1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:27,280 Hello, I'm Patrick Adams. And I'm Caroline Lischier. And this is Librarians of Littles, 2 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:34,000 a podcast where we discuss being librarians for our youngest learners. We share book reviews, 3 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:42,160 makerspace activities, and some tips and tricks to help in the early library setting. 4 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:50,480 This week, being the end of February, in the next couple weeks, we have Read Across America 5 00:00:50,480 --> 00:00:57,840 coming. Read Across America Week is celebrated March 2nd through 6th. And it starts on the second, 6 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:04,400 which is Dr. Seuss' birthday. Read Across America Week aims to encourage reading and 7 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:10,000 to educate people about its benefits, especially among children and young adults. 8 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:18,960 Read Across America Week being connected to Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss can be considered a problematic 9 00:01:18,960 --> 00:01:28,640 character, a problematic person of history. And so I don't personally do a lot to connect 10 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:38,960 Read Across America with Dr. Seuss, but the influence of his writing cannot be ignored. 11 00:01:38,960 --> 00:01:49,840 And so the Theodore Seuss Geisel Award is given annually to an author or authors and illustrator 12 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:56,640 or illustrators of the most distinguished American books for beginning readers published in English 13 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:02,880 in the United States during the preceding year. The winner or winners are recognized for their 14 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:09,920 literary and artistic achievements that demonstrate creativity and imagination to engage children 15 00:02:09,920 --> 00:02:18,480 in reading. The winner receives a bronze medal and then honor book authors and illustrators 16 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:24,960 receive certificates, all of which are presented at the ALA annual conference. The award was 17 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:34,880 established in 2004 and was first presented in 2006. And this week we will be looking at some 18 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:47,280 Geisel Award winners and honor recipients. The first book we'll look at is Fox Has a Problem 19 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:59,040 published by Harper Collins in 2023, written and illustrated by Corey R. Taber. The awards for 20 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:10,080 Mr. Taber include a Caldecott honor for Mel Fell, the Theodore Seuss Geisel Award for Fox Has a 21 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:20,640 Problem, Fox At Night, and Fox the Tiger. Corey Taber grew up in Wyoming. He grew up drawing, 22 00:03:20,640 --> 00:03:25,840 crafting, and creating with his brothers. He took as many art classes as possible in school, 23 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:32,080 and he now lives in Washington with his wife and son. Some of his other books include all the Fox 24 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:38,640 books, so there's Fox versus Fox, Fox the Tiger, Fox at Night, and then there's Simon and the Better 25 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:46,240 Bone, Sir Ladybug in the Bookworms, Sir Ladybug in the Queen Bee, Mel Fell, and Snail Crossing. 26 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:52,720 So for the book summary, um, for Fox has a problem. Fox has a problem, and it's not a new 27 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:58,560 problem. His kites keep getting stuck in trees, and so as Fox tries to solve the problem, he 28 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:05,040 creates new problems for other animals, including bear and rabbit. And as the other animals get 29 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:11,440 upset about Fox and his so-called solutions, Elephant comes up with a solution that really 30 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:20,320 does solve Fox's problem, and in the end, everyone is able to enjoy the kites. I thought this was 31 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:27,840 a really cute story. I've read all of the Fox books in the Fox series, and they're really great. 32 00:04:27,840 --> 00:04:36,000 They're simple text, kind of a predictable, repeated story, uh, repeated words that kind of help the 33 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:41,920 students that are learning to read to get through the story. They're great for young readers. The 34 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:51,360 illustrations are bright, and they help to keep the students engaged. I really love all of these 35 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:58,160 Fox books. Fox has a problem. It's just a really cute one. It gets, they all get kind of silly, 36 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:04,480 and I think Cory does a great job of being able to engage those readers with a simple short story 37 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:13,280 that is just a lot of fun to, and to read with students. I agree. I love the series. Actually, 38 00:05:13,280 --> 00:05:19,920 when we were talking about picking books that had won the Geisel Award for this episode, I was 39 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:26,800 gonna pick another Fox book, but then I saw you'd already chosen this one, and so I elected to do 40 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:32,000 another one, um, just so we would have a little bit more variety on this particular episode, but I 41 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:38,480 really love all of them. They're really engaging, um, really bright, memorable characters that are, 42 00:05:39,280 --> 00:05:45,440 really fun for the kids. So, excellent choice. Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, all of them are so good. 43 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:52,640 Like, I just read Fox the Tiger, um, within the last week or two with my pre-K class, and they 44 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:59,040 thought that one was hysterical too, um, where he tries to paint himself to look like a tiger, 45 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:05,040 and then Turtle tries to paint himself to look like a race car and robot, or Rabbit makes 46 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:10,080 that cardboard box so he can be a robot. Like, they thought that was very silly and fun. 47 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:17,360 Um, it's just, the characters are just so creative and so clever, and I think he does a really good 48 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:25,520 job of just sharing that enthusiasm with the students. Um, all of my kids were curious of what 49 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:29,760 the next problem was gonna be that he created when he was trying to solve his problems, and 50 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:37,520 it's just a really cute story. So, I think that this definitely deserves a high rating. Um, 51 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:43,120 I would say probably, I think for a pre-K class, if you're doing this as a read-aloud, it's gonna get, 52 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:49,040 I think, a five out of five. It's good that it's a short enough text that keeps them engaged. The 53 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:54,880 predictability of the text helps them to be able to, to understand what's happening, and they'll 54 00:06:54,880 --> 00:07:03,760 build guests along with you. And I think that the pictures are so bright and wonderful that the kids 55 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:09,040 love to see them. I think there's a great story overall, I think five out of five. 56 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:14,160 I agree. I would probably give most of the Fox books, actually, a five out of five. They're really, 57 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:19,120 um, it's a lot of fun, and if you need to extend your story time a little bit, it's a really great 58 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:24,000 series too. Um, so you could just read a few of those books back to back, and the kids can really 59 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:29,760 get to know those characters and kind of the shenanigans that they get into. So, yeah. 60 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:38,240 So, absolutely. Yeah. Um, and so a makerspace activity that we could connect to this is 61 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:43,520 there, this one I came up with, there's a little bit of prep involved, but I think it would be a 62 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:50,080 lot of fun. Um, the materials you'd need would be, uh, cardstock or maybe some tissue paper, or 63 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:56,640 you could probably do it even with just printer paper or construction paper. Um, some large popsicle 64 00:07:56,640 --> 00:08:04,080 sticks, some tape, some ribbon yarn, colored pencils, crayons, markers, um, some glue, and the 65 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:09,600 activity is having the students build and decorate their own kites. So, you'd probably want to have 66 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:15,520 those large popsicle sticks already kind of glued together in that T shape that you'd want for the 67 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:23,200 kite, and you might want to have pre-cut paper or cardstock so that they can kind of attach the 68 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:30,400 sticks to their paper, and then they can use the crayons, colored pencils, and markers to decorate 69 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:37,040 their kite, and before it's done, add some ribbon or yarn as the tail for the kite, and you could 70 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:43,040 have a lot of amazing decorated kites that you can either hang from your library or put on walls, 71 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:50,080 or send home with the kids, um, a cute little decoration, a lot of fun for the kids. And since 72 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:57,040 Fox had so many kites stuck up in the trees, kind of connects with, um, where at the end, all of the 73 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:03,920 animals were able to fly a kite as well, so now your kids will have a kite too. Yeah, I love that 74 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:09,040 idea, and I think, um, even as you were saying it, I was thinking it would be really fun to do that 75 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:13,760 maybe at the beginning of the school year, um, because they were stuck up in all the trees, it 76 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:17,520 would be fun to do that at the beginning of the year, and then maybe have kites that the kids 77 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:22,640 would just decorate the whole library with and just have them all over the place that might be a fun 78 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:28,720 connection for the kids so they could kind of see their, um, work all year long and kind of be reminded 79 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:41,040 of that story in the coming months. I love that. Yeah. All right, so for a library of little tips 80 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:48,240 or trick, this week I thought we'd discuss book checkout because we've got these young kids that 81 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:56,320 have, most of them have never used a library before, and so the book checkout process is a long 82 00:09:57,280 --> 00:10:03,360 process. It's brand new to the students, and there's a lot that goes into that process, 83 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:08,800 and so I figured we should talk a little bit about how that might work. So Caroline, you want 84 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:14,160 to tell us a little bit about how you prep for that, what you do with your students, because I know 85 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:18,320 you've got some ideas. I'll share my ideas also, but I'd love to hear what you have to say. 86 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:29,440 Yeah, so my favorite way to do book checkout is I usually wait until about September to do our 87 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:35,040 first book checkout. School starts in August, right? So we give the kids about a month, so kind 88 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:41,680 of just get used to school, establish our story time routines, and how to care for our 89 00:10:41,680 --> 00:10:45,840 maker space manipulatives, and how to attend to tasks, and things like that prior to beginning 90 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:52,960 book checkout. But when we do begin book checkout, I tell the kids that they're going to get to take 91 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:59,360 care of a book for a little while. We talk about how to care for the book, and turning the pages 92 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:06,480 gently, you