Hello, I'm Patrick Adams. And I'm Caroline Leshear.
And this is Librarians of Littles, a podcast
where we talk about picture books, give ideas
for makerspace activities, and give tips and
tricks for working with our youngest learners
in the library. This week we are going to talk
about two books from the Texas 2x2 list for 2025.
The Texas 2x2 list is a list of 20 books. that
are excellent books for readers between the ages
of two and second grade. Our first book today
is called A Pinecone written and illustrated
by Helen Yoon and published by Candlewick Press
in 2024. This book is currently on the Association
for Library Service to Children's Notable Children's
Book List of 2025. And Helen Yoon has also received
many other awards for her other books. She...
also has very limited information about herself
on the internet. Her website had almost nothing.
I found a couple other places that gave us a
little bit of information, but not much. She
was born and raised in California. She graduated
from the University of California, Irvine with
a BS in chemistry and from Art Center College
of Design with a BFA in illustration. And that's
it. That's all that's out there. I don't know.
That's great. You know what? That would probably
be my author history as well if I was published
online. Some of her other books include Have
You Seen My Invisible Dinosaur, Off Limits, I'm
a Unicorn, Sheepish Wolf Undercover, and Ball
and Balloon written by Rob Sanders. and the summary
for this book is when a little girl goes on a
walk with her dad and their dog she discovers
a pine cone and then another and another while
dad is busy dealing with the dog the little girl
collects more and more pine cones giving each
a unique name When the dad finally discovers
the large number of pinecones throughout their
home, instead of freaking out, the dad embraces
the joy the girl has for the pinecones and accepts
their fate and uses the pinecones to decorate
the home with his daughter. I thought this was
such a sweet, cute book. The little girl is just
so cute and with how excited she is. at finding
all of the pine cones and I can totally see this
being something that the kids can relate to because
so many kids when they go out to recess they're
coming back in with pockets full of rocks and
flowers and all the things so bringing in pine
cones totally seems on brand for our age group
uh and then I love I love the illustrations they're
like the wide eye just brilliance of the characters.
Helen Yoon uses like a lot of sharp angles to
kind of show some exaggerated movements, which
I really enjoy. The entire, I guess you'd call
it like a bee story that's happening with the
dad and the dog in the background is hysterical
to me because I have two dogs and I know exactly
what that's like to have a dog that's... dragging
you all over the place and getting into everything
especially like getting muddy and then having
to try and get it to sit still so you can clean
off all the like all of that happening while
this cute little girl is just collecting so many
pinecones and putting them in everything from
like in boots and the dog bowl on chairs and
then when the dad realizes not only are there
pinecones all over the place but with it has
come like bugs and things like that throughout
their home instead of freaking out he just kind
of you know rolls with it and goes with the like
the caring loving parent that is accepting of
their crazy child kind it's just such a sweet
heartwarming story i really enjoyed it the the
pictures are wonderful the The muted like the
white and muted background so that the characters
pop on the page It's just I really enjoy it a
lot The kids will think that it's so funny to
watch all of the things that are happening throughout
the book and then at the end where you can just
see that dad's just kind of resigned to it and
he's helping string the pinecones throughout
the house and decorating with them all over the
place it just It just works so well and it's
such a sweet and cute story. I think it's great.
I think that this is... I'm gonna go with a 4
.5 out of 5 bookmarks. I think it's a really
great story. I think the kids are really gonna
enjoy it. I think it's a great book that I would
probably read in the fall when there's pinecones
around. But I think it's a really fun, cute story
that my students... We'll definitely enjoy. I
think you're right. I really, really liked this
book. This was the first time I'd read it was
for this episode and I really enjoyed it a lot
and I'm glad you mentioned the little B story
they got going on with the illustrations. I feel
like the text is so simplistic and the... which
isn't necessarily bad. Simple doesn't mean bad.
It's just simple and that's fine. But... the
illustrations were so vibrant and they were so
they were telling so much of the story you could
almost read it as just a wordless picture book
and just skip all the text altogether and let
the kids tell the story I really loved that that
you could kind of I feel like you could pick
either way if you wanted to read the text you
totally could and you could tell one story and
if you just want to skip that part and just let
the kids tell the story you could do that too
because there was it was just The illustrations
did such a good job telling the story. So I loved
it. It was a great choice. It was really entertaining.
