MotherReader

Mama’s Saris
by Pooja Makhijani, illustrated by Elena Gomez
As a little girl turns seven, she watches her mother unpack saris to wear to her birthday party. While helping her mother choose just the right one for the special day, she pleads to wear a sari herself. Knowing that young girls like her aren’t old enough for the lovely garments, she reflects on their beauty. But sometimes birthday girls get special treats, and in this case it is getting to dress up like mama. A sweet book universal in a daughter’s desire to be like her mother —whether it's walking in her high heels or wearing her bindi. Reference is made to the mother’s every day working clothes, implying the that the story takes place outside of India. A helpful glossary makes the Hindi words accessible to all readers, while beautiful illustrations bring magic to the story.

What Can You Do with a Rebozo?
By Carmen Talfalla, illustrated by Amy Cordova
Bright, lively pictures show the many ways you can use a rebozo - a traditional Mexican woven shawl - from a cradle to a cape. It can be a place to cuddle with a grandma or wrap a sick puppy or hide a little brother. While on the surface it could be a tribute to a multipurpose item of clothing, it is really a view into a life with a multi-generational family. The ideas of using the rebozo are both practical and playful, combining the expected uses and the imaginative. The rhymes are a little labored, but the cultural portrayal is well-done and the feeling is fun. The book won the 2009 Pura Belpré Illustration Honor award.

Suki's Kimono
By Chieri Uegaki, illustrated by Stephane Jorisch
For the first day of school, Suki wants to wear the kimono that her grandmother gave her. It makes her feel special as she remembers their time together over the summer. Her older sisters disapprove of her decision, walking ahead of her. But Suki finds acceptance when she shares her memories of a Japanese festival, along with the dance, with her first grade class. Suki's independence shines through as a model of individuality with a touch of cultural and familial pride. The lovely illustrations in watercolor and ink bring life to this irrepressible girl.

Last week I was speculating on going back to work in the public library system. Now with two work days behind me, I can say that it's all good.

My main worry had been not knowing what I didn't know. Having done the job for nine years, I was aware that subtle but significant changes can take place along over time. Different procedures, new databases, and branch particulars could influence the things I thought I knew. Then there are the things I've forgotten almost entirely, like trouble-shooting the Internet sign-ups and print jobs.

As it turns out, that wasn't as much a problem as I feared. The books, the library, the customer service are all coming back like riding a bicycle. If the other parts keep me a bit off-balance, then maybe it's like riding a unicycle. But either way, it's not stressful. My co-workers are nice, helpful, and understanding. The patrons have been patient, even when I lead them in the completely wrong direction in the library. (Oops.) There are definitely some things I need to learn or relearn, but I'm getting back in the game quickly.

In fact, I'll do my first book talking session in a week! I had been planning to do this as a volunteer anyway, so I did have some books planned. My Fair County puts together a list of books for the Summer Reading Program that used to consist of new titles, but now pulls from years of great books. The good thing for me is that they are titles I've used before, making the work that much easier. Of course, I never write these things down, so maybe not that much easier.

Since I'm starting with a kindergarten through third grade, my focus is on picture books today. Sharon Creech has written the perfect booktalk title with A Fine, Fine School about a principal who thinks school should go all the time because he's so proud of his students and teachers. Reading about keeping school going all year long is so much fun to do in a room full of kids days before summer break. I'm also looking at Bark, George as a read aloud, because it's first title I ever booktalked. Yup, really. I already have a stuffed rabbit to wear on my head to introduce A Boy and his Bunny, which I'll pitch as a beginning reader as well as a picture book. I'm also looking to the wonderful Steve Jenkins for Prehistoric Actual Size and the new Just a Second. Of course, it wouldn't be me if I didn't bring the magic of Mo Willems to my booktalk with the Elephant and Piggie series. I'm still pinning down my early chapter book selections, so I'll save them for next week. Stay tuned.

As we count down to reading as a marathon sport, let's go over a few points. More questions? Ask them in the comments.

Do I need to have a blog to participate?
Pretty much. But if you set one up just for this challenge, you wouldn’t be the first to do so. You might find that the 48HBC kicks off a new hobby for you.

How does this reading for charity thing work?
This year we will offer our support to Book People Unite by making 2012 a Readathon for RIF. Sponsor yourself for an hourly pledge to contribute directly to Reading Is Fundamental. No money will go through me and your donation is at your comfort level. You are welcome to seek sponsorship as well, but it is not required.

