Missing my People

This week brought to the forefront of my mind that I miss my people. 

We taped our 40th (?) #AuthorFanFaceOff episode featuring an 8th grader from Illinois with the sweetest smile ever vs. the amazing and wonderful, Rita Williams-Garcia.  I look forward to seeing "my people" every Monday. Our show gives so much joy to both the young challengers (although sometimes it may be hard to tell), the authors and to us, the hosts. The line up continues to be stellar.  Shameless plug--please subscribe and share if you don't already. 

This week reminded me how much I miss sitting side by side with my people and getting wow-ed by a keynote speaker. We learned about Jacqueline Woodson in third grade.  We watched her read The Day You Begin, illustrated by our Castleton Elementary School friend, Rafael Lopez, and researched her from one of my favorite databases, FactCite.  I love her recitation of the book. It never got old, even on Friday.  Unrelated but related, the fifth grade ELA teacher was looking for a new read aloud.  I met up with her with a pile of amazing books in my hands (many AFF episodes and or authors: One Crazy Summer, The Crossover, 14th Goldfish, The Parker Inheritance) and some not. Coincidentally, she chose Woodson's Harbor Me. Who knows? Maybe someday she will move into the AFF category...

Tuesday I was on a virtual panel through School Library Connection with four AH-MAZING school librarians.  It really made me wonder how I landed there, honestly. But I reminded myself the message from Woodson's reading of The Day You Begin that we are all fabulous. So yeah, great to be with my people on the panel and "see" folks in the chat, too.  Don't worry if you missed it! Check it out here.

It's been a long while since I took my hair down with my fellow librarians.  Slight tangent here--Just on the topic of hair, one third grader told me this week that it is time for me to see my hairdresser. Indeed, my hair needs to be colored and the appointment was rescheduled twice but alas, Wednesday is the day! From the mouths of babes, eh? Thursday night, the New York Library Association sponsored a fundraiser with Big Ditch Brewing Company in Buffalo.  It was fun to see familiar faces, including a guy who was in my very first graduate school class. At the time, I wasn't sure I was ready to take the leap into librarianship.  He and the other cool, smart and kind folks in that class definitely had an impact on my new career path.

I miss book festivals and conferences with my people. About an hour before it was to begin, I registered for the "Anderson's Book Shop Children's Literature Breakfast" yesterday morning and am so glad I did.  I multi tasked and only missed about 15 minutes of the whole event. Kimberly Brubaker Bradley is amazing period. Dan Santat had me laughing out loud in my not-Prius while I was driving to not buy some quinoa. Gary Paulsen had us all in tears. And the conversation between Meena Harris and Andrea Beaty was inspiring. I plan to spend a lot of money on books later today.

Today is Sunday. I am looking forward to this week (and not just because I am planning to get my hair cut and colored with turquoise highlights).  We have two great AFFs scheduled Monday and Tuesday.  My second grade lesson plan is about Teresa Carreno, a Maragita Engle book illustrated by Rafael Lopez. My Newbery Navigators chose to begin reading one of my all time faves, Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead. So even though I may not be seeing my people in person, this week's virtual challenges alongside the written and illustrated pages of friends will definitely do for now.

BONUS:

The 38th Episode with Lisa Graff and three former students of mine:

The Day You Begin:

From Dan Santat's Twitter, a glimpse into A New Day by Brad Meltzer (book birthday Tuesday!):

A NEW DAY by me & @bradmeltzer comes out this Tuesday (March 2)

Sharing an early draft where SATURDAY, who is styled after the Dude from the movie, #TheBigLebowski, was actually drawn as @thejeffbridges in the 1st draft. Publisher came back with notes saying it was too weird 😂 pic.twitter.com/c51Ab1wZWt

— Dan “DANley Tucci” Santat😷 (@dsantat) February 27, 2021

Marathon Monday

I did it. I ran five miles yesterday.  It felt good. My heart rate was up and I was warm enough to unload two layers to my tank top.  That felt really good. Winter is behind us. Although, I won't mention that snow fell on Saturday.

This weekend I was supposed to run 13.2 miles in the Helderberg Half.
Today was the Boston Marathon.
Both canceled. But that doesn't mean running isn't canceled.
Beside the obvious of running 26.2 miles, what else can we we do to honor the Marathon's tradition since 1897?

Art

This may be a bit of a stretch but why not color in Rafael Lopez's muralist.  He looks like he could be running through the town while he paints.