It was really funny. I liked it a lot. I agree.
It was good. I'm happy that the Texas Library
Association saw this book and said we need to
have it on our list because it's really a good
one. And I think, yeah, it's perfect for between
two and second grade. definitely worth being
on the Texas 2x2 list. They made a great choice.
So for a makerspace activity to go along with
this book, I would probably spend a little bit
of money upfront. You can either go out and search
for enough pinecones, but I'd probably just go
to a craft store and buy a bunch of pinecones,
because my time is more valuable to me than taking
all the time to get enough pinecones the other
way. but picking up some pine cones. Those sticker
jewels, like the jewels that you can just peel
off the plastic sheet and put onto things. Maybe
if you're feeling daring, you could use some
paint. I like the idea of adding some googly
eyes and getting some stickers and markers. And
the idea is to just let the kids decorate a pine
cone. They can make it into an ornament or just
a decoration of their own if you're doing it
in the fall. it could be either or and just kind
of having that as a cute little decoration because
the girl uses the the pine cones throughout the
home and at the end the girl and the dad kind
of use strings of lights and stuff like that
to light them up and put them all over the house
so these kids couldn't take a pine cone that
is not insect infested and decorate it and then
it can be something that can be used in the house
as an, like I said, as an ornament or as just
a simple decoration, a reminder of the kids'
artwork. And I think that's a fun way to kind
of introduce the concept and the story and gives
the kids a good way to make a connection with
it. Yeah, I love that. That's a nice way to be
like a little bit more creative with it, let
the kids kind of explore their art. in a different
way. That's a great idea. I especially like the
idea of using the googly eyes and the stickers
and all that. I'm not sure I would use, because
I feel like with the paint, you'd have to use
like temper paint. I think I would be scared
of temper paint. Yeah, temper paint with little
kids, probably not the best choice. But I love
the markers. Yeah, I mean maybe. I don't know.
They could probably paint. They would just need
a little bit more attention there. I usually
use more like washable paints if I'm gonna paint.
Yeah. Which does happen a lot. I do paint a lot.
It's true. But I love it. That's a great plan.
This week for our Library of Littles management
tip, we're going to talk about engagement. It's
really important that when our younger students
come into the library that we keep them engaged
for multiple reasons. It helps them to stay focused,
it eliminates some of those behaviors that we're
trying to minimize, and it makes for a more enjoyable
trip to the library in general. So there's lots
of different things that we can do. for engagement
with our students. One of them is that we do
usually include some makerspace activities so
the students aren't sitting the whole time. We
can include things like incorporating dances
or incorporating movement with our books. One
thing that I really love to do is I like to use
voices to voice the different characters so I
have different voices that I can pull out and
do for different books and those are all different
ways that you can keep the students engaged because
if you have those silly voices or if you get
them up and moving acting out the different scenes
from the books or just including a time where
they can get up and move around and do a dance
you know those are some great ways to engage
the students. Do you have anything to add to
that? Do you have any other ideas of what you
do? I'm sure you do them. It's just taking the
second to sit. Yeah. I think with respect to
engagement, the things that I do that are most
important, I think there's a lot, but the Critical
ones I would say are having the familiar routine
making sure I just I always start with that Storytime
song and then I read a book and then we do some
kind of activity together and that familiarity
I think helps with engagement because the kids
are know what to expect so there's less anxiety
and they're more willing to participate because
they know what's coming next. They know they're
not going to be stuck in a particular place for
too long. And that's the another big piece of
it is not being stuck in a place for too long.
