I added personalized barcode labels to my entire children’s collection today! This will make checking books out to patrons so much faster. In related news, my back hurts and I need a nap!
If you want your own book barcodes: I ordered these from LibraryThing and added my website to the barcode to make it easier for patrons to tell who the books belong to. The barcode assignment took just a few clicks in my settings. Matching the physical labels to the books took a while, but it will be so worth it!
2021 was the first “official” year for the Lightbulb Heart Lending Library. Pandemic meant very few in-person storytimes (and then only with single families), a few online gatherings with Rock Reachout (Burlington, ON) and other groups, and Iots of lending!
Favorites!
Board Book:La Catrina: Emociones, by Patty Rodríguez – so much fun! Día de los Muertos inspired illustrations about emotions by Ariana Stein.
Picture Book:A Map Into the World, by Kao Kalia Yang – this was a Very Hard Decision, as so many beautiful books came into my world this year. Gorgeous illustrations bring this story of loss, art, and neighborliness to life.
Poem/Poetry Collection:Dear Treefrog, by Joyce Sidman – Minnesota legend Sidman strikes again with this charming collection of nature poetry, lovingly illustrated by Diana Sudyka.
Middle Grade/YA: Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation, by Monique Gray Smith – a brilliant and sensitive look at the legacy of residential schools in Canada, appropriate for grade school readers.
A complete list of 2021 acquisitions
Whilemany titles were found used in thrift stores, yard sales, and tiny libraries,it certainly helped to be working for a bookshop for the first quarter of the year…a gigantic THANK YOU to Jaime Krakowski at Epic Books in Hamilton, ON for the generous staff discount! 🙂
Hear My Voice/Escucha mi voz: The Testimonies of Children Detained at the Southern Border of the United States, Warren Binford
Her Stories: African American Folktales, Fairy Tales, and True Tales: African American Folktales, Fairy Tales, and True Tales, Virginia Hamilton
How to Find a Fox, Nilah Magruder
Hush Hush, Forest, Mary Casanova
I Dream of Popo, Livia Blackburne
I Sang You Down from the Stars, Tasha Spillett-Sumner
I Want to Be, Thylias Moss
I’m Bored, Michael Ian Black
Ida, Always, Caron Levis
It Fell from the Sky, Fan Brothers
Jayden’s Impossible Garden, Mélina Mangal
Ladder to the Moon, Maya Soetoro-Ng
Lovable Lyle, Bernard Waber*
Lyle Finds His Mother, Bernard Waber*
Lyle, Lyle, crocodile, Bernard Waber*
Mightier Than the Sword: World Folktales for Strong Boys, Jane Yolen
My Hair is Magic!, M. L. Marroquin
My Two Border Towns, David Bowles
Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness, Anastasia Higginbotham
Not One Damsel in Distress: Heroic Girls from World Folklore, Jane Yolen
Ohana Means Family, Ilima Loomis*
Old Turtle, Douglas Wood*
Oscar Otter, Nathaniel Benchley
Our Favorite Day, Joowon Oh*
Over and Under the Canyon, Kate Messner
Playing at the Border: A Story of Yo-Yo Ma, Joanna Ho
Rhoda’s Rock Hunt, Molly Beth Griffin
Running The Road To ABC, Denizé Lauture
School’s First Day of School, Adam Rex
Something Happened in Our Town (A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice), Marianne Celano
Sootface, Robert D. San Souci
Spring Stinks: A Little Bruce Book, Ryan T. Higgins
Ten Beautiful Things, Molly Griffin
Ten ways to hear snow, Cathy Camper
Téo’s Tutu, Maryann Jacob Macias
The ABCs of Black History, Rio Cortez
The Bare Naked Book, Kathy Stinson
The Eight Knights of Hanukkah, Leslie Kimmelman
The Fog, Kyo Maclear*
The Heart and the Bottle, Oliver Jeffers
The Huge Bag of Worries, Virginia Ironside
The Most Beautiful Thing, Kao Kalia Yang*
The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read, Rita Lorraine Hubbard
The Rough Patch, Brian Lies
The Rough-Face Girl, Rafe Martin
The Serpent Slayer: and Other Stories of Strong Women, Katrin Tchana
The Wind and the Trees, Todd Stewart
Treaty Words: For As Long As the Rivers Flow, Aimée Craft
Viola Desmond Won’t Be Budged!, Jody Nyasha Warner
Waiting for the Biblioburro, Monica Brown*
Watercress, Andrea Wang*
What Happened to You?, James Catchpole
What Will You Be?, Yamile Saied Méndez
Where Are You From?, Yamile Saied Méndez
