WEBVTT 00:00:20.550 --> 00:00:24.269 Hello, I'm Patrick Adams. And I'm Caroline Leshear. 00:00:24.510 --> 00:00:28.210 And this is Librarians of Littles, a podcast 00:00:28.210 --> 00:00:32.229 where we review books, include makerspace connections, 00:00:32.250 --> 00:00:36.130 and we give tips and tricks for working with 00:00:36.130 --> 00:00:41.609 our youngest readers. Today, we are going to 00:00:41.609 --> 00:00:45.170 share two books that work really well with this 00:00:45.170 --> 00:00:48.649 month of April. April is school library month. 00:00:49.049 --> 00:00:51.500 The American Association of School Librarians 00:00:51.500 --> 00:00:55.140 celebrates April as School Librarians and School 00:00:55.140 --> 00:01:00.939 Library Month to encourage the community to understand 00:01:00.939 --> 00:01:03.679 the essential role that strong school libraries 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:08.459 play in transforming learning. And so this week 00:01:08.459 --> 00:01:11.500 we're going to have two books that are library 00:01:11.500 --> 00:01:15.859 focused, the first of which is a book called 00:01:15.859 --> 00:01:21.180 Ronin the Librarian. This was published in 2020 00:01:21.180 --> 00:01:25.560 by Roaring Book Press. The authors, because there's 00:01:25.560 --> 00:01:30.840 two of them, Tara Lube and Becky Caddy. And the 00:01:30.840 --> 00:01:36.560 illustrator is Victoria Moderna. This book, Ronan 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:39.099 the Librarian, was on the Junior Library Guild 00:01:39.099 --> 00:01:45.140 selection for 2020 list. It won the or it was 00:01:45.140 --> 00:01:47.680 on the list for the Grand Canyon Reader Award 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:52.060 2022 in Arizona, the Treasure State Award 2022 00:01:52.060 --> 00:01:56.239 for grades K through three in Montana, and the 00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:59.780 South Carolina Picture Book Award for 2022 -2023 00:01:59.780 --> 00:02:03.510 for grades K through two. Becky Caddy has always 00:02:03.510 --> 00:02:05.790 had a flair for the dramatic and loves all things 00:02:05.790 --> 00:02:08.330 entertainment, especially character -driven narratives. 00:02:08.990 --> 00:02:11.789 Becky was a casting producer for reality TV shows 00:02:11.789 --> 00:02:16.069 like NBC's America's Got Talent and ABC's Extreme 00:02:16.069 --> 00:02:19.710 Makeover and E's The Simple Life in Los Angeles. 00:02:19.969 --> 00:02:22.250 She has a drama degree from the University of 00:02:22.250 --> 00:02:27.009 Georgia. Go dogs! And she is currently a creative 00:02:27.009 --> 00:02:30.449 recruiter residing in Chicago, Illinois. She 00:02:30.449 --> 00:02:33.449 can be found going to the theater, eating too 00:02:33.449 --> 00:02:36.550 much sushi, and spoiling her nephews. She is 00:02:36.550 --> 00:02:41.810 a member of the SCBWI Illinois, which stands 00:02:41.810 --> 00:02:45.150 for the Society of Children's Book Writers and 00:02:45.150 --> 00:02:50.530 Illustrators. And Tara is her sister. Tara is 00:02:50.530 --> 00:02:53.889 self -described as a picture book nerd. In her 00:02:53.889 --> 00:02:57.879 previous life, she owned a kid's toys and bookstore 00:02:57.879 --> 00:03:01.419 in Atlanta, which was a catalyst for her for 00:03:01.419 --> 00:03:05.780 writing her own books. Her background is in retail 00:03:05.780 --> 00:03:08.500 buying and wholesale distribution. She's a graduate 00:03:08.500 --> 00:03:13.460 of the University of Dayton. So go flyers. Tara 00:03:13.460 --> 00:03:16.360 loves Star Wars and submersive picture books. 00:03:16.379 --> 00:03:19.340 She has three children and a husband and they 00:03:19.340 --> 00:03:23.349 live in Fort Mill, South Carolina. and she is 00:03:23.349 --> 00:03:28.770 also an active member of the SCBWI for the Carolinas. 00:03:29.250 --> 00:03:33.069 Alright, so if the author's other books are I 00:03:33.069 --> 00:03:38.610 Am Famous, which is illustrated by Joanne Lou 00:03:38.610 --> 00:03:42.009 Vrythoff, I'm sorry if I pronounced it strangely. 00:03:42.210 --> 00:03:45.229 That's close, I think it's close. I Used to Be 00:03:45.229 --> 00:03:49.650 Famous, also illustrated by Joanne Lou Vrythoff, 00:03:50.129 --> 00:03:53.610 Operation Photo Bomb, illustrated by Matthew 00:03:53.610 --> 00:03:57.990 Rivera, and Sharknado, illustrated by Daniel 00:03:57.990 --> 00:04:01.990 Duncan. The illustrator for this book, Victoria 00:04:01.990 --> 00:04:07.610 Maderna, is an illustrator from Rosario, Argentina, 00:04:08.129 --> 00:04:12.389 but she works mainly in children's books and 00:04:12.389 --> 00:04:15.909 comics. She currently lives in rural France with 00:04:15.909 --> 00:04:20.189 her husband, Frederico. She creates illustrations 00:04:20.189 --> 00:04:23.639 using and I checked to see how this was pronounced 00:04:23.639 --> 00:04:29.259 it's goo -ash yes that's how you say it ash okay 00:04:29.259 --> 00:04:33.319 yes it's a type of paint made from pigments bound 00:04:33.319 --> 00:04:38.220 in water soluble gum like watercolor but with 00:04:38.220 --> 00:04:41.620 the addition of a white pigment in order to make 00:04:41.620 --> 00:04:45.779 it opaque see i was doing some research for this 00:04:45.779 --> 00:04:50.399 because i was interested um And she also occasionally 00:04:50.399 --> 00:04:54.139 includes coloring digitally, but she's always 00:04:54.139 --> 00:04:57.399 willing to try new things. She is fond of funny 00:04:57.399 --> 00:05:00.480 and whimsical stories, painting animals, particularly 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:03.699 if she gets to make them wear fancy clothes and 