WEBVTT 00:00:20.469 --> 00:00:24.629 Hello, I'm Patrick Adams. And I'm Caroline Leshear. 00:00:25.100 --> 00:00:29.359 And this is Librarians of Littles, a podcast 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:33.039 where we talk about picture books, give ideas 00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:36.479 for makerspace activities, and give tips and 00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:40.140 tricks for working with our youngest learners 00:00:40.140 --> 00:00:43.600 in the library. This week we are going to talk 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:49.340 about two books from the Texas 2x2 list for 2025. 00:00:49.619 --> 00:00:53.770 The Texas 2x2 list is a list of 20 books. that 00:00:53.770 --> 00:00:57.369 are excellent books for readers between the ages 00:00:57.369 --> 00:01:03.189 of two and second grade. Our first book today 00:01:03.189 --> 00:01:06.909 is called A Pinecone written and illustrated 00:01:06.909 --> 00:01:11.650 by Helen Yoon and published by Candlewick Press 00:01:11.650 --> 00:01:19.170 in 2024. This book is currently on the Association 00:01:19.170 --> 00:01:22.469 for Library Service to Children's Notable Children's 00:01:22.469 --> 00:01:27.609 Book List of 2025. And Helen Yoon has also received 00:01:27.609 --> 00:01:34.549 many other awards for her other books. She... 00:01:35.490 --> 00:01:38.989 also has very limited information about herself 00:01:38.989 --> 00:01:43.129 on the internet. Her website had almost nothing. 00:01:43.310 --> 00:01:45.750 I found a couple other places that gave us a 00:01:45.750 --> 00:01:47.709 little bit of information, but not much. She 00:01:47.709 --> 00:01:50.209 was born and raised in California. She graduated 00:01:50.209 --> 00:01:53.650 from the University of California, Irvine with 00:01:53.650 --> 00:01:57.989 a BS in chemistry and from Art Center College 00:01:57.989 --> 00:02:03.420 of Design with a BFA in illustration. And that's 00:02:03.420 --> 00:02:05.340 it. That's all that's out there. I don't know. 00:02:05.959 --> 00:02:08.900 That's great. You know what? That would probably 00:02:08.900 --> 00:02:11.080 be my author history as well if I was published 00:02:11.080 --> 00:02:15.360 online. Some of her other books include Have 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:19.319 You Seen My Invisible Dinosaur, Off Limits, I'm 00:02:19.319 --> 00:02:24.060 a Unicorn, Sheepish Wolf Undercover, and Ball 00:02:24.060 --> 00:02:28.979 and Balloon written by Rob Sanders. and the summary 00:02:28.979 --> 00:02:32.060 for this book is when a little girl goes on a 00:02:32.060 --> 00:02:34.840 walk with her dad and their dog she discovers 00:02:34.840 --> 00:02:38.439 a pine cone and then another and another while 00:02:38.439 --> 00:02:41.539 dad is busy dealing with the dog the little girl 00:02:41.539 --> 00:02:45.020 collects more and more pine cones giving each 00:02:45.020 --> 00:02:48.270 a unique name When the dad finally discovers 00:02:48.270 --> 00:02:50.469 the large number of pinecones throughout their 00:02:50.469 --> 00:02:52.990 home, instead of freaking out, the dad embraces 00:02:52.990 --> 00:02:56.189 the joy the girl has for the pinecones and accepts 00:02:56.189 --> 00:02:59.669 their fate and uses the pinecones to decorate 00:02:59.669 --> 00:03:04.830 the home with his daughter. I thought this was 00:03:04.830 --> 00:03:10.889 such a sweet, cute book. The little girl is just 00:03:10.889 --> 00:03:14.979 so cute and with how excited she is. at finding 00:03:14.979 --> 00:03:19.560 all of the pine cones and I can totally see this 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:23.340 being something that the kids can relate to because 00:03:23.340 --> 00:03:25.460 so many kids when they go out to recess they're 00:03:25.460 --> 00:03:27.539 coming back in with pockets full of rocks and 00:03:27.539 --> 00:03:30.460 flowers and all the things so bringing in pine 00:03:30.460 --> 00:03:35.099 cones totally seems on brand for our age group 00:03:35.099 --> 00:03:40.580 uh and then I love I love the illustrations they're 00:03:40.580 --> 00:03:44.270 like the wide eye just brilliance of the characters. 