Why can't we read for our own charity, like before?
I have always been reluctant to assign a specific cause, thinking that people should do what moved them. However, with the introduction of Book People Unite, I wanted a way to make that pledge more concrete and to help my other Book People - that would be you, kidlitosphere - do the same. Using the 48HBC offers a chance to promote one cause that we all believe in - that Reading Is Fundamental

Can I count time reading to my child? Can my kids join in?
You can certainly count time reading aloud to your child. Kids can always play along for the fun of it, but no prizes are offered. However, that doesn't mean that you couldn't give your own prize to your kid. Why not?

Can I count hours spent writing reviews during the 48HBC even if I schedule them to post after the challenge? That is so adorably organized. Yes, feel free to write reviews that will post later, though you might note that in your final summary.
 
I can't read the whole time because I have a wedding/graduation/recital/monster-truck rally to attend. Is that okay?
Yes. Once you start your hours they are continuous, but that doesn't mean that you won't have breaks - maybe even truly significant breaks - in your time. Though I'd gently suggest that if it is your wedding, you might reassess your priorities.

Why does the 48 Hour Book Challenge actually takes place over more hours in the weekend?
See above. True, it would be easier to have two specific days. But with time zones, work schedules, and the general freedom of bloggers to participate or not, a broader window of opportunity seemed more appropriate for our community.

How can I contact you to donate prizes?
Write me at MotherReader AT gmail DOT com and let me know what you’d like to donate. I usually pull together a bunch of things — books, jewelry, notecards, T-shirts, etc. — to make prize packages for the winners. I also like to have a few authors who’d be willing to send a personalized, signed book to a blogger for a few randomly selected “door prizes.” I’ll also take critiques, illustrator art/sketches/doodles, an offer to name a character in a book after a winner, or an eReader. A girl can dream.

I love this idea! How can I help?
Blog it. Tweet it. Share it. Seek sponsors. Post the button. Tell friends. Tell frenemies.  Most of all, sign up! Being part of this community event is helping.

STEM Friday focuses on books that promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Over the year I’ll be sharing the preschool program I created for the library and that I’m presenting once a month. The concept behind the program is to introduce science topics by combining fiction and nonfiction, songs and mini-experiments, action rhymes and hands-on times. As a preschool program the information conveyed is basic, and intended to encourage a questioning, observational approach to scientific topics. At the end, I leave up the mini-experiments for the kids to explore with me or a parent, and I explain that experiments should be done with a grown-up.

Growing Things
Book: Flip, Float, Fly: Seeds on the Move, by Joann Early Macken

Experiment: What’s a seed? Look at and identify different kinds of seeds like acorn, sunflower seeds, corn kernels, seeds in an apple core, maple tree seed pods, and whatever else can be found.

Book: Whose Garden is It?, by Mary Ann Hoberman

Experiment: What a Plant Needs What does a plant need to thrive? Show on paper or felt board with cutouts representing soil, sun, water, seeds, earthworms, flowers and bees. Or act it out!

Book: From Seed to Pumpkin, by Wendy Pfeffer

Experiment: How Plants Drink Take a stalk of celery and cut off a ½ inch off the bottom. Before the program, put it in a glass of water with food coloring. Wait one hour, and cut the celery lengthwise to see the colored water making its way up the stalk.

Book: The Curious Garden, by Peter Brown

Experiment: Plant Seeds Put a few seeds on a paper towel. Add two tablespoons or so of water. Put in a plastic bag with a little space for air. Take it home to see them sprout.

Here in the midst of SLJ's Top 100 Children's Novels countdown - and by the way, do not miss it! - I'm waiting for some of mine to show up on the list. As I said in an earlier post of three of my selections, I was surprised how "classic" I went with my own suggestions. I've read so many fantastic books over the last ten years, and yet when faced with picking ten favorites, I go old school. In a way, it goes to show the problem with these lists when sentiment is so hard to overcome. Maybe we should start by having equal representations from different age groups so that their nostalgia will be, you know, current.

Winnie-the-Pooh
by A.A. Milne
It's obvious that the nostalgia factor is so high on this title, though perhaps the years of Disneyfication of Pooh may be taking a toll on this impeccable, imaginative classic. After years of making the characters preschool fodder, the original stories have all been lost in the shuffle. Kids who are finally old enough to appreciate the sophisticated language and nuance, have tossed aside Pooh as baby books. It's a crying shame. The only advice I have for new parents, is to own the classic set and ban any and all Disneyfied versions with a fierceness usually reserved for smoking near the baby. Do it for the children.

