Jean Darnell: Awaken Librarian

This week we celebrate all the teachers in our lives! My inspirational teacher was Ron Shafer . He embraced me during a tumultuous time in my childhood, when my parents divorced. He told me to never be ashamed of my wits or self. So I honor him as the first teacher that loved the inner me! Now, I get to pay it forward. I'm eternally grateful for the lives I touch everyday! Even though the accolades may not come from the higher ups, they do reveal themselves in the smiles and hugs I get from my students older and younger! I may not remember all their names, but I do recall their faces! Here's a template and some notes of adoration I received from my best patrons: my kids! Enjoy!

Just like Oprah, I love it when I find a NEW FAVORITE THING! At the moment it just so happens to be Vanessa Brantley-Newton , illustrator extraordinaire! Why do I love her? Because she's doing what I wish my hands would've done better than writing... drawing! Why should you care? Well, more than likely if you're reading my blog, then you're a bibliophile ! Brantley-Newton is getting my kiddos--minority and not--to see DIVERSELY when it comes to illustrating books! And, there's nothing wrong with that! Feel free to use this cute trailer based on samples from the book: The Hula-hoopin' Queen from AwakenLibrarian on Vimeo . Here's my review that includes her vibrant and diverse illustrations! The Hula-Hoopin' Queen by Thelma Lynne Godin My rating: 5 of 5 stars I LOVED THIS BOOK! Mainly because I considered myself the HHQ in my neighborhood! Don't ask me to do it anymore, for it's a hot mess! Kameeka and Jamara are typical "...

So you heard that I've been living it up at  TLA (#txla15) for National Librarian's Week? Yep, that's true...when you're reaching for the stars, it doesn't hurt to touch the ones you already admire! Here's the low-down: Mutual Inspiration: After reading and scaring kiddos with his books, it was a dream beyond belief to meet Michael Dahl ! We shared scary stories & I shared the Halloween lessons we did, leaving him inspired. You don't believe me? Like his Facebook and ask him what lesson he took from "Duchess the Librarian?" And before I forget, for my kids at Goodman ES, Mr. Dahl isn't just a scary writer...recognize these books: Another year visiting & supporting the wonderful writing of Don Tate! Thank you Don, Chris and Jen Burton and EVERYONE at Eerdman's Books for Young Readers (Anita & Kathleen)! Andrea Pinkney challenged us to embrace diversity and write a "Letter to Diversity," as she shared her own...

EVEN BIGGER UPDATE! I just met, shook hands and bragged to Jonathan about the awesome jobs my kiddos are doing with his novel! So... BIG UPDATE: I tweeted the author of The Night Gardener, JONATHAN AUXIER , and he just responded to my tweet! Aaaahh! @JonathanAuxier You just made my day! :) Thank you so much for your validation for us #librarians ! #txlchat #txla15 #awesome Best wishes! — awakenlibrarian (@awakenlibrarian) April 8, 2015 In my continued celebration of Poetry Month, I created a little "How-to" video on creating a BLACKOUT POEM! They're extremely simple to do and I hope you enjoy. Here are some still shots of the pages from the video: BTW, I used the book called The Night Gardener in the video. Check out the book cover, author interview and Texas Bluebonnet trailer:

I happen to love Storybird for it's the perfect creative platform for artists, writers and innovators looking for their next muse! The ease in using their sight is self-explanatory and "child's play" when it comes to navigating. I'd love to meet the genius minds behind this app! Join us both as we celebrate National Poetry Month (April) with Storybird !

Yesterday, I had a wonderful author, Vuthy "Woody" Kuon , visit my students in the library! It literally rocked their socks to interact with Woody! Everything from his immigration from Cambodia to his fanatical presentation about his first experiences with public schools had the students laughing with glee. However, the icing on the cake was when Woody put marker to note-pad and illustrated fantastic "faces" for Humpty Dumpty! Librarians: Woody is worth every dollar of fun! Please reserve an author visit with him today! Here are some pictures from his captivating presentation: Woody was even kind enough to create a special bookmark for my kiddos! And the books I purchased for the library, he drew a caricature of the both of us! I've left my "portrait" in a book in the library! How awesome is that? Take a look at this video of my colleague-caricatures! Smiles of Humpty Dumpy from Awaken Librarian on Vimeo . Fun day today! Author/Illustrator...

To promote our book fair, I created a video of our most famous and 2nd strongest advocate of literacy, Mrs. Lisa Langston, campus principal at Lula Belle Goodman! My apologies Mrs. L, but I'm the #1 strongest advocate for literacy! :) sEcReT aGeNt BoOk LaDy from Awaken Librarian on Vimeo .