00:05:03.699 --> 00:05:07.639 hats. She enjoys painting trees and nature and 00:05:07.639 --> 00:05:11.360 things of fantasy and fairy tale style where 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:15.389 she can let her imagination run wild. She is 00:05:15.389 --> 00:05:18.910 formally trained in graphic design so also is 00:05:18.910 --> 00:05:21.389 pretty into typography and lettering as well 00:05:21.389 --> 00:05:24.829 And she loves it when projects let her flex those 00:05:24.829 --> 00:05:29.569 muscles and so the book summary Ronan was a barbarian 00:05:29.569 --> 00:05:33.769 known for invading raiding and trading after 00:05:33.769 --> 00:05:37.610 This when he's also known for finding the best 00:05:37.610 --> 00:05:40.790 treasures Ronan ends up pillaging a chest of 00:05:40.790 --> 00:05:43.750 books and scrolls with great disappointment. 00:05:44.170 --> 00:05:46.149 Being so disappointed, he tries to trade with 00:05:46.149 --> 00:05:48.670 other barbarians, but barbarians don't read. 00:05:49.170 --> 00:05:51.629 He tries to search for other uses. He can use 00:05:51.629 --> 00:05:54.129 it as kindling or for origami or even as toilet 00:05:54.129 --> 00:05:58.500 paper. But as he He is trying to figure out what 00:05:58.500 --> 00:06:00.639 to do. He gets sucked in by one of the pictures 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:02.800 in the book and begins to read first a sentence 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:05.259 then a paragraph and so on and so on. He becomes 00:06:05.259 --> 00:06:07.680 so obsessed with the stories that he's extremely 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:11.079 distracted from his rating tasks and his friends. 00:06:11.720 --> 00:06:15.040 He begins to start rating specifically for books 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:17.379 when he finishes those books. He needs more so 00:06:17.379 --> 00:06:20.279 he keeps rating for more and more of this new 00:06:20.279 --> 00:06:23.589 treasure. He collects so many books that he decides 00:06:23.589 --> 00:06:26.810 he needs somewhere to house them. He builds a 00:06:26.810 --> 00:06:31.029 library. He sets up a grand opening for the library, 00:06:31.509 --> 00:06:33.569 but all of the other barbarians have reasons 00:06:33.569 --> 00:06:36.970 why they don't read. His last -ditch attempt 00:06:36.970 --> 00:06:41.230 is to read a story in the town square to get 00:06:41.230 --> 00:06:43.949 attention, but it seems to be a miserable failure 00:06:43.949 --> 00:06:46.529 until he goes back to the library and finds the 00:06:46.529 --> 00:06:49.670 doors busted in and barbarians inside reading. 00:06:51.540 --> 00:06:54.540 I really enjoyed this story a lot. It's silly, 00:06:55.120 --> 00:06:57.800 it's fun. When I've read this to my students 00:06:57.800 --> 00:06:59.899 in the past, they've really enjoyed it. I'm going 00:06:59.899 --> 00:07:01.939 to read it this coming week with my kids, so 00:07:01.939 --> 00:07:04.439 we'll find out how this group enjoys it. But 00:07:04.439 --> 00:07:06.519 I've really enjoyed it because the characters 00:07:06.519 --> 00:07:10.800 are just kind of comical and fun. I feel like 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:12.879 it's relatable to a lot of students who are just 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:14.879 like, I don't like to read, I don't want to do 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:18.120 it until they find that one book that finally 00:07:18.120 --> 00:07:21.699 really speaks to them. they become voracious 00:07:21.699 --> 00:07:25.180 readers. But yeah, it has so much good humor. 00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:27.759 Like there's a goat throughout the entire book 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:30.699 that's just like eating paper the entire time. 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:35.399 There's a running joke of using the books as 00:07:35.399 --> 00:07:38.079 toilet paper. The illustrations are bright and 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:40.939 colorful. The characters are exactly how you 00:07:40.939 --> 00:07:43.480 would imagine these big hulking barbarians to 00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:46.540 be. And it's just so engaging for the students. 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:50.579 I really enjoyed it. I think that this book I 00:07:50.579 --> 00:07:53.060 think this is a five out of five bookmarks book. 00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:56.620 I think it's really great. Yeah, this was the 00:07:56.620 --> 00:07:58.379 first time I've had the pleasure of reading this 00:07:58.379 --> 00:08:00.500 book and it was really funny. It was really cute. 00:08:00.500 --> 00:08:02.519 It was kind of a different spin on it. I really 00:08:02.519 --> 00:08:05.399 like that it was like kind of taking the big 00:08:05.399 --> 00:08:08.000 burly barbarians and making them readers. I think 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:13.220 it really helps kids relate to it and helps maybe 00:08:13.220 --> 00:08:15.439 are more reluctant readers who don't really think 00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:18.300 of themselves as readers view themselves as such 00:08:18.300 --> 00:08:21.160 because then they can kind of see oh these you 00:08:21.160 --> 00:08:23.660 know big guys are over here that you know they 00:08:23.660 --> 00:08:25.519 never read and then they learn to love it maybe 00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:28.860 I can too yeah it was really cute