Seeking Balance

People often ask me if I would rather do anything else for a career. There are times when I might reply, "I would love to be a baker" or "I would love to have my own bookstore." There are many times I would prefer to discard the technology duties associated with my job. Such things as fixing printer jams, installing SMART Notebook software, figuring out why a SMART Board is not responding to touch, or taking apart a computer tower to remove and reinstall the video card are not things I relish about my work. Though I might love to create desserts that bring pleasure to guests or talk about books with interested customers, I know I would miss the time spent with children and books in my library world.

And so I seek balance. I repair what needs fixing, answer the questions, teach about technology problems. But then I read aloud to eager listeners, help readers find just the right books for them, guide inquiring minds to resources that will provide answers and generate more questions, assist my colleagues in matching materials to their standards and lessons, and search for more resources that will enhance curriculum and interests. As more and more schools and districts eliminate library positions, I continue to demonstrate the positive impact school librarians have on students' learning...and consider myself lucky.

Have You Read? #5

Last night I picked up a book from the library. I have been waiting for it for a few months, and because my husband was driving, I could look at it immediately! Notice I did not write "open it immediately." The book jacket is intriguing. A large photograph of President Obama, gazing out of Marine One dominates. Across the bottom are small squares of George W. Bush (wearing a cowboy hat and driving a pick-up), Lyndon B. Johnson looking at a soldier, Richard Nixon talking on the phone, Ronald Reagan in front of flags, and John F. Kennedy reading a newspaper while off Hyannis Port. The back jacket shows Lyndon Johnson lying in a field of wildflowers, the Clintons with facial expressions of incredulity, and the Obamas wearing 3-D glasses. Would you be as intrigued as I was?

The book, written by John Bredar, is The President's Photographer: Fifty Years Inside the Oval Office. Pete Souza, Chief Official White House Photographer, wrote the Foreword. I am captivated by the perspectives and views I am reading in this book. Though I know, of course, that the President has a personal life, has interests beyond work, has a need for time with family, has a spouse with whom he likes to spend time, and has intense emotional experiences, I am still fascinated by the images of our presidents doing things like the rest of us. Picture President Obama hugging Sasha in the elevator or Richard Nixon shaking hands with Elvis Presley or Betty Ford dancing across the Cabinet Room table. Looking at the photographs is an incredible experience. Reading about the history of the them and the specifics behind each one extends the impact to an even greater degree.

Though this is not necessarily a children's book, I believe it has appeal and applicability for my elementary school students and colleagues. The visual element of the book is incredible, and its glimpse into the lives of our country's leaders lifts it to being extraordinary.

Books for Breakfast

Start with 25 authors and illustrators and 250 teachers, librarians and book-lovers gathered for breakfast through the Children's Literature Network. Add to that a creative puzzler (David LaRochelle) whose table game got the room buzzing and thinking about book content. Mix in willing volunteers (like my helpful mother and youngest son) and lots of books. Blend in book reviews, connections with colleagues, a lovely video version of The Princess and Her Panther (illustrated by my friend Lauren), jokes and laughter, and memories of past gatherings. The result? A joyful morning celebration of literacy that goes on my gratitude list for today.

I Love to Read Clues

Thirteen years ago I was a stay-at-home mom, recently resigned from a reading/language arts teaching position. Nowhere in my mind was there an idea of going back to university life to become a librarian.

Our oldest son was in kindergarten, and I would have loved to volunteer in his classroom. My commitment to his two younger brothers kept me at home. Instead, I revised an idea and created a book clue activity for I Love to Read Month which I offered to the school staff. Three years later I would be the librarian at that school, and the book clues were a highly anticipated part of February's reading celebration. They still are, and today marks the end

It is a simple concept. I choose two books each week, one for primary grades and one for intermediate grades. From those books, I select a line or two for four days of the school week (usually Monday through Thursday). The lines I pick must not reveal names from the book but should give readers some hints for identifying it. They are delivered chronologically through the book (i.e. Tuesday's clues are found after Monday's clues in the text). The principal reads the clues during morning announcements. Classrooms combine their collective book knowledge to determine each book's identity and submit guesses to the library.

