Kidlitcon 2019

Yes, I really only took pictures of the things that interested
me at the RISD art museum. Namely, textiles (and a few
ceramics and some Impressionists)

I can't honestly say I've been always wanting to go to Kidlitcon because I hate to travel, stay in hotels, go out to eat in strange places, and basically all the stuff that people love about conferences. But I did really want to do Kidlitcon at least once, and meet all the people I've only talked to online. Last fall I made the plunge and signed up, so when it got to March and everything was completely insane I couldn't back out! For a more comprehensive post, with pictures, see Ami's blog. And yes, most of the reason I went was to hang out with Ami. I wish she lived closer and/or we worked together! I also got to hang out with publicist Barbara Fisch, who I've only spoken to via email!

Anyways, I left early Thursday morning for a complicated travel scheme of driving, bus, and plane, then arrived Thursday afternoon and was kindly picked up by Charlotte and met up with various old Cybils friends. I also sat down and went through the guide to Providence and the conference (yes, normally I would have done this way in advance, but remember how I said everything went wombat-up? Yeah. I shoved some stuff in a bag the night before and asked my neighbor to watch my plants and that was as much preparation as I did.)

Friday sessions:
Keynote with LeUyen Pham
Yes, I enjoyed this keynote - Pham is amazing, funny, reflective, and just interesting. She talked about her own experiences as a child and a reader, how her Vietnamese heritage affected her, and her interactions with librarians and teachers. She also talked about her viewpoints changed and how that was reflected in her art.

STEM Stories
Anita Sanchez (Itch, Rotten, Leaflets three, let it be)
Richard Ho (Red Rover book on Mars coming out next fall)
Jason Viola (Science Comics: Polar Bears)
Sara Levine (Bone by Bone, Tooth by Tooth, Fossil by fossil, Flower talk)
Heidi Fiedler (Know-nonsense guides, editor)
Paula Willey (moderator)
Lots of insight into the process of nonfiction picture books, ideas for programming etc.

Instagram
Charnaie Gordon
Lauren Neil
This was really good, very practical. I wrote up a lot of detailed notes I'm giving to my staff who do instagram, primarily for our teens, to hopefully bump our teen circulation.

Not just the Newbery
Shoshana Flax
Anamaria Anderson
Charlotte Taylor
As the presenters noted, there isn't a comprehensive list of children's literature awards - it's just too wide a field. However, if you're interested in awards affiliated with ALA try this list (participation varies from volunteering to running for election, but almost all require membership in ALA and physical attendance at several conferences. Ergo, expensive.) State awards are here, and I have an abbreviated list of the awards I use most often here.

Marketing picture books
Traci Sorell (We are grateful)
Michelle Cusolito (Flying deep)
Sarah Lynne Reul (Breaking news, and some lift-the-flap books that I might look at)
Jeanette Bradley (Love Mama - hadn't seen this before, very cute penguin book)
Christy Mihaly (Hey Hey Hay - I snapped that up the minute I saw it last year!)
This was really directed more at authors, talking about how to market your books and navigate your first year as a debut author, but I thought it might have some great ideas for marketing picture books and I did get some excellent suggestions for displays and promoting picture books. I also appreciated that Michelle Cusolito pointed out that you can't just walk into a library or bookstore and expect them to start promoting your work - you have to build relationships before hand. To be brutally honest, when somebody walks in and says "I've written a children's book" my first instinct is to run and hide, and assume it's probably crap. On the other hand, I have two patrons that I've known for many years, who are regular library patrons, read extensively in the children's area, and are interested in writing children's books. I'm happy to chat with them and will certainly promote their books if they get to that stage because I know they can take criticism and are working at their craft. Plus, I really, really want that cute picture book with photos...

