Even librarians need librarians!

So I’ve tried to dispel a myth here before: if one is a children’s librarian, it does not necessarily mean that one’s child will be an avid reader. We have struggled with Kiddo since Day One with the reading. It’s not that she’s dyslexic or anything like that; she’s just…apathetic. We have to cajole and convince her to pick up a book.

For awhile, she was all about Mercy Watson and read those books over and over again. Then I received a lovely package of books from Françoise Mouly: Jack and the Box, Stinky, and Mo and Jo: Fighting Together Forever. For a brief and blessed time, we didn’t have to push Kiddo to read – she gladly picked these up for her twenty minutes of nightly reading (as prescribed by her teacher).

But then she tired of all of those, which is natural after having read each about 30 times. This is when I went to the Central Children’s Room of the library, looking for anything she might read. And here’s what happened: I was no longer a librarian. I was a frustrated parent, and I couldn’t think of a single book my kid would read. Luckily, the librarian saw my face – you fellow librarians know the face – and asked if she could help. When I told her my dilemma and whined about how Toon Books couldn’t produce books fast enough, this is what she said:

“Well, have you tried Babymouse?”



The parent in me saw the skies open up and the heard the heavens sing. The librarian in me flicked myself in the forehead for not thinking of it sooner. OF COURSE! And the irony of it is that I actually have a copy of Babymouse: Queen of the World on my personal bookshelves…but it’s a pristine hardcover edition that Jenny and Matt signed at BookFest, and I have it on a high shelf with my other signed books, not exactly accessible to children. I know, I know. Judge me all you’d like.

So imagine my delight when I showed Kiddo the five Babymouse books I checked out for her, and she yelled: “COMICS!!!!” And promptly started reading Queen of the World. Not only did she read for the prescribed 20 minutes...but then she read for 10 minutes more without a single word from us.

The next day I went back to the Central Children’s Room with the sole purpose of giving the librarian a hug. I was going to give her flowers, but I thought that might be over the top.

Since then, Kiddo has read and re-read most of the Babymouse books…but I’ve nailed her pattern, and I sense the interest waning. I’ve brought home Kaput and Zösky, but the sense of humor didn’t quite click with her, not to mention that the font is teeny tiny. Bad Kitty wasn’t comic-y enough. Amelia Rules and Sardine in Outer Space also didn’t pass the test.

I’m thinking of running Garfield and Calvin & Hobbes by her next. In the meantime, she has re-discovered Talented Clementine and thinks that gluing beer bottle caps to the soles of your shoes is about the funniest thing ever.

Anyone have any additional book suggestions?

Annual Literature Meeting: just another day at Queens Library

So I’ve been doing all kinds of wonderful, fun things lately. My last post is evidence of that. And there has been lots more fun since then and I’ve been so excited to tell you all about it. However, because I’ve been having so much fun, I have become run down and exhausted. Which naturally left me no energy to blog. Indeed, I left work early yesterday and today, sick. So my conundrum is this: do I stop doing so much so that I have more time to blog? Or do I keep doing so much, thus leaving me no time (or inclination) to blog?

The most exciting event for me recently is this: Queens Library’s Literature Meeting*. We held it yesterday at our Flushing branch. We do this event every year and, in the past, we’ve had such luminaries as Paula Danziger and Walter Dean Myers. This year, we decided the time was ripe for a panel on graphic novels. To get to the point, we invited Françoise Mouly (editorial director of TOON Books, art director of The New Yorker, and Art Spiegelman’s wife), Mark Siegel (well-known illustrator and editorial director of First Second), and Elicia Castaldi (illustrator of Middle School is Worse than Meatloaf).

As you can imagine, with a new format, there were lots of difficulties. Hell, with three different MAC laptops in play, there’s bound to be issues!!! Add to that the surprise appearance of Diamond Comics Distributors, who planned a 10-minute presentation that we were not made aware of…oh, and poor Françoise Mouly went to our Central branch instead of Flushing and was very late. Add to that a colleague that repeatedly kept saying to me, “See?! I told you there would be technical glitches! I told you we should have made David [Queens’ techie] come!” Last but not least, the large Chinese population in Flushing decided this would be a swell day to protest the Bush administration outside of the library...a couple hundred of them! If there was ever a need for wine, it was yesterday morning!!!!

You know what, though, it’s funny how things turn out. Elicia Castaldi brought her boyfriend, David, who somehow got every one of the presentations up and running. And it was a good thing that we made room for John, the Diamond Comics guy, because his presentation was really fantastic. And even though Françoise was late and flustered, she pulled herself together and gave a fascinating talk that people stayed for, even though we went over time. And the protest was just another reminder that living in NYC is always an adventure. As for the colleague who wouldn’t leave me alone…well, I still don’t know how I can deal with him in a grown-up manner. Best to keep my mouth shut.

John, the Diamond Comics guy, talked about the history of comics and graphic novels, calling it “the new rock n’ roll.” He was approachable, funny, and interesting. Mark Siegel…well, it’s Mark Siegel. He talked about First Second’s vision and told good stories. Most of the people in the room hadn’t heard him speak before and, well, let’s just say that I had a co-worker that declared she was leaving Queens Library to go work for Mark. I think the whole room was swooning. Elicia was a great complement to the guys – she was sweet and modest, and I enjoyed the images of her artwork appearing in flashes behind her on the screen. And lest I forget to mention, she and her boyfriend are probably two of the most beautiful people you’ll ever meet: someone (I won’t reveal who said it) said, “They look like they came straight off a movie screen!” Also, brave soul that she is, this was Elicia’s first library visit! And with all our crazy technical glitches! Françoise was the consummate pro: gracious and beautiful under pressure. Unfortunately, her talk did have to be abbreviated, but what she did show us was completely fascinating. I’m longing to hear the rest of her talk. Later, on the subway ride home, Mark and Françoise spoke French (I understood every 3^rd word) and talked about visual literacy – needless to say, I was in heaven. I’m such a geek when it comes to these things…not to mention that I have an overdeveloped sense of hero worship when it comes to these powerhouse industry types (authors, illustrators, and Arthur A. Levine fit into this category).

I got warm, positive feedback from the librarians who attended; not to mention that some admitted to not having read a single graphic novel before the event…and were happy that now they have. Glitches aside, I will call the event a success. It seemed to reflect my own personality: flying-by-the-seat-of-its-pants, spontaneous, lack of attention to detail…yet also managed to avoid disaster and it was filled with laughter and fun.

Thank heavens it only happens once a year!

* Elicia emailed me today post-meeting, asking me for the fancy name for our meeting so her rep can include it in Elicia's info. Unfortunately, there is no fancy name. This is only the second one of these I've participated in, and we've always called it "the lit meeting." But I'm sure there's some fancy name we can give it before I email Elicia back tomorrow!