There is no reward other than satisfaction. (Note: Read Daniel Pink's book Drive for more on motivation and rewards). Yet guesses are delivered almost immediately after morning announcements end each day by beaming children! Most intermediate classrooms identify both books! On Friday mornings, the principal identifies the books and reads aloud the names of classrooms who guessed correctly. Cheers echo in the hallways.

Here are two from this week's books:

K-2

“It was wrapped in an apron of steam. Snowflakes fell lightly around it. A conductor stood at the open door of one of the cars.”

3-5
“They worked as fast as they could, but before they finished, Father came with another load of ice. He laid down another layer of ice cubes three inches apart, and drove away, leaving them to fill every crevice tightly with sawdust, and spread sawdust over the top, and shovel the rest of the mound of sawdust up again.”

What would be your guess?

Good Books for Sale

I need to start a campaign. No political parties are involved in this one. Lobbyists would help. I am just not certain who would help bring about change. The issue is books that are out of print and how they can be made available to readers again.

Reading aloud out-of-print books to children results in a conundrum. Though I explain that a book like Too Many Mittens by the Slobodkins is no longer available and thus is difficult to replace, children want so badly to take it home with them. If we allow out-of-print books to be checked out, there is always a chance the book will be damaged (we had the eighth chewed-by-a-dog incident this week with an American Girl book) or simply lost. Our solution has been to create a section of historical books that can be used only at school.

But I still wish we could reinstate many out-of-print books into the world of available literature again. What would it take to bring Just Like Abraham Lincoln by Bernard Waber to the presses again? It is a wonderful story about Mr. Potts, an amazing look-alike to our 16th president and a neighbor to the book's narrator. The ending is the best! I would love to have students take home The Chalk Box Story by Don Freeman, a small book about a box of chalk pieces that work together to create a desert island scene and rescue. So many readers ask for Tiny Treasures from American Girl, and I can see why. Our only copy is coveted by readers who want to make all the miniature things in the spiral-bound book. For many years I have wanted my own copy of The Story of May by Mordicai Gerstein. It is a wonderful book about a personification of each month of the year. Today our building secretary shared her four book recommendations, and one was Jellybeans for Breakfast by Miriam Young, a story she remembers loving as a young girl. The price tag on a worn paperback copy was $117! During the holiday season, I always wish I could buy another copy of David LaRochelle's A Christmas Guest for readers who do not have their own. So many good books like these are for sale on used book sites...at high prices!

If the students I see each week are any indication, there is a market for these books. Let me know to whom I should speak first to start my campaign.

Read Aloud Trio

Expressive voices drew me back to the story steps this morning. I had finished reading Too Many Mittens to a second class and was assisting children in their book searches. A trio sat together, their heads leaning toward each other, their voices sharing the words of Debra Frasier's A Birthday Cake is No Ordinary Cake.

I loved several things about the moment. These girls were "lookers" today. Lookers have not returned their books and can use library time to look at books instead of checking out something new. They chose to read together. Aloud. In choral style! Their smiles could be heard in their voices, bright like the sun's rays in the artwork.

My adoration for the book made me smile as I heard the familiar lines read by three sweet voices.

"Actually, any south-flying bird's shadow will do.

Experiment: Try butterflies.

Again, let batter sit.

Put on a sweater.

Stir often.

Find your mittens."

I knelt next to them to hear the last pages.

Is This Fiction or Nonfiction?

This week I am reading another out-of-print book to the students. They loved how Louis Slobodkin shaped the words Too Many Mittens with red mittens instead of a font. They remembered previous discussions about color separation, and some even noted that the illustrations looked a lot like those in The Hundred Dresses. Perceptive, I say, and in tune with visual literacy. Some were counting as more and more red mittens appeared at the house and were put in the small drawer by Donny's and Ned's grandmother. Some chanted "red mitten" at the right time without any urging from me. There were giggles, of course, when the boys' mother and father bring them "beautiful red mittens" as a gift from their vacation!

My favorite comment of the day came from a first grader who asked, "Is this fiction or nonfiction?" At the end of the book, the Slobodkins provide wonderful advice to readers: if you have lost a red mitten, come to Donny's and Ned's house and look on the "Lost Mitten Line." Clearly, when an author reaches out with the word you, the line between fiction and nonfiction is blurred. How wonderful to be so caught up in the story to feel its realistic qualities!