know, just making sure that you're not eating or anything near it, and how to hold it 93 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:13,280 in the hallway, and things like that. The first time we check out books, it's the first time we 94 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:21,200 check out books, we are, we do a whole lesson on it, and they, while they're playing in their 95 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:28,000 maker space centers, I call them over to my desk one at a time, and I have about 30 books 96 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:33,840 laid out on my desk for them to look at, and they can look at all the books, they're all face up, 97 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:38,800 so they can see the covers, and I tell them to go ahead and look through them, see if anything 98 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:45,680 piques their interest, and if they pick something from there, great, they get to all set it in a 99 00:11:45,680 --> 00:11:52,080 pile for them, and they can have that book. If they're not interested in any of those books, 100 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:58,720 then I have a separate section that's labeled with pictures for the children to look at, so there's 101 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:04,560 like a box with a princess on the front, that's all my princess books, another box labeled with 102 00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:08,880 like a picture of a superhero, it's all my superhero books, and they can kind of flip through those 103 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:15,040 boxes, and see if there's anything in there that they like. That's usually a pretty quick way for 104 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:23,280 them to look through all of their options, so that they can kind of see what the topics are quickly, 105 00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:29,360 and then they can pull out the bin and flip through there, so they can see that they have a whole 106 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:33,120 lot of choices, and it's not, but it's not horribly overwhelming, because they can still 107 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:39,440 see the picture of the topic on the bin, if that makes sense. So anyway, once they pick their book, 108 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:48,960 I set it all in a pile, and for the first semester only, until December, they just practice bringing 109 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:54,960 their books to and from the library. They only keep their books in their classroom, most of the 110 00:12:54,960 --> 00:13:00,640 teachers keep it in a reading center, a few of the teachers will set it in a pile for like, to do 111 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:05,840 group read-alouds together in the class, but most of them, it's their classroom reading center, 112 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:10,400 and then they bring the book after two weeks, and then they get to pick new books, and that's 113 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:17,120 this for the fall semester, it's just getting used to taking books to and from the library, 114 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:22,960 and just that concept of borrowing, and they don't get to keep it forever, but they still have to 115 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:29,600 take care of it. And then in January, when they come back for spring semester, we'd go through 116 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:36,560 the same process with book checkout, but this time they get to take it home, and I tell them that 117 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:41,680 they can and should take their book home, they can and should read it with a grown-up, or just 118 00:13:41,680 --> 00:13:45,280 look through the pictures on their own, because most of them are three and four and don't know how 119 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:50,160 to read just yet, but we've talked about how to look through books on their own at school, so 120 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:54,160 they can look through their book on their own at home, even if there's not a grown-up available to 121 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:59,840 read with it, and then when they're done reading, they put it back in their backpack so it's safe, 122 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:05,280 and can come back to school later, because remember we're going to borrow the book, we don't get to 123 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:11,040 keep it, and that way they can have it for next time. So we go during that spring semester, 124 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:16,480 when they're checking out books, I still collect, or we still look through the books the same way, 125 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:21,440 and they still select their books the same way, but this time I put a sticky note with their name 126 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:27,520 on it for the kids so that when I deliver it to the classrooms, they can put their books in their 127 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:31,840 backpack and take it home with them, and they have a note that goes home with it the first time, 128 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:36,720 so the parents are aware that they're getting their first library book and to help them and all 129 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:41,120 the rules that the students have been told with it so that they can keep it in their backpack 130 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:50,720 and all that. A lot of people ask me about if the students lose a library book, or damage and 131 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:58,400 things like that, and to be honest, I haven't really lost a whole lot of books. It's maybe 132 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:05,200 like five a year out of like 300 kids. It's not a whole lot, which I think is pretty good. There are 133 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:13,680 a few kids who do lose books, but the books that I do have a separate bin that I have selected for 134 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:19,440 student checkout with books that I'm looking to weed anyway, and if a student loses a book, 135 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:25,520 then they go to the book that they choose next time has to come from the books that I'm looking 136 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:34,080 to weed so that if another book gets lost, it'll kind of be okay. I don't, I, if a student doesn't 137 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:39,280 