made one crucial point that became my main takeaway from this session: Expository nonfiction is straightforward and gets right to the point, which is good for beginning readers; it is more accessible than fiction for kids who haven’t been read to (emphasis mine). For children not yet comfortable and familiar with storytelling conventions, nonfiction is more accessible. Plus, kids enjoy learning about specific topics (animals, things that go, sports, etc.) and it’s empowering for them.

Melissa asked us to consider what barriers exist between students and nonfiction books in our libraries. These barriers might stem from the organizational system the library uses (does it make sense to kids? Can they find what they want?), teacher assignments (are kids allowed to use nonfiction books as well as fiction? Do they know that?), or lack of communication between departments.

There are many things librarians can do to help kids find the nonfiction books they want: highlight them on displays, read them aloud, promote them in book talks. But the most important factor in helping students find nonfiction they love, Melissa said, is TOPIC: “the number one way” to turn “an expository nonfiction kid” on to reading is to give them a book – or some other resource – on that exact topic.

Resources:

Since Melissa’s presentation last year, I’ve been much more mindful of incorporating nonfiction into my displays, book talks, recommendations, and lists, and reading more of it myself (I particularly love picture book biographies). If/when I get the chance to work with younger elementary kiddos, I will be keeping this takeaway in mind.