Fall Storytimes

I haven't been writing about storytimes because I've been so incredibly busy. I've barely been making notes - yikes! I've had a very busy storytime season with two storytimes. I've barely got one hand out of a puppet's keister before I'm putting it back again. I really should just walk around with a puppet permanently affixed to my hand.  It would solve so many issues, like my sometimes-anxiety when interacting with adults. I'm sure they would see the puppet and walk in the opposite direction.

Because I've been so busy giving storytimes I haven't had much time to really reflect on what worked, what made my heart flutter with enthusiasm, and what flopped.  Mostly I've just been writing little notes in my slideshows.

I gave twenty storytimes this past season, which is a little much to throw at anyone all at once. Because of this I will share my favorite books from the storytime season and make a greater effort to include everyone on the journey next season.

While researching preschool storytimes I learned that asking questions was one of the big differences between toddler and preschool storytime.  Sure, wordier books are another important difference, but asking more questions really resonated with me. I made a goal to have at least one important conversation with each storytime group, which turned out to be a challenging goal with the more introverted groups.  Though a couple of these books are more appropriate for toddlers, I chose them to help balance out the wordier books and also initiate conversations.

Here are the top five favorite books from the fall preschool storytime and why they worked so well:

Tuck Me In! by Dean Hacohen and Sherry Scharschmidt



Tuck Me In has beautiful blankie flaps, which I'm sure has a little bit to do with the magic. There is also a phrase we can repeat together each time an animal is tucked in.  Lastly, there's one animal that doesn't have a bellybutton. My storytimes had a great time looking for the missing bellybutton.

The Wonderful Habits of Rabbits by Douglas Florian and Sonia Sánchez



This worked simply because the kids were mesmerized by the pictures and the adults loved the ridiculously adorable ending.

Museum ABC



The kids had a great time guessing what each letter stood for.

One Fox: A Counting Book Thriller



I was delightfully surprised by how many preschoolers figured out why the fox was terrified in the end. It's a simple book but it definitely has a twist that makes you think.

Crunch the Shy Dinosaur by Cirocco Dunlap and Greg Pizzoli



This book is such a great way to talk about shyness and social cues with kids. It's really interactive, and kids get to practice volume level and sing happy birthday.

And here are the top five favorite books of the fall toddler storytime:

Theo & Beau by Jessica Shyba

We spent more time talking about all the steps a bath entails - getting dirty, getting the bath ready, getting into the tub, bubbles, toys, and so on.  We also talked about what kind of toys kids play with in the bath and the colors of their towels and if they had pets and whether their pets took baths with them. If you want to have a conversation with a toddler/preschooler but can't think about how to start one, this is the book for you.

Grumpy Pants by Claire Messer

This is not only a great book for talking about feelings, it's also filled with all kinds of shapes. They're everywhere! Every time someone saw a shape they would shout it out. Next time I read this I'm going to hand out felt shapes for everyone to point to or hold up whenever the shape pops up in the book.

Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd

This is one of my favorites! I've taken a few different approaches with this book, mostly approaches involving color and counting. When I read it for toddler storytime this past fall I noticed I had mostly preschoolers.  So I challenged them to remember the very first mess the dog gets into. They remembered!

Every Color Soup by Jorey Hurley

Whenever I read this at storytime I go into it with the mindset that we are going to make soup together. Real pretend soup! So this becomes more of a discussion than a story. It's a great book to talk about colors and sequencing. I'll ask questions like, "would you put the tomatoes in first without chopping them up?" The kids will yell NO and then we chop things up. Kind of like karate meets soup-making but in the most organic way.

Getting Ready by Cocoretto illustration

This is the perfect example of why impulsive purchases are some times the ones that make the biggest differences in your life. Less than a minute after discovering this book had a zipper I bought it on Amazon. It's not a great book for large storytimes, but if there are about five kids or so it's perfect. I encourage the kids to help me with this book (fold the blanket back, talk about what they eat for breakfast, scratch the bristles on the toothbrush and then pretend to brush their teeth etc.). We spend most of the time zipping and unzipping the zipper on the jacket. It's the best.

enjoying the fall weather

We took advantage of the warm weather over the weekend and went to the dog park. Margo and Josie raced around like maniacs, and never got tired.

