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 tips and tricks for working with our youngest
learners in the library setting. Today we have
two amazing books to share. These books are just
some of our favorites that we've enjoyed using
in the library. The first of which is Unicorns
Are the Worst. It is written and illustrated
by Alex Willen. And it was published by Simon
& Schuster Books for Young Readers in 2020. This
book has not won any awards, but we'll give you
a little history about the author. Alex Willen
grew up in Kentucky and was often seen with a
sketch pad. His love of art and drawing led him
to earn a BFA in illustration from Savannah College
of Arts and Design. And while he has experienced
Many facets of art including shows and galleries
his true passion is children's books He currently
lives in Chicago with his dog and some of his
other books are Mermaids are the worst dragons
are the worst elves are the worst yetis are the
worst Valentine's are the worst coming out in
December of 2025 Monsters are the worst coming
out in July of 2026 Peace Out, Jasper and Ollie,
and Jasper and Ollie Build a Fort. Some of the
books that are illustrated by Alex Willen are
Got Your Nose by Alan Katz, Rever the Speedway
Squirrel by Sherry Dusky Rinker, Rever the Speedway
Squirrel, The Big Race Home by Sherry Dusky Rinker.
And so for this book, unicorns are the worst.
We have a grumpy goblin that explains the many
reasons he is upset that unicorns have moved
into the meadow next to him. His issues with
them include their frolicking, their harp playing,
their pointy heads, all the glitter, and tea
parties. While complaining about unicorns and
cataloging things in nature around his home,
he runs into a dragon. When the unicorns use
their glitter to put out the dragon's fire, their
frolicking hooves to pound on the dragon, their
hearts to disorient the beast, and their horns
to blast the dragon, the goblin realizes that
maybe unicorns are not the worst, but dragons
definitely are. And so this book, I love this
book, as we were just saying, unicorns are always
a hot topic the kids love. Unicorns and this
one is kind of a fun twist on that where the
unicorns are the thing that's being complained
about the whole time and the goblin is super
fun as he's Complaining. I just love all of the
illustrations that go into this one of my favorite
pictures and one of the kids favorite pictures
is When he's complaining about the glitter all
the glitter so much glitter and he's washing
out his smock and so you have his bare butt in
the picture. And so all the kids laugh at that.
And it's just all of those things that like those
little pieces that make it such a humorous and
fun story. The art style is just awesome. And
the kids just can't get enough of these books.
They're a lot of fun. And like it says at the
end, the goblins actually having tea with the
the unicorns and complaining that dragons are
actually the worst. And then that leads into
the second book in the series, dragons are the
worst. And then from there, all the other books,
which is, I love the fact that it's a series
of them where it's the same goblin complaining
about all of the things all the time. And so
it's just really fun. The kids love the books.
Once I introduce these, the students are checking
out the whole series because they want to read
them all because it's just so much fun. And the
illustrations are just colorful and funny. And
I can't just I can't say enough about how wonderful
these books are and how much my students enjoy
them when once I've introduced them and they
know that they're out there. Yeah, I love these
books. I was noticing the other day I have I
I'm missing them from my library right now, which
is very sad. So I'm gonna have to fix that very
soon. But I have read these in my previous library
to my classes and everybody always loves them.
They're always so funny. And it's kind of a different
take on the traditional, you know, whatever kind
of creature it is in this particular case, it's
the unicorn, but it's just kind of a unique approach
to all of those kind of mythical creatures it
kind of gets kids thinking a little bit like
it's funny so the kids are engaged they're always
bright and colorful and the kids really really
enjoy the illustrations and all the things but
it does kind of get them thinking a little bit
more about what it would actually be like to
have some of these mythical creatures near them
which i think is kind of a great take on it cuz
our kids are always like you know you always
want what you can't have which is of course that's
one of those things is gonna be like a mythical
creature right cuz they don't exist in real life
so it's kinda nice to get them thinking a little
bit like that like about what it would actually
be like if they could see a real live unicorn
or you know or a dragon or what have you so I
don't know I love them they're great books good
choice Definitely five out of five for sure.
I highly recommend getting them and I'm looking
forward to the two new ones that are coming out
and I'm looking forward to adding those to the
collection in the library because I know my students
will really enjoy those as well. Absolutely,
yeah. And so a makerspace activity to connect
with this book. I love using Legos just because
they're something that most libraries have, so
that makes it really easy to work with. And so
I would pull out the Legos and I would challenge
the students to build their own, either they
can pick, either build their own unicorn or build
their own dragon, or they could even build their
own little goblin. Because I think that would
be fun to see what they came up with and how
creative they could be to make their creatures,
their mythical creatures out of those Legos.
