One week til Halloween, and because of the shared schedule, it's the first time in about 10 years that I will NOT be doing a storytime on Halloween. So I did some really cute Halloween prep books this week instead.
And Then Comes Halloween
Tom Brenner, illustrated by Holly Meade
ISBN: 9780763636593
This is an excellent Halloween book. It has a lot of atmospheric fall details, and lots of focus on the seasons changing and on very generic fall decorating with corn stalks and scarecrows, and only really gets into the Halloween-specific stuff right at the end. The focus is also on the creative process of thinking up and creating your own costume, and on the community fun of trick-or-treating in a group and sorting and swapping candy together. Very lighthearted and informative, with really lovely language.
Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin
Tad Hills
ISBN: 9780375858130 (board book)
I was lucky that this was a very small group, because this is a pretty small board book format. Duck and Goose and Thistle appear in this really short story, and I ask for a lot of audience interaction to drag it out a bit longer. Thistle has a very nice pumpkin, and Duck and Goose decide they want one too, so they go in search of it, with not much luck until Thistle reappears with a hint.
Happy Halloween, Biscuit!
Alyssa Satin Capucilli, illustrated by Pat Schories
ISBN: 9780694012206 (page-end-flaps)
Biscuit and his little girl are prepping for Halloween, which means the little girl is prepping, and Biscuit is getting into messes and generally being an adorable pest, revealed by the flaps on each of the far left side pages. Sweet and gentle and with cute little "mysteries" to solve or questions to ponder on each spread.
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Tuesday Storytime: Monster Bedtimes
There are SO MANY monster books out there now! It's awesome!
My Monster Mama Loves Me So
Laura Leuck, illustrated by Mark Buehner
ISBN: 9780688168667
A monster child narrates roughly over a day explaining how the mama monster does things to show her love. Touching and silly-gross at the same time.
Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters
Jane Yolen, illustrated by Kelly Murphy
ISBN: 9780763642013
A pair of school-age monster (siblings?) race home from school and run through their monstrous bedtime routine before settling down to sleep at the end.
Goodnight Little Monster
Helen Ketteman, illustrated by Bonnie Leick
ISBN: 9780761456834
A VERY CUTE toddler monster goes through an exhaustive and inclusive bedtime routine, this time from the mama's perspective. Really seriously adorable, but man those spiders on the end-papers are gonna be the death of me.
My Monster Mama Loves Me So
Laura Leuck, illustrated by Mark Buehner
ISBN: 9780688168667
A monster child narrates roughly over a day explaining how the mama monster does things to show her love. Touching and silly-gross at the same time.
Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters
Jane Yolen, illustrated by Kelly Murphy
ISBN: 9780763642013
A pair of school-age monster (siblings?) race home from school and run through their monstrous bedtime routine before settling down to sleep at the end.
Goodnight Little Monster
Helen Ketteman, illustrated by Bonnie Leick
ISBN: 9780761456834
A VERY CUTE toddler monster goes through an exhaustive and inclusive bedtime routine, this time from the mama's perspective. Really seriously adorable, but man those spiders on the end-papers are gonna be the death of me.
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Tuesday Storytime: Branded Characters do Halloween
I have a complicated relationship with "branded" characters like Pete the Cat, or Mittens the kitten, or Arnold, or the Berenstain Bears, or Ladybug Girl, Angelina or Fancy Nancy. On the one hand, I like them because they establish a character that children can "know" and be attached to, and ask for by name. "Where is Pete the Cat?" or "Do you have any new Fancy Nancy?" is a powerful question to be able to ask; to be a child and come into a library and KNOW that there's something you'll probably like. It's the kid equivalent of our adult patrons who read every single Nora Roberts but won't touch JD Robb (even though they're the same person), and the impetus behind everlasting series by Patterson or Evanovich. There's a formula and a character that is comforting and familiar and enjoyable. I get that.
But.
