This week at the library; or, It's the circle of library life

WE HAVE A SINK!!!

What's going on; in my head and at the library

• Monday off for Labor Day
• Tuesday programs begin again! I was deathly determined to finish those dang lexiles, since the printer had defeated me on Saturday and I did!
• Wednesday was the second day of school, which means that the middle schoolers (and their chrome books) began drifting in). Of course the wifi was spotty. I'm never sure if it's the connection or user error...
• Thursday I wandered in to work around 11:30. Things happened. 50 people came to Lego Club. More things happened. Pattie and I ran Tap to Play, our playing with ipads program. Only one family came, but they stayed for over an hour. I had a chance to test out the Osmo and then I wandered in and out, talking with my aide and getting stuff read, while Pattie hung out with the kids and her two ipads. Conclusion - the Osmo is amazing (my teen aide can't wait to check it out) but generally too hard for kids under 5.
• Friday I had off b/c of working two Saturdays in a row.
• Saturday was the Ice Age Trail mammoth hunt. We had about 50 people, our biggest group ever! You can see photographs from this year and previous years online.

Programs

• Toddlers 'n' Books (2 sessions) (Ms. Pattie)
• Books 'n' Babies (Ms. Pattie)
• Lego Club
• Tap to Play
• Mammoth Hunt! with the Ice Age Trail Alliance

Some projects completed/in progress this week

• Lexile project truly finished (until it's time to update them all again next year)
• Spanish collection development (re-cataloging, weeding, ordering)
• September book order
• Staff scheduling for October

Professional Development

• Cybils!

Stealth Programs and Displays

• 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten
• Birdwatching/Art Station
• Display: Dewey love to read?
• I Spy Aquarium: Back to School
• Activity Table: Fall Into Reading

What the kids are reading; A Selection

• Some left from last week
• One of my favorite patrons who I have labored over high lexiles many years. She's getting into historical romance, but definitely not ready for (or interested in) bodice-rippers. I spent an enjoyable time on Saturday picking out books for her - Luxe, Matched, Georgette Heyer, Robin McKinley, and Rosemary Sutcliff. Her sister wasn't there but is into the dramatic/angst genre right now, so I recommended Three Little Words as something that would supply both the angst and the more positive outlook her mom would prefer. Never really went through the Lurlene McDaniel stage myself, but I get it!
• Teen boy really wanted another book by Jennifer Nielsen, the only ones in our entire system were The False Prince and The Mark of the Thief (which he's read). I tried a lot of different books - Catherine Fisher's Relic series, Dragon and Thief, Garth Nix, and he finally picked Brotherband Chronicles for himself and reluctantly took Catherine Fisher. Of course, later on I realized there actually are two more books after The False Prince but nobody owns them so I tipped off our cataloger to get those for YA.
• Very tricky reader's advisory - kid likes Sfar's Little Vampire and wants only graphic novels that are like that one, spooky but not scary? His mom would like him to try some chapter books. I convinced him to take How to Train Your Dragon (even though he was skeptical that it didn't look like the movie), Mal and Chad, and Notebook of Doom. Now that I think of it, I should have tried Labatt's Sam mysteries.
• Fancy Nancy chapter books
• New Oliver Jeffers and Tom Lichtenheld (also recommended Chopsticks)
• Recommendations for a 12 year old girl who likes animals and mysteries - Gilda Joyce and Kiki Strike
• Voracious fantasy reader - put Tournament at Gorlan on hold and recommended Cinda Williams Chima and Incarceron. And then I gave him Skulduggery Pleasant when he came back.
• A Dragonbreath fan! She was doubtful when I told her about Hamster Princess until I described it, and now she's definitely going to read that one next.

The Talking Cat and other stories of French Canada by Natalie Savage Carlson, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin

I don't really feel too many pangs when I have to weed beloved books. I feel some regret when I find something that I love but the kids are obviously just not into, but I don't feel a sentimental desperation to keep it in the library. Yes, I am a slash-and-burn weeder.