Make sure to check out Rafael's Instagram (@rafael_161_ or his blog for daily art ideas).

STEAM

LINK to vault

Ok...So this could be even a bit more of a stretch but while I was looking for ways to tie the marathon into lesson plans, I came across this *amazing* resource from the annual Cambridge Science Festival. I mean, the marathon is in Boston and Cambridge is practially Boston, so not too much off the path.

How about you engage yourselves in a "marathon" of STEAM activities today or the whole week or 26.2 days?!  Check it out! Tons of book ideas, podcasts, shows, virtual trips and all for kids!  Maybe try 26 things? They call it a vault. Be careful when you enter because it is overflowing!

History

Why not do a little research on the Boston Marathon?  Here's a short story about it from NPR today.

Go to one of the databases and read up on marathons, Boston, the Olympics...


Now my friend, Tom Bober, will be proud of me on this one.  I just checked out the Library of Congress and found a photo from the 65th Boston Marathon in 1952.  Examine the photo.  What do you notice? 

Physical Activity

Of course, running today makes sense.  Pick a distance (26.2 yards?) and run. What's your time? Compete against yourself or family members.  What other physical activities can you do? Walk for 26.2 minutes?  What about jumping 26.2 inches? Or see how far you can jump and divide it by 26.2? Jump up and down or off a step 26 times.  Calculate how long that takes. Try and beat your time. Do 26 jumping jacks.   Be creative! See what you come up with! Make sure you are careful and take breaks if you need to.

Finally (and what really inspired this whole post)

Be sure and read Elisha Cooper's piece in today's New York Times. I realize the print version isn't as exciting and we all can't send our husbands out to try and find a copy for us, (although sadly mission was not accomplished YET), but the digital copy will work, too.  I just wanted to get one that I could hang up in my new "office." He's back out to keep looking. I am not too hopeful so please send if you have one and I'll run an extra 26.2 something in your honor. Thanks!

Now off to walk, not run, about 26.2 x 458 steps.
Be safe out there.

Women + Music

A long, long time ago a friend of mine gave me a card that said, "If you leave it to the last minute, it only takes a minute to do."  That is forever my motto.  In fact, I got a call yesterday from NYSUT asking for a book review due in 2 weeks.  I was completely honest with her and said I would probably work on it in 13 days.

Today I had our usual "Pastries and Prose" meeting at 8:30.  When we have school IN the building, we begin at 7:25 before school starts.  This week and last I had it 8:30, thinking 4th graders would surely be up by then.  Well, I had four kids show up.  But it's not about the numbers, it's about the quality. And this was a good group.

Where does the procrastination come in?  I wanted to share a book but didn't know which one. I had one downloaded but wanted to keep looking for ideas.  This was at 8:18.  I go into SORA and Women's History Month is being promoted.  One of the first books available was Margarita Engle and Rafael Lopez's book, Drum Dream Girl.

I found today's book.  Not only is it still "Women's History Month" (longest March ever, huh?) but it is also "Music in Our Schools" month.  So this was a perfect match.

Drum Dream Girl

It's hard to believe that it has been almost a year now since Rafael Lopez took leaps with me in Castleton (and in the snow in April!).  I am the luckiest person ever because I get to see his inspired artwork every day outside my library.  

Multi award winning author and poet, Margarita Engle's lyrical text paired with Rafael's artwork (which won him the Pura Belpre medal) makes one perfect book.  I just texted Mrs. Gibney, our music teacher and she simply said, "Love that book."  Is there anyone who doesn't?

This book trailer will get you moving and wanting more, for sure:

There are many activities you can do with Drum Dream Girl.  To start off,  here is a discussion guide.

This article has SO many ideas and further links.  These are a few I particularly like:

• Write a story or poem about your own dreams. 
• Check out drums on Garage Band, if you have a Mac, or another program out there if you have a PC. Play around with it and make a song.
• Make your own instrument out of toilet paper or paper towel rolls, paper plates and beans or anything else you can think of!
• Listen to Cuban music. Maybe have some art supplies available and see if you are inspired to create something while you are listening.
• Create a mural of dreams with your family.  
• Read other books by Margarita Engle, Rafael Lopez or on the same subject or idea. For middle grade readers, I suggest Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson which is her Newbery Honor biography in verse or Ruth Behar's Pura Belpre winning Lucky Broken Girl, based on her own life in fifth grade (in Briarwood, Queens, where I also grew up!) with her Cuban American family. Note: Ruth has a new book, Letters from Cuba, coming out in August that I love, love, love.
• Of course, check out more of Margarita and Rafael's books. There are more books they have done together (Bravo! Poems about Amazing Hispanics and Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreo Played the Piano for President Lincoln) More love.

