World Water Day -- Perfect Picture Book Friday

Today is World Water Day. 2019 Leaving no one behind.

This is a perfect picture book for World Water Day, environmentalists, farming, sustainability, and caring for our earth.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40899042-i-am-farmer

I Am Farmer: Growing an Environmental Movement in Cameroon by Baptiste and Miranda Paul is a book about clean water, gardening, and making the world a better place. It is a book about a man who took what was considered a derogatory nickname, "Farmer", and turned it into a life changing grassroots effort sowing the seeds of a better world. 

As I sit at my computer in my home, a glass of clean water at the ready, I think about why people in the United States should care about reading this book. We have drinking water, we have farms, and food is readily available. Yet, this is not the full truth.

Water testing in local schools showed high levels of lead in many of the sinks and drinking fountains. Thankfully, the facilities and operations department took steps to keep children safe and remove access to the faucets and fountains that were a problem.

Flint Michigan suffered a horrible water crisis that is still not fully resolved. Even if the water is safe, there are trust issues that leave the residents fearful and hesitant to drink the water.

Droughts in the US impact millions of people every day. 

We can learn how we can improve the world from one man's grassroots efforts in Cameroon.

Farmer Tantoh always loved working in the dirt. He wanted to be a farmer. After he recovered from Typhoid fever which he contracted from drinking unclean water, his mission expanded to ensure that others would not suffer as he did. 

This book takes a child into the dirt, offers a broader understanding of the world beyond their neighborhood, and offers actions that children and adults can take here and abroad. If that's not enough, there are more lessons in this story. When you know who you are and what is important to you, you don't care about being teased and given a silly nickname. You make it work for you. You follow your dreams and do what you believe in.

This poetically written biography/call to action makes a wonderful read-aloud. Liz Zunon's collage illustrations are bright and beautiful using photographs, cut paper, watercolors, and hand lettering. Zunon also illustrated Miranda Paul's One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia Both of these books would be great to share any day of the week.

In 2005 Farmer Tantoh, started the Save Your Future Foundation. Check it out. You can help locally and globally.

Want to learn more about gardening with kids? https://kidsgardening.org/gardening-basics/

Planting Trees: https://www.usgs.gov/science-support/osqi/yes/resources-teachers/

Spring tree and flower crafts: https://handsonaswegrow.com/spring-art-projects-for-kids/

Become and Environmentalist now: https://lookforlittlehelpers.com/2018/04/16/environmental-service-learning-projects/

And if you want more perfect picture books check out Susanna Hill's Perfect Picture Book Friday post.

Banned Books Week

I have often struggled with Banned Books Week. Not because I believe in banning books, quite the opposite. I believe everyone has the right to read what they want to read without fear. My issue is that often the public is confused by the the name of the week. When I worked in the public library, a regular question about a banned books display was: Are you banning these books? This year, I feel that theme really says what is meant by Banned Books Week.

When we ban books, we silence the stories of others, we halt learning, we say to someone who isn't just like us that they are not worthy of sharing their story.

With a book, you have the opportunity to see yourself, to learn about others, and to imagine a different world. When we say we don't want a book in a library because it says something we don't like, we are saying that it's my way or no way. We have shut off our minds and imaginations to the rest of the world. It's funny because in a library there are thousands if not millions of books. Not one of them has a requirement that you choose it, read the whole thing, or tell anyone else about what you read. So why should we care if a book that we don't like is on the shelf? If you don't like it, don't read it. Simple as that.

But . . .

If you are the kind of person who understands that books can provide you with new viewpoints, teach you about things that you don't understand, then pick up that book that is not in your regular reading wheelhouse and read it.

This summer, I read George, by Alex Gino

You can buy this book or check it out from your local library

It is the story of a 4th grader named George who is realizing that she identifies as a girl. She knows she has male body parts, but everything inside her feels feminine and female. This book has been banned because it talks about this topic to middle grade children. The thing is, being who you are doesn't wait until you are an adult. Being who you are is hard even when your body matches what your identity as you approach puberty. I couldn't image what it would be like to identify as a male in my female body until I read Gino's book. What I liked about this story was that I was immersed in George's world as she figured out how to be herself. I felt her struggles. I learned from her family and friends. I gained hope that other children who are gender identifying differently from what their body shows, have encouragement to be who they really are. I feel that I learned how to be supportive to a person as he/she/they find themselves.

This past year, I received a grant from the school foundation to purchase books on diverse themes for my elementary school. I am so thankful that this grant was funded, it allowed me to build a better broad collection for the students. It was so much fun to buy books that have the ability to excite and offend people. The selection was broad to introduce children to other cultures, sexual identities, and physical and mental abilities. It was also a little bit scary as I made my choices because these are the books that are most likely to be challenged by people.

I will go back to where I began. There are no rules you must follow in your reading selections from libraries. If you don't like it, quite reading it. If it scares you, maybe it's worth looking into more deeply, there is likely something there that you need to learn about. Just because it's not for you, doesn't mean it won't be loved and special to someone else.

I have seen time and time again, the bigger the stink you make, the more others will make a big deal on the other side to make sure that all voices are heard. Back in the day, Are You There God, It's Me Margaret by Judy Blume was being banned because boys shouldn't read that stuff. Really?!! Judy Blume wasn't writing this book for boys. The only reason boys started reading the book was because their parent made a big stink about it. Maybe, just maybe, they began to understand girls and what they were going through in middle school. Or maybe it was there George. 

To learn more about Banned Books Week, follow this link.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

I woke up this morning bored and antsy. It is grey and raining outside. I have lots of projects that I could be working on, but I wanted something more from this day. I wanted to do something that had substance and used energy.

I was gloomily looking at Facebook and letting life's moments fly past and getting more bored by the moment. Sorry to my FB friends, but . . . 

It was Facebook that woke me out of my stupor when I read a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. There were several posts today.

"Oh yes," I thought, "It's Martin Luther King, Jr. Day." Searching his quotes for inspiration, the one below felt the most inspirational for me for today.  

"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?

The time is always right to do what is right." -- Martin Luther King Jr.

I shared the quote with my FB friends along with this extra note: Let's give something positive of ourselves to help others today. When you do, take a photo or write a few words about what you did so that we can see/experience how each of our small actions, when added up with everyone else's actions, have great impact.

I had leftover flour and brown sugar from making Christmas cookies so I decided that I would make cookies to take to the local homeless shelter. After a run to Aldi for the rest of the needed ingredients, I picked up Jane and we baked about 8 dozen cookies; chocolate chip and oatmeal.

We delivered them to the local homeless shelter, the police department, and the fire department. There are no photos. That was not the point. We received thanks and smiles plus one hug. 

John went through our coats and I was able to deliver 3 nice jackets to the homeless shelter.

There is so much wrong in the world today. Alone we cannot fix it all. Together, we may not be able to fix it all, but we can make a positive impact in small ways. 

Like the man who walked a beach covered in starfish. He bent and picked up a starfish, threw it back into the water. He moved forward and threw back another and another. A second man walked up beside him and said, "You can't possibly save all those starfish." As the first man bent to throw another starfish back into the water, he said, "But I can save this one."

You may not have time to bake 8 dozen cookies, but there are lots of little things you can do for other people. It could be as simple as putting the quarter in the slot of the shopping cart at Aldi so when the next person arrives, he/she doesn't have to dig for one.

Spread a little love today and everyday. Feel free to share what you did in the comments.