April Newsletter!
- Kara Cecchi
- Apr 7
- 11 min read
See what we're reading, what we're donating, & what we're doing throughout the community this month
A look back at March:
March was BUSY. We added extra storytimes as we partnered with the city of Rocky Mount to celebrate North Carolina's Creek Week and World Water Day. We learned about watersheds and how we can help keep our waterways clean. Big thanks to Gabby, our local stormwater engineer for educating us and bringing a very cool interactive model! We spent the month filling our free libraries with books celebrating and educating women's history month, specifically women of color, Ramadan, Eid, and spring rain showers. We want to say a special thank you to all of you who donated books off of our March wishlists. Each book was donated into our free libraries in our diverse, rural communities. We are so excited that diverse books are finding their way into homes, libraries, & classrooms showcasing a true need throughout our communities for books that are representative of the communities they serve.
Read Across America Day: We were invited to Martin Millennium Academy to celebrate Read Across America Day! We brought two of our favorite read-aloud picture books to visit a third grade classroom -- The Book That Almost Rhymed by Omar Abed & Hatem Aly AND Like Lava in My Veins by Derrick Barnes & Shawn Martinbrough with Adriano Lucas. After reading, each kid created their own comic strip, but, there was a twist! After 5 minutes of drawing, they had to switch desks & help complete their classmates story. Every 5 minutes, we switched! So by the time they got back to their desk & their comic strip, they had a whole story based on their initial drawing! It was great to see just how creative these young minds are.
Our book clubs: This month we took our MOSS Kids Book Club to seven locations; we visited eight classrooms, two public libraries, & one drag story hour!! We followed our friend, Isaac, as he adventured in the rain and discussed worm power & their ability to help us compost. Kids crafted their own watercolor-resistant rain painting, met our worm friends, & watched a few videos about the importance of composting to help nourish our world. Check out our blog post to grab some FREE printables!
Creek Week: March brings North Carolina a celebration of our waterways with CREEK WEEK. We partnered with the city of Rocky Mount & their stormwater engineer Gabby Pacelli to head to a few local schools & the Braswell Memorial Library to teach all about ways that we can help keep our local watershed clean! Gabby & I headed to two city of Rocky Mount elementary schools to read a few stories, use an interactive model to see our impact if we choose to not protect our waters, & all became water protectors by signing a pledge to take what we've learned to start implementing ways to keep our waters clean. Then on World Water Day, we took over the Braswell Memorial Library for two special storytimes where kids were able to participate in our watershed demonstration and then use recycled materials to create their own turtle/jellyfish. Each kid take home printable activity sheets and was gifted a book, Winn & Doug: The Waterdrops, donated by the city of Rocky Mount. Big thanks to Gabby & Rocky Mount for partnering with us! Stay tuned for a few more storytimes with Gabby in April.
Lunch Bunch: We met up with our local elementary school kids to participate in their Lunch Bunch program. We started the second book in our new series -- The Kid's in Mrs. Z's Class: Rohan Murthy Has a Plan by Rajani Larocca. Rohan Murthy has an ambitious dream to launch his own pet care business, but when he starts small by babysitting the class guinea pig, he makes big mistakes. The kids are using the activity kit that goes with the series to create their own protagonist student that will join Mrs. Z's class as we continue with the series. You can get the guide for the first two books, here. We made new bookmarks & are hoping to finish Rohan's book this month, so stay tuned on our socials!
New MOSS Kids Book Club location at Braswell Memorial Library: We had our first MOSS Kids Book Club storytime & craft at Braswell Memorial Library in Rocky Mount! Each month, we will read a story (or two), craft together, & complete a community outreach activity getting to know & improve the community we live in. Each kid will leave with activity sheets to further learning at home! After our book club, MOSS Kids Book Project will be donating the book we read to the library to add to their circulation! You'll be able to borrow the book after it's processed. We also have our own display there, featuring books that go with our book of the month & QR codes with our craft, just in case you miss our storytime! Check out our cool display for March >>
Picture Books on Tap: This month, we partnered with the city of Rocky Mount to bring a special guest to our adult picture book club -- Gabby Pacelli, stormwater engineer. We read the same books as our MOSS Kids Book Club -- When Isaac Hears the Rain -- and added We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom. We grabbed our beverages & settled in for a storytime like we're back in elementary school. After reading together, we were able to learn more about how we impact our local watershed & how we can keep our waterways clean through an interactive model. Big thanks to Gabby for helping to educate us all during NC's Creek Week. We crafted watercolor-resistant rain paintings & created turtles out of recycled materials after learning!