However, some things I will take home to love. This collection of folktales is one that I was introduced to through Clifton Fadiman's anthology, I think. It was there that I first read and loved the stories "The Skunk in Tante Odette's Oven" and "The Talking Cat". This book contains seven funny, quirky stories, all of them featuring a broad cast of characters from an imaginary rural Canadian village.

Carlson's introduction explains the magic of storytelling and how she learned these stories from her mother, who learned them from her great-uncle.

The first story, my favorite, introduces us to Tante Odette, a stingy and lonely woman who wakes up to an unusual problem one morning. Yep, there is a skunk in her oven. Tante Odette repeats her troubles in a rhythmic, sing-song recital until she has a large crowd gathered to help her deal with this tragedy. But none of the suggestions find favor with Tante Odette. Finally, Rene Ecrette, "the simple son of Francois, came slap, slapping his feet down the road" and it is simple Rene who solves the problem of the skunk, with a little understanding of animal - and human - nature.

"The Talking Cat" features Tante Odette and her stingy ways and how a clever farmhand gets the best of her - but teaches her there's more to life than saving and scrimping. As the moral says "If you must follow the advice of a talking cat, be sure you know who is doing the talking for him."

"Jean Labadie's big black dog" is a funny story about the power of imagination - and how it can backfire! "The Speckled Hen's Egg" is a little like the old folktale about not counting your chickens before they hatch, featuring a woman who starts to imagine she is royalty and wealthy - all from a hen's egg! "The Canoe in the Rapids" is a whole story all around that gag you see in cartoons - where a character thinks he's talking to a friend and it's really a bear. I guess this wasn't just a new joke for cartoons! When a fish story goes wrong, Albe meets "The Ghostly Fishermen" and gets more than he bargained for when he tries to prove his story true. The final story, "The Loup-Garou in the woods" shows how differently a story can be, depending on who tells it - and who was there!

Roger Duvoisin's black and white illustrations, scattered throughout the book, capture another time and place with a group of sturdy, odd, funny people going about their days and getting into wacky troubles. I especially love the pictures of Tante Odette's worrisome adventure with the skunk.

Verdict: I love these stories. They're part of my childhood memories and I love the folktale trickster, wise fools feeling of them but with the very different setting and characters than most stories. Did I suffer any pangs weeding this? Not really. Their time is past. There are only a couple mentions of the Native populations and none are particularly accurate or inclusive. The genre of stories about adults has long passed away and kids now read books predominantly about kids. Even Duvoisin is no longer a well-known illustrator and the age of story collections is past as well. I'll be happy to keep this in my personal collection, but it no longer has a place in the library.

Published by Harper & Brothers (Weekly Reader Children's Book Club) 1952; Weeded from the library

Read, Read, Read said the Baby: Piggy Paints by Jim Benton

Jim Benton, best known for the Franny K. Stein and Dear Dumb Diary series, expands to board books in this funny rhyming romp.

Mischievous Piggy wakes up, ready to paint. Soon the walls, floor, paper, and every available surface is splashed with color and images until Piggy retires, exhausted, to bed. The swinging rhymes will entrance your small listeners and make them want to try their own painting (hopefully not on the walls). "Piggy paints big./Piggy paints little./Piggy paints pigs/with a kitty in the middle."

The art is Benton's trademark cartoon style with a humorous touch that older listeners and readers will appreciate while younger children call out colors and animals. Piggy's wicked grin and admiring friends, combined with the effervescent enjoyment of his artistic endeavors makes this a delightful romp.

The book is a slightly smaller format, about 5x5 inches square, but the pages are sturdy and it's a nice average size overall.

Verdict: A fun addition, if your patrons aren't too uptight that they worry about paint on the walls! This is one in a series of silly board books from Jim Benton.

ISBN: 9780545647854; Published 2015 by Cartwheel/Scholastic; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

Welcome Home, Bear: A Book of Animal Habitats by Il Sung Na

Sometimes it seems there are so many gorgeous picture books you just don't have enough storytimes to go around. Fortunately for my sanity, I have several bear-themed storytimes that this will fit nicely into, because I couldn't bear not to use in storytime. Heh. Bear.