00:03:46.669 --> 00:03:49.270 Helen Yoon uses like a lot of sharp angles to 00:03:49.270 --> 00:03:51.909 kind of show some exaggerated movements, which 00:03:51.909 --> 00:03:56.310 I really enjoy. The entire, I guess you'd call 00:03:56.310 --> 00:03:58.789 it like a bee story that's happening with the 00:03:58.789 --> 00:04:02.069 dad and the dog in the background is hysterical 00:04:02.069 --> 00:04:05.009 to me because I have two dogs and I know exactly 00:04:05.009 --> 00:04:08.400 what that's like to have a dog that's... dragging 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:10.379 you all over the place and getting into everything 00:04:10.379 --> 00:04:12.680 especially like getting muddy and then having 00:04:12.680 --> 00:04:15.199 to try and get it to sit still so you can clean 00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:17.680 off all the like all of that happening while 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:22.399 this cute little girl is just collecting so many 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:25.639 pinecones and putting them in everything from 00:04:25.639 --> 00:04:30.220 like in boots and the dog bowl on chairs and 00:04:30.220 --> 00:04:33.199 then when the dad realizes not only are there 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:36.180 pinecones all over the place but with it has 00:04:36.180 --> 00:04:39.470 come like bugs and things like that throughout 00:04:39.470 --> 00:04:42.509 their home instead of freaking out he just kind 00:04:42.509 --> 00:04:46.670 of you know rolls with it and goes with the like 00:04:46.670 --> 00:04:50.810 the caring loving parent that is accepting of 00:04:50.810 --> 00:04:54.610 their crazy child kind it's just such a sweet 00:04:54.610 --> 00:04:58.170 heartwarming story i really enjoyed it the the 00:04:58.170 --> 00:05:04.589 pictures are wonderful the The muted like the 00:05:04.589 --> 00:05:07.490 white and muted background so that the characters 00:05:07.490 --> 00:05:12.550 pop on the page It's just I really enjoy it a 00:05:12.550 --> 00:05:16.089 lot The kids will think that it's so funny to 00:05:16.089 --> 00:05:18.790 watch all of the things that are happening throughout 00:05:18.790 --> 00:05:22.589 the book and then at the end where you can just 00:05:22.589 --> 00:05:24.350 see that dad's just kind of resigned to it and 00:05:24.350 --> 00:05:27.730 he's helping string the pinecones throughout 00:05:27.730 --> 00:05:30.790 the house and decorating with them all over the 00:05:30.790 --> 00:05:34.449 place it just It just works so well and it's 00:05:34.449 --> 00:05:38.230 such a sweet and cute story. I think it's great. 00:05:38.610 --> 00:05:42.790 I think that this is... I'm gonna go with a 4 00:05:42.790 --> 00:05:46.089 .5 out of 5 bookmarks. I think it's a really 00:05:46.089 --> 00:05:48.050 great story. I think the kids are really gonna 00:05:48.050 --> 00:05:50.810 enjoy it. I think it's a great book that I would 00:05:50.810 --> 00:05:53.949 probably read in the fall when there's pinecones 00:05:53.949 --> 00:05:58.850 around. But I think it's a really fun, cute story 00:05:58.850 --> 00:06:03.689 that my students... We'll definitely enjoy. I 00:06:03.689 --> 00:06:06.509 think you're right. I really, really liked this 00:06:06.509 --> 00:06:08.170 book. This was the first time I'd read it was 00:06:08.170 --> 00:06:11.310 for this episode and I really enjoyed it a lot 00:06:11.310 --> 00:06:13.769 and I'm glad you mentioned the little B story 00:06:13.769 --> 00:06:15.850 they got going on with the illustrations. I feel 00:06:15.850 --> 00:06:19.889 like the text is so simplistic and the... which 00:06:19.889 --> 00:06:21.870 isn't necessarily bad. Simple doesn't mean bad. 00:06:21.990 --> 00:06:26.029 It's just simple and that's fine. But... the 00:06:26.029 --> 00:06:30.430 illustrations were so vibrant and they were so 00:06:30.430 --> 00:06:32.870 they were telling so much of the story you could 00:06:32.870 --> 00:06:34.829 almost read it as just a wordless picture book 00:06:34.829 --> 00:06:37.850 and just skip all the text altogether and let 00:06:37.850 --> 00:06:40.610 the kids tell the story I really loved that that 00:06:40.610 --> 00:06:42.449 you could kind of I feel like you could pick 00:06:42.449 --> 00:06:45.189 either way if you wanted to read the text you 00:06:45.189 --> 00:06:47.329 totally could and you could tell one story and 00:06:47.329 --> 00:06:49.649 if you just want to skip that part and just let 00:06:49.649 --> 00:06:52.509 the kids tell the story you could do that too 00:06:52.509 --> 00:06:55.589 because there was it was just The illustrations 00:06:55.589 --> 00:06:58.509 did such a good job telling the story. So I loved 00:06:58.509 --> 00:07:01.069 it. It was a great choice. It was really entertaining. 