On the flip side, a lot of kid's writing can get VERY formulaic (to be clear, so can adult series), especially when a beloved character is the only thru-line. And while I have less than no objections to kids taking these sorts of books home and loving them forever (I actually encourage it, and fight for them to be included in our catalog) I have to say that I don't really like to have them be too much a part of storytime. I really don't want to sound classist or snobby, but part of having a storytime is to present a whole lot of types and styles of literature to kids, so they learn by repetition about the patterns of narrative and characterisation and plot-twists and tropes and all that. And to be honest, character books often don't have much of any of that, because they can ride on the success of their character. (I don't blame the authors and creators for this - they need to eat just like everyone else) Not all of them do - I find that Fancy Nancy is pretty consistently well-done, and the Biscuit books are also well plotted for their target age - but a decent number of them you can just read them and realize that the writer is coasting (or that a committee wrote it for a spec; "I need a Christmas book for a promo tie-in: have the Llama Llama family do Christmas!"). And that's not good.
So I don't have a RULE against using characters in storytime, but I do try to keep it to a minimum, or at least to be aware that I need to vet the quality of character books just as severely as I do any other title I consider.
All that said, Halloween is a fun season to look at branded characters, so that's what my partner went with this time around. I don't know that all of these would have made the cut with me, but there's nothing objectionable about them. That's why its good to have multiple storytellers: it's important to have different perspectives and approaches on display to the families and kids.
Pete the Cat: Five Little Pumpkins
James Dean
ISBN: 9780062304186
A straightforward printing of the "Five Little Pumpkins" song/rhyme, with the visually-distinctive Pete the Cat illustrations.
Happy Halloween, Mittens
Lola M. Schaefer, illustrated by Susan Kathleen Hartung
ISBN: 9780061702228 ("I Can Read" book)
Mittens the kitten "helps" with Halloween prep in this extremely gentle and light-hearted gloss of the holiday.
Herbster Readers: The Halloween Costume Contest
Cecilia Minden and Joanne Meier, illustrated by Bob Ostrom
ISBN: 9781602532175
Herbie the Bear and his school pals spend most of the book brainstorming out costume ideas so they can win the school contest this year.
But.
On the flip side, a lot of kid's writing can get VERY formulaic (to be clear, so can adult series), especially when a beloved character is the only thru-line. And while I have less than no objections to kids taking these sorts of books home and loving them forever (I actually encourage it, and fight for them to be included in our catalog) I have to say that I don't really like to have them be too much a part of storytime. I really don't want to sound classist or snobby, but part of having a storytime is to present a whole lot of types and styles of literature to kids, so they learn by repetition about the patterns of narrative and characterisation and plot-twists and tropes and all that. And to be honest, character books often don't have much of any of that, because they can ride on the success of their character. (I don't blame the authors and creators for this - they need to eat just like everyone else) Not all of them do - I find that Fancy Nancy is pretty consistently well-done, and the Biscuit books are also well plotted for their target age - but a decent number of them you can just read them and realize that the writer is coasting (or that a committee wrote it for a spec; "I need a Christmas book for a promo tie-in: have the Llama Llama family do Christmas!"). And that's not good.
So I don't have a RULE against using characters in storytime, but I do try to keep it to a minimum, or at least to be aware that I need to vet the quality of character books just as severely as I do any other title I consider.
All that said, Halloween is a fun season to look at branded characters, so that's what my partner went with this time around. I don't know that all of these would have made the cut with me, but there's nothing objectionable about them. That's why its good to have multiple storytellers: it's important to have different perspectives and approaches on display to the families and kids.
Pete the Cat: Five Little Pumpkins
James Dean
ISBN: 9780062304186
A straightforward printing of the "Five Little Pumpkins" song/rhyme, with the visually-distinctive Pete the Cat illustrations.
Happy Halloween, Mittens
Lola M. Schaefer, illustrated by Susan Kathleen Hartung
ISBN: 9780061702228 ("I Can Read" book)
Mittens the kitten "helps" with Halloween prep in this extremely gentle and light-hearted gloss of the holiday.
Herbster Readers: The Halloween Costume Contest
Cecilia Minden and Joanne Meier, illustrated by Bob Ostrom
ISBN: 9781602532175
Herbie the Bear and his school pals spend most of the book brainstorming out costume ideas so they can win the school contest this year.
Friday, October 6, 2017
Tuesday Storytime: October Already!