LGBTQ positive picture books
Megan Dowd Lambert (Real sisters pretend)
Andrea Loney (Bunnybear)
Christian Trimmer (Teddy's favorite toy, Snow pony, also an editor)
Alli Harper
Jeanette Bradley (moderator)
The basic idea of this was that now that GLBTQ families are more mainstream, there need to be more mainstream picture books. There were a number of good examples of titles and discussion of what needs to be seen going forward. One thing that interested me was that this panel really typified the divide I've seen between urban/rural areas and different parts of the country. The mainstream acceptance that many of the people on this panel have seen/experienced is certainly not my experience in my small, midwestern town. Although it is more accepting in some ways (I've never had a challenge for a book with LGBTQ content and we have a small Pride fair in the summer) it's certainly not mainstream and absolutely not reflected in the attitudes of the average patron or staff. But I didn't want to harsh their buzz so I didn't bring this up. Also, Andrea Loney has absolutely awesome style (I got to talk to her later, not about literature but about hair...) and she looked fabulous every time I saw her at the conference.

Saturday sessions
Keynote with Varian Johnson
This focused mainly on being a writer and working through the difficulties anyone in a challenging profession faces.

Chapter Books
Debbi Michiko Florence (Jasmine Toguchi and has a new series coming this summer)
Kara Lareau (Infamous Ratsos)
Megan Frazer Blakemore (middle grade but has a chapter book series coming)
David A. Kelly (Baseball park mysteries and MVP)
Jarrett Lerner (moderator and author of EngiNerds)
This was a panel I was really looking forward to. It was very interesting to hear how the different authors approached their chapter book series and I feel I have been remiss in not reading more Megan Frazer Blakemore and also I bet she is a really awesome school librarian! Hearing the different approaches was helpful in narrowing down how and why I'm choosing chapter books, a pretty big selection area for me.

What makes a good comic/graphic novel
Mel Schuit
Alex Graudins (science comics the brain)
Laura M. Jimenez (academic)
LeUyen Pham
Admittedly, at this point I was just automatically attending anything with LeUyen Pham, she was just that good. There were some great points made about how kids read visually as opposed to textually, some good talking points I can use to talk to teachers and parents who are reluctant for their kids to read graphic novels, and then some really interesting views on how to read graphic novels more deeply - I think that will be a major talking point as well.

Book Blogger Salon
A bunch of bloggers hung out and chatted. The basic takeaway was that blogging is primarily a resource or home base to point people back to - if you want the social aspect of it, people are on instagram or twitter. I refuse to tweet, I just can't add that, so I accept that my blogs will gradually fade into the obscurity from whence they came, but since I have always written them as a resource, first for myself and then for other librarians, I'm ok with them not being a social media point.

Reaching Readers part I
Anika Denise (Planting stories most recently, also she has one coming out with Ruth Cummins)
Debbie Kovacs (editor)
Barbara Fisch (publicist - Blueslip Media)
Josh Funk (How to code a sandcastle)
Lee Wind (moderator and author)
This part of the session focused on reaching readers from the viewpoint of authors, publishers, and editors. I still think that all booktalks should be done by librarians. Editors just aren't good at them! Not if they're trying to grab kids' attention anyways.

Reaching Readers part II
Sam Musher (school librarian)
Melissa Fox (bookstore)
Karen Yingling (school librarian)
This was a panel I was really looking forward to and I was disappointed that Cindy Rodriguez, of Latinx in Kid Lit, was unable to be there. However, one cannot be disappointed when faced with the indefatigable Ms. Yingling and her riotous energy. I strongly suspect her of getting up before everyone else to run several miles and read a couple books. Lots of great suggestions on promoting books to readers, finding the right books, and some great discussions about diverse books and their readers.

The Frightful Fantastic
Tui T. Sutherland (Wings of Fire, editor of Warriors)
Antoine Revoy (a new graphic novel called Animus)
David Neilsen (Dr. Fell and the playground of doom)
S. R. Toliver (academic)
Paula Willey (moderator - she's a librarian and writes a blog about horror)
This was the panel that all my book club kids will be agog to hear about! So, yes kids, that was really Tui Sutherland, she was very funny and friendly, and I got two books signed for summer reading prizes. Otherwise, there was a really interesting take on "horror" or just scary elements in books and how the authors view them. It was especially interesting to see the different ways they view their audience, with some thinking of scary stories as a "safe" place for kids while others, who work with kids who have no safe place, see them as a way to work out what the kids are dealing with in everyday life. Also, to my young readers, Tui Sutherland said she was never going to kill off Kinkajou and there is a new book coming out this summer and the next graphic adaptation next fall.

