‘Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore’ by Robin Sloan

There is something odd about the San Francisco bookstore where Clay Jannon clerks overnight.

From shelves filled floor-to-ceiling — the equivalent of three floors — Clay retrieves books not sold but loaned to members of a mysterious club. In addition to tracking each volume they take, he must document their appearance and behavior.

Inside the books, “a solid matrix of letters,” “an undifferentiated jumble.”

Clay stumbles ever deeper into a centuries-old pursuit to unlock a secret code, firmly placed in a modern world of online search, crowdsourcing and 3D-imaging.

Hand-made books during ‘Teen Crafternoon’

Having been exposed to the rewarding task of library book repair, I’ve long wanted to try hand-bookbinding. I got the opportunity during “Teen Crafternoon” with the Ashland library teen department.

‘The London Eye Mystery’ by Siobhan Dowd

Books show up in unexpected places in an actively-used library, as patrons remove items from shelves and then set them down.

Locating and reshelving out-of-place books leads to serendipitous discoveries.

On a list of books about characters with autism I’d seen The London Eye Mystery, and mentally filed it under want-to-read. So when I saw it perched atop a magazine rack while straightening in Bellview library, I seized my opportunity.

Later, a member of a library listserv also mentioned the book, saying she would love to hear my thoughts.

Knitting socks with Dreamz Symphonie Wood

Until this Christmas, my sock-knitting pursuits involved “Boye” Size 3 double-pointed knitting needles that I found packaged in a tube with an original printed price of 45 cents. This morning I worked the socks onto my Christmas gift from Jonathan, Knitter’s Pride Dreamz Symphonie Wood needles.

Alan Turing: autistic in ‘The Imitation Game’

Keira Knightley and Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game.
Image courtesy of The Weinstein Company Publicity

For Christmas Day, Jonathan and I (joined by a neighbor, also named Jonathan) saw The Imitation Game at Varsity Theatre in downtown Ashland. This film dramatizes an effort by Alan Turing in England during World War II to create a machine able to crack the Germans’ “unbreakable” Enigma code.

Autism ‘expert’ status: Why so misplaced?

From Shannon Des Roches Rosa, writing at BlogHer.com, here’s a question that really must continually be asked: “Why Do Autism ‘Experts’ Say Such Awful Things?” (Or perhaps the question should be, when these so-called experts speak, why do so many award them credibility?)

Season’s Greetings

“It’s lovely weather for a bike ride together with you.”

Socks knit in teal stripes

Winter break finds me more than halfway through my latest pair of hand-knit socks, once again worked from Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd. This pair combines Ella Rae Classic Superwash in dark and light teal blue stripes.

Cross-posted to Ravelry

‘Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism’

The interested reader could easily fill a bookshelf addressing multiple facets of autism: behavioral therapies, sensory challenges, whether or not to medicate, K-12 educational policies. But this reader would have to buy one book first, and Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism would be an ideal place to start.

Published in 2011 by the Myers-Rosa Foundation, the book is edited by Shannon Des Roches Rosa, Jennifer Byde Myers, Liz Ditz, Emily Willingham and Carol Greenburg.

Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism provides an informative overview from a variety of contributors.

‘Gaby, Lost and Found’ by Angela Cervantes

Among third- to fifth-grade titles in this year’s Oregon Battle of the Books, Gaby, Lost and Found caught and held my interest as a longtime animal caregiver.

I couldn’t resist the cover image of a brown-tabby cat, poking her head and paw out of a girl’s backpack.

Written by Angela Cervantes (Scholastic, 2013), Gaby, Lost and Found centers around volunteer efforts by a young girl and her classmates to help abandoned animals find homes. But while Gaby’s animal profiles bring in adoptive caregivers, Gaby herself feels like a stray. Her mother was deported to Honduras and her father rarely has time for her.

‘If I Ran the Dog Show’ in Jackson County school libraries

Ashland elementary librarian Lauren Hall reads ‘If I Ran the Dog Show’
to a group of first-grade students at Bellview Elementary School.
/ CYNTHIA M. PARKHILL

The Southern Oregon Kennel Club has donated a copy of “If I Ran the Dog Show” by Tish Rabe, featuring the Cat in the Hat, to every public elementary school and charter school library in Jackson County.

‘Food Chaining’ by Cheryl Fraker, et al.

As validated as I felt learning that a book like this exists, I felt even more validated when reading Food Chaining by Cheryl Fraker, Mark Fishbein, Sibyl Cox and Laura Walbert.

