Almost ten years ago I heard Emily Arrow on a podcast chatting with Matthew Winner and she sang a storytime song she calls Books! Books! It's super cute and she plays a ukulele for the accompaniment. I loved it so much that we started singing it at the beginning of every kindergarten and first grade library class, but we either listened to her version or we sang a cappella. Then I got a ukulele for Christmas.
One of the first songs I learned to play was hers. I've been playing it with kindergarteners and sometimes older students ever since. It's a wonderful way to usher the students into the room and get everyone settled. We also sing quite a few of Emily's other songs related to children's literature like Be A Friend, I am Yoga, I am Peace, and others. She is such a joyful human and her music is lovely.
One year I got to meet her in person and even sing Be a Friend on stage with her in my stripedy shirt. I love the picture of me with my ukulele and the person who inspired me to learn how to play. My students think I'm pretty fancy since I can play and sing like Emily Arrow so that's cool. They're rather easy to impress, but singing with them is always bright spot in my day and it all started with a podcast while I was folding laundry in the basement.
Y'all--the hold shelf is a wonder and a gift. I know I spend way more time on screens than I wish for myself, but being able to go to my library website and put things on hold is just a pure delight. And living where we do, they often show up pretty quickly. I had three books ready today! I am a librarian and avid reader so hold shelves really, really ring my bell.
I am participating in a #RamadanReadathon and had ordered several titles including Fledgling by S.K. Ali for a readalong. S.K. Ali also wrote Love from A to Z, which I really love. I had a fun time writing about it here. Coincidentally, I had visited the Aga Khan museum in Toronto and had seen an ancient text that is part of a plot point in the book so I really connected with it.
I'm not Muslim, but back in 2016, S.K. Ali and Karuna Riazi were chatting on Twitter and came up with the hashtag #Muslimshelfspace. Here's a video that tells the story of how that came about and how it progressed.
I shared a photo from my school library that ended up in this video, but realized that my bookshelves at home didn't really have any Muslim authors. I decided that my reading needed to be diversified not only in my school library, but also at home. I had already been reading widely in children's lit for my job as a teacher librarian, but decided to broaden my personal reading too. I discovered the #RamadanReadathon as I searched for ways to find titles recommended by Muslim readers and have been participating most years. It's a great way to learn about a culture beyond my own, but I have also spent many enjoyable hours absorbed in wonderful stories.
I don't think I ever envisioned getting to work via bicycle on a regular basis, but luck was with me. When we moved to our current location and the job hunt started, I only applied to schools and libraries within biking distance. It was a gamble, but it paid off and I now ride to work four days out of five. It's about three miles to both of my schools with around half of the trip in a bike lane and half on a dedicated bike path.
Today as with many days, it was a bit nippy on the trip to my school on the west side of town. Even so, the exercise warmed me up within a few blocks. The sun was shining, flowers and trees were blooming, and as usual, Monday morning traffic was light. I think the university students try not to schedule classes early after the weekend.
This afternoon, I had forgotten about my Spanish class until it was almost time for it to start. I left school with only five minutes left before class. Times like this are a little trickier with a bicycle. It meant I needed to get across town super fast with only thigh power. I turned on my Strava and hopped to it. You may wonder why I took the time to turn on an app. It's one of the ways that my son communicates his love. I get kudos when he sees my activity and I interpret it as a virtual hug even if that's not quite what he's expressing. ;)
I arrived late, breathless, and a bit heated, but still had more than half of my Spanish class to go so all was well. My son across the country saw my ride on the app and delivered that virtual hug I was hoping for which was icing on the cake.
As I looked back to my previous Slice of Life posts, I realized that this is only the second time participating in the March event. In my mind, there had been at least two years, but memories are not always reliable. Going back through my blog posts, there were a few Tuesday posts in 2014 and then a post every day of March in 2015 with this introduction:
Thank you for joining me on this Slice of Life writing journey. It's my first attempt at the month-long challenge though I have posted stories on Tuesdays once in a while.
Who am I?
Wife and mother
Teacher
Librarian
Reader
Runner
Dancer
Photographer
Observer
Overgrown Child
Activist
Chocolate eater
Tea drinker
Writer
After ten years, many things in that list are still true, but I no longer run (following a rock climbing accident that required knee surgery) and I don't take many photographs nowadays. In case you are wondering, I would add rock climber to the list because I have returned to that in spite of the accident, but running is no longer a comfortable thing with a slightly wonky knee.
I would also have to add language learner. We had our first Korean high school student living with us during my first SOL month in 2015, but I had no idea that about three years later, I would be practicing Korean and getting ready for my first trip to Korea to meet his family. Following that trip, we would host another student from Korea for three entire school years and I would go on to have many, many Korean lessons in hopes of one day meeting her family. Currently, I watch K-dramas and do a little studying to maintain what I've learned, but have pulled back a little because learning two languages at once is confusing for my brain.
Last fall I started working at a dual-immersion Spanish/English elementary school and am trying to learn Spanish as quickly as possible. Every week there are a few more words that stick in my brain, but it seems that I also lose a few words too. See previous sentence at the beginning about memories and reliability. ;)
All this to say, I guess this makes me a fairly new slicer and I'm glad to be here again after so many years. I still recognize a lot of names so some of you have been doing this for a long time. Thanks for sticking around.
The Slice of Life Challenge was created by the people over at the blog Two Writing Teachers. The challenge is to write about some part of your day and share it each Tuesday then give feedback to at least three other bloggers.
