All posts by Abby

Book groups, Children's literature, Young adult literature

1 day, 2 book groups

Of Wintersmith and Clementine, one book was a hit, and one book was a flop.  Any guesses as to which was which?

Once again, I demonstrated my deep understanding of the appeal of children’s and young adult literature: my opinions on the two books were polar opposite to the kids’ opinions.  Granted, the third grade book group had never met before, and only two kids showed up (and a newspaper reporter stayed for the whole meeting), so they tended towards shy rather than forthcoming.  I’d like to think that’s why they claimed to love Clementine, but I think I’ll have to face the sad truth that they actually DID love the book.  They loved the humor, they loved Clementine’s character, and they made some thoughtful observations about language and connections to their lives and other texts.  All in all, a successful first meeting.  (And I decided not to spoil it by saying that I hated the book. 🙂 )

As for the teen book group’s discussion of Wintersmith: by the end of our meeting, they had convinced me that the book is a bit flimsy, with weak characterizations and an abrupt ending.  I had been swept along by Pratchett’s language and the humor (especially the humor of the Feegles, and especially the scene in which the Feegles talk about women – the pursin’ o the lips, the foldin’ o the arms, and the tappin’ of the feet), but the girls in the book group saw past the humor and found many flaws with the novel.  They’re right.  The witches are rather interchangeable, lacking real character, and the plot flounders in the final third of the book.  I still like the book, but I agree with the teen book group that it should be given a B- or C+, no better. 

That’s what I love about these book groups – the kids who come to the meetings are open to and freely participate in intelligent discussions that ultimately expand the appreciation of the book for all participants, me included.  The teen book group mentioned yesterday that they’d like to read some classics (Pride and Prejudice was specifically named), and they will each be sending me lists of books that they’d like to be considered for our February, March, April, May, and June meetings.  I’d love for us to discuss a truly great piece of literature, and see where our discussion leads.

(keep your eyes on the Book List page of this blog, since I’ll be adding many new titles in the coming days)

Book groups, Young adult book review

Slogging along

Not much of an entry today, since I’m still slogging through Wintersmith.  And I don’t mean slogging in a derogatory way; it’s just a thick, dense, meaty book, and I haven’t been able to skim through it.  But I do love it, and recommend it highly.  (Just don’t expect to read it quickly.)

Book groups, Young adult book review

Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett

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Christmas is on a Tuesday this year, and Tuesday is book group day, so I’m having to double up on book groups this week.  The third grade book group will be meeting from 4:00 to 4:30, then the teen book group takes over from 4:30 to 5:30.  A lot like teaching school, and also a lot like the year I tutored a student at the high school first block of the day, then hurried over to the elementary school for my “real” job, and started right in with a third and fourth grader who I taught each morning.  It’s actually kind of fun to have two such different age groups right next to each other: breaks up the day, and keeps you on your toes mentally.

Clementine, which I butchered in my last post, is the third grade book, and Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett is the teen book.  As of this writing (I’m writing this on Sunday afternoon – one of the secrets of blogging is writing posts ahead), I’ve only gotten one third of the way into Wintersmith, so all opinions appearing here are subject to change upon completion of reading.  The initial chapter of Wintersmith was a real struggle for me; I was turned off by the language, the obtuseness, and the Feegle Glossary that appears on page three.  “Grumble, grumble, grumble,” I thought to myself, “clearly I’m going to hate this one, and it’s a lot harder to skim than Clementine.  Grumble, grumble, grumble.”  I’ve changed my tune, though, after reading more without allowing myself to think of my available reading time.  Pratchett uses a lot of subtle humor, and once I got into the rhythm of his words I could actually hear the Feegles and the witches speaking.  Yes, it’s a dense book, but it’s also masterfully written fantasy in the manner of The Owl Service or The Hobbit or any other great piece of fantasy. 

Looking at the two-page “Also by Terry Pratchett” list, I’m rather astounded that I’ve never read anything by him before.  We’ve purchased several of his books recently for the library, both for the young adult room and for the children’s room, yet I’ve never looked past the book reviews to the actual books.  One definite down side of my job is that I simply don’t have enough time to do all my required duties AND read the new books.  Any reading of books that I do has to be completed at home, and being a slow reader and generally busy person, that limits me to one, maybe two books a week, which works out to be the book group book for each week.  And maybe a New Yorker article, too, if I’m lucky.  Though having too much to read is a better fate than too little to read.

