Storytime Trolley: Why I Love Independent Bookstores

P-man (in blue) was totally captivated

We hit the little-boy-literary-event jackpot this last week. Excelsior Bay Books (http://www.excelsiorbaybooks.net/), an independent bookstore in a neighboring community, had storytime on the town's historical trolley with author David LaRochelle (http://www.davidlarochelle.com/). The trolley in Excelsior is on tracks, so my train-obsessed boys were excited when the trolley car came rolling up to the station. The boys were each given a cookie and a juice box and then we boarded the trolley. After a nice, short ride the trolley driver parked us in the shade (it was a very hot day) and Mr. LaRochelle told us some of his stories. We were lucky enough to get a sneak-peek at his newest book coming out this October called Moo! (It was hilarious, we will definitely be purchasing it). At the end of the stories we rode back to the start of the line and Mr. LaRochelle signed copies of his most recently released publication, How Martha Saved Her Parents From Green Beans. Both boys had a great time, even with the high heat, and P-man asked when we could do it again.

Author David LaRochelle read to us

This event was made possible thanks to the amazing staff at Excelsior Bay Books. It is a perfect example of the cool things that independent bookstores are able to do. For those of you who have never been to an independent bookstore, I highly suggest you hunt one down. In addition to Excelsior Bay Books, we have also have been to events at Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul (http://www.redballoonbookshop.com/), another independent bookstore that specializes in children's books. Our private story time with Sherri Duskey Rinker was at Red Balloon. I have been blown away by these bookstores. They both have great selections, an amazing and knowledgeable staff, and incredible events for children. I love that they both highlight local authors.

Not everyone is lucky enough to live by an independent bookstore, let alone two or three. We feel very fortunate to be close to these ones. Our family has found many wonderful independent bookstores when we have been traveling too. I hope you get a chance to visit one and see what amazing events they have.

I Can't Lie, I Hate Our Library's Summer Reading Program

We got a late start this year. It was mid-June before we got to our public library to "sign up" for the summer reading program. The thing is, you don't really "sign up" here.The summer reading program is completely different than what I am used to. When I was younger, a library summer reading program consisted of a sheet or folder with your name on it that you listed every book you read on. When a child read a certain amount of books, they got a prize. Often the prize was a bookmark, or a pencil, which was just perfect then. If you read a LOT of books you'd get a cool gift certificate for something from the ice cream shop or a slice of pizza. I remember years that you got to set your own goal for number of books read too.
When we lived in Iowa two summers ago, P-man did their summer reading program and instead of tracking the number of books he read, we marked down each day that he read a minimum of 20 minutes. For every 10 days he got an eraser, or pencil, or small plastic toy that is in the bottom of a toy bin at our house. He loved it. Then if we read something like 20 days, he got a gift certificate for ice cream or a hamburger from one of the fast food joints. If you read 40 days you got to pick out a book, and you got an entry in a drawing to win an iPad. That's right, an iPad. We did not win, but I found it fairly impressive for the library to be giving one of those away.
Now that we are in Minnesota I have to say I am a little disappointed in the summer reading program. When we went down to the library we found out that you don't keep track of your reading at all. Instead, after your child reads a book they either draw a picture about it (for the younger readers) or write a review (geared towards the older readers) on the special form they have. Then you bring your form in to the library and the bottom part goes in to a drawing for a book. You can also be entered in a drawing for tickets to the Renaissance Fair by putting your entry in a different box.

The forms from our library, still empty

I am disappointed in this format for a couple reasons. First of all, my son hates to draw. He is a builder. Legos are his thing. Give him a crayon and he will draw a couple lines and then ask you to draw something for him. He is only 4 and while he already rocks at reading, he just doesn't express interest in writing, or wanting to write, yet. That's totally cool, he is young and it will come. So we have these forms lying around the house that are untouched because he doesn't want to draw a picture of any of the 40+ books we have read this summer and he certainly can't write a review of one either.
The other thing that I find totally lame is that, should P-man finally decide to fill one of the forms out, his slip is an entry into a drawing. He may win a book for each slip he puts in, or he may win nothing at all. How absolutely heart breaking would it be if he filled out dozens of forms, brought them all in, put them in the box for the drawing, and then won nothing. The very friendly librarian who explained the program to us said that they had "tons" of books to give away (although they didn't have them displayed or listed anywhere either), but still, it is a drawing, not a guaranteed book. Where are the pencils and erasers, the little trinkets that kids in this age group love?
Summer reading programs are supposed to excite my little reader. He is supposed to get home and want to start reading right away so he can work towards his goal. He is supposed to ask me repeatedly when we can go back to the library to pick up his prize. That just isn't happening this year. I know that the library uses a combination of grant money and donations for their summer program, and that part of that money goes towards the entertainment they have (there will be a future, positive blog post on that subject). I don't know if the funds were really tight this year, if they don't reach out to area businesses for prize donations, or if they just really like the format they have. Regardless, it makes me a little sad, and a little reminiscent for the reading programs of my past.