Hello, I'm Patrick Adams. And I'm Caroline Legere.
And this is Librarians of Little. This is a podcast
where we discuss books, give some ideas for makerspace
and corporations and give tips and tricks for
working with our youngest learners. This week
we are going to be discussing two wonderful books.
Our theme this week is summer as the school years
are coming to a close. We thought reading some
books about summer or beaches. would be a great
way to kind of end the year for a lot of people.
And so we've selected two books with that theme.
The first of which is a book titled There Might
Be Lobsters. This was published by Candlewick
Press in 2017. The author is Carolyn Crimme and
the illustrator is Laurel Mulk. awards or lists.
This book has been on the CCBC Choice Selection
2018 list. It has won the Golden Kite Award Picture
Book Text winner for 2018 as well. And the author,
Caroline Crimme, was born and raised in Long
Island, New York. Most of her friends call her
Crimme. and very few actually call her Carolyn,
and she has a BA from Lake Forest College in
Art History and an MFA from Vermont College in
Writing for Children. She has a pug named Bo
and she currently lives in Illinois. Some of
her other books include Weird Little Robots illustrated
by Corinna Luykin. Henry and the Buccaneer Bunnies,
illustrated by John Manders. Where's My Mummy,
illustrated by John Manders. Boris and Bella,
illustrated by Grizz Grimley. Pugs in a Bug,
illustrated by Stephanie Buscema. Don't Need
Friends, illustrated by Lynn M. Munzinger. And
Henry and the Crazed Chicken Pirates, illustrated
by John Manders. And the illustrator is Laurel
Mulk. She used to sell her drawings to her neighbors
as a child. The going rate was a penny for a
drawing and six for a nickel. Later, she went
on to pursue drawing at RISD. After many years
of freelance work, including designing athletic
shoes and athletic wear, she directed her energies
to illustrating and writing children's books.
She has published several books and has exhibited
in shows at the Society of Illustrators. And
some of her other books are Knitting for Dogs,
which she both wrote and illustrated. A Synagogue
Just Like Home by Alice B. McGinty. It's a, It's
a, It's a Mitzvah by Elizabeth Sunnaby and Diane
Hyman. No Room for a Pup by Elizabeth Sunnaby.
Take Your Time, A Tale of Harriet the Galapagos
Tortoise by Eva Ferro and Donna Jo Nepali. And
so our book, There Might Be Lobsters, is the
story of Suki, a small dog that is afraid of
many things. especially at the beach, lobsters
being at the top of the list. As Suki's owner
Eleanor tries to convince Suki to enjoy their
day at the beach, Suki is just too scared of
those sandy steps of beach balls and of the water
and of course of the possibility of lobsters.
When Suki sits out the fun and with her stuffed
monkey friend Chunkamunka, they Miss out on all
of that fun and enjoyment when chunkamonka gets
picked up by the water and the waves Suki has
to overcome those fears to save chunkamonka.
I really like this story. I thought it was a
really cute story of Something that a lot of
these a lot of our kids think about all the time
like what might happen those negative thoughts
that could be there that could happen and focus
So much on those things they miss out on the
possibility of all the wonderful fun things that
could happen. And so this is a really cute story.
There's the repetition of, but you know, there
might be lobsters. Every time Eleanor invites
Suki to do something, it starts with, but Suki
was a small dog and then gives all these reasons
why all these crazy things that could potentially
happen. And then, and there could be lobsters.
It's a fun story. My students really enjoyed
this book. We read it this week. They loved it
because the pictures are beautiful. They're engaging.
And it's something that a lot of these kids can
relate to that feeling of, you know, I'm going
to focus on all the negative things and miss
out on the possibility of fun, miss out on just,
you know, kind of live in life. It was It's just
a such a cool book. I really enjoyed it. I think
Suki is a lovable character. My kids loved that
she had a stuffed monkey, Chunkamunka, with her.