The teens who are in the book group have just as many demands on their free time, if not even more demands, than I, so I do hope that they’ll all have time to read at least part of Wintersmith.  I’ll post their reactions to the book after we meet on Tuesday.

Book groups, Children, Children's book reviews, Children's literature

Clementine

Oh dear.  Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

I’ve been recommending Clementine by Sara Pennypacker (illustrations by Marla Frazee) to coworkers, patrons, and friends for quite a while now.  Of course, I hadn’t actually read it, but I’d read all of the reviews, listened to a third grader who loved it, and been dazzled by the cute cover.  So I chose it as the first book for my newly formed third grade book group, and sat down Friday night eager to finally read it.

But – you guessed it.  Overly cynical, highly critical Abby didn’t like the book.  Hated it, more like.  How can that be??  Here’s how: I’ve known a LOT of third graders, kids I taught at the elementary school, kids that I tutor in my off-library hours, and kids who come in to the library.  And not one of those third graders has ever been as cluelessly, annoyingly, cloyingly CUTE as Clementine.  Blech.  Ptooey.  Ptooey. Blech blech blech.  Take a little syrup, add some sugar, molasses, and saccharine, and you’ve got Clementine.  She’s an adult’s idealistic vision of what a third grader should be, and about as far away from Sendak’s Max as possible.  Like Sendak, I’d like the characters in children’s books to reflect real children, with their lumps and bumps and streaks of meanness and startling insights and un-cute moments. 

I won’t be talking with the third grade book group about my feelings about Clementine, since it’s our first meeting and I haven’t even met some of the kids yet.  I know that I tend to be a harsh, harsh critic, and I don’t want to burden our very first meeting with that baggage.  Unless, of course, the kids bring up Clementine’s character, and they want to discuss her.  It will be really interesting to see what they think of her. 

Librarianship

New books

As I was leaving work yesterday, I poked my head into tech services, and Nanette grinned a huge grin and said, “Did you get my email?”  Which I hadn’t, yet, but the prompting for her email was sitting in several piles on a table in tech services: a nice big order of new books.  It’s going to be a fun day today, since there’s nothing I love more than sorting through a book order.

And I get to finalize my plans for Monday’s toddler storytime, which requires some making of felt board figures (along with some learning of rhymes and songs).  Awesome.

Meanwhile, one sad note:  yesterday was Nicole’s last day, as she prepares to join up with her husband who has taken a job in another state.  We’ll miss you, Nicole!!

Children

Overheard…

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In the supermarket last night, at the checkout register:

A little boy, about 4 years old, discovers a stack of Red Sox door mats, pats them fondly, and says, “Daddy?  Can we get a Red Sox rug for our house?”

Daddy:  “Well, I don’t think Mommy would like that much…”

Boy:  “Why?”

Daddy:  “Well, she’s, um, not much of a Red Sox fan.”

Boy, still patting the doormats:  “Please, Daddy?”

Daddy:  “You really like those, don’t you.”

Boy:  “Uh-huh.  Can we get one?”

Daddy:  “Well, that’s more something you buy if you’re living in a house full of guys.”

Which left the little boy puzzled, but stopped the questions.  Obviously, Mommy’s not a guy, so there ends that battle.

Children, Storytime

Train wreck?

Yup, it was a train wreck.  After taxing my poor aging brain to learn all the rhymes and songs (I even had to use my hands as a cheat sheet – there are still oodles of inky words all over my palms), and after purchasing all the required props, and after Jim crawled around in our attic to find my pig stuffed animal; after all that, my first Mother Goose on the Loose program was a total train wreck.

It’s not that I did such a bad job, really, it’s more that my infant storytime is a victim of the success of my Toddler Storytime.  45 moms and kids are signed up for the Toddler Storytime, which doesn’t leave too many people to attend the Mother Goose on the Loose storytime.  So there were only 4 adults and 5 kids in the room at the start of the storytime, and the number quickly dropped as one child decided to leave the room (mom had to follow), then another child fell on the floor and cut his lip open (grandma and big sister had to leave the room with him, mopping up the blood as they went), leaving just 2 adults and 2 kids and me.  And one of those kids, a sweet little girl, REALLY wanted to leave, since her best friend was the little boy who left the room at the start.  Which would have left only 1 adult and 1 child in the room - thank goodness the little girl’s mom was able to stick out the whole storytime. 