bring a book back, I always clear the fines and everything, but I never, and I do teach them 138 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:45,120 that they should bring it back. I never say it's okay, don't worry about it, but I try not to shame 139 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:53,200 them and I don't charge fines, and I come from it more of a place of like, okay, you made a mistake, 140 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:59,360 try and do better next time, so that they don't think it's okay to just continually not bring 141 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:05,680 books back. But again, I haven't really had that problem a whole lot. It's really not too bad considering 142 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:14,240 it's all three and four year old students. So yeah. It's awesome. Yeah. So I've had kind of two 143 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:21,920 different experiences at my campus when I was just at the pre-k. We could kind of do the same thing, 144 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:30,960 slowly start the introduction to the books, do the kind of, I did, I always did like a book tour 145 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:35,200 where we would walk through the library to show the students where different kinds of books were, 146 00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:40,640 to show them the signage, because when the light, especially when the library is set up, 147 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:45,520 it's kind of like a genre-fied where you have the sign so that you can say, here are the superhero 148 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:50,560 books, or here are the princess books, or the dinosaur books, and show them the sign so that 149 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:56,880 they can find it, kind of have the entire class walk through and show them where all those books are. 150 00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:06,720 And then the same, I didn't always, in that case, I allowed the kids to kind of go through the shelves 151 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:13,200 and look at the books and pick the books. I taught them how to use a shelf stick, which I just went 152 00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:18,720 to Home Depot and bought a bunch of paint sticks, and we use those so they could put, I would teach 153 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:24,960 them, I would pull the cart of books into the story time area and have like a shelf worth of books 154 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:31,200 on the cart. And I would show them how they can take that shelf stick and put it next to a book 155 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:36,720 that they wanted to look at. They can pull that book off the shelf, the stick stays on the shelf, 156 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:41,200 they can look inside the book and decide if that's the book they want, if it's not the book they want, 157 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:46,640 the stick is holding the book spot so they could put it back. This is more just, I'm not as worried 158 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:50,800 about them putting the book back alphabetically where it belongs kind of thing, but just getting 159 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:55,520 it back on the shelf in a general area. But teaching the kids how to do that, and then giving 160 00:17:55,520 --> 00:18:01,760 each student a chance to try that on the book cart before we release them to the shelves. And then 161 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:08,160 once we start doing book checkout, I would give the students, I made cards for the students so 162 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:12,320 they could hand, they could have a library card with their name and barcode on it, they would get 163 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:17,040 their card and their shelf stick, and I kind of release them to the shelves so that they could 164 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:21,680 find the books that they wanted. And once they found the right book that they wanted, they would 165 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:26,480 bring me their card, their stick, and their book. I would be able to check out their book for them. 166 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:33,520 And then, yeah, the first semester was just the practice of bringing the books, returning the 167 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:39,760 books to the library over and over again, and just that these are not ours to keep. We're practicing 168 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:47,120 borrowing and returning, and then in the spring, allowing the students to start taking them home. 169 00:18:47,120 --> 00:18:52,080 And again, you're right, I never, with my pre-K students, I never had a ton of books that went 170 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:58,080 missing. And like the teachers were always so concerned about, but what if they don't bring 171 00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:02,800 it back? What if we lose that book? And that's kind of when you have to have that conversation 172 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:08,320 with the teachers and explain that part of the library budget is to replace books that do get 173 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:16,720 damaged or lost. And so it's okay. The students need that opportunity. And realistically, there's 174 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:21,520 two things that go along with most of the kids that are in the pre-K programs. One is that 175 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:27,920 they're more likely to not have books at home anyway. So giving them the opportunity to have 176 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:34,080 books at home is an incredibly important part of the library's job. And the second part is 177 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:41,760 quite a few of the students that we have, they are in a financial situation where if they lose the 178 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:47,120 book, they're not going to be able to pay for it anyway. So that's why we don't do the fines. That's 179 00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:52,480 why we just let them, if it doesn't come back, it doesn't come back. That's part of the library's 180 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:58,960 budget to deal with that. And it's not a life or death situation. It's not something that we're 181 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:04,000 going to lose sleep over. Again, yes, should do we talk to the students and explain the importance 182 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:09,840 of returning the books? Absolutely. But that's not going to be like the hill that we die on at 183 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:16,720 the end of the day. In my new campus, I'm still in the process of going through and genrefying 184 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:21,680 the picture books, which makes it a little bit more challenging to have the kids just go through 185 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:28,640 the shelves and look. I will say once you've genrefied and the kids can go and look, it's great 186 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:34,720 because they have that ability to go and look. I will say your shelves are going to look terrible. 