00:07:01.230 --> 00:07:04.709 It was really funny. I liked it a lot. I agree. 00:07:04.949 --> 00:07:09.449 It was good. I'm happy that the Texas Library 00:07:09.449 --> 00:07:12.490 Association saw this book and said we need to 00:07:12.490 --> 00:07:15.129 have it on our list because it's really a good 00:07:15.129 --> 00:07:18.189 one. And I think, yeah, it's perfect for between 00:07:18.189 --> 00:07:21.829 two and second grade. definitely worth being 00:07:21.829 --> 00:07:24.689 on the Texas 2x2 list. They made a great choice. 00:07:25.990 --> 00:07:29.129 So for a makerspace activity to go along with 00:07:29.129 --> 00:07:32.850 this book, I would probably spend a little bit 00:07:32.850 --> 00:07:36.089 of money upfront. You can either go out and search 00:07:36.089 --> 00:07:37.949 for enough pinecones, but I'd probably just go 00:07:37.949 --> 00:07:40.569 to a craft store and buy a bunch of pinecones, 00:07:40.649 --> 00:07:45.970 because my time is more valuable to me than taking 00:07:45.970 --> 00:07:47.910 all the time to get enough pinecones the other 00:07:47.910 --> 00:07:51.459 way. but picking up some pine cones. Those sticker 00:07:51.459 --> 00:07:54.040 jewels, like the jewels that you can just peel 00:07:54.040 --> 00:07:58.379 off the plastic sheet and put onto things. Maybe 00:07:58.379 --> 00:08:01.160 if you're feeling daring, you could use some 00:08:01.160 --> 00:08:04.060 paint. I like the idea of adding some googly 00:08:04.060 --> 00:08:08.000 eyes and getting some stickers and markers. And 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:11.360 the idea is to just let the kids decorate a pine 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:13.620 cone. They can make it into an ornament or just 00:08:13.620 --> 00:08:15.920 a decoration of their own if you're doing it 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:20.120 in the fall. it could be either or and just kind 00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:23.300 of having that as a cute little decoration because 00:08:23.300 --> 00:08:25.860 the girl uses the the pine cones throughout the 00:08:25.860 --> 00:08:28.879 home and at the end the girl and the dad kind 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:31.180 of use strings of lights and stuff like that 00:08:31.180 --> 00:08:32.940 to light them up and put them all over the house 00:08:32.940 --> 00:08:35.879 so these kids couldn't take a pine cone that 00:08:35.879 --> 00:08:40.620 is not insect infested and decorate it and then 00:08:40.620 --> 00:08:44.350 it can be something that can be used in the house 00:08:44.350 --> 00:08:47.029 as an, like I said, as an ornament or as just 00:08:47.029 --> 00:08:49.990 a simple decoration, a reminder of the kids' 00:08:50.710 --> 00:08:55.289 artwork. And I think that's a fun way to kind 00:08:55.289 --> 00:08:59.549 of introduce the concept and the story and gives 00:08:59.549 --> 00:09:02.649 the kids a good way to make a connection with 00:09:02.649 --> 00:09:07.370 it. Yeah, I love that. That's a nice way to be 00:09:07.370 --> 00:09:09.429 like a little bit more creative with it, let 00:09:09.429 --> 00:09:13.600 the kids kind of explore their art. in a different 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:17.500 way. That's a great idea. I especially like the 00:09:17.500 --> 00:09:20.799 idea of using the googly eyes and the stickers 00:09:20.799 --> 00:09:23.779 and all that. I'm not sure I would use, because 00:09:23.779 --> 00:09:26.120 I feel like with the paint, you'd have to use 00:09:26.120 --> 00:09:28.559 like temper paint. I think I would be scared 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:32.399 of temper paint. Yeah, temper paint with little 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:35.500 kids, probably not the best choice. But I love 00:09:35.500 --> 00:09:41.080 the markers. Yeah, I mean maybe. I don't know. 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:43.000 They could probably paint. They would just need 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:46.039 a little bit more attention there. I usually 00:09:46.039 --> 00:09:48.240 use more like washable paints if I'm gonna paint. 