And that was it! It was a pretty intense two days of sessions and there were also a lot of authors there who weren't on panels. A couple I chatted with or wanted to but missed were
Rebecca Caprara (Magic of Melwick Orchard and she has a middle grade novel in verse coming)
Anna Meriano (Love sugar magic - I wanted to go to her panel, but Ami went so I got her notes)

Barbara Dee (I missed out on telling her that the kids love her books!)

I had a few hours on Sunday so I walked around a little of Providence with Ami and then went to the RISD art museum with Barbara. Then taxi, plane, bus, car, and finally home! Now I have the week of spring break off and I am spring cleaning...

This week at the library; or, Vacation!

Happening this week

• Monday
• Paws to Read
• Tuesday
• Craft-o-rama
• Friday
• Cupcake Wars
• Free Lego Build

Notes

• I got back from the kidlit conference late Sunday night and then I had the week off. I firmly refused to check my email so I have no idea what happened... except that one of my associates and an aide were also off, so the ship was held down by one part-time associate and one part-time aide. I hope they had fun and are still willing to work for me when I get back next Monday....

The collector by K. R. Alexander

I don't remember where I saw this recommended or reviewed, but I picked it up with some trepidation as I'm not generally a fan of horror. My ultimate conclusion thought was that it was more boring than scary.

Josie and her little sister, Anna, have moved with their mom to stay with their grandmother in a small town in the country. Josie is worried about starting a new school and her grandmother's deteriorating mental condition, which leads to her giving the girls some strange rules like no dolls in the house and never visiting the woods. After a rough start, Josie makes friend at school, Vanessa. But there's something a little... odd about Vanessa.

SPOILERS

After much, much, much foreshadowing, it turns out that Vanessa is actually a childhood friend of their grandmother's. She's been preserved as a doll, sent out to lure more children into the terrifying house in the woods by Beryl, another childhood friend who is an evil witch. Josie eventually manages to defeat the witch and save her sister and the other children who were turned into dolls, but Vanessa (and the other children) return to their true ages and Vanessa disintegrates into ash and... magic. But Josie's grandmother starts recovering almost immediately and Josie now has real friends in school.

There was a LOT of atmospheric shadowing, but it was pretty obvious from the beginning that there was something off about Vanessa. Everything was quickly resolved at the end, except perhaps for the children who returned to their true ages and then had to explain where they'd been for so many years? This is never addressed. The plot felt pretty tried-and-true and I can see it being pushed aside by my horror fans who want really scary books.

Verdict: Kids who want mildly scary fare will enjoy this, but it's what I'd pick as a backlist title, if you need more books in a certain genre. It is only a little over 200 pages which is a bonus for readers who are reluctant to dive into the massive tomes that seem to be popular today.

ISBN: 9781338212242; Published 2018 by Scholastic; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

Mia Mayhem is a superhero by Kara West, illustrated by Leeza Hernandez

Sometimes I read a book and wonder if I read the same thing other reviewers did. Or if I just totally missed something? This book really confused me at a couple points, but nobody else seemed to have that problem!

The story opens with Mia Macarooney promising there's really a good reason for the chaos around her - she's a superhero! She receives a letter inviting her to superhero school and her parents are excited that she's finally been accepted to their alma mater. Because they're both superheroes! Her mom can fly and her dad can talk to animals. Mia is excited, but the chaos that always surrounds her just seems to get worse, from her cat running away to exploding flower bags, torn screen doors, and it doesn't stop when she gets to the superhero academy. At first it's fun, meeting all the new teachers, getting a super suit, and having a special after-school secret. But then she has to take an exam and she's worried that she's failed being a superhero before she's even started! Luckily, Dr. Sue Perb knows just how to make Mia feel better and explain that being a superhero takes lots of time and training.

The black and white art includes some panels and full-page spreads. Mia has dark skin and curly hair, like her father, while her mother has straight dark hair and lighter brown skin. Her best friend at regular school is white, while the boy who saves her at superhero school is black. A wide range of skin tones are shown in Mia's public and superhero schools, but no visible disabilities.

