It’s spring break-ish time here. Campus librarians work through spring break even though our library was even deader than usual. This gave me time to concentrate on a few rather neglected projects. Friday, campus closed completely and I took the opportunity to just relax. I got my new glasses adjusted, ran errands, and watched movies. I think I actually slept a little better, too. Did you know that not drinking enough water affects your sleep? Makes sense to me. Drinking water in the early morning clears the waste that is removed from our brains overnight. During the day it lubricates and eases our body’s systems while also remove excess nutrients. Letting that stuff build up certainly could affect our rest.

I spilled seeds all over my porch while I was filling the bird feeder this morning and the squirrels aren’t letting them go to waste. There are three of them out there; the big one sits on the pile of seeds while the two others hunt around for scraps. They get tired of finding meager little bits, so they run, and attempt to chase away the big squirrel. It looks like they’re siblings, like they’re playing around and then settling back to those same feeding spots. Were the two just playing, or were they plotting to get to that pile food?

The Bologna Children’s Book Fair looks like a really nice thing to do for a spring break. Imagine being immersed in children’s literature from around the world in Bologna, Italy. Next year I plan to be there. This year’s event caught my eye because it’s there that Laurie Halse Anderson was announced the 2023 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award winner. This international honor is the world’s largest children’s book prize. While Laurie is most deserving for her literary finesse, I’d say even more so for the difference she works to make in the lives of all children.

While we equate honoring books with awarding them there can be many ways to show esteem for a particular creative work, and its author or illustrator. For sure, a little note will do it, as will a sincere post on social media. Selecting books for lists, for instruction or for inclusion in a library’s collection are ways to honor a book because we reserve these spots for books we feel worthy of being shared. Recommending books to friends, talking about them in a book club … so many ways to let it be known what we like! Angie Manfredi was recently given the opportunity to honor a few titles when she was hired by Penguin to build a list matching and replacing classic and widely read books with less familiar, more inclusive titles. What a list she’s created! She’s bringing honor to so many titles! What a way to get anyone out of a reading slump!

Congratulations to those being honored as L.A. Time Books Prize finalists. (LA is another destination to which I’m bound, hopefully this spring to see my girls!!) The list includes many wonderful titles, but I have to admit I’m partial to Torch by dear friend, Lyn Miller-Lachmann.

Samira Ahmed, Hollow Fires. Little, Brown
Lyn Miller-Lachmann, Torch. Carorhoda Lab
Sabaa Tahir, All My Rage. Penguin
Andrew Joseph White, Hell Followed With Us. Penguin
Kip Wilson, The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin. Versify

Maybe we can’t rest, can’t sleep, and won’t be fully alive if we’re not honoring our minds, bodies and souls. Maybe we need to drink water, play, and connect with others so we can connect with the truth and love that surrounds us; so we can be inspired. Reading fits right in there, doesn’t it?

Be well and do good!

#sleep #LATimes