WEBVTT 00:00:20.830 --> 00:00:24.510 Hello, I'm Patrick Adams. And I'm Caroline Legere. 00:00:24.679 --> 00:00:27.699 And this is Librarians of Littles, a podcast 00:00:27.699 --> 00:00:31.039 where we discuss books, give makerspace ideas, 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:34.299 and give some tips and tricks for working with 00:00:34.299 --> 00:00:37.060 our youngest learners in the library setting. 00:00:38.020 --> 00:00:41.380 This week, we are sharing some books that come 00:00:41.380 --> 00:00:45.500 from the Texas 2x2 list. The Texas 2x2 list is 00:00:45.500 --> 00:00:49.280 a list that is compiled each year by the Texas 00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:52.770 Library Association. The list contains 20 books 00:00:52.770 --> 00:00:56.509 that are excellent books to enjoy for children 00:00:56.509 --> 00:01:00.469 between the ages of two and second grade. And 00:01:00.469 --> 00:01:02.630 so we have two books this week from our Texas 00:01:02.630 --> 00:01:05.849 2x2 list, the first of which is called I'm Sorry 00:01:05.849 --> 00:01:10.069 You Got Mad. It is published by Dial Books for 00:01:10.069 --> 00:01:13.489 Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Random House 00:01:13.489 --> 00:01:17.569 LLC. It was published in 2024. The author is 00:01:17.569 --> 00:01:22.250 Kyle Lukoff and the illustrator is Julie Kwan. 00:01:23.049 --> 00:01:28.030 This book actually has received quite a few awards. 00:01:28.230 --> 00:01:32.170 It's on the ALSC Notable Children's Book List 00:01:32.170 --> 00:01:36.969 for 2025. It has won the Junior Library Guild 00:01:36.969 --> 00:01:41.250 Selection for 2024, the Notable Children's Book 00:01:41.250 --> 00:01:45.189 in Language Arts Award for 2025, the School Library 00:01:45.189 --> 00:01:49.349 Journal Best Books of the Year 2024, and Teacher 00:01:49.349 --> 00:01:54.719 Favorites Award. 2025. It's also on multiple 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:57.780 state lists including capital choices ages birth 00:01:57.780 --> 00:02:01.180 to five for 2025, which is from the District 00:02:01.180 --> 00:02:04.459 of Columbia, the Georgia Children's Book Award 00:02:04.459 --> 00:02:08.080 Picture Book for 2026 for grades K through four, 00:02:08.699 --> 00:02:12.419 the Bill Martin Jr. Picture Book Award for 2026, 00:02:12.500 --> 00:02:16.060 which is from Kansas. The Black Eyed Susan Book 00:02:16.060 --> 00:02:19.819 Award for 2025 -2026, Picture Books for grades 00:02:19.819 --> 00:02:24.259 K -3, which is Maryland. The Red Clover Award 00:02:24.259 --> 00:02:31.240 for 2025 -2026, grades K -4, from Vermont. Washington's 00:02:31.240 --> 00:02:34.539 Children's Choice Picture Book Award, 2026, grades 00:02:34.539 --> 00:02:40.460 K -3. And of course, the Texas 2x2 list for 2025. 00:02:41.860 --> 00:02:46.250 The Author. Kyle Lukoff writes books for children 00:02:46.250 --> 00:02:49.449 and other people. From his website, it says, 00:02:49.750 --> 00:02:52.550 before becoming a full -time writer, Kyle worked 00:02:52.550 --> 00:02:57.110 at five bookstores in four libraries for three 00:02:57.110 --> 00:03:01.490 schools as two genders through one intersection, 00:03:01.889 --> 00:03:07.069 people and books. Some of his other books include 00:03:07.069 --> 00:03:11.750 When Aidan Became a Brother, illustrated by Kehlani 00:03:11.750 --> 00:03:16.139 Wanita. Just What to Do, illustrated by Hala 00:03:16.139 --> 00:03:20.599 Taboob. Call Me Max, Max and the Talent Show, 00:03:20.819 --> 00:03:23.180 and Max on the Farm, all three of which were 00:03:23.180 --> 00:03:27.319 illustrated by Luciano Lozano. There's No Such 00:03:27.319 --> 00:03:31.919 Thing as Vegetables, illustrated by Andrea Surumi. 00:03:32.959 --> 00:03:35.520 Julie Kwan was an illustrator based in Queens, 00:03:35.699 --> 00:03:37.699 New York. A graduate of Rhode Island School of 00:03:37.699 --> 00:03:40.159 Design and Brown University, she has worked for 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:42.580 a variety of clients in books and animation. 00:03:42.819 --> 00:03:44.699 In her free time, Julie can be found reading, 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:48.599 going on long walks, eating snacks, or taking 00:03:48.599 --> 00:03:51.960 too many photos of her cat, Poto. Some of her 00:03:51.960 --> 00:03:54.960 other books include The Fearless Flight of Hazel 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:59.099 Ying Lee by Julie Leon, Peter Lee's Notes from 00:03:59.099 --> 00:04:04.569 the Field by Angela Ahn, Pedro and Daniel by 00:04:04.569 --> 00:04:08.789 Federico Erebia, Waiting for Tomorrow by Susan 00:04:08.789 --> 00:04:13.930 Yoon and Little Messy Marcy Sue by Sherry Foo. 00:04:15.669 --> 00:04:19.350 And so the this book Jack's teacher says that 00:04:19.350 --> 00:04:21.810 there are three parts to a real apology. You 00:04:21.810 --> 00:04:25.759 need to say what you did. that you're sorry and 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:28.879 how he'll fix it. But Jack is struggling. He 00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:31.819 did knock down Zoe's castle, but taking ownership 00:04:31.819 --> 00:04:35.220 for his actions and truly apologizing are tough 00:04:35.220 --> 00:04:38.519 things to do. And this story is told through 00:04:38.519 --> 00:04:41.600 notes being passed between Jack, his teacher, 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:44.980 Miss Rice, and finally Zoe. And it shows the 00:04:44.980 --> 00:04:49.600 progression from saying the words to actually 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:54.310 being and showing that you are truly sorry. And 00:04:54.310 --> 00:04:58.189 so I thought