187 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:40,160 It's going to happen. There's going to be a mess. You need to just understand that that just means 188 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:45,360 that your library is being used and it's okay. But now that I'm at this elementary campus, 189 00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:52,240 I'm working on trying to genrefy so that I can give them that freedom. Right now, the way I'm 190 00:20:52,240 --> 00:21:00,320 doing it is the librarian before me had a pre-K cart of books. So we have books that are specifically 191 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:06,640 chosen for the pre-K students. So it has stuff like the Fox books and it has some board books and 192 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:13,520 it has other books like that. And so what I'll do is I'll pull that cart out. I'll grab, like you 193 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:20,560 said, something probably like 30 books and place them on a table. And on the weeks when the students 194 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:28,720 are checking out, I'll read a shorter library book. And what we do is once we finish the book, 195 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:39,440 I'll have some preset dances for the students to do. And so either the teacher or the para will help me 196 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:46,720 by keeping the music going. And what we do is while the whole class is dancing, we'll send a couple 197 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:52,240 kids at a time over to look at the books that are on the table. If they don't find a book that they 198 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:56,320 want on the table, the cart's right there so they can't flip through the cart and look for books. 199 00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:01,360 Usually we try to keep them kind of organized like you said so that like all the superhero books 200 00:22:01,360 --> 00:22:07,200 are together or all of the dog books are together so they can find something if what I pulled out 201 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:12,160 wasn't of interest to them. They'll come over to the computer. I'll help them check out real quick. 202 00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:23,120 And then they take their book and the two pre-K teachers have the like wheelie carts that they 203 00:22:23,120 --> 00:22:27,120 put like lunch boxes and stuff like that. And the students will place their library books in there 204 00:22:27,120 --> 00:22:32,000 and then they can go back and dance while the next few students are pulled to pick their books. 205 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:38,800 And so that's a streamlined process that we're working on now. I really want my pre-K students 206 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:45,440 to start being able to go to the shelves and look for books. But right now with all of the books in 207 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:52,160 order based on the author's last name, I think it's a little bit too overwhelming for my students 208 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:56,400 to try and find anything that they are really going to be interested in at the moment. So once 209 00:22:56,400 --> 00:23:03,120 I've finished the genrefication process, I'm going to be introducing that as well. And right now 210 00:23:03,120 --> 00:23:08,960 the campus that I'm on, the students spend the entire year just bringing them to the classroom 211 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:16,320 and back. So that's another conversation that I need to have with my teachers next year because 212 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:19,840 I think that's going to be a big change and I think there might be a little bit of pushback. 213 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:27,840 But I really think it's important that the students be able to take the books home. And so right now 214 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:32,880 I'm still just in the second year at my campus and I'm slowly changing things up. And so this will 215 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:36,800 be another change for next year that I'm going to work towards is having the students be able to 216 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:42,800 take those books home so that they can read them with their parents or just enjoy looking at them 217 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:49,920 at home and so that they have, if nothing else, at least one book at a time in their home that 218 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:59,280 they can use and look at. Yeah. I like the way that you said you do, you give the kids that 219 00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:02,640 much freedom to like look through the shelves and everything. And I know that's a challenge 220 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:10,080 right now for you, but I'm sure you'll get that situated soon. Yeah, I figure that. You know. 221 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:17,760 Yeah. I have found also that the biggest challenge for me is not actually teaching the kids how to 222 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:24,880 do book checkout or anything to do with the students. A lot of it is actually the other teachers 223 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:31,840 because they are very concerned with will the students lose a book or will the book get damaged 224 00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:35,840 and all those things. And it is very important to have that conversation with your teachers. 225 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:44,000 That is part of why I have everything set up the way I do in my library with like a separate section 226 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:49,360 just for the kids to look at because I do kind of understand from the teacher's perspective. 