Our younger learners really need to move like
a lot, like a lot, a lot, a lot. So when they
come into the library, we do start with our story
time song. And that's only like 30 seconds or
so, but I do try and make sure that we don't
read we're not too still on the carpet for more
than my goal is to Keep it around seven or eight
minutes together on the carpet when we're like
still and need to focus Sometimes I'll go up
to ten minutes, but that's that's like my absolute
max I just they they just can't sit much longer
than that and then after that I make sure that
they, we usually do go to makerspace. I usually
have something set up for makerspace, not usually,
always. I always have something set up for makerspace
so that we can kind of move to a different part
of the room so they can move their bodies in
that way because they just have to walk and then
they can move freely throughout makerspace and
kind of be a little bit more creative in there
and that time kind of gives helps them activate
their little brain so that they can stay focused
a little bit better so yeah other than that I
think using when I'm actually reading and having
um engagement during the actual reading time
though I think like you said using those silly
voices whenever I can I'm not gonna lie I'm not
the best with like making specific voices for
specific characters But I think I do change my
voice a lot when I'm reading, and I am pretty
expressive. And that helps a lot. Yeah. Yeah,
I think those are the most important ones for
me. And then the only other one that I can really
think of is asking open -ended questions to go
along with the story. So like if something happens,
you know, asking some of those open -ended questions,
getting some dialogue going, giving the students
a chance to share some of their ideas as well.
Because, you know, we... I joke around a lot
with my students that I get a lot of really off
-the -wall comments and stuff when I'm reading.
But if you ask a true open -ended question, nine
out of ten times the kids are paying attention
and they will engage with you and give you some
realistic answers. And I've actually had a lot
of kids point out things during books that I'm
like, oh, I didn't even see that or notice that.
Kids see things in different ways, and so giving
them that opportunity to Express some of their
ideas is also a great way to do it You just kind
of have to make sure that you can Rain it in
so that you can keep going with the story as
well But giving them that opportunity and taking
one or two answers to a question At a time and
just that's a good way to add some engagement
also Yeah, yeah it is All right for our next
book today that was on our two by two list we're
gonna talk about Millie Floor's Poison Garden.
It was published by Orchard Books, which is an
imprint of Scholastic in 2024, and the author
and illustrator of this book is Christy Mandan.
This book is on the Colorado Children's Book
Award list for 2026, the Kentucky Bluegrass Award
for 2026, Texas 2x2 for 2025, naturally, Utah
Beehive Award, 2026, It got the Anna Dudney Read
Together Honor Book for 2025 and the ALSC Notable
Children's Book Commended 2025. And Christy Mandon
grew up an only child in rural Georgia. She credits
her love of books and nature to the solitude
she experienced as a child. Her hobbies include
quilting, gardening, and bookkeeping. I'm sorry
beekeeping. She currently lives in Georgia with
her husband and four children. So going from
being an only child to having four kids, that's,
wow. That's a choice. That's a choice. Yeah.
Some of her other books are Lucky, which was
published in 2022. The Storytellers Rule, which
was published in 2023. And then she's got two
books coming up this year. Millie Floor Saves
the Night is coming in summer 2025 and Bittersweet,
which will be published in fall of 2025. So for
this book, Millie Floor moves to Garden Glen
with her family and everything in the town is
cookie cutter perfection except for their house.
Feeling lonely and out of place, Millie's mother
cheers her up by giving her seeds from her garden
back home. Millie plants them and grows a unique
garden different from anything else that's ever
been in the town before. At first, the townspeople
are outraged by the plants, noting all their
differences, making signs, protesting what they
call the poison garden without actually taking
the time to see the garden. Millie invites everyone
to the garden to show them that although her
garden is different from the others, it has its
own charm and value. I thought this was a really
sweet story. It kind of celebrates diversity
without directly celebrating diversity, I guess,
which I think is it was a kind of nice subtle
way to kind of introduce that to our younger
learners. I really liked the colors. in the book
they were all kind of muted and kind of had an
Adams family kind of vibe it was like kind of
I think it would be appropriate to read it during
like the Halloween season leading up to it it
was like kind of a little bit different a little
bit creepy but not like outright scary which
is kind of perfect for our three fours and fives
the it was everything within it was kind of it
was a little bit unique a little bit different
without being too different it kind of if that
makes sense hmm how to phrase that a little bit
better let me think it was still like some of
the plants and stuff just had like it looked
like normal plants but then they had little stripes
on them and stuff like that so it was like it
was familiar but different if that makes sense
so I loved that it was in the end everybody ended
up accepting Millie Fleur and she kind of changed
the town for the better and they ended up kind
of incorporating some of her different kind of
plants in the rest of the town so it kind of
had that that wonderful message of you know different
isn't necessarily bad so yeah I thought it was
great I think this one I would give I might give
it a five out of five I don't know I liked it
a lot. I think it was really engaging. It was
a little bit longer. So it might be better for
maybe not three year olds, but it was good. I
enjoyed it. I agree. I liked the story a lot.
