Children and Pictures

My favorite response: "It's beautiful! Can you tell me about it?" What they say is usually way better than what I can imagine. And most of the children I deal with gladly soak up any attention from an adult.


My kindergarten teacher came back in yesterday. She wanted large pictures of beans sprouting. No other seed would work. I told her she could go to a copy shop and enlarge a picture, but she said they wouldn't do it for her because it's copyrighted. I told her she is completely within her rights to use the pictures because she is using them for nonprofit educational purposes, hopefully this won't come back to bite me later. And still I have not had a thank you!

Gripe of the Day

Most of my patrons are a joy to work with. Occasionally, I get an overbearing parent or an unappreciative child, but there is usually some redeeming factor in our encounter. But not my Unreasonable Kindergarten Teacher. Lucky me, she only seems to come when I'm on the reference desk (that's how these things work, don't they?) On her first visit she asks the circulation clerk for books, and the clerk points her to me. The teacher is looking for rhyming books. This isn't too difficult, but she's not very satisfied with what I show her. The reference interview lasts longer than usual, and I'm slightly annoyed when she leaves. She didn't seem to understand that I'm not the checkout clerk, so finally I check out her books for her. Second visit, she asks the circulation clerk for help, and she points her in my direction. The teacher wants more rhyming books. Specifically, she's moved on to two-syllable rhyming words with her students. The tricky part is she wants a Dr. Seuss book. I show her all the Dr. Seuss books. Hop on Pop and their ilk are too "easy". And she doesn't like the rhyming words in the bigger Seuss books. I tell her that's probably wise because, in my experience, Kindergarteners respond best to books with only a few lines on the pages. She breathes down my neck as I look through the stacks and stands in front of the reference desk looking through her books. She must have vision problems because she holds the books closely to her face. She tries to check out with me, and I send her back to the clerk...and breathe a sigh of relief that that 30 minute ordeal is over. Third visit, and she again asks the clerk her question, and is again pointed to me. Today she wants pattern books. Most of the books I bring her just aren't good enough. But, "patterns" is something that shows up pretty easily in the catalog so it takes less time than the two-syllable Dr. Seuss rhyming books request. While she is blocking my desk looking through her books I remind her that check out is with the clerk. But five minutes later when she is ready to go she still interrupts me while I'm speaking to another patron; she wants to check these books out. I stifle an inner groan. Fourth visit is a phone call, and I'm leaving for the day. I take name and number and tell her my colleague will be in touch when things calm down. Fifth visit she comes in for the books my colleague has pulled, and I'm on the desk. Before she can even ask her question the clerk sends her to me. The request had been for one big book about "getting along". She wanted one book that would explain respect/caring/and something else I've already blocked from my mind. None of the books my colleague has pulled works for her. I explain to her that the book she wants simply does not exist. She keeps repeating her request in different ways, like this will solve the problem. I tell her there is no book that defines "getting along" and even if there were I couldn't just look it up on the computer because we can't search the content of every single book. In between her repeating her request I stumble into the stacks to find anything else while she stands in front of the desk holding books to her nose. She informs me that the books I've been pulling aren't appropriate for kindergarten students because the best books only have a few lines on the pages. (I wonder where she learned this, see Visit #2). She also tells me she's disappointed in the library because we usually have much more than this available. By the time she's asking me to check out her books (while the clerk holds out her hand saying "check out is over here"), I'm about ready to scream. My tactic for when she returns is to tell her that maybe the book isn't perfect but she can use it as a springboard for discussion. (And I'll try to leave out the part I'm really thinking, which is to quit finding books to do your teaching for you). What's even more amazing, is that I haven't once heard her say thank you. Maybe if she's dissatisfied enough she'll just go to a different library, that would be nice.

A Library Wedding

How cute! Check it out here.

Storytime: Chinese New Year

新年快乐!
Happy Chinese New Year!
Xin Nian Kuai Le!


Chinese New Year 2008 from Kaboose

Get Ready for the New Year with Sagwa from PBS in this game.

Get a Chinese Name

K-2 Storytime



D is for Dragon Dance
by Ying Chang Compestine pictures by YongSheng Xuan



Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story from China
by Ed Young



The Empty Pot
by Demi

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Feet in Mandarin Chinese

(click on words for pronunciation)

Tou 头 Head

Jian bang 肩膀 Shoulders

Xi gai 膝盖 Knees

Jiao 脚 Feet

Yan jing 眼睛 Eyes

Bi zi 鼻子 Nose

Zui ba 嘴巴 Mouth

He 和 And

Er duo 耳朵 Ears

Tou, jian bang, xi gai, jiao

xi gai, jiao.

Tou, jian bang, xi gai, jiao

xi gai, jiao.

Yangjing, bizi, zuiba, he erduo.

Tou, jian bang, xi gai, jiao

xi gai, jiao.

Storytime: 2007 Favorites

Storytime for older kids, grades K-2.


Mind Your Manners, B.B. Wolf
by Judy Sierra, pictures by Otto Siebold



Knock, Knock
by Saxton Freymann, pictures by Judith Byron Schachner



The Perfect Nest
by Catherine Friend, pictures by John Manders



Not A Box
by Antionette Portis

Storytime: Babies

Who doesn't love babies? Preschoolers sure do. Share this storytime with them.


Baby Danced the Polka
by Karen Beaumont pictures by Jennifer Plecas



Peter's Chair
by Ezra Jack Keats



Tender Moments in the Wild: Animals and their Babies
by Stephanie Maze



Good As Goldie
by Margie Palantini



What Shall We Do With the Boo Hoo Baby?
by Cressida Cowell and pictures by Ingrid Godon


Songs I used for this storytime were:

Five In the Bed
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

7 Elemental Truths About Third Graders

We have a wonderful program at our library where all third graders in our public school system get to take the bus out to visit the main branch at our library. I see two classes a week on Thursday mornings. I do some storytelling, we do a tour, I give some booktalks, and then they get to check out three books or magazines. Needless to say, not all the materials come back, but that's part of the process. Altogether, I will see 37 classes this year, totaling about 840 third graders. This is what I have learned from doing this program for a year and a half. 7) No matter how many times you tell a class Something #1, you will have to tell someone Something #1 individually. On a bad day you will have to repeat Something #1 many, many times. Examples are: "we are only checking out books or magazines today", "you can not check out the magazines with clear covers", or the inevitable "yes, you will have to bring the books back". 6) They are only as excited as I am. 5) If there is a display of books, it will get knocked down. Half the time they will be knocked down by a chaperone. The whole class will turn to watch and miss what I'm saying about "we are only checking out books or magazines today", and "you can not check out the magazines with the clear covers". Even if I say it an extra three times. 4) The display case is much more interesting than the biographies--I think this means I need to be more excited about the biographies. 3) They want the exact same book their friend has. In fact, the whole class will want the same kind of book, and it will be impossible to guess ahead of time which topic that will be. 2) Students reflect their teachers. If a teacher is excited and involved, their students will be active and involved. If a teacher is distracted, their students will be distracted. If a teacher is anticipating bad behavior, their students will give them bad behavior. And, if a teacher has decided having me in charge means they're on vacation, you better believe those kids think they're on vacation, too (and I better go get my Advil). 1) You have 5 chairs and 20 third graders and 3 chaperones. There will always be a third grader who will try to sit in a chair. They will all have the exact same I-know-I'm-not-supposed-to-sit-here grin on their faces.