For The Children

One of the most fascinating aspects of becoming a teacher librarian is the history of libraries, librarians and librarianship required classes.  To not only trace how information was stored and shared but to learn who had access at any given point in time, makes you grateful for the services available today.  It also makes you proud to be a part of a greater whole which has added and continues to add much to the local and global community.

Given the opportunities today for children in public (and school) libraries, it's hard to comprehend a time when they were not allowed in libraries.  There were no reading materials for them nor a special area set aside for their enjoyment.  Miss Moore Thought Otherwise:  How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries for Children (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children) written by Jan Pinborough with illustrations by Debby Atwell highlights the life of this woman who was determined to live her life on her own terms.

Once in a big house in Limerick, Maine, there lived a little girl named Annie Carroll Moore.  She had large gray eyes, seven older brothers, and ideas of her own.

In the 1870s when Annie was born and growing up, it was expected women, like children, should, more or less, be seen and not heard.  Madcap rides in carriages and on toboggans were more to Annie's liking than stitchery.  Despite children not being allowed in libraries, she developed a love of reading.

Instead of choosing a normal path for unmarried women at nineteen, Annie decided to study law like her father.  Due to a family tragedy her plans were set aside for some years.  Exciting news changed her plans again; libraries were hiring women as librarians!

Annie become a librarian at the Pratt Free Library after graduating from the Pratt Institute library school located in Brooklyn, New York.  Annie's library brought her recognition because of a special room designated for children.  Soon Dr. Bostwick requested her to oversee all the children's areas in every single one of the branches of the New York Public Library.

She developed a pledge for children; their signature in a book in exchange for library privileges.  Silence signs were removed.  New appealing titles replaced outdated dusty tomes.  Annie Carroll Moore worked tirelessly to ensure parents, teachers and librarians knew about and had access to the best children's literature available.

In the spring of 1911 with the dedication of the new New York Public Library the work of Annie was apparent in the creation of the Central Children's Room; the architecture, decor and materials welcomed children of all ages and backgrounds. Over the years despite what was going on in the outside world, in this room, programs and people provided a haven for the children.  Children never knew when Miss Moore might bring out Nicholas Knickerbocker, a wooden doll, to entertain and speak with them.  Even at the age of seventy after retirement, traveling across the United States, she continued to encourage others to provide outstanding services for children in their public libraries.


Debut children's book author Jan Pinborough has created an informative and lively look at the life of Anne Carroll Moore, a champion for children in the world of libraries.  Pinborough's thorough research not only focuses on Miss Moore's lifetime accomplishments but gives readers insight into her resolute personality; reading in the attic on rainy afternoons, going to her father's law office to learn, traveling to New York City alone to study, having special furniture made for the Central Children's Room, and extending her ideas about a place for children in libraries to other countries.  With the repetition of the phrase Annie thought otherwise readers develop admiration for this woman; we feel like cheering for her successes.


Acrylic paintings by Debby Atwell with their distinctive folk art quality pair perfectly with the narrative giving readers a window into another time and place.  Her bright full-color palette and spirited illustrations begin on the matching jacket and cover.  On the front we see Annie Carroll Moore tall and proud in front of the New York Public Library, children on either side of her and on the back Annie standing beside one of the library lions, hat in hand, another hand on the lion with the lion's eye looking at her.

Her choice in picture size and placement is a reflection of the text it enhances.  The opening and closing pages illuminate the text with framing showcasing flowers, birds and trees native to the season opposite a full page picture.  Atwell elects to use two pages, single pages, pages crossing the gutter creating a column for the text, and oval insets, all complimenting the ebb and flow of the writing.  One of my favorite illustrations shows Miss Moore in her car, suitcases stacked on top, the roadway filled with the text winding through cities and towns in our country.


Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries for Children written by Jan Pinborough with paintings by Debby Atwell is a pleasing picture book biography, making Anne Carroll Moore's dreams, goals and achievements accessible to those for whom she dedicated all---children, libraries and access to the very best literature.  At the conclusion of the book are two pages titled More About Miss Moore which also notes others in the field working for children.  It is followed by a page of sources.

Please follow the links to the author, illustrator and book websites embedded in each of the names above.  This title has received a nomination for the Amelia Bloomer Project.

Yesterday I was invited to a fifth grade classroom to do extra booktalks to fire the students up for summer reading.  To my surprise I was presented with a copy of this book signed by all the students and their teacher, Mrs. Carol Madison.  I would love to post it here for you to see but many of the students gave their first and last names.  There is no greater treasure than books and the love of reading especially when you can pass it on and share it with others.

Where Are They?

I am a dyed-in-the-wool neatnik.  It's possibly the consequence of having a Dad who had all his tools organized by type and size, even engraving his initials on every single one.  My lifetime love, being a school librarian, could weigh heavily in favor of this particular personality trait.  The influence, over decades, of good ole' Melvil Dewey and alphabetical order is hard to shake.

