Do you like having your weird rotating schedule?
I mean, there's pros and cons. The pro is that
the way it shifts, we see the groups relatively
evenly, right? Like we're not always missing
the same groups on Mondays and Fridays when we
have days off. So that's a plus. a definite con
is that the kids, like because of that, you can't
just say, okay, I see you, your library day is
always on Wednesday or whatever. And so that
can be really challenging. And so like kids forget
to bring their library books. It's really challenging
for the kids when they go to PE because they
don't always wear the right footwear and that
kind of thing. And it's hard to explain to parents
like, Your kid comes to me once a week, but not
always on the same day of the week. Um, and so
we just had to be really clear about the communicating
of it. Once you get used to it, it's not that
bad. There are definitely like little things
that we do to, to help that process, like outside
my door and outside the rest of the, um, specials
rooms. We have like cards that we flip through
so that the right color is showing outside our
door so kids know what color I'm seeing that
day kind of thing. We also at the base of the
stairs as the fourth and fifth and third graders
come down the stairs right there at the base,
the landing of the stairs on the wall. We have
a poster and literally every day at the end of
the day, I change it for the next day where we
move the colors so that they can see. what color
goes to what thing. So like we have Velcro dots
on them and we like, there's a sign that says
purple and the purple group gets moved to where
they're going and the red group gets moved to
where they're going. And I move them every day
so that they can see it just to help with that
process. So like there's little things that we
make it as easy as possible. It's not perfect,
but it works. Once you get, once you get into
it. the kids figure it out pretty quick and I
do my best if their library day is going to change
to prep them for that the week before it changes
so it'll be like I'm seeing you guys on Tuesday
this week but next week I'm seeing you on Thursday
so your library day is Thursday next week as
they're walking out the door kind of thing you
know like it just there's a little bit more work
on that end to like help the kids know but The
good thing is that I see them relatively consistently
of like, I don't lose a lot of time with just
one or two groups. So yeah, that's nice. Yeah.
And it helps the fine arts teacher a lot because
if she was always missing first and, or like
the Monday groups and the Friday groups, like
trying to finish any project is really challenging.
Yeah. Yeah. at the beginning of the year like
with your wonky schedule i was like that sounds
horrible and right now i'm like that sounds kind
of good i don't know did i tell you i had a group
on my friday group from like october 23rd onward
i didn't see them until january like for a real
library lesson like yeah it was like two solid
months because of the you know, all the breaks
in there and the parade for storybook character
and the book fair and the elf shop. So like I
had bonus crazy. Right. Being in the library
compared to the others. But still, that's like
two months that those kids didn't get books.
Two whole months. And I do open check -in in
the morning, so it wasn't the worst. But like,
that's nuts. And like in January, I was like,
oh, my Monday kids saw him one time. One time.
That's crazy. I don't know. That's a whole month's
of school where you're just coming once. I don't
know. Yeah. And so like, I don't know. Yeah.
My schedule definitely works well for that because
it definitely makes it so that, you know, like
any day that we're not there, we just kind of
shift every rotation one day and so that's yeah
it works because then we don't have those problems
where we just don't see the group yeah it's it
gets confusing for certain things that are like
outside of our control more than anything like
our counselor has high school They call them
pals that come and meet with certain kids every
Wednesday, which is fine, but they meet during
specials time. So like they get pulled from whatever
specials they're in to go to do that, which is
fine. I mean, it's usually it doesn't impact
too much, but what it gets confusing is like,
the group that I have this Wednesday, I might
not have that group next Wednesday. And so like
knowing which kids are where gets confusing because
I have to know, basically I have to have a list
of every kid that gets pulled to go do that.
And then cross reference it with who I should
be seeing that day to know if that's why they're
not there kind of thing, you know? And so stuff
like that gets a little more confusing. Because
I can't just be like, oh, this is the group that
these three kids are gone because it's Wednesday.
I see, I can, I could potentially see any of
the groups on Wednesday. And so I have to know
which kids from each group go to that. Yeah.
So that gets a little confusing, but that also
only impacts like one grade level. And so it's
not that bad. And I do just have a list and I
just look at it compared to who I'm supposed
to be seeing that day and figure it out. But.
Overall, it really isn't as, like I said, it's
not convenient and not necessarily the easiest
for trying to explain to the kids or the parents,
but once we get into it, it's fine. Okay. Yeah.