Simple little plug. I always check out cause
we're getting close by the time this air is posted.
It'll be like a week or two before Thanksgiving.
Black Friday sales. I always check, um, at Walmart.
Cause over the last couple of years, Walmart
does a pretty good job of putting Legos on sales.
Not like the kids, but just like the boxes of
just generic Legos. So that's where I got most
of mine was I would go Black Friday shopping
and buy the 500 piece sets for. I think they
get pretty reasonable in price when they're on
Black Friday sales. So that's what I would do.
And that's how I always supplement my Legos so
that I have new colors and new pieces again.
Because they slowly get broken or get lost and
whatnot. So definitely something to do. Check
it out at least if you're able to do that. check
those sails out. But with those Legos having
those kids build their own unicorn or dragon
or goblin and seeing what the kids come up with
and how creative they are and how they build
those creatures is always so fun to me. I love
to see the kids using their imaginations to figure
out unique ways to put those Legos together to
create different things. So this is always a
fun thing. That is, that is always fun. And kids
always like Legos and it's good for everyone.
Yeah, it's a lot of fun. And my Legos, because
I did buy some of those boxes, I've got like
the pastel colored ones, like the pinks and purples
and stuff like that too, which is always nice
because those aren't always in all of the kits.
And so it's nice to have. the full array of colors
and everything to work with especially if you're
building unicorns and stuff you don't want just
like browns and greens and stuff you got to have
some of those other colors in there too you know
yeah you do we need all the rainbows yeah for
sure so um definitely love love legos and like
i said this would be the time to be looking for
those deals it sure is it's true i need to do
that myself yeah So our library of littles management
tip for this week is so when we do our lessons,
when I do my lessons, I start by having the kids
come in and sit down and then we read our book.
That can take up some time and our youngest learners
struggle to keep their attention on one thing
for a long time and they've got a lot of energy
and asking them to sit for too long can It ends
up causing a lot of trouble if we don't give
them opportunities to release some of that energy.
So I always try to incorporate music or movement
of some kind into my lessons to give those students
that outlet and it's become part of our routine
that they know that they're gonna be able to
move around at some point during the lesson before
like in between the book and before they go to
get to do some makerspace stuff or whatever and
so it's it's part of the routine and Knowing
that that's coming, it does help a lot of my
friends be able to sit and focus for a little
longer because they know they're going to get
up. So I love to incorporate music and movement
and doing like movement dances and that kind
of thing with my students. So YouTube is a vital
tool at my disposal. I love using different preschool
focused music videos like the you know the Jack
Hartman or the Danny Goh or Coo Coo Kangaroo
any of those that gets the kids up and moving
the simple songs the super simple songs all those
YouTube channels that have those videos and music
for kids that allow them to follow along and
do the dances it gets the kids first off it gets
them up and moving which is always something
important but it allows the kids to get some
of that energy out so that if I ask them to sit
for a little bit and then move around and then
go sit at a table to work it's broken up it's
not just sitting the whole time and they get
some of that energy out and it's it I found that
by doing that it helps with them being able to
focus it also significantly reduces the number
of behavioral issues that I have because they're
they're not being expected to just sit the whole
time and in the library sometimes sitting and
listening can become a big part of the lesson
but if it's not broken up in there it can become
a challenge to have the students do that so yeah
it's finding some of those good music videos
and stuff to use super important It really is
and there's so much research about movement and
learning and how incorporating the two of those
together like really solidifies a lot of those
Connections are making in their brains When they
are learning about whatever topic it is that
we're covering that's it's really important on
a lot of levels behaviorally and emotionally
and cognitively it's imperative to have movement
somewhere in there for our younger learners.
That's how their brains are wired. They're wired
for movement and for tactile learning. So that's
a great way to kind of solidify those concepts
that we're teaching in the library. Absolutely.
And I'll say that I try, if I can, to find videos
that relate to whatever topic we're reading about
or doing. If I read the unicorns are the worst,
I would look for a unicorn dance. If I couldn't
find a unicorn dance, I might find like a rainbow
dance like Cuckoo Kangaroo has some like rainbow
dances and even have some glitter dances and
stuff like that. So I'd find something that might
relate. If not, though, I'm still going to have
them do some kind of movement. Sometimes there
are just weeks where it's just like, yeah, we're
doing this one because it's just a fun dance.
