Guest Post: Sarah Bean Thompson!

My dear, dear friend Sarah is on the ballot for the 2016 Caldecott Committee. I think she’s an unbelievably passionate librarian and she sure knows her way around award committees! I am in love with the different ways she’s worked to introduce her patrons to Caldecott winners and honor books and I know that she would be a great asset to the Caldecott Committee! (She’s definitely got my vote!!)

But here’s her post in her own words!

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Sarah Bean Thompson is a Youth Services Manager and blogs at www.greenbeanteenqueen.com She has served on the 2013 Printz Committee, 2014 Cybils, and is on the ballot for the 2016 Caldecott Committee.

One of my favorite parts of storytime is seeing the kids faces light up when I introduce them to a book and they get lost in the story with me. In honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Caldecott Medal, I knew I wanted to introduce Caldecott winners and honor books to my preschool crowd. So I themed my entire Spring storytime session around Caldecott titles. And I had a blast as the kids and I discovered Caldecott books and discussed what we thought of the illustrations in each one.

What surprised me the most was how much they responded to some of the older titles I read. I was never sure how the kids would respond to the older titles, especially since some of these don’t have bright, colorful illustrations.

One of their favorite books ended up being Frog Went-a Courtin’. They loved looking at the pictures in this one and seeing what animals were there. They thought the idea of a frog and a mouse getting married was hilarious and with the turn of each page, they kept asking “did they get married?” They were very engaged in this one and it was so fun to see.

Another book that surprised me was Play With Me. At the beginning of the book, I said how the girl only wanted to play with the animals. After each subsequent turn of the page, I had one preschooler call out “but she just wants to play!!” The rest of the group caught on and by the end of the book they were emphatically calling out that the girl just wanted to play with the animals! Of course they were thrilled when she got her wish and the animals came near here in the end.

I love watching how kids respond to picture books and I look forward to each storytime that I do because I think there’s nothing better than reading and sharing books with kids (and their grown ups!)

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ALA Elections run from March 19th through April 25th. For more information, please visit ALA Election Information.