Monthly Archives: November 2010

Blog administration

Blog frustrations…

My blog has been down all day, for some reason (my brother’s was as well, so I’m guessing it was a server or host issue)…which really wouldn’t be an issue, except that I had an uncommitted hour tonight between 9 and 10 that I planned to use to write some blog entries that have been sitting in my brain for a couple of weeks.  But when the blog is down, entries don’t get written (it’s so tempting to browse the Fire Mountain jewelry making supplies website instead).  And then the next thing I know, it’s 10:00 and bedtime…and the blog is suddenly up and running again.  I’m glad it’s running, but sad that those great entries have to kick around in my forgetful brain for another day.

Meanwhile, though, please do check out the new link I’ve added – the website for Jim’s band.  It’s kind of cool to be married to a rock star!

Etc.

Interpretations, anyone?

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While we were making dinner last night, Jim said the following (which we have accurately quoted, since I said, “Write that on the white board so we don’t forget it!!”):

…the hairy overtones of a misplaced onion…

That’s it.  I can’t remember the context of our conversation, so I’m opening up the comment field to interpretations…

Book groups, Children's book reviews

Alcatraz versus…

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The 5th and 6th grade book groups are both reading the same book this month, Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson.  I’ve been wanting to read this book, first in a series of four (so far), partly because of its title, and partly because several of the library’s most avid readers have recommended the series to me. 

But – I’m sorry, very sorry to be this blunt – I hate the book.  It’s all a little too cute, too self-conscious, too adult – it’s impossible to get lost in the story, because the narrator keeps butting in with comments about the book or himself.  And the narrator, Alcatraz, is supposed to be a thirteen year old boy, but his rants and complaints sound more like a forty year old cranky grownup.  For instance, when his new-found grandfather pulls into a gas station, Alcatraz observes:  “I didn’t recognize the brand – the sign hanging above the ridiculously high prices simply depicted the image of an upside-down teddy bear” (p. 37).  How many thirteen year olds are going to notice, let alone comment on, the price of gas?

I’ve read several of the reviews that were written about the book when it was published in 2007, and I think that the Horn Book Magazine says it best in this phrase from its review:  “For all its self-aware preciosity…”  Obviously there’s an end to that sentence, an end that doesn’t agree with me, since the Horn Book recommends this book, but “self-aware preciosity” sums up my criticism of this novel.  I’m sure that Alcatraz and his creator would dismiss me as an “evil librarian,” but I just can’t find much to like in the book.

So now it will be doubly interesting to hear what the 5th and 6th graders have to say about it when they meet this week and next week, respectively.  I’ll try to keep my opinions to myself at first, so that the kids get a chance to say what they really think.  If all of the kids really like the book, maybe I won’t even mention my thoughts at all.  Maybe.  Stay tuned to hear how these two book discussions go…and now I’ve got to get back to finishing the book.  Sigh.

Librarianship, Storytime

On puppets

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While watching The Muppet Movie last night, I was reminded of how great an influence Jim Henson and his compatriots have had on me.  I learned all of my puppet skills from them – and from my older brother and sister – and those skills are one of the most important tools in my children’s librarian toolbox.  Not something you’d think to put on a resume (“Puppet skills: Consistently and competently emulate the Muppets when using puppets”), nor ask about when interviewing a candidate for a children’s librarian position (“That’s great that you have an MLS and ten years of experience, but can you use puppets???”), yet those puppet skills are completely and totally essential to the success of any children’s librarian.  If you can’t use puppets well in a storytime, it means that you’re maintaining too much of your adult ego, and you’re not really living in the moment and letting go – letting things flow.

Which is not to say that I’m perfect at it, because I’m definitely not.  But there are those days, or even just moments, when I bring out a puppet in storytime and forget about Abby and simply focus on the puppet, like I would if I were horsing around with my brother and sister and puppets.  In those moments, something magical truly does happen.  I can see out of the corner of my eyes that the adults, as well as the kids, are transfixed and amused and caught up in the puppet performance.  The irony, of course, is that as soon as I am aware of the audience’s reaction – then I lose the moment.  It’s much like meditation:  you’ll be going along great, meditating really well, and then you realize, “Hey, I’m doing this meditation thing great today!  I’ve totally forgotten about everything else!!!”, and guess what?  You’re not meditating anymore.

But I’m hoping that with more practice I’ll reach that perfect level…puppet nirvana, maybe…and that I’ll be able to sustain my puppeteering for longer periods of time, while being truly conscious of the performance.  That would be awesome.  For now, I’m just happy that I’ve been using puppets more in the Mother Goose on the Loose Storytime.  Instead of using only stuffed animals for the song “When the [hen] gets up in the morning, she always says [cluck],” I’ve started using a rotating selection of puppets, too, and it’s been incredibly cool.  The stuffed animals are very cute, but also static.  The puppets, on the other hand, are animated and engaging: the moms who are chatting at the back of the room stop chatting, and the children who are getting wiggly stop wiggling.  Everyone looks at the goat puppet as I sing to him, and everyone maaas along with him, with some happy giggles here and there in the room.  Best of all are the Folkmanis stage puppets, which have truly malleable faces like Muppets; my favorite stage puppet is the horse, which has quarts of personality, but the lion and the sheep are a close second.

And all this thinking about puppets has inspired me to learn a story to tell with puppets for Thursday’s Preschool Storytime.  It’s not often that I have the time available to memorize a story to tell with puppets, but this week I’m going to make the time (at home, I’m afraid – there’s never the time to do this at work) and Thursday’s storytime is going to be fun.  Puppets rule!!

Children, Etc.

Good things

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The fully cranked woodstove, with slightly damp, lightly hissing logs, keeping our house toasty and the cats mellow.

Freshly washed flannel sheets for the bedroom – which doesn’t get the heat benefit of that woodstove.

Meeting my friend Judy at yesterday’s Artisans Fair at my church.  Judy, wonderful friend that she is, gave me an envelope with money in it to spend at the fair, in honor of her mother, who loved to shop.  (Needless to say, I’ll be making some jewelry for Judy for Christmas…see the next good thing.)

Learning how to make wire wrap earrings – and bracelets and necklaces- on Thursday night.  I love community ed classes!! 

Sitting with my dad at church this morning.

Finding a Stanley Mini Plier six-piece set at KMart today for only $13.00 – when the pliers I’d been looking at in jewelry making catalogs cost at least $9.00 each.  Woo-hoo!

And, the best good thing of all:  running into one of my favorite moms and her seven-year-old daughter at KMart right after finding the mini plier set.  Not wanting to be overly pushy, I just smiled, made eye contact, and said “hi” to the pair, they said “hi” back (confusedly), and I walked on down the aisle to the mint section (shortage of Altoids in our house).  As I was searching the mints, I heard the little girl saying, “I think it’s Abby!!”  And, sure enough, they came up to me, and the little girl said, “Hi Abby!!!”  And I said, “Ah, you figured me out!”  To which she replied, ” I didn’t recognize you at first because you didn’t have your glasses on!”  So I said, yes, I usually wear glasses at work and contacts on the weekends.  And then this totally awesome little girl – only seven, mind you, but one of the smartest kids I know – looked over at the display of Christmas trees, and she said, “Why are they showing Christmas things?  We haven’t even had Veteran’s Day or Thanksgiving yet!!”  And I agreed, with a laugh, that I was thinking the exact same thing.

And now for the next good thing:  a nice big glass of Guiness by the woodstove while reading the book for Tuesday’s teen book group:  Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood by Meredith Ann Pierce.