this was an excellent story. I really 00:04:58.189 --> 00:05:02.110 love this book a lot. I loved being able to see 00:05:02.110 --> 00:05:06.050 the progression from, I'm sorry, you're upset 00:05:06.050 --> 00:05:10.509 to the actual, I'm sorry that I did this. Here's 00:05:10.509 --> 00:05:14.389 why I did it. I'd like to fix it and let me help 00:05:14.389 --> 00:05:19.269 you to come to a solution. Like it was just done 00:05:19.269 --> 00:05:24.050 so well in the story. You know, having that teacher 00:05:24.050 --> 00:05:26.370 that had to step in sometimes be like, no, you're 00:05:26.370 --> 00:05:28.509 getting there, but let's try this and add a little 00:05:28.509 --> 00:05:31.750 bit more of this to it. It's just so realistic 00:05:31.750 --> 00:05:34.610 because we have so many kids that that just want 00:05:34.610 --> 00:05:36.389 to be like, well, I said, I'm sorry, aren't we 00:05:36.389 --> 00:05:39.769 done? And we have so many kids that need to learn 00:05:39.769 --> 00:05:44.350 that saying the words themselves is not just 00:05:44.350 --> 00:05:49.529 a magical fix. We need to feel those words and 00:05:49.529 --> 00:05:52.000 and rectify. the mistake that we've made, you 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:53.480 know, there's more to it than just saying, well, 00:05:53.480 --> 00:05:57.120 I'm sorry. We have to understand kind of how 00:05:57.120 --> 00:05:58.779 that makes someone else feel when we've done 00:05:58.779 --> 00:06:00.500 something that we have to apologize for in the 00:06:00.500 --> 00:06:03.040 first place. And what can we do to fix that problem? 00:06:03.060 --> 00:06:05.920 And so I think this is a really great story to 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:09.379 use to teach kids. It's not just saying the words. 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:12.480 Saying the words is just a small portion of what 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:15.959 we really need to do to fix a situation and make 00:06:15.959 --> 00:06:19.379 amends. And the way this is done in the story 00:06:19.379 --> 00:06:23.120 is just I think it's really clever. I think that 00:06:23.120 --> 00:06:26.600 that coupled with the beautiful illustrations 00:06:26.600 --> 00:06:29.899 in the story, it just tells such a, it's a wonderful 00:06:29.899 --> 00:06:32.939 story that I think a lot of kids probably need 00:06:32.939 --> 00:06:36.819 to hear, you know, like I think too often. Maybe 00:06:36.819 --> 00:06:39.579 some grownups too. Yes. I'm probably, absolutely. 00:06:39.879 --> 00:06:42.379 Because I think too often that's it. We just, 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:44.860 that people think, well, I said, I'm sorry. And 00:06:44.860 --> 00:06:47.079 you should just get over it. And that's not really. 00:06:47.780 --> 00:06:50.600 not really how that works. And so I think this 00:06:50.600 --> 00:06:52.620 did a really great job. And I think as far as 00:06:52.620 --> 00:06:56.519 like a social, emotional book to be used in your 00:06:56.519 --> 00:06:59.199 classroom as a, like counselors using this book 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:01.639 to be like, no, we need to, to learn this skill. 00:07:01.899 --> 00:07:04.339 I think this is a great story. I think I'm, I 00:07:04.339 --> 00:07:06.139 would give this one a five out of five because 00:07:06.139 --> 00:07:11.040 it really was a very sweet story over something 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:13.819 that was really in the end, relatively innocuous. 00:07:13.959 --> 00:07:17.329 He knocked over the girl's castle. and in the 00:07:17.329 --> 00:07:20.930 end he does help her fix it, but like the way 00:07:20.930 --> 00:07:24.410 you find out why he was feeling the way he was 00:07:24.410 --> 00:07:29.449 feeling and why he took it out on Zoe in the 00:07:29.449 --> 00:07:31.889 story where like he's he was frustrated because 00:07:31.889 --> 00:07:34.050 some of the other kids said that he shouldn't 00:07:34.050 --> 00:07:37.810 play with the girls kind of thing and like it 00:07:37.810 --> 00:07:40.589 was just like a really good well thought out 00:07:40.589 --> 00:07:43.990 story that is something that totally has real 00:07:43.990 --> 00:07:47.279 world foundation and basis and I think a lot 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:49.439 of people would benefit from hearing the story. 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:51.699 I think it was really great. Yeah, absolutely. 00:07:52.139 --> 00:07:54.019 I really liked it, too. I would also give it 00:07:54.019 --> 00:07:58.339 a five out of five. I don't it. I love that it 00:07:58.339 --> 00:08:02.720 was told entirely through notes with him attempting 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:07.819 to apologize over and over and over again. And 00:08:07.819 --> 00:08:10.920 just like you said, just starting with just sorry. 00:08:11.560 --> 00:08:13.740 Like running away pretty much. I mean, I know 00:08:13.740 --> 00:08:15.379 it was a note so he didn't run away, but that's 00:08:15.379 --> 00:08:18.019 what it felt like. Like, yeah, their writing 00:08:18.019 --> 00:08:21.920 really reflected that it was just, that's very 00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:25.339 much how a young child especially apologizes. 