Flannel Friday: Do You Know Where I Live?

I recently learned about a new story time song from my former co-worker who is now working in his first children's librarian position. When I was helping him plan for his first story time, he shared his repertoire with me, and I was excited to see "Do You Know Where I Live?" on his list, because I'd never heard of it! I'm not sure where he found it, but it's perfect for a houses and homes theme (which is how he used it), or for a more generic animal theme.

The tune for this song is Did You Ever See a Lassie? I wasn't completely pleased with the way some of the original verses fit into the song's rhythm, so I discarded those and wrote my own. Only the first two verses remain from the original; the final three verses are written by me.

Since I am not working right now, and have no need for a new flannel board, I didn't make the pieces, but as I did for Knock Knock! Trick or Treat! I created a Google Drive presentation to show how I might present the song. Linked at the bottom of the post are the clip art images I used. (Except for the hole - I drew that myself.)

To view the presentation properly, just click through the slides one at a time.

• House
• Barn
• Cow
• Tree
• Squirrel 
• Mole 
• Apple
• Worm 
• Cave
• Bat

This week's Flannel Friday host is Amy of Catch the Possibilities.

10 Non-Spooky Halloween Picture Books

In schools and libraries where Halloween celebrations are permitted, it can sometimes be a challenge to find books to share that aren't too scary for the under-five crowd. Here are a few tried and true favorites that capture the spirit of Halloween without troubling kids' sleep. 

This is NOT a Pumpkin
by Bob Staake

It sure looks like a pumpkin from every angle, but at Halloween, this orange gourd becomes something even more exciting. (Hint: It has a face, and it lights up at night!) I have only used the board book version with small groups, but it also makes a quick and easy flannel board to use with larger crowds.

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything 

by Linda D. Williams

A pair of shoes, a shirt, and other creepy clothing articles follow the little old lady home one night, but she's not afraid of them - in fact, she has a job for them to do! This book is especially fun to act out with preschoolers and early elementary schoolers.

Don’t Climb out of the Window Tonight 

by Richard McGilvray

There are all kinds of silly creatures out tonight - best to stay in your cozy bed! (This book could potentially scare a very small child, but the reader's tone really determines whether it's silly or scary. I have used it with toddlers with great success.)

The Biggest Pumpkin Ever 

by Steven Kroll

Two mice fall in love with the same pumpkin but neither one realizes the other's plan to carve it and enter into the Biggest Pumpkin contest. This is one of the first books I remember buying at the school book fair when I was in elementary school, and it was a great alternative to the ghost stories my classmates were reading.

Go Away, Big Green Monster 

by Ed Emberley

What better way to confront Halloween monsters than to banish them with the power of our imaginations? This book builds up a monster, then sends him away one scary feature at a time. This is a great one for large crowds who can repeat each line after the storyteller.

Pumpkin Heads! 

by Wendell Minor

Where can you see pumpkin heads on Halloween? Almost everywhere! The illustrations in this book are beautiful, and the text is spare enough to make this a good title to share at multi-age story times, or sessions with lots of toddlers and babies in attendance. 

Minerva Louise on Halloween 

by Janet Morgan Stoeke

Minerva Louise explores the farmyard's Halloween decorations, coming to  all the wrong conclusions. This is a great one for preschool story time - and even better if the audience is already familiar with the Minerva Louise "schtick."

Halloween Faces
by Nancy Davis

On Halloween, everyone puts on a different face. This toddler-friendly lift the flap book shows the fun of wearing costumes and might even help explain that the scary creatures wandering the neighborhood are just big kids dressed up. 

Apples and Pumpkins

by Anne Rockwell

Celebrate all the fun of Fall, ending with the carving of a jack o'lantern in time for Halloween.  This works well in a seasons-themed or Fall-themed story time as well as a Halloween story time. It's perfect for twos and threes.

Jeremy Draws a Monster 

by Peter McCarty

Jeremy draws a monster who isn't scary, just rude! Thankfully, Jeremy knows when to say enough is enough, and before too long, he sends that monster packing. This book actually makes no reference to Halloween, making it a good alternative for schools and libraries where Halloween isn't celebrated.  Check out my flannel board adaptation of this book here. 

Reflections on Library Service to Parents

One of the things I enjoy most in the world of children’s librarianship is reader’s advisory. I enjoy discussing books with kids, parents, and teachers, and I love the feeling of satisfaction that comes from connecting a kid (or an adult) with a book that he or she truly loves reading. I think the trickiest part of Reader’s Advisory is advising parents about books for their kids. Over the past three years, working in my busy branch where many parents visit the library without their children, I have become better and better at these interactions. I attribute this to a very specific trait in my personality: my ability to put myself in another’s shoes and remove myself from the equation.

How many times has a parent come to your reference desk with a request you just can’t stand? I can name a few:

• The recently divorced mom who only wanted her girls to read “happy” books so they would be protected from feeling sad. (She also said she would prefer it if they were “nice horse stories.”)
• The mom who genuinely feared fiction because she thought the books were lying to her son. (“But that isn’t the truth. He should only have the truth, or he’ll get confused.”)
• The mom who asked for books on Guided Reading level C that were “literature” and “not these boring leveled readers.”
• The mom who wanted her kids to “branch out” and stop reading fantasy and focus on “serious books.”