Books & Bites: Adults need literacy fun too! This month for our Read with us Rocky Mount bookish event, we met up at a local Black-owned restaurant, Main Street Gastropub for some appetizers & a taste of a few upcoming books sponsored by Simon & Schuster and Riverhead Books. Each attendee enjoyed a variety of appetizers while listening to the first chapter of a few upcoming releases spanning genres; romance, literary fiction, nonfiction. Of those titles, they were able to choose the book they wanted to take home to put in their green goodie bags. We had a great time. Thanks to Main Street Gastropub for hosting us & to our publisher friends for gifting us upcoming releases. Next event: Books in Bloom, a fundraiser for MOSS Kids Book Project.
What we're reading:
Our April MOSS Kids Book Club pick is Mural Island by Katie Yamasaki. Kengi loves to draw and can't help creating art anywhere they can. This doesn't sit well with their family or school, as one may expect. At school, they learn of a place where art is open and free and sets off to discover Mural Island. Kengi finally has a place for their creative outlet and quickly learns that their art isn't permanent and to appreciate it for as long as it's there. Check out our supplemental book list all about ART to pair with our April MOSS Kids Book Club pick. We'll be bringing a few of these titles to our local meetups!
It's April and we're celebrating and educating for National Poetry Month. We truly believe that poetry isn’t introduced and rarely taught or read to kids (& adults) enough. There is a beautiful power in words. And maybe if we taught children that beauty, that power — maybe, children would enjoy reading & writing. Just as it is with other genres, it’s absolutely vital to read poetry, to read novels-in-verse written by the global majority. Experience new perspectives, celebrate these incredible poets’ integral role in our culture, and understand that poetry matters.
April is Arab American Heritage Month. A month to recognize achievements of Arab Americans. A month to celebrate the diversity & richness of Arab American identity, culture, & experience. Arab Americans have contributed to and shaped society across literature (so many incredible authors/illustrators!!), food, music, & culture. This is a month of celebration, but also, education. Last year, we had to research and learn more about what countries were Arab nations. We didn’t know. This is a month to learn & teach our youth about the ongoing genocide in 🇵🇸 — a month to call for the freedom & liberation of all those in Gaza. It’s important to note that while Arab American Heritage Month is in April, we should be celebrating Arab Americans all year long. We should be reading these stories all year long. We should be advocating for freedom & liberation until we are all free & finally liberated.
Watch this video. Now, let me reiterate what Jason Reynolds just said — libraries are within us, all of us. They can’t take that away. We won’t let them. What Jason Reynolds said in this video really puts our MOSS Kids mission into perspective: let’s teach our youth to have their own reference desk in their brains & hearts, to tap into when they need answers. Let’s teach our youth to hold spaces like bookshelves, to exchange narratives. Narratives that are different from their own experiences, but can still share parts of themselves. Let’s teach our youth to be safe spaces. For themselves. For their friends and family. And strangers, and those less fortunate, those who may need that safe space. Libraries are so much more than a building. And no one can take that away from us. So let's celebrate libraries this week and all year. Sign up for a library card. Attend programs. And stay tuned as we drop our new fundraiser during Library Week to finally secure a Bookmobile.
The Gathering of Nations Powwow is the largest Native American powwow in the world. With a more than 40 year history, the event takes places every April in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In honor & celebration of this incredible festival, which includes dances, music performances and the Miss Indian World competition, we're sharing a few of our favorite stories featuring powwows! It's always a great day to read an Indigenous story to honor and acknowledge the history, but also, the contemporary existence of Indigenous communities. Challenge yourself & your family to do MORE by shopping Indigenous-owned businesses, supporting Indigenous creatives, & diversifying your bookshelves with Indigenous authors & illustrators every day of the year.