They very much could relate to that and doing
anything to make sure that your stuffed friend
is safe. So when Suki has to go out into the
into the waters like when we first find out like
Chunkamunka is floating away and then sinking
like all the kids are sitting there like gasping
like like what's gonna happen and then when Suki
gets out into the water to save her everybody
feels so much relief it was just a cute story
that my students really kind of got very engaged
with and emotionally they were they were entangled
in the story because they wanted to make sure
that Chunkamunka was safe in the end it was it
was a really good story i really enjoyed it my
students loved it Yeah, I love this book. I have
read it a couple times to my classes. I didn't
read it this year, but I have read it in the
past. But like you said, it's a really sweet
story. Those pictures are very vivid. It really
brings the story to life a whole lot. And I love
that it's about, you know, being scared of the
ocean in particular, because I think there are
a lot of kids that are scared of trying new things
in general. And maybe I personally relate to
it more. Maybe we all do like living in this
areas. We live in North Texas, right? So like
there's not an ocean nearby or anything so like
When you go to the ocean and when you go to a
brand new place, especially like since our kids
our students haven't you know Don't have an ocean
nearby like that would it's definitely something
different for all of them if they have the privilege
of going to the beach So and there's i'm sure
quite a few kids who might have their first beach
vacation, you know coming up the summer so that's
kind of it kind of primes them for getting to
try something new like that that's definitely
you know something at least if they haven't been
if they have been to the beach before they may
have forgotten if there's you know since we're
working with all those you know four and five
year olds right now so for our students in particular
they definitely haven't been anytime recently
we can say that with certainty so this is kind
of a good one to kind of remind them like even
if if they are going to go soon like you know,
you can, you're going to go and you're going
to, you might be nervous at first because it
is something new and something different. It's
trying different things is always a little bit
scary, but you're going to be okay. You know,
trying new things is okay. So it was a good choice.
I love it. This is a great book. Yeah. And so
I, it didn't really, it should have, but it didn't
really click in my head that so few of my students
would have experiences on a beach. When I was
younger. I grew up, I was born in California.
We moved and we were in New England. My family's
from the Massachusetts area. So like I lived
in New Hampshire, like going to the beach was
just just part of the thing. Like the summer
stuff, like the beach isn't that far. So going
and experiencing the beach was just part of life.
And so in my head, that's just, and I've lived
in Texas for decades now, but summer just correlates
with beach to me because of those experiences
when I was younger. And these kids, you're right,
so many of these kids, the closest thing they
might have to a beach is like going to a lake
kind of thing. And that's a completely different
experience. It's a great experience, but it's
a very different experience than like ocean beach
kind of setting. And so it surprised me at first.
And then I was like, well, that Definitely make
sense, but we talked about it and some of the
kids have been to the beach before but many of
them haven't they have a general idea of what
a beach is and how they work but like the idea
well even just for part of it that we had to
have a little bit of a talk as to how Chunkamunka
ended up in the water and so then we had to have
a discussion about tides and how the water comes
in and then goes back out and so even though
they were sitting on the sand that water starts
to rise and Chunkamunka ends up in that water
and that's how he starts floating out further.
So there was a nice opportunity to introduce
that concept in the story, especially for those
kids who've never seen the ocean up close before
and had that individualized experience before.
So it was a good story, but I know for next year,
especially for my pre -K students, maybe a little
bit of pre -teaching to discuss some of those
parts of what a beach is, and how an ocean works,
and how the water rises and falls, and that kind
of thing, the tides, just to give a little bit
more background knowledge. And then I did have
to explain to kids, because at one point, Suki's
very worried about the beach ball, because the
last line is, and beach balls attract lobsters.
and all the kids were like wait do that and so
we know it's just this is more of her paranoid
thinking kind of thing so like but it was a it
was a really good story and my kids really enjoyed
it i would say i think i'd give it a four out
of five i think it was a really fun story like
i said for younger kids you're gonna have to
pre -teach or have those conversations in the
middle of the story but it my kids loved it and
i think it's a sweet story so Yeah. Solid book.