00:09:48.860 --> 00:09:51.840 Yeah. Which does happen a lot. I do paint a lot. 00:09:52.039 --> 00:09:55.879 It's true. But I love it. That's a great plan. 00:09:57.379 --> 00:10:01.320 This week for our Library of Littles management 00:10:01.320 --> 00:10:04.940 tip, we're going to talk about engagement. It's 00:10:04.940 --> 00:10:07.850 really important that when our younger students 00:10:07.850 --> 00:10:11.029 come into the library that we keep them engaged 00:10:11.029 --> 00:10:14.110 for multiple reasons. It helps them to stay focused, 00:10:14.889 --> 00:10:18.789 it eliminates some of those behaviors that we're 00:10:18.789 --> 00:10:22.830 trying to minimize, and it makes for a more enjoyable 00:10:22.830 --> 00:10:26.070 trip to the library in general. So there's lots 00:10:26.070 --> 00:10:29.600 of different things that we can do. for engagement 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:32.480 with our students. One of them is that we do 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:35.120 usually include some makerspace activities so 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:37.779 the students aren't sitting the whole time. We 00:10:37.779 --> 00:10:41.620 can include things like incorporating dances 00:10:41.620 --> 00:10:46.860 or incorporating movement with our books. One 00:10:46.860 --> 00:10:50.419 thing that I really love to do is I like to use 00:10:50.419 --> 00:10:53.860 voices to voice the different characters so I 00:10:53.860 --> 00:10:56.019 have different voices that I can pull out and 00:10:56.019 --> 00:11:01.039 do for different books and those are all different 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:04.059 ways that you can keep the students engaged because 00:11:04.059 --> 00:11:06.840 if you have those silly voices or if you get 00:11:06.840 --> 00:11:10.700 them up and moving acting out the different scenes 00:11:10.700 --> 00:11:16.080 from the books or just including a time where 00:11:16.080 --> 00:11:17.960 they can get up and move around and do a dance 00:11:17.960 --> 00:11:21.460 you know those are some great ways to engage 00:11:21.460 --> 00:11:23.440 the students. Do you have anything to add to 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:24.879 that? Do you have any other ideas of what you 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:27.100 do? I'm sure you do them. It's just taking the 00:11:27.100 --> 00:11:32.580 second to sit. Yeah. I think with respect to 00:11:32.580 --> 00:11:35.879 engagement, the things that I do that are most 00:11:35.879 --> 00:11:38.769 important, I think there's a lot, but the Critical 00:11:38.769 --> 00:11:42.629 ones I would say are having the familiar routine 00:11:42.629 --> 00:11:46.710 making sure I just I always start with that Storytime 00:11:46.710 --> 00:11:49.570 song and then I read a book and then we do some 00:11:49.570 --> 00:11:52.809 kind of activity together and that familiarity 00:11:52.809 --> 00:11:57.230 I think helps with engagement because the kids 00:11:57.230 --> 00:12:01.289 are know what to expect so there's less anxiety 00:12:01.289 --> 00:12:05.899 and they're more willing to participate because 00:12:05.899 --> 00:12:08.200 they know what's coming next. They know they're 00:12:08.200 --> 00:12:10.220 not going to be stuck in a particular place for 00:12:10.220 --> 00:12:13.399 too long. And that's the another big piece of 00:12:13.399 --> 00:12:16.220 it is not being stuck in a place for too long. 00:12:16.779 --> 00:12:20.340 Our younger learners really need to move like 00:12:20.340 --> 00:12:23.799 a lot, like a lot, a lot, a lot. So when they 00:12:23.799 --> 00:12:27.299 come into the library, we do start with our story 00:12:27.299 --> 00:12:31.120 time song. And that's only like 30 seconds or 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:33.279 so, but I do try and make sure that we don't 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:37.379 read we're not too still on the carpet for more 00:12:37.379 --> 00:12:43.460 than my goal is to Keep it around seven or eight 00:12:43.460 --> 00:12:46.360 minutes together on the carpet when we're like 00:12:46.360 --> 00:12:50.399 still and need to focus Sometimes I'll go up 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:53.299 to ten minutes, but that's that's like my absolute 00:12:53.299 --> 00:12:56.360 max I just they they just can't sit much longer 00:12:56.360 --> 00:12:59.860 than that and then after that I make sure that 00:12:59.860 --> 00:13:05.179 they, we usually do go to makerspace. I