time to grow

Well, I had an opportunity today to test the elementary waters I wrote about yesterday. I went to Bushwick to drop off a book order at a school that I love—I’ve worked with this charter school for years and they always roll out the red carpet for me. Today I wasn’t expecting to stay long but the librarian wanted me to speak with the principal so I took a seat and watched as 25 first grade students buzzed about the room. There were a lot of small fires to put out but the librarian was up to the task. One boy came up to me and asked, “Are you Marshawn’s mom?” I explained that I was a visiting author and then pulled out the new books—within seconds I had a small cluster of kids around me and little hands reaching for the four books. They stroked the covers—”Oooh! They’re so soft!”—and then one girl opened Room in My Heart and declared, “I can read this!” I said something like “prove it” and we spent the remaining minutes of the period reading together. Another girl grabbed Max Loves Muñecas! and opened the cover: “So many words!” I held out my hand to take it back and she asked, “Can I keep it here next to me?” Oh, the little ones. I haven’t worked with six-year-olds since I was a camp counselor back in 1989, but I’m excited about meeting with teachers in the coming week to talk about how my books can be used in their classrooms. I met one teacher who looked at me and said, “I saw you on TV on The Debrief—I taped it!” I need to read up on the Common Core. Initially I wanted these books to be “just for fun,” but if teachers want to use them in the classroom then I need to provide some type of guide or lesson plan. Time to grow!