Thursday afternoon is Farmers’ Market day in our city. Early in the summer, someone had emailed to ask if I’d be the guest story reader one Thursday–they do Family Storytime every week at 4:30. I said sure, so last Thursday, I sat in a lawn chair surrounded by kids on carpet squares in the grass. I had figured on only 3-4 kids, to be honest, but there was a nice-sized little crowd of 15-20 kids and parents.
| I read poems from Stampede and Fuzzy-Fast Blur, plus my nonfiction book Does an Elephant Fit in Your Hand. When I asked the kids about that last one, they laughed at the illustrations and we agreed it would have to be a very tiny elephant to fit in your hand. "Or," one kindergarten girl pointed out, "if you are a giant, then an elephant would fit in your hand!" So true.
The kids made animal noises for Stampede, called out what pets they have and what their names are for Fuzzy-Fast Blur, and yelled "NO!" to every silly question in Does an Elephant Fit in Your Hand. We had lots of fun, and then they were off to shop the farmers’ market with their grown-ups. I wasn’t really looking forward to the event because I’m so behind in work and very stressed out, but it actually turned out to be a nice little outing, and it was fun not to worry about book sales or any big presentation. And it was a tiny bit of volunteering for my city. |
 |