00:08:25.420 --> 00:08:27.459 Sorry, run away. I'm done. Don't have to do it 00:08:27.459 --> 00:08:30.319 again. No. So that's not what sorry means. Sorry 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:34.139 means I'm, I feel bad that this happened, but 00:08:34.139 --> 00:08:36.740 also I'm going to help you solve the problem 00:08:36.740 --> 00:08:40.519 I created. And it's OK. Like even if whatever 00:08:40.519 --> 00:08:44.080 happened was truly an accident, we still have 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:46.899 a problem. We're still going to attempt to fix 00:08:46.899 --> 00:08:50.700 the problem. But it was really good. I think 00:08:50.700 --> 00:08:52.659 it would be best, like you said, as a counselor 00:08:52.659 --> 00:08:54.980 lesson. I'm not sure. I don't know if I would 00:08:54.980 --> 00:08:57.450 do it as like a whole group reading. Because 00:08:57.450 --> 00:08:59.269 it's done entirely through notes. I think you 00:08:59.269 --> 00:09:01.149 could still could do it I think you still could 00:09:01.149 --> 00:09:03.289 actually at the beginning of the year, especially 00:09:03.289 --> 00:09:06.740 when there's you're more Social and emotional 00:09:06.740 --> 00:09:09.419 learning is a constant thing for everyone in 00:09:09.419 --> 00:09:12.159 the world, no matter how old we are. But I think 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:14.379 we tend to emphasize it a little bit more toward 00:09:14.379 --> 00:09:16.299 the beginning of the school year when we're kind 00:09:16.299 --> 00:09:19.159 of establishing our routines and such. That's 00:09:19.159 --> 00:09:20.980 probably where I would try and embed it. But 00:09:20.980 --> 00:09:22.620 I think it would be exceptionally good as like 00:09:22.620 --> 00:09:24.799 a counseling lesson, like you said. But it was 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:27.480 so good that like, when I was reading this one, 00:09:27.480 --> 00:09:30.360 like my 11 year old like was peeking over my 00:09:30.360 --> 00:09:31.919 shoulder and looking at all the things with me 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:33.639 and like she read it along with me and she was 00:09:33.639 --> 00:09:37.570 like, hey, that That was a good book. That teaches 00:09:37.570 --> 00:09:40.649 a really good message. That's a good one. And 00:09:40.649 --> 00:09:46.549 I was like, okay, good. It is. It's just like, 00:09:47.129 --> 00:09:50.129 I just love it. And I think that, like, I also 00:09:50.129 --> 00:09:55.289 loved that, like, the pieces of paper that the 00:09:55.289 --> 00:10:01.629 notes are on are in different states of crumpled. 00:10:01.950 --> 00:10:04.980 And like, you can see, like, between that and 00:10:04.980 --> 00:10:08.659 the words on the page, you can feel the emotions 00:10:08.659 --> 00:10:13.759 that Jack is having and how he's frustrated about 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:16.539 the situation. And it just, there's so much going 00:10:16.539 --> 00:10:18.779 on in the story. And like we said, it just teaches 00:10:18.779 --> 00:10:24.320 some really important things to the students 00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:29.179 that a lot of these kids don't know how to say 00:10:29.179 --> 00:10:32.639 sorry correctly. And to teach them that is just 00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:36.779 so important. So yeah, I love it. I think it's 00:10:36.779 --> 00:10:40.299 a great one. I'm definitely gonna add it to my 00:10:40.299 --> 00:10:43.120 to my rotation of books to like you said to start 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:47.960 the year and maybe even like especially when 00:10:47.960 --> 00:10:51.399 Once you introduce like the makerspace stuff 00:10:51.399 --> 00:10:53.700 I think that would be like a really great time 00:10:53.700 --> 00:10:56.100 to use this book because so often like kids are 00:10:56.100 --> 00:10:58.480 playing and there are legitimate accidents where 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:01.000 oh I bumped into you and I've messed up what 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:03.710 you were doing and like So this would be a great 00:11:03.710 --> 00:11:07.190 thing to be like, okay, we just read this book, 00:11:07.529 --> 00:11:09.590 this happened, so what should we do? And kind 00:11:09.590 --> 00:11:11.809 of be able to work with the kids that way with 00:11:11.809 --> 00:11:15.070 it. I think it could be a really great one. Yeah, 00:11:15.169 --> 00:11:17.529 it almost works well just like as a standalone 00:11:17.529 --> 00:11:21.649 social story. Yeah. Yeah. Like, I don't know, 00:11:21.850 --> 00:11:23.730 social stories do a little more direct teaching 00:11:23.730 --> 00:11:27.769 than this one, but it complements it really, 00:11:27.769 --> 00:11:31.649 really nicely. I think, yeah. Yeah, actually. 00:11:32.149 --> 00:11:34.529 See, I'm processing even as I'm saying it, but 00:11:34.529 --> 00:11:36.610 I think that's how I might do it. I think I might 00:11:36.610 --> 00:11:40.070 do, like, have my own social story, just like, 00:11:40.149 --> 00:11:42.450 this is how we apologize, and then have this 00:11:42.450 --> 00:11:44.649 book as the teaching piece. Yeah, well, because 00:11:44.649 --> 00:11:46.350 I mean, even with this, where it's like, okay, 00:11:46.389 --> 00:11:49.110 we need to have these three parts in our apology. 00:11:49.429 --> 00:11:52.309 Yeah. And it's not just saying the words, but 00:11:52.309 --> 00:11:55.830 feeling the feelings and solving the problem, 00:11:55.830 --> 00:11:58.710 you know? So yeah, I think. Yeah. Excellent. 