Eating is easily the most difficult sensory task I face. In childhood, I easily fit the profile of a “problem eater,” as described in this book. I accepted few foods, had strong adverse reactions that included gagging and was reluctant to even touch new foods.

My difficulties didn’t have the benefit of a book like this, however. Instead, adults labeled me “picky,” “spoiled” and “bad” because I could not eat what was served to me.

Blog updates via MailChimp

I am syndicating my blog with the MailChimp email marketing service.

Subscribe to weekly updates

Subscribe to daily updates

Recipients will receive an email only when new content is posted to my blog.

Keep Autism Speaks out of library-service discussion

In my dual personal and professional capacities, I am a strong advocate for the success of any project like Targeting Autism, which focuses the efforts of Illinois libraries to provide services to people on the autism spectrum and their families.

I want to caution the Illinois libraries’ project, however, about having any relationship or appearing to endorse the group Autism Speaks.

‘Cat Champions’ by Rob Laidlaw

My beautiful cat Starfire examines
Rob Laidlaw’s book Cat Champions

My assignment this week for my online children’s literature class was to examine an informational picturebook against evaluation criteria in The Joy of Children’s Literature by Denise Johnson.
For the assignment, I couldn’t resist returning to a recent favorite.

Cat Champions, Caring For Our Feline Friends by Rob Laidlaw (2013) addresses issues related to the care of abandoned or feral cats. It places special emphasis upon young “cat champions” who care for these cats.

‘Crunch’ by Leslie Connor

I subscribe to various email lists related to library services to children, and in response to requests for recommendations on two very different topics, one book immediately came to mind.

I posted a review of Crunch by Leslie Connor (Katherine Tegan Books, 2010) in December 2013.

More recently, I recommended the book across one of the listservs I subscribe to. My recommendation was in response to a request for books with an environmental theme.

Set in present-day, Crunch depicts what happens when gasoline supplies abruptly disappear.

‘Hattitude’: Newsboy hats in plaid

Muted or vibrant, there’s something so beautiful about the combinations of colors in plaid. Here are some recent plaid creations for Hat People in southern Oregon.

Targeting Autism, library service to autistic patrons

From an email subscription to Special Needs and Inclusive Library Services (also known as SNAILS), I learned about a project addressing an issue that’s deeply important to me upon personal and professional levels.

‘Monkey’s Christmas Tree’ as children’s picture book

Picture book: Monkey's Christmas Tree
from Cynthia M. Parkhill

If I had to name a genre for “Monkey’s Christmas Tree,” it would be realistic fiction with a non-human protagonist.

Children find travel tickets in ‘Harry Potter’ books

The reception by children was everything I’d hoped for one-way travel tickets on the Hogwarts Express that I slipped inside copies of Harry Potter.

Bellview Elementary School library ‘Top 10’

Bellview Elementary School library ‘Top 10,’ Nov. 29, 2014
from Cynthia M. Parkhill

It came as no surprise to me that Oregon Battle of the Books featured titles occupy all 10 places this month on the Bellview library Top 10. Students have formed teams and are assigning responsibilities to read each title on the list. And in Bellview library, I am continually asked if I have this-or-that book.

‘Getting a Life with Asperger’s’ by Jesse A. Saperstein

The greatest take-away message for me in Getting a Life with Asperger’s, Lessons Learned on the Bumpy Road to Adulthood (Perigee, 2014) is author Jesse A. Saperstein’s emphasis on people with autism being “role model[s] from day one.”

“Society is aware of us as having a disability, and the characteristics deemed to be negative have more lasting power. Let’s collectively step up to the plate to show that our positive characteristics may eventually overshadow any rocky moments.”

Saperstein envisions himself as a Catcher in the Rye for his younger peers, referencing a mission by J.D. Salinger’s character Holden Caulfield, to save young children from getting too close to a cliff. And Saperstein writes with direct, first-hand experience about that metaphorical cliff.

One Man and His Beard: New library campaign song

Given my gratitude this Thanksgiving as a lifetime user of libraries, it seems fitting to pass along word about a new library video campaign from One Man and His Beard, a “Libraryfied” version of The Bee Gees’ “Tragedy.”

School librarians viewed as ‘extraneous’

My assignment this week for LIBT 210, School Library/Media Center Services, was to respond to the question, “Why are libraries experiencing a budget crisis?”

Official staff photo, Bellview school

My official staff photo for Bellview Elementary School is by Lifetouch School Portraits. I received an official ID badge, along with prints in several sizes.

