Both sides of the coin

On the children's side of the library today:

A kid approached me and asked how many books he could check out on his library card.

I started to give my usual spiel - tell the kid that the limit was 150 books BUT he needed to check with his grown-up too.

He only heard the number before running off.

The next thing I heard was, "Hey mom, how many books do you think we can fit in the car?"

On the grown-up side of the library today:

A middle-aged patron asked for help printing a map and address. 

"I'm going on the first date I've been on in years.  I want to put the address in my bible for a keepsake."

😮 

Creepy? Hopeful? Sweet?  All of the above?

Before he could jinx the date any further (or say anything else that was awkward), I helped him send the document to the printer and hurried away.

But he had one more question.

"Is there any way you can spare a nickel?"

I found a nickel in the change jar at the desk and handed it to him.

He went to pay for the document and I breathed a sigh of relief.

But my sigh of relief came too soon.

He gave me a big smile and said, "I'm so lucky.  I hope you get lucky tonight too."

His face immediately turned a dark shade of red as he realized what he just said.

As an equally awkward person, I had no quick save or any words of comfort to offer, only a cough as I tried not to laugh.  I made a beeline to the stacks to "straighten books" while he made a beeline for the door.

a few reviews about squishes, bees, Mother Earth, a special tree, and an upcoming holiday

 I've been diving into my picture book TBR pile, which is humongous.

Lunar New Year by Hannah Eliot and illustrated by Alina Chau (Board Book)

I am impressed with how much information Eliot squeezed into such a concise description of the Lunar New Year. Though this is a board book, I think all ages will enjoy the details, traditions, and illustrations. And hopefully, like me, readers will want to know more and check out other books about the holiday.

Begin with a Bee by Liza Ketchum and illustrated by Claudia McGehee (Nonfiction Picture Book)

What a wonderful way to get kids (and adults too) excited about bees! Begin with a Bee is truly a work of art. The illustrations, which use the scratchboard art technique, are phenomenal, radiating an electricity that buzzes. My favorite spread is the transformation of grubs to pupae. I can feel my heart and enthusiasm growing with each little change. There’s so much depth and movement in these pages! The language is equally rich, includes many flower names, and yet it’s not too dense. My favorite line is “Flowers drop seeds, seeds that started when bumble bees buzzed the pollen loose from the flowers…” Spanning the course of an entire year, beginning and ending with a small hole in a ground, and following the life of a queen rust-patched bee, this book is an outstanding journey into the life of bees.

Dear Little One by Nina Laden and illustrated by Melissa Castrillón (Picture Book)

A singsongy letter from Mother Nature that encourages the reader to appreciate the earth. There isn’t a lot of explanation about why we should appreciate the earth, but perhaps this will encourage the reader to dig deeper and ask questions. What really stands out in this book are the illustrations. So much to see on every page, and so much color to get lost in.

Survivor Tree by Marcie Colleen and illustrated by Aaron Becker (Nonfiction Picture Book)

Survivor Tree tells the story of a Callery Pear tree, which was the last living thing pulled from the rubble of the Twin Towers. Both text and illustrations are simple and haunting, but also comforting. The Callery pear tree needed a lot of help in order to survive. It was moved to a nursery and, once it was strong enough to be transported, back to where the towers once stood. It still bears the scars of 9/11 and visitors can see and touch the line between past and present. Included in this book are notes from both author and illustrator and a little more information about The Survivor Tree, including the seedling program, which is truly a thoughtful program. Colleen writes that by telling the tree’s story, she hopes “readers and their caregivers will find an entry point to a topic that is difficult to comprehend.”

Can I Give You a Squish? by Emily Neilson (Picture Book)

Not everybody likes squishes or hugs! When Kai gives Puffer Fish an unwanted hug he learns about all the ways his friends and family like to be greeted. Octopus likes tentacle shakes, Dolphin likes fin bumps, and his mom likes squishes. This is a great book to use as a platform to talk about tricky topics like touching, consent, and how others like to be greeted and shown affection. My favorite moment happens when puffer fish puffs up “like a water balloon, which is what puffer fish do when they are scared or upset.” This demonstrates social cues in such a simple way and provides space to talk about them. Puffer Fish also lets Kai know that he doesn’t like to be squished, which illustrates that we can politely let others know when something makes us uncomfortable. Neilson beautifully explores some big topics in Can I Give You a Squish, and if I could, I would give her a squish for her beautiful effort. But only if she’s ok with squishes!