I found this short video from Ms. Carmina Reads about Millo Castro Zaldarriaga from the book, Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls.

Be sure and check out Rafael's blog every day for a different coloring page.  You could print them out and have a whole book when this is over.

Hope these photos get you leaping:

April 5, 2019 

(Check out the blank wall behind us!)

The finished mural taken end of June 2019.

I miss that artwork so much now.💜

Haha Elisha Cooper :-)

By The Way

Speaking of Women's History Month, today is the birthday of Sandra Day O'Connor, born in 1930 in El Paso, Texas (yes, plug for my favorite state where I was hoping to be right now for the Texas Library Association conference) and Nancy Pelosi, born in 1940 in Baltimore, Maryland.  You can find more information about both of these leaders in our databases: FactCite, PebbleGo (only Justice O'Connor) and of course, WorldBook and Britannica.  

Happy Birthday Researching! Happy Women's History Month! Happy Music in Our Schools Month! xo

RA-FA-ELLLLL

I really don't want to go to school today. Cough-cough. Is it too late to call in? I feel like I could be coming down with something....

Rafael Lopez withdrawal?  Is that listed in the DSM? Could I get a doctor's note?

Seriously, after months of preparing "It's like a wedding," everyone kept saying all week, the day with Rafael came and went in an instant. He is now tucked in his bed in sunny San Diego while we are looking out at Rafael's "favorite" color gray skies in Castleton.*

I can honestly say that his visit changed lives, opened minds, inspired, energized and brought our whole entire Schodack Central School District community and beyond together. His murals come with life changing bonds and we witnessed it on Friday.  Kindergarteners and 12th graders. Teaching assistants and principals.  Secretaries and third graders.  Grandmother volunteers and 7th graders.  Dads and fifth grade poets. First graders and moms.  Flute players and girl percussionists.  A superintendent and art teachers. Future artists and future engineers.  This day was a memory maker.

Can you spy Rafael? Look for his hat!

Major kudos to our community for letting me place a piece of Rafael permanently in the homes of every single student at Castleton Elementary School.

 

Thank you, Rafael for bringing your magic to Castleton.  Your fairy dust will last forever along with your marks on the wall outside our library. Muchos gracias, mon amigo.

*Gray is the color that Rafael highlighted in Eric Carle's collaborative book, What's Your Favorite Color? The truth is that Rafael's favorite colors are purple, orange and black. Gray goes with everything, he says and so does he. 6th grade boys who exclaim they will never wash the hand that Rafael touched again, is just one little proof that his own gray octopus arms impact all.

Want to dive into our visit more? Check out these district tweets:

.@CastletonES welcomed artist and illustrator @RafaelLopezArt today like only our school can. Thank you for inspiring our students! pic.twitter.com/4AaIXfLbNJ

— Schodack CSD (@SchodackCSD) April 5, 2019

Make sure to check out the whole thread on this one:

Celebrated artist and illustrator @RafaelLopezArt visited Schodack CSD today where he inspired students of all grades with his passion for art. (1/6) pic.twitter.com/gWzMKyVNQP

— Schodack CSD (@SchodackCSD) April 5, 2019

And here's the link a story about Rafael's visit from our district webpage:

http://www.schodack.k12.ny.us/2019/04/artist-illustrator-visits-schodack-csd/

A leap at the end of the day with Mrs. Gregoire, our amazing art teacher.

 Bonus: Who would have thought Rafael could leap in the snow on April 5?!

I shed many tears throughout the day, especially when I had to say goodbye. Saludos.

Whole World in Our Hands

"Wake up, Rafael!" the alarm whispered. "It's 5:30 AM and you are about to dazzle 80+ third graders in a little town in upstate New York." And dazzle he did.  The kids loved him (you know because they listened and were attentive).  The teachers adored him ("He was great!" "That was amazing!" "When is he coming?") and all I could think of was the chant we will recite when he does visit. (I'll give you a hint: It's very similar to the one we sang for Matt Cordell.)

Prior to dialing, we read the book together.  Wait, back up a minute.  Way prior to his visit, like the night before prior, I baked 90 cupcakes.  C'mon.  What's a party without cake? And what's a party about the beautiful diverse children in this world working together to take care of our planet without CONFETTI cupcakes?  Not one flavor but all of them sprinkled throughout the batter.  We talked about author's purpose.  We were informed of illustrator's purpose. And now I'm sharing that even a librarian has purpose.

