Posted in Conferences & Events, professional development

Upcoming: Latinx KidLit Book Festival

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

There’s a great professional development/learning opportunity coming up in December: The Latinx KidLit Book Festival is free, virtual, and takes place on December 4th and 5th!

 

The author list is a dream: Elizabeth Acevedo, Eric Velasquez, Francisco Stork, Gabby Rivera, Raúl the Third, and SO MANY MORE. My head is spinning. Zoraida Cordova is also attending, so I’ll be sitting here, in front of my computer, clutching my Brooklyn Brujas books and squealing.

Fill out the Librarian/Educator information form and get on this mailing list. There are also links to Educator Resources for a variety of children’s books by Latinx authors and illustrators further down on the Educator Resources pages – don’t miss these.

The panels look fantastic. I particularly want to see the one on Picture Books in the Age of Activism, and the Fantasy, Myths, and Legends also looks amazing.

Made for readers and educators alike, try to catch this festival. We need to support these authors, illustrators, and publishers!

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Meet Randy, the Badly-Drawn (BEAUTIFUL!) Horse!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Randy, the Badly-Drawn Horse, by T.L. McBeth, (Aug. 2020, Henry Holt), $18.99, ISBN: 9781250185907

Ages 3-7

Randy is a beautiful horse. He knows it, because his artist says so. He is a spectacular creature, with a mane that blows in the breeze, long elegant legs, a silky coat, and a smile that lights up the sky. Randy has never seen himself, but who cares? He just knows. After a quick snack, Randy sets out on an adventure that takes him through mountains and forests, but a surprise awaits him when he catches a glimpse of himself in a pool of water.

Randy is just an adorable book, with a look into a child’s imaginative play and a creation that takes on its own life. It’s a kid fantasy made real as Randy, illustrated to look like a child’s drawing, prances through construction paper mountains and popsicle stick and pom-pom forests. Randy’s juvenile creator and the artist’s mother speak in colorful word bubbles, with Randy’s hilariously adorable commentary in the text at the bottom of each page. Materials like paint and condiments have texture that will appeal to sensory readers and adds fun to the story, making it even more real. Endpapers feature an 8-step “How to Draw Horse” guide that readers will recognize from other stories, especially Dog Man.  The back endpapers have a little surprise that will leave readers giggling.

A fun, adorably written and drawn story of self-image and self-esteem, Randy the Badly Drawn Horse is perfect for storytime and anytime. Give your kiddos different media – construction paper, cardboard, popsicle sticks, yarn – and ask them to draw their own story with a character of their own design! Publisher Macmillan has a free, downloadable storytime kit with great activities, too!

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized

Halloween March! The Ghosts Went Floating

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Ghosts Went Floating, by Kim Norman/Illustrated by Jay Fleck, (July 2020, Farrar Straus & Giroux), $17.99, ISBN: 9780374312138

Ages 3-6

Inspired by the classic favorite, “The Ants Go Marching”, The Ghosts Go Floating is a Halloween counting story where ghosts, skeletons, witches, mummies, zombies, and more all join a march by the light of the moon. Where are they going? You can only find out if you read the story!  Colorful, friendly ghouls and ghosts march across the pages with with rosy cheeks and friendly faces. The repetitive text lets kids jump in and be part of the storytelling, calling out the “Boo-Rah!” cheer and “moon, moon, moon”, which leads into the next group of monsters to join the dance: “The goblins galloped, six by six, / Boo-rah! Boo-rah! / while waving clubs and pointy sticks. / Boo-rah! Boo-rah! / The goblins galloped, six by six. / They dragged their knuckles on pointy bricks / and they all trooped up the hill, / in the chill. / by the light of the moon, / moon, moon, moon”.

Halloween fun, and a must for readalouds. Just make sure to have treats ready for your little goblins and werewolves! Pair with Tony Mitton’s and Guy Parker-Rees’s The Spooky Hour for Halloween Party fun.

Posted in Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Teen, Tween Reads, Young Adult/New Adult

A CYBILS graphic novel rundown

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

I know, being on the CYBILS first round, I can’t give TOO much away about graphic novels I’m reading, but I did have these on my TBR before I was nominated to judge, so… I’ll just talk them up a wee bit. To whet your appetite for what’s coming.