really funny 00:08:28.860 --> 00:08:31.800 different spin on it I enjoyed it yeah it was 00:08:31.800 --> 00:08:34.299 really cool and good pick well done thank you 00:08:34.299 --> 00:08:37.299 and I I really do like the pictures at all of 00:08:37.299 --> 00:08:40.419 it because it's got like that those warm colors 00:08:40.419 --> 00:08:44.850 and just, you know, they they're very engaging 00:08:44.850 --> 00:08:47.850 pictures. And I like that, like there's one picture 00:08:47.850 --> 00:08:53.250 that has the bulletin board of all of the the 00:08:53.250 --> 00:08:58.039 rules for the the library and it has like definitely 00:08:58.039 --> 00:09:01.059 check out books make sure that like swords are 00:09:01.059 --> 00:09:04.080 terrible bookmarks and like different things 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:06.700 like that and there's even like uh do not let 00:09:06.700 --> 00:09:09.620 this goat in the library but like it's just the 00:09:09.620 --> 00:09:11.539 little running jokes throughout the whole thing 00:09:11.539 --> 00:09:14.379 just make it amusing and when you stop and read 00:09:14.379 --> 00:09:16.980 all that stuff the kids are like they crack up 00:09:16.980 --> 00:09:21.000 and laugh and love it so it's a really good book 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:25.450 it was it was really cute As far as a makerspace 00:09:25.450 --> 00:09:27.730 activity to connect. So I, this one's more of 00:09:27.730 --> 00:09:30.649 a craft than an activity, but I think it would 00:09:30.649 --> 00:09:34.389 be fun to do using sentence strips and cardstock 00:09:34.389 --> 00:09:37.909 and some taper staples, coloring pencils, crayons, 00:09:38.129 --> 00:09:40.830 markers, that kind of stuff. Using the sentence 00:09:40.830 --> 00:09:43.690 strips make a headband for the students. And 00:09:43.690 --> 00:09:46.190 then using the cardstock, you can either print 00:09:46.190 --> 00:09:50.679 or freehand out. I would probably Draw one and 00:09:50.679 --> 00:09:52.960 then make a bunch of copies on card stock but 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:55.820 draw some get some horns and so cut out some 00:09:55.820 --> 00:10:00.360 pre -cut horns you can once you've got the Sentence 00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:02.500 strip to the right size for the kids heads you 00:10:02.500 --> 00:10:05.700 can add those horns to the sentence strips to 00:10:05.700 --> 00:10:08.580 make a barbarian helmet for the students and 00:10:08.580 --> 00:10:11.600 then give them the time to decorate their helmet, 00:10:11.919 --> 00:10:13.460 add some color to it, that kind of thing, because 00:10:13.460 --> 00:10:15.659 all the barbarians throughout the book are wearing 00:10:15.659 --> 00:10:19.039 these giant horned helmets, and so the kids can 00:10:19.039 --> 00:10:21.340 become barbarians themselves with those horned 00:10:21.340 --> 00:10:23.960 helmets. I think that would just be a fun little 00:10:23.960 --> 00:10:27.019 craft to do. You could also have them if you 00:10:27.019 --> 00:10:29.700 wanted. If some of your kids need that time to 00:10:29.700 --> 00:10:32.919 be more tactile and building, you could have 00:10:32.919 --> 00:10:36.480 them build their own fortresses using Building 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:38.460 materials like blocks or Legos or something like 00:10:38.460 --> 00:10:41.320 that that could be they could have barbarians 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:44.580 try and raid their fortress that they built out 00:10:44.580 --> 00:10:48.860 of the Legos I love that idea and I like I really 00:10:48.860 --> 00:10:51.039 like having the kids make their own helmets like 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:55.240 that kids love To dress up and play pretend to 00:10:55.240 --> 00:10:57.879 do all the acting out kinds of things So I think 00:10:57.879 --> 00:10:59.799 that would be a really engaging way to kind of 00:10:59.799 --> 00:11:02.500 bring the story to life. I love it. Absolutely. 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:05.690 Yeah I think it'd be a lot of fun and you know 00:11:05.690 --> 00:11:08.649 the the thing that would be the hardest would 00:11:08.649 --> 00:11:10.750 making sure that all the horns are cut out but 00:11:10.750 --> 00:11:14.450 most of us when the pre -k classes come a teacher 00:11:14.450 --> 00:11:16.830 or a para will come in with them so you could 00:11:16.830 --> 00:11:18.429 just hand them a stack and be like hey cut these 00:11:18.429 --> 00:11:20.570 out while i'm reading kind of thing and wouldn't 00:11:20.570 --> 00:11:23.750 be so bad yeah so that would help a lot and that 00:11:23.750 --> 00:11:25.789 would be like really simple design and so that 00:11:25.789 --> 00:11:28.429 it would be yeah it wouldn't be too hard to put 00:11:28.429 --> 00:11:31.139 a couple together and just cut them Yeah. It 00:11:31.139 --> 00:11:33.259 wouldn't be too time consuming per se for like 00:11:33.259 --> 00:11:35.480 a single class. The whole school would be rough. 00:11:35.639 --> 00:11:37.960 So yeah, that would be a great way to kind of 00:11:37.960 --> 00:11:40.779 get that done quickly for everybody that doesn't 00:11:40.779 --> 00:11:45.100 overburden you. Yeah. All right. So I think that's 00:11:45.100 --> 00:11:47.320 a really good story and a really great way to 00:11:47.320 --> 00:11:51.279 introduce kind of library month, you know? Yeah. 00:11:52.019 --> 00:11:57.730 Agreed. All right. So This week for a library 00:11:57.730 --> 00:12:00.789 of littles management tip. We're going to talk 00:12:00.789 --> 00:12:03.809 a little bit about book fairs. So the big thing 00:12:03.809 --> 00:12:07.909 about book fairs is that book fairs have been 00:12:07.909 --> 00:12:09.710 in the spotlight a lot for a couple of reasons. 