usually 00:13:05.179 --> 00:13:07.259 have something set up for makerspace, not usually, 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:10.200 always. I always have something set up for makerspace 00:13:10.200 --> 00:13:13.019 so that we can kind of move to a different part 00:13:13.019 --> 00:13:14.779 of the room so they can move their bodies in 00:13:14.779 --> 00:13:17.519 that way because they just have to walk and then 00:13:17.519 --> 00:13:20.960 they can move freely throughout makerspace and 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:23.419 kind of be a little bit more creative in there 00:13:23.419 --> 00:13:27.740 and that time kind of gives helps them activate 00:13:27.740 --> 00:13:29.840 their little brain so that they can stay focused 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:33.440 a little bit better so yeah other than that I 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:36.240 think using when I'm actually reading and having 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:39.179 um engagement during the actual reading time 00:13:39.179 --> 00:13:41.940 though I think like you said using those silly 00:13:41.940 --> 00:13:44.740 voices whenever I can I'm not gonna lie I'm not 00:13:44.740 --> 00:13:48.399 the best with like making specific voices for 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:52.480 specific characters But I think I do change my 00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:54.460 voice a lot when I'm reading, and I am pretty 00:13:54.460 --> 00:13:58.700 expressive. And that helps a lot. Yeah. Yeah, 00:13:58.860 --> 00:14:00.360 I think those are the most important ones for 00:14:00.360 --> 00:14:03.519 me. And then the only other one that I can really 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:06.500 think of is asking open -ended questions to go 00:14:06.500 --> 00:14:08.200 along with the story. So like if something happens, 00:14:08.299 --> 00:14:10.059 you know, asking some of those open -ended questions, 00:14:10.259 --> 00:14:12.759 getting some dialogue going, giving the students 00:14:12.759 --> 00:14:15.960 a chance to share some of their ideas as well. 00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:20.000 Because, you know, we... I joke around a lot 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:22.779 with my students that I get a lot of really off 00:14:22.779 --> 00:14:24.720 -the -wall comments and stuff when I'm reading. 00:14:24.759 --> 00:14:29.159 But if you ask a true open -ended question, nine 00:14:29.159 --> 00:14:31.799 out of ten times the kids are paying attention 00:14:31.799 --> 00:14:34.659 and they will engage with you and give you some 00:14:34.659 --> 00:14:36.899 realistic answers. And I've actually had a lot 00:14:36.899 --> 00:14:39.820 of kids point out things during books that I'm 00:14:39.820 --> 00:14:42.659 like, oh, I didn't even see that or notice that. 00:14:43.820 --> 00:14:46.379 Kids see things in different ways, and so giving 00:14:46.379 --> 00:14:49.299 them that opportunity to Express some of their 00:14:49.299 --> 00:14:51.899 ideas is also a great way to do it You just kind 00:14:51.899 --> 00:14:54.580 of have to make sure that you can Rain it in 00:14:54.580 --> 00:14:56.360 so that you can keep going with the story as 00:14:56.360 --> 00:14:58.879 well But giving them that opportunity and taking 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:03.039 one or two answers to a question At a time and 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:05.679 just that's a good way to add some engagement 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:13.200 also Yeah, yeah it is All right for our next 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:15.879 book today that was on our two by two list we're 00:15:15.879 --> 00:15:18.549 gonna talk about Millie Floor's Poison Garden. 00:15:19.169 --> 00:15:21.669 It was published by Orchard Books, which is an 00:15:21.669 --> 00:15:24.629 imprint of Scholastic in 2024, and the author 00:15:24.629 --> 00:15:27.389 and illustrator of this book is Christy Mandan. 