Just like that, summer reading has now truly begun.<\/p>\n
With the 4th of\u00c2\u00a0July occuring\u00c2\u00a0right in the middle of last week, I assumed that we would have a slow start to summer reading this year: lots of families out of town those first two weeks.\u00c2\u00a0 In fact, I didn’t schedule a single event last week, which was oddly calm.\u00c2\u00a0 But this week is another matter.\u00c2\u00a0 Monday was the meeting of the 5th grade book group, yesterday was an appearance by Professor Readalot, today Alex Andrews from Music Together will be singing with the youngest kids in the morning, this afternoon I’ll be running a puppet-making workshop, and then tomorrow evening will be a showing of the movie “Happy Feet.”\u00c2\u00a0 Phew.<\/p>\n
Professor Readalot, real name Greg McAdams,\u00c2\u00a0was a huge hit again this year.\u00c2\u00a0 When he came last summer, I was really blown away by his ability to hold the attention of a large group of kids, as well as his masterful crowd control.\u00c2\u00a0 Lots of parents commented favorably on his performance, too, so he was an obvious choice as an “ask-back” this summer, and one of my choices for a Cultural Council grant.\u00c2\u00a0 So it was no surprise when he pulled off another flawless performance yesterday.<\/p>\n
The beauty of\u00c2\u00a0Greg’s performance lies in the mixture of comedy, magic, and library-specific booktalking and gentle discussion of how to handle library books.\u00c2\u00a0 He uses humor that exactly appeals to kids, even to kids as young as three or four, and they were giggling their heads off throughout his show yesterday.\u00c2\u00a0 Yet he never let the crowd get out of control: he starts off his show with a quick discussion of not talking when he’s talking, and that if he needs to keep asking kids to be quiet, then there will be less time for a show\u00c2\u00a0 (unfortunately, though, his request for decorum was lost on a couple of parents, who chatted throughout the whole show, despite his direct appeal for parents to be quiet – he even made eye contact with the chatty pair!).\u00c2\u00a0 More importantly, Greg knows how to bring the group dynamic quickly back down after a raucous laugh, and possesses the ability to take the room from 60 back down to 0 in a few seconds.\u00c2\u00a0 Pretty cool talent.<\/p>\n
So it was a really fun time yesterday, with a full house of attendees.\u00c2\u00a0 It will be interesting to see what the attendance is this morning for Alex Andrews.\u00c2\u00a0 Alex has a huge following, but her following was a bit discouraged last summer by the lack of air conditioning at the old library.\u00c2\u00a0 Put 40 moms and 40 babies in a small room in the middle of a hot summer without air conditioning – not a good thing.\u00c2\u00a0 Pretty rank.\u00c2\u00a0 We’ll see how many show up today, for the air-conditioned comfort of Volunteers Hall!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Just like that, summer reading has now truly begun. With the 4th of\u00c2\u00a0July occuring\u00c2\u00a0right in the middle of last week, I assumed that we would have a slow start to summer reading this year: lots of families out of town those first two weeks.\u00c2\u00a0 In fact, I didn’t schedule a single event last week, which … Continue reading Whooosh<\/span>