00:12:10.070 --> 00:12:14.169 One of the main things is that. Especially. When 00:12:14.169 --> 00:12:16.870 you're looking at the pre K students, a lot of 00:12:16.870 --> 00:12:19.750 these students come to our schools. They qualify 00:12:19.750 --> 00:12:23.710 to come to our schools because. Money is something 00:12:23.710 --> 00:12:25.850 that their families struggle with for whatever 00:12:25.850 --> 00:12:28.269 reason that might be. And so having a book fair 00:12:28.269 --> 00:12:30.909 can a lot of times be something that's kind of 00:12:30.909 --> 00:12:35.129 questionable to bring up as far as equity goes. 00:12:35.230 --> 00:12:38.990 And so I'm going to explain how I work my book 00:12:38.990 --> 00:12:43.509 fairs and explain how the library is set up so 00:12:43.509 --> 00:12:47.070 that we have some ideas of how to balance it 00:12:47.070 --> 00:12:48.950 out. Because I think that everyone should have 00:12:48.950 --> 00:12:51.960 the opportunity To be able to buy some books 00:12:51.960 --> 00:12:53.899 and a book fair is a great way to do that, especially 00:12:53.899 --> 00:12:58.580 in areas where we have book deserts. A lot of 00:12:58.580 --> 00:13:00.779 a lot, especially in like we're in the state 00:13:00.779 --> 00:13:02.519 of Texas. There are a lot of places where there 00:13:02.519 --> 00:13:04.460 are book deserts. We're fortunate enough to live 00:13:04.460 --> 00:13:07.240 in an area where books are relatively accessible, 00:13:07.240 --> 00:13:09.620 but that's not always the case. So book fairs 00:13:09.620 --> 00:13:12.399 can be a way to help with that. The way I set 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:14.620 my library up. I'm fortunate that in my library 00:13:14.620 --> 00:13:18.840 right now I have a lot of floor space. And so. 00:13:19.619 --> 00:13:22.159 I'm able and all of my shelves are on wheels 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:25.600 which makes it a whole lot more easy to move 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:28.759 stuff around and if you have shelves that are 00:13:28.759 --> 00:13:32.340 permanently in place in your building or aren't 00:13:32.340 --> 00:13:34.120 on wheels and it would take forever to move them 00:13:34.120 --> 00:13:35.639 and stuff that makes it a lot more challenging 00:13:35.639 --> 00:13:38.379 but if you've got the shelves on wheels that 00:13:38.379 --> 00:13:40.200 makes it a whole lot easier to move stuff around. 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:44.120 So what I generally do is I will move all of 00:13:44.120 --> 00:13:47.700 my picture books a little bit closer to my fiction 00:13:47.700 --> 00:13:51.340 section. I'll move our, we get rid of the makerspace 00:13:51.340 --> 00:13:53.720 tables that we have that week. Those are put 00:13:53.720 --> 00:13:56.019 away and actually usually the tables themselves 00:13:56.019 --> 00:13:59.059 are used for displays for the book fair. And 00:13:59.059 --> 00:14:03.559 so I'll move all of my shelves so that all of 00:14:03.559 --> 00:14:06.700 my shelves stay accessible the entire time we 00:14:06.700 --> 00:14:09.539 have our book fair going. I know that's not something 00:14:09.539 --> 00:14:11.620 that everyone can do, but that's something that 00:14:11.620 --> 00:14:13.220 I try to do because I want to make sure that 00:14:13.220 --> 00:14:16.049 my students can still check out a library book, 00:14:16.309 --> 00:14:19.750 even if they can't purchase a book from our book 00:14:19.750 --> 00:14:22.090 fair. And so I'll set up my book fair in one 00:14:22.090 --> 00:14:26.710 portion of the library. I also have like big 00:14:26.710 --> 00:14:28.889 tables at the back of my library. That's where 00:14:28.889 --> 00:14:32.149 like the staff comes when they have faculty meetings 00:14:32.149 --> 00:14:35.470 and stuff like that. I leave those there so that 00:14:35.470 --> 00:14:40.470 when I'm seeing my other classes, my first and 00:14:40.470 --> 00:14:42.809 first through fifth grade classes, they go to 00:14:42.809 --> 00:14:44.769 those back tables and we do different activities 00:14:44.769 --> 00:14:47.870 in the library that week. But as far as pre -k 00:14:47.870 --> 00:14:51.389 goes, we set up the book fair. We have our picture 00:14:51.389 --> 00:14:55.690 book shelves moved. We have, depending on if 00:14:55.690 --> 00:14:58.330 it's in the fall, we have our picture book cart 00:14:58.330 --> 00:15:02.970 or our pre -k cart of books. If they haven't 00:15:02.970 --> 00:15:04.769 started checking out off the shelves yet, that's 00:15:04.769 --> 00:15:07.710 still available. But the students can come into 00:15:07.710 --> 00:15:12.490 the library. I have a very long talk with the 00:15:12.490 --> 00:15:16.730 students about what a book fair is and how it 00:15:16.730 --> 00:15:18.730 works. And we have a discussion about the fact 00:15:18.730 --> 00:15:21.649 that a book fair is basically a store in our 00:15:21.649 --> 00:15:24.830 library. And if you go to the store, you can't 00:15:24.830 --> 00:15:27.769 just take something and walk out. And all the 00:15:27.769 --> 00:15:30.690 students generally have that concept down. And 00:15:30.690 --> 00:15:33.389 so we explain that to leave with something from 00:15:33.389 --> 00:15:36.440 the book fair, you have to have money to pay 00:15:36.440 --> 00:15:38.340 for it and you have to have the right amount 00:15:38.340 --> 00:15:39.940 of money to pay for it and that