Rafael was energetic, inspiring and didn't give us a single hint that he'd rather still be in bed.  I had mailed him a package earlier in the week with coffee, chocolate covered espresso beans, some upstate apples and biscotti.  I felt terrible about scheduling a before sunrise Skype, but Rafael kept insisting that it was ok.

He showed us some of the early sketches from the book, talked about the process and even gave us a tour of his studio.  We asked a few questions including, "What's your favorite color?"  Purple and orange but he also likes black since black has all the colors.  He had us hunting for the Eric Carle book, What's Your Favorite Color? because of course, we wanted to see immediately how he creatively included color in his gray octopus.

Even though we were celebrating We've Got the Whole World in Our Hands, my students still had questions about The Day You Begin.  "Why did you feature the ruler throughout the book?"

Every time you open my books I want you to discover something new. [I like to include] symbols that mean something or send a message. The ruler sends a message to kids to think “How am I measuring up to other kids?”

Wow.  That's deep.  The teachers were all nodding in amazement.   Of course.  I shared with Rafael and the students that we are always thinking of "author purpose" but consider this--the illustrator has purpose, too.  You can bet I'll be asking that now!

"What inspired you to make this book?"

I wanted to make this book with the message about coming together, diversity, being kind to each other and acceptance. It’s not about me or you but about us. My inspiration is that the future is in your hands. Take care of the planet.

Finally we sang "Happy Book Birthday" took our leaps and then said farewell.

I promise you that if I have it my way our salutation was a very weak goodbye paired with a strong "see you soon." Don't you want to hear 500 voices chant RA-FA-EL-EL? I thought so. Hasta la vista!

Who could resist not seeing these kids in person? 😉

It's like it was practice picture day!

Ms. Martin and Mrs. Hannah's class

Mrs. Pryde's class

Mrs. Yager's class

Mrs. DeMassio's class

Thank you for dazzling us my friend.

PS-Rafael has illustrated many books since he began in 2004 (a fun fact we learned today).  I don't have as many as I wish I did in the library. Don't worry, when he comes, I will have all of them!  But I did pull out the ones I have and Mrs. DeMassio's kids were thrilled to be able to check them out. 

BRAVO!  BRAVO! 

What I'm Loving RIGHT now

Three books I recently read that I 💗 right now.  Highly recommend for TBR, to share and/or to read over and over again:

Over the weekend I finished Front Desk by Kelly Yang.  I really didn’t expect to love it as much as I did.  Did you catch my very succinct tweet review on the book?  “Mia is MY HERO.” After immigrating from China to California, Mia’s family discovers the reality that living in America may not be the land of wonderfulness that they had dreamed about. "We're immigrants.  Our lives are never fair." Our heroine cannot accept that fate and perseveres in all areas of her life to make life fair--the motel she and her parents live and work at, school and her friendships.  The ending is as satisfying as diving into a crystal clear pool in the middle of July and then coming out and sharing pizza with good friends.

A couple of weeks ago I read a book that also takes place in Southern California, Operation Frog Effect by Sarah Scheerger.  I'm sorry to say that you will have to wait until February to read it but it will be well worth it. Mark your calendar now for a trip to your favorite indie book store and extra time to read.  Then take out your plan book because this is one you are going to want to share with your students.  Did you love Because of Mr. Terupt?  What about Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary School?   It's almost like Operation Frog Effect completes the trilogy (with Mrs. Bixby's Last Day as an add on). Diverse fifth graders each sharing their own point of view.  There's even a poet and screenwriter.  A classroom teacher we love who pushes the envelope. Kids standing up for what they believe in. But don't think that this has been done before.  Buyea gives his fifth graders one voice.  Shovan's book in verse has another and Scheerger's a third.  Like three kids from the same family.  Similar features but very different.  "The world feels too dark for my candle to make much of a difference." Yet, these ten year old superheroes, with Kermit by their side, figure out how to get their voices heard. With the simple power of the pen, inspired by Harold's purple crayon, you will be rooting for them all till the end. This book is "frogtastic", "frogerful" and "frog-alicious." One good thing about having to wait till February? Gives you enough time to collect journals for all your students.

Of course, I loved finding this in the book!