I'm writing this at the tail-end of summer and I haven't had a lot of sleep. Ahem. Anyways.

Il Sung Na returns with another animal-themed book, this one exploring habitats with a delightful touch of imagination. Bear has decided he's tired of the same old green forest and wants to try a new home. So he goes visiting to see where the other animals live. But Mole's underground home is too stuffy, Octopus' ocean is too deep, and Camel's desert is too hot. Finally, Bear realizes the perfect place for him is back in his green forest.

The illustrations are in Il Sung Na's unique, layered style. They have a light, amusing quality, as when a bug-eyed Bear freaks out about his hot paws in the desert sand while a pink and blue Camel watches with a crooked grin,, but there's also a delicate beauty in the detailed foliage and the print-like green and blue forests on the end pages.

The plot of a creature looking high and low and discovering what they want is at home all the time is a familiar one, but the humorous twist to the plot as well as the natural details make it fresh and new. When Bear visits Octopus under the sea, we learn obliquely that Octopus squirts ink. It rains in the Orangutan's home so where does the Orangutan live....the rainforest! Goat lives in high places, so she's a....mountain goat! The lovely illustrations are eye-catching and distinctive and will keep your audience's attention as well.

Verdict: This is a great introduction to any storytime repertoire and a lovely and fun book on its own. Highly recommended.

ISBN: 9780385753753; Published 2015 by Alfred A. Knopf/Random House; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library

Nonfiction Monday: Before We Eat from farm to table by Pat Brisson, illustrated by Mary Azarian

Simple, rhyming text takes the reader through the process of creating food, starting with planting, tending and harvesting plants and caring for animals. The next step is packaging and transport, then the grocery store, shopping, and preparing a meal. The book ends with a spread featuring all the people involved in the food cycle.

I'd like to add more books on this subject and this one includes a wide variety of processes and is aimed at very young children, but there are a couple things that make me hesitant to add it.

It focuses on what looks like family farms and local, organic produce and animals, but pictures the food being transported in semitrucks. I like the idea of local, organic food, but the practical reality of where I live is that not many people can afford to purchase it in stores. The farmer's markets we have don't include the variety of foods pictured here. I also felt the animals being included and showing gathering eggs, milking cows but nothing of the meat process (seriously, what else were you planning to do with those pigs?) is a bit disingenuous.

There is a decent variety of races and ages pictured, as well as some children involved in the work. However, I'm not really thrilled with the blocky woodcut style of the illustrations. I wanted a lot more information in the book than was available and something that fitted more exactly in my local area.

Verdict: This publisher's titles are a little more expensive and this wasn't quite what I wanted, so I'm going to pass on it. However, if you are looking for books to introduce the food cycle to very young children this could be a good choice.

ISBN: 9780884483526; Published 2014 by Tilbury House; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

This is what summer looks like: The evaluation

I'm actually testing out the winning school librarian's
queen of summer reading crown but whatever.

How it went:

Pretty good overall. Having fewer programs and replacing the big craft parties with performers was less stressful. Our circulation wasn't as insane as previous years, probably due to the opening of the new pool and weird weather, but it was still quite decent. I still think the summer reading can be simplified more, but nobody complained about the lack of plastic crap and kids were perfectly happy with small candies and/or coupons.

I am trying to stop thinking of it as a "completion" thing and more of an ongoing reading program, so kids bringing in their logs at the end for a free book is more of a bonus prize and not a "oh no hardly any kids completed the program!" I think the more important number is the return visits, which were over 2,000.