Cool. It might be something you consider at least
bringing up for next year maybe, you know? I
think I'm going to. My team is like not good
at scheduling. Yeah. See their brains just don't
work that way. And I feel like I'm pretty good
at it. Yeah. That's one of like my stronger suits
is being able to figure out schedules and stuff
to the point where like my principals have come
to me a couple of times and been like, we need
to mess with the schedule for the day. How can
we, how can we do this? And they give me the
parameters and I just kind of sit and mess with
it until I get it right. So like, that's something
that I'm pretty reasonable at doing, but yeah,
I would like. Especially it definitely helps
because the same kids aren't always missing PE,
which they get really upset about. Yeah. And
again, they are teacher can actually get projects
done with every group because she's not losing
days with them. And so like it does, like for
me, if you miss a library lesson, that's not
going to be the end of the world, but I would
like you to have the access to the books and
be able to check out and. I do have the morning
times where they can do checkout, but I'd rather
you be in there where I can be of assistance
and help and kind of encourage you with certain
things. And so it's nice, but it's like if I
missed a whole group, there are worse things,
but I want the kids to have the access. So it
works out pretty well for us. It's the book access
problem for me. Yeah. Yeah, that's what I said
like when we had like the elf shop and stuff
in the library I was like they're getting books.
It's whatever right And that's the one thing
I love about my library is that it's big enough
that I can have the entire Book Fair up and running
and still have all of the books available to
the kids to check out library books the entire
time and So that's really nice. Yeah, I need
to rearrange now that I'm there's a lot that
I'm like ready to change now that I know it.
Yeah. I don't know. Beginning of the year, I
was like, I don't, it's a whole new grade level,
like all the new grade levels and all the new
processes and not like I didn't. And a completely
new space and everything. Yeah. Now I'm very
ready and I'm actually getting kind of excited
for next year, which is weird. That's good. I
didn't think that would happen though. Yes. It
is good and this is I was just noticing this
is the first year In a long time that I haven't
felt the need to Apply anywhere else or like
look anywhere else Yeah, and I was very happy
at the ELC's but I think that was a symptom of
Keller as a whole Not the ELC's that I was like
I stayed and didn't really try very hard to go
anywhere else because you can't do that job anywhere
else. Couldn't. Now you can't do that job anywhere.
It's done. Killed it. Stockholm syndrome. 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 are discussing some books about spring.
As we enter the month of March, spring is coming
and... Soon enough, it'll be here. And so we've
selected some really good books that handle the
topic of spring. The first of which is the book,
The Thing About Spring, written and illustrated
by Daniel Kirk and published by Abram Books for
Young Readers in 2020. So this book actually
has no awards, but the author, Daniel Kirk, is
the author and illustrator of over 40 books for
children, including his best -selling series,
Library Mouse, his nonfiction picture book, Rhino
in the House, and his latest set of books, Newton
and Curie, Science Squirrels. And there wasn't
a lot on his website about him personally. It
was a lot of here's all the books I've done,
which is, I mean, as an author, you definitely
want people to know all the books that you've
done. So, but it doesn't give a lot of like personal
information about him. Yeah. I didn't know that
he's done over 40 books. I know about library
mouse and I've seen those, but I don't think
in that series in itself, there's like, seven
or eight books in that series. And I realized
that I don't have all of those either. I don't
know if I have them in my current library. Yeah,
I know. I've got a couple of them, but I don't
have all of them. So yeah. Cool. Some of the
other books that Daniel Kirk has written, some
of the specific ones are Rhino in the House,
The Story of Saving Samia, the Library Mouse
series, of course. Elf Realm, The Low Road, A
Prayer for the Animals, Hush Little Alien, Moon
Dogs, Dogs Rule, Keisha Ann Cain, Honk Honk Beep
Beep, Noon and Curie, The Sight Squirrels series,
Ten Thank You Laters, Ten Things I Love About
You, You Are Not My Friend But I Miss You, and
The Big Slide. And some of the books that are
just illustrated by Daniel Kirk are Chugga Chugga
Choo Choo, by Kevin Lewis, My Truck is Stuck
by Kevin Lewis, and Tugga Tugga Tugboat by Kevin
Lewis. I think I'm gonna need to look up the
Newton and Curie science squirrels. I haven't
heard of that and I am intrigued. Yes, I don't
have any of them, but I love the idea of picture
books that promote science and yeah, they look
pretty cool. I think right now there's two. books
in the series and so like one of them is just
like the introduction book Newton and Curie science
girls and then there's Newton and Curie take
flight is the other one and so they look pretty
interesting i'm gonna check them out and see
if if i can get them added because i love a good
book that incorporates picture books plus science
yeah and history kind of too maybe i don't know
yeah They're squirrels. So we'll see how much
history is actually there. Yes. Oh, we got good
names. Absolutely. All right. So for this book,
the summary, while mouse and bird and bear are
all excited that spring is here, rabbit is less
than thrilled. Rabbit explains that he will miss
the snow, the winter activities and the quiet
of winter. Mouse, bird and bear try to convince
Rabbit that spring will be wonderful also, including
all of the fun things they'll be able to do together.