So much to be thankful for part 2

I took that picture!  With my fancy phone camera!

It's been a glorious fall here with mild temperatures.  

Jo Pie!

The dogs and I have been enjoying lots of time playing tennis on the backboard.

Josie always finds a comfort stick to hold and sometimes eat.

And one day, something truly special happened.  In all the years I've been bringing them to tennis with me, we've never seen another dog on the courts.

Not only did we see another dog on the courts.  We saw it racing to the courts without a leash and it was a golden!  I rarely leash the girls when we're walking to the courts and I just keep their leashes nearby in case someone is playing next to me and the dogs make them uncomfortable.  They just lay in the sunshine like two rugs, so it's rare when someone is uncomfortable with them.  Sometimes rugs are ferocious and scary!

Robert has been blowing/raking/bagging a lot of leaves!  I've helped a little, but I don't like the leaf blower.  Margo and Josie, however, do not mind the leaf blower at all.  In fact, they get so comfy sometimes they are soon buried in leaves.  Like I said, ferocious and scary rugs!

The only thing that's truly terrifying are Margo's lips, which hold a lot of sass and a lot drool.

 

Back to updates!  I had a birthday!  It was a good one!

My coworkers got me an adorable card.

We visited our favorite neighborhood cat, Joy.  We met one of her humans a while back and told her how much we loved her cat.  She was only mildly alarmed by my cat enthusiasm and told us her cat's name is Joy.  We now visit Joy at least once a week on our walks.  If she's on her porch, we'll call her name and she comes right on over.  She doesn't give a flying fart about the dogs anymore.  Whatever little trepidation she had initially, is now just ambivalence or sass.

I was so thrilled she was outside on my birthday. 

We were all pooped from the excitement of seeing joy!

I've mentioned Margo's lips, right?  They are so baggy and floppy and lovely.  Robert calls them her curtains.

So yes, a lot to be grateful for.  It's an exhausting, all-consuming, electric, feeling-like-I-belong-and-matter, kitty-cuddles, new-amazing-niece, feeling-good-in-my body kind of joy.

Much to be thankful for part 1

November and December have been two of the craziest months I've had in a long, long time.  Most of it was the good kind of crazy, and there have been a lot of special moments I haven't properly absorbed or recorded.  

So here we go!

My niece, Savannah Jane was born November, 5th and she is beautiful.

Here is Savannah with big sister, Autumn.

Not sure if I've mentioned it, but I've been reading virtually with two of my nieces (Autumn and Harper) every week for several months now.  Reading with my nieces got me out of the 2020 muck, which is too mucky to talk about here.  Reading with them has also helped me feel close to them even though they live far away.  I love them both dearly and reading with them is the highlight of my week.

I love this picture so much.  Autumn is reading, and in the background you can see my brother, Scott holding Savannah.

Here is Harper and her bunny, Cuddles Cocoa, who sometimes reads with us.

Something else has helped me get out of the 2020 muck, and that's eliminating dairy from my diet.  After years of digestive and sleep issues, I barely crawled into 2021.  I was so sleep deprived I was struggling to get through the day.  I was a total wreck.  I have spent 2021 undergoing a baffling number of medical tests and procedures and am getting close to figuring things out.  The biggest change was eliminating dairy, which was part of a larger food testing experiment.  Eliminating dairy has dramatically improved the quality of my sleep and mellowed my digestive issues.  I'm still working on the digestive issues, but life is SO much better.  I can't even begin to describe all the tiny and big ways I feel better.  I have struggled with sleep paralysis since my teens, and I haven't had an issue with it since June.