The examples I remember happen to be moms, but we all know lots of moms and dads who have unusual and sometimes frustrating opinions about their kids’ reading. When we hear their requests, we can easily fall into the bad habit of judging the parents’ views. Instead of answering their questions, we might offer them the books we think they should want, or start trying to argue with parents to dissuade them from their stifling opinions. We think of these poor children, forced to bypass Harry Potter in favor of Kira-Kira, and we have an instinct to rescue and protect them from the evils of their overprotective and misguided parents.

What’s wrong with this approach, you ask? Well, put simply, it’s bad library service.

My approach to reader’s advisory has always been to treat the individual in front of me as my patron. When a mom comes to the library without her son, the books might be for her son, but my customer, in the absence of the child, is his mom. This means that, for the duration of our time looking for books together, I am on the mom’s team, and I do my best to see my collection from her point of view. If she tells me her son is an advanced reader, I believe her. If she tells me her son hates fantasy, I avoid fantasy, even if I know from the child himself that she is wrong about his preferences. I am not serving the child at that moment. The customer whose information need I must fulfill is the mom.

In these interactions, it helps me to keep my ego in check by remembering the following:

• Parents have a right to raise their children any way they see fit, just as I will have the right to raise my child according to my principles and beliefs. Trying to sell a parent on a book that directly opposes her firmly held opinions is a waste of my time, and hers.
• My personal opinion of a book is usually irrelevant. Though parents ask me all the time for recommendations, I typically think of them as suggestions. I have my own set of preferred books and genres, but most of the time, parents are not asking me to share those. What they want is for someone to tell them which books of the many on the library’s shelves fit their preferences. This is the role of a librarian - not to decide for a patron which are the best books, but to help the patron find the books he or she thinks will be best for her children. There are occasions where a parent selects a book that is a particular favorite, and I might volunteer that information if it turns out the child enjoyed it, but otherwise, it’s not about me and they don’t need to know my personal feelings.
• Parents will guide the conversation in the direction they want it to go. I never ask a parent outright if they object to swearing or sexual content or swords or aliens or evolution. Rather, I ask general questions and let them supply their own prejudices and requirements. Then, based on my knowledge of my collection, I can lead them to the books that will be most likely to please them. This is where reading as much as possible comes in really handy. Parents with lots of specific preferences about their kids’ reading often ask me: “Does this book have suicidal ideation? Does this book have swear words? Does anyone in this book use a weapon?” It’s fine to say I don’t know, but when I do know, parents are eager to have an honest answer. It helps to have the facts filed away in my memory so I can answer them without getting caught up in my personal feelings for the book. 
• Most parents are just trying to do right by their kids. It’s easy to think of people with strong religious convictions or unusual beliefs as “crazy” or “out there,” but for the purposes of successful reader’s advisory, it’s important to think of your parent patron as a person, just like you, who has specific likes and dislikes, preferences, and habits. You’ll never enjoy the company of every patron, but smiling and trying to make your book hunt a team effort usually leads to the best outcome, and it avoids that stressful boxed-in feeling we get when we think of those poor kids who will never read the books we wish their parents would allow them to read.

Dealing with parents is an important part of children’s librarianship, and the better you are at assisting your parent patrons, the better your reader’s advisory skills will become. Please feel free to share your experiences helping parents find kids’ books in the comments section below.

New Blog Features Coming Monday, October 7

As many of you have heard here and on Twitter, today was my last day of work as a children's librarian for the foreseeable future. I have resigned from my position in order to be a stay at home mom to my own little one, who is due on or about November 30. Though I will no longer be performing weekly story times, I have every intention of keeping this blog going. In fact, as my work duties have been winding down, I have been very busy writing up and scheduling a whole backlog of posts. Beginning on Monday, October 7, you will see a series of brand-new features here at Story Time Secrets. Here is a sneak preview of what you can expect.

On Mondays, I'll be sharing various posts about my experiences as a children's librarian, in the hopes that some of the lessons I have learned will be useful to others, especially those just starting out in children's services. These posts will fall into a number of categories:

• Reflections on Library Service
  Each month, I'll provide hints and tips for serving a particular segment of the typical population that visits a public library's children's room.
• At the Children's Desk
  In these posts, I will share various questions I have heard at the reference desk, sometimes with advice on how I would respond to them.
• In the Story Room
  These posts will talk about how I approach story time and why and how I do things the way I do them. As summer approaches, these posts will focus on story time starters for the Fizz Boom Read summer reading theme.
•  Ten Things
  In "Ten Things" posts I will share lists of books, story time activities, and crafts for specific themes, occasions, and/or audiences. 

On the third Monday of each month, instead of posting here, I will be posting at a new collaborative blog, The Library Adventure, where I am a library resources writer. My posts will encompass a variety of topics from crafts, to playing the ukulele, to summer reading printables, and they will be aimed specifically at librarians.

Every Thursday, I will post a review of a picture book. These reviews will include brief summaries, comments on the illustrations, story time suggestions, and reader's advisory information.

As of right now, I have an uninterrupted schedule of posts running from October through early March, so even after the baby comes and I disappear into Mommyland for a bit, you'll still get to hear from me twice a week. I hope you will continue to read, comment, and email me feedback even as the content here changes, and that you'll enjoy all the new posts! Thanks!