Library Stax is ONE YEAR OLD

somebody better make me a smash cake

Hi hi hello you beautiful humans! How are you? This newsletter is going to be so many things today, so buckle up my friends. (OK, so it ended up being 3 things, but it FELT like a lot of things, carry on). Maybe I should bullet-list them?

ONE: let me take a quick minute to announce the winner of last month’s giveaway! If you don’t already subscribe to

Kuleigh Baker

’s substack

Overbooked Mama

, get yourself over there and hit the subscribe button. I love her Weekly R.E.P.O.R.T, a tantalizing recap of what she has been up to. Recently, her community was hit HARD by Hurricane Helene, and though it has been a few weeks, there is still work to be done. She recommended that we send donations to United Way, which you can do here.

TWO: Remember that first year of your child’s life? The stumbling way both of you learned how to be in this new world? Sitting there staring at their tiny face for hours, delighting over every little miraculous sound and milestone. I love the way a baby can make a grown person say and do the most ridiculous things simply by the power of their cuteness.

And then, they are one. A full year of life has gone by and they aren’t tiny piles of giggling goo anymore, but becoming beautiful personalities. Their eyes light up with recognition and delight — they start to reach toward the familiar and the unknown. With tiny toddling steps and shining sleep-deprived eyes, you both made it through a full rotation around the sun. So you celebrate making it through all the crazies by giving them a sugar-free, mostly blueberry, dab-of-honey-because-they-are-one-year-old-and-now-you-can-give-them-honey-without-botulism-threatening-their-life, smash cake. That was the first kid. The second kid gets a sugar-filled cupcake and permission to go to town.

Actual photographic evidence of my actual child on his actual first birthday — apparently he got the sugar-free smash cake AND the cupcakes. I love to bake!

All that to say….Library Stax is officially one year old!! Y’all, this is my 63rd post (wow!) which means I have suggested at least 260 children’s books to you (?!? is that possible?). I hope that you have found some new favorites based on one, two, or twelve of my recommendations. I really really really love sharing the joy of reading with the little people in my life, and am on a mission to help you share the joy of reading with your little people too. Thanks from the deepest darkest weirdest pits of my heart for being here with me on this experimental ride.

Library Stax is still and always¹ will be free for all because I want to offer up a valuable book-finding resource for everyone who wishes to make reading a part of their family ethos. Is there anything better than walking into a public library empty-handed, and coming out laden down with three book bags bursting with 40 kids’ books for the low low price of ZERO dollars? The library is pure magic.

Don’t worry, if you DO feel like celebrating Library Stax with an annual subscription, I’ve dropped prices to $35 for a full year. That comes with a promise that I will show up once a week (sometimes more) hollering about book recommendations, odd historical literacy lessons, humorous tales from the annals of parenting, and helpful tips to raise readers. If I have made you laugh, made you ponder something strange, taught you something new, helped you feel seen, or introduced you to a new favorite kids’ book you love to read over and over (and over) again, please consider subscribing. It would be the sugar-free-honey-sweetened icing on the cake.

Second child: bizarre double exposure, chaos party, cupcake. Have at it. If this doesn’t sum up parenting multiple kids, IDK what does.

THREE: Like all truly beautiful humans, Library Stax recognizes that birthdays are a time for reflection, celebration, and existential crises. What are we even doing here my friends??!!?? I’d love for some gritty feedback. I want to know what works, what doesn’t, what you love, what you would change, what you want to see more of, what you wish you had never seen in the first place….what you will never UNSEE.

Do I need to start making cute graphic headings between each of my sections? Does anybody read the book review section? Is my personal life too much? Not enough? Do you like my historical literacy series? Should my books be on-theme or random smatterings? You get the gist.

Library Stax is for me a little bit, but it is mostly for you! So I’d love for you to tell me what you need. Ask me anything. Suggest a new series. Tell me a book or an author I should do a deep dive on. Just dump your parenting woes on my ever-open ears.

When we were young, my parents went to Europe and left us in the care of my eccentric and incredible grandmother. We got to eat tacos with whatever toppings we wanted (beans! and cheese! and sour cream!), we were served an English-style breakfast in bed, and stayed up past midnight building an epic 3D dinosaur puzzle that nearly broke us all. My parents came home to find us holding our forks and knives in clutched fists, banging on the table, chanting “We want food!” with wild grins on our faces². We had gone rogue. This dear readers, is how I want to find you: cutlery in hand, demanding your feast.

