Highlights from the Random House Children's Book Summer Preview

By: Dacel Casey
Trevor Day School

Grumpy Monkey by Suzanne Lang
Publish Date: May 15

A hilarious picture book about dealing with unexplained feelings…and the danger in suppressing them! Jim the chimpanzee is in a terrible mood for no good reason. His friends can’t understand it—how can he be in a bad mood when it’s SUCH a beautiful day? They encourage him not to hunch, to smile, and to do things that make THEM happy. But Jim can’t take all the advice…and has a BIT of a meltdown. Could it be that he just needs a day to feel grumpy? Suzanne and Max Lang bring hilarity and levity to this very important lesson. This picture book is an excellent case study in the dangers of putting on a happy face and demonstrates to kids that they are allowed to feel their feelings (though they should be careful of hurting others in the process!).

HVLA Spring Meeting 2018

By: Celia Dillon
The Brearley School 



HVLA’s Spring Meeting was a hands-on workshop about ‘zines hosted at the Drawing Center in SoHo. Attendees were led by five experts who guided us through the process of making a zine and shared with us tips for how to teach with zines. Our experts were zine-maker and CUNY librarian Elvis Bakaitis, #blkgrlswurld ZINE creator Christina Long, book artist and professor Esther K. Smith,  Kat Fajardo, and Aya Kakeda. Librarians of all experience levels were in attendance, ranging from complete newbies to librarians who were already teaching graphic storytelling units or leading zine making groups with students.