Softies: Stuff That Happens After the World Blows Up, by Kyle Smeallie, (Oct. 2020, Iron Circus Comics), $15, ISBN: 9781945820489

Ages 10-14

This is sort of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, with a dose of stuffed animals tossed in for good measure. Earth blows up: kablooey, just like that. But there’s a survivor! Kay, a thirteen-year-old girl, is floating around in space when she’s rescued by Arizona, an alien space-junk collector, and his cybernetic pet Euclid. Arizona looks like a cuddly pink space stuffie that you’d find on the shelves in Target, and Euclid would definitely have his own action figure. There are laughs to be had, especially when Kay explains where she’s from, time and again, to blank faces – we’re not that well-known in the universe after all – and the levels of bureacracy that pop up time and again, as the new friends make their way through space. Softies is comprised of short stories, put together into one volume. The artwork is cartoony and very kid-friendly; the material is probably better suited for higher middle grade to middle school. There are some chuckleworthy moments and some sweet moments as Arizona and Kay try to figure things out together in this new relationship they’re forging. The storytelling has some lags, but overall, kids will get a kick out of it. Good to have for those tough-to-pin-down middle school collections.

 

The Magic Fish, by Trung Le Nguyen, (Oct. 2020 Random House Graphic), $23.99, ISBN: 9780593125298

Ages 12+

Told in parallel narratives between fairy tales and real life, The Magic Fish is the story of Tiến, a Vietnamese teen who loves his family but lives with a secret that he fears will change things. He’s gay, and doesn’t quite know how to come out to them. He shares stories with his parents, particularly his mother, and we can see the story within the story here: each is about suffering, and eventually, rising above difficult circumstances, which mirrors not only Tiến’s life, but his mother’s escape from Vietnam to America and her longing to be with her mother. The artwork itself is breathtaking; the fairy tale scenes are incredible, dreamlike; Tiến’s reality is realistically drawn with fleshed-out characters and expressive body language. Sensitive, beautifully drawn, and perfect for teen collections. The Magic Fish has starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus, and is an Indie Next pick.

Witches of Brooklyn, by Sophie Escabasse, (Sept. 2020, Random House Graphic), $12.99, ISBN: 9780593119273
Ages 8-12
I LOVED this magical story! Effie is a kid whose mom has passed away, and she’s brought to Brooklyn to live with her aunt, Selimene; a woman she’s never met before. Selimene and her partner, Carlota, are two “herbalists” who just seem plain weird to Effie, until she discovers that the two women are… shhhh… witches. Good witches, to be sure, but witches! And shortly after arriving, Effie discovers her hands start glowing and that she’s a witch, too! Could this day get better? You bet – she makes two great friends in school, and when she arrives home, discovers that her favorite pop star, Tily Shoo, is in her house in need of Selimene and Carlota’s help. Everything is fun about Witches of Brooklyn, which also has wonderful storytelling and statements about family. Great artwork, great character development and storytelling, and  – let’s hope – more to come. Give this to your Lumberjanes readers and while you’re at it, hand them a copy of Emma Steinkellner’s graphic novel, The Okay Witch.
Swamp Thing: Twin Branches, by Maggie Stiefvater/Illustrated by Morgan Beem, (Oct. 2020, DC Comics), $16.99, ISBN: 9781401293239
Ages 12+
Twin brothers Alec and Walker Holland are sent off to spend their last summer before college with their rural cousins after catching their father having an affair. Alec, the studious one, buries himself in a lab where he continues working on a project that takes everything in him – a bit literally – to keep going, while Walker hits the social scene. The two brothers find themselves diverging this summer, with tensions and memories forcing their way between the two. And the swamp… well, that’s just waiting for someone, isn’t it? Maggie Stiefvater is an amazing YA writer, and Morgan Beem has a nice list of comics illustration to her credit. She creates an eerie atmosphere with her green and murky artwork, giving Maggie Stiefvater’s creepy storytelling a wonderfully oogie vibe. I’ll be honest, the story dipped for me a few times when Alec gets caught up in his botany discussions, but the overall storytelling is strong and macabre; very American Gothic.
Posted in geek, professional development