Autism book list: Fiction divided by age

Books out from the library

The growing roster of fiction on my list of books for people on the autism spectrum could easily stand as an independent list of autism “read-alikes” — except that entries vary as to age of target readership as reflected in the age of the main character. So this morning, I subdivided the fiction into juvenile, young adult and adult categories.

Bookmark: Hogwarts Express travel ticket

Imagine discovering a one-way travel ticket on the Hogwarts Express, inside the copy of Harry Potter that you found on the library shelves.

Blogs by library professionals

Cartoon avatar puts me in good standing among library bloggers

Comic avatars seem to be a frequent practice among public and school library bloggers that I examined for an assignment this week in LIBT 210, School Library/Media Center Operations. So with my Bitstrips comic avatar, I fit right in with the writers of these four blogs.

‘Rain Reign’ by Ann M. Martin

The people in Rose Howard’s life get angry with her sometimes for her insistence on following rules. Her tendency to point out every driving infraction got her kicked off the school bus.

Rose’s dog Rain provides consolation and solace in her lonely life. Rain’s name is extra special because it’s a double homonym; the words “Rain,” “Reign” and “Rain” all sound alike, but have different meanings.

Rose’s father lets Rain outside during a terrible storm, and the dog becomes lost. To find her beloved dog, Rose carefully executes a systematic and detailed plan.

Common Core: Emphasis on evidence

A broadcast on NPR’s All Things Considered about Common Core State Standards points to a significant shift in how children are taught to engage with text.

Bullying in children’s books by Ludwig and Keats

Two very different portrayals of bullying emerge in Goggles!, written and illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats (1969) and in Trouble Talk, written by Trudy Ludwig and illustrated by Mikela Prevost (2008).

Hattitude: Earflap cap with brim from sweater

Teen Crafternoon on Monday with the Ashland library Teen Department presented a perfect opportunity to make a cap with earflaps from two repurposed sweaters.

Teen Crafternoon: Repurposing sweaters

Ashland Teen Library on Facebook

Teen Crafternoon continues with the Ashland Public Library’s Teen Department at its new time, 3:30 p.m. on the second Monday of each month.

This coming Monday, Nov. 10, teen librarian Esther Mortensen will guide us in upcycling sweaters into bracelets, arm and boot cuffs, hats and stuffed animals. Sweaters will be provided, but participants are encouraged to bring one to upcycle if they’d like.

‘Informational’ materials in Bellview library

I took down the “Non-fiction” directional signs today in Bellview Elementary School library. Where they’d originally designated Dewey Decimal System number ranges for materials shelved by subject, I put new signs that use the word “Informational.” With students being taught to identify and read “informational” text, I felt it was important that we use consistent language when communicating these concepts.

‘The Doubt Factory’ by Paolo Bacigalupi

Alix Banks thinks she knows what her dad does for a living. He works in public relations, making sure his clients get good publicity. Where’s the harm in that?

But then Alix’s luxurious private school becomes the target of a sophisticated prank. And a mysterious stranger makes contact with her and raises an unsettling possibility: that Alix Banks’ father isn’t just in public relations.

In a “four-story tagging job,” the numbers “2.0” drip red from a building’s windows, and “thousands and thousands and thousands of rats” swarm their way out of the building.

‘The Tale of Despereaux’ by Kate DiCamillo

What struck me when reading The Tale of Despereaux by author Kate DiCamillo (for my Children’s Literature class), was her use of a narrator speaking directly to the reader, setting the scene, commenting on the action, and on the motives in the characters’ hearts.

To suspend disbelief, DiCamillo scrupulously honored the rules she had established for the world where the story is set. In a video interview produced by Wadsworth Cengage Learning, she talks about one such rule, that the rats, mice and humans can all understand each other. This rule is very consistently maintained throughout the story.

Fantasy versus traditional literature

The slideshow that accompanies our reading of Chapter 6 in The Joy of Children’s Literature makes a very clear distinction between fantasy and traditional literature.

Librarians ‘wear many caps’

On INALJ.com, Rebecca Tischler has contributed a great essay highlighting five things that people don’t realize that librarians do.

‘The Lunar Chronicles’ by Marissa Meyer

Related to my class discussion of fairy tales (and their heroines) this week, I recommend reading The Lunar Chronicles, a series of Young Adult science fiction novels by author Marissa Meyer.

Each book in the series is modeled after a fairy tale, and centers upon a heroine and her “prince.”

With my longstanding interest in “fractured” fairy tales, reading this series was natural for me. And because my comments address the story mid-series, they may unavoidably contain “spoilers.”