Going dairy-free hasn't been as challenging as I thought it would be.  Though there is dairy in a lot of things (The wasabi powder on nuts! Salad dressings!) There are so many dairy-free options it's a little ridiculous.  Robert has also been super supportive.

At the end of October, I was able to play a little ukulele for my dad, who was proud as punch.  And Robert captured a video.  Playing the ukulele is hard!  I'm not what you would call musically-inclined, so this has been a workout for my brain.  But it's also surprisingly cathartic.  I hope I'm a part of in-person storytimes when my library has them again, because I am ready to rock on (Old MacDonald had a Farm style that is).

Part 2 coming tomorrow!

Bookends

I drink a lot of tea, so I always have a pile of tea wrappers to sort.  When I'm stewing on a project, I sort my papers.  Today, I started my day sorting the rainbow.  

 

Later, while taking the dogs for a walk, we noticed a toad playing rainbow hopscotch.

and in this corner is a wasp

Fellow blogger, Snowbrush and I have been talking about wasps in one of my recent posts, and so naturally I came across a wasp cartoon in The New Yorker (I can't remember which one).  It gave me a chuckle.  Maybe someday I won't run away in complete terror when I see a wasp. 

Lucky Fish by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

                                               

Favorite poems & lines:

From The Secret of Soil: “…a step in the forest means you are carried on the back of a thousand bugs.”

From Corpse Flower: “He even gave it a name and when the farmer said the name out loud, the flower began to move—then completely devoured him.”

And from my favorite poem, The Light I collect, Nezhukumatathil writes this about her newborn son, “When I hold him in the sunshine, even his ears glow from behind like a church window shining a celebration within.”

blinded by the guinea fowl

I started this piece in March, which goes to show how long it takes to chop up a zillion pieces (a few lost with each big breath), stew over toes and poke toe papers around (at least a month's worth of stewing and poking), and place stamens on one at a time with tweezers.

I'm going to forgo modesty for a moment and share something I'm really proud of.  Everything went as expected with this piece.  I enjoyed every minute making and putting the flowers together.  Her face was a delight to make.  And the feet were just as tough as I expected them to be.  But not so tough to cause any extra anxiety.  When I got to the feet, which I saved for last, I went into making them with the mindset of, "this is going to be tough," and thankfully that's all it was. 

When I map out a project, I can't tell you how many times I end up changing things because I didn't take the time to think everything through.  Not this time.  And I'm so proud of that.  

I listened to a lot of Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Beats Antique while making this piece, and oddly enough, I feel like the spirit of those artists comes through.  She's such a happy, sassy guinea fowl (who really doesn't look much like her guinea fowl friends).  And I think the colors have a lot to do with the beautiful music I listened to while creating her.

Now I get to spend the next month carefully sealing her.  Wish me luck!

Here are some fun pictures of the progress!

I love these little tea tins I saved from a gift set a few years ago.  I spent a little while figuring out how to lay out the flowers both on and off the piece.  I didn't know what my favorite color was going to be, but it quickly turned out to be purple and gold, so I tried to make those pop the most.  

This piece is huge, about half the size of me.  So I spent a fair amount of time with it on the floor.  The dogs aren't allowed in my office.  Hair and collage aren't friends, but my girlies are usually right outside my door while I work, and occasionally an ear or lip finds its way into my office.  This always cracks me up.  They know what they can get away with! 

First flower!

I used a few chocolate wrappers, and I love the way the gold glows in the sunlight.  Who knew a person would ever say, "I was blinded by the guinea fowl?"

An ordinary day at the library took a decidedly dark turn

Today, when I asked a patron to verify the spelling of his email address, which had the word 'chop' in it, he said, "you know chop - like chopping up bodies." 😨

Later, while talking to a kid about Pokémon, he suddenly said, "do you want to hear a riddle?"  

"Sure!" I replied.  Anything to stop talking about Pokémon.

I didn't say that last part.

So the kid says, "what is greater than God, more evil than the devil, the poor have it, the rich don't need it, and if you eat it, you die?"

Before I could say anything, his face grew somber and he asked, "Do you know who's worse than the devil?"

He had my attention.  And my concern!  I nodded at him to continue.