kind of thing 00:15:39.940 --> 00:15:42.299 and so we have a conversation about the fact 00:15:42.299 --> 00:15:45.559 that When they come in the first time because 00:15:45.559 --> 00:15:47.679 I try to have them come in twice that week Some 00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:49.580 people have their schedule that way so it works 00:15:49.580 --> 00:15:52.460 a little better Usually I only see my class classes 00:15:52.460 --> 00:15:54.340 once a week So we try to set it up so they come 00:15:54.340 --> 00:15:56.580 in early in the week and then come back for a 00:15:56.580 --> 00:15:59.419 lesson later in the week But during that time 00:15:59.419 --> 00:16:02.039 the first time they come in we have this conversation 00:16:02.039 --> 00:16:03.919 we talk about it And then I explained to them 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:07.029 that they're gonna get to look at the book fair 00:16:07.029 --> 00:16:09.429 they're going to get to pick like one or two 00:16:09.429 --> 00:16:11.889 books for us to put on a list so that they can 00:16:11.889 --> 00:16:14.769 take home and show their adults and we have a 00:16:14.769 --> 00:16:16.350 whole conversation about the fact that their 00:16:16.350 --> 00:16:20.169 adults get to decide whether they spend the money 00:16:20.169 --> 00:16:22.429 on books or not and that we're not going to get 00:16:22.429 --> 00:16:23.970 upset we have a whole conversation about the 00:16:23.970 --> 00:16:26.169 fact that sometimes adults have to say no and 00:16:26.169 --> 00:16:28.769 that's an acceptable answer and we have to be 00:16:28.769 --> 00:16:31.879 able to listen to it and understand that so We 00:16:31.879 --> 00:16:33.259 have this whole conversation where we explain 00:16:33.259 --> 00:16:36.500 if the adults say no, not this time, it's not 00:16:36.500 --> 00:16:39.639 a time for you to throw a fit and cry and whine 00:16:39.639 --> 00:16:41.840 and complain until you get your way. Because 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:43.879 sometimes adults have to make important choices. 00:16:44.460 --> 00:16:46.159 Sometimes they don't have the money available 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:50.840 to make these other purchases. But we can say, 00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:53.360 well, maybe next time. And so I have all the 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:55.120 kids repeat back to me, well, maybe next time. 00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:58.080 So that they know if mom or dad or grandma, grandpa 00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:00.700 or whoever their adult is says no. you can say 00:17:00.700 --> 00:17:02.940 well maybe next time because we have a book fair 00:17:02.940 --> 00:17:04.980 in the fall and we have a book fair in the spring 00:17:04.980 --> 00:17:07.380 and then most of those students that are in our 00:17:07.380 --> 00:17:09.160 pre -k programs will be on my campus the next 00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:11.420 year it's when they're in kindergarten and first 00:17:11.420 --> 00:17:14.039 grade and so we have book fairs every year so 00:17:14.039 --> 00:17:16.119 even if they don't get anything this year there's 00:17:16.119 --> 00:17:18.319 always that chance in the future that they could 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:20.900 get something then and so we have that conversation 00:17:20.900 --> 00:17:24.339 and then the teachers and the paras help me we 00:17:24.339 --> 00:17:26.579 set up some videos so that the kids can be dancing 00:17:26.579 --> 00:17:29.099 on the carpet while we take smaller groups of 00:17:29.099 --> 00:17:31.960 kids to look around and we write down a couple 00:17:31.960 --> 00:17:34.220 books on a wish list and write down the price 00:17:34.220 --> 00:17:37.359 and then we can send it home. The second time 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:39.220 they come into the book fair that week is when 00:17:39.220 --> 00:17:42.599 I do an actual book lesson, which may or may 00:17:42.599 --> 00:17:46.160 not be from a book from our book fair, just depends 00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:51.519 on what's there. But then At the end of that, 00:17:51.660 --> 00:17:53.420 while we're getting our wiggles out and dancing 00:17:53.420 --> 00:17:58.440 and doing book check out from the actual library, 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:01.440 if anyone brought money, the teacher will pull 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:03.380 those kids aside and pull the books and then 00:18:03.380 --> 00:18:06.220 we run the register at the very end so they get 00:18:06.220 --> 00:18:08.539 their new books. But everybody gets to leave 00:18:08.539 --> 00:18:12.279 with at least a library book on that day when 00:18:12.279 --> 00:18:16.859 we're doing the book fair purchases. Everybody's 00:18:16.859 --> 00:18:19.769 leaving with a library book from our Book cart 00:18:19.769 --> 00:18:22.009 or from the shelves depending on what time of 00:18:22.009 --> 00:18:24.529 year it is So that way I think that helps a lot 00:18:24.529 --> 00:18:26.589 But it makes sure that everybody still ends up 00:18:26.589 --> 00:18:28.470 with something that they can be reading if they 00:18:28.470 --> 00:18:30.490 got something that they can take home and read 00:18:30.490 --> 00:18:33.450 Rate if they bought something then they can keep 00:18:33.450 --> 00:18:36.089 that and that's great, but it gives the kids 00:18:36.089 --> 00:18:39.710 That opportunity without requiring it without 