Solid. It is. It's a good one. And then as incorporation
of makerspace activity, I'm gonna break my rule
and we're gonna use some sand. Oh, no. I know.
Sand is something that I try to avoid in the
library. But for this kind of book, I feel like
we need to have some sand. We'd need like sand
and shells and some little plastic lobsters and
other beach kind of ocean animals and maybe some
like... those mini beach balls we do a beach
sensory bin have some water and some sand in
there and let the kids just kind of explore because
as I found so many of those kids haven't had
an experience like that where they're being able
to play in the sand at like a beach and doing
those things so having some of those things and
being able to do a sensory bin where they can
put their hands in that sand and in the water
and play with some of the little toys and things
like that i think would be a really great experience
to for some of these kids who've never done it
before and it'd be a fun thing to do it's probably
going to get a little messy i'll have to pull
out the vacuum and clean it up yeah it's worth
it for the, for the experience for the students
to have, to have that opportunity. So doing a
sensory bin, getting some of that sand and yeah.
I love it. That's great. That does give our kids
a new way to kind of experience the beach, even
if they don't get to go to the beach. Yeah. That's
great. Yeah. And then like my kinder and first
grade students, I had them Get to be a little
bit. I the other things that I had my students
do Was we use magnet tiles and I challenged the
students to use the magnet tiles to build their
own sea creature of some kind So that was kind
of oh, that's cool. Are you could build it creative
a castle and do like a sandcastle kind of thing?
Even if it's not out of sand. Yeah castles are
still Mm -hmm. Yeah, and then I had the kids
use IO blocks and build a lobster and so I had
like a picture oh that's cute and so they they
use the aisle blocks to build lobsters and so
that was fun too so there's plenty of different
options available but I do think having some
sand and letting the kids get their hands dirty
and just having that tactile experience would
be really good yeah and they love it a lot yeah
yeah and my library this week we're Let the kids
for the last like two weeks of school just pick
their favorite things that we've done all year
long and That has been the number one thing that
kids have asked for is kinetic sand They need
more kinetic sand because like you said like
they don't they don't often get to experience
it it is something a little bit different and
it's just I Guess it's more novel for them they
don't get it at home there's no places like we
don't have a beach nearby that they can go have
those experiences so this is a safe place for
them to do it yeah and they love it and it's
good for them it is it is it's nice to and it's
nice that for such a relatively cheap thing we
can give them that experience you know sand isn't
expensive and so it might take some time for
us to get it and to clean it up afterwards but
to give them that experience is very, very helpful
for a lot of them. So it's worth it. Yeah. Okay.
This week for our library of littles management
tips, since we are getting close to summer, that
means that we're not necessarily going to be
able to see our students for a while, or like
in your case, your students, after being on the
pre -k campus, they all dispersed to multiple
elementary schools. So you might not get to see
them. Yeah. We're one year and then we're done.
Yeah. It's kind of sad, but it's okay. which
I think that's to be fair. Like I loved working
on the pre -k only campus, but that is one nice
thing about being on an elementary campus that
has pre -k is like I get to see them the next
year and get to see how much they've grown, which
is really cool. But since the summer is coming
and whether you get to see them next school year
or not, we want them to continue to practice
all of those reading skills that we've been working
with them on all year long. And we know that
the summer slide can be a real thing and we know
that our kids aren't necessarily reading. But
practicing some of those literacy skills of looking
at the pictures and having books read to them
is such an important part of development of language
and reading skills and it's just so important.
So having some reading activities or a reading
program or some kind of reading incentive can
really encourage students to continue those practices
during the summer. And so we're going to talk
a little bit about some possible ones to do.
I have been talking with my students, all of
my students pre -K through fifth grade for the
last three weeks. about our local public libraries
and the wonderful summer reading programs that
they have available. And so I've been really
talking that up with them and trying to convince
them to talk to their parents about the summer
reading programs that are available through the
public libraries. And so most public libraries
will have some form of a summer reading program
where they're trying to get people to continue
to read over the summer. We're fortunate that
in our area, the local library has there's about
five library five branches within about five
miles oh wow which is pretty awesome that we
have we have quite a few libraries in our area
that are not super far apart which is really
cool so it gives kids options but our library
will we'll just say it's a the Fort Worth Public
Library has a very expansive footprint of libraries
and they do an excellent job of summer reading
programs and it's wonderful how those branches
actually work together because you can like request
books and they'll send them to your local library
the closest one for you and that you just get
a phone call or text message saying that your
book is in you can go get it which is awesome
but their summer reading programs are amazing
also they've got lots of presenters that come
in and do different performances and do different
things like that and they're they've got a lot
of like stem programs that they do where they
get kids to come in and do different stem activities.
It's it's wonderful. So I've been really pushing
that with my students over the last couple weeks
because I've been like you know guys we're getting
we've been talking about this is the time of
the year where we're returning books and not
checking out new books from the library from
our school library. So this would be a great
time for you to be talking to your parents about
getting a library card and using the public libraries
and enjoying the all of the things that come
with that. My district also does a summer reading
blackout bingo card and so what it is is the
entire district every student gets a summer reading
bingo blackout sheet and so it's a five by five
grid. with each box being a different literacy
reading activity like read a science fiction
book or read a whatever and so like This can
work for pre -k all the way through high school
Because the science fiction book can be like
a science fiction chapter book or might just
be a Picture book that has aliens in it or something,
you know, like there's plenty like plenty of
wiggle room in what each of those activities
looks like for each grade level and each age
of student. But when the students spend the summer
as they do them, their parents initial each box
as it's completed. And if they get blackout,
so they get all 25 boxes done at the beginning
of next school year, those students return the
books or the list to their librarian. Each librarian
does it a little bit differently as far as if
they get a reward or not for just completing
it. I tend to give my kids some rewards. They
get a couple stickers and they get a bookmark
and like usually like a lollipop or something
like that just as like a good job proud of you
for doing it but the cool thing that my district
does is they take the librarians collect all
of those we put that information into a spreadsheet
so every student in the district that completes
it and gets that form back to their library and
their name gets put into this spreadsheet and
then we use a random number generator to pull
like five or ten names depending on how much
money we have that year but they'll pull names
out of the district's list of people that completed
it and those students end up with like a full
-size candy bar and like a $20 gift card to Barnes
& Noble so they can get another book for themselves
plus they get like a sweet treat to go with it
which is really cool it so like even if it's
just five kids that's about a hundred bucks to
The 10 kids is about $200. It's not a ton of
money being spent on that kind of stuff. And
then the candy bars are, you know, a couple bucks.
But I try to explain to my students now, like,
hey, if you don't finish it, you're not in the
drawing. Like, you might not win, but if you
don't participate at all, there's no chance of
winning, right? Like, at least if you do it,
there's a chance that you could win. And if not,
you've read and I'll still give you the stickers
and the bookmark and the popsicle or lollipop
or whatever, you know. So you get something for
it, but that's it. It's really cool. It's something
that I was really happy to find out that this
district does that. And I was like, this is,
this is cool. And it's nice that it's so generic
that it can be used for all of the grade levels,
you know? Yeah. I love that it's district wide.
That's wonderful. Yeah. Yeah. It's really cool.