In the end, Rabbit decides that no one can stop
the seasons and maybe spring will turn out all
right after all. And so our thoughts on that?
I would say this is, it is a sweet, cute book.
It's, it's an interesting story. Rabbit. continues
to say throughout the story, you know, the thing
about spring is, and then points out something
that is going to be missed about winter. And
so it's a cute story with some repetition to
it that will help the kids build on that familiarity
if they're starting to learn some sight words
and that kind of thing. It's, it is a cute story
where they, the animals... are looking forward
to all of those things that the kids are looking
forward to. Being able to go swimming and running
around and playing ball and doing all those kind
of fun things that, you know, your students will
definitely be able to relate to more. And so
it's a fun story. The pictures are bright and
vibrant and cute. All of the characters are pretty
adorable. It's a nice book. There's a little
bit... More text than maybe necessary, but it
wasn't a bad story And I think it will keep a
student's attention for the time needed to get
through the story I would say this is a solid
probably I'd say About four out of five bookmarks
book. It was good And I do like at the end so
at the beginning of the book rabbit is trying
to save snow To try and hold on to winter and
by the end of the story the snow is melted and
that works out because all of the characters
are thirsty and so they share some water together
and are excited to get going with spring. So
there's a cute little turn to the story that
way too, which I think a lot of the kids will
enjoy. Yeah, I think that was a good description
of it. I think cute is the perfect word for this
book. It's not like... Super engaging or super
funny, but it's still like it's fun to read.
It's got nice pictures It does have some vibrant
illustrations. It's not too overwhelming either
Yeah, and I like Daniel Kirk's illustration style
of that very realistic pictures that he paints
They're great. And I think I agree with you about
having slightly too much text for what it is.
He does, I feel that way about most of his books
that I've read that like they're really good
but they seem to be aimed at like the youngest
readers but they're a little bit wordy for the
youngest readers so it lands in kind of a different
space I think. I think that's the way I feel
about most of these where it's like a little
too wordy for the youngest ones, but then like,
you can tell that's definitely what he's aiming
for. And not that older kids won't enjoy it,
but it's just, it's cute. And cute is what you
go for with like the youngest ones. That's all.
And there's nothing really wrong with that. It's
good for them to have to, to listen to a little
bit more text and maintain their attention span
a little bit longer. And I think the illustrations
help that along with that. And I do like that
it has you know as they're saying all the things
that they're going to enjoy doing in spring like
like yes we'll miss winter but we're gonna get
to do all these fun things too like it kind of
helps with those science concepts of reminding
kids of what happens during the seasons and that
things will be changing and it does have a good
social emotional piece of like there are some
kids who are very ready for the change but there's
also a lot that are really anti -change just
like Rabbit and that's very relatable for some
of our kids so I love that about this book that
it kind of helps and you can relate that to like
anything at all like that's kind of you know
change is hard in general and the changing seasons
is something that everybody has to go through.
That's a change that we all go through every
year constantly. So it makes it a little bit
more relatable. And if you can relate to it that
way, then you can potentially start relating
it to other areas of your life where you have
to change. And so that's a good teaching piece
too for our younger readers. So yeah, I think
four out of five is a good rating for this book.