Alice in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll
Here's a book that is entirely about imagination, and by that I mean one that gives the reader's imagination a complete workout as she visualizes the worlds and events of the story. It's one of the reasons that I see it as a perfect one to read aloud to a younger child who can freely imagine the scenes in this fantastic adventure without working through some of the harder text. ('Twas brillig, and the slithy toves...) There will be time later to come back and work through the annotated books to learn of the political implications of the verses and all that grown-up stuff. But for childhood, it's just fun to follow the white rabbit and see where he leads you.

The Bad Beginning
by Lemony Snicket
It is a stretch to put the Series of Unfortunate Events as a classic, but I think it's just a matter of time. This title is where the Baudelaire children first become orphans and are placed with Count Olaf, who will soon become the villain in their long tale of woe. The wit and wordplay in the books bring in the fans, along with the ever-more-complicated mysteries that grow deeper with each title. What I still find interesting about this book over ten years, is that it tends to get a love it or hate it reaction. While the Amazon ratings for The All-of-a-Kind Family were overwhelmingly five stars with a handful of low ratings, the ones for The Bad Beginning come in at about a 6:1 ratio for the book. Unusual for a book of this caliber.

Last Wednesday, I covered a lot of good stuff happening in my family. My husband made a great movie for the 48 Hour Film Project. My teen daughter had three of her Cappies reviews published and was a beautiful lead in the school's Shakespeare scene for Text Alive. My also-teen daughter did a brilliant solo number in a musical revue and landed a part in a community theatre production of 13: The Musical. Seems like we're on an upswing... and...

I got my job back! The back is the key word here, because I can't find any other way to say it. While I was getting antsy at home, I wasn't looking for a job. I still kinda I wanted the job I had held for nine years before budget cuts took it away from me. And three years later, a position finally opens in a library branch near my home and the girls' school. I'm back, baby.

My new branch is excited to have me aboard, especially with summer just around the corner. In fact, I'll jump right in with school booktalking sessions in my third week. Like before, it's a part-time position in youth services, so I'll be working with the community and the books I love. Starting this Saturday.

There is a part of this change that is bittersweet. It is impossible to take this job without reflecting on the fact that I lost it in the first place, with much sadness. That I lost three years of salary. That the county considers me a "new employee" because of my unintended break in service. That colleagues hearing of my return respond with a sense of justice on my behalf. That I also have a sense of that justice too, even though I don't blame my Fair County for the staff cuts. I just got caught in the wrong position at the wrong time. But yeah, it still stings.

As I prepare to be a working mother (or MotherReader) again, I can't help but reflect on these last three years with some regret. I didn't publish a book or clear my household clutter or start a craft business. My blogging didn't bring a profit and Broadway didn't beckon for my daughter. I'm not really sure what I've been doing with my time.

At the same time, I have to look at the gifts of that space. I was free to organize a conference, help with my mother's stroke, and run two Girl Scout troops. Without always being busy, rushing from job to home to activities, I became more patient and calm. When my younger daughter was having trouble with school, I was able to help her with homework without mentally running through the things I needed to do. Maybe most important of all, I understood how much I need the interaction and activity of working outside the home to be energized. I even have hopes it will bring me new vitality online as the books I read because more relevant to other aspects of my life.

While I expect some challenges to being a working mother again, I'm looking forward to the opportunity to be working in the library again. Let's see where this next journey goes.

All right, I may have put up the challenge and then disappeared. It's been a bit crazy and I've never been good at managing more than one big thing at a time. It's why I'll never be president. Well,that and the incident in Reno.

But with three weeks to go until the Seventh Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge, it is time to get serious. Certainly, Carol Rasco is setting the tone. Excited that the 48HBC will contribute as a readathon for Reading Is Fundamental, she's throwing in a wonderful prize:

Three Multicultural Book Collections for the winners in each of the three Challenge categories (or however you wish to use) to be donated to a school or non-profit of the recipients choice; the collection for this year titled Celebrations in honor of RIF's 45th Anniversary is made up of 45 books and activities for each to be used by Teachers, Parents, and Community members. I'll recruit some RIF cheerleaders, some of those Book People, you know! Thanks again for the support!

What a great way to coordinate the campaign for Book People Unite with our own love of reading lots of books in an artificially compacted time limit. Please sign up in the comments, post about the challenge, seek sponsorship and/or sponsor yourself. Don't worry if you can't read for an impressive number of hours. Participate because it's one way, one time, one weekend where we can be a community with a shared goal. All on the same page, as it were. Let's go team!