Rediscovering the Magic of Children's Literature: My Reading Challenge for the Year
My 2024 reading project is children's books, which got me thinking about the library.
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When I talk to my older friends, one of their huge sorrows is losing all their friends, one by one. The library, I always I imagine, will fill in for me. When I picture myself as a little old lady, my hope is to live where I can walk to the grocery store and the library. If I can go to the library every day, I can never get too lonely.
Even though I read most of my books electronically now, I still love the physical space of the library, and the mix of people there.
This year, I’m reading children’s books, one a day, just for fun. I visit the children’s room quite often, which takes me back to the years my daughter was young. Now the books are even more diverse, and the new book shelf features kids who are Japanese and Arabic, who live in cities and in the country. Blueberries for Sal has a lot of new neighbors!
Some of my new favorites are:
Jungle Cat, which is told by the cat, and also introduced me to the illustrations of Udayana Lugo.
Over and Under the Snow is a delightful look at what happens in winter. Other books in the series take you to a pond and the ocean.
Sometimes, All I Need Is Me has wisdom for kids everyone.
And an old favorite, Tacky the Penguin.
I loved Who Am I? and can’t wait to meet Julie Buccholtz when she comes to town this fall.
What are you getting from the library these days?
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I have been spending more time with audio books over the past couple of years. Partly because of more extensive time in the car and partly because it is relaxing listening to the voice interpretations of the different narrators in the evening to remove the stresses of the day. The local library makes available the online Hoopla platform for free. I add the app to my phone and listen through my car radio or at home just from my phone. I have enjoyed quite a collection of documentaries and novels. Most recently, I have been listening to the "Miss Julia" series - a 22-volume, light-hearted group of episodes centering around the life and times of a middle-aged woman who lives in the South and interfaces with the various characters who make up the fabric of this ordinary American community in rather extraordinary ways. The twists and turns of the plots keep you riveted and wondering what is left to develop in the next volume. But each one holds your attention closely and provides something new that has not been discovered already. They do build on what has previously transpired but can also be read in isolation. The author is Ann B. Ross who actually lives in Hendersonville, NC and teaches at UNC Asheville.
I love Over and Under the Snow! I will have to look up Jungle Cat and Sometimes All I Need is Me. :)
I'm starting the school year off with library-themed readalouds -- today we did a classic, The Library Lion, and a newer one called The Not So Quiet Library. Everything In Its Place is a great library picture book too, with wisdom for all ages!