As promised, Little Brown Kids has changed the image for Lemony Snickett’s Bad Mood and the Stick. 
I like this representation so much better because our moods are a part of us, as indicated by similar color schemes.

I’d really like to get copies of the old and new F&Gs for teaching purposes. Pre-service teachers, librarians and future publishers have to be taught about these images to prevent them from re-occurring.

Candlewick is releasing When We Was Fierce in the UK in September. Amazon UK indicates the books were printed by Candlewick, an American company so they’re probably dumping the books that have been sitting here in the US onto the British books buying market. Is that reverse colonialism? Whatever it is, it underscores the need for a global movement to decolonize children’s books.

ALA is right around the corner! I’m busy getting reading done for Printz Committee meetings. I’m really looking forward to the discussions! I have a panel presentation Saturday morning and lots of networking to do. My favorite of all ALA events is the Coretta Scott King Breakfast. This year, I’ve had to add Sunday evening to my stay and am hoping to attend the Asian Pacific American Librarians Awards event that evening.

I recently had the opportunity to present on the topic of brain-based learning in library instruction, I’d presented and written on the topic before and always use these strategies in my teaching so, it was good to revisit the topic once again. When we’re born, our brain has very few connectors/synapses/learning paths. They quickly begin to develop, probably happening the fastest between the ages of 3-10. Our brains begin shrinking at age 25! I went on to talk about how to activate the brain to begin the learning experience, how to create memories (learning is memory) and how to deepen the paths in the brain to deepen the memories.

Soon afterward, I spent time with my new grand baby and it was just amazing to watch her with this knowledge I had and to truly begin to understand her behavior. She has so few learning paths etched in her brain that she is pretty much limited to crying and eating. When she was alert, she’d quickly get to the point of not knowing what to do, so she’s fuss. Oh, she knows mom and dad already and they are right there for that precious little girl. If I hadn’t realized her limited understanding of the world, I may have been offended that she cried most of the time I held her, but no! I was glad to get the little time with her that I could.

I think being a librarian expands my brain! In my learning about brain-based learning for university students, I apply that knowledge to my grandbaby. I think about parents who don’t have the resources (the books, the time, the support structure) to be able to understand their child’s development and I think about the role public libraries play by providing not only books about development, but story time and play time and books that mom and dad can check out to read to their children. Let’s do all we can to support WIC, Head Start, libraries and other programs that help all children get fair and equitable start in life. Let’s put books in front of our children that help them feel proud of who they are and let’s build brains that can appreciate them.