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly blog hop hosted by Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers which focuses on sharing what we’re reading.
This Kid Lit version of IMWAYR focuses primarily on books marketed for kids and teens, but books for readers of all ages are shared. We love this community and how it offers opportunities to share and recommend books with each other.
The original IMWAYR, with an adult literature focus, was started by Sheila at Book Journeys and is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.
The Kid Lit IMWAYR was co-created by Kellee & Jen at Teach Mentor Texts.
I post about my reading here, at the YA blog Rich in Color and as crystalreading at Storygraph.
The Past Week: For Kindergarten classes this week, we sang a song that is a complete earworm. I am a Robot by Kymberly Stewart following the reading of Stop! Bot! by James Yang. We have been reading books that have gotten awards and it was a Geisel award book in the past. I dare you to listen to the song, but don't blame me if you end up singing it over and over again all day.
I finally found a copy of The Table by Wiley Blevins and Winsome Bingham with illustrations by Jason Griffin. That's the Jason that co-wrote the first book Jason Reynolds published My Name is Jason. Mine too. He also did the illustrations for Ain't Burned All the Bright. This picture book is about a table sitting out by the road, how it got there, who had it before and what it was used for and who gets it next and how they use it. It's a simple table and a simple book, but it hits the emotions.
I finished reading the young adult novel I Am Not Jessica Chen by Ann Liang and will review it for Rich in Color this Friday. I won't say much here except that it was an enjoyable contemporary story with a touch of fantasy and romance and it made me think.
For a book club, I read The Book of (More) Delights: Essays by Ross Gay. It is a sequel and I had read the first one for a different book club last year. It was a really nice one for the times we're in now because each essay focuses on a delight or joy from that day. It's a great reminder to look for the good and it's upbeat for the most part.
Speaking of delights, I also read The House in the Cerulean Seaby TJ Clune. It's a lovely fantasy with found family and it is brimming with many kinds of love. It was also a nice way to occupy my mind when needing a break from news or doomscrolling.
A little less light was That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America by Amanda Jones. This book is easy to read, in that it is conversational, but difficult because the topic may make a reader's blood boil a tad. I had mostly been following her situation online, but it was good to find out more of the details and see what it was that she had done in response. I hope I never need the advice, but it is quite likely that something similar will eventually come knocking.
Currently reading: I'm still slow reading Beloved with others online on Bluesky. It's rough going, but it's a unique experience taking it so slowly and also seeing how others are processing the story and emotions. I also started Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future by Patty Krawec with Nick Estes for the StoryGraph reading challenge Decolonize Your Bookshelf hosted by paperbacks_n_frybread. Paperbacks & Frybread is a bookstore owned by a woman named Dominique from the Lumbee Tribe. Finally, I am also reading Weathering: The Extraordinary Stress of Ordinary Life in an Unjust Society by Arline T. Geronimus because it is a community read at the local university. Whew! I hope you have a great week of reading!
It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book!
Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.
If you want to see more of my reading, visit my StoryGraph account here.
The Past Week at School:
Every Little Kindness by Marta Bartolj (Slovenian author/illustrator) is a great wordless picture book that worked well for the beginning of kindness month. The students helped me read the book by telling what they noticed in the illustrations and what they thought was happening. I used this with fourth grade.
I shared I am Peace: A Book of Mindfulness by Susan Verde and illustrated by Peter Reynolds with kindergarten classes. We also sang the song and did the motions with Emily Arrow because of course we would. ;)
With third grade, we had a visit with the author Meghan Wilson Duff and they read their book How Are You, Verity? It was a fantastic visit for World Read Aloud Day.
Fifth graders also got to meet the author Lisa Stringfellow on World Read Aloud Day. She talked to us about both of her books and read from Kingdom of Dusk.
With first graders, I read Cesaria Feels the Beat by Denise Rasario Adusei and illustrated by Priscila Soars. The story went well with their science unit about sound.
My Reading Last Week: I enjoyed the middle grade graphic novel Ash's Cabin by Jen Wang about a young person who runs away to a cabin in the woods to survive because life is challenging. Ash learns a lot about survival, but also a lot about what they actually need and want in life.
Another middle grade graphic novel was Fake Chinese Sounds by Jing Jing Tsong. Měi Yīng is dealing with bullying at school, but it's not just about that. She also has a visit from her grandmother from Taiwan and is learning more about her language and family. In the midst of that, her friendships are changing.
I listened to All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson through Libro.fm and it made me cry. It deals with grief and friendship and it's a short book considering how much is packed in there. It's beautiful.
A picture book that I enjoyed was Ra Pu Zel and the Stinky Tofu by Ying Chang Compestine and illustrated by Crystal Kung. It's a Rapunzel retelling and she put herself up in the tower so it is a bit of a switch. She is not one to be bossed around. Also, there's a lot of food mentioned. There is a not stinky tofu recipe at the end. I did try it, but be warned, the recipe isn't quite complete. There is a soy ginger sauce, but ginger isn't listed or mentioned so I just added what I thought should be there. Also, you're supposed to put the sauce in the refrigerator for a while, but the instructions never tell you when or how to add it. I wasn't sure if it was also meant to be cooked in the pan or just as a dipping sauce or wha so I went ahead and added it to the pan a when the tofu was just about done. It was quite tasty though.
I am still listening to Beloved slowly along with a group of people on Bluesky. I have also started to read That Librarian. What are you reading? I hope you have a great week filled with wonderful books.