I really cannot get enough of The Day You Begin written by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by Rafael Lopez.  I can't count how many classes I have read it to but yesterday was the ultimate feel good experience.  All 80 of our third graders joined me in the Common Area outside of the library.  Each had a clipboard, a pencil and paper folded in quarters.  Their task was to listen to the book once without seeing the illustrations and draw what they heard. Everyone was silent.  Then we read through it a second time and compared our illustrations with those of Rafael's.  I was nervous they might get restless hearing it again.  But like me, it appeared they could read it over and over. Their understanding of the theme went way beyond what I would have imagined, especially since we were discussing it in such a large group. It was for sure a #daymaker and #weekmaker.  Could this be another Caldecott-Newbery sticker year?  I wouldn't mind.

My Favorite Latino Book People of 2017

I was driving around the other day and got excited when this came on NPR:



I completely agree that "2017 was a great year for Latino culture and the arts." I'm just disappointed that not one reference to poetry or prose by Latino writers or illustrators was mentioned. So here's my own personal addendum to the story.  

Picture Books 

I love anything that Carmen Agra Deedy writes and says.  If you ever have the opportunity to hear her speak, drop everything and go.  She will make you laugh and cry and laugh again.  Then you will cry because it's over.  I was fortunate enough to see her twice in 2017--once at the TLA conference in San Antonio in April and then in October at the Bank Street Book Festival in NYC.  Both times wonderful.  I love The Rooster Who Wouldn't be Quiet.  It has a great message and is a fun read aloud.  Mrs. Yager's third graders even performed it at our November assembly.

My fifth grade Reading Ambassadors loved The Chupacabra Ate the Candlelebra written by Marc Tyler Nobleman and illustrated by Ana Aranda.  A fun story with vibrant illustrations that light up the page.  We all love the funny and unpredictable ending.  

Everyone is talking (including me) about Margarita Engle's poetry anthology, Bravo! Poems about Amazing Hispanics, beautifully illustrated by Rafael Lopez.  I referenced the book and shared the poem on Pura Belpre when teaching about the award named after her.

I was introduced to author poet Emma Otheguy at the Bank Street Book Festival when I attended her Latinx literature book group.  Her gorgeous English and Spanish biography in verse on Jose Marti, Marti's Song for Freedom, illustrated by Beatriz Vidal, is a must for all collections in all buildings.  

One of my second graders in my Mock Caldecott class pretty strongly shared that All the Way to Havana by Margarita Engle and illustrated by Mike Curato is his top pick for Caldecott so far.  Enough said.

Middle Grade

Mr. Reischer and his book group

I absolutely LOVE The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Perez.  Malu is full of the spunk that I wish I had when I was 12 and she is way cooler than I ever will be.  I'm going to recommend this book to everyone beginning from strong readers in third grade through middle school. If it's up to me we'll all be singing Ramones alongside Lola Beltran.

There hasn't been much buzz around My Brigadista Year, Katherine Paterson's latest, but I enjoyed it. It's the 1960s and brave young Lora leaves her family in Havana for a year to teach folks in the country how to read.  Seems simple, but Lora learns so much from her year away from home.

If you read my blog, you already know that I love Ruth Behar and her middle grade debut, Lucky Broken Girl.

Grab your apron and your poetry pen before you begin reading The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya. Right after I read it I wrote in my notes, "Pick up this epically awesome MG novel about family, love and the courage to speak your mind."

Young Adult

In September I read Benjamin Alire Saenz's The Inexplicable Logic of My Life and fell hard for the characters and Saenz.  I literally could not put it down.  Brushed my teeth with it, listened to the audio everywhere, and read past midnight many nights. It's not a short book but I got it finished in only a few days and that's with being swamped at work.


One of the last books I read this year was I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez.  The first line has you hooked, "What surprised me most about seeing my sister dead is the lingering smirk on her face." It made me cry, laugh ("You think you're all grow up.  You're only fifteen.  You don't even know how to make a tortilla...", smile (boyfriend Connor), hold my breath...I don't know if it was because I am a parent of a fifteen year old myself, Jewish (there are so many similarities in cultures), a good story with a strong heroine or a combination but this was an all around winner in my book. 

I also really loved Adam Silvera's They Both Die in the End. I kept hoping throughout the whole book that for once Death-Cast would be wrong.  "Life isn't meant to be lived alone.  Neither are End Days."

May your loved ones, friends, colleagues, students and beloved characters keep you from being alone in 2018.  Happy New Year!