He paused before leaning in to whisper, "my brother's girlfriend."

He was so serious, which made it almost impossible to control my laughter.  Thankfully my mask hid my face!

serenity

I just finished another fun zen embroidery piece.  This time I used up a lot of thread scraps and changed up the number of threads each time I changed threads (the knots are all different sizes).  Time-consuming and tedious work are synonymous with serenity to me.  I've been working on a few secret projects, but while I finish those I'll be starting another French knot piece.  My hands don't know what to do when they're not making French knots.  I guess this means I'll keep at it until I can't bear the thought of another French knot, which may be never.

Bully

Thanks to Visitant Lit for publishing my poem, Bully.

I've written a handful of poems about this patron who was a regular at multiple branches in my system for several years.  He stopped coming in a couple years ago and I haven't seen him since.  

The Capybaras

It’s tough to review this book without giving away the surprise ending, which is the best part. A family of capybaras need a safe place to hide during hunting season and they find a flock of chickens who begrudgingly give them a place to stay. But their relationship changes. Hunting season ends. Or does it? And do the chickens befriend the capybaras? If you’re like me, once you see the cover, you’ll be hooked by the illustrations, which aren’t fussy at all and carry the story ahead of its words, encouraging the reader to not miss a single detail.

Oh no!

I find a lot of scribbles in books at the library.  I also find boogers, torn pages, and the rare handwritten note, letter to a future reader, or beloved bookmark.  We have two full time children's librarians at my branch and we usually each take a section of books each week and flip through all the pages for any signs of damage or other mischief books like to get into (missing barcodes, books that travel to the wrong sections, inaccurate labels).  It's surprisingly relaxing and satisfying work, just keeping the books in proper order.  But I'm always excited to find a little extra.

Today's scribbles were found on a most interesting page.  It was almost like the page knew what was coming, or the page started hollering "Oh no!" once the pencil came out.  To the child, I'm sure their drawing was a masterpiece.  In the book's opinion, it was something far more sinister.  As for me, I had a nice long chuckle about it.

All You Knead is Love

All You Knead is Love by Tanya Guerrero (Juvenile Fiction)

Alba is a lot like the sourdough bread she falls in love with after her mother sends her to Barcelona to live with her grandma, Abuela Lola, who she barely knows. Alba pretends she’s tough, so a lot of people only see a crusty 12 year-old, but on the inside she is a total softie. She’s dealing with a lot so she cries and runs away when she becomes overwhelmed. The first place Alba runs to is El Rincón del Pan, a bread shop owned by a kind family friend, Toni. Toni immediately starts teaching Alba how to bake bread, and this is where she starts to heal from the trauma of living in an abusive home. Just as Alba is embracing her new life, however, her past catches up with her. 

I appreciated how easily Alba cried and others embraced, accepted, and helped her instead of shutting her down or ignoring her. The characters in this story are truly wonderful, almost over-the-top wonderful. I’m pretty sure every person Alba meets in Barcelona loves her and wants to help her. They’re all eccentric, interesting, and kind. Though I rolled my eyes a few times at the lack of adversity, I think the traumatic home life Alba physically escaped from more than balances all the happiness Alba finds in herself and others in her new life. 

I read the eBook so maybe it’s more obvious with a physical copy, but I didn’t realize there was a Spanish/Catalan/Tagalong Glossary in the back. You will still be able to understand the story, but the glossary is great! It includes the page numbers and language of each phrase/line. I highly recommend checking the glossary as you read. 

I will leave you with two of my favorite quotes: 

“Abuela Lola’s place was filled with memories and stories, layers and layers of them compiled over the years.” 

And this lovely quote about family: “Being together was all that mattered. The rhythm of our breathing, the heat of our bodies, the scent of our shampoos swirling together.”

Assault

It's been over ten years since I read Cormac McCarthy's Child of God, and it continues to give me nightmares.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I signed up for a Cormac McCarthy/Don DeLillo class in college.  

If you're brave, check out my poem, Assault, published by Visitant Lit.  It does give me some comfort knowing there are other Child of God readers out there, haunted by his lines and unable to look at anything the same way ever again. 