The Numbers

Circulation

• June: 14,412
• July: 9,166
• August: 11,721
• Total summer circulation: 35,299

Programs and program attendance 

• Programs: 72 
• Attendance: 3,340 

Summer Reading 

• Registered for Rubber Ducky Readers: 74 
• Logs returned: 50 
• Registered for Every Hero Has a Story: 808 
• Return visits (June/July): 2,342 (approximate)
• Logs returned: 170 
• Registered for Teen Summer Reading: 81 
• Participants who won prizes: 52

Plans for next year

As I said, I do have some plans. I would like to break up the general summer reading calendars so the kids turn in the June calendar for passes, then get the July calendar and turn that in for their free book. However, because the passes depend on age, in order to do that I need a better Rubber Ducky Readers program and I am hoping to use the WLA early literacy calendars for that next year.

If all goes well (and I'm kind of doubtful about this) we will have a walled in area of some kind and be able to really expand the gardens next year and do more outdoor programming. We'll see how it goes, budget-wise.

I would like to partner with summer school for more things - possibly take boxes of books over there and have kids check out as they get picked up or something, or maybe collaborate on some programs.

This week at the library; or, Last week of no programs

This was whipped up by one of our circulation staff
when I begged for help fixing my bare board.

What's going on; in my head and at the library

• Still working on Lexiles. Last bits of planning, running errands, etc. for the start of programming next week. I went up to see my associate and her absolutely adorable dog whom I am now in love with (and the baby, but really I'm a dog person) and locked my keys in my (running) car. Yay small towns where the police will come pry your doors open...
• I also worked on cleaning out my backlog of webinars.
• And spent another couple hours running around to schools to drop off marketing and try to book outreach. Success! My fall is FULL. and then I realized I had booked 5 school visits on a day I was off. GEEZ.
• I was right down to the wire finishing the lexiles, but I took a break to make a bunch of coloring starter pages for the art station, inspired by an ALSC post a while back.
• Saturday was crazy and I HATE LEXILES AND EXCEL.

Some projects completed/in progress this week

• Lexiles finished! (or they would have been if the dang printer hadn't run out of toner. I just have half a list to print and one more to format for printing)
• Reorganizing Spanish

Professional Development

• Read Play Grow with Rachel Payne
• Ready Set Kindergarten with Rachel Payne
• Responsive Programming (Growing Wisconsin Readers)
• Child Development 0-4 with Brook Berg
• Child Development 5-8 with Brook Berg
• YSS Powerhouse: Teen Services okay, better than okay!
• SLJ New Nonfiction for Young Readers

Stealth Programs and Displays

• 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten
• Birdwatching/Art Station (updated with coloring starters)
• Display: Dewey love to read?
• I Spy Aquarium: Back to School
• Activity Table: Fall Into Reading
• Take Home Storytime: Frogs

What the kids are reading; A Selection

• Michael Vey audios - we don't have the latest.
• Two recommendations of Hilda
• Eleanor's Secret, two recommendations of Castle in the Sky

Toto Trouble: Back to crass by Thierry Coppee

This is a new series of cartoon strips brought over to the US by Papercutz. It reminded me strongly of Goscinny's Nicolas series, which I think is hilarious, but updated for a more modern audience.

Toto is a typical little boy; he drives his parents, teacher, classmates, and sometimes even himself bananas. Always ready to say the wrong thing at the wrong time, you can be sure that most of the page-long comic stories are going to end with with a cross between a groan and a giggle.

A sample storyline: "End-of-the-year gift" shows Toto's long-suffering teacher politely, if not necessarily happily, excepting the gifts presented by her students at the end of the year. Toto's present, a mysteriously dripping box, inspires her to a little guessing game, including a taste test...."Hmm, I think I've guessed! It's...pickles in vinegar!" says the teacher, only to be capped by Totos' ending line "No, it's a little puppy!" accompanied by a green-faced teacher and grimacing classmates.

The art is sure to attract cartoon fans. It's got that excellent "I can whip out a page of these every day" feel that I always get from French comics. The font is a little small, but the character expressions and the timing is perfect. Toto's wide-eyed innocence and the mounting frustration of the adults trying to deal with him is perfectly illustrated and the comic timing works in every story. Toto's class is diverse and while there is some gender stereotyping, it's not too bad.