00:11:58.850 --> 00:12:03.379 Excellent book. Yes, as far as a makerspace activity 00:12:03.379 --> 00:12:09.080 since in our story the We had a castle that was 00:12:09.080 --> 00:12:12.019 knocked down I thought using either building 00:12:12.019 --> 00:12:14.820 blocks or a keep of planks or Legos and having 00:12:14.820 --> 00:12:18.740 the kids work in pairs or in with partners to 00:12:18.740 --> 00:12:25.000 To build their own castle and see kind of like 00:12:25.340 --> 00:12:27.320 After you build the castle, you could talk about 00:12:27.320 --> 00:12:29.120 also like some of the things that worked and 00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:30.559 some of the things that you might've had problems 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:32.039 with. So you could have a whole conversation 00:12:32.039 --> 00:12:35.200 about that afterwards, about like what worked 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:37.679 as working with your partners and what happened 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:39.639 if something knocked over and how did you guys 00:12:39.639 --> 00:12:42.200 work together to come to a solution for it and 00:12:42.200 --> 00:12:44.340 fix the problem, that kind of thing. So I think 00:12:44.340 --> 00:12:47.360 having the kids build their own castles using 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:50.039 some kind of building materials, some blocks 00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:54.850 or something would be a fun activity. It would 00:12:54.850 --> 00:12:57.570 this book. Yeah. Yeah, that would be perfect. 00:12:57.669 --> 00:12:59.409 So you're just really extending the story from 00:12:59.409 --> 00:13:04.789 there. Yeah, it's a great one Before our library 00:13:04.789 --> 00:13:10.850 of littles management tip or trick We can discuss 00:13:10.850 --> 00:13:14.610 collecting books at the end of the year and Figuring 00:13:14.610 --> 00:13:18.509 out when to be done with book checkout personally, 00:13:19.909 --> 00:13:23.330 I give my kids three weeks before the end of 00:13:23.330 --> 00:13:26.629 the school year is the last day of checkout and 00:13:26.629 --> 00:13:30.090 then we have two solid weeks to get all of the 00:13:30.090 --> 00:13:35.570 books back in and that allows me to send notifications 00:13:35.570 --> 00:13:38.370 to parents and say hey this book is still check 00:13:38.370 --> 00:13:41.230 out please look for it help us out because i 00:13:41.230 --> 00:13:47.179 hate to cut off book checkout too early. I want 00:13:47.179 --> 00:13:48.860 my kids to still be able to have access to as 00:13:48.860 --> 00:13:52.120 many books for as long as possible. At the same 00:13:52.120 --> 00:13:54.240 time, I know that at the end of the year, I'm 00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:57.700 also responsible for doing inventory and all 00:13:57.700 --> 00:13:59.759 of those other end of the year things to close 00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:02.559 out the library. And so I have to find a clear 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:05.600 balance. And so I find that two to three weeks, 00:14:06.159 --> 00:14:08.519 three to four weeks before the end of the school 00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:10.220 year, having the last book check out, getting 00:14:10.220 --> 00:14:12.879 books, reminding kids a couple of times to return 00:14:12.879 --> 00:14:15.519 the books. Sending those notifications on the 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:17.179 last two weeks of school saying hey, this book 00:14:17.179 --> 00:14:20.419 is still out. Can you look for it? Tends to work 00:14:20.419 --> 00:14:26.580 out pretty well. I last year I had About I think 00:14:26.580 --> 00:14:28.740 it was about a hundred and fifty books two weeks 00:14:28.740 --> 00:14:31.480 before school was about to get out They were 00:14:31.480 --> 00:14:36.440 still out. Oh dear which had me a little concerned 00:14:36.440 --> 00:14:40.059 at first but I I actually did a couple things. 00:14:40.059 --> 00:14:43.080 I put a countdown on the library door and of 00:14:43.080 --> 00:14:45.279 how many books we still had checked out that 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:47.679 I changed every morning so the kids could see 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:50.159 the number dropping which was nice just overall 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:54.200 and my administrative team also during our morning 00:14:54.200 --> 00:14:57.379 announcements would just mention hey we are down 00:14:57.379 --> 00:14:59.259 to this many more books that are checked out 00:14:59.259 --> 00:15:00.960 from our library let's keep bringing them in 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:02.460 so they can get checked in kind of thing just 00:15:02.460 --> 00:15:04.460 as like a motivational like hey how close can 00:15:04.460 --> 00:15:07.559 we get to zero kind of thing we didn't get to 00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:12.639 zero but I'm pretty sure I only had 15 or 16 00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:14.759 books. I think that didn't actually get returned 00:15:14.759 --> 00:15:18.799 or taken care of in one way or another So when 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:21.899 you consider I have 715 kids on my campus, you 00:15:21.899 --> 00:15:23.779 know having 15 or 16 of them that didn't show 00:15:23.779 --> 00:15:27.480 back up I was pretty happy with that But like 00:15:27.480 --> 00:15:29.320 being able to have that time to be like, okay, 00:15:29.340 --> 00:15:31.080 we get two more weeks of school I need you to 00:15:31.080 --> 00:15:32.799 be going home looking in your backpacks looking 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:34.559 under your beds looking in your closets for those 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:36.740 books Sending that little note home. So the parents 00:15:36.740 --> 00:15:39.649 know what they need to help look for having that 