It's cute. It's a good one. It was. It's a solid
book for sure. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So as far
as a makerspace activity to incorporate with
this book, I was thinking about using the Legos
and having the students use the Legos to build
something that they will miss about summer or
something that they're excited about that comes
with spring. So that gives the kids some kind
of options to think about. the activities and
things that they do during the winter and some
of the things that they're going to be able to
do to start doing again in the spring and so
they can use the Legos to kind of build something
that shows either what they miss or what they're
looking forward to as it comes. Kind of lets
the kids have some creativity and some open -endedness
so that they can think about what what they're
really missing or excited about. Yeah, I like
the choices that they get with that thought they
could go either way I Think we'd get a lot of
interesting things because you know There'd be
some kids that want to build like a snowman out
of Legos But then there's gonna be some kids
that are ready for baseball and soccer and all
those other activities that they get to do during
the spring so I'd be interested to see the unique
answers that they would come up with for that.
Yeah And it would be another, that's another
great way to talk about that change. That's coming
in everything too. Yeah. That reinforces that.
I like it. All right. So this week for our libraries
of Littles Makerspace Spotlight, we're going
to, we've been talking a little bit about different
tools that would be fun to use with pre -K students
in the Makerspace. And Cubeto is an amazing.
device that can be used in pre -k makerspaces.
Cubeto is a screenless wooden robot designed
by Primo Toys and it is designed to teach children
ages three and up the fundamentals of computer
programming. It uses a Montessori approved tactile
approach where kids place colorful coding blocks
into a physical control board to direct the robot's
movements across a world map. And so before we
get into a ton of the specifics with this, I'm
going to say upfront that this is one of the
more expensive devices that you, I would be purchasing
for pre -K students. I was looking at the prices
and they range from about $300 to $500, depending
on all of the accessories that can be purchased
with it. This is, but it is really a very cool.
robot that allows kids to begin learning coding
similar to the Coda Pillar, but with a little
bit more of an advanced setting that is available.
The way it works is they've got these colored
tiles that you place into the board there are.
So basically if you buy the basic set, you get
the robot, you get the interactive board, and
you get a story map, world map cloth. that you
can put out and put the robot on it so that it
can roll around and it's basically a grid that
you can have the robot move through. It comes
with 16 coding blocks. Each color represents
a different command and so the green is to go
forward and on the green tile it has a straight
arrow. The yellow is for a left turn and it's
a 90 degree turn. and what you have to explain
to kids for this is that the robot turns but
does not move forward with that so it just rotates
directly where it is 90 degrees but on that yellow
tile it does have a left turn arrow on it the
same for the red it's a right turn for 90 degrees
and so again it just moves directly on its spot
and the red tile has an arrow for the right and
then there's an additional arrow and this is
the part where it kind of takes a step up from
the Coda Pillar where like you could tell the
Coda Pillar to turn left right and go forward.
This product also has a blue tile and it's for
functions or subroutines and at on the board
that you're putting the tiles into there are
three rows of slots that you can put the tiles
in, but on the very bottom row, circled in a
box, are four additional slots that you can put
tiles in, and that's the function tile. So if
you put, like basically you could put a red and
a green, and then another red and a green, and
it's gonna basically make. the robot do a u -turn.
So if you put all four of those in the function
slots and then put the blue function tile into
the code at the top, any time it hits that blue
function tile, it's going to do that u -turn,
which is kind of cool. And so it kind of adds
a step up. to the abilities that the robot can
have and do. And so that's pretty cool in itself.
And so kind of being able to teach, slowly introduce
the concept of sub -routines and functions to
the students after they figure out the basics
of getting the robot to move through the map,
then teaching them that, well, when you have
a limited amount of space, to code something,
you can make subroutines that you just, it takes
less space to kind of just drop it in and make
it go and stuff like that, which is really, really
cool. And I will say this, like I said, it's
made out of wood and it is very durable for the
pre -K students because it's very much designed
for kids to be able to use it and kind of, it's
okay with getting knocked a little bit. It's
not gonna just shatter and break. being that
it's a cube, it does have a cute little face
on the front of it to help the students understand
where the front is, but also just to add that
little cuteness to it, because otherwise it's
just a box. So it has a cute little smiley face
on the front of it that is very engaging for
the kids, because then they can see what the
front of the robot is and what direction it's
facing so that it can move around. It gets a
lot of really good reviews from a lot of others.
The Gadgeteer praised it as like real life logic
and building a foundation for future computer
education, which is nice. It's great for independent
play. This is probably not the best toy to teach
kids like to have like multiple kids using at
the same time. It's more of like a one on one
kind of thing, which sometimes we need that.