227 00:24:49,360 --> 00:24:55,760 Like if you really, if you have a lesson that you want to do and you need this particular library 228 00:24:55,760 --> 00:25:01,760 book, you don't want it to get lost. So I do have a separate section in my library that's just like 229 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:07,200 curriculum books. And then I have the main collection that everybody can look at. And then 230 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:13,280 a little, a smaller student check. That's more like student checkout books that like 231 00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:20,000 that kids might gravitate toward a little bit more that the teachers won't use for 232 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:28,960 a lesson. And that, you know, that maybe I am looking to weed that I'm ready to part with that 233 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:33,680 it would be okay if it gets lost or damaged or whatever. Usually when I show the teachers like 234 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:39,280 that's the bucket or two that have the books that I'm looking to weed, they're like, oh, 235 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:44,880 those books can go away. That's fine. All right. And then that helps the conversation. 236 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:50,800 I do love that idea also. That's something else I want to do for those, especially for it, like, 237 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:55,760 because there are some of those kids that are going to be in Kinder and first grade when they 238 00:25:55,760 --> 00:26:00,000 do take books home. There are those kids that are like repeat offenders where the books lost. 239 00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:05,120 And I get it happens occasionally. But for those kids that it happens like with every book, 240 00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:09,920 I like the idea of using some of those books that you're going to be weeding so that it's not 241 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:15,680 like a brand new book that you've had once that's getting lost kind of thing that you can kind of 242 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:22,320 curb the loss a little bit by using some of those books that are still good books, but that you're 243 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:27,760 playing to weed because they're a little bit more beaten up or they haven't been checked out as much 244 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:32,720 as you thought they would be kind of working with that. I think that's a really good idea, 245 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:38,880 especially if that's the concern. Well, this kid loses every book that they, well, let's start 246 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:46,320 having this as the section that they check out from kind of that idea a lot. And book checkout is 247 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:53,200 a crazy, crazy thing. And there's so many parts to it. So it takes a lot of practice and a lot 248 00:26:53,200 --> 00:27:01,680 of work to get to that point where the kids are ready. But it's just so beneficial for them to 249 00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:07,440 be able to pick the books and check out books. So it's something that we all realize is it's the 250 00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:16,880 goal. We want the kids to have the books. So it is. It's all about book access and exposure. Exactly. Yeah. 251 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:25,760 All right. Well, our next book is called Worm and Caterpillar are Friends. It is published by 252 00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:33,760 Simon Spotlight in 2023. The author and illustrator of this book is Kaz Widenis. This particular book 253 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:42,320 won a Geisel Honor. It's a Kirkus Reviews Best Graphic Novel in Comic, a New York Public Library 254 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:50,400 Best Book, and a Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Book. Kaz Widenis was an Army brat and 255 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:57,520 has lived all over the US. She has both autism spectrum disorder and ADHD. And she frequently 256 00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:03,840 includes messages of kindness, inclusivity, and acceptance in her stories. In addition to writing 257 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:09,200 and illustrating children's books, she's currently a professor of illustration at Rocky Mountain 258 00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:14,240 College of Art and Design. She lives in Colorado with her English teacher husband and her two 259 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:26,160 teenage children. Some other books that she has worked on. We have Worm and Butterfly are Friends 260 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:36,320 Always, which is coming out in 2026. Squid in Pants coming out in 2025. Bitsy Bat Team Star. 261 00:28:37,360 --> 00:28:47,120 When you love a book, go Dino Go, Ollie the Acorn and the Mighty Idea, Cat vs. Vac, 262 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:57,440 Bitsy Bat School Star, and Swim Jim. On a side note, have you read Bitsy Bat School Star? 263 00:28:57,440 --> 00:29:02,800 I have not. I was looking at that and I was like, I want to see this book now. I'm curious. 264 00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:12,720 So I love it so much. I got it at the beginning of this year, I think, and it is, I think, easily 265 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:20,720 the best book that I have ever read for this age group that kind of introduces autism, but not in 266 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:29,600 it was in such a lovely way. It was it never calls out autism specifically. It was more like 267 00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:35,920 Bitsy Bat is just I'm totally talking about the wrong book. Sorry. I love this. I want to know. 268 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:46,320 I love it a lot. But in the book, Bitsy Bat is kind of different than her peers because Bitsy 269 00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:52,480 Bat is still a mammal. So she's going to school with other mammals, right? But bats are obviously 270 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:58,960 not like other mammals with right. Bats are mammals, right? Bats are mammals. Yes. Okay, 271 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:05,440 good. That's what I thought. And then I was questioning myself. Don't question it. Just go with 272 00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:12,000 