00:15:39.649 --> 00:15:43.370 countdown going so that kids can be working together 00:15:43.370 --> 00:15:45.389 and be like, yeah, let's get this as close to 00:15:45.389 --> 00:15:50.049 zero as we can. Because at the end of the day, 00:15:52.710 --> 00:15:56.330 if it's really a book that's lost, the odds that 00:15:56.330 --> 00:15:58.330 I'm going to be able to get any actual money 00:15:58.330 --> 00:16:02.649 from the parents for the book is minimal at best. 00:16:03.149 --> 00:16:06.129 So I don't hold that hope for that. Find and 00:16:06.129 --> 00:16:08.450 I tell my kids up front. I said I explained to 00:16:08.450 --> 00:16:12.830 them, you know, I would much rather You just 00:16:12.830 --> 00:16:14.789 bring the book back than for us to have to worry 00:16:14.789 --> 00:16:16.750 about trying to get your parents to pay for it 00:16:16.750 --> 00:16:19.389 because yeah Whether I don't say it out loud 00:16:19.389 --> 00:16:22.149 that I know that a lot of my students are in 00:16:22.149 --> 00:16:23.889 financial situations where they can't afford 00:16:23.889 --> 00:16:26.070 to pay for the book and I Totally get that and 00:16:26.070 --> 00:16:27.669 I'm not gonna hold that against any student. 00:16:27.850 --> 00:16:31.000 That's not their fault. That's not theirs They're 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:32.539 not in that situation because of anything that 00:16:32.539 --> 00:16:33.919 they've done. So I'm not going to hold that against 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:35.419 them. The next year they're going to be able 00:16:35.419 --> 00:16:38.759 to check out books again. But if I encourage 00:16:38.759 --> 00:16:41.620 them to find it and say, you know, some of your 00:16:41.620 --> 00:16:44.860 friends want to read this book too. Can you go 00:16:44.860 --> 00:16:46.220 look for it so we can get it back on the shelf 00:16:46.220 --> 00:16:49.240 so they can and kind of go at it from that attitude. 00:16:49.779 --> 00:16:51.139 I find that a lot of kids will be like, yeah, 00:16:51.139 --> 00:16:52.899 I'll go. I'll go look. I think I might know where 00:16:52.899 --> 00:16:54.759 it is or I don't know where that is, but I'm 00:16:54.759 --> 00:16:56.000 going to talk to my mom and dad and see if they 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:57.980 can help me find it. And that's all I really 00:16:57.980 --> 00:17:02.240 want is it. put forth that effort to try and 00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:05.000 find it. If I have to replace the book, then 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:06.299 I have to replace the book. That's part of what 00:17:06.299 --> 00:17:08.180 my library budget is for, is to replace books 00:17:08.180 --> 00:17:09.980 that are either damaged or lost. That's gonna 00:17:09.980 --> 00:17:14.579 happen. I'm not in a fantasy world where I can 00:17:14.579 --> 00:17:16.539 assume that every single book is always gonna 00:17:16.539 --> 00:17:18.640 come back in perfect condition and just in general 00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:22.980 come back at all. So, just encouraging the kids 00:17:22.980 --> 00:17:26.140 to... try to help out their own friends by saying, 00:17:26.279 --> 00:17:28.220 you know, you thought that was a really cool 00:17:28.220 --> 00:17:29.700 book. I bet a couple of your friends would like 00:17:29.700 --> 00:17:31.420 to read it, too. Can you go find it and bring 00:17:31.420 --> 00:17:33.900 it back in? I find that works relatively well, 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:37.039 and a lot of my students are like, yeah, and 00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:38.380 come back in, because I'll tell you that there 00:17:38.380 --> 00:17:40.380 have been some books, last year especially, I 00:17:40.380 --> 00:17:43.000 had a kid that had, he had checked out three 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:48.839 books in November. I hadn't seen him since November. 00:17:49.480 --> 00:17:52.319 They were checked out that entire time. I kid 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:55.460 you not, the last day of school. The last day 00:17:55.460 --> 00:17:57.180 of school. He brought all three of them back. 00:17:57.599 --> 00:17:58.799 I think that might have been my daughter. You 00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:05.400 know? Like, seriously, it happens. And all I 00:18:05.400 --> 00:18:07.920 told him was, hey. Thank you so much. Someone 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:09.380 else next year is going to be able to read these 00:18:09.380 --> 00:18:10.940 books. I appreciate it. And that was the end 00:18:10.940 --> 00:18:13.799 of it. I explained to my kids up front, I don't 00:18:13.799 --> 00:18:16.539 have the energy to hold a grudge or to be upset 00:18:16.539 --> 00:18:18.880 if you lose a book. And honestly, that's not 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:21.559 my job. My job is to make sure that you're reading 00:18:21.559 --> 00:18:23.880 the books and that you have access to them. My 00:18:23.880 --> 00:18:27.200 job is not to punish you if you don't take care 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:29.599 of a book or if you don't bring the book back. 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:32.440 I have more important things to do, like making 00:18:32.440 --> 00:18:36.109 sure that books are available. to everybody. 