They did (grudgingly) stop for a picture with us.

Josie plays proper fetch now and loves a good ball session. Margo is a jerk who does not think she needs to bring the ball back and does everything she can to spoil Josie's fun.

It was a great way to start what is going to be a crazy busy week for all of us.

Favorite October Reads Part 2

Birds of a Feather by Susan L. Roth (Easy Nonfiction)

Susan Roth is a brilliant collage artist who compares her artistic process to how bowerbirds create their nests in this lively read. I enjoyed the illustrations, language ("We each try hard to give our delicate compositions some solidity"), and information about bowerbirds at the end (including a bibliography listing David Attenborough as a source).

Eyes, Nose, Fingers, and Toes by Judy Hindley and Brita Granström (Picture Book)

Unlike a lot of other picture books that point out the different parts of the body and maybe list one thing you can do with that body part, Hindley's book lists multiple things we can do with each part of our bodies. There's are so many movements kids can do while listening to this book. I was nearly tuckered out after reading it through a couple times and trying out all the movements - singing, moving my shoulders, lifting my arms, and stretching my back. This is definitely a new storytime favorite! 

The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkellner (Juvenile Graphic)

This is really an adorable read. There's Laszlo, the talking cat who's looking out for Moth, Moth's mom, Calendula, who is a bit overprotective but also caring, sassy, and hilarious, Moth's new best friend, Charlie, who's a bit predictable, but likes Moth for who she is, and oh then there's Moth. Moth has always wanted to be a witch and is ecstatic when she discovers she is. She's awkward and disliked by her classmates but she's spunky and so full of life and reminiscent of a couple of my childhood friends. I was really impressed by the dialogue, how smoothly it flowed between the characters, but especially Moth and her mom. The illustrations are magical, dark and moody for the earth world and full of light and pastel colors for Hecate, the safe world Hush's grandma created for witches escaping persecution and death.

Come Next Season by Kim Norman and Daniel Miyares (Picture Book)

I really enjoyed the beautiful and concise language in Come Next Season. The different activities the family does each season - swimming and picking blueberries in the summer, being scolded by squirrels in the fall, sledding in the winter, and watching everything come to life again in the spring are all activities kids can easily relate to. The illustrations are also lovely. I enjoyed the fall leaves, the warmth of a winter night putting a puzzle together, and the puppy pages the best.

Favorite October Reads Part 1

How Do You Dance? by Thyra Heder (Picture Book)

This is such a fun book with exciting and oftentimes, hilarious illustrations. There are lots of different ways to dance - while you make dinner, when you're happy, even with dinosaurs! My favorite line, "sometimes you just need to flop around...Until you feel better" is the perfect thing to hear when you're having an off day and need to dance your way out of it.

Tea and Cake with Demons by Adreanna Limbach (Adult Nonfiction)

A few moments and words of wisdom that resonated with me: 

* "The Portuguese 'Eu estou com raiva' can be expressed in the same circumstance as 'I am angry,' but it translates as 'I am with anger.' This tweaking of language gives emotions the role of guest and can help us retain the faith that the demons are not the sum total of who we are; they are just passing through." 

* "When I notice that I'm 'with' anxiety, I'll give it some recognition...'Hello, you prickly little creature, I hope you put the kettle on.' Taking a few beats to notice our thoughts, drop into our bodies, and feel the sensation of what we are with creates a friendly dialogue that neither indulges or represses our demons." 

* And my favorite moment happens later on in Tea and Cake with Demons when Limbach compares everything on our minds to the apps we keep open on our phones. If you leave all your apps open on your phone, it's going to lose battery power faster. The same happens with our mental apps. We need to make an effort to close our mental apps when we're not using them. Limbach writes, "The owner of a yoga studio that I used to work at called this phenomenon of our batteries draining, 'prana leaks.' It's the sense that our precious life force, or prana in Sanskrit, is slowly being used up by background tasks."

