Celebrate!

Ruth Ayres has a link-up on weekends where people link to posts that are celebrations about their week. I love this reminder to celebrate every week though this month I have been remiss. I haven't put my celebrations online this month yet so here are quite a few of them.

I am often celebrating bookish things and this month is no exception. First though, I am thankful I had both of my adult children home for a few days and we were able to spend some time together. One of my children is a fan of BTS (a Korean music group) so we spent time watching their videos. When we did, we found this fun moment:

While watching BTS videos I found an example to go with a reading of The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by @DrewDaywalt #kidlit pic.twitter.com/UcQn7cpqEx

— Crystal Brunelle (@librarygrl2) November 24, 2017

Watching their videos is truly a treat as they are cute, have fun dance moves, and their songs are very catchy. It's even better because I get to enjoy something with my child & it connected to a book!

Another fun lit moment was finding the book A Different Pond by Bao Phi illustrated by Thi Bui:

#bookaday A Different Pond by Bao Phi illustrated by @MsThiBui It’s a wonderful story that shares much about family & what they do with & for each other. pic.twitter.com/iYMdA4PbfH

— Crystal Brunelle (@librarygrl2) November 23, 2017

We have many Hmong students in our school and there are very few books where a Hmong character just randomly shows up. Plus, this is a wonderful immigrant family story.

My first grade students and I read You Hold Me Up by Monique Gray Smith illustrated by Danielle Daniel and made a display. It was super exciting to hear back from the author:

We got our display up after reading You Hold Me Up by @ltldrum & illustrated by Danielle Daniel #wisnativenov17 #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth @WisDPIais #onapride pic.twitter.com/mEkiPIXUXH

— Crystal Brunelle (@librarygrl2) November 16, 2017

Please give my love to the students! Their words & illustrations brought tears to my eyes! Imagine our world with these young citizens as our future leaders!💗💫

— Monique Gray Smith (@ltldrum) November 16, 2017

I also had bookish fun at the adult storytime. I shared the essay Bad Feminist #2 by Roxane Gay and many other people shared from books and essays. Next time I want to bring picture books.

Enjoying adult storytime at Turtle Stack Brewery. Thanks La Crosse Public Library. #booklove pic.twitter.com/TQfBlR8bUI

— Crystal Brunelle (@librarygrl2) November 15, 2017

One other lovely moment from this month was when I finally listened to the audio of Aristotle and Dante:

That lovely & surreal moment when you're listening to Aristotle & Dante by @BenjaminAlireSa & hear @Lin_Manuel say Alexander Hamilton. pic.twitter.com/MVGJAHL5z6

— Crystal Brunelle (@librarygrl2) November 4, 2017

Finally, I was also able to go see Jason Reynolds speak in Madison. I am always inspired and moved when he shares from his heart. Not only did I see him, but I was able to spend several hours in the car with two other librarians and that was awesome bookish talking time.

I'm glad I get to spend so much time doing the things I love with fun people and excellent books.