When you have that small a group, it’s substantially harder to have much fun.  The adults get very self-conscious about their singing voices, leaving me alone to carry the tunes (never an ideal situation), and if the kids are at all reluctant to do something like beat their names on the drum, the reluctant kids don’t get to see eager kids model the behavior first so that they can follow suit. 

But I will say that Mother Goose on the Loose is fun.  With a bigger crowd, it would have been a blast.  So I’ve got two big challenges now:  get more people to attend, and figure out how to keep the program to 30 minutes (I ran overtime, and didn’t even finish the program…obviously need to work on my timing a bit…).  Aside from that, I’m enjoying beating my drum and jingling the bells and waving the scarves.  I’d just like a few more people to join in with me!

Storytime

Toddler Storytime update

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As reported previously, I have changed the format of my Toddler Storytime, so that it now runs in six-week sessions that require pre-registration.  In past years at our library, all storytimes have been drop-in, and some eyebrows were raised when I decided to switch this one storytime.  I heard a few mutterings that attendance would drop off, that no one would sign up.  I myself wasn’t sure what to expect; I only knew that I was going to go prematurely grey and wrinkled if I didn’t claim some control of the Toddler Storytime.

Amazingly, it has all worked out beautifully.  So many families registered on the first day that I decided to add a second time slot which meets immediately after the original time slot, and now both time slots have ten children and their caregivers signed up for the six week session, the perfect size for this age group.  The benefits of pre-registration are many, but here are my favorites:

  • Since I have a list of names to work from, we can all wear nametags and get to know each other.
  • I have the ability to stress the importance of arriving on time (it’s the first bulleted item on the registration letter).
  • The children will benefit from consistency of attendance, both their own and their storytime-mates: we’ll be able to grow as a group, and to establish a true group dynamic.
  • Room set-up and book selection are majorly simplified for me.  I know exactly how many carpet squares to put out, and how many books to request from other libraries.
  • And having the two time slots meet back-to-back means that I only have to prepare once for two separate sessions. 

The Infant, Preschool, and Saturday storytimes will remain drop-in, for a variety of reasons, but the benefits of containing the scope of the Toddler Storytime have been enormous.  Rest assured, if demand increases, I’ll add a third time slot.  The intention is to make the program better for everyone, but not to leave anyone out.  It’s all good.

Children, Librarianship

Back to reality

Last week was school vacation week in the town in which I work.  It was heaven.  I got more work done in those four days than I have in any four day period since we opened in the new building.  And we were still busy; plenty of patrons in the building.  But no after school crowd, which meant that all children, tweens, and teens were attended by an adult, and that adult wasn’t me or any other staff member.  Heaven.

So today we’re back to reality.  Which isn’t so bad, really, especially when I have the satisfaction of knowing how much I accomplished last week.

Etc., Spare time - Culture

Construction

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Construction has begun on the affordable housing units next to our house.  Very exciting.  Jim and I took an exploratory trip through the unit closest to us today (being Sunday, there were no construction workers on site, and, since there are no “No Trespassing” signs, we figured it was ok to take a walk around).  All of the first floor walls are up, the window and door openings clearly designated, so we could really get a sense of how the house will be to live in.  Nice and bright, lots and lots of big windows, a well-planned floor layout that makes good use of the limited square footage, and a pleasant central staircase.  We climbed half-way up the stairs and took a peek at the second floor: it’s hard to guess how big the second floor will be, since the walls are not up, but from the pre-assembled walls that are resting on the floor deck, we’re guessing that there will be one bedroom and a bathroom up there.

The best part of our walk-around was seeing that our house, that we’ve spent so many hours working on, looks pretty ok from the next lot over.  Good thing, since many of the biggest windows at the new house look directly out at our house.  (We’ll be installing some new window shades on that side…).

I doubt we can ever have neighbors as great as those who lived in the dilapidated garage (Chuck the Woodchuck and family, and the family of skunks), but hopefully our human neighbors-to-be will be nice people, and hopefully they’ll enjoy their new home.  It’s a good one, for sure.