More booklists in April: We’re in the process of making & updating our lists on our favorite books to read before bed, books with bunnies, egg-cellent easter (secular) reads, Earth Day reads, garden favorites, books on books. Keep an eye out for these lists which will be featured throughout the month.
What we're donating:
This month we’re filling up our free libraries with brand new titles to celebrate and educate on Arab American Heritage Month, National Poetry Month, & Earth Day. We are extremely grateful for all donations from the community. Even the smallest contributions help us get new books into rural communities where affordable access to diverse books is scarce. Heading into April, we could use your help to restock our libraries with middle grade and young adult literature. These are our most-sought after books, but also, our least-donated. We hope you'll help us celebrate all our youth, including those society thinks doesn't read (guess what? they do!). Check out our wishlists & consider donating today. Help us create a better society by raising kind, accepting kids.
What we're doing throughout the community:
Picture Books on Tap, our adult picture book club: Come out to Larema Beverage Company at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 9th, to connect with your inner child and your local community through stories, crafts, and great food and drinks! Check out our monthly calendar for a complete list of events.
Book Clubs: We’re continuing to bring MOSS Kids Book Club to our local locations -- four elementary schools across two counties, the Wilson County Public Library, and our NEW location, Braswell Memorial Library in Rocky Mount. Plus, we're back with Drag Story Hour at Boxyard RTP. We're planning to add another outdoor location as the weather warms. This month, we're reading all about creativity and the beauty art brings even if it's temporary!
Lunch Bunch: We're now on to book two of our chapter book series celebrating different kids in Mrs. Z's class, all from different perspectives & backgrounds. And every book in the series is by a different author! A set will be donated to the school for other Lunch Bunch groups to have access.
Watershed Storytime: We're teaming back up with the city of Rocky Mount's stormwater engineer, Gabby, to continue our Creek Week series at two Edgecombe County Public Schools. We'll be focusing on spreading education and involvement around protecting our natural waterways (streams, rivers, lakes, etc.). We'll be crafting jellyfish or turtles from recycled materials & interacting with an enviroscape!
Book Fiesta!: In honor of El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children's Day/Book Day), we’re throwing a party with the Wilson County Public Library on Saturday, April 12th. We'll have two bilingual storytimes, crafts, a scavenger hunt, snacks, & a table to register for a library card. Come celebrate with us as Library Week comes to a close!
Read with us Rocky Mount's Silent Book Club: With all the incredible work we are doing for children's literacy, we have decided to create an adult bookish community in the twin counties. Read with us Rocky Mount is an in-person group of readers cultivating community, actively working to make time in our schedules to gather and read. We currently host a silent book club at Larema Coffee House in downtown Rocky Mount two Sundays a month. We come together to read silently. This month's Silent Book Club dates are: Sunday, April 13th & Sunday, April 27th at 12PM-2PM. We have a monthly adult book club that meets on Thursday, April 24th at 6pm at Larema Coffee House to discuss this month's book club pick -- Woodworking by Emily St James. Be sure to join our Read with Rocky Mount Facebook group & follow along with @cecchireads on Instagram for more information about upcoming events & adult book recs.
Books in Bloom: This month, we're hosting a fundraiser to finally secure a bookmobile library! Join us for a floral workshop & afternoon tea experience with a poetry reading in Tarboro on Saturday, April 19th. Local florist & shop owner (The Social Secretary), Brandon Bunn, will teach us how to create floral bouquets. We'll try a variety of teas with afternoon delights baked by Gabby Pacelli from Pacellis Bakery. Each guest be entered to win the collection of poetry we will be reading & leave with a gift basket filled with local sponsored goodies. A full experience! Join us at the Blount-Bridgers House at 2pm. Tickets are $100 each. Click here to purchase a ticket & secure a spot!
What's coming next:
Here is your chance to help us secure a Bookmobile for rural North Carolina! Each person who donates any monetary donation to our fundraising campaign will have their name somewhere on our bookmobile carving our forever thanks into the greatest gift we can give to our communities, FREE access to diverse and inclusive literature. We're officