Hello, I'm Patrick Adams. And I'm Caroline Legere.
And this is Librarians of Littles, a podcast
where we discuss books, give makerspace ideas,
and give tips and tricks for working with our
youngest learners in the library setting. This
week we have two books that come from the Texas
2x2 list. The Texas 2x2 list is a list curated
by the Texas Library Association every year.
It consists of 20 books that are excellent for
students between the ages of two and second grade.
This week our first book off of that list is
There Are No Ants in This Book. This book is
a Tundra book, which is a division of Penguin
Random House Books, and it was published in 2024.
The author is Rosemary Mosco, and the illustrator
is Anna Piroli. And this book appears on two
different state lists, the Texas 2x2 list for
2025, and Capital Choices for 2025, age birth
to five. And this is the list from the District
of Columbia. The author history, Rosemary Mosco,
is an author, illustrator, speaker, and naturalist.
She has written for many publications, including
the New York Times, Audubon, Rewriting America,
and Ranger Rick. She also makes a regular comic
strip for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Living
Bird Magazine. And she has judged a bird tattoo
contest twice. That's great! yeah isn't that
cool and her favorite glacial landform is the
esker i don't even know what that is but i had
to look it up it's basically um when a glacial
formation recedes it leaves like scar marks on
the land, and that's kind of where the massacre
is. So, yeah, I had to look it up because I was
like, now I need to know. And so that's... I
think I might need to look up glacial landforms
in general. I didn't know there were different
names for... Okay. Well, I know what I'm doing
later today. Yeah. Some of her other books she
has written include Butterflies Are Pretty Gross,
illustrated by Jacob Suva. Solar System, Our
Planet in Space, which is part of the Science
Comics Collection, which is co -authored by John
Chad. Backyard Expeditions, Exploring Nature
from Country to City, illustrated by Bing Ling
Hu. And Flowers are Pretty Weird, illustrated
by Jacob Suha. And the illustrator of this book...
Anna Paroli was born in Genoa. She moved to Milan
to study illustration at the European Institute
of Design. She is a visiting professor at Academia
de Brera, oh dear, teaching design applied to
the arts. Her other books are Anona Mouse, which
is written by Vicky Vincenco, I Hate Cats, a
love story, written by I'm going to go with David
Calley and Oliver and the Night Giants written
by Kitty O'Meara. And so for this book a young
girl is looking for a place to have a picnic.
She believes that she has found a great spot
because there are no ants. As she prepares to
eat she finds that there actually are ants in
her picnic spot. And as they come out, she finds
that there are many different types of ants with
many unique characteristics. And so I thought
this was just a really cute story. It had a lot
of interesting facts about different kinds of
ants. I didn't, I mean, I knew there were lots
of different kinds of ants, but I didn't know
all the different unique characteristics of a
lot of these that are um incorporated into the
story and so that was really cool to learn about
the different kinds of ants and just I I love
picture books that include non -fiction information
into a story because it's a fun story you get
to enjoy it but you get to learn at the same
time about the the concept and so like being
able to introduce this to little kids and give
them some information about ants and let them
learn about the topic of ants while sharing a
fun story that has these beautiful bright colorful
pictures and then it also incorporates numbers
and counting because the ants are as they're
introducing themselves they're counting how many
different kinds of ants are being introduced.
I think it's just a fun story that will definitely
keep the kids engaged. And, you know, you kind
of get to introduce some of those science concepts
and little different adaptations that the different
ants have to help them survive. And, you know,
it's, it was a fun story. And I think it'll definitely
be one that I use probably this spring. We'll
do like, maybe we'll do like a picnic theme and
get to read this fun book in the spring with
my pre -K students, because I think they'll really
enjoy it. Yeah, this book was really fun. This
was the first time I'd read it and like you said
I just really really loved that it incorporated
both fiction and nonfiction and it was just a
really nice blend of the two kind of It was a
little bit of something for everybody. It was
nice. I think that fiction was a great way to
kind of get the kids hooked, especially with
younger kids that I think, I mean, they do get
really, really interested in animals and nature
and things like that. And there's there are a
lot of kids who really love nonfiction, but especially
when they're a little bit younger, it takes takes
them a minute to get there. And this was a great
way to kind of reel them in. Excellent introduction
to a nonfiction. Yeah. Yeah. It kind of like
bridges the gap between them, you know? Yeah.
For sure. It does. I like it. I like it a lot.
I'd give it a five out of five. It's a great
one. Yeah. That's what I'm thinking too. Five
out of five. Cause it was a fun story. There's
not like a ton of words on the page to like slow
down. So it's got a good pace to it. It's not
going to like bore the kids to be like, Oh, we're
learning about all these. Like it's fast paced.
It's, there's not too much on any given page
so that you get to keep moving through the story.
And I think it's just a, it's a good story. I
like it a lot. So if we're gonna incorporate
some kind of makerspace activity with this, I
was thinking using some Play -Doh and having
the kids build their own ants out of Play -Doh.
There's some pretty cool pictures of these different
ants that are clearly illustrations, but if you
could put like a picture of a certain type of
ant that's shown in the book with the actual.
real life version of it so that kids could see
like the illustrated version and the real life
version of the ant and then have them kind of
try and build the ants out of Play -Doh so you
could give them the different examples of ants
that they have in the book and then they can
pick the different kind of like maybe you have
one kid try and make the winnow ant and you make
another one try and make the honey pot ant and
another one making the leaf cutter ant and they
can see the illustrated version and a real life
version of it, and then they can make a Play
-Doh version of it. I think that would be fun.
And I think the kids would have a good time being
able to, especially just being able to compare
the illustrated version and the real life photograph
version of it. That would be cool in itself.
But then for them to be able to then try and
make it out of Play -Doh to give them that tactile
activity at the same time, I think that would
be a lot of fun. Yeah, that would be a lot of
fun. I really like that that kind of it's a little
bit more involved than just drawing it You know,
I mean you could just draw it to absolutely or
have them try and trace it or what have you But
I like that that kind of takes it a step further
Approved good work. I like it. And I think yeah,
I think like and then you know, I Play -doh can
get messy, but it can use it in the right way
and kind of give the kids some boundaries You
know having it out occasionally it's definitely
not something I use every week but for those
special occasions being able to use it it's fun
and so you know I think this would be a good
reason to have a have it out so they could use
it yeah yeah I like it you know and you could
also do like there's a lot of play -doh mats
and such that are really easy to find online
that you could like probably just print a little
background with a little picnic on it or something
and have a little habitat ish kind of a thing
for him to That's a good idea. Yeah, I like that.
All right. So this week for our library of littles
management tip, I thought it would be important
since we're getting close to starting by the
time this episode airs, it's going to be pretty
close to us being back in full swing with seeing
students and everything. But it's important to
build your team with your specials or your co
-curricular teammates. And so as the year goes
on, you wanna have those strong relationships
with those other teachers. And so taking the
time near the beginning of the year to try and
build those special relationships, because as
a librarian, lots of times we're a lone island
on the campus. No one else does the job that
we do. But if you can... find those couple people
that have something that you can relate to, like
the gym teacher or the art teacher, music teacher,
that kind of thing, where you guys are kind of,
you see all the students on campus, and if you're
in the rotation, then you're even more so a team.
So being able to build up those relationships
and kind of to foster the teamwork and the building
of helping each other out to do what's best for
the kids. That's really important. And so there's
different ways you can do it. Like this last
week, we had lunch as a team together and we
were able to talk about our summers and that
kind of stuff. Later next week, personally, my
team, I sent them all a video from TikTok of
a dance. And so we're gonna be practicing that
dance over the next week so that we can record
ourselves doing the dance so that we can post
on the school's social media to like... welcome
the students back, that kind of thing. So like
doing fun, silly, goofy things like that. I know
that, you know, it doesn't have to cost a ton
of money, but you can do different things to
just kind of build that relationship. And, you
know, I want to be able to go to those people
and feel comfortable talking to them, because
there's lots of times where we're gonna end up
having to work together. Like, I have a brand
new art teacher this year, and in my district,
in the district, they teach art and music. So
she's feeling slightly overwhelmed at the moment,
which is totally understandable when you're realizing
you have 36 weeks to teach 36 weeks of art and
36 weeks of music education to every grade level.
And she was told she's doing, every grade level
is doing a musical performance this year. That's
a lot. to take on as a as a this is her first
year doing art and music before that she was
a classroom teacher so that's a lot going on
so like i want i want to feel comfortable being
able to go to her but i want her to be comfortable
coming to me to ask for help and like so i've
already told her i was like hey anytime that
you're needing for us to get together as a group
and take the whole grade level to the cafeteria
to practice on the stage for a musical performance
or if you need some feedback on what like an
idea that you have. You need to be able to come
to us. We want you to be able to come to us and
have those conversations and that kind of thing.
And at the same time, like a lot of the makerspace
activities and stuff that we do incorporates
art or music or like I have a makerspace teacher
that like so it incorporates the technology stuff.
So like if I can work with them to improve my
lesson or to lay a foundation or if I can get
them to lay the foundation so by the time the
kids come to me, they have a better understanding
so that we can do some of these other things.
Those relationships are so important for that
kind of stuff too, because it helps the students
get the most out of the lessons. And so doing
anything that we can to kind of build that camaraderie
and feel comfortable to be able to come to each
other and ask questions and ask for feedback
and ask for help, which... I have to admit, I'm
so bad at sometimes asking for help. But, you
know, building those relationships, it makes
it easier to do that. So just finding different
ways to kind of get together and, you know, feel
comfortable. I also in, I have in my library,
I have a work room. That's where I keep either.
Coffee machine. I've got a mini fridge with like
snacks and stuff So I tell I make sure my teammates
know that they are welcome at any time to come
in and get some caffeine or some chocolate and
that kind of stuff, you know anything that we
can do to get them to come in and feel comfortable
enough to come in and just You know be able to
chat and see what's going on and see what we
can help each other with I'm very fortunate that
my team we've only been like My PE teacher last
year was her first year. My makerspace teacher
last year was her first year. One of the PE aids
last year was her first year. And then I've been
on this campus. This is my third year. The art
teacher this year is brand new. The second PE
aid this year is brand new, but we've already
kind of started to mesh. And I think it's going
to be a good year, but I think it has to do with
the fact that like we've got a group text chat
strand go in where we Like talk to each other
and see how things are going and that kind of
thing and like building that relationship of
Like hey, how's your kid doing? Like? How was
your family vacation that kind of stuff? it helps
just to make it so that You're not So alone I
think is really yeah important thing, you know,
because as librarians There's a lot of times
where we feel like we're just alone Yeah, we're
isolated a lot because we're the only ones that
do what we do Yeah, and I mean that's still true.
Yeah, if we can make some of those relationships
that makes it yeah, that's why it's so important
to build those relationships because otherwise
We really are just loners all the time And we
can't do it and I mean, you know, it's nice to
that like you and I we get to chat weekly and
that kind of thing, but it's not the same as
being on the campus with each other and doing
those things. Like we can make a good strong
library support system for ourselves. Yeah. Well,
and then we work with different kids. Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah. Our campuses are just, every campus is
unique. So those people on your team are going
to understand the quirks of your campus. They
won't understand the quirks of your everyday
job as a librarian and the little pieces of your
job where you're programming for your library,
but they will understand why you're doing certain
things for certain students and how to modify.
Absolutely, and you can just go and rant about
little Johnny who really pushed the buttons today,
and they get that kind of stuff, and you know.
Yeah, and yeah, they're the ones that'll understand
like, and they'll be able to help you too with
suggestions for little Johnny and like what works
in their lesson because you can. probably accommodate
and modify in the same ways. Yeah. Well, and
like, I just know, like, over the past year,
like, I'll be like, Hey, do you have this issue
with this friend? And like the gym teacher will
be like, no, because like they, we just let them,
they get all that energy out kind of thing. It's
like, okay, well, great. If that, if movement
helps, then maybe I incorporate more movement
into my lesson. And so, yeah, it absolutely does
help. Or, Oh, Little Susie does really well when
you incorporate music or art into what we're
doing. Okay, then that's what I'm gonna have
to try and do, you know? So absolutely, it definitely
helps to see, to be with those teachers because
they get to see them in a different setting too.
And so sometimes they have a better or a different
view of that child. And so, yeah. Yeah. It's
true. So yeah, those are very important. Definitely.
Definitely build those relationships with your
team so that you're not that. island in the in
the ocean of the school, you know. Yeah, I'm
in the process of I'm at a new school this year,
and I'm in the process of building those teams.
And I think I'm still I'm very much still missing
my old team. That's a good reminder that I need
to build new relationships. It is hard. And it's
not something that happens overnight. It's not.
No, it'll take time. but when you get there,
it's really nice because it is nice to be able
to just be happy to see some people at work and
just come in and be like, at least I know somebody's
there that I can talk to if I have an issue and
it's really important. Yeah, you're right. That
really can make all the difference. My team is
how I survived the last several years of crazy.
I would not have survived without them. They're
incredibly important people. Yeah. And you know,
like some of that's the thing, that's the other
part too. It is, is you build those relationships
and then when you leave the school, you keep
those connections going. I mean, I still have
a group chat with my team from my last school.
Like we still have a group chat together where
we send memes and joke and ask how the kids are
doing. I'm going to go to lunch with my old team
after this. Absolutely. Yeah, that's yeah, it's
true. Yeah, it's yeah, you can maintain those
connections because Yeah, it's important. We
need our support system. We're human. Yes. Yes,
for sure. All right. Well, the next book that
we're going to talk about today is Lucky Duck.
It's published by Alfred A. Knapp from 2024 and
the author and illustrator is Greg Bizzoli. We
have talked about him a couple of times on this
podcast before, and I'm not going to lie. I know
he is. And for the author history, I definitely
self -plagiarized and just took the notes from
episode number 15, so you'll just have to hear
it again. So thanks for hanging with me, y 'all.
This book was pretty great, though, and it is
on several lists. This one is a Children's Favorites
Award from 2025. It's a junior library guild
selection for 2025. It's on 10 different state
lists. It got the Alabama Yellow Hammer Picture
Book Top 10 Award, District of Columbia Capital
Choices, 2025 Indiana Read Aloud Primary Award,
Iowa Goldfinch Award, Utah Beehive Award, Texas
2x2, and Wyoming Buckaroo Book Award for 2025.
Lots of things, because that's just what Greg
Fizzoli does. That's just what he produces all
the time. Just assume it's awesome if it's by
him. For his author history, from our previous
notes, but that's okay, Greg Cazole went to school
in Pennsylvania where he got his undergrad in
English literature at Millersville University
after taking two years to volunteer for the AmeriCorps
Volunteers in Service to America program. He
got his master's of Fine Arts in Book Arts and
Printmaking from the University of Arts in Philadelphia.
He is married to artist, teacher, and author
Kay Healy. They have two daughters and currently
live in South Philadelphia, and he has written
and illustrated over 50 books. His very first
book was The Watermelon Seed, which did win the
Geisel in 2013, and he's also won the Geisel
Honor for Good Night, Al, and the book hog. And
in this book is about Susan the Duck, who has
the absolute worst luck. Every day something
new and unfortunate happens to her. Things like
her roller skates being two sizes too big, her
kitchen light bulb burns out, or she'll spill
her marbles all over her house. Her luck continuously
turns, however, when a friendly wolf stops by
to bring her soup ingredients. Eventually, the
wolf brings everything she needs to make duck
soup. All that soup needs is the one last ingredient.
Luckily for her, though, all of the items from
her string of rotten luck created a chain reaction
that results in the wolf. flying out of the house
in roller skates and into a hornet's nest outside.
I rather love this book. I think, I don't think
I've read a book that's either written or illustrated
by Fizzoli that I don't like. Now that I think
about it. I think I would give this one another
five out of five. It was just, it's got that
clever humor of his that's like very simple for
kids. and very clear cut and everything, but
then it's also got things that are kind of embedded
for adults that like, I'm not sure that a pre
-K kid would notice the first time around unless
a teacher pointed it out to them, that all of
the things from Susan the Duck's bad luck were
actually what contributed to her good luck in,
you know, running the wolf out of the house.
I think they might notice a couple of things.
Like maybe they would notice like the marbles
on the floor or something, or the ladder that's
up in the hallway, you know, tripping on things
like that, that maybe were from earlier in the
book. But I think for the most part, like a kid
would, it would need to be pointed out to the
kid. I think for, I think that's more of an adult
thing or an older, like kindergarten, first grade,
I think would even pick up on it. three or four
year old reading the book, I'm not sure. I think
that would it would need to be pointed out. That's
okay, because that's part of like the adult humor
where the adults noticing all these things that
happened previously and kind of putting that
together for the kid. It's got that classic,
you know, Pizzoli illustration style with the
big bold colors, lots of bold lines makes it
just really easy for the kids to see everything
on the page that they're trying to point out.
And then of course in the background on the pages
you've got like there are certain things like
there's a framed watermelon in the background
and such that like fans of Pizzoli will be able
to see references to his other books in there.
I don't know. I just love it. All of his books
are pretty great. Yeah. I absolutely agree. This
is an amazing story. I really enjoyed it. And
I do think you're right. I think certain parts
of the chain reaction kind of would be things
that the kids would easily notice, like yeah,
the marbles kind of thing. But like then I think
some of it's more subtle. Like the fact that
her roller skates were two sizes too big, but
they fit that will perfectly kind of fit, you
know, like little things like that I think would
be more subtle. But like you said, it's the part
of that adult humor that can definitely be explained.
but wouldn't be necessarily caught right away
by the students, which I like that because I
think that allows for the reader to grow as a
reader, too, because they're not going to necessarily
see it all. And so as the kid grows up and continues
to read it, they're going to pick up more things
on their own. Or as the adult, you can step in
and point it out. Either way, I think that that's
a really cool aspect of a lot of his books is
that that adult humor is something that as the
kid grows, they're gonna notice more and be able
to enjoy the book for even longer that way. Yeah,
I love this book. It was super fun. I look forward
to sharing it this year with my students. Yeah,
and I think because it is more subtle, things
like that are more subtle in there. Honestly,
I think it would even work with older kids, even
though it is a very simple book with simple illustrations
and simple words and all the things. I think
there are little things like that that would
make it kind of fun still for older kids to read
as well. So this might actually be a fun one
to like, for like if you're a classroom teacher
or something, like pairing up kids, like if you
have reading buddies or something with older
kids reading to younger kids, this might be a
fun one to do where they can still point out
all the things. It's simple enough that an older
kid could read it with no problem and not be
self -conscious or anything. And like every older
kid could be able could read it, you know With
the younger ones, it's it's a good one Well,
and I definitely agree. I think it would be cool
with older kids and if you're doing it with older
kids This would kind of be a cool book to read
and then introduce the concept of like the Rube
Goldberg machines were like That's what I was
gonna say for the makerspace activity like I
don't think I even wrote that down. You just
read my mind. So like this would be a cool book
to do that with. And so, yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
Well, now that you say that, whoops, I agree.
That was actually what I was thinking is with
this one. If I was in the library, if I was in
the library and I did have reading buddies, I
think I would have them read this one together.
And then if I was able to. I know that might,
time might not allow for that and scheduling
might not allow for it, but it would be fun.
Or maybe you could do like an after school STEM
literacy night kind of a thing. Yeah. Any kind
of curriculum night where you could like pair
the older kids with the younger kids in some
way. And then like, Like you said, this would
be a great introduction to like a group Goldberg
machine. And if you don't have time for that,
which I'm not sure that I would have time for
that in my library with just the way schedules
are just doing a fun little board game kind of
thing, like mousetrap with pre -K would be a
fun way to kind of introduce that. And then you're
not having to create a whole lot on your own,
but you're instead playing a cooperative game
together like that, where you can. introduce
that concept and it still kind of ties in all
the things from the book. Yeah. You could even
play mouse trap and just like get a little wolf
instead of a mouse. Yeah. Trap the wolf. Yeah.
Definitely. I love this book and I think that
activity would be really fun. It's a good one.
I don't know. That's just what Pizzoli does.
He does good stuff. He does. I don't know. Yeah.
All right. Well, thank all of you 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 Legier. Editor, Patrick
Adams. Our theme song is performed by JD Adams.
You can follow us on Instagram at Librarians
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