Where Happiness Begins, Eva Eland
William’s Doll, Charlotte Zolotow
Wishes, Muon Thi Van*
Your Name Is a Song, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
Zonia’s Rain Forest, Juana Martinez-Neal
Chapter Books/Middle Grade/YA
A Boy Called Bat, Elana K. Arnold
Bat and the End of Everything, Elana K. Arnold
Bat and the Waiting Game, Elana K. Arnold
Blood Brother: Jonathan Daniels and His Sacrifice for Civil Rights, Rich Wallace
Brown Girl Dreaming, Jacqueline Woodson
Chasing Bats and Tracking Rats: Urban Ecology, Community Science, and How We Share Our Cities, Cylita Guy, PhD*
Song for a Whale, Lynne Kelly *
Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation, Monique Gray Smith
The Beatryce Prophecy, Kate DiCamillo
*= gifted to the library
Much love to everyone who has supported Lightbulb Heart in 2021 – here’s to staying safe and getting back to in-person storytimes when it’s once again wise to do so! If you’re in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area, the Lending Library is here for you!
We have FIVE days left to raise $12,000 (CAD). These funds will be used to pay artists in a number of upcoming projects in the 2022 Aeris Körper season. We have a VERY long way to go — would you consider supporting us?
The beautiful people pictured here (L to R: Alten, Mayumi, Shannon, Jody, Mikaela; on Zoom: me, Sid, Raphael, Dedra) joined us for a workshop of FANCY CAT, a children’s interdisciplinary art piece I wrote and am developing with AERIS KÖRPER and we could not be more thrilled about how it came together!
The Storylady and the Lending Library are on the move! This time to Saint Paul, Minnesota. I will miss my Hamilton community very much, while also looking forward to this new city and to being with a couple of old friends again.
May 5th is Canada’s National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (Red Dress Day), and the Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls National Day of Action in the U.S.
“How can we help?”
When we don’t know how to start helping someone, listening to their stories is a very good place to start. In this video, I talk about my favourite books written and illustrated by, with, or about Indigenous Women and Girls.
Resources
I recognize talking about MMIWG2S with kids is not easy. Here are some resources for learning, art projects, books, and tips for getting started. Please note that these resources are for caregivers and educators, as the content may not be appropriate for all ages.
The ReDress Project, created by Jaime Black, is an aesthetic response to violence against Indigenous women.
Red Dress Window Art file — this PDF includes the pattern I followed for the red dress I show in the video, links for adult learning, and tips for how to talk to younger kids about MMIWG.
May We Have Enough to Share, written by Richard Van Camp with photographs by Tea and Bannock, and beaded artwork by Caroline Blechert.
You Hold Me Up, written by Monique Gray Smith, illustrated by Danielle Daniel.
2021 Update
I also wear red…because I have participated in the erasure of Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit persons. I was taught that my Great Great Grandmother was a “Choctaw Indian Princess.” I learned in June, 2020 that she was Scottish and born in Indian Territory, Oklahoma. The name of the region speaks to the rich heritage of Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole nations who have lived there and who were forcibly removed from those lands by the U.S. government. My generational wealth increased when my family received those lands. “I can’t be racist, I’ve got an Indian princess in my family tree” is yet another false narrative white body supremacy uses to cognitively distance white people from our racist behaviours and beliefs, and the ways we benefit from the peril of others. It kept me from leaning into and learning from my family’s past, from being silent when I should listen, and from speaking up when I see the truth. It erased my sense of rage over what was happening to MMIWG2S and left me with a sense of sadness that was more palatable to my whiteness. I’m done with my sweet tea. This year, I wear red with more purpose, more rage, and a (for now) better understanding of my place in raising awareness.
Lightbulb Heart 