For Halloween: ‘Harry Potter’ wizarding robes

Dressed in my official Hogwarts robes for Halloween, I had my wand ready for shelving while at work in Bellview library. The colorful holiday-themed poster-boards behind me are the work of Traci Ordenez.

‘Little Free Libraries’ in Ashland, Oregon

File photo/Little Free Library

What a wonderful surprise during our first year in Ashland, Oregon, to discover “Little Free Libraries” appearing on residential streets.

I love these little cabinet-like structures that are filled with free books. An article in the Ashland Daily Tidings profiles some library builders.

Disabilities should not be used as insults

As a person on the autism spectrum, I have unique gifts and challenges. My brain works differently from the majority of people and when I went to school, my classmates enforced a school-wide “norm” that I was to be bullied and shunned.

‘Cinder Edna’ by Ellen Jackson

The slideshow that accompanied our reading in The Joy of Children’s Literature this week raised an intriguing question: Do “fractured” or feminist fairy tales make sense if children don’t have the context of the original story?

With Cinder Edna by Ellen Jackson (1994), illustrated by Kevin O’Malley, children have a chance to compare and contrast the story of Cinderella with that of her next-door-neighbor. Both young women are similarly forced to work for a wicked stepmother and stepsisters.

‘Yeh-Shen’ by Ai-Ling Louie

Intrigued by the statement in our text for Children’s Literature, that a story from China “predates the earliest European version of Cinderella by 1,000 years” (Johnson 131), I chose the 1982 retelling of Yeh-Shen by Ai-Ling Louie, illustrated by Ed Young, as one of two different visual or literary interpretations of Cinderella.

One of the differences, as highlighted in our text, concerns the source of magical intervention that lets Cinderella “go to the ball.” Instead of a fairy godmother, Yeh-Shen is aided by the bones of her beloved pet fish.

Schneider Family Book Award

Given a class assignment to write about a school or library children’s book award, I decided to learn more about the Schneider Family Book Award, one among what are collectively referred to as the American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards.

(With its emphasis upon portraying the experience of people with disabilities, the Schneider award uniquely piqued my interest as a woman on the autism spectrum.)

Yarn Bombing: ‘Support Libraries’ at library in Israel

“Support Libraries.” My first international yarn-bombing tag was installed by an emissary at a community library in Israel. The image has also been added to the timeline at Yarn Bombing at Your Library.

Digital publishing should play to digital’s strengths

A statement by Jean Gralley in “Liftoff: When Books Leave the Page” (Horn Book Magazine, Jan/Feb 2006) really stood out for me this week in my readings for Children’s Literature.

Singer 247 for sewing hats

An industrial machine facilitates volume piecework of hat brims and crowns. I bought this old-time Singer Model 247 for $20 and, thanks to Singer customer support, was able to identify the model and locate an operating manual, as well as identify compatible bobbins and needles.

Oregon Battle of the Books: audio-format resources

Your reference librarian is on the job, tracking down audio-format resources for Oregon Battle of the Books, from the Talking Book and Braille Library.

‘Year of the Book’ by Andrea Cheng

Because both of us are sewers and designers, I deeply related to Anna Wang, main character in The Year of the Book by Andrea Cheng.

Anna has sewn a lunch bag out of repurposed fabric and she makes it the subject of a classroom essay on the subject of “Perseverance.”

When composing her essay, Anna relives and documents the false starts and failed attempts before successfully completing the bag.

I could entirely relate this to my own experiences when creating an original project. I begin by visualizing the finished project in my head and the pattern shapes I need to create it.

Continuing interest in information literacy

Learning to evaluate websites for credibility has been an ongoing subject for concern, revisited this week in response to an assignment for LIBT 210, School Library/Media Center Operations.

UUA Common Read: ‘Multigenerational’ suggestion

I’ve long promoted the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Common Read, most recently as administrative coordinator for Religious Explorations at a UU community in Southern Oregon. Before that, I promoted the Common Read as volunteer administrator of a small church lending library.

In email correspondence, I commented that the Common Read is promoted by the UUA as a “multigenerational” resource, and I recommended that the UUA select companion materials grouped around the themes in the Common Read: picture books for the youngest UUs, elementary- to middle-school level and so on upward.

Does multicultural literature get the details right?

In my online Children’s Literature class this week, I was asked to address the metaphors of multicultural literature as a “mirror” and a “window” (attributed in our text to Rudine Sims Bishop, a noted professor of children’s literature).

Teen Crafternoon begins new year at Ashland library

Source of image:
Ashland Teen Library Fans

Who else is looking forward to a new year of Teen Crafternoon with the Ashland library teen department, Jackson County Library Services?