But again, That is going to be a downside to
it because most of them cost like the basic set
generally costs around $300. So if you're a $300
robot and one kid can use it at a time, that's
definitely going to be a drawback to your budget.
But it is really cool and it does teach them
really great skills. $300 is a lot, but if you
want they have different play mats and stuff
like that and so you could get like a full Big
play set with it with all the different play
mats and all the different things and it and
you can get them for up to $500 depending on
all the accessories and stuff that you add on
to it so it can get It can get pretty expensive.
Yeah, but it really is a cool toy and the kids
When I've used them with kids, it's been a lot
of fun for them. They've had, they've been able
to enjoy using it. A lot of times they start
out just by putting pieces, like all the tiles
into the code just to see what happens. And that's,
that makes sense as their first interaction with
it, but slowly they start to figure out that
each piece, because the other good thing is when
you put the tiles in and you tell it to go, there's
a go button. As it's doing each tile, there's
a little light that lights up so you can see
where it's at in the code as it's doing the action.
So it helps to make that connection with the
students that this is what the tile does to the
robot. And so that's pretty cool. That does sound
great. I think I had these. I left one for you
at the, at the ELC and it was fun, but I don't
know if you used it. Yeah. I did not. It overwhelmed
me. I'm not going to lie. That's split between
campuses. So I don't know. Codepillar I used
a lot and it was great. And this one I'm sure
is fabulous as well, but I haven't personally
gotten to use it yet. Yes. So, I don't know where
that landed, which is sad. I will say that this
is one that like, While it is for an individual
student, if you gave them a challenge where you
were like, hey, I want the robot to start at
this corner and get to this point on the map,
you could definitely have the kids work together
in small groups to get this to work and get them
to get where they need to be. And this would
also work on their communication skills because
they're going to have to talk to each other and
they're going to have to problem solve. to accomplish
those kinds of things. And this is where, like,
if you couple it with a book, like how to code
a sand castle or something like that, where it
talks about sometimes the code doesn't work and
we have to go back and debug it. So like that
would be perfect when they try it and it doesn't
work the first time. Well, we need to go back
and figure out where it's falling apart and try
again and that kind of thing. So it could be
a lot of fun to use. with the pre -K students,
there's probably gonna be a little bit of adult
guidance at first to introduce the way it works
and everything like that. But once the kids start
to get a hang of it, I think they'd have a lot
of fun using it. Yeah, it sounds fun. I think
you're right. And I wonder, I wonder too if you
could do like a whole group lesson like that
where you read the book and then everybody like
sits around. or whatever and like takes turns
trying to put in a different cube with doing
the right commands and all that. And like, do
a big old teamwork kind of a thing. No, I kind
of wish I'd used it. That's okay. And I'll say
that a lot of times, like before I introduce
robots like this, I will do different activities
where we talk about like, a lot of times I'll
give the kids. Like I make like just like use
big index cards with some like arrows and stuff
like that. And like we'll do like a code the
teacher kind of thing where the kids figure out
how they want me to move. And we put the different
cards in order and like I'll tape them on the
wall and then I'll do exactly what they've told
me to do. And like we'll set it. So like they
want me to get from. where like one starting
point to go sit in a chair across the room kind
of thing, but I'll do absolutely everything they've
put in the code. And if it doesn't go the way
they want, as I'm moving, they start to freak
out and stuff. And like that, and before we ever
touch a robot doing stuff like that, that kind
of gets them to start realizing, oh, like we
told you to do this. And that's actually what
you're doing. That's not what we really wanted
you to do. That's not what we meant kind of thing.
Starting with like the no robot at all and just
doing some of that stuff and then slowly pivoting
to introducing this kind of a robot would be
a good way to do that too. Yeah, that's cool.
That's a great idea. I've never thought of that.
I like it a lot. Yeah, it's and it's fun because
it's kind of silly. Some of the things the kids
want you to like that have you do like they'll
randomly just because they want to see it happen
they'll put in like a where you just turn around
instead of like moving forward and they kind
of get goofy with it but it's a lot of fun to
do that too. Cool I'll have to try that. Yeah.
All right well our next book that we're going
to talk about is Grumpy Monkey's Spring Fever.