Despite this, there are times when the most used, the most loved, item will turn up missing.  For whatever reason, my mind has one of its Swiss cheese moments. It's good to discover I share this, the forgetfulness not the neatness, in common with a particularly charming little green duck.  Have You See My New Blue Socks? (Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) written by Eve Bunting with illustrations by Sergio Ruzzier takes readers on a comic lost-and-found stroll.


I have lost my new blue socks.

Looking in a box proves futile.  Duck knows, at least he thinks he knows, he put them close.  It's a complete mystery where they could be.

He decides to ask his pal Fox if he has seen his new blue socks.  Fox, knowing Duck well, asks if he has looked in his box.  He also suggests he question Ox about those missing socks.

This is becoming quite the puzzle because Ox has no clue except for inside Duck's box, asking Fox or....wait maybe down by the rocks.  There are plenty there but none are blue.  And blue is exactly how Duck is trying not to feel.

Knowing how the peacocks like to preen and parade Duck thinks they might have passed his lost attire. The three offer a question, sympathy and a solution.  The youngest of the three (and a careful reader) spots the tiniest of clues. Hip! Hip! Hooray!  Duck knew he put them close.


Rhyming couplets and repetition of phrases masterfully conceived by Eve Bunting provide an irresistible beat.  It invites active participation in the reading and the narrative journey. Each turn of page offers new possibilities, building toward a mirthful resolution.


From the matching jacket and cover readers clearly feel the frustration of  Duck having lost his new blue socks.  We also get a sense Duck might not be the best housekeeper either.  The title page featuring a single peacock feather hints at the ending.  A two page illustration, a landscape showing a forlorn duck leaning out the window of his home, follows for the verso and dedication page.

Sergio Ruzzier's adept composition of pen and ink and watercolor pictures done in a palette of delicate blues, greens, yellows, rusts (terra cotta), purple and creams elevates and extends the text.  Fine lines convey personality traits and mood on each of the characters.  Ruzzier's extra touches, those added details, add joy to the story; Duck's unkempt household (items scattered on the floor, hanging from the open window frame and upon the sill), Duck's friend Fox reading a book (Aesop's Fables?) with a plate of grapes from the arbor next to him, Mr. Ox sitting on a bench painting a fruit tree but not quite getting the colors right, the shape of the peacocks bodies, their head and tail feathers and the shoes Duck wears.  Each reading offers new discoveries.


Author Eve Bunting and illustrator Sergio Ruzzier have penned and pictured a precious tale in Have You See My New Blue Socks?  While the story reaching out to readers, the illustrations will pull them in, surrounding them with affection and warmth.  This is one of those books that is best shared, preferably out loud.  It would be fun to extend this with reader's theater or creative drama.

The link embedded in Eve Bunting's name will take you to a series of video interviews at Reading Rockets.  Sergio Ruzzier's official website can be accessed by following the link attached to his name.  Links to several interviews about Ruzzier's illustrative process can be found in a previous review linked here.

Went the Day Well at Partizan

Well it is all finished and I have to say that I am at a bit of a loss on what to do as I have been living this game for the last six month, but to earth and the next project I guess, lol. But before that here is what happened.

After the recent successes for the Duke of Rutland and his Edwardite forces the day came for the attack on the city of Leicester and to drive the Socialists out of the area once and for all. It was a straightforward plan of attack the Duke had and that was an advance through the village of Evington and to capture the General Hospital which lies on the outskirts of the city itself. The Socialists had put up trench works in front of the city and out towards Evington and the surrounding area and put roadblocks on all the roads in preparation of the attack.

On the eve of the assault the Socialists instead of sitting in their trenches waiting for the Edwardites to come marching through decide that they would jump out of the trenches to the cries of the Internationale and the Red Flag and advanced to attack the Dukes forces. At the same time the Duke's forces advanced into the area to attack the Socialist positions around the Hospital.

The initial attack for the Duke's forces went well with the Laude Abbey Anglicans taking the full force of the Duke's attack. Some amazing shooting for the Duke's newly arrived Bavarian supporters cause great damage to the Anglican defences but the tide started to change. The Bavarians a victim of their own success and some rather inaccurate artillery fire from Dukes own guns caused the attack to peter out couples with a strong Socialist counter attack saw the Edwardites swept from the table and start they long retreat but to Belvoir Castle and Rutland. During the finial stages of the counter attack saw the Duke himself become victim to another one of the Edwardites  wayward artillery shells and was carried away from the field.

The city of Leicester is now safe in the hands of the Socialist Council with the Dukes forces mauled and retreating the gains of the pass few months having been lost back to the Socialists.

I has a great day and thanks to all the chaps from the Very British Civil Forum who played and especially to Mr Smillie for especially for putting on this great day. Roll on the next one.

Here are some pictures of the day and I hope you enjoy them.