Year of the Unicorn

Just a quick update from the New Job Home Front:

Open House went well. I saw alot of students (even some of the 8th graders) come in and show off the library to their parents. Also, this happened:

Today was  PJ Day. I paid $1 to wear my new unicorn pj pants  and my new unicorn TIE DYE shirt:

Today I got locked in the staff bathroom at work. The handle fell off inside, so first I tried to turn the little bolt/screw thingy to see if I could undo the lock. That didn't work, so instead I had to bang on the door as loudly as possible until one of the 1st grade teachers down the hall came to rescue me. I went to the office to let them know, went back to the library to make a warning sign for the door, and as I approached it, I heard someone else banging on it and shouting "Let me out!" At least it wasn't just me.

The thing that made my day was a hug from a student. He likes science and science fiction, so last class when we talked about A Wrinkle in Time and tesseracts, he was loving it. I'm really glad that I found a way to connect with him, but it also is a reminder to me to incorporate more STEM STEAM STREAM books and activities into my library lessons.

I guess between both these pics, it's fair to call this year the Year of the Unicorn.

Strongheart: Wonder Dog of the Silver Screen

I just read the best historical fiction novel! I have always loved historical fiction, but I also love film history. And I also love dogs, because what kind of person doesn't love dogs?

Candace Fleming's account of Strongheart, the dog film star of the 1920's, reads quickly and easily.

The story is told mostly through text, but the pencil drawings by Eric Rohmann are evocative, and really tug at the heartstrings. Furthermore, the sequences of black and white illustrations that do not have any text in them makes the reader feel like she is watching a silent movie.

Like many film stars, past and present, his career was not without scandal. A couple claimed that he attacked and "tried to eat" their daughter; they had orchestrated the whole event in order to sue the film studio. Strongheart's name was cleared, and he went on to make more films.

Because he was such a celebrity, his name and visage became a brand, marketing to dog owners and film-goers alike. His name appeared on dog food, dog training schools, even household groceries like lettuce:

He even had a famous romance, with another dog. Jule, a female German Shepherd, was discovered in a nationwide search to find a 'leading lady' for America's four-legged film star. They did have puppies together, and the family bloodline is still in tact today.

In 1929, Strongheart accidentally came into contact with a hot studio light while filming and was badly burned. He never fully recovered, and he died a few months afterwards.

Sadly, only one film of Strongheart's remains now; the others have all been lost. There is a version of The Return of Boston Blackie available for free on Youtube, if you're interested:

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves dog stories, or is interested in film, or anyone who enjoys novels with illustrations that assist in telling the story.

Little Update

I'm exhausted. My new job is certainly keeping me busy. I get into school around 6:30 in the morning, and I'm usually there until about 5:00. From 7:55-1:30 I am teaching, and whenever I am not teaching a class, I am cataloging new books, weeding the old books, grading, planning lessons, emailing various staff members and a million other things. I never knew how much work librarians do.

But this is not a complaining post.

Because I have really been enjoying most parts of the new job. This morning I began a unit on Banned Books and Censorship Issues with the 8th graders, and they got really into it. They were asking questions, and enjoying the trivia game I put together.

I got a hug from a 2nd grade boy the other day.

I have 'potions' on display in the Harry Potter reading area, and one of the 3rd grade boys asked me the other day "How do I get girls to like me?" and it melted my heart.

The 5th graders got really into the Titanic, and when I brought up the ideas of recovering artifacts from the wreck vs. treating the wreck as a burial ground, one of the boys said "We should have a debate about this next week"

So it's ALOT of work, but it seems to be going well so far.

Castle Magic

I haven't been writing as much because my new job has been keeping me BUSY BUSY BUSY. When I get home on the weekdays, it's just a countdown until I can climb into bed.

Luckily, I have a very supportive husband. He surprised me with some flowers one day, and told me how proud he is of how hard I'm working:

Nina the cat inspecting my bouquet

I'll have more pictures from the new library to share in an upcoming post. This post is about the project we started this weekend beccause, ya know, it wouldn't be a proper weekend around out house if we didn't bust out the spray paint cans and work on some kind of dollhouse. I bought this handmade wooden castle from a former co-worker years ago, but I never had the chance to work on it. We finally decided to get going on it because our son has discovered our stash of vintage He-Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and other action figures. He's also really into Ghostbusters, Star Wars and superheroes now, so we figured he needed a 'house' for all his "guys." The castle was white with Pokemon characters painted on it. 

