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

Ellen Potter visit

It’s official – Ellen Potter will be joining the 5th grade book group via Skype on February 8 for discussion of her book Olivia Kidney!! 

As I said to Ellen in my most recent email to her, I had not yet read Olivia Kidney when Ellen first contacted me – the book had been enthusiastically proposed for discussion by a book group member, and I was happy that I had a reason to finally read this book.  And guess what?  I LOVE this book!  It’s quirky, well-written, unexpected, funky, and insightful.  To give the book and its author the best compliment I can think of, I’d say that Olivia Kidney is akin to the best of E.L. Konigsburg’s books. 

So I’m thrilled that we’ll be able to chat with Ellen Potter during the book group meeting.  I’ll be sending out an email to all the group members telling them this exciting news, and maybe they can prepare a bit for “meeting” the author – jot down a few questions they’d like to ask her, and maybe even read the book a second time if they are able.  It will be fun!!  And the most fun part?  The book group member who suggested the book, and who advocated so strongly for it, will be celebrating a birthday on the day of the book group.  What a cool way to spend your birthday, chatting with an author you admire!

Book groups, Children's book reviews

The Seems

Oh, dear.  It’s happened again.  The book for today’s book group is almost as annoying and self-consciously clever as Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians.  For today’s book group, the sixth graders almost unanimously chose The Seems: The Glitch in Sleep by John Hulme and Michael Wexler, the first in a series that has been moderately popular at my library.  I was looking forward to reading this book…and then I started it.  Ick.  That’s really the only word I can use to describe it – ick.  The authors have created a fantasy about The World (that would be where you and I live) and The Seems, where the crew that keeps The World running live and work.  There are people working in the Department of Sleep and the Department of Weather, there are Fixers and Case Workers, and there is a connection between The World and The Seems that involves The Door and the Transport Tube (and don’t forget to wear your Transport GogglesTM while in the Transport Tube).  And all of those capital letters are not my invention – the authors did that.  The name of almost every object begins with a capital letter, and many things are trademarked (like the Transport Goggles) or have annoying footnotes explaining them.

I know I’m not the target audience, and that if I were younger I might have a different perspective on this book.  But I also know that I talked to the mom of one of the kids in the book group, and she told me that her child would not be attending today’s group because her child hated the book so much.  So my harsh judgement of this book may be echoed by the kids in today’s discussion.  Even if the kids don’t all agree with me, though, I really do think I’m justified in criticizing this book for trying too darn hard to be cute and clever.  I repeat:  ICK.

Book groups

And the winner is…

Alyson! 

Alyson wins the blog detective award for figuring out the name of the author who will be Skyping (hopefully that’s a word) with the fifth grade book group in February.  And she smartly only listed the author’s initials, since the Big Announcement is yet to come, pending final confirmation with the author.

Congrats Alyson!  🙂

Etc., Spare time - Culture

I’m on Etsy!

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Yes, I have finally bowed to pressure, and I have opened up my own storefront on Etsy.  At the moment I have eight whole items available for sale!  Wow!

Follow the link above, or the exact same link here, to check out my store.  It’s a little amateur looking compared to some of the stores on Etsy, which look totally professional, but after several hours of setting policies and uploading photos and such, I am DONE.  And in case anyone is wondering, I had wanted to name my store “Abby’s Jewelry,” but that name was already taken, so I thought fast and found that “Ophelia’s Jewelry” was still available.  Ophy is very happy to have a store named after her.  Pippa is just as glad that I didn’t choose her name for a jewelry store, since Pippa is a bit of a tom-boy.

Let me know what you think of my new store!

Book groups, Children's literature

Virtual Author Visit

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The details aren’t firmed up yet, so I won’t divulge the author’s name, but one of the authors of one of the February book group books has contacted me (via Barbara at the library, since I’m off this week) about joining our upcoming book group discussion via Skype.  How cool is that?!?!  The author even promised me that he/she would help me with my Skype naivete by doing a Skype dry run prior to the book group meeting (what a nice person, this author!). 

I can’t wait to tell the kids in the group that this will be happening, especially since the book was suggested by one of the book group members who advocated so strongly for the book that she got the rest of the kids in the group to vote for it as one of our choices.  And she’s stood up to a bit of gentle teasing, since the other kids in the group originally thought that she said the book is about a girl who sees goats…she really was saying “ghosts,” but somehow it kind of sounded like “goats.”  And that, dear friends, was a BIG hint for you.  I hope the detectives in my readership can track down which book and which author we’re talking about.  Another hint: I did list the book choices for all of the book groups for the rest of the year in a previous post.  I’d offer a fabulous prize for the person who can figure this out, but, alas, I’m quite broke.  But I will mention you by name on the blog if your detective skills lead you to the right book.

Meanwhile, I’m just thrilled that this author found us and is willing to visit with us via Skype.  Very, very, very cool.

Librarianship

Why Libraries Are Awesome

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I took an adult education class on wire wrap jewelry making a couple of months ago, and I am now officially addicted to my new hobby.  I’m still a rank beginner, and most of what I make is for myself, since the finished product is usually a little too wobbly and imperfect to give to another person.  But I’m practicing, practicing, practicing, and am ever eager to learn more ways to use my new skill.