So, I thought this was really funny and I think kids would too. BUT there's a reason it's subtitled "Back to Crass" and the back advertises "dumb jokes and gross gags." If you have sensitive parents or kids, be prepared for complaints. Toto makes several borderline off-color jokes, there's several panels joking about the kids learning about where babies come from, and the public urinals inspire several penis jokes. It is French after all.

Verdict: This is funny and kids would love it. I wouldn't not recommend it because of the likelihood of complaints, but if you add it to your collection, be mindful of whom you recommend it to and be prepared to explain to irate parents that different cultures have different standards of humor.

ISBN: 9781597077262; Published 2014 by Papercutz; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Purchased for the library

Small Readers: What this story needs is a pig in a wig by Emma J. Virjan

I felt that what this story really needed was a better plot. Or a plot at all. A little harsh perhaps, but I was disappointed.

The story starts out well, with a cheerfully nonsensical rhyme "What this story needs is a pig./A pig in a wig,/on a boat,/in a moat,/with a frog,/a dog,/and a goat on a log." However, it doesn't go anywhere. More and more animals are added, the pig loses her temper when the boat gets crowded, and all the other animals take themselves and their accouterments off to a nearby island. Of course, the pig realizes she's lonely and calls them back, deciding "What this story needs now is...a bigger boat!"

I've always found this particular plot line - that wanting solitude and a smaller group of friends is selfish and lonely - personally annoying. I realize this is a silly story about a pig in a wig, and not an outward condemnation of my inward neuroses, but still....why couldn't the pig invite her friends to play one at a time perhaps? Regardless, it's really not a plot at all, just a list of animals and things, coming and going.

The art made me think of a cross between Mo Willems and Charise Mericle Harper, with simple lines and colors and cartoon touches. It's fun and easy to follow, but didn't impress me as being particularly individual. The text is in a font about midway between the extra large type of a very beginning reader and the smaller type of a chapter book. I did appreciate the layout, which kept the text clearly on bold backgrounds, not blended into the pictures as some easy readers do.

Verdict: This sounds as though I really hate this book, and while I didn't personally click with it, it's a perfectly sound effort. The rhymes are smooth and have a nice rhythm, it's pleasantly humorous, and kids who have devoured all the Elephant and Piggie books will be happy to pick it up. I'll be looking at future installments to see if the plots broaden out a little. An additional purchase.

ISBN: 9780062327246; Published 2015 by HarperCollins; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

That's (not) Mine by Anna Kang, illustrated by Christopher Weyant

Anna Kang's first book, You Are (Not) Small, was a fun look at perspectives. Now she has branched out into a classic sharing theme, but with her own fun twist.

The story begins with the big bear comfortably settled in its chair and knitting. Then along comes a short, blue interloper who declares "That's my chair." The argument escalates until the little fuzzy produces their own chair. It's a....really nice chair. It squeaks! It spins! Big fuzzy begs for a chance to try it out but it ends badly...and guess who gets the chair? Temporarily anyways. The fight is back on and gets more and more heated until a simple apology ends it all and they take off to play together - leaving the chair open for another claimant.

Christopher Weyant's ink and watercolor illustrations make me think of colored pencils and markers. They have that friendly, child-like feel while still being smooth and professional. His fuzzy creatures with their bulgy noses are cartoonish and yet relatable, with a wide variety of expressions and body language. The illustrations are simple, just the chair(s) and the fuzzy creatures against a plain white background, but the humor, feelings, and mischievous activities shine through.

If parents are looking for a book that will "teach" their kids to share, this probably won't be the one. I'm skeptical of bibliotherapy in general anyways. But if they're looking for a book that will make them stop and giggle the next time they yell "it's mine!" this is it.

Verdict: Fun, fresh, and thoroughly enjoyable. Recommended.

ISBN: 9781477826393; Published September 2015 by Two Lions/Amazon; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library

[Side note] I couldn't resist putting up the adorable poster in my reading area. Granted, I have more problems with kids building, throwing, climbing, and jumping on and off the cushions, but maybe they'll get the hint!