This was a fun story of a little girl who keeps getting into trouble, no matter how hard she tries, with a supportive cast of parents, teachers, and friends. But there were several points in the story where I felt like I'd missed a page. When Mia sees a group of teachers? Students? And suddenly extrapolates one as her teacher, or the rapid jumping back and forth between the exams, where we never really learn how Mia did, and the structure of the superhero academy. Plus, her powers, or lack thereof, are really confusing. On the one hand, it accurately captures the confusion of starting a new school, superhero or not, but on the other hand a really readable and simple plot is absolutely necessary for a beginning chapter book, especially one as low level as this. My other caveat was simply that most of my readers don't really want non-traditional superheroes - they want Batman, Wonder Woman, etc. and while I got a few kids into Captain Awesome, I've never really gotten anyone else to read similar titles.

Verdict: Future books are sure to smooth out the plot difficulties and if you have an audience that likes spunky girls and superheroes this will probably be popular. I'm going to try it with my book club and see what they think before purchasing.

ISBN: 9781534432697; Published December 2018 by Little Simon; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

Read, Read, Read, said the Baby: Wiggles by Claire Zucchelli-Romer

Interactive picture books are all the rage, but they're often too complex for babies and toddlers. This fun title, however, will not only entertain little ones it will also increase fine motor skills.

Against the light blue pages, neon colors delineate die-cut patterns - dots, lines, zigzags, and wiggles. The text encourages little readers to follow the lines, making their fingers slide, tap, and dance! The book also includes multiple encouragements to tell the difference between right and left, using both hands together on the page. Readers can imagine waves, race tracks, and more as they follow the patterns.

It would be interesting to see if you could translate the book to a larger venue, maybe boards with sensory materials? So you could use it as a storytime activity.

Verdict: While not the best book for storytimes, unless you figure out a way to adapt it, this is a great book for one-on-one reading and encourages motor development as well as fun. Highly recommended.

ISBN: 9781452164755; Published 2018 by Chronicle; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Purchased for the library

The song of spring by Hendrik Jonas

An array of colorful birds appears in a green landscape to herald the spring and call to their mates. But one little bird can't remember his spring song. Each try produces the wrong call - but does net him some interesting friends like a dog, pig, and cow. Each encourages the little bird to keep trying, but he only ends up with the wrong animal! Finally, a strange sound brings their attention to another little bird who's having trouble with her spring sound and the little bird's tree is full of friends, even if they're not all birds!

The art is a mixture of soft pastels and printed and textured collages. Readers can see faint plaid lines on a tree trunk, and words stamped in the bushes among other secrets. The little bird is a sweet, fluffy little creature with a gray fluff of a crest and a red spot on his belly. The female bird looks similar, but has a snazzy pair of striped red stockings, smooth brown feathers, and a little clip. The art is placed against a white background and minimalist settings; a house, tree, and fence, a few bushes, and a single tree.

Verdict: If you're looking for more spring books, especially for younger children who will appreciate making animal sounds, this is a good additional purchase.

ISBN: 9783791373799; Published March 2019 by Prestel; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library

Spring after spring: How Rachel Carson inspired the Environmental Movement by Stephanie Roth Sisson

I do not dislike all picture book biographies, I just find very few that I think are actually useful and not just pointless artistic exercises. I was surprised and pleased to find this one met all of my (many) requirements.

The first half of the book tells the story of Rachel Carson's childhood; her love of exploration and nature, and the time she spent observing and listening to the world around her. The second half gives a simple overview of her pivotal research, showing the effects of pesticides, her presentation to President Kennedy, and a final joyful spread showing a diverse group of people enjoying the natural world she loved. A quiet night scene shows Carson continuing her observation and care of the natural world. An extensive author's note, notes, and bibliography offer more resources for older readers interested in learning more about Carson's brief but influential life.

Sisson's art is a large part of the appeal of this book for me; paneled drawings show Carson as a child exploring the world filled with birds, animals, and green. As an adult, a stark, dark panel shows the rapidly disappearing wildlife. Carefully drawn diagrams explain how pesticides affected the birds and wildlife. Young readers don't need a lot of context to understand Carson's story and the attractive, clear art is seamlessly blended with the narrative. While there are more aspects to Carson's life, such as the sexism she faced, and more history, including the tumultuous issues of the 1960s, Sisson has done a great job of explaining why Rachel Carson is important in a way that young children can easily understand.

Verdict: This is a good choice for use in classrooms and libraries for children interested in the natural world, female scientists, and some simple history about the environmental movement.

