I’m a sucker for cute covers. I mean, who isn’t? It doesn’t matter if it’s a six year old kindergartener walking among the stacks in my library or if it’s a forty-four year old man (me!) walking through Barnes and Noble, readers are drawn to books initially due to the cover art. I have a…
Author: mrjthelibrarian
I am a former English teacher and current elementary librarian from the mountains of North Carolina. My love affair with books came at a young age and I am proud to say that my own children have developed their own love of books as well. My favorite authors include Poe, Shakespeare, Rowling, King, Seuss, Golden, and a host of others. I love Star Wars, comic books, graphic novels, and Warcraft. I'm proud to be a nerd!
2018 Theodore Seuss Geisel Award Picture Book Review: Charle & Mouse by Lauren Snyder, Illustrated by Emily Hughes
The American Library Association Youth Media Awards have once again come and gone. When I was in graduate school my professors weren’t overly fond of the awards (Newberry, Caldecott, Geisel, etc.) because of the politics involved in the selection process. I look at the books selected as examples of quality books that deserve recognition for…
Winners and Losers: Understanding Race in America through a Game of Monopoly
Special Note I have to admit that this idea did not come from my own creative brain. While attending a series of workshops on race and equality in schools I heard a presenter explain a teacher’s use of Monopoly to help explain privilege in America. I took that metaphor and extended it to use in…
Graphic Novel Review: My Friend Dahmer by John “Derf” Backderf
Background On Halloween night, 1988, after the last trick-or-treater knocked on our door and I felt at ease to eat the leftover Kit Kats, Sixlets, and Laffy Taffy I flipped through the eight channels of our non-cable television. I happened across a live broadcast from London and Los Angeles called “The Secret Identity of Jack…
Picture Book Review: The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors
Every six months or so I find a book to share with my students in every grade level, from the littlest kindergarteners to the biggest fifth graders. It has to be a funny book with compelling characters, each with a unique voice. A few months ago I came across The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors…
Though She be but Little, She is Fierce: Autumn’s Adoption Story, Part II
The ride home from Fayetteville marked the last leg of an exhausting Walt Disney World trip. We started off on the wrong foot that morning at 7 a.m. when we left the hotel. I asked the kids and my mother (an Olympic peeing champion) if they had used the restroom before we left. They all…
Though She be but Little, She is Fierce: Autumn’s Adoption Story Part I
I tend to be more fatalistic than Erin. I work at the things I can control to some degree and not worry about the things that are beyond my control. Erin worries about everything. When we were going through fertility treatments Erin took each negative pregnancy test as a sign of personal failure, that she…
Of Bovines and Christmas Trees
One of the few benefits of moving is that I’m forced to look in boxes I haven’t opened since the last time I moved. If we haven’t opened the box in a year we usually throw it away, but pictures and family mementos usually pass the “keep” test no matter how many times we move. While going…
Zombies for Kids? Heck, Yeah! Book Review: The Last Kids on Earth Series by Max Brallier, Illustrated by Douglas Holgate
Interest in supernatural motifs ebbs and flows with changing tastes. Wizards and witches were all the rage during the Harry Potter years. Vampires and werewolves took center stage during the Twilight craze (Go Team Jacob!). The prevalence of zombies in pop culture is due to a man named Robert Kirkman whose indie comic book series…
Middle School Book Review: Hair in all the Wrong Places by Andrew Buckley
When I select a new book to read (a daily occurrence!) I give the book two chapters to grab my interest. Typically that’s around 10-20 pages. If I’m not hooked by that point I put it down and move on to the next title. When I started reading Andrew Buckley’s Hair in All the Wrong…
Kwame Alexander: The Voice of a Generation
My first encounter with Kwame Alexander was through his book Crossover. When a title wins several awards including the Coretta Scott King Award and the Newberry Award I felt the need to pay attention. I expected to find a novel about teenage angst set in a high school whose identity fit within the lined border of…
Little Boy Lost: Jonathan’s Adoption Story
Jon never figured into our plans to become a family. In reality, he never seemed to fit into anyone’s plans. When the social worker first discussed Phillip and Carl with us, she told us there were four brothers. One was about to turn four and the other was two. The two year old lived with…