Llamas with Lemonade by Ariana Koultourides (Board Book)

I always flip to the letter 'X' before I read an ABC book. If the author can execute the letter 'X' in a way that makes sense I get SUPER excited. I'm pleased to say that Llamas with Lemonade does a fine job with the letter 'X' - an X-Ray fish with the xylophone. The illustrations are also super cute - all the animals are cuddly and friendly - including the vampire bat. Most importantly, there is a llama in this book and on the cover too, which opens the door to all kinds of llama possibilities during storytime.

Tell Me a Dragon by Jackie Morris (Picture Book)

The illustrations are phenomenal. The dragons look both fierce and cuddly and are easily the best dragon illustrations I've encountered. I also like the rich, poetic language - "My dragon eats sweet, perfumed flowers. When she laughs, petals ride on her breath."

Beaded Zen

Here's my latest zen piece.

I bought the beads on Amazon and they came in a divided container, which wasn't going to work for a zen project where I rely on the whims of fate, random.org, or music. The beads were also surprisingly difficult to get out. I tried lots of different ways to get the beads out but Robert ultimately saved the day with this solution.

Thankfully once the beads were out of the divided container and properly mixed up in a new container, the project resumed its zen course.  I developed such a peaceful rhythm threading the beads I found myself trying to do the same thing with another embroidery project that didn't have beads. It was incredibly peaceful to make.

Halloween

We woke up to this Halloween morning:

When Izzy asked if we decorated for Halloween we told her we carved pumpkins.  She gave us a super skeptical look and said, "that's all?"

So we gave her a budget and told her she could do whatever she liked.  She completed phase one before the snow.

Rachel came home for a pumpkin-carving party, and we carved them a little too early. They were starting to do that scary-face thing pumpkins do when they start to rot. But no matter, they were still festive.

I wore my new bat dress because I was fortunate enough to have a storytime on Halloween. For a children's librarian, the feeling of euphoria one experiences upon discovering they have a storytime on Halloween is similar to winning the lottery. The chicken dance is a great way to express happiness, one of the better ways really.

Izzy dressed up as the Red Queen and finished decorating the porch. She did such a good job with the spider webs it was nearly impossible to keep kids from wading into the tunnel she created.

We spent the evening handing out candy and watching Hocus Pocus. Though it was snowy and cold, Halloween was delightful this year.  Izzy's enthusiasm is contagious. We now have a tub labeled "Halloween Decorations" thanks to her.

10 Years of Gratitude Journaling Part 10

This may look like a pretty bland journal entry, but it's actually one of the more special ones to me.

This isn't the best picture, but well life.  I'm still scanning the old fashioned way with a scanner that's hooked up to the computer, which is a pain to use. I haven't figured out a way to do fancy scanning on my phone yet. Sigh. I'm so behind the times.

I don't have a great memory like my brother, Scott who can remember all kinds of stories from our childhood. That's one of the reasons I started journaling. It's nice to keep the good memories alive.

I do remember Thanksgiving in 2017 just like it was yesterday. My dad, who travelled most of his life, hasn't been too big on leaving his current town for the last 30 years. I was totally shocked when he said that they were coming up for Thanksgiving. I got to show him all the things I love, including my home and favorite libraries. Looking back at this post I'm not sure what I meant by 'impressed.' I think just like anyone else I want my dad to be proud of me. I think he always wanted one of his kids to become a musician, and being a children's librarian isn't quite the same thing (although I did sort of write that storytime song). I think he's thrilled I love my job though.

Izzy

A big, exciting change has happened in our home. My niece, Izzy, is living in Kansas City with us. Izzy is a delightful kiddo who has been bravely working through trauma she endured while living with her mom several years ago. She was doing a great job working through this trauma while living in Tucson with her dad, who is my brother Rusty A.K.A. James, but her progress stalled. We are hoping that a fresh start, different approach, and additional resources will help Izzy continue to flourish.

