Let the Wild Rumpus Begin!

Take a break for one of my favorite picture books read by one of my favorite presidents.



I know some of those passages by heart!

The Right to Read

A co-worker sent a link to this very thoughtful and excellent letter from a librarian concerning one parent's challenge to a children's book in which a little girl is jealous of her favorite uncle's new (male) fiancé.

Uncle Bobby's Wedding: The Response. Myliblog, July 24, 2008.

I think at the very least, when I get back to work, I am going to suggest we have the Library Bill of Rights, the Freedom to Read, and Free Access to Libraries for Minors information available for challenges that may come up. Luckily, we rarely have challenges, but we have had some, and it's never good to delude yourself into thinking that we will never have any challenges in the future. Our challenges tend not to be on books about gay marriage, but on things like violence (perceived or described) in particular books.

Mommified

I was told last week that I had a mom haircut. That couldn't be good.

X's and O's

So cute.



You're my Honeybunch, Sugarplum
Pumpy-umpy-umpkin,
You're my Sweetie Pie
You're my Cuppycake, Gumdrop
Snoogums-Boogums, You're
the Apple of my Eye
And I love you so and I want you to know
That I'll always be right here
And I love to sing sweet songs to you
Because you are so dear.

This song was originally sung by Amy Castle in 1994 (that video is on You Tube as well.) It's just easier to hear in this version, also sung by Amy Castle.

Miss U.S.A.

So, Miss North Carolina (Kristen Dalton) won Miss U.S.A., and rightfully so. Her answer to the final question in the pageant didn't sound idiotic. In fact, I liked that she said that bailout money should instead be spent on education, health care and welfare.

Miss California (Carrie Prejean) and Miss Arizona (Alicia Blanco), however, seem to be in a race to see which one has the stupidest answer. Are these questions supposed to show how intelligent and aware of current events these women are?

Miss Arizona's question: Do you think the U.S. should have Universal Health Care as a right of citizenship?
Her Answer: "I think this is an issue of integrity, regardless of which end of the political spectrum that I stand on. I've been raised in a family to know right from wrong and politics whether you fall in the middle, the left or the right, it's an issue of integrity, whatever your opinion is and I say that with the utmost conviction."

Did anyone else notice that she didn't answer the question? Is she running for office?

Miss California's question: Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit?
Her Answer: "I think it's great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage," "And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised."

Not helping the image of my adopted state, here, Carrie. I'm not even going to comment on the meat of her answer, because you know I don't agree -- however, she has the right to her opinion. (Wonder if she was one of the people who voted for Prop. 8 last November.) Americans are able to live in a land where you can choose same-sex or "opposite marriage", but in HER country, she thinks that you shouldn't be able to choose. Where is she from? Isn't California in the United States? Actually, she would have been better off using Miss Arizona's answer.

My husband and I have gotten a kick out of saying we have an "opposite marriage." It's so us.

I meant to comment a while ago on the fact that Iowa, of all places, has a more enlightened gay marriage policy than so-called liberal California. Wonders never cease.

And I am loving that my home state, Connecticut, the same Connecticut that people wanted to talk smack about when I first moved here, also allows same-sex marriage. Chew on that, smug Californians.

Let Them Play!

In a review of The Rights of the Reader by Daniel Pennac. Roger Sutton of the Horn Book quotes Pennac as saying, among other things "Worried that a lack of scheduled activities will lead your kid to boredom? But being bored is great."

(Click here for the review.)

I so agree. Being bored is actually a gift -- if your time isn't always filled with someone else entertaining you or constantly being drilled with new facts, then you can use that "boring" time to put your imagination to work, something I think we all need more time to do, young and old.

I am against scheduling your child within an inch of his life. I am all for lazy summer days spent running around in backyards, climbing trees and riding bikes. Throwing tennis balls against the wall and trying to figure out how to play jump rope when you only have two people. Cutting "paper dolls" out of catalogs and creating Barbie houses with odds and ends from around the house (I always liked setting up the house so much more than actually playing with the dolls).

Scheduled activities might seem to give your child a more impressive "resume", but I think some really great learning still happens organically. Kids are curious about their world. They are little scientists. That is, when they aren't being sucked in by video games and (oops, I'm guilty of this myself), television. Those are things, sorry to say, that are actually thinking for you, and all too often, not letting you think for yourself.

I also know that scheduled activities seem so much safer -- I can't imagine letting my little girl run around and explore the outdoors unsupervised as much as I did. And honestly, the fact that I'm too scared to let her do that makes me sad. I know that she'll be missing out. I may have been bored at the outset, but I'm glad for having ridden my bike down my street as fast as I could, even though I ended up falling over the handlebars of my bike, making snow angels and exploring the quiet after a snowstorm, including knocking down icicles (dangerous! You'll knock your eye out, kid!) or eating snow (dirty!) or putting on musicals for the neighbors and my family, even if we looked a little silly, laying out on the front lawn finding dragons in clouds, or trying to make mudpies because I read about it in a book. But if I hadn't, I wouldn't have these stories to tell, now would I?

More on the benefits of play and letting kids be. "Are You Turning Your Child Into A Wimp?"Time.com, June 23, 2008

Spring is Here!

And Google has commemorated it using Eric Carle artwork from The Hungry Little Caterpillar. First Dr. Seuss artwork and now Eric Carle -- this Children's Librarian is thrilled! Now if they could just use a little LeUyen Pham, Kadir Nelson and Elisa Kleven (who is, incidentally, one of the nicest people around), I would really lose it! I'm such a sucker for children's book illustrators -- always have been!

Who is LeUyen Pham?

Who is Kadir Nelson?

Who is Elisa Kleven?