it. You're absolutely correct. Keep going. Okay, great. But obviously, Bitsy Bat has other needs 273 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:17,280 than other mammals. And like, it kind of comes in with it at it from that perspective of like, 274 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:22,240 yeah, Bitsy Bat is different, but Bitsy Bat is still special and everybody's special in these 275 00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:29,360 ways. And it never really calls out autism. So it's a very different way to go about looking at it. 276 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:35,120 It was just more of like a, it's just different. It's not better. It's not worse. I feel like a 277 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:44,400 lot of books that are about autism specifically and kids in school that are kind of that introduction 278 00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:51,760 that a lot of our kids have are kind of written by neurotypical people and come at it as more of a 279 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:56,720 perspective of, well, these people are different because, but that's not how the way this one 280 00:30:56,720 --> 00:31:03,120 was written. It was more like everyone's different and special because. So it was kind of a nice 281 00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:09,040 change. I think I thought it was kind of refreshing, probably because the author is autistic herself. 282 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:15,680 That's probably why it was such a good introduction to autism. And it does have some notes at the back. 283 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:21,600 So anyway, that was a fun little tangent. That's awesome, though. I love that. And I mean, I mean, 284 00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:26,080 autism spectrum disorder is something that's close to both of us being that we both have children 285 00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:31,440 on the spectrum. And so, I mean, I'm always looking for good books that introduce those concepts 286 00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:36,000 because we both also work with quite a few students that are on the spectrum. And so, 287 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:43,280 any way that we can introduce that and be able to share that idea and that message of just 288 00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:48,720 different but not less is a great, great resource. And so I'm so glad that you mentioned it because 289 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:53,680 now I have to look into that book and see if I can get it because it sounds like it would be perfect. 290 00:31:53,680 --> 00:32:01,840 You should. It's great. I loved it. So anyway, back to Worm and Caterpillar. Yeah. All right. 291 00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:07,840 In Worm and Caterpillar, Worm and Caterpillar are best friends. One day they discuss how they are 292 00:32:07,840 --> 00:32:13,120 alike and how are different. Worm takes note of how similar they are. While Caterpillar is quick 293 00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:18,400 to point out all of their differences. This culminates in Caterpillar asking Worm for reassurance 294 00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:24,640 that they will always be friends, even if Caterpillar changes. Once Caterpillar does change, 295 00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:28,800 Worm and Caterpillar kind of embrace the change and learn to love all their differences. 296 00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:35,840 I really enjoyed this book. It has simple text. Illustrations are great for emergent readers. 297 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:42,880 It's a great introduction to the world of graphic novels. It's just the way it's written and drawn 298 00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:47,920 is like it has those different panels on each page. So it's kind of a great way to kind of teach 299 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:53,360 kids how to read a graphic novel because it is different from reading a typical book. And at 300 00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:59,920 the end it has some step-by-step instructions on how to both how to draw both Worm and Caterpillar, 301 00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:06,480 which I love when books have that at the end so that they so that kids can kind of take ownership 302 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:12,000 and learn how to make their own books. That's my favorite. I liked that it was a longer book, 303 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:19,520 like as far as pages. It doesn't take a long time to read the book, but it has 64 pages. And I think 304 00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:26,640 a lot of the time for struggling readers who are kind of learning to read and not quite as fluent 305 00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:32,000 as others, they can feel more accomplished. If they've read like a longer book, they kind of see 306 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:37,360 that they've read through that many pages and feel like a little more proud and like more willing to 307 00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:45,520 try reading again in the future, which is obviously the goal. And I like that it was, it seemed like 308 00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:49,760 it was a good jumping off point for talking about a lot of different things. Like you could go from 309 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:57,360 it, go at it from the social emotional standpoint and kind of do about, you know, people similarities 310 00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:02,560 and differences and how people, different kinds of people can be friends, or you could go at it 311 00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:08,720 from the life cycle standpoint and kind of look at the life cycle of the worm and the life cycle of 312 00:34:08,720 --> 00:34:15,680 the caterpillar and how it turns into a butterfly and all that. So yeah, I enjoyed it a lot. I think 313 00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:21,280 it was a 5 out of 5. Sorry, go ahead. Yeah, no, absolutely. I think this was a super great book. 314 00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:25,840 I loved it. I loved that at the beginning. It kind of tells you, it walks you through like 315 00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:31,840 each of these images on the page is considered a panel. And when you look at the word bubbles, 316 00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:36,640 where it's pointing is the character that's talking. And these are how the thought bubbles work. And 317 00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:43,120 when my body is shaking, it says wiggle. And you can see me wiggling and kind of introduces that 318 00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:47,840 whole concept of graphic novels and how they work, which is wonderful because graphic novels are such 319 00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:54,480 a popular medium for students to be reading anyway. And so to kind of introduce that concept is great. 