It was published by Random House Studio in 2024.
The author is Suzanne Lang and the illustrator
is Max Lang. This particular one has not won
any Awards, it's not on any lists But the grumpy
monkey series is Really really popular in general
and this is one of the newer publications from
that the author actually I The author and illustrator
like neither of them have their own website or
anything they have a little bit of information
like on random houses website each they have
a very small website for both of them that kind
of lists their books and that's about it and
as the world's shortest bio so there's not a
ton of information about them but For Suzanne
Lang, we do know that she is the New York Times
bestselling author of the Grumpy Monkey book
series. And she frequently partners with her
husband, Max Lang, to create new books. And when
she's not writing books, she writes and produces
children's television. So that's kind of fun.
Yeah. Yeah. And then. Okay. And I was looking
because I was curious, like. when you include
picture books, board books, and early readers,
there's something like 19 Grumpy Monkey books.
So there's a lot. Yeah, it's a big collection,
which is really cool that they like, and the
kids because the kids enjoy the character. And
so it's fun that we can go and add like, I need
to go back and add a bunch of these books to
my library. Yeah, I've got some but I need to
bulk it up a little bit. Yeah. And the books
that pretty much for Max and Suzanne Lang, they've
both done all of those grumpy monkey books, the
grumpy monkey book series that I counted. Is
it 19? That's what I counted. I might be a little
off, but it's a lot. Maybe I'm doing math wrong.
That's possible. I'm a librarian. I don't know.
I don't do counting. Well, you're up to, so you're
counting about 20, so I might've missed one,
but yeah, we're in the same general area. Like
that's a lot of books in this series, so yeah.
Yeah. So I found nine picture books, three graphic
novels, four board books, and four early readers.
And then they've also got the books, Families,
Families, Families, and Archibald and the Furry
Dinosaurs, which I haven't read either of those,
but that's okay. The Family, Family, Family is
one I've read and I like it. It's fun. It's kind
of silly, but it's just about how families can
be different shapes and sizes and made up of
different people. And it's sweet. It's a good
one. Probably should have read it, but I didn't
yet. I've had it at a book fair and someone was
not happy about it. Yeah, it does. And I was
just told that I had to pull it. They didn't
open the book and neither did I. And I just,
I don't know. I didn't want to lose my job. So
here's what I'll say about that book. I don't
think that there's anything wrong with it, first
off, but what it is, it's, like I said, it's
about how families are in different shapes, sizes,
and I want to point out that every one of those
families that are in the book are animals, okay?
Like they're - I did see that. All the characters
are animals. Yeah. But it may or may not be implied
that there are some families where the parents
are of the same sex. in those pictures and there,
but there's also very much implied that there
are families where there's only one parent or
where it's the grandparents that are taking care
of the children or like they're like they're
blended family. Like it shows real life. We have
kids coming to our campuses where there are families.
are not the stereotypic mom, dad, children, families.
And that book covers the entire gambit of family
styles and types. And so it is a sweet, it's
a cute 100%. And it's a, it is a cute story.
It's a good book. So check it out. Yeah. Yeah.
And then the information for Max Lang isn't much
more. He's a film direct director and animator
and he's been nominated for two Academy Awards
who knew in the category of best short animated
film for the Gruffalo in 2011 and room on the
broom in 2014 and he only illustrates books written
by his wife Suzanne Lane Here you go. All the
same books that we already listed are also maxling.
So that's fun That's cute. I like that they work
together. It's a lot of working together with
your spouse that is a Yeah But I feel like in
that capacity in particular like Usually authors
and illustrators like don't even have to meet
like that's a lot of separate Yes, but if he
draws something and she doesn't like the way
it turned out Like It's not like They live in
different states and he turned in the work and
that's it. Like they are together and if she
wants it a certain way and he doesn't produce
it the way she had in her head, I could see that.
I'm glad they make it work. Cause I feel like
that would be challenging, but Hey, it seems
like it's working for them. So good for them.
That's funny. Yeah, maybe. I don't know. It does
look like it works for them, though, because
they have a whole lot of books. And I do love
that they've got the board books and the early
readers and the picture books and the graphic
novels, because it's very, very much now something
that can grow with the child. I did Grumpy Monkey
a couple of weeks ago in the library for a lesson
and the kid I did it with kindergarten through
second grade and my second graders in particular
were like there's graphic novels too that's great
where are they I need them I need them now so
then we got to start the conversation of like
what graphic novels are how it's different from
a picture book and like why it's yeah so it was
it was fabulous I love that it grows with them
yeah that's really cool Yeah, that's great. And
those books are really good too. Like those graphic
novels in particular. Well, I just like them
all. I haven't checked out the graphic novels.
