Mrs. D In the Library

González, X. & Garcia, A. M. (2022). Where wonder grows. New York, NY: Cinco Punto Press. Genre: Children's Picture Book Summary: A group of young grand-daughters follow their grandmother into her garden. What awaits inside is a collection of Earth materials like crystals, rocks, seashells, and meteorite bits. Each have a name. All tell a story. The story is that we are all connected to the Earth and our power is great because of it.  Comments: The characters in the book are ones we know - grandmother and grandchild. The relationship is depicted by the youth in the children’s faces and the way they circle around the grandmother and give their full attention to her as she teaches them. The illustrations in this book are rich with detail and show the movement of the grandmother and her granddaughters through the garden. The colors are deep and rich emphasizing the life and vibrancy of both the people and the objects on the pages.  I dea for Library Programming: Make your ...

I have no memories of reading or being read to as a kid. My mom worked full time and was in night school and my dad wasn't really involved. In elementary, middle, and high school, I read for classwork or homework but I didn't read outside of what I was required to.  It wasn't until college that I considered myself a reader. And even then it wasn't until my junior year. I took a critical theory class with Dr. Betensky (she still teaches at URI!) and really fell in love with reading and critical thinking pretty simultaneously. Our main text book was The Norton   Anthology of Theory and Criticism .  Pretty wild to think that this is what got me into reading but it's true. Derrida, Foucault, Marx, and Butler are just a few of the theorist we read over the semester. The content was challenging but I found myself eager to understand. This was partly due to Dr. Betensky's teaching method. She didn't wait for you to raise your hand, she expected us all to have read ...

How well do you know important DEI vocabulary?  First, let’s do a quick run down on what DEI means. Put simply, DEI stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.  Why is it important?  Because we all operate every day in a place where  many of our identities collide and interact with the world around us. And since that is true for us, it is true for everyone.  Try to think of as many identifiers you can think of that resonate with you.  Consider: some of us identify with groups that are disadvantaged for numerous reasons. Further, some of us identify with multiple disadvantaged groups. If you are new to this concept, I urge you to do a quick Google/Duck Duck Go/Bing/etc. search to help illuminate this concept.  Back to the quiz. This quiz helps break down the popular terms used when discussing DEI by testing you on how well you understand the terms. My advice while taking it: try to not put pressure on yourself to be perfect but also go into this quiz w...

A Porcupine Named Fluffy By: Helen Lester Illustrated by: Lynn Munsinger Why I love this book:  This book didn't win any awards. The drawings and dialogue aren't anything too spectacular. What sticks out for me is the memories I have with my children. A Porcupine Named Fluffy  was given to me as a gift at my baby shower before my eldest was born. Since then, both of my children have read it with my husband and I countless times. Each time we read it, we all belly laugh. When they were toddlers, my kids loved to take turns on my lap. When I was reading the part when Fluffy meets an unfriendly rhinoceros while walking, I would bop them up and down at all the big punctuation points. The theme of the book, self-acceptance, means a lot to me, too! For that, this book is a favorite children's picture book.  Favorite quote:  "And Fluffy didn't mind being Fluffy anymore -- even though he wasn't." Evaluation using Vardell (2014) and Horning (2010) Criteria: 1. ...

Hey all! My name is Mrs. D and I am currently a GLIS student at the University of Rhode Island. I hoping to one day be a children's librarian and act as a liaison between a public library and the schools within its community in order to give children more access to more materials. I am a firm believer that access to information is crucial for becoming a life long learner. Have that being said, I know it to be true that there are many obstacles in the way to retrieve varied and quality sources of information for those who are disadvantaged in our society. My lifelong goal is to be able to help to close the gap between information and disadvantaged populations. Though this blog has been created for a class I am currently taking, "Children's Materials and Services", I hope to incorporate other musings and information sprinkled throughout the required content for my course. Thanks for checking out my site. I hope you find it useful!