00:18:36.490 --> 00:18:38.349 And so having that kind of attitude and just 00:18:38.349 --> 00:18:39.970 kind of talking the kids through it and just 00:18:39.970 --> 00:18:41.769 being like, hey, go home and look for it for 00:18:41.769 --> 00:18:45.009 me, do your best. 99 % of the kids are gonna 00:18:45.009 --> 00:18:46.809 be like, yeah, okay, I'll do that. And they're 00:18:46.809 --> 00:18:48.910 gonna at least look, whether they find or not, 00:18:49.130 --> 00:18:50.509 totally different situation, but they're gonna 00:18:50.509 --> 00:18:54.190 try. And I feel like that in itself is a win 00:18:54.190 --> 00:18:57.089 because they're putting forth that effort and 00:18:57.089 --> 00:19:00.309 trying. And so, you know, as we get close to 00:19:00.309 --> 00:19:02.450 the end of the school year, starting to plan 00:19:02.450 --> 00:19:07.470 out when books are due back and what books at 00:19:07.470 --> 00:19:10.250 this point in the year probably not coming back 00:19:10.250 --> 00:19:14.170 or what books Came back damaged and need to be 00:19:14.170 --> 00:19:16.509 replaced This is when I start looking at all 00:19:16.509 --> 00:19:19.410 of that kind of stuff to start Prepping my list 00:19:19.410 --> 00:19:21.410 for when I come back and can start purchasing 00:19:21.410 --> 00:19:25.630 again in the fall With those lists of books that 00:19:25.630 --> 00:19:27.829 did get lost or did get damaged throughout the 00:19:27.829 --> 00:19:31.789 year so they can Fill in gaps in series and that 00:19:31.789 --> 00:19:35.019 kind of stuff This is that time of year when 00:19:35.019 --> 00:19:39.680 we start thinking about those things. Yeah. Well, 00:19:40.220 --> 00:19:42.940 this year, mine's a little bit different because 00:19:42.940 --> 00:19:47.359 all of my kids, I'm special. This year, being 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:49.680 with all threes, fours and fives, and we got 00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:51.839 a new cataloging system that wasn't fully operational 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:54.079 at the beginning of the school year. So the kids 00:19:54.079 --> 00:19:57.039 just brought their books to their classrooms 00:19:57.039 --> 00:20:00.420 and kind of, we kind of spent all year. practicing 00:20:00.420 --> 00:20:02.339 taking them to and from the library and just 00:20:02.339 --> 00:20:04.420 learning that library books are meant to be borrowed 00:20:04.420 --> 00:20:07.119 and hopefully that leaves good foundation for 00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:09.000 the future when they move on to elementary school 00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:11.440 and do get to take books home that the books 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:14.680 are meant to be borrowed and returned. But since 00:20:14.680 --> 00:20:18.440 all the books are still on campus and I know 00:20:18.440 --> 00:20:20.279 that none of them went home or anything and they're 00:20:20.279 --> 00:20:24.119 not super lost they're just with teachers so 00:20:24.119 --> 00:20:27.640 and not all the teachers. Remember to turn them 00:20:27.640 --> 00:20:29.519 in on time and that's okay because I know they're 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:31.380 still on campus. It's all good. We'll get them 00:20:31.380 --> 00:20:39.400 back whatever So my campuses have To return everything 00:20:39.400 --> 00:20:41.960 two weeks before the last day of school that 00:20:41.960 --> 00:20:43.740 still gives me a couple weeks to make sure that 00:20:43.740 --> 00:20:46.279 everything's in And like I said since nothing 00:20:46.279 --> 00:20:49.339 left campus. I'm not terribly worried about it. 00:20:49.500 --> 00:20:51.799 We'll get it all I'll just go talk to the teacher 00:20:51.799 --> 00:20:55.079 and Get it put back on the shelf quite soon. 00:20:55.460 --> 00:20:59.779 So yeah yeah yeah but as we get close to the 00:20:59.779 --> 00:21:01.680 end of the year that's the kind of stuff we need 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:04.500 to be thinking about so it is if you are sending 00:21:04.500 --> 00:21:06.640 their home then you need to remind the kids if 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:08.259 it's just staying in the classroom you just need 00:21:08.259 --> 00:21:09.940 to talk to the teachers and make sure that you 00:21:09.940 --> 00:21:14.220 get it all back right yeah so yeah and you'll 00:21:14.220 --> 00:21:17.180 be ready for the following year we sure will 00:21:17.180 --> 00:21:21.309 it's gonna be a good one All right, our next 00:21:21.309 --> 00:21:23.609 book that we're going to talk about today is 00:21:23.609 --> 00:21:27.089 called Toad by Toad. It's published by Tundra 00:21:27.089 --> 00:21:30.250 Books in 2024, and the author and illustrator 00:21:30.250 --> 00:21:35.269 of this book is Jashar Awan. This book won the 00:21:35.269 --> 00:21:39.670 Geisel Honor in 2025. It's an ALSC Notable Children's 00:21:39.670 --> 00:21:44.309 Book 2025, Delaware Blue Hen Book Award, 2026, 00:21:44.630 --> 00:21:48.730 Kentucky Blue Grass Award, 2026 for Preschool. 00:21:49.180 --> 00:21:52.880 Missouri Building Block Picture Book Award 2025, 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:56.799 North Dakota Flickertail Children's Book Award 00:21:56.799 --> 00:22:03.119 2025, and naturally, Texas 2x2 for 2025. Our 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:07.559 author, Jashar Awan, loved drawing and reading 00:22:07.559 --> 00:22:11.079 as a child growing up outside of Washington D 00:22:11.079 --> 00:22:14.859 .C. He was eventually able to grow his passion 00:22:14.859 --> 00:22:17.940 into a career as a children's book author and 00:22:17.940 --> 00:22:21.079 illustrator. His books have been selected for 00:22:21.079 --> 00:22:23.519 multiple state lists and honors, such as the 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:28.359 ALA Notables and the Amazon Editor's Pick. He 00:22:28.359 --> 00:22:31.500 currently lives in Ohio with his wife and son. 