We wanted to make it look more like a castle, so we started by spray painting it gray. 

After the gray paint was dried, we used the textured spray paint over it to make the castle look like stone. The photo below shows the textured paint better:

So that was our little project this weekend. I haven't had much time to work on my own dollhouses, but I'm happy to make something that allows my son to expand his imagination.

I'll try to have another library-related post soon.

Peachy Keen and Little Guys Who're Green

After years of hearing about and forgetting to go, I finally made it to the annual Exeter UFO Festival.

It was a fun afternoon. We made our own spaceships out of recyclable materials, which inspired me to start planning a fun Makerspace activity for the library. We also walked around town looking at the shops' displays and enjoyed the mild weather.

The festival is a fundraising event for the Kiwanis club. It celebrates the anniversary each year of the Exeter incident, which was a highly publicized UFO sighting that occurred in 1965.

And that's not the only UFO encounter that has a place in NH history; Betty and Barney Hill encountered a UFO near Lincoln, NH in 1961. A couple years ago, we visited the 'museum' (it's actually a gas station) that commemorates that event.

That night I made a peach crisp out of the peaches we picked that morning at McKenzie's Farm. Not a bad way to spend Labor Day weekend.

New Year, New School

I spent most of the month of August going into my new library. I organized the supply closet, cataloged books, made lots of lists, and rearranged a few things. One thing that's very important to me is creating a welcoming space, where the kids want to visit. So, I brought in some new furniture and decorations.

This rocking chair was a roadside find from a few years back. I gave it a nice new paint job, and added a throw pillow.

I made this wind-chime last year. All of the strands are themed by a book or story. One of the kids complimented it on the first day, and he was impressed when I told him I made it.

I'm a big believer in flexible seating arrangements. As long as the student can prove that they can work independently without goofing around the whole time, then I don't mind if they want to work at different places around the room. I plan to buy some more chairs like this, so there can be several sitting areas throughout the library.

This coffee table was a very recent roadside find. After I scrubbed it clean, I painted it royal blue, and placed it in the middle of this rug. I was hoping to get bean bag chairs, but I have to make sure they are 'flame retardant' ones. It may be easier to just purchase some floor cushions that can be easily stored.

As you can see, it really did need a makeover:

I'll post photos of all the displays I made in another post.

Another Year, Another Faire

Saturday was my fourth time as an exhibitor at the Dover Maker Faire.

 In the past, I brought various dollhouses to display and talked to people about how I build them from kits, or find them at thrift stores or build them from scratch using upcycled/recycled materials.

I enjoyed the response I got from the Faire go-ers, but it was always very laborious to pack them up, transport them, unpack them and set them all up, and then pack them up again. So this year I decided to showcase my junk journals and how I create mixed media art with found materials.

I was inside the old mills, and I was a bit out of place because most of the exhibits inside were technology focused: robotics and circuiting activities.

Some of the Faire go-ers did pass me by in favor of the high-tech stuff, but the people who did stop and chat with me really enjoyed looking at the junk journals, contributing to the 'community' junk journal that I had out, and exchanging ideas.

One woman is involved with NH Home Schooling, and she took one of my cards because she wants to talk more with me.

One of the benefits of being a Maker at the Dover Maker Faire is the Load In Party the night before. After I set up my table, I go into the Children's Museum, which is closed to the general public at that time, and get free pizza. And it's not just any old pizza either, it's from La Festa Brick & Brew. I think I devoured at least three slices of the buffalo chicken pizza, and I also samples the white pizza and the spinach and feta cheese one,.

The Children's Museum is usually a pretty hoppin' place, so it's nice when we get a chance to enjoy it with fewer people around. Johnny was the only kid in attendance at the Load In Party, so he had the run of the place. And then on the day of the event, he was living a dream: robots, pirates, Storm Troopers, Ghostbusters and Santa Clause were all in attendance.

Here are some of the pages from the community junk journal:

So all in all, it was another successful year at the Maker Faire. I had yesterday to relax, and today is my orientation at my new job (eek!).