Favorite October Reads Part 2

Here we go with a few more reviews!

Prairie Days by Patricia MacLachlan and illustrated by Micha Archer (Picture Book)

With a picture book duo like Patricia Maclachlan and Micha Archer, this was one of those books I knew was going to be amazing even before I read it. Patricia Maclachlan paints a picture of a long-ago prairie summer day. The book is a feast for all senses. I can smell the flowers, taste the pop from the cold-water lift-top tanks, feel the wind from the horse rides, hear the dogs barking as they herd sheep, and feel the coziness of reading beneath a family quilt at the end of the day (my favorite moment). Though Maclachlan doesn't need help bringing her vivid imagery to life, Micha Archer's illustrations (read her bio about how she creates them) bring Maclachlan's words to life in an explosion of warmth, texture, and color.

Donust and Other Proclamations of Love by Jared Reck (Teen Fiction)

Donuts and Other Proclamations of Love is one of those long books that weaves in and out of conflicts that last the entire story. I appreciated how it took its time and gave each conflict plenty of attention and respect. 

Oscar is in his senior year and knows what he wants to do after high school. His plans do not involve college. His dream is to continue working with his grandpa (Farfar) on their beloved Food Truck, Hej Hej. Farfar wants Oscar to keep an open mind and explore all his options. Farfar and Oscar’s relationship is one of the sweetest, realest, and most complex relationships I’ve encountered in a teen book. Farfar wants everything for Oscar, but more than anything else, he wants Oscar to be happy. 

Oscar begins his senior year hoping to get the last bit of coursework done without a lot of effort. This is where Lou comes in. Lou, also a senior, is extremely driven, has her sights set on a bunch of serious colleges, and is annoyingly smart and focused. She gets Oscar involved in a plan to reduce food waste, and before he knows what’s happening, he’s cranking out hundreds of apple treats with the apples students toss (a ridiculous amount of apples by the way). He’s initially bitter about being blindsided by the force that is Lou, but after a while his feelings become conflicted. To make matters even more confusing for him, Lou and Farfar hit it off and soon Lou is working in the food truck with them. 

I was completely won over by the characters in this story. I enjoyed their growth, not only as characters but also how their relationships grew. Lou is almost immediately embraced and included in Oscar and Farfar’s small family (mostly by Farfar in the beginning), which includes a darling cat who everyone sweet talks. There are also a handful of supporting characters who are equally interesting and really help flesh out Farfar and Oscar’s characters and roles in their community.

Witches of Brooklyn series by Sophie Escabasse (Juvenile Graphic Fiction)

When Effie shows up on Carlota and Selimene’s doorstep, nobody has any idea who is who or what is going on. Effie needs a home, and Selimene (stepsister of Effie’s mom) and Carlota are surprised by her arrival. Selimene is furious about being disturbed so late in the evening she throws a proper fit and says all kinds of dastardly things to the social worker. In one short evening, Effie, Carlota, and Selimene become a family for better or worse. 

Effie can just about match Selimene’s saltiness, but underneath all the salt, they are true softies. Carlota is wise and nurturing and provides a dose of calm and reason when Effie and Selimene become loud and moody. Watching them grow as a family is pretty special. It’s rocky, hilarious, sweet, and enchanting. 

While they are working on becoming a family and Effie is navigating a new school and friends, a special musician and her entourage show up in the middle of the night with an unusual problem. This is when Effie discovers her aunts are witches! And she is too! 

As you can tell, this book has a little bit of everything, but I would be doing the book an injustice if I didn’t mention the illustrations. They are spectacular - full of emotion, not too wordy, and there is a librarian knight with his own font and a quirky pink pet dog/cat (it's tough to tell) who shows off a little magic of his own in the second book in the series.

The Doran series by Monica Furlong (Juvenile Fiction)

I have read the first (amazing) and second (BEAUTIFUL cover but not as good as the first) and am eagerly waiting for the third.  My library doesn't own these books so I have been requesting them from other library systems.  