00:15:28.049 --> 00:15:32.110 This book is on the Colorado Children's Book 00:15:32.110 --> 00:15:35.769 Award list for 2026, the Kentucky Bluegrass Award 00:15:35.769 --> 00:15:40.750 for 2026, Texas 2x2 for 2025, naturally, Utah 00:15:40.750 --> 00:15:45.460 Beehive Award, 2026, It got the Anna Dudney Read 00:15:45.460 --> 00:15:51.379 Together Honor Book for 2025 and the ALSC Notable 00:15:51.379 --> 00:15:55.259 Children's Book Commended 2025. And Christy Mandon 00:15:55.259 --> 00:15:59.620 grew up an only child in rural Georgia. She credits 00:15:59.620 --> 00:16:02.899 her love of books and nature to the solitude 00:16:02.899 --> 00:16:06.139 she experienced as a child. Her hobbies include 00:16:06.139 --> 00:16:10.639 quilting, gardening, and bookkeeping. I'm sorry 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:14.820 beekeeping. She currently lives in Georgia with 00:16:14.820 --> 00:16:18.539 her husband and four children. So going from 00:16:18.539 --> 00:16:21.659 being an only child to having four kids, that's, 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:26.659 wow. That's a choice. That's a choice. Yeah. 00:16:28.440 --> 00:16:31.840 Some of her other books are Lucky, which was 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:36.080 published in 2022. The Storytellers Rule, which 00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:39.340 was published in 2023. And then she's got two 00:16:39.340 --> 00:16:42.139 books coming up this year. Millie Floor Saves 00:16:42.139 --> 00:16:46.120 the Night is coming in summer 2025 and Bittersweet, 00:16:46.259 --> 00:16:51.360 which will be published in fall of 2025. So for 00:16:51.360 --> 00:16:54.240 this book, Millie Floor moves to Garden Glen 00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:57.139 with her family and everything in the town is 00:16:57.139 --> 00:17:00.000 cookie cutter perfection except for their house. 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:02.799 Feeling lonely and out of place, Millie's mother 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:05.440 cheers her up by giving her seeds from her garden 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:08.599 back home. Millie plants them and grows a unique 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:11.500 garden different from anything else that's ever 00:17:11.500 --> 00:17:14.359 been in the town before. At first, the townspeople 00:17:14.359 --> 00:17:16.420 are outraged by the plants, noting all their 00:17:16.420 --> 00:17:18.700 differences, making signs, protesting what they 00:17:18.700 --> 00:17:20.720 call the poison garden without actually taking 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:24.359 the time to see the garden. Millie invites everyone 00:17:24.359 --> 00:17:26.920 to the garden to show them that although her 00:17:26.920 --> 00:17:29.859 garden is different from the others, it has its 00:17:29.859 --> 00:17:33.339 own charm and value. I thought this was a really 00:17:33.339 --> 00:17:36.920 sweet story. It kind of celebrates diversity 00:17:36.920 --> 00:17:40.180 without directly celebrating diversity, I guess, 00:17:40.619 --> 00:17:43.900 which I think is it was a kind of nice subtle 00:17:43.900 --> 00:17:46.000 way to kind of introduce that to our younger 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:49.309 learners. I really liked the colors. in the book 00:17:49.309 --> 00:17:51.710 they were all kind of muted and kind of had an 00:17:51.710 --> 00:17:55.829 Adams family kind of vibe it was like kind of 00:17:55.829 --> 00:17:58.069 I think it would be appropriate to read it during 00:17:58.069 --> 00:18:00.430 like the Halloween season leading up to it it 00:18:00.430 --> 00:18:03.750 was like kind of a little bit different a little 00:18:03.750 --> 00:18:06.630 bit creepy but not like outright scary which 00:18:06.630 --> 00:18:10.470 is kind of perfect for our three fours and fives 00:18:10.470 --> 00:18:14.880 the it was everything within it was kind of it 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:17.000 was a little bit unique a little bit different 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:21.140 without being too different it kind of if that 00:18:21.140 --> 00:18:24.700 makes sense hmm how to phrase that a little bit 00:18:24.700 --> 00:18:27.019 better let me think it was still like some of 00:18:27.019 --> 00:18:29.019 the plants and stuff just had like it looked 00:18:29.019 --> 00:18:30.839 like normal plants but then they had little stripes 00:18:30.839 --> 00:18:32.559 on them and stuff like that so it was like it 00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:36.200 was familiar but different if that makes sense 00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:41.099 