Someone I met in my favorite cider house opted to include me in her search for recommendations for books for young children. Jennifer Delgadillo works in the communications department for Early Learning Indiana, which started a program called “Brighter Futures Indiana.” This website has “resources and supports to help Hoosier families understand and enhance their (children’s) learning at home and while in care.” They also started the “Brighter Readers Book Crew,” a collection of book lovers and childhood professionals. Jennifer included me in the Crew, and I have sent her some book recommendations based on the themes suggested for each month. It is exciting for me to revisit some of the books that I read to my three children and their children, my grandbeauties.
I was rummaging through some old papers in the search for something that I cannot remember, now, when I found a story I wrote for “Kiddie Lit” when I was a student at Indiana University Southeast. I returned to school as a 35-year-old married father of one, having kicked over the traces of a 10-year job that I hated. I wandered about the various offerings to major in, finally settling on — after some strong hints from an advisor — English. I became interested in what was called by some, Kiddie Lit because of my fondness for making up stories that had my daughter, Lisa, as the protagonist. But this story, “Invisible, Invisible Ink,” was written for a young adult audience, or so I thought. When I gave it to one of my teacher friends to read, she told me that it was “verbose.” I am now constrained to 600 adult-oriented words per week.
The Brighter Readers Book Crew is encouraged to look for reading suggestions that address the multi-cultural realities of our country, including a Spanish-speaking population. Among the papers I found was an old proposal for a children’s book series, written by C.J. and Teresa Woods; illustrated by C.J. Woods. The series was “(d)irected towards children 2-5 years old; esp. for bi-racial children. Show parents and friends … in the book … (of) different races.” My second bride was excited about the project, as was I, though we never got past the written proposal stage (which we never submitted to a publisher).
My granddaughter Imani recently called me on a video chat to read a book to me that was on a theme suggested by Brighter Futures, and which she and her mother agreed would fit the suggested theme. And for the month of March, since it is Women’s History Month, the theme is “Girls!” Soon, I am going to put Imani’s 10-month-old cousin on my lap and read to her, “I Like Myself,” by Karen Beaumont and illustrated by David Catrow, the exuberantly written and illustrated story of a girl who cannot count all of the ways that she likes herself. And when Myah tires of hearing my voice rising to little-used octaves, I will switch to “Mary Had a Little Glam,” by Tammi Sauer, and illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton. And when she tires of that, I will go to the floor with her, and whisper to her of the days when I told her mother and uncle “chicken stories” that I made up for them at bedtime.
My children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, niecelets and nephewlets (the children of my nieces and nephews) and the children of my friends have all been gifted with the books that I found interesting and joyful and decided were necessary for them to be connected to the world outside of the warmth of their parents’ circle, a joyful “kiddie lit.”