Wise Child lives with her grandmother in a small village in remote Scotland. Her mother left when she was a small child and her father is at sea. When her grandmother dies, the only person who will take Wise Child is Juniper, a healer and Doran (the closest word I can think of is witch and a Doran is so much more) who is both revered and feared by the village. 

Initially, Wise Child is a brat who cannot take care of herself. Juniper immediately begins teaching her everything – herbs, school subjects like math and Latin, and home skills such as cooking, cleaning, and taking care of their animals. Wise Child does not like the hard work, but she flourishes thanks to it and Juniper’s unconditional love and interest in her. 

Wise Child’s mom is a sorceress who does not use her powers to heal. She makes multiple attempts to steal Wise Child, and the struggle Wise Child feels between her mom (who is not a good person but has an easy life) and Juniper (who loves her unconditionally and wants to teach her everything she knows) is raw and intense and really pulls the reader into the struggle. 

I admired Juniper’s wise, gentle, and stark observations on life and human behavior. I also appreciated how Wise Child grew to understand that Juniper’s silence held more weight than words at times. Juniper truly appreciates that there is a lot of beauty and peace found in everyday work and routines, and she is patient when she repeatedly shares this lesson with Wise Child. I quickly disappeared into the evolution of their relationship and Wise Child’s character growth. Though Wise Child’s struggle to find out where she belongs is painful at times, I finished the book with feelings of warmth, comfort, and curiosity. 

Favorite October Reads Part 1

October was another month filled with lots of good books.  It's starting to get chilly here so I've been spending a little more time buried under blankets and books.  Reading is one of my favorite parts of hibernating.

This will be a double post.  Going forward, I'm going to post these reviews as I write them.  Hopefully this will help each book stand out more.

Bear is a Bear by Jonathan Stutzman and illustrated by Dan Santat (whose work I adore) (Picture Book)

This book will stomp all over your heart and make you cry but in a good way, I promise! The story reminds me a little of Calvin and Hobbes, The Giving Tree, and Love You Forever, but it's definitely a one-of-a-kind book about the evolution of friendship between a beloved stuffed bear and his girl as she grows up, goes to college, and has a child of her own. There is so much to look for in the illustrations, which are magnificent. I had to take a moment when I reached the page where Bear climbs into the chest. That page really got to me. Grown-ups are going to love this. Kids will have fun looking at the illustrations, but I imagine a lot of them will be offering their grown-ups a tissue.

Lost Things by Carey Sookocheff (Picture Book)

How can a book with simple lines and illustrations be so complex? My theory is that by keeping the text and illustrations so simple, the multiple stories, which are all connected to each other and cyclical to boot, really have a chance to go deeper and tangle with each other while making perfect sense. I enjoyed following the lost objects as they found new homes. I thought the different speculations about what lost items mean to their new homes and people were surprisingly profound. There’s a little bit of “Que Será, Será” to this book, a call to embrace and accept our losses and use our imaginations to think up new homes for lost things.

This Small Blue Dot by Zeno Sworder (Picture Book)

When a little girl welcomes a new sibling to the world, she explains everything she’s “worked out so far.” It’s an imaginative, winding journey through her speculations, favorite things, advice she’s heard from grown-ups, things that make her special, and what she wants to share with her new sibling. The illustrations are unusual and wonderful. The little girl and her new sibling are drawn lifelike in pencil. Everything else is in crayon, wildly colorful, and a little abstract.

Dragon Night by J.R. Krause

Georgie is afraid of the night and Dragon is afraid of the knight in the story he lives in. After Georgie and Dragon figure out they are talking about two totally different things, they begin to help each other with their fears. I don’t want to give too much away, but their solutions for the scary night/knight are considerate, thoughtful, and ingenious. I also thought the illustrations were magnificent. The dragon’s face is so expressive. I felt such a wonderful connection with the dragon and have been enjoying ruminating the possibility of characters strolling in and out of their stories.

Poemz

I recently had a few poems published.  You can find my poems, Bobbers and The Mallard in the 2021 Issue of Flights and my poem, Losing Aaron in The Edison Review, Volume 20.