Post MidWinter

Upon my return from ALA Midwinter:

I was invited by my wonderful principal to share my experience on our morning announcements broadcast, and I was happy to do so! I talked about how amazing the experience was, and I brought along one of our copies of THE ADVENTURES OF BEEKLE by Dan Santat,  the 2015 Caldecott Medal Winner. It was great to be able to show the students the new cover with the Caldecott Medal (which I had just affixed that very morning).

That week, I also read THE ADVENTURES OF BEEKLE to 1st -5th grade classes, wearing a crown similar to the ones the Caldecott committee wore in Chicago. I never tired of the book, and each time, saw something new. "He did the unimaginable," is my favorite line of the book because it makes me think of my own learning journey. Since I read the book aloud to classes, I purchased more copies both for the library and for gifts, and I have yet to see the book in the library for very long at all.

One particular effect of the ALA MidWinter experience: I couldn't stop talking about it.
In fact, when a group of visitors from a nearby school district dropped by the library last week, I found myself giving an impromptu presentation on the Caldecott Award and the value of picture books -- and I did not run out of words.

I read 2015 Geisel Honor Winner WAITING IS NOT EASY by Mo Willems to kindergarten, asking the classroom teacher to read either Gerald or Piggie's part. This type of team reading was a definite success, and I saw the beauty of the book even more. The night sky filled with stars is definitely a wonderful surprise to share with Gerald, Piggie!

I returned with a long list of books to read and  purchase based on what I had seen at MidWinter. I read books at booths or in sessions where they were being discussed. My order list is growing!

I also can't believe I experienced a blizzard. Wow! I'm so glad I took pictures!

And because I promised myself I would write a poem about the experience, here is my draft:

Snow City

The snowflakes slide
lightly down.
Never stopping.
Through a welcome window
I watch them glide
past buttery lamplight
then lose them in piles--
too many to see.

How is it that I am here?
here in this snow city
in this place
Now?

I am a visitor --
a traveler --
a WONDERER --
standing in warmth
looking down
at the snow city
below --
marveling.

© 2015 Cynthia Alaniz

A meager attempt at poetry, but I will revise!

I am so grateful for the ALA MidWinter experience!

Tuck Everlasting: Happy 40th!

Babbitt, N. 1975. TUCK EVERLASTING. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux. ISBN 0374378487

I like to read when I fly, as some readers do. Flying back from a conference, I am usually thinking about my work or all I learned. But on this particular trip a few weeks ago, I needed a book to carry me off like the plane did - to get me dreaming and free.

Tuck Everlasting was just the right book for the part.

I can't remember when I first read the book. And now that it's celebrating its 40th anniversary, it was the perfect time to reread it.

The Tucks are a family of four: Tuck, Mae, Jesse, and Miles. In the woods long ago, they found a spring. They drank from it, not knowing that its gift -- or curse - was immortality. Realizing the destructive power it could have on others, they keep it to themselves, hiding the secret not to hoard but to save.

Winnie lives in the wood with her family, and she is looking for adventure. She explores farther out than she ever has -- and then she makes contact with the Tucks and she is never the same.

The yellow-suited stranger is also a part of it all. But for notorious and different reasons.

Before I took in the story, I became completely enveloped in the descriptions - especially of the wood: "But the wood had a sleeping, otherworld appearance that made you want to speak it in whispers" (Babbitt, p. 7).

And speaking of whispers, I read the rest of the book straight through -- without speaking so much as a whisper to anyone. It just seemed right. 

Soon, a few chapters in, I was a part of the Tucks' hypothetical-turned-reality: the idea of living forever when one didn't make the choice to do so.

The Tucks understand the ramifications of drinking the spring water (which they did unknowingly). This knowledge consumes their lives and directs their days. They understand what might happen if someone else finds the water. As a family, they reached the decisions together, but this doesn't make it easier.

I was a part of the Tucks' dilemma -- thinking about it, mulling it over, wondering about it all for myself.

And this is where the beauty of this book can be found. Babbitt's gift for bringing the reader into a story that compels critical thinking -- and does so with effortless text -- crafted with such skill that one must marvel. One. Must.

And a final word about that setting:

It serves as both backdrop and antagonist.  The wood  becomes a liability, and yet in the way that Babbitt describes every scene, it can also be considered an enchantment.

Readers are wrapped in the whole of this text with comforting arms. I nestled here, too -- an embrace most welcome during an uncomfortable plane ride at night in the darkest dark.

There is a poem on p. 123 that I will remember always --

"Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage."


Happy 40th, Tuck Everlasting. Thanks for taking me farther than a plane ever could.

ALA MidWinter 2015

Before I came to MidWinter, I had a feeling there would be some weather conditions I'd have to deal with in Chicago. But I didn't quite expect this:

I brought by most-wintery boots (one pair cute, the other not-so much) and my thickest coat. I brought four really cute scarves. I brought my gloves and ear muffs. Although all provided me warmth, I still don't think I was quite prepared. 

Besides my winter apparel, I also brought my memories of a great reading year -- and those memories have indeed prepared me for another wonderful culmination of my 2014 #kidlit experiences.

I'm not sure if my reading year is either about to begin -- or end -- when the 2015 Youth Media Award Winners are announced this morning at 8 a.m.  I only know that I am happy to be able to attend the announcement live -- and celebrate the books with many of my book friends. 

Among the awards being announced today are the Printz Award, the Pura Belpré, the Coretta Scott King Award, the Theodore Geisel Award, the Sibert Award, and, of course, the Caldecott and Newbery Awards, too. 

For a complete listing of the awards, copy/paste this link in your  browser:

http://www.ala.org/news/mediapresscenter/presskits/youthmediaawards/alayouthmediaawards

To watch the awards live, copy/paste this link in your browser: 

http://live.webcastinc.com/ala/2015/live/.

As I hear the announcements in the audience today, sitting among fellow librarians, I will most likely cry a bit, laugh, and, no doubt be grateful to be a part of this community that feeds my passion/zeal for children's literature and helps me bring good books to my students.

I am off to the YMAs now-- wearing my coat, not-so-cute boots, and definitely cute scarf - prepared for a great day in the #kidlit world.