Rereading a Picture Book Brings New Insight

This morning I reread a picture book I'd read years ago, before becoming a librarian. It's Labor Day, and I have the day off, so I have some extra time to go through shelves and enjoy them at a leisurely pace.

I picked up THREE HENS AND A PEACOCK (Peachtree, 2011) by Lester Laminack, and from the first few pages, though I was alone, I found myself reading it aloud and smiling. Though I'd read the book before, I still found myself wondering what would happen next. 

I remembered how much joy this book brought me because it made me happy once again, looking at it with older eyes that have since read many more books - SO MANY MORE BOOKS! 

Each page turn brought a feeling of suspense and wonder. Would the hens figure out that that they couldn't do what Peacock did? Would Peacock be able to do what the hens did at all? Would they come together in the end? 

I marveled at and enjoyed this book. Along the way I also appreciated Henry Cole's delightful illustrations of the hens' futile attempt to stop cars,  and peacock's smile when he realizes he played an important part in the farm business, too. 

And afterward, as I closed the back cover, I realized how much I connected with this book and how much it had to teach me about being a librarian, working in a school and being ME. 

As I wrote earlier, we all have a part to play in the work we do. Our contributions are important and won't look like everyone else's. It is totally okay to be US. Of course I knew that, but somehow a picture book makes the lesson more vivid to me. 

Each part is necessary and each part works together to make something amazing! (As in a school!) 

Other books I am reading today: 

Thank you, Little Brown!

Thank you, Peachtree! 

Thank you, Roaring Brook!  

Thank you, Macmillan Childrens!

Thank you, Feiwel Friends!

Thank you, Feiwel Friends! 

A book on my to-read list:

Thank you, Sterling Children's! 

Thank you, Boyds Mills Press!