I need to check out the graphic novels. Now I
can't keep, after I did that lesson, I can't
keep them on the shelf now. I believe it. Reina,
there's only like three, but still. Hey. I'm
having a lot of kids continue to ask for them.
And they're in Spanish as well, which is a bonus
for my campus. Yeah. So in this book grumpy monkey,
his name is Jim pansy wakes up one day in a very
silly mood He's unable to calm down. So he talks
to his neighbor Norman about how silly he's feeling
When his neighbor suggests that he has spring
fever Jim kind of panics and then goes through
the jungle talking to the other animals, but
how he can get rid of his fever Then they explain
to him that it's not really a fever and means
that he really just has a lot of extra energy
because of springtime and extra sunlight and
all that. They suggest ways for him to calm down,
but none of them work. So instead he embraces
the spring fever and goes out and does all the
spring things. And then everybody gets spring
fever and it's just, it's a great time having
that spring fever there. The end. I think I like
it. Maybe I'll give this one like a four point
five out of five. I think it's very I like all
the silliness in there. Grumpy Monkey is always
a little bit silly, which is, I think, part of
why kids love him. The illustrations are very
bright, very vivid, a little more cartoony and
great for drawing the kids in and grabbing their
attention. I don't think there's too much text
on there. It's very, it's not really repetitive,
but I do like when the animals give suggestions
like there's almost a cadence to it. They're
like, you could take a bath, but don't splash.
And like, it's like very slow and like you're
going through all the pictures and like, I don't
know. It's great. I love it. That kind of same
pattern goes in a couple of the Grumpy Monkey
books as well. I just really like it. I think
the only thing that I would like added maybe
is like the spring things. I would think I would
like to see more of like science concepts of
things that happen when the seasons change in
general. Yeah, it has like, it does have like
you could go one of the suggestions for a spring
thing is like hiding easter eggs and that is
like can be religious so that when it can be
religious but maybe not and maybe you just say
that you know you like to that's just what some
people do in the spring and that's fine one of
the other things was like you could go wear a
bonnet and i was like i don't think i associate
anything with spring and bonnets i don't think
i associate a bonnet with any season in particular
so that one baffled me as an adult and i don't
know what i would say to a child who was like
why do we wear bonnets in the spring i don't
know kid um i feel like they could have done
more like i don't think flying a kite was in
there i think we could do like changing weather
like that maybe it's because they're in the jungle
maybe that's what they were thinking they don't
you don't do i don't know i would do that like
i think i would change a few of those to be more
like the weather is changing so we're going to
start going swimming now because it's warmer
and it's not cold in the water something like
that i don't know that's my only thing but that's
that's so minor like that's not a big deal that's
me overthinking it i don't think it's really
a flaw with the book it's more of like how can
i as an educator um improve it it's not i don't
think it's a flaw really Ultimately. So anyway,
4 .5 for me. I like it. It's cute. Absolutely.
I love all the grumpy monkey books that I have
read. And this one in particular. So it's just
a really good one. The bonnet thing did throw
me off. Because I don't know. And I feel like
that's more of like, maybe that was something
more of in the past. But did we do that like
100 years ago? I wear a bonnet to go outside.
Maybe sometimes when I read turn of the century
novels, they do need their bonnets to go outside.
So maybe that was where that one came from. I
don't know, but I do I love the this book. It
was a lot of fun. I did also like that you can
and I'm trying to decide if I tried to do this
with my kids if it would be more of a distraction
than anything else, but throughout the book there
are striped painted eggs in the pictures. Oh,
I didn't pay that close attention. I should read
it again. There are 25 of them throughout the
book. And so like, if you told the kids, I, I
do things. Um, and so, cause I started seeing
them and I looked it up in there. Yeah. There's
25 of them in the book. And so, um, like you
could tell the kids while you're reading to be
keeping an eye out for the striped eggs that
are in the background and the pictures. But again,
I don't know if them paying attention to that
would mean that they'd miss out on the story
itself because they'd be so focused on looking
for the, I don't know. I could read it twice.