Izzy is currently a sophomore in high school and has been working really hard on her school work, therapy, taking care of herself, and getting acclimated to all things Kansas City, including an aunt and uncle she hasn't had a whole lot of contact with. She's been doing really well. Robert and I love her and we are trying. There have been challenges, but more than enough positive, beautiful moments to outweigh the challenges.

When Rachel moved up here a few years ago we spent some time building what we call The Rachel Team, which grew and grew as she progressed through high school. Robert and I have been working on building an Izzy team that includes family, a therapist, an educational advocate to help us with her IEP, an entire army of phenomenal high school staff that are moving mountains for her, and our small but mighty circle of friends. Izzy is doing great so far. I feel like we're all working well together and Izzy feels loved and is flourishing. I don't think this will be an easy battle. Some people have gigantic monsters to battle, monsters they couldn't escape and struggle to defeat, and Izzy is one of those people. Thankfully she is positive, loving, imaginative, tenacious, a self-advocate, and has energy for days (energy we may need to borrow). 

Currently we have been working on making sure her planner is up-to-date each day. Izzy struggles to retain information, but once she gets in the habit of doing something or she has a list to help her, she does an excellent job getting her school work done. Her teachers have been signing off on her planner each day so we know what her homework is and we can help her with it. Robert has been tackling math with her, and Izzy and I read aloud her assigned books together. Science and theater have been trickier and both Robert and I continue to make efforts, but those are not our stronger areas. Thankfully Izzy's team at school has been helping her (and us) learn her science homework.

There has been a lot of learning and growth not just for Izzy, but for Robert and I as well. Blogging has definitely taken a backseat currently, in addition to a handful of other things.  As I find a new balance with work, my own personal goals/obligations, Izzy, Rachel, Robert, and family in general, I'll start blogging more.

Here are a few pictures of her Kansas City journey thus far:



As soon as we knew Izzy wanted to stay and give Kansas City a try we began telling our close friends. They've been bringing Izzy clothes (a big help since Izzy didn't have winter clothes), helping us find resources, offering advice during sticky situations, and even inviting us to church, which is something Izzy enjoys. The above picture is of Ann, who brought Izzy a welcome to Kansas City pie.

We are fortunate that Rachel has been coming home most weekends. We know that's typical during the first semester but beginning with the second semester, not as much. This is what a good weekend evening looks like for us. We've been trying to create time to unwind together and will usually hang out together working on separate projects. I started a couple different journals with Izzy and we've had a good time working on them together.

Izzy's also a whiz in the kitchen and quick to help make and prepare things with us. She also has shared a few of her go-to recipes with us. I finally found someone who will eat tuna mac with me and squeal excitedly about it too.

This is Izzy's first-day-of-school picture.

And her birthday picture. We took her out for sushi. Like Rachel, she really likes all things fishy. 

We've been to visit dad a few times and Izzy has been enjoying the heck out of hanging out with him and his cats.

I will keep you updated!

Favorite September Reads Part 2

The Beauty of the Beast by Jack Prelutsky and Meilo So (Juvenile Nonfiction)

My heart! Prelutsky's combination of obscure and familiar poems written by a wide variety of poets married with So's illustrations are the perfect match. I enjoyed this book of poetry as much as their other collaboration, The 20th Century Children's Poetry Treasury, and am sad there isn't another. It's tough to choose a favorite poem so I'll pick my favorite short poem, written by Moritake: 

"Fallen petals rise back to the branch - I watch: oh...butterflies!" 

One-Handed Catch by  Mary Jane Auch (Juvenile Fiction)

I admired Norm's determination and attitude following an accident at this family's store that takes his left hand. He doesn't give up on his baseball dreams and re-learns how to play his favorite sport again. His mother makes sure nobody gives Norm preferential treatment and puts Norm to work doing chores and helping out at his family's store the day after he returns home from the hospital. Norm's classmates and friends have mixed reactions, but Norm takes any positivity and encouragement they give and tosses the negativity away. Norm also discovers a passion for art in the year following his accident, which I thought was a nice touch. At the end of this book Auch writes a little note about how this story is based loosely on a childhood accident that left her husband with one hand.

