Teens

I’ve often raved about Brightly in my blogs, but maybe you’re new.  Maybe you don’t know what I’m talking about.  Or maybe you’re the opposite of new (NOT old, mind you) and need a refresher course.  Brightly provides passionate parents, educators, and caregivers with the tools they need to keep kids connected to books through every age & stage of life. Every month they post a reading challenge.  You can see it on their website, either as a web page or as a printable flyer.  I’m going to do it this month.  Here’s MY plan of action.  What’s YOURS?

1. April 10 is National Sibling Day.  I’m going to listen to the author Lesa Cline-Ransome read Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams on KidLit TV.  And I’m going to recommend it to my sister Laurie. I know she’ll like it.  Not only is she a sister and a tennis player, but she’s a librarian!
2. I was unpleasantly surprised to discover that I only have one poetry book in my vast home library.  How did this happen?!?!  On the bright side, it is an excellent collection of Mother Goose rhymes.  Page 30 features Sing a Song of Sixpence.  
3. I do not own a book of jokes.  So I will have to use the internet . . . which I now have since I'm working from home.  I am very bad at memorizing jokes, but I will try my best to make someone laugh by telling one.  If only I were like Mr. Steve from Circulation!  He is the KING of joke telling.
4. I used to cross-stitch more regularly, but I hadn’t done it in a good long while . . . until I found myself at home with A LOT of time on my hands.  Luckily, I had a book called Cross Stitch to Calm. I've already completed four projects!  And there are more to come!
5. I’m going to read a book in a voice like Grammy.  My maternal grandmother, Veva Jane Ehens, will be turning 95 on April 17.  She lives in Canton, IL.
6. April 25 is World Penguin Day.  I'm going to listen to author Lauren Tarshis (who writes the I Survived series) read her The Amazing Penguin Rescue on Storyworks Jr.    And I recommend you look at one of Hoopla's Bonus Borrows ebooks: Five Flying Penguins by Barbara Barbieri McGrath. 
7. Happy School Library Month to all my Hoover City School librarians!  Shout outs to Allison, Raquel, Beth, Julie, Jennifer N., Jennifer R., Heather, Elizabeth, Jolee, Stephanie, Renee, Ginger, Dana, Sheila, Crystal, Jessica, Marnie, and Casey!   
8. I'm going to read aloud to the many beautiful giant amaryllis flowers that are growing in front of my house.
9. One of my favorite movies of all time is The Princess Bride.  In fact, I'm drinking from my "Hello: My Name Is Inigo Montoya" mug as I write this blog.  It was first a book by William Goldman.  I’m going to run out of library books, so I need to start re-reading some of my faves anyway.  (BTW, this is one of the rare cases in which the book and the movie are equally good.)
10. Fave reading spot in my home? I mostly read on my couch or at the kitchen table.  So I'll need to design a sign that can travel.  Luckily, not one but TWO friends recently gifted me with colorful pens!