Rhyme Schemer by K.A. Holt

 Rhyme Schemer by K.A. Holt is a novel told in verse and was published in 2014. 

Kevin, the main character, is the youngest in his family - an afterthought - born after four older brothers with names all starting with a P. Kevin is a poet and a bully, but the tables get turned on him when one of his victims finds his poetry notebook. 

I like the relationships in this book. The librarian is completely amazing - as most librarians are. I think it's a librarian thing. The relationships with his older brothers are realistic. They tease, fight, and love one another. 

I like novels written in verse because they are quick reads with a lot said in not many words. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Black is a Rainbow Color by Angela Joy and Ekua Holmes

Black is a Rainbow Color by Angela Joy and Ekua Holmes was published in 2020. This book was sent to me by the instructor of an inclusion class I'm taking, and I'll use this beautiful book in my classroom. 

The story is written as poetry, and the author, Angela Joy, included resources and connections to notable and newsworthy events in history that go along with this book. This means that there are many segues to expand a child's knowledge of our history and world. She also includes poems and a timeline of Black Ethnonyms in America, so this book can grow with your child. It could be read to a very small child, but it can also be used with teens. 

The story begins: "Red is a rainbow color. Green sits next to blue. Yellow, orange, violet, indigo, they are rainbow colors, too, but my color is black . . . and there's no black in rainbows."

The first page that has a resource connected to it reads: "Black is a rhythm. Black is the blues. Black is side-walking in spit-shined shoes." When you turn to the back of the book, Angela Joy explains "Side-walking in spit-shined shoes" and the connection to the Montgomery bus boycott. 

I appreciate how versatile this book is and can image it being a favorite of many children as they discover and then rediscover it again as they grow and see that it offers more than they realized.  

Ekua Holmes is the artist behind the bold, vivid, and beautiful illustrations that add to the storybook. 

We received a few more donations to our book project last week. 

A graduate of our NICU sent these books. 

Shelley Lomax sent these cute board books. 

Angela Jensen sent us these fun winter books. 

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

2020 NICU Book Project Donation Total

2020 NICU Book Project Donations

I started collecting books in 2014 for the NICU where my daughter works to honor the lives of my own twins and also of two grandchildren who did not survive pregnancy. As a reading teacher, I saw that children who were read to, had better attention spans and did better in school. It took me a year to gather 150 books sorted into packets of 5 books each. I delivered them in September of 2015. I had only planned on making this one donation, but the books were so appreciated by the parents, that I kept on gathering books.

Other people started donating books so we could try to send every NICU baby home with a packet of books. Parents read these books to their babies during their often lengthy stays, helping their baby's brains and creating bonding moments full of love. 

Each packet has a half sheet handout explaining why it is important to read to your baby. I put at least one board book in each packet, and we also create packets for families whose first language is Spanish.

I worried that our project wouldn't be able to reach all the babies in our NICU this year because of the pandemic. I rely heavily on being about to go shop in person for books at a discount. I generally purchase several hundred books a year for this project and there was no way I could safely shop in person, but I shouldn't have worried because when Angie let the word get out that we were nearly out of books, many, many donors stepped up and sent books. We were the recipients of a few book drives and at least one large anonymous donor. 

We have never had as many donors as we have had this year. We had at least 100 donors, but because of book drives and anonymous donors, I have no idea exactly how many people participated in our project this year. If you helped bring books to our NICU babies, I thank you for keeping our project afloat in this weirdest of all years. 

We collected 1,788 books this year, most of them were new because of the pandemic. Those that were not new, were sanitized and quarantined to make sure they were safe before being given to families. 

We had a few last minute donations this year, which were included in our 2020 totals. I always photograph and mention those donations on my blog, so here these donations. 

These were donated by Sara Robinson. Board books are always appreciated. I like each baby to get at least one board book in their packet.  

Megan Smith sent these four books. Spanish books are greatly appreciated as they aren't always easy to find.

Ginger Nielsen sent this selection of cute books. There are touch and feel, board books, Spanish books, and paperbacks in this group. 

An anonymous donor sent 63 new board books, pop-up books, and Spanish books in this selection. 

McKenna Vance sent this selection of hardbacks. I try to put at least one hardback in each packet and for some reason, we don't get a lot of them donated, so they are appreciated. 

I want to thank each and every person who donated to our project and to those who donated to the multiple book drives. I couldn't reach so many on my own. Your support is greatly appreciated.  It makes me happy that my little project to honor my babies has become our project and is growing and thriving. Together we are spreading literacy to the very smallest among us.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.