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:36.240 His very first book was published in 2020, so 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:39.539 he's a pretty recent author. He's written, I'm 00:22:39.539 --> 00:22:42.839 Going to Build a Snowman. Strum and Drum, a merry 00:22:42.839 --> 00:22:46.160 little quest. Only ants for Andy, and what a 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:50.259 lucky day. And in this book, Toad spends his 00:22:50.259 --> 00:22:52.440 days helping others by towing them around when 00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:55.960 they break down. When Toad's tow truck breaks 00:22:55.960 --> 00:22:59.839 down himself, he struggles to fix it, and ultimately 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:04.559 he has to ask for help. I thought this book was 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:08.160 a lot of fun. It was really cute. The illustrations 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:12.430 had a lot of bold like geometric style still 00:23:12.430 --> 00:23:16.170 kind of muted colors really still somewhat calming 00:23:16.170 --> 00:23:19.049 yet attention -grabbing since it won the Geisel 00:23:19.049 --> 00:23:21.349 you know it's already got kind of simplistic 00:23:21.349 --> 00:23:25.410 text it had some really cute character names 00:23:25.410 --> 00:23:28.430 in it like William Goat Gruff was driving his 00:23:28.430 --> 00:23:31.779 kids around going to school and that was So there 00:23:31.779 --> 00:23:34.000 were there were some really cute characters those 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:36.099 those ones in particular for a Geisel I was a 00:23:36.099 --> 00:23:38.000 little bit surprised that there were some more 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:40.779 challenging words with the names in particular 00:23:40.779 --> 00:23:45.740 but everything else was like really kind of simple 00:23:45.740 --> 00:23:48.359 text kind of easy to read like you would expect 00:23:48.359 --> 00:23:51.539 from a Geisel winner but I loved that it was 00:23:51.539 --> 00:23:55.470 the message was you know just everybody Has to 00:23:55.470 --> 00:23:58.269 help each other out, you know, I like that toad 00:23:58.269 --> 00:24:01.730 was really working to help everybody else out. 00:24:01.730 --> 00:24:03.950 He was, you know, rushing out of the house so 00:24:03.950 --> 00:24:06.710 fast that he kind of skipped breakfast and his 00:24:06.710 --> 00:24:09.769 whole goal was just to help everyone. But then, 00:24:09.769 --> 00:24:13.369 you know, asking for help himself was hard. And 00:24:13.369 --> 00:24:16.769 I relate to that. It's hard to ask for help sometimes. 00:24:18.089 --> 00:24:20.210 But then at the end, when he does finally ask 00:24:20.210 --> 00:24:22.829 for help, it was his dad that comes with a bigger 00:24:22.829 --> 00:24:25.220 tow truck to help him out. So that was kind of 00:24:25.220 --> 00:24:27.740 a cute ending. I thought that he was kind of 00:24:27.740 --> 00:24:30.319 skipping past that relationship there and because 00:24:30.319 --> 00:24:33.019 at the beginning he like blew past his dad, didn't 00:24:33.019 --> 00:24:34.960 want breakfast and then his dad ended up coming 00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:37.779 to his rescue. I like that it was it was kind 00:24:37.779 --> 00:24:40.359 of a nice kind of community building kind of 00:24:40.359 --> 00:24:42.359 a piece. I think this would be a really good 00:24:42.359 --> 00:24:44.740 one at the beginning of the year when you're 00:24:44.740 --> 00:24:47.380 kind of learning about communities and what it 00:24:47.380 --> 00:24:51.460 means to work together and be a community help 00:24:51.460 --> 00:24:54.559 helper. I liked it a lot. I would give it a five 00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:58.059 out of five. I think it was really sweet. Yes, 00:24:58.059 --> 00:25:00.059 it was. I really enjoyed it. I loved it a lot. 00:25:00.099 --> 00:25:03.079 I love the illustrations. There were a lot of 00:25:03.079 --> 00:25:06.539 like sharp lines that kind of gave like a bold 00:25:06.539 --> 00:25:09.599 outline to the cars and to the characters. It 00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:12.740 was really cute story. I think that students 00:25:12.740 --> 00:25:15.359 will really love it too, because it is just just 00:25:15.359 --> 00:25:19.319 a sweet story about helping others and asking 00:25:19.319 --> 00:25:23.359 for help. And like you said, we can all Understand 00:25:23.359 --> 00:25:25.779 that sometimes that's hard to do and that's an 00:25:25.779 --> 00:25:29.019 important lesson for kids. I think too because 00:25:29.019 --> 00:25:32.819 It is hard to ask for help and sometimes you 00:25:32.819 --> 00:25:35.140 get frustrated because you want to do it yourself, 00:25:35.160 --> 00:25:39.319 but There are times when you that's just not 00:25:39.319 --> 00:25:41.420 possible. You need someone else to give you a 00:25:41.420 --> 00:25:44.259 hand and help you out and so Teaching them that 00:25:44.259 --> 00:25:46.940 it's okay to ask for help if you've tried and 00:25:46.940 --> 00:25:49.990 it it's not working It's all right to ask and 00:25:49.990 --> 00:25:52.130 say hey, I can't get this done by myself. I need 00:25:52.130 --> 00:25:55.789 a little extra It's true. It's sweet. And when 00:25:55.789 --> 00:26:00.730 I was looking on Jashar Awan's website He's got 00:26:00.730 --> 00:26:03.750 some free resources none that related to this 00:26:03.750 --> 00:26:08.349 book in particular, but he had like Short YouTube 00:26:08.349 --> 00:26:11.509 clips of him drawing some of his characters. 