00:18:39.710 --> 00:18:41.369 saying well, you didn't bring anything so you 00:18:41.369 --> 00:18:43.130 get to leave with nothing We're still gonna check 00:18:43.130 --> 00:18:47.480 out books that week the kids still get that It's 00:18:47.480 --> 00:18:51.359 hectic. It's crazy. There's a lot going on at 00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:57.160 once but It seems to work for me with the bigger 00:18:57.160 --> 00:19:01.019 kids It's even more crazy if you can get volunteers 00:19:01.019 --> 00:19:04.720 to help you that's always the best But I understand 00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:07.519 that a lot of parents are busy working and stuff 00:19:07.519 --> 00:19:09.400 like that So volunteers can be hard and challenging 00:19:09.400 --> 00:19:12.339 to get it sometimes but if you can get volunteers 00:19:12.339 --> 00:19:16.650 it does make it a little bit easier to run all 00:19:16.650 --> 00:19:20.589 of it at once, but it's doable if you're on your 00:19:20.589 --> 00:19:27.109 own. All right, that's some really good information. 00:19:27.529 --> 00:19:31.329 Yeah, next year I'll be working in some elementary 00:19:31.329 --> 00:19:35.170 campuses instead of my pre -K campuses that I 00:19:35.170 --> 00:19:38.269 have now, so I'm looking forward to doing that. 00:19:38.289 --> 00:19:41.029 I'm probably going to have to ask you for a little 00:19:41.029 --> 00:19:44.549 bit of help again in the fall. I'll be happy 00:19:44.549 --> 00:19:51.859 to help. Yeah. All right. Well, our next book 00:19:51.859 --> 00:19:55.960 that we have today is called No Cats in the Library. 00:19:56.539 --> 00:19:59.339 It is published by Simon & Schuster Books for 00:19:59.339 --> 00:20:02.000 Young Readers. It was published on March 5th, 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:05.160 2024. The author and illustrator of this book 00:20:05.160 --> 00:20:09.240 is Lauren Emmons. This book is on two lists. 00:20:09.319 --> 00:20:12.750 One of them is The Mockingbird Books list from 00:20:12.750 --> 00:20:15.869 2024. I had never heard of this one before. This 00:20:15.869 --> 00:20:18.609 is a Texas book list that is specifically created 00:20:18.609 --> 00:20:21.470 by Abilene ISD, and when I was looking through 00:20:21.470 --> 00:20:23.089 there, there's some really good books on that 00:20:23.089 --> 00:20:25.869 list. I'd never heard of it, but it was it was 00:20:25.869 --> 00:20:27.869 kind of interesting going through. I found some 00:20:27.869 --> 00:20:30.750 other good books that I'm gonna put on my next 00:20:30.750 --> 00:20:33.450 order list. The other list that this book is 00:20:33.450 --> 00:20:36.789 on is the Virginia Reader's Choice for Primary 00:20:36.789 --> 00:20:41.859 Grades K -3 for 2025. Lauren Emmons, Grow Up, 00:20:42.099 --> 00:20:45.240 Exploring Nature in Minnesota Since then, they've 00:20:45.240 --> 00:20:47.680 lived all over the U .S., from California to 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:49.759 Wisconsin, and spent some time living in England 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:53.619 as well. In 2020, they won the World Illustration 00:20:53.619 --> 00:20:57.079 Award in the site -specific category, and in 00:20:57.079 --> 00:21:00.579 2021, they earned a master's degree in children's 00:21:00.579 --> 00:21:03.299 book illustration from Anglia Ruskin University 00:21:03.299 --> 00:21:06.220 in Cambridge, England. They currently live in 00:21:06.220 --> 00:21:08.680 North Dakota with their spouse, their two cats, 00:21:08.759 --> 00:21:13.670 and their dog. Some other books from this author 00:21:13.670 --> 00:21:17.069 include their debut picture book as an illustrator. 00:21:17.710 --> 00:21:22.130 It's Prac Fills the House by Donna L. Washington. 00:21:22.509 --> 00:21:25.710 And then this is their debut book No Cats in 00:21:25.710 --> 00:21:28.890 the Library as both the author and the illustrator. 00:21:29.950 --> 00:21:33.289 So in this book, a stray cat named Clarice loves 00:21:33.289 --> 00:21:35.529 books but doesn't understand how to read all 00:21:35.529 --> 00:21:37.670 the dark squiggly lines that's everywhere in 00:21:37.670 --> 00:21:41.420 them. One day she discovers a new place filled 00:21:41.420 --> 00:21:44.539 with stories. It's her local library. At first 00:21:44.539 --> 00:21:46.539 the Keeper of the Books removes her from the 00:21:46.539 --> 00:21:50.220 library. Then she figures out that there's a 00:21:50.220 --> 00:21:52.720 hole in the library and she can sneak in through 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:56.380 the book drop and she finds a young reader who 00:21:56.380 --> 00:21:59.160 shares a story with her and slowly all those 00:21:59.160 --> 00:22:01.779 dark squiggly lines begin to turn into words 00:22:01.779 --> 00:22:04.319 and she learns how to read both the pictures 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:07.359 and the words in the book. The keeper of the 00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:10.500 books does come and find Clarice in the library, 00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:13.619 but upon seeing how much joy she brings to her 00:22:13.619 --> 00:22:17.579 young patrons, she creates a cat read aloud story 00:22:17.579 --> 00:22:20.420 time where all the young patrons can come and 00:22:20.420 --> 00:22:25.450 read a book to the library cat. I really liked 00:22:25.450 --> 00:22:28.730 this story. I thought it was a very calming one. 00:22:28.950 --> 00:22:31.549 I really enjoyed all the colors of it. It's very 00:22:31.549 --> 00:22:33.930 realistic illustrations, but not too overwhelming. 