Happy Halloween Week!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Hi, all! I took a couple of days off and actually got to GO somewhere: my Hubs, my Kiddo, and I took a nice weekend trip upstate to visit family (we wore masks the entire time; let’s hear it for the Kiddo, who didn’t sweat it once for the 8 hours or so that we were with family!) and enjoy the leaves turning color. We had cider donuts, hot drinks, and relaxed, and it was so nice to be somewhere that isn’t my living room. Now I’m back, rejuvenated, and ready. I’ll be starting up my posts again shortly, but in the meantime, I created a little Halloween Bitmoji library for you. Each book will link to the book’s detail page on WorldCat; from there, you can enter your ZIP code and find libraries in your area that have them. Come on in, help yourself to some Halloween candy, have a seat if you can get that black cat to move over, and enjoy some books and my dorky dab dance.

Posted in Toddler Reads

Don’t miss these Halloween reads for babies!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Developing a love of Halloween starts early. Encourage your littles from the beginning! Read Halloween!

Brooms Are for Flying!, by Michael Rex, (July 2020, Henry Holt), $7.99, ISBN: 9781250241481

Ages 0-3

Michael Rex has been an essential part of my Halloween storytimes for years. Goodnight Goon and The Runaway Mummy get regular rotation and my kiddos love the familiar spin on beloved bedtime stories. His 2009 book, Brooms Are For Flying!, is now available in board book for your littles to gnaw on (but not if they’re library books, please!) and wander through again and again. If kids love Goodnight Goon and The Runaway Mummy are because they love the similarities to Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny, then Brooms Are For Flying! will appeal to kids who love Sandra Boynton’s Barnyard Dance!: a young witch leads a group of her fiendish friends through a spookytime dance that gives every part of the body a workout: “Legs are for marching/  Feet are for stomping.  Eyes are for peeking. / Arms are for reaching.” Get your little ones up and stomping, shambling, and dancing like their favorite ghouls and ghosts! Perfection for Halloween readalouds and for any old time, really.

 

Spooky Pants, by Roger Priddy, (July 2020, Priddy Books), $9.99, ISBN: 9780312530211

Ages 0-3

Part of Priddy Books’s Turn the Wheel series, Spooky Pants gives kids a treat – lots of laughs! – as they scroll through various tops and bottoms to match 8 costumed friends with their missing pieces. Give Billie Bones a Jack-o-Lantern head, or Hound the Werewolf a groovy disco pair of pants and platform shoes. Little prompts on each page offer a seek-and-find for little pointer fingers, as they are prompted to search for other items in each picture: magic wands and fizzing potions, jingly-jangly chains and fancy collars. A fun page at the end lets kids see all the different possibilities, and choose their favorites. Study cardboard pages and wheels hold up to lots of use by exploring hands! Priddy Books are great to have for little explorers – I’ve had some in my own home collection since the third grader was wee.

Check Priddy Books’s free downloads page to get activity sheets, picture puzzles, and more.

Posted in Fiction, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

Halloween-ish Reading: Ghostology

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Ghostology: A True Revelation of Spirits, Ghouls, and Hauntings, by Dugald A. Steer & Lucinda Curtle/Illustratrated by Anne Yvonne Gilbert, Garry Walton, & Doug Sirois, (Aug. 2020, Candlewick Press), $27.99, ISBN: 9781536209150

Ages 8-12

A spooky letter from a ghost hunter who’s just seen too much. A tome filled with information, including notes about (in)famous hauntings and maps of haunted rectories, and sketches of ghost towns; journal excerpts and information on hunting ghosts, with flaps and secret notes throughout. And… a missing page, torn from the book? Are those… notes from a ghost, scribbled hastily all over the book? Ghostology is a ghost-hunting adventure in a book, with fun facts on putting together a ghost-hunters kit, detailed information on the types of ghosts and a map of notable spottings, haunted houses, hotels, and forts, and so much more. Perfect for Halloween collections and for readers who love reading about ghosts all year long, but make sure you keep a copy on your Reference shelf; my library kids love the “-Ology” books, but they are eaten alive in circulation.