It was really cute. And yeah, it did have that
kind of vibe. Like all the colors are like those
whites and blacks and grays and, but the, and
the, the plants. With their like tentacles or
like the random eyes and teeth and like they
were just I thought they were kind of just more
cute than anything else. I don't know they're
Like you like you said like Adams Adams family
ish like Wednesday kind of vibes, but yeah, you
know in a Pre -k friendly way. It was that's
a good way to describe it I was trying to say
and I couldn't figure out how to say it but yes
And yeah, so this is really cool and I love the
message of you know not everybody's the same
and that's okay and that we can be accepting
of differences and I it was just it you're right
it was a very sweet story it was cute and I think
that our our audience of pre -k students will
find it enjoyable it was a little bit longer
but like you said as if you did it with like
four and five year olds I think it would be a
reasonable book to do with them and they would
get uh they'd be able to enjoy it and yeah I
think it's a really good story yeah for our makerspace
activity really you could do anything gardening
related if you're doing any kind of outdoorsy
kind of unit you could tie it in there but i
was thinking it would be fun to make your own
poison garden plant you could just die cut a
whole lot of leaves most schools have a die cut
readily available and it's not too difficult
to get a whole lot of die cuts going and then
give the kids maybe between two and four leaves
because lord knows some of the kids will just
get like 20 leaves and do nothing else but just
as long as they had you know not not just one
but maybe between two and maybe five leaves glue
them on the construction paper and then let them
draw the rest of the plant on the paper to kind
of make their own unique kind of like they saw
it in the story. So kind of encourage them to
be a little bit more creative with it and give
them something a little bit different. Our kids
love it when they get really anything out of
the ordinary to do any kind of art with. So I
thought that would be a really easy fun way to
kind of make it a little bit different, but still
it's familiar enough that they could do it independently
and quickly. I like that idea and something that
came to mind when I was reading through this
and thinking about this idea is that a lot of
times you'll have construction paper that has
been like out and in this in the either the sunlight
or in the fluorescent light and it's kind of
faded and so I think that would actually like
using that paper yeah kind of like the color
has kind of been muted because it's been bleached
by the light a little bit with the theme of this
book and the art style of this book having like
some of those muted colors that are kind of sun
bleached a little bit for the kids to use as
the background construction paper would be kind
of cool. So if you've had that happen and have
some of that sitting around that would be kind
of a cool way to add to the effect of it compared
to like to compare it with the book. That's a
great idea, because I usually end up with a lot
of paper like that, unfortunately. I'm sure that
happens a lot, where you just kind of forget
about it and you don't use it for a little bit.
And then I don't want to use it because it looks
kind of bleh. Right. But this would be a great
opportunity for that. Good call. So, yeah, I
just think that, like, especially, you know,
because it's so hard to store construction paper
so that it is out of the light, and so it's,
and so, like, it happens, and so... It's a great
way to use that and then it's not being wasted
somewhere else and it just kind of adds to the
effect for the kids. Yeah. Love it. Good idea.
Yeah. I think these are two really good books.
I think that they like, we talked about this,
we just happened to both decide to pick two books
about kind of plant stuff and it just kind of
works. We're just, but these books both are great
books. I think the Text Library Association did
a great job picking. these books for their list
because they're wonderful. They did. They're
great. All right, well thank you all for joining
us today on this episode of Librarians of Littles
and we hope you found some fresh ideas for inspiring
our young readers. Please be sure to subscribe
and connect with us on social media. Thank you
for listening to this episode of Librarians of
Littles. We hope that you've enjoyed it. Check
back each Wednesday for a new episode. Librarians
of Littles is a podcast produced and hosted by
Patrick Adams and Caroline Legere. Editor, Patrick
Adams. Our theme song is performed by JD Adams.
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