We Are the Curators of Curiosity - the Guardians of Imagination

It's a week past Halloween.  The sugary dance of children who have raided and consumed sweets from their goodie bags on the way to school has tempered, their pockets now emptied of secretly stashed bite size chocolates.  As an adult it's easy to be sidelined by the sugar rush associated with this holiday - to focus solely on the loot and not the story behind the outstretched hands at your door.

My school manages Halloween each year by inviting students to celebrate through a storybook parade.  Students are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite character.  Now, as librarians we know that there are little, if any, desired characters or costumes that can't be linked back to a literacy source of some kind.  This is where our mad skills as librarians, the curators of curiosity and guardians of imagination come into play.

Students typically fall into two categories in October:

• those who love the story and know exactly which character they will be
• those who love an idea/character and haven't yet met the story

It is this second category of student I'm particularly interested in. I relish this conversation starter,

"Mrs. G, do you have any books about......"   

(Here is my opportunity to connect a reader! My librarian heart is all a-twitter.......)

"So, you want to be a zombie hunter for Halloween?  Hmmmm, have you seen this poetry book called Zombies: Evacuate the School! ?"

Zombies! Evacuate the School! by Sara Holbrook

"Mrs. G, I want to be Red Riding Hood for Halloween."

(Internal Squeal! I know the perfect book.....)

"Really?  Well, have you seen this new book?  It's based on Little Red...."

Little Red Writing by Joan Holub

 When Halloween finally sidles up and knocks on our door I'm thrilled to see the story book characters that parade around our school. Fairy tales and adventures, sci-fi and fantasy, each has it's own representative.  My work here has just begun though.  As the storybook parade winds down and the Draculas return to 2nd grade spelling, a student approached me

 "Mrs. G, I couldn't get a costume for today."

I looked at this student and replied, 

"You know what? Imagination is the best costume. Who are you today?"

The student paused for a minute and then proceeded to tell me in detail about his super hero character.  As he explained each detail, the cape and protective armor, the designs on his shoes, I nodded in understanding.

"I can see it!  Every bit!  And you know what?  I have the perfect book for you...."