First off, participants will paint masks for Day of the Dead, 4 p.m. today.

I found my niche volunteering at Ashland library through summer craft events, and am looking forward to another school-year volunteering each month with Teen Crafternoon.

The Ashland Branch Library is located at 410 Siskiyou Blvd. For more information, contact the library’s teen department, 541-774-6994.

Bellview among top Oregon schools

My employer, Bellview Elementary School, is among the top 10 percent of schools statewide in Oregon, as reported in an article in the Medford Mail Tribune. Bellview has also been distinguished as a “model school,” in the top 10 percent of Oregon’s high-poverty schools.

Religious Explorations: Recent posts

Source of image: woodleywonderworks via Creative Commons/Flickr

Since May of this year, I’ve been employed part-time as Administrative Coordinator for the Religious Explorations program at a church in Ashland, Oregon, the Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

Here are recent posts to social media in my capacity as Administrative Coordinator. With these selections, as with earlier posts, I emphasize connecting people with information that benefits them.

‘Weird!’ by Erin Frankel for bullying awareness

With the universality of its devastating impact upon children’s self-esteem, I knew that when I selected a book with a culturally-neutral subject, I wanted the subject to be bullying. To commemorate October as National Bullying Prevention Month while examining cultural diversity, Weird!, written by Erin Frankel and illustrated by Paula Heaphy (Free Spirit Publishing, 2012), seemed the perfect choice.

‘My Brother Sammy’: Sibling’s concern about autism

One of the diverse perspectives highlighted in our course readings this week in The Joy of Children’s Literature is what author Denise Johnson refers to as “exceptionalities,” physical, mental or behavioral challenges or giftedness. As a woman who learned in adulthood that she was on the autism continuum, I have a vested interest in autistic characters’ experiences validated and communicated through fiction.

Teens’ Top 10: Voting now open

With an emphasis on Teen Read Week (Oct. 12 to 18), voting is open for the Young Adult Library Services Association’s “Teens’ Top Ten.” Young people aged 12 to 18 can vote for up to three of their favorite titles among 25 nominated books.

Posted to the Southern Oregon Education Services District listserv for school library/media center personnel

Self-striping socks with reinforced soles

These beautiful creations, out of self-striping blue and green yarn, were knit with needles that were better suited to a thicker weight of yarn.

I couldn’t bear not wearing these somewhat loose-knit socks after the care I put into them, so I cut foot shapes out of jersey-knit fabric that was salvaged from a repurposed T-shirt.

I hand-stitched the foot-shapes to the bottom of the socks, effectively giving them soles.

National Bullying Prevention Month

October is National Bullying Prevention Month.

(Source of image: Southern Oregon Education Service District)

Importance of questions while reading aloud

Our textbook reading and videos this week about reading with and to children emphasize talking between teacher and students about the reading that takes place.

American Libraries digital supplement focuses on school libraries

American Libraries (magazine of the American Library Association) has produced a digital supplement, “School Libraries Transform Learning.”

The subject simply can’t be timelier, given my course this semester in school library/media center operations, added to my working part-time in an elementary school library.

Beyond personal relevance is the dramatic drop in number among licensed school librarians. In Oregon, the figure is 82 percent, from 818 full-time equivalents in 1980 to 144 in 2013.

Library skills training: Best with real class assignments

Our textbook reading on “Information Skills” includes a statement that can be taken as rationale for “embedded” library skills training: that is, training that helps students complete actual course assignments (87). I find myself sharing the textbook’s preference for embedded library skills.

Autistic people on staff: Ways to optimize workplace

People with autism don’t always announce ourselves, but if you own or manage a decent-sized company, you have autistic people on staff. From OneQuarterMama.ca, here are seven ways companies can optimize their workplaces by “treating each individual as valuable and with respect.”

Social sharing credit: Autism Women's Network

‘C’ is for ‘Cat’ with cut-paper shelf marker

One of the highlights this week in Bellview library was the installation by Traci Ordenez of cut-paper shelf markers she made. For Friday cat blogging, here’s a photograph of the shelf marker she made for “C.”

‘Stellaluna’ by Janell Cannon

Stellaluna, authored and illustrated by Janell Cannon, is the story of a bat who is separated from her mother. She is taken in by a family of birds, but her bat behaviors are at odds with what the baby birds need to learn.

She puts so much effort and suffers so much grief trying to act like something she’s not. And — spoiler alert — what a great image at the end, when the young birds and young bat behave according to their nature, but wholeheartedly love and accept each other.