Summer Reading

Many folks think librarians (and teachers) have the summer off. When school ends in mid-June, we are free from all duties and do nothing but fun things until the end of August. Not so for me. I read every day, usually multiple books each day. Sure, people tell me, but you love to read. I certainly do, but I also know I need to read so that there are many new titles to share with teachers and kids in the fall. Truly, it is one of the best things about my career choice. I am lucky I love my work and love doing it on summer days.

I began reading Barbara Else's new book The Traveling Restaurant the other morning, and I wished so much I had no other activities on my schedule for the rest of the morning. Immediately immersed in the City of Spires and the oddities of the Provisional Monarch appropriately called Lady Gall, I sensed something was amiss in the kingdom and knew the feisty Jasper Ludlow was going to play a role in setting things right. Though he is certain he is twelve years old, his parents deny that to Lady Gall. They do not answer his questions directly. The entire kingdom avoids saying the m-word (I'll leave that one for you to read). When Uncle Trump appears at the family's door, certain events come to light, forcing the family to flee and setting in motion a series of events that will put the rightful ruler on the throne.

I love this book! I especially love the idea of a traveling restaurant (though I cannot imagine hauling all the necessary ingredients aboard and the frustration of forgetting one item). The description of that unique eatery and the two who sail her make me wish it sailed around the nearest lake.

Flight Dilemma

In a few hours I will be on an airplane. Right now I am debating which book(s) to bring with me. One is already in my carry-on bag: Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. I have intended to read it for so many years, and this must be the summer...all 1,400+ pages. The dilemma rests in the book I started last night: The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey. In many ways, it is an updated version of Jane Eyre. Gemma wonders if she has been cursed to experience so much loss and disregard. Mental toughness allows her to persevere in all things, and when her boarding school closes, she accept a position as an au pair on a remote Scottish island. It is there where she guides the instruction and well-being of young Nell, who has been left the charge of her uncle, Mr. Sinclair.

Being a puzzle lover, I could relate to Gemma's first method of luring her young pupil to her side:
"I cleared the largest of tables, chose a puzzle of Edinburgh Castle, and began to sort the edges." - p. 162

Her second trick is to bring out Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking:
"When I was Nell's age I had loved the story of the adventurous girl who slept with her feet on the pillow and could lift a horse over her head. I carried it down to the library, left the door ajar, and began to read aloud. I stopped after twenty minutes, when Pippi was making pancakes." - p. 166
Nell commands her to continue, and the two make a deal that involves reading aloud in exchange for lessons.

The dilemma, of course, is whether I should pack this book as well. I'm over half-done and would finish it before arriving at my destination, in which case I would just be lugging it back home again. I know there are surprises to come because of this line:
"Whereas I had scarcely a dozen who knew I was Gemma Hardy and no one who knew I had once been someone other than Gemma Hardy." - p.194

Knit, Read, Walk, Cook

Tomorrow begins my annual week with Mr. and Mrs. Brattcat. In preparation, I have have gathered a few books to guide our creative knitting hands (like Knitted Wild Animals by Sarah Keen and Knitted Toy Tales by Laura Long), books to share aloud at night (like The Other Side of the Dale by Gervase Phinn), and books to discuss on our walks and while we cook together (too many to list). How fortunate I am to spend this time with people I cherish in a place I love to be!

Reading, Giggling, Munching

The neighbor kids (aged 2 and 4) joined me for books, puzzles, dominoes (not the traditional game, rather the one where they are set in a line and tipped in sequence), and treats yesterday. After last week's visit, I realized how much I like my books in order, and I how important it is for me to take good care of them. So, instead of having them pull random books from the shelves this week, I pre-selected books for us to share. They loved Derek Anderson's Gladys Goes to Lunch and commented on the zookeepers on each page. They had never heard Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and were shaking their heads, saying "No" whenever the pigeon begged to be the driver. But Laura Numeroff's books were the biggest hit this week. We read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, If You Take a Mouse to School, and If You Give a Moose a Muffin in succession. They giggled at the mouse and moose and gladly ate chocolate chip cookies on the deck for a snack in the sun. I am blessed to spend time with developing readers who adore books so much!

Writing Tool

Yesterday at St. Cloud State University's 33rd Annual Children's Literature Workshop, I was privileged to sit with Jackie Briggs Martin. "I love talking about writing stories," she said, as she began her first presentation. Her books, she hopes, provide fodder for wonder as they tap a child's imagination and remind him of amazing facts. Writers have an obligation to story, she believes, and for her that means researching, writing a strong story, and presenting the book (along with the illustrator). To get the facts for her stories, she reads and visits the places and people who might provide information. When writing The Chiru of the High Tibet, she consulted George Schaller and got dimensions for a chiru in order to keep that image in her mind. That paper chiru joined the presentation. "I choose to tell the stories I love, the stories that sustain me when I think of them," she concluded.

Post Office

When guests visit my friends' home, they must check the tiny mailbox in the lower bathroom. No doubt there will be a tiny piece of mail for each person, courtesy of Frog and Toad. I treasure each of these miniature missives, written on Frog and Toad stationery, tailored to events in my life, and addressed to me in care of the lower bathroom.

Today I read letters written by Ignatius B. Grunply, Olive C. Spense, and Seymour Hope (and a few other characters) in the fourth installment of the 43 Old Cemetery Road series book entitled The Phantom of the Post Office by Kate Klise and illustrated by M. Sarah Klise. Iggy and Olive adopted Seymour, and the three cooperatively write a mystery that is delivered in three-chapter installments. When their latest story begins, the three have received a warning letter from a fan! These books epitomize the epistolary book genre and are filled with word play that readers love.

Being an enormous supporter of the U.S. Postal Service with my letter-writing, I love the quote the author chose to use at the beginning of the book:
"As long as there are postmen, life will have zest." - William James

Beginnings

I love book beginnings. Debra Frasier always introduces "the opening of a book, ladies and gentlemen" with a flourish, repeating it again for emphasis. Whether I am opening a picture book for the first or umpteenth (a word my mom says a lot) time, I love the anticipation of seeing artwork and how it works with the text. When I open novels, I savor the beginning phrases. Today is sunny, not humid, and not too hot, yet I am in my reading chair, enjoying library books and these first lines:

"The earth spins at a thousand miles an hour. Sometimes when I remember this, it's all I can do to stay upright - the urge to flatten myself to the ground and clutch hold is that strong. Because, gravity? Oh, gravity is no match for a force that equals ten simultaneous hurricanes." - The Summer of the Gypsy Moths by Sara Pennypacker

"When it was new, the house stood alone on a bare square of earth. There was a newly planted lawn around it, but not a single tree to give shade in summer or to rattle its bare twigs in the winter cold." - House Held Up By Trees by Ted Kooser

"On Thursday morning, May 2, 1963, nine-year-old Audrey Faye Hendricks woke up with freedom on her mind. But, before she could be free, there was something important she had to do. 'I want to go to jail,' Audrey had told her mother." - We've Got a Job: the 1963 Birmingham Children's March by Cynthia Levinson

As I cannot decide which to complete first, I am giving each a little time before savoring a different one again.