00:26:11.849 --> 00:26:14.190 So I thought that would be a fun thing to like 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:17.680 If you read one of those books to the class and 00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:20.500 then show one of those clips like you could encourage 00:26:20.500 --> 00:26:23.900 the kids to write their own books I love doing 00:26:23.900 --> 00:26:27.039 that personally like reading a specific book 00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:30.759 that has kind of a some kind of a virtual component 00:26:30.759 --> 00:26:32.799 like that where I can show like a recording of 00:26:32.799 --> 00:26:36.839 the author illustrator drawing their own work 00:26:36.839 --> 00:26:39.819 so that the kids can. Write their own stories 00:26:39.819 --> 00:26:42.480 that's my favorite those are my favorite kind 00:26:42.480 --> 00:26:46.200 of like that yeah yeah he's got to i think that 00:26:46.200 --> 00:26:49.960 go with andy's. Only answer andy that's what 00:26:49.960 --> 00:26:52.279 it was there were two videos where you could 00:26:52.279 --> 00:26:55.579 draw characters from those and he does like his 00:26:55.579 --> 00:26:58.119 his drawings are. Like you were saying they're 00:26:58.119 --> 00:27:01.299 kind of simplistic lots of geometric lines so 00:27:01.299 --> 00:27:03.259 they're kind of a little bit easier to imitate 00:27:03.259 --> 00:27:05.420 so kids can be a little bit more successful kind 00:27:05.420 --> 00:27:10.000 of that mo williams style. illustration. So that 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:12.440 was kind of a nice resource if anyone's interested 00:27:12.440 --> 00:27:15.599 in that. And that was just on his personal website 00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:19.880 on the freebies section there. I think if I was 00:27:19.880 --> 00:27:23.339 using this in the classroom I would do this, 00:27:23.640 --> 00:27:26.579 read this book at the beginning of the year when 00:27:26.579 --> 00:27:29.230 we're studying communities. in general, because 00:27:29.230 --> 00:27:31.630 I feel like that's always maybe that's just a 00:27:31.630 --> 00:27:33.170 pre -k thing. I don't know if kindergarten or 00:27:33.170 --> 00:27:35.009 first grade does that, but that's always something 00:27:35.009 --> 00:27:37.869 that we kind of start with because this is usually 00:27:37.869 --> 00:27:41.369 our kids like starting school is usually their 00:27:41.369 --> 00:27:45.630 first real experience like out in the community. 00:27:45.630 --> 00:27:48.589 I know they've been to the community, like obviously 00:27:48.589 --> 00:27:50.829 they've left their homes before. Actually, that's 00:27:50.829 --> 00:27:53.609 not true for some of ours. There are a few kids 00:27:53.609 --> 00:27:57.220 that have literally never left the home. Because 00:27:57.220 --> 00:27:58.900 they have challenging behaviors that the parents 00:27:58.900 --> 00:28:01.200 don't know how to manage but for most of our 00:28:01.200 --> 00:28:03.079 kids they've been out and about but they don't 00:28:03.079 --> 00:28:07.380 really understand what a community is and Like 00:28:07.380 --> 00:28:08.859 that's something that we kind of have to teach 00:28:08.859 --> 00:28:10.900 them that you know The community is the group 00:28:10.900 --> 00:28:13.279 of people that live around us and you know We 00:28:13.279 --> 00:28:15.359 help each other and these are the places you 00:28:15.359 --> 00:28:17.019 might see in your community and the school is 00:28:17.019 --> 00:28:19.759 part of your community That's always a big teaching 00:28:19.759 --> 00:28:21.619 piece at the beginning of the year. So think 00:28:21.619 --> 00:28:25.059 I would embed this in the curriculum at the beginning 00:28:25.059 --> 00:28:28.619 of the year with that and kind of build our own 00:28:28.619 --> 00:28:31.579 communities with blocks and such. There's usually 00:28:31.579 --> 00:28:34.420 with any kind of wooden block set there's usually 00:28:34.420 --> 00:28:37.599 a few like painted blocks that kind of resemble 00:28:37.599 --> 00:28:40.420 buildings and kids really like at the beginning 00:28:40.420 --> 00:28:43.240 of the year to build their own little buildings 00:28:43.240 --> 00:28:46.000 and go okay this is the grocery store this is 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:49.819 our school and this is my house and this is your 00:28:49.819 --> 00:28:52.960 house and drive their little cars around it so 00:28:52.960 --> 00:28:56.200 they can build their own little communities there. 00:28:56.700 --> 00:29:00.960 Yeah, I love that. Thank you all for joining 00:29:00.960 --> 00:29:03.680 us today on this episode of Librarians of Littles. 00:29:04.220 --> 00:29:06.759 We hope you found some fresh ideas for inspiring 00:29:06.759 --> 00:29:09.579 our young readers. Please be sure to subscribe 00:29:09.579 --> 00:29:12.500 and connect with us on social media. Happy reading! 00:29:13.160 --> 00:29:16.039 Thank you for listening to this episode of Librarians 00:29:16.039 --> 00:29:18.880 of Littles. We hope that you've enjoyed it. Check 00:29:18.880 --> 00:29:23.269 back each Wednesday for a new episode. Librarians 00:29:23.269 --> 00:29:26.029 of Littles is a podcast produced and hosted by 00:29:26.029 --> 00:29:29.690 Patrick Adams and Caroline Legier. Editor, Patrick 00:29:29.690 --> 00:29:33.490 Adams. Our theme song is performed by JD Adams. 00:29:33.910 --> 00:29:36.569 You can follow us on Instagram at Librarians 00:29:36.569 --> 00:29:41.710 of Littles. 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