00:22:34.130 --> 00:22:36.849 So the text is really very legible and it kind 00:22:36.849 --> 00:22:40.089 of stands out. There's really muted colors. Kind 00:22:40.089 --> 00:22:43.309 of makes for a very calming, kind of cozy vibe 00:22:43.309 --> 00:22:45.750 through the whole thing. And I thought it was 00:22:45.750 --> 00:22:49.039 pretty relatable for. our younger readers it 00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:51.500 had certain things like it never refers to the 00:22:51.500 --> 00:22:53.980 librarian as a librarian it's always the keeper 00:22:53.980 --> 00:22:57.500 of the books and I liked how it referred to all 00:22:57.500 --> 00:23:00.680 the dark squiggly lines in the books rather than 00:23:00.680 --> 00:23:02.519 you know saying there's words that she can't 00:23:02.519 --> 00:23:04.400 read and it does because it does when you start 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:06.160 to learn to read like you don't and you don't 00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:08.680 understand what the what those squiggly lines 00:23:08.680 --> 00:23:11.240 are yet that's what it looks like is squiggly 00:23:11.240 --> 00:23:14.400 lines so I thought that was kind of a good way 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:17.549 for maybe our kids who haven't learned to read 00:23:17.549 --> 00:23:20.109 yet to kind of understand they may not be the 00:23:20.109 --> 00:23:23.609 only ones feeling like you know they don't know 00:23:23.609 --> 00:23:26.829 what all those marks on the page mean yet and 00:23:26.829 --> 00:23:29.170 that's okay it'll you know make sense to them 00:23:29.170 --> 00:23:31.710 in time you can just really what i think when 00:23:31.710 --> 00:23:34.190 you're reading it you can really tell that the 00:23:34.190 --> 00:23:38.069 author truly enjoys libraries and you can just 00:23:38.069 --> 00:23:41.170 feel the library love when you're reading this 00:23:41.170 --> 00:23:45.069 book so I enjoyed it a lot. I think this would 00:23:45.069 --> 00:23:49.089 actually be a really good one to pair with Ronan 00:23:49.089 --> 00:23:52.650 the Librarian because, you know, Ronan the Librarian 00:23:52.650 --> 00:23:56.230 was kind of a funny, it was still like a very 00:23:56.230 --> 00:23:58.450 enjoyable read aloud, but in a different kind 00:23:58.450 --> 00:24:00.349 of a way where that one was kind of more silly 00:24:00.349 --> 00:24:02.569 and funny than this one's kind of, you know, 00:24:02.809 --> 00:24:05.890 calming and cozy. So I think these ones actually 00:24:06.299 --> 00:24:08.859 We didn't do it intentionally, but I think they 00:24:08.859 --> 00:24:11.519 pair exceptionally well together because of that 00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:14.859 different juxtaposition there. I agree. I agree. 00:24:14.940 --> 00:24:17.640 This book was super cute. I really enjoyed it 00:24:17.640 --> 00:24:22.460 a lot. And like you said, you can tell that the 00:24:22.460 --> 00:24:24.900 author illustrator really enjoys libraries just 00:24:24.900 --> 00:24:29.180 the way she depicts them as just these warm and 00:24:29.180 --> 00:24:33.720 welcoming places for people to share ideas and 00:24:33.720 --> 00:24:37.559 books. it was just a really beautiful book and 00:24:37.559 --> 00:24:40.640 just a really cute story. And I agree. I think 00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:43.980 like they counterbalance each other very well. 00:24:43.980 --> 00:24:47.180 Like this is very heartwarming and cute and loving 00:24:47.180 --> 00:24:49.420 story. And then like the ronin the librarian 00:24:49.420 --> 00:24:53.119 is kind of a goofy like joking around kind of 00:24:53.119 --> 00:24:56.119 that they both like show the importance and the 00:24:56.119 --> 00:25:00.240 love of those books. And so yeah. Yeah, I think 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:02.140 I would also give this one a five out of five. 00:25:02.140 --> 00:25:06.460 It was just Yeah. Yeah, I agree. I think it's 00:25:06.460 --> 00:25:09.680 it's kind of simple enough to the illustrations 00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:12.900 are well done enough and engaging enough and 00:25:12.900 --> 00:25:16.740 it's short enough to I think hold a kid's attention 00:25:16.740 --> 00:25:20.640 for the duration of the read aloud and as a bonus 00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:23.900 for the makerspace activity for this one at first 00:25:23.900 --> 00:25:27.259 I was like thinking of like ways to get animals 00:25:27.259 --> 00:25:29.660 involved with like the makerspace and then when 00:25:29.660 --> 00:25:31.220 I was doing the research for the book though 00:25:31.220 --> 00:25:34.230 I found some real Lauren Emmons has some great 00:25:34.230 --> 00:25:36.349 educator resources that pair really nicely with 00:25:36.349 --> 00:25:38.769 this book. There's a couple of just plain coloring 00:25:38.769 --> 00:25:41.930 pages which are fine. So you can color in you 00:25:41.930 --> 00:25:45.250 know Clarice the cat and color the keeper of 00:25:45.250 --> 00:25:48.109 the books holding her. But then it also has a 00:25:48.109 --> 00:25:52.049 couple of templates for bookmarks that you can 00:25:52.049 --> 00:25:55.269 or you can and the the bookmarks are pictures 00:25:55.269 --> 00:25:58.329 of the library shelves with Clarice like sitting 00:25:58.329 --> 00:26:01.220 on top and like looking at the books. But the 00:26:01.220 --> 00:26:05.740 spines are all empty. So her suggestion was to 00:26:05.740 --> 00:26:09.660 color in the bookmark, however the child wants 00:26:09.660 --> 00:26:12.799 to, but then you could track the books that you've 00:26:12.799 --> 00:26:15.259 read by writing them in on the spine labels. 