And so it, we get a lot of participation. It's
a lot of kids and you know what? I have a lot
of kids that each year they're like hey I didn't
finish it but I did this many of them and I still
most of the time I'll still give the kids the
stickers and the bookmark and the yeah lollipop
or whatever I'm like hey you did some of it good
for you because there's a bunch of kids that
didn't look at it at all this summer so you know
yeah I'm okay giving out that kind of stuff for
even just partial participation because if those
kids at least attempted to read something hey
it's better yeah That better than not so I like
that kind of an incentive kind of program because
yeah it You don't have to Complete the whole
thing for me to see you as you tried and so I'm
gonna give you something for that and encourage
that still because Yeah, there's a lot of kids
that are gonna spend their whole summer Just
sitting in front of the TV or in front of an
iPad or a cell phone or you know Yeah, so if
we can get you to pick up a book. I'm gonna be
all for it That's great. Yeah, so coming up with
I wish we did something like that Yeah, well,
maybe it's something that you can Convince somebody
to do I can get you a copy of what ours looks
like I'll get you a copy of what it looks like
so you guys can at least have like something
to work from Yeah, but that would be great. You
know, thank you Yeah, that wouldn't be it's like
I said, it's not super expensive if you only
do you do five kids Yes, what like? a hundred
bucks and yeah i'm sure well i'm sure a hundred
dollars can be found in the budget somewhere
for that kind of thing you know yeah i would
probably just put up the money for it i mean
i wouldn't mind just doing that myself but yes
it should be encouraged that if it was district
-wide it needs to be in the library yes but yeah
even if you did it just on your campus like you
could do it and use some of your because it's
because it's for kids you could do it it's you
could use like some activity funds money or something
you know like some of the money you make off
of a book fair or something like that yeah you
could do something like that with it moving i
mean clearly it's not going to be something you
do this summer because it's so close to the end
of the year but you could start to be thinking
about it for next year or something yeah well
and then being on pre -k only campus my kids
don't come back so i couldn't do it anyway so
since my kids don't come back Partly I don't
do like an incentive or anything like that partly
because my kids don't come back and partly because
my kids are so little being only four and five
that like They're it's mostly their parents at
that age that have to like encourage it a whole
lot. Yeah So I just try and educate my parents
and tell them what the summer slide I do have
a handout that I give them I sent it home this
last week actually that has information about
the summer slide and what it is and you know
It has like an infographic with like that shows
test scores of kids who read versus kids who
don't and how often you should read and all the
things and kind of developmentally appropriate
ways to read at home. And then I usually use
my scholastic funds to send a free book home
at the end of every year so they can start reading
at home. And I do give them information about
the public library and because like you said,
The public libraries do amazing things and have
wonderful summer programming. And that should
really, really be taken advantage of because
it's all free and it's all wonderful stuff. And
it's like really engaging. Yeah. Yeah. I did
find an infographic earlier this week and it
was different summer reading program freebies
and like Barnes and Noble does a program where
if you read some books, you, they have a selection
of books that you can pick from where you can
earn a book by just reading and you just kind
of have to write about the book a little bit.
And so like even little kids could do that. They
might have to tell their parent what their favorite
part was and have the parent help them write
it down or something, but that would work. Books
a million, if you read books, I don't know how
many you have to read, but if you read a certain
number of books, they give you a free backpack.
Pizza Hut is still doing the Book It program.
So like that's, you can get a free personal pizza
for reading some books. Panda Express does a
free kids meal coupon when you read five books.
I did not know that one. Yeah. That's news to
me. And Chuck E. Cheese, you get 10 free play
points for reading and filling out a reading
reward calendar. So basically for like the month,
you can earn 10 free play points at Chuck E.