so I loved that it was in the end everybody ended 00:18:41.099 --> 00:18:45.319 up accepting Millie Fleur and she kind of changed 00:18:45.319 --> 00:18:48.220 the town for the better and they ended up kind 00:18:48.220 --> 00:18:51.119 of incorporating some of her different kind of 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:53.559 plants in the rest of the town so it kind of 00:18:53.559 --> 00:18:57.420 had that that wonderful message of you know different 00:18:57.420 --> 00:19:01.859 isn't necessarily bad so yeah I thought it was 00:19:01.859 --> 00:19:07.039 great I think this one I would give I might give 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:09.730 it a five out of five I don't know I liked it 00:19:09.730 --> 00:19:12.890 a lot. I think it was really engaging. It was 00:19:12.890 --> 00:19:16.009 a little bit longer. So it might be better for 00:19:16.009 --> 00:19:20.690 maybe not three year olds, but it was good. I 00:19:20.690 --> 00:19:23.609 enjoyed it. I agree. I liked the story a lot. 00:19:23.630 --> 00:19:26.130 It was really cute. And yeah, it did have that 00:19:26.130 --> 00:19:28.569 kind of vibe. Like all the colors are like those 00:19:28.569 --> 00:19:32.670 whites and blacks and grays and, but the, and 00:19:32.670 --> 00:19:37.680 the, the plants. With their like tentacles or 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:40.779 like the random eyes and teeth and like they 00:19:40.779 --> 00:19:43.559 were just I thought they were kind of just more 00:19:43.559 --> 00:19:46.420 cute than anything else. I don't know they're 00:19:46.420 --> 00:19:50.079 Like you like you said like Adams Adams family 00:19:50.079 --> 00:19:53.240 ish like Wednesday kind of vibes, but yeah, you 00:19:53.240 --> 00:19:56.299 know in a Pre -k friendly way. It was that's 00:19:56.299 --> 00:19:58.200 a good way to describe it I was trying to say 00:19:58.200 --> 00:20:00.460 and I couldn't figure out how to say it but yes 00:20:00.460 --> 00:20:03.680 And yeah, so this is really cool and I love the 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:06.609 message of you know not everybody's the same 00:20:06.609 --> 00:20:08.950 and that's okay and that we can be accepting 00:20:08.950 --> 00:20:13.190 of differences and I it was just it you're right 00:20:13.190 --> 00:20:17.589 it was a very sweet story it was cute and I think 00:20:17.589 --> 00:20:22.170 that our our audience of pre -k students will 00:20:22.170 --> 00:20:24.230 find it enjoyable it was a little bit longer 00:20:24.230 --> 00:20:26.470 but like you said as if you did it with like 00:20:26.470 --> 00:20:28.369 four and five year olds I think it would be a 00:20:28.369 --> 00:20:30.569 reasonable book to do with them and they would 00:20:30.569 --> 00:20:34.049 get uh they'd be able to enjoy it and yeah I 00:20:34.049 --> 00:20:38.789 think it's a really good story yeah for our makerspace 00:20:38.789 --> 00:20:41.009 activity really you could do anything gardening 00:20:41.009 --> 00:20:44.410 related if you're doing any kind of outdoorsy 00:20:44.410 --> 00:20:46.730 kind of unit you could tie it in there but i 00:20:46.730 --> 00:20:48.390 was thinking it would be fun to make your own 00:20:48.390 --> 00:20:52.250 poison garden plant you could just die cut a 00:20:52.250 --> 00:20:54.430 whole lot of leaves most schools have a die cut 00:20:54.430 --> 00:20:56.269 readily available and it's not too difficult 00:20:56.269 --> 00:20:59.309 to get a whole lot of die cuts going and then 00:20:59.529 --> 00:21:02.789 give the kids maybe between two and four leaves 00:21:02.789 --> 00:21:05.130 because lord knows some of the kids will just 00:21:05.130 --> 00:21:08.569 get like 20 leaves and do nothing else but just 00:21:08.569 --> 00:21:12.470 as long as they had you know not not just one 00:21:12.470 --> 00:21:16.049 but maybe between two and maybe five leaves glue 00:21:16.049 --> 00:21:18.490 them on the construction paper and then let them 00:21:18.490 --> 00:21:22.910 draw the rest of the plant on the paper to kind 00:21:22.910 --> 00:21:27.660 of make their own unique kind of like they saw 00:21:27.660 --> 00:21:31.640 it in the story. So kind of encourage them to 00:21:31.640 --> 00:21:34.140 be a little bit more creative with it and give 00:21:34.140 --> 00:21:35.880 them something a little bit different. Our kids 00:21:35.880 --> 00:21:38.720 love it when they get really anything