Bonding over Wanda Petronski

I just had a Feel-good Librarian moment. An elderly gent came to the desk and said he needed "an extraordinary reference librarian." I told him I'd try to be extraordinary, but he was in the right place for a reference librarian.

He was on his way to visit his granddaughter's class. He wanted a book about sounds for 2nd graders, but he didn't want a book about how sound works, he wanted a storybook that evoked sounds. Quite a challenge. Good thing one of the Newbery winners exactly fits that bill.

Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman is meant to be read by two people at once, and when you read it out loud it sounds like the insects in your backyard. Very cool. And just what my patron wanted. Then I made his day by finding this poem (full of evocative sounds) that he'd been looking for for years.

While we were chatting he asked if I'd like to know his favorite children's book of all time. "Of course", I said. "The Hundred Dresses," he said. You could have knocked me over with a feather when he said that. I about jumped up and down in my "I LOVE THAT BOOK" excitement. "Did you cry?," he asked. "Of course", I said. "Me too!", he said. His daughter, who was overhearing all of this bonding, laughed at us, but she looked kind of sad when she said "He made me read it, but I didn't cry."

If you've never read The Hundred Dresses, report immediately to your local library's children's room and grab yourself a copy. It's so good it makes best friends out of strangers five generations apart.

Before he left my new friend said, "Anna Johnson is an extraordinary reference librarian." Wow. Can I carry him around in my pocket to job interviews? Made me want to cry.