GIVE ME FEEDBACK VIA THIS SURVEY! AND I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER!³

What should I do for year two? Learn to walk? Cut a bunch of teeth and wake you up every 3 hours every night? Potty train? THROW HUGE TANTRUMS? Demand the blue cup and when you give it to me throw it at your face and demand the red cup instead? Start saying adorable things that really truly make you laugh? The possibilities are endless.

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FROM THE STAX

CHICK CHAT by Janie Bynum

One little chatty chick finally finds a friend willing to listen.

Obsessed. We are all in love with this chick and their constant chatter. I have been peeping loudly to all who listen about this book — perhaps because of how readily I can relate, both as a rather chatty individual and as a mother to two VERY verbal kiddos. When one of us gets a little too chatty these days it is fun to rib one another with a “peep-a-peep peep peep peep!” This is one we were telling all our friends about with a smile on our faces.

SYLVESTER AND THE MAGIC PEBBLE by William Steig

Sylvester finds a lovely red stone, discovers it is magic, and in a series of unfortunate events finds himself in a bit of a hard place (pun intended). I don’t want to give away the magic, so you have to go get this one for yourself.

Y’all, Steig is a classic you should have on your shelf — from Pete’s a Pizza to Doctor De Soto his tales are guaranteed to please. Brave Irene holds a special place in my heart. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is one of my absolute favorites for its relatability, somewhat preposterous predicament, the titch of magic, and its joyous ending. Plus, who doesn’t love a family of donkeys in their dandy country outfits heading for a picnic? Delightful.

DRIFTWOOD DAYS by William Miniver Illustrated by Charles Vess

A boy perched on a fall tree branch watches a stick float away from a beaver dam and head downriver only to find it again on a summer beach.

Driftwood Days is about cyclical seasons, about change, and in its own quiet way, about endurance through whatever life throws at you. It will make you want to commune with nature and appreciate the journey every little thing is on. I love how picture books can carry a feeling, and this one feels like a deep full breath of calm. It is contemplative and simple and I found myself reaching for it again and again.

THE TWIST-A-ROO by Kathleen Doherty Illustrated by Kristyna Litten

Badger should be getting ready for winter, but he ignores his friends’ advice to patch his home or collect more food and goes looking for a fun toy instead.

A new take on the Ant and the Grasshopper tale, which brings to mind Leo Lionni’s brilliant Frederick, Twist-A-Roo is a particularly colorful and heartwarming take on an old classic. We loved the beautiful decorations Badger made for his friends and how every person’s gift became essential during the dark cold months of winter, even the one deemed frivolous. The first takeaway is to be prepared, but the greater takeaway is the beauty and necessity of community coming together in a time of need. And I want a kaleidoscope toy now, please. Oh! and I also learned something new from this book: a badger’s home is called a sett!

*I received this title from Peachtree Publications, all opinions are my own*

MISS RUMPHIUS by Barbara Cooney

Little Alice lives by the sea with her artist Grandfather who tells her stories of faraway places and reminds her that she must “make the world more beautiful.” Alice agrees, unsure of just how to accomplish such a task.

Recently I was having one of those bedroom to living room text convos with my husband. He sent me an article about children’s books featuring Maine and I started rattling off titles guessing whether they were in the article. It reminded me of this absolute treasure of a book that should be on my permanent shelf. I could not wait to get my hands on a copy and read it to my kids. Based on a real-life story of Hilda Hamlin the “lupine lady” and embellished with personal details of traveling the world from Cooney’s own life experiences, this book is a treasure in story, illustration, and message. Let us all travel and see faraway places. Let us all retire in a little cottage by the sea. Let us all find little ways to leave the world a more beautiful place.

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Thanks, as always but with a little extra oomph and pomp and confetti today, for being here.

I feel like you should know that every time I scroll up and down this newsletter draft to edit, tweak, and add new information, I see those pictures of my little ones on their respective first birthdays my heart swells up like a balloon about to burst. So. Much. Love. Contained in me. Isn’t being a parent WILD?!

See y’all next week and happy reading!

1. always - what is this? Can I make these promises? No. Nobody knows what the future holds. Now I am singing “Never Say Never” from American Tail (IYKYK)

2. Being a parent now helps me see this story in a new and terrific (in the original sense of the word) light. We were MONSTERS. Albeit, somewhat entertaining ones.

3. See footnote 1 about using words like “always” and “never” and “forever”