Back when I used to have actual people and programs in my library – fun times, right? – I used the “‘Ology” books as part of my program planning. I would recreate notes, leading kids to clues that they could look up in the books (Wizardology); read excerpts and use codes (Spyology) as part of dossier files I’d hand out to the kids. They are just so much fun for grownups and kids alike – imagine what I’d have been able to do for this last year’s Imagine Your Story Summer Reading? Now, to think about ways to recreate these programs virtually… Actually, these are pretty much made for Escape Room planning, so let me just get my notebook out and start writing!

The ‘Ology books are largely authored by Duglad Steer and have been around for a while, but as they’ve had different publishers, it’s hard to find one spot for all of them. I linked to Candlewick’s page earlier, and I also found a Beautiful Books page that lists quite a lot of them. If you click through to the Ghostology book detail page, check the lower left-hand part of the screen for more titles by Dugald Steer, and that’s also a pretty detailed list. Dugald Steer also has an ESL-ology website for teachers and educators, with free tools for English lessons in the classroom!

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Fair Shares teaches kids about equity

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Fair Shares, by Pippa Goodhart/Illustrated by Anna Doherty, (Jan. 2020, Kane Miller), $$12.99, ISBN: 9781684640485

Ages 3-7

Hare and Bear both want some of the tasty-looking pears in a tree, but can’t reach. Hare finds three chairs, but Bear says it’s unfair if Hare takes two chairs, to Bear’s one – but once they’re on the chairs, Bear is the only one that can reach! Luckily for Hare, Beetle steps in and explains that “giving everybody the same thing isn’t always fair”. Whew! Bear realizes that Hare really does need two chairs to reach the pears. Now, what does Beetle want to eat?

Originally published in the UK in 2019, Fair Shares is a beautifully smooth and straightforward explanation of equity, Fair Shares teaches readers of ALL ages that equal doesn’t always mean fair. Bear, who towers over Hare, only needs one chair to reach the pears. With just one chair, Hare is still struggling. Once Bear realizes this simple fact, he’s happy to let Hare get his share. The digital artwork is wonderfully textured, and Anna Doherty’s scanned ink and pencil textures give the story a lovely fall feel, with deep reds, greens, and yellows, and a fuzzy Hare and furry Bear. The ending will surprise and delight readers. Beautifully done, and an essential book to keep on hand.

Free Spirit Publishing has an article, with additional book suggestions, on teaching kids the difference between fair and equal. Teachers Pay Teachers has several free, downloadable classroom printable posters that explain and illustrate equity, including this one from the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity, this equity classroom poster from Panda Circus, and this equity poster from Studying Education.

Posted in Intermediate, Non-Fiction

Books from Quarantine: Tag Your Dreams!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Tag Your Dreams: Poems of Play and Persistence, by Jacqueline Jules/Illustrated by Iris Deppe, (Apr. 2020, Albert Whitman & Company), $17.99, ISBN: 9780807567265

Ages 7-10

I’m getting that TBR under control a little more every day! Tag Your Dreams is a book of poetry about sports and play for kids, but it’s more than that. These are poems about endurance, self-esteem, community, and reaching goals. It’s about a girl reaching out to a new friend by reciting a rhyme that her Guatemalan grandmother taught her (“Clapping  Hands”); it’s about a girl, swimming gracefully, mermaid-like, as she remembers being bullied for her weight earlier that day (“Mermaid Manatee”); a father and son cruising through a park on matching scooters (“Kick Scooters”), and a playground where “Spanish jumps just as high as English” as the kids skip rope and sing together. A multicultural group of adults and kids come together on these pages to play, to laugh, and to inspire readers. Jacqueline Jules, award-winning author of the Zapato Power and Sofia Martinez book series, created 31 poems about the power of play and the power of persistence to motivate readers: motivate them to play, motivate them to embrace themselves, and work as part of a team while striving to be their best. Iris Deppe’s colorful artwork shows children and grown-ups together in various stages of play: clapping hands underneath a tree, reaching for a ball in the outfield, or walking a trail with grandparents. A nice addition to poetry collections, with positive messages that we need more than ever these days.

Jacqueline Jules’s author webpage has information about her books and plenty of free, downloadable activities connected to her books.