Tuck Me In! by Dean Hacohen & Sherry Scharschmidt (Picture Book)

This book has blankie flaps! The reader gets to tuck in all the animals with their beautiful blankies. There is one animal that doesn't have a bellybutton. Who is it?

Hippos Go Berserk! by Sandra Boynton (Board Book)

With a title like this, it's hard not to fall in love with this board book before the cover is even flipped open. The expressions on the hippos' faces are dynamite and sure to make anyone smile. It begins with one lonely hippo, who decides to have a party. Hippos began arriving in unusual ways - some dressed as wait staff, one wearing fur. Seven even arrive in a sack, which is definitely a sack I would want to be around when it was opened. The party goes on all night, and when it's over the countdown begins. So there's counting forwards and backwards, which is always a heart-melting moment for me if it's done right. This is definitely done the right way. The hippos leave in groups again, but in different kinds of groups, so it's apparent that friendships were formed (with the exception of the pioneer hippos, who leave behind six distressed hippos), and you can have exciting discussions with whoever you're reading this with about adding these new groups of numbers. For example, if the seven pioneer hippos had found room in their wagon for the six hippos they left behind, how many hippos would be moving west? At the end, there's that sad, lonely hippo missing all his friends (sounds like an extrovert problem), but more importantly, clever Boynton not only executes a brilliant rhyme, but also demonstrates her mad math skills and knows exactly how many friends the lonely hippo is missing. It's pretty much everything a person could ever hope for in a book.

Favorite September Reads Part 1

I am here and all is well. Life has been bananas. I'll give a better update soon.

I did find some time for reading last month. September will be a double post.

Enjoy!

Night of the Moonjellies by Mark Shasha (picture book)

This is such a warm, inviting story. I think I was a little bit more enamored with everything that went into working a day at a hot dog stand than I was with the moonjellies bit of the story. The illustrations are magnificent, kind of like getting a hug from a book.

Why My Cat is More Impressive than Your Baby by Matthew Inman (Adult nonfiction/comics)

I don't have a baby or a cat but still think this is one of the funniest books ever. I can't imagine it getting any funnier, but if you have a cat and/or baby, it's possible you may never stop laughing. It's definitely crude and full of offensive images, language, and ideas, but if none of that bothers you, I highly recommend it. I'm trying to think of a favorite moment and it's just so tough, because nearly every page was a favorite moment. I think I relate the most to the "how to hold a cat when you are not used to holding cats" page. Basically the advice is don't do it. Do not pick up the cat. I am definitely the person in the comic who has picked up the cat and is trying to escape a suddenly unhappy and possibly murderous monster who did not want to be picked up.

The Secret of Everything by Barbara O'Neal (Adult Fiction)

Tessa is a hiking guide/photographer who survives a tragic hiking accident. After healing at home - her father's house in California - she decides to travel to a place in New Mexico, Las Ladronas, that she thinks will be the next great hiking tour spot. It also happens to be the town where she spent the first few years of her childhood. She falls in love with both Las Ladronas ( the people, food, beauty, hiking opportunities) and Vince, a search-and-rescue worker. She also discovers giant, life-altering secrets about her past. There is no question that there is A LOT going on in this novel. Even though there are lots of stories within stories, I never felt overwhelmed. I think O'Neal does a masterful job bringing everything together (except for one ghostly character) in the end. I adored, I mean absolutely adored the attention to detail. O'Neal writes like an artist. Because of Tessa's passion for photography, she notices everything. O'Neal takes this a step further and describes in beautiful detail everything that catches Tessa's eye. My only small gripe with this novel are the love scenes, which are a little over-the-top, rather forced, and unnecessary. It feels a bit like O'Neal realized there wasn't enough romance so she threw a bunch of scenes in at the last minute without checking to make sure the words weren't on the romance no-no list of words. But the multi-layered story, rich details of food and New Mexico, and the relationships developed between the characters make this an excellent read that I highly recommend.