Cheese. That's cool. Lots of programs that encourage
reading and so like you don't have to like create
the wheel. Yeah, you can just talk to your kids
and let them know that some of these things are
available to them and you can share it with the
families. And yeah, there's plenty of different
things we can do to keep the kids reading over
the summer. And even like the kids I have so
many kids that in. Even in pre -k they're like,
but I can't read I can't read and yeah, you can
like yeah, we have to I have the conversation
I have to have it multiple times a year just
to keep reminding the kids but like the pre -k
students They're looking at the pictures. They're
predicting what is happening in the story based
on those pictures and like they're listening
to the stories and Making guesses and all these
different things. Those are all Pre -reading
skills there. They're learning those skills so
that once they start learning the letters and
the sounds and that kind of thing They can start
using all of that, but that's the basis. That's
the basis for it And so I explained to the kids
you might not be reading the words yet But you
are learning how to read by looking at the books
and following the pictures and looking at the
words and identifying some of those letters that
are in the words and that kind of like that's
the first step and so You know these summer reading
programs are great because we just need the kids
to have the books in their hands. And so encouraging
parents to help the kids with that and giving
them the incentives to try and get some cake,
get some free books or get some free rewards
for reading. I think that helps incentivize the
parents sometimes too, for our younger kids.
Like, oh, well we could get another free book
or oh, we can get a personal pan pizza for doing
this with our child you know like yeah any of
those things the goal is to get the kids with
the books and so anything we can do to make sure
that happens you know yeah absolutely because
those those basic skills of following the pictures
and stuff like that that's what we need them
to be doing at that age it it's developmentally
that's where they need to be and so we want them
to be doing it yeah it sure is yeah All right
Well, the next book we're gonna talk about today
is called Ursula upside down. It's published
by Balzer and Bray I believe in 2024 and the
author and illustrator of this book is Corey
Tabor We've talked about him before but he's
kind of an amazing author. So we're gonna talk
about his books one more time Probably again
in the future. We'll see this particular book.
I didn't realize it when I chose it, but it's
won quite a couple of awards and it's on 11 state
lists. The awards it's won are, it was one of
the school library journals best books of the
year for 2024. It's an ALSC notable children's
book for 2025 and it's a junior library guild
selection. It is on 11 state lists. Some of them
are the Georgia Children's Book Award for 2026,
Minnesota Star of the North. Picture Book Award
for 2026 and Washington Children's Choice Picture
Book Award for 2026. And so our author Corey
Tabor is an author and illustrator of children's
books. He won a Caldecott honor for Mel Fell
and has won the Geisel three times for his books,
Fox has a Problem, Fox at Night and Fox the Tiger.
He currently lives in Tacoma, Washington with
his wife and son. Some of his other books are
all of the Fox series, so some of those are Fox
versus Fox, Fox the Tiger, Fox at Night, Fox
has a Problem, and Fox versus Winter. He also
wrote Simon and the Better Bone, Sir Ladybug
and the Bookworms, and Sir Ladybug and the Queen
Bee, Melfell, and Snail Crossing. And in this
book, Ursula is an upside down catfish who happily
lives her days swimming through life upside down.
That is until another fish brings it to her attention
that she is not like anyone else around her.
Distraught, she attempts to swim through life
right side up. The unnatural swimming motion
propels her onto the beach where she is trapped
until a bat comes by to help her back into the
water. And he helps her realize that being upside
down isn't necessarily bad, it's just different.
I love this book. I had very calming colors throughout,
lots of pastels going on. Very sweet, very calming.
I love that it was about being true to yourself.
It really kind of helps the reader realize that
being Different isn't necessarily a bad thing
I think a lot of a lot of humans in general just
feel like we all need to conform and be like
everybody else and this one really encourages
you to Kind of be true to yourself, and it's
okay if you do things differently You don't have
to do You know swim a right side up like everybody
else when Ursula ends up on the beach and the
bats kind of talking to her He's like you know
what I sleep upside down look at me and he kind
of shows her that there's you know there's snake
hanging upside down in the tree and an iguana
upside down in the trees and like there there
are other animals that are upside down and at
the very end it has there's a note in there somewhere
at the very end there's a spot that's like you
know what maybe we're all swimming the wrong
way and she's right you don't really know But
the very, very last page of this book has an
author's note that explains that Ursula is based
on a real species that is actually called the
upside -down catfish, and that species of catfish
lives in the Congo River basin in Africa, and
I had never heard of that, so that was real interesting.