Yesterday I got an offer in the mail for the magazine Step by Step Wire Jewelry (clearly one of the catalogs I’ve been ordering jewelry making supplies from sold my name – humph), and I kind of started salivating as soon as I saw that there was a whole magazine devoted to new wire wrap projects.  And then I went online today to investigate if the magazine is any good – and, sadly for my coffers, it looks like it’s fabulous – and that led me to look at some of the books that the magazine editorial staff has written…and all of a sudden I was on Amazon, ready to spend quarts of money that I don’t have.

Screeching mental brakes.  Wait a second, wait a second, I told myself.  Why am I thinking about buying books that I can’t afford and don’t even know much about?  I might well spend precious money on some books that are worthless to me, and then I’ll just be grumpy and pissed with myself.  GO TO THE LIBRARY CATALOG, my inner voice screamed.  You’re a librarian – you know how to order some interesting looking wire wrap jewelry books via interlibrary loan, and then you can audition the books and try out all kinds of cool projects.  FOR FREE. 

And, you know, you don’t have to be a librarian to do this.  All you need is a library card and internet access, and you can sit in the comfort of your own home and request books for yourself.  And lo and behold, in a week or so those awesome books will arrive at your home library for you to pick up and check out for a few weeks.  And guess what?  If you don’t have internet access at home, or if you would just like a little additional help, you can visit your local library and ask a nice librarian (like me!) to find the books that you’re looking for and request them for you.  And you might just be surprised at how many books are at your local library, meaning that you don’t have to wait a week for them to be delivered from another library in the system.  Wow.  That is cool, huh?

So now I’ve requested six wire wrap jewelry books on my library card, and before you know it I’ll have those books in hand and I’ll be acquiring all kinds of new skills and techniques and ideas.  For free.  Libraries ARE awesome!!!

Children's literature

Award follow-up

Well, this year was a first – when the ALA award-winning books were announced on Monday, there were a few that I did not know (including the Newbery winner and the two Caldecott honor books), and that I had not added to our collection.  That’s never happened to me before.  I’ll be very interested to read these books when they do arrive at the library – I’m anxious to see what I missed on the first go when reading reviews.  Perhaps these award winners will blow me away!

Etc.

Snow Day!

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It’s quite the stormy day out there – and the library is closed because of it.  Yay!

That’s the plus side.  The down side is that our snowblower really doesn’t work well, and Jim had to go to work early early this morning, before much snow had hit…so I have a heck of a lot of shovelling to do.  And the eternal problem with our driveway is that there’s no place to PUT all that snow – house on one side of the driveway, privet hedge on the other.  It’s going to be a long day.

Now that I think about it, I’d rather be at work.

Library events, Storytime

Saturday Storytimes

For several years now we have had teen volunteers running weekly storytimes at the library on Saturday mornings.  The teens are all excellent storytellers, brimming with joy and enthusiasm, and for most of those several years, there has been good attendance at the storytimes.  And then this year, the year of the Unseen Preschooler, hit.  My Thursday afternoon preschool storytime, formerly an in-demand event, has been so quiet that you can hear crickets – so quiet that I’ve gotten rid of this Thursday afternoon storytime and replaced it with a couple of preschool storytimes scattered through the month on various experimental days and times.  And the Saturday Storytimes?  No preschoolers have been showing up, not for a couple of months now, leaving the teen volunteers to read to each other. 

So Jennifer had a great idea, which we instituted as of this month:  one or two special themed Saturday Storytimes each month.  This month, the teens will be doing a Dr. Seuss storytime on January 15, and a Princess storytime on January 29.  I’ve printed out some colorful posters and mailed them to all the preschools and placed them all over the children’s room, and parents are noticing.  I’ll be picking up some crowns for the teens to wear at the Princess storytime, and M. promises that she’ll wear her rainbow socks to read at the Dr. Seuss storytime – and if Lisa finds her Cat in the Hat hat, then one teen can wear that, too.

With any luck, we’ll have some excited listeners for these terrific teen readers on the 15th and 29th – if you’re reading this post and have a preschooler, please do come to one or both storytimes!  And remember…someday your preschooler will be a teen, and that teen will be wanting an audience for their volunteer gig reading at the library…and you’ll be wishing that some preschoolers will show…it’s all cyclical, after all.

Children's literature, Young adult literature

Mock stuff

I’ve been trying to figure out why I have zero interest in all those Mock Newbery and Mock Caldecott awards and their accompanying lists of contenders.  Back when I was at Simmons studying children’s literature, I was hugely interested in all the Mock hype.  In several of our classes we had intense discussions over which books might win, and I remember passionately supporting Holes by Louis Sachar over all other possible winners (and I was right, it won, which made me feel pretty special). 

But now that I work in the “real” world as a children’s librarian – I don’t make predictions, nor do I care about or want to read the predictions made by others.  I did listen to the live webcast last year, with great enthusiasm, and I even jumped up with joy when one of my favorite books of the year got a Newbery Honor (Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin).  I’ll be doing storytimes during the webcast this year, but if I weren’t, I would listen to the live feed again. 

So why do I have no interest in the Mock lists and awards?  I truly can’t figure it out.  It’s not for lack of enthusiasm for the awards themselves, nor is it because I haven’t read many of the books, since I’ve usually read all of the ultimate winners and honor books.  And it’s not because I don’t have strong opinions, because I do.  Maybe I’m just too busy to be bothered?  Or maybe the Mock hype stretches on for too long?  It’s a mystery, a true mystery.

Reflections on children, literature, libraries, and life…and cats.