Posted in gaming, Intermediate, Middle Grade

Blog Tour: You’re Pulling My Leg Jr!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

My family and I are gaming fans. We love our tabletop games, and I also love finding new games that will get my third grader thinking and using his imagination. I’ve also been looking for ways to game with my library kids now that we’ve gone virtual. You’re Pulling My Leg ticks both of these boxes, and the best part is that it’s easy, fun, and hilarious.

Here’s the deal: You’re Pulling My Leg! is adapted from a board game to adapt to… well, *gestures* THIS. The game, now in book format, has two volumes: You’re Pulling My Leg!, and You’re Pulling My Leg! Junior Edition, both by Allen Wolf and Morning Star Games. The objective is to come up with hilarious stories, based on a prompt, while your fellow players try to figure out whether or not you’re bluffing.

You’re Pulling My Leg! Junior Edition, by Allen Wolf,
(Aug. 2020, Morning Star Publishing), $12.99, ISBN: 9781952844027
Ages 9+

You’re Pulling My Leg!, by Allen Wolf,
(June 2020, Morning Star Publishing), $12.99, ISBN: 978-1952844003
Ages 12+

 

Here’s an example: the question is “Tell Me About Something You Found”. Folks, I’m a children’s librarian in an urban public library system. I guarantee you I will tell you a story of something I found that you will either scream with laughter or horror over, but I can get outrageous and YOU MAY NOT KNOW, or I can be kind of low-key and keep you guessing. A conversation from a game about two weeks ago:

Me: “One day, when I was cleaning out the shelves in the storage room, I found – behind the craft sticks and the finger paints – a box of comic books from an old Summer Reading program I’d run. So, you know… I was there, and the comics were there, so I started looking through the box, right? Because there may be an issue of Batman I hadn’t read before, and my lunch hour was coming up. So I’m shuffling through this box of comics, and I find a photo. It must have fallen off the person’s desk when they were packing the box, because there was no way this photo was sent to me on purpose, it was buried at the bottom of the box. The photo was of a guy dressed up like Batman – no, seriously, like Batman, with the cape and the boots and the belt and all of it! But when I looked closer… it was STAN LEE. What the heck was Stan Lee doing dressed as Batman?”

Kiddo: “No way, Mom! Stan Lee does Marvel movies, you’d never find him dressed like Batman.”

Foiled again, my friends. My kid knows me too well. But you have to admit, I made it plausible, right? Let’s try another example.

Me: “Tell me about a time when you caught something.”

Kiddo: “This one time… in gym… at school… my friend and I were throwing a basketball at each other back and forth, because it was gym, right? So he threw it to me, and I caught it, and I kicked it at him, and he picked it up and he sneezed on it but he didn’t tell me and when he threw it at me and I grabbed it, it felt wet and then I ended up catching a cold because he had a cold and that’s why he sneezed on it.”

Me: “Oh my GOD, that’s SO GROSS, WHY WOULD HE SNEEZE ON THE BALL? Is that why you had that cold at the end of last year? Is that how I caught that cold? I felt like garbage for a week, WHAT THE HECK MAN?”

Kiddo: “Gotcha.”

Me: “You made that up?”

Kiddo: giggles madly

Me: “Don’t you ever tell me you can’t write a personal narrative for ELA ever again.”

You see, my friends? This game is GOLD. Librarians, if you’re doing virtual programming, including class visits, this is perfect for getting kids playing and laughing along with you. You can make it as quick or stretch it out for as long as you’d like, and you’ll never play the same game twice. Are you doing a NaNoWriMo program? Let this be your guide. Do your kiddos need to write a small moments personal narrative? There are plenty of ideas here. Each book comes with pages dedicated to Game Highlights, where you can write down some of your funnier/more poignant observations and return to them to expand on, or just keep as a fun journal of a really stressful time. Enjoy.

Games Website: MorningStarGames.com

Twitter: @MorningStarGame

Facebook: @morningstargames

Instagram: @playmorningstargames

Author Website: AllenWolf.com/yourepullingmyleg/

Twitter: @theallenwolf

Facebook: @theallenwolf

Instagram: @theallenwolf/