320 00:34:54,480 --> 00:35:00,880 I loved the story itself of, you know, we're different and there are similarities and differences 321 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:07,600 there that we can enjoy both all of those things. And then you throw in the science aspect of the 322 00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:13,200 life cycle of the two characters. And yeah, this was just a great story. It kind of gave me like 323 00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:18,400 an elephant and piggy vibe where they like just just the conversation between the two friends 324 00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:23,680 just back and forth. I really love this book a lot. I thought it was great. I hadn't read 325 00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:31,040 the the Werman Caterpillar story before. And so I'm this is one of those books I have to 326 00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:35,600 have to get in my library now because I think my students will really enjoy it, especially the ones 327 00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:41,200 that like the elephant and piggy style of books, but also love science because there's a bunch of 328 00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:44,480 overlap there. And I think my students are really going to enjoy that. 329 00:35:46,720 --> 00:35:52,000 Yeah, it was, yeah, I really enjoyed this one. I will say when I was looking through some of the 330 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:58,720 other things that Kaz Widdness has published, I was noticing that like, I would just be careful 331 00:35:58,720 --> 00:36:04,480 looking at like the age level that it's intended for. It looked like some of her newer books are 332 00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:10,720 very appropriate for younger kids. But it looks like some of the books that maybe she first published 333 00:36:10,720 --> 00:36:17,600 are more for like adults. So definitely, like if you're looking at purchasing her books in general, 334 00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:27,920 maybe look through and just double check that. If I, yeah, I think you could do a whole lot of 335 00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:34,160 different kinds of makerspace activities with this book, because it does have like you could do 336 00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:39,600 like a double bubble map and do like some thinking maps with comparing and contrasting different 337 00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:44,800 characters and books or even kids in the class. But I think if I was going to do this in the 338 00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:50,080 a lesson with this book in particular, I would probably talk about butterflies just because 339 00:36:50,080 --> 00:36:57,440 butterflies are, I think lend themselves a little bit more to kind of STEM activities and 340 00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:03,280 art in general. I really enjoy doing art with pre-cage students, but I would probably do a 341 00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:10,080 lesson on symmetry with it and kind of do that activity where you, you know, have paint on one 342 00:37:10,080 --> 00:37:17,120 side of a paper, fold it over and open it up to kind of show the kids that how it spreads and how 343 00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:26,320 it's now symmetrical. So yeah, I love that idea. Yeah. And if you make the paper either in the shape 344 00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:34,480 of a butterfly or have a butterfly image printed on it, it just adds more to that. I love that idea 345 00:37:34,480 --> 00:37:40,400 and getting those kids to be able to be creative and use paint is always fun, a little messy, 346 00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:46,000 but fun and worth it, you know, from those experiences for sure. I love that idea. Yeah. 347 00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:51,120 Yeah, I like it having, being a little bit messy and having fun with kids in the library. 348 00:37:51,120 --> 00:37:54,720 It's a good time. They don't always get to do that in the classroom and so the library should 349 00:37:54,720 --> 00:37:59,680 be a place where they get to, you know? Yeah. Especially in a lot of the pre-k campuses where 350 00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:06,480 art isn't a specials rotation, it's not a co-cur rotation. And so, you know, getting to do those 351 00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:11,840 things in the library, that's a good thing for them to get that experience. This is true. Neither 352 00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:18,560 of my campuses currently have art, which I think is why I'm a little more inclined to be a little 353 00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:25,600 bit messier in my library. Yeah, you know. So, yeah. We can always clean it up, right? Sure can. 354 00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:34,080 Yeah. Probably. Yeah. Most of the time. And whatever. There are worse things than a little mess, 355 00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:40,480 you know. There are. It's true. Thank you all for joining us today on this episode of Librarians 356 00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:46,080 of Littles. We hope you found some fresh ideas for inspiring young readers. Please be sure to 357 00:38:46,080 --> 00:38:51,600 subscribe and connect with us on social media. Happy reading! Thank you for listening to this 358 00:38:51,600 --> 00:38:58,080 episode of Librarians of Littles. We hope that you enjoyed it. Check back each Wednesday for a new 359 00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:05,120 episode. Librarians of Littles is a podcast produced and hosted by Patrick Adams and Caroline Ligier. 360 00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:12,800 Editor Patrick Adams. Our theme song is performed by JD Adams. You can follow us on Instagram at 361 00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:22,320 Librarians of Littles. You can follow us on Blue Sky at littleslibrarian.bsky.social. And you can 362 00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:43,840 send us your emails at Librarianoflittlespod at gmail.com.