out of 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:44.519 the ordinary to do any kind of art with. So I 00:21:44.519 --> 00:21:46.420 thought that would be a really easy fun way to 00:21:46.420 --> 00:21:49.140 kind of make it a little bit different, but still 00:21:49.140 --> 00:21:52.039 it's familiar enough that they could do it independently 00:21:52.039 --> 00:21:57.259 and quickly. I like that idea and something that 00:21:57.259 --> 00:21:59.920 came to mind when I was reading through this 00:21:59.920 --> 00:22:03.960 and thinking about this idea is that a lot of 00:22:03.960 --> 00:22:07.279 times you'll have construction paper that has 00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:11.480 been like out and in this in the either the sunlight 00:22:11.480 --> 00:22:14.319 or in the fluorescent light and it's kind of 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:16.200 faded and so I think that would actually like 00:22:16.200 --> 00:22:19.240 using that paper yeah kind of like the color 00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:22.240 has kind of been muted because it's been bleached 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:25.359 by the light a little bit with the theme of this 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:28.019 book and the art style of this book having like 00:22:28.019 --> 00:22:31.819 some of those muted colors that are kind of sun 00:22:31.819 --> 00:22:34.460 bleached a little bit for the kids to use as 00:22:34.460 --> 00:22:36.420 the background construction paper would be kind 00:22:36.420 --> 00:22:39.019 of cool. So if you've had that happen and have 00:22:39.019 --> 00:22:41.220 some of that sitting around that would be kind 00:22:41.220 --> 00:22:44.720 of a cool way to add to the effect of it compared 00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:47.700 to like to compare it with the book. That's a 00:22:47.700 --> 00:22:50.140 great idea, because I usually end up with a lot 00:22:50.140 --> 00:22:52.579 of paper like that, unfortunately. I'm sure that 00:22:52.579 --> 00:22:54.440 happens a lot, where you just kind of forget 00:22:54.440 --> 00:22:57.000 about it and you don't use it for a little bit. 00:22:57.039 --> 00:22:58.859 And then I don't want to use it because it looks 00:22:58.859 --> 00:23:01.180 kind of bleh. Right. But this would be a great 00:23:01.180 --> 00:23:04.279 opportunity for that. Good call. So, yeah, I 00:23:04.279 --> 00:23:06.759 just think that, like, especially, you know, 00:23:06.799 --> 00:23:11.859 because it's so hard to store construction paper 00:23:11.859 --> 00:23:13.460 so that it is out of the light, and so it's, 00:23:13.500 --> 00:23:16.410 and so, like, it happens, and so... It's a great 00:23:16.410 --> 00:23:19.349 way to use that and then it's not being wasted 00:23:19.349 --> 00:23:21.869 somewhere else and it just kind of adds to the 00:23:21.869 --> 00:23:25.210 effect for the kids. Yeah. Love it. Good idea. 00:23:25.789 --> 00:23:28.369 Yeah. I think these are two really good books. 00:23:28.509 --> 00:23:30.630 I think that they like, we talked about this, 00:23:30.670 --> 00:23:33.630 we just happened to both decide to pick two books 00:23:33.630 --> 00:23:36.329 about kind of plant stuff and it just kind of 00:23:36.329 --> 00:23:40.730 works. We're just, but these books both are great 00:23:40.730 --> 00:23:43.089 books. I think the Text Library Association did 00:23:43.089 --> 00:23:45.869 a great job picking. these books for their list 00:23:45.869 --> 00:23:48.990 because they're wonderful. They did. They're 00:23:48.990 --> 00:23:54.089 great. All right, well thank you all for joining 00:23:54.089 --> 00:23:56.569 us today on this episode of Librarians of Littles 00:23:56.569 --> 00:23:59.329 and we hope you found some fresh ideas for inspiring 00:23:59.329 --> 00:24:02.650 our young readers. Please be sure to subscribe 00:24:02.650 --> 00:24:05.890 and connect with us on social media. Thank you 00:24:05.890 --> 00:24:08.670 for listening to this episode of Librarians of 00:24:08.670 --> 00:24:11.230 Littles. We hope that you've enjoyed it. Check 00:24:11.230 --> 00:24:15.619 back each Wednesday for a new episode. Librarians 00:24:15.619 --> 00:24:18.400 of Littles is a podcast produced and hosted by 00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:22.059 Patrick Adams and Caroline Legere. 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