The month of October is a happy time for my storytime selecting; as it becomes essentially a month-long celebration of Halloween and all things spooky. This is my partner's first October, and she's off to a great start:
Me and My Dragon: Afraid of Halloween
David Biedrzycki
ISBN: 9781580896580
The boy and his adorable bright red dragon confront the frights and startlements of Halloween, and decide it's not that bad after all.
Penguin and Pumpkin
Salina Yoon
ISBN: 9780802737335
A little longer than it seems like it should be: Penguin heads out away from the ice with a pack of friends to see what "fall" is like, but baby brother Pumpkin has to stay home, as he's not quite big enough. (Serious questions about given names in this world remain unanswered) When Penguin and crew come back with fall leaves and pumpkins for all, they do what they can to give baby Pumpkin a chance to experience fall himself.
Crankenstein
Samantha Berger, illustrated by Dan Santat
ISBN: 9780316126564
Crankenstein is a very scary monster. Have you seen it? Check around when there are annoying or disappointing situations, or when life just doesn't go quite right. Crank will vanish sometimes, but it will always be back. A funny sideways view of childhood fits and grumps works perfectly for this time of year.
Me and My Dragon: Afraid of Halloween
David Biedrzycki
ISBN: 9781580896580
The boy and his adorable bright red dragon confront the frights and startlements of Halloween, and decide it's not that bad after all.
Penguin and Pumpkin
Salina Yoon
ISBN: 9780802737335
A little longer than it seems like it should be: Penguin heads out away from the ice with a pack of friends to see what "fall" is like, but baby brother Pumpkin has to stay home, as he's not quite big enough. (Serious questions about given names in this world remain unanswered) When Penguin and crew come back with fall leaves and pumpkins for all, they do what they can to give baby Pumpkin a chance to experience fall himself.
Crankenstein
Samantha Berger, illustrated by Dan Santat
ISBN: 9780316126564
Crankenstein is a very scary monster. Have you seen it? Check around when there are annoying or disappointing situations, or when life just doesn't go quite right. Crank will vanish sometimes, but it will always be back. A funny sideways view of childhood fits and grumps works perfectly for this time of year.
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Tuesday Storytime: Airplanes!
Finally my turn again! When you're only doing storytime every other week, it's a long time when one gets cancelled. Last week we took a tour through some airplanes, as families look forward to holidays and visiting far-flung family or friends.
Airplanes Soaring! Turning! Diving!
Patricia Hubbell
Other than wanting to indict them for grave abuse of exclamation points on their title (seriously, people have to type that out) this is a seriously adorable and fact-filled early interest book about airplanes. Reads quick, a few fun vertically-oriented pages to mix things up a bit, and lots of weird faux-historical illustrations.
A B Cs on Wings
Ramon Olivera
Very well done. Super quick and easy to read, lay-out is STELLAR. Paper is crisp and weighty, colors are rich, designs are clear and stylized. Really truly super book.
Airport
Byron Barton
Another good "slice of life" by Barton. This time we focus on the process of getting TO the airplane: all the boring bits of arriving at the airport and processing through the waiting rooms and into the plane. It's VERY dated: the illustrations are quite 70s, and of course there's no security to be seen, but the gist is the same, and a kid isn't going to notice the finer details. Perfect for making air travel seem routine and calm, while still keeping the fun and excitement of airplanes themselves.
Airplanes Soaring! Turning! Diving!
Patricia Hubbell
Other than wanting to indict them for grave abuse of exclamation points on their title (seriously, people have to type that out) this is a seriously adorable and fact-filled early interest book about airplanes. Reads quick, a few fun vertically-oriented pages to mix things up a bit, and lots of weird faux-historical illustrations.
A B Cs on Wings
Ramon Olivera
Very well done. Super quick and easy to read, lay-out is STELLAR. Paper is crisp and weighty, colors are rich, designs are clear and stylized. Really truly super book.
Airport
Byron Barton
Another good "slice of life" by Barton. This time we focus on the process of getting TO the airplane: all the boring bits of arriving at the airport and processing through the waiting rooms and into the plane. It's VERY dated: the illustrations are quite 70s, and of course there's no security to be seen, but the gist is the same, and a kid isn't going to notice the finer details. Perfect for making air travel seem routine and calm, while still keeping the fun and excitement of airplanes themselves.
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