00:26:15.500 --> 00:26:18.299 And I thought that was a really kind of fun way. 00:26:18.359 --> 00:26:20.160 I was like, that is much better than anything 00:26:20.160 --> 00:26:21.799 that I would have come up with. And it's, you 00:26:21.799 --> 00:26:24.339 know, it's directly from the author. So it's 00:26:24.339 --> 00:26:26.839 author approved. So yeah if you want to check 00:26:26.839 --> 00:26:29.680 that out it's on her website which is laurenemmons 00:26:29.680 --> 00:26:35.259 .com under the educator resources tab so yeah 00:26:35.259 --> 00:26:38.339 i thought that was a really fun way to like see 00:26:38.339 --> 00:26:40.660 extra artwork and kind of tie in more things 00:26:40.660 --> 00:26:43.140 directly from the book and i really liked the 00:26:43.140 --> 00:26:44.980 tracking your different your reading with it 00:26:44.980 --> 00:26:49.140 too love that idea and then i was thinking about 00:26:49.140 --> 00:26:51.559 this because i i saw that idea and i was like 00:26:51.559 --> 00:26:54.950 that's really cool and based on some of our experiences 00:26:54.950 --> 00:26:56.789 this week at the library conference. I was like, 00:26:56.789 --> 00:27:01.549 if you could also find a way to incorporate getting 00:27:01.549 --> 00:27:04.210 some cats that need to be adopted and do like 00:27:04.210 --> 00:27:06.069 some cat therapy with the kids where the kids 00:27:06.069 --> 00:27:08.210 can just like pet some cats and stuff, that would 00:27:08.210 --> 00:27:10.329 be even cooler. That's a lot more work and a 00:27:10.329 --> 00:27:12.609 lot more challenging to do, but that would be 00:27:12.609 --> 00:27:16.970 super cool too. I think I'm sure there's a little 00:27:16.970 --> 00:27:19.390 bit more logistics involved to that, especially 00:27:19.390 --> 00:27:22.619 with pre -k kids, but yeah. still would be super 00:27:22.619 --> 00:27:25.819 fun like it would be super fun i think that would 00:27:25.819 --> 00:27:29.440 that might be fun for like an open house kind 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:31.819 of a thing yeah or like it's like an after -school 00:27:31.819 --> 00:27:34.400 event kind of yeah yeah i feel like their grown 00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:36.339 -ups would need to be present for that one i 00:27:36.339 --> 00:27:39.759 think it would be fun to do but i think it might 00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:42.640 need to be like a separate room with like clearly 00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:47.039 labeled like cat room beware you might end up 00:27:47.039 --> 00:27:52.579 taking an animal home Yeah. I would. That would 00:27:52.579 --> 00:27:57.099 be my... I would be in danger of taking an animal 00:27:57.099 --> 00:28:00.880 home for sure. But I just love that like that 00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:04.119 the authors, so many more authors now are creating 00:28:04.119 --> 00:28:06.019 some of these kind of resources and that's just 00:28:06.019 --> 00:28:09.960 really cool that they are doing that to make 00:28:09.960 --> 00:28:12.779 it so that even more and more educators can use... 00:28:12.839 --> 00:28:15.660 their books and connect them to other things. 00:28:15.880 --> 00:28:17.299 And yeah, like you said, those bookmarks where 00:28:17.299 --> 00:28:19.079 the kids can keep track of all the books that 00:28:19.079 --> 00:28:21.839 they're reading. Love that idea. Yeah. Yeah. 00:28:21.880 --> 00:28:24.299 And that was her suggestion on her site. That 00:28:24.299 --> 00:28:26.640 wasn't mine. So, but I just love that plan. And 00:28:26.640 --> 00:28:30.200 there was also a YouTube video on her website 00:28:30.200 --> 00:28:33.500 of her reading. They, she prefers the pronoun 00:28:33.500 --> 00:28:38.599 they, I'm sorry. But they have a... a YouTube 00:28:38.599 --> 00:28:41.500 video of them reading the book aloud and kind 00:28:41.500 --> 00:28:44.019 of pointing out different features of the book 00:28:44.019 --> 00:28:46.819 and kind of so you kind of notice how it is the 00:28:46.819 --> 00:28:49.980 keeper of the books and little things like that. 00:28:50.339 --> 00:28:53.359 So that's a really fun thing to incorporate into 00:28:53.359 --> 00:28:55.579 your lesson as well if you'd like to do that. 00:28:56.000 --> 00:28:58.279 Super cool. Thank you all for joining us today 00:28:58.279 --> 00:29:00.880 on this episode of Librarians of Littles. We 00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:03.319 hope you found some fresh ideas for inspiring 00:29:03.319 --> 00:29:05.740 young readers. Please be sure to subscribe and 00:29:05.740 --> 00:29:07.950 connect with us on social media. Happy reading! 00:29:08.650 --> 00:29:11.450 Thank you for listening to this episode of Librarians 00:29:11.450 --> 00:29:14.289 of Littles. We hope that you've enjoyed it. Check 00:29:14.289 --> 00:29:18.680 back each Wednesday for a new episode. Librarians 00:29:18.680 --> 00:29:21.460 of Littles is a podcast produced and hosted by 00:29:21.460 --> 00:29:25.119 Patrick Adams and Caroline Legere. Editor, Patrick 00:29:25.119 --> 00:29:28.900 Adams. Our theme song is performed by JD Adams. 00:29:29.339 --> 00:29:31.980 You can follow us on Instagram at Librarians 00:29:31.980 --> 00:29:37.119 of Littles. You can follow us on BlueSky at littleslibrarian 00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:41.720 .bsky .social. And you can send us your emails 00:29:41.720 --> 00:29:46.119 at librarianoflittlespodatgmail .com.