ISBN: 9781626728196; Published August 2018 by Roaring Brook; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

This week at the library; or, In which many more things happen

Happening at the library

• Monday
• Paws to Read
• Manager's Meeting
• Installation of new circulation/information desk
• Tuesday
• Toddlers 'n' Books (2 sessions)
• District Battle of the Books
• VIP volunteers
• What's Next: Teen Tech (special needs teens and young adults)
• Installation of new circulation/information desk
• Wednesday
• Early literacy outreach storytimes: Rain (3 sessions)
• Library on the Go: First grade (2 sessions)
• Winter Wigglers: Fit Kids (2 sessions)
• Thursday
• Books 'n' Babies
• Book Explosion: Minecraft
• Friday
• Free Lego Build
• Worked 24.5 hours; 16 hours conference; 10 hours on desk; 6 programs

Notes of interest

• Yes, we had a major installation of a new combined circulation/information desk.
• I went in early on both Tuesday and Wednesday - the former at 8am to get BOB started and the latter for school visits which start around 8:30.
• A LOT of kids, teachers, and people in general have flu or related plagues. I seem to have collected the respiratory thing that's going around. Better than the stomach virus I guess *knock on wood*.
• I left on Thursday for kidlitcon and when I get back will be out for the week of spring break as will most of my staff. One teen aide and one associate will be doing craft-o-rama, free lego build, and Paws to Read and my associate is doing her first big teen program - Cupcake Wars!
• So I'll be back in April.

Spooked! How a radio broadcast and The War of the Worlds sparked the 1938 invasion of America by Gail Jarrow

Jarrow writes fascinating and well-researched narrative nonfiction about little-known periods in history. This latest book is about Orson Welles's 1938 dramatized radio broadcast of H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds, which sparked a panic. Or did it?

From Welles's childhood and rise to fame, to worldwide events preceding World War II that contributed to the results, to the effect of radio and the reaction of newspapers, Jarrow has written an excellent account of the phenomena that is enshrined in popular myth and history as a major panic, demonstrating the gullibility of the American people. Readers will learn that fake news and hoaxes are certainly no new phenomena and perhaps even reflect on their own media consumption.

But, will there be readers? I found this fascinating - I knew of the Welles broadcast in a general way, although I'd never learned more details about it. I enjoyed the way Jarrow starts out with an attention-grabbing story of invasion and ends with the careers of those involved; many were blacklisted during the red scares and eventually moved away from the entertainment industry. She also did a great job of carefully researching her sources and evaluating the studies and reasons why newspapers hyped the effects, as well as how it affects news today. Unfortunately, I've found that Calkins Creek titles don't get a wide range of readers. They're textually fairly challenging, requiring a fluent and mature reader. Ideally, I'd give them to middle schoolers but there just aren't that many middle schoolers willing or able to read a thoughtful nonfiction title on an obscure historical event, no matter how well-written it is.

Verdict: I'm glad this is available in my system, but I can't justify buying it. I will probably pull it for 5th grade inquiry topics - some kids have chosen "hoaxes" in the past and this would be ideal - and see if that generates enough interest to make it worth purchasing.

ISBN: 9781629797762; Published 2018 by Calkins Creek; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

Small Readers: Hide! by Steve Henry

This goofy easy reader is a nice addition to Holiday House's I Like To Read line of emergent readers.

Pat and Mike, an elephant and his pet fish, are out for a day in the boat. While Mike naps, Pat slips over the side to hang out with some other fish. At first it's all fun and games, but when a shark shows up, Pat is in trouble! Will anyone be able to save her from the shark?

Henry's cheerful cartoons show a red-striped goldfish, toothy grey shark, and determined gray elephant coming to the rescue. The ocean is populated with colorful cartoon fish, shy clams, and worried crabs.

This is a higher level, D, due to the more complex words used. The text is a larger font but not huge and not as heavy and dark as some easy readers. The book is carefully laid out so the text is always against a light, empty background. Levels A-C are harder to find, but this is a nice transitional easy reader for kids ready to move up.

Verdict: A good filler choice if you are looking for more low-level easy readers.

ISBN: 9780823437733; Published July 2018 by Holiday House; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Purchased for the library