And that's fine, too. But, you know, there are
ways that we can connect a lot of it. so that
it's it's an easier transition from one to the
other but it doesn't have to be perfect and the
kids are just happy that they're moving so they're
not really worried about what kind of dance they're
doing most of the time yeah they're just happy
to get up so this is true well the next book
that we're going to talk about today is called
don't trust fish It was published in 2025 by
Dial Books for Young Readers. The author is Neil
Sharpson and the illustrator is Dan Santat. This
book was just published this year and it's already
on a few state lists and has won a couple of
awards and I would not be surprised if it wins
a few more in the coming months. Some of the
awards that it's already gotten are it's a junior
library guild selection. It's a Publisher Weekly's
Best Book of 2025. Alabama Yellow Hammer Picture
Book Top 10 Award for 2025. Nebraska Golden Sour
Award, 2026. I don't know how we're already giving
out 2026 awards, but we are. Oklahoma Red Bud
Read Aloud, 2026. And Oregon Patricia Gallagher
Picture Book Award for 2026. And the author,
Neil Sharpton, this is his very first picture
book. He is an author and he lives in Dublin
with his wife and his two children. He's written
for theater since he was a teenager and has published
two adult novels and he writes for the blog The
Unshaved Mouse. His other two books that are
very much for adults and not for children are
Knock Knock Open Wide and When the Sparrow Falls.
It's pretty interesting. Curious to see what
those books are about I'm gonna have to go check
those out just cuz if it has similar humor to
this one I might be in on it. They did not look
I did not read them. I didn't read descriptions
I just saw cover art but cover art looked like
it was thrillers. Oh I might still be interested
in that. I don't know. I'm gonna have to check
them out. I with how with how this particular
book is written and like the Some of the way,
I mean, this humor is very, I feel like it's
very intelligent humor and I feel like a thriller
book by this guy would probably be pretty good.
Anyway, I don't, since it's written, I usually
stick in the realm of young adult novels just
because I'm a pre -K librarian for a reason.
That's where my brain likes to live. I don't
do too much adult, so I probably won't read them,
but they look, they look good. And I think, yeah.
You read your adult novels and have fun and let
me know how it goes. I'll let you I will I like
I mean I read a lot of YA and stuff, but I do
Stretch out there. Sometimes this yeah, I'm gonna
have to look I'm gonna there's nothing wrong
with that. It's just not for me to read the synopsis
and we'll see we'll see Yeah, I don't watch rated
-r movies either. That's just that's cool. Yeah,
I'm just not an adult Anyway All right our illustrator
is Dan Santat, who we've talked about multiple
times on the podcast. He is a Caldecott award
-winning artist who grew up in Southern California
and graduated from the Art Center College of
Design. He is the creator of the animated series,
The Replacements, and he lives outside of Los
Angeles with his wife, two kids, and many, many
pets. Some of the other books that he has done,
the books that he's illustrated include Drawn
Together by Minh Le. Endlessly Ever After by
Laurel Snyder Lift by Min Lee A New Day by Brad
Meltzer The Misfit Series by Lisa Yee No More
Poems A Book In Verse That Just Gets Worse by
Rhett Miller Oh No or How My Science Project
Destroyed the World by Mac Barnett Dude by Aaron
Reynolds in the Ricky Ricotta Mouse Robot Series.
I'm sorry, the Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot Series
by Dave Pilkey. Some of the other books that
he's done the writing and the illustrating for
include A First Time for Everything, The Adventures
of Beekle, The Unimaginary Friend, And after
the fall, how Humpty Dumpty got back up again
and many, many more. And the book summary for
this one is an unseen narrator begins the story
by showing readers different animals with a few
facts about each of them. And it explains how,
you know, mammals have fur and then snakes, you
know, have scales and slither around and things
like that. And then the narrator introduces the
readers to a fish and warns us to never ever
trust fish. And as you're going through it you
progressively learn more and more about fish
and why they can never ever be trusted until
the very last page when you find that a crab
is actually the one telling you to never trust
the fish. I yeah, this is one of my new favorite
books like ever. I think this is like going to
be in like my top five of all time. I don't know.
I love it a lot. The illustrations are I mean,
everything Dan Santat illustrates is always amazing.
It's this one in particular is fairly realistic.
I love that when you're like learning about the
different, you know, it'll have it has like when
you're learning about the amphibian, it just
has like the one frog. On the page and it's just
like giant and huge and it's like very realistic,
but it's got the white background. So it's like
easy to focus in on it. So it's like, it's not
very distracting at all. Love that a whole lot.
Um, like that kind of happens repeat, like not
on every page is like that. There are a few pages
where, you know, you're seeing the fish in different
areas. Like if whether they're in a fish tank
or swimming in the ocean or what have you, and
they're. Like it's a big colorful spread, but
it's not too overwhelming. I don't know. I just
love his illustrative style. It's fabulous and
Like on each page when you're like going through
it you're learning different facts about fish,
which I love So like you learn that some fish
lay eggs and some don't that's kind of strange
isn't it and it'll show you like like how big
the um whale shark is that it's as long as this
bus and like you know shows you exactly how big
like some of the fish are and you just i love
that it's like it's almost a non -fiction book
but not quite because it does actually teach
you quite a few true facts about it i think because
of the way it goes through it like that and it
does teach you a lot of true facts And then at
the very end you do have a crap like i really
think this could work with like any age level
at all you want to do it within the library like
you wanted to do with older kids you could do
a huge lesson about misinformation and about
you know posting people posting on social media
in general and like yeah you can. Give people
true facts but like they're very you have to
kind of think critically about what information
you receiving. Who is saying it where they're
getting their information why they would be telling
you things like this and like. Like you know
it's true that we don't but you know. We don't
know that fish aren't building a giant robot
to come out of the sea and attack us all and
take over the world but they could be because
we can't see under the water down there we can't
hear them talking like. It was just so clever
the way. It's written at i don't know i love
this book so much and i think it's very very
appropriate for pre -k like the language is still
very simple like truly it works with any age
level this is kind of an incredible book i adore
it. It might be my new favorite ever i'm not
sure i have to read it with the class before
i decide sorry yeah i just i completely 100 %
agree this book is. Awesome. It's amazing. I
love it. I'm looking forward to sharing it with
my students this year because it's so so much
fun. And then I just need to know, have you seen
there's a so when I was searching up this book
and looking into it a little bit, the the author
has a video. It's of him reading the book. I
didn't see it and I forgot to mention it and
I'm glad you said it. Awesome and i love cuz
like so he starts out when he's like this is
a mammal and he does the thing and then it's
this is an amphibian or whatever a reptile and
that kind and then it gets to the fish and he
just like closes the book and just like throws
it because he's like do not trust fish it's like
i it's awesome it's great so like even if you
don't have the book but you wanted to pull up
that youtube video and let the the author read
it to the kids it's see that in itself was super
engaging also. So to add that to the amazing
storytelling within the book is awesome. So I
yeah, I absolutely love this and I can't wait
to share it with my students. I know it was really
good that and you're right that YouTube reading
was I don't I almost never pull up a video on
YouTube and just have that read to the kids for
them. I like I think that's maybe happened like
ever in my life maybe once or twice where i've
been like the videos fine because i've been super
busy or whatever but like it's super duper rare
i think this is the first video that i would
intentionally be like you are gonna have to hear
from the author himself. Because it's very important
that you don't trust fish like and i think i
would approach it like that like this is and
then like and then afterward talk to them. you
know, how the crab was really the one tricking
all of us and like, then talk about thinking
critically and stuff. But you're right, it was
just it's incredible reading from him. It was
great. I love it. Loved all the things. No complaints
at all. 100%. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe a six out of
five bookmarks. Anyway, and I think for this
one for a makerspace activity, when the kids
are building what they're Legos or blocks or
whatever you have available Have like reference
the page where the fish are coming out of the
ocean to take out of the world Take over the
world and then the kids can choose if they want
to build something to either help the fish take
over the world and they can join the side of
the fish or they can help defend humanity and
build something To prevent, you know the fishes
hostile takeover So, yeah, I think I think that
would be a whole lot of fun because there was
a lot of like, building in the book, because
it like shows the kids, the kids, it shows like
the fish in a school of fish, like earlier in
the book to when it like has like part of the
robot or whatever that's like, it has like a
diagram of like where to do all the things like
how they're building their giant laser robot
or whatever it is. Yeah. And then you get to
see it in action. Oh my gosh, it's just great.
When I was reading that part, I was like, I would
love to see my students trying to build these
fish mech suits out of Legos, because I think
that would be awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I think
it would work either way if they either wanted
to build for the fish or build against them.
Either way, it would be a great time. It's so
good. Highly recommend. Anyways. Well, thank
you all for joining us on this episode of Librarians
of Littles and we hope you found some fresh ideas
for inspiring our young readers. Please be sure
to subscribe and connect with us on social media.
Happy reading and don't trust fish. 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 Leger. Editor, Patrick
Adams. Our theme song is performed by JD Adams.
You can follow us on Instagram at Librarians
of Littles. You can follow us on BlueSky at littleslibrarian
.bsky .social. And you can send us your emails
at librarianoflittlespodatgmail .com.