But yeah, I haven't read this book to a class
yet, but I think they would love it. I really,
really enjoyed it a lot. Yeah, I this is on my
list of books to purchase for next school year
because I hadn't read this before you you mentioned
it and it's I love it. It's awesome. I love any
book where it's like, Hey, just be yourself.
I love that message. That's so important, especially
for our youngest learners. Just it's okay to
be yourself. It's okay. If you're not exactly
like everyone else, that's all right. And so
that's a, it's a really important message to
share with students. And this book does an amazing
job of it. Like you said, the illustrations were
so great. I love the colors and then just, yeah,
I had no idea that this, that there was such
thing as an upside down catfish. So that also,
I love that idea because now I'm like, well,
we could read this and then we could pull up
one of our research engines and kind of like
learn a little bit more about the upside down
catfish and find some real life pictures of it.
And we could find out. other things about it
and other things that live in the Congo River
basin and like that could spur on a whole like
research kind of activity that I bet a lot of
these kids because these kids love animals so
much so learning they do animals would be yeah
really cool kind of spin -off after reading this
that I think I'm gonna I think I'm gonna do that
because I know for my district a lot of my younger
grade levels not so much pre -k but like kinder
and first they start to discuss like non -fiction
books around like November, December, January
era time and so like this would be a really cool
book to be like well this is a fiction book and
it has this awesome message in it now we can
show you where the non -fiction books that have
animals like this and we can learn about those
animals and we can corporate doing some research
online and like, I don't know, I, as I was reading
it, I was like, I love this book for so many
reasons. I can come up with a bunch of different
activities that we can do with it. And it's just,
it's a great story with wonderful pictures. It's
going to be, it's super engaging. So I think
my students will really love it. And I look forward
to using it because it's, it's just so fun. It
is a lot of fun. It has very Melfell vibes. I
love that you like, because there was even one
page where like, where Ursula decides she's gonna
start swimming right side up and like it has
they have arrows that are like you turn the book
this way now and it was just it's really cool
the way i don't even think i can describe it
all that adequately i just love those illustrations
so much like the way Ursula is drawn upside down
just it's very cool yeah i enjoy it a lot i think
i would give it a five out of five i like it
absolutely yeah it's a good one And I think for
a makerspace activity for this one, because the
colors are so muted and because it's got, you
know, water is a central theme and she does end
up on the beach and all that, I think I would
just do painting with watercolors in the library.
I would do very minimal water because I'm a little
bit afraid about water near books, but as long
as there's like a separate workspace and separate
tables that are kind of a little bit farther
away from the books, just... yeah painting with
watercolors and kind of exploring that because
the colors in the book do are kind of i'm not
sure if they are watercolors but i kind of feel
like they might be because of the way the muted
colors are they're not super bright they're kind
of they kind of have watercolor vibes going on
and then water is naturally a central theme in
the book it's you know like on every page so
i think i would just yeah teach kids how to use
watercolors and kind of encourage them to draw
scenes from the book, but obviously, whatever
they want to draw is fine. But maybe encourage
that a little bit more. Yeah. Yeah. I love that
idea, getting that creativity out and using some
new new materials that that'd be a lot of fun
for them. Yeah, because sometimes it's good to
just let them explore on their own a little bit
and kind of create whatever they'd like to. on
their own and this would be a good way to do
that yeah that sounds awesome well still have
a still having a literacy connection so yeah
yeah and it's always fun to see what they can
come up what they choose to draw and paint yeah
so like that that's always fun to be like i love
just watching to find out what the end result
looks like because there's a lot of really creative
kids out there oh my gosh there really are come
up with some amazing things and so like just
that opportunity to just give them a brush and
let them go at it and see what they come up with
and not have to give them like a ton of defined
rules of what the end result needs to look like
just kind of giving them that freedom is always
fun just to see what what the end result looks
like so yeah it's a good time yeah 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 young
readers. Please be sure to subscribe and connect
with us on social media. Happy reading! 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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