Yeah. But that's a fun little Easter egg for
the book, which is cute as well. And I just love
that. the monkey's name is jim pansy like that
is like peak like adult humor that i just it
makes me smile every time so i love i do i think
this was a great book i think this would be a
lot of fun that would definitely entertain the
students and keep them engaged the entire time
yeah i think so too i like it a lot i just like
grumpy monkey i do yes it's okay to be grumpy
sometimes yes For a makerspace activity, I've
got draw pictures of ways students can get rid
of their spring fever. I put, yeah, spring fever
is what I meant to put there, but yes. Because
especially like right now, right before spring
break, oh man, all the kids are feeling it. All
the teachers are feeling it. We all feel it right
now. We need our break. They really need different
ways to get rid of their spring fever because,
oh boy, it's happening. It's probably, I'm saying
that right before spring break, but you know,
it's going to be worse when we get back from
spring break and we have that long interminable
stretch between spring break and May. We can
do hard things. We keep telling ourselves we
can't anyway. I don't know. we can we can do
it so yeah this book i think is a great way to
um start that conversation of ways they can appropriately
get rid of their spring fever as well yeah i
think that would be a great fun activity we all
need to do it it's gonna be great yeah i'd be
interested to see what some of the kids come
up with because i'm sure there's some unique
ideas about how they can get that energy out
Maybe not in the library, though. They can do
it also. Save that for when you go to the gym.
Pictures in the library could be crazy somewhere
else. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you all for
joining us today on this episode of Librarians
of Littles. I hope you found some fresh ideas
for inspiring our youngest readers. 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 Ligier. Editor, Patrick Adams. Our
theme song is performed by JD Adams. You can
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You can follow us on bluesky at littleslibrarian
.bsky .social. And you can send us your emails
at librarianoflittlespodatgmail .com. I like
Grumpy Monkey. Yeah. Yeah. And I think the kids
will like that one a lot too. Yeah. I didn't
know how many Grumpy Monkey books. I knew there
were a lot. Yeah. I think I'm missing some when
I started looking at them. Yeah. When I was looking
at your lit, I was like, I think I need to get
a couple more. Yeah. Yeah. There were so many
that I was like, I'm never going to list all
these. Like, there's a lot. Yeah. Yeah. And one
of the board books is kind of weird too. There's
grumpy monkey poop. Just poop is the name of
the title. Okay. It's a board book and grumpy
monkey doesn't like to poop when he's not at
home. So he has to find different spots to poop.
And he has a hard time doing that. to be fair
suggestions for other animals i feel i feel like
that's valid for grumpy monkey like i don't like
to poop anywhere else either i kind of i mean
obviously i get it too but i was like do we need
a book about this i don't know actually now that
i think about it i do know a couple of kids who
probably need that book but i'm not putting it
in the library We have, it's a funny story about
that. We have a, um, she used to be a fifth grade
teacher on my campus last year, but she left
halfway through last year because she had finished
her counseling degree and was looking for a counseling
job and got one at one of the middle schools
in the district. And so her kid, she's got three
kids. One of the youngest one is in first grade.
And like, she was one of the counselors that
came to one of my night events. to talk to the
incoming fifth grade turning sixth grade kids.
And so after the event, she was talking with
us and she was saying how her kid stayed home
earlier this week because he wasn't feeling well.
And like he threw up and stuff like that. So
she kept him home. And then the more and more
she was talking with him throughout the day,
it became very apparent that the kid, the mom
and dad are divorced. And so like, apparently
when the kids with dad, apparently dad's a Not
a bad guy. He just doesn't always enforce necessarily
healthy habits. So apparently the kid, all the
kid eats when he's at dad's house is like granola
bars and I don't know, a couple other things,
but basically not an ounce of actual like green
fiber of any kind. So it turns out the kid was
sick because he hadn't taken a dump in like three
days. So she was like, it was super awkward coming
back to work because she finally forced him to
like go and, you know, he finally like helped
them, gave them some stuff to help them do it.
But like to get back the next day and all of
her coworkers like, oh, is he okay? And she's
like, yeah, he's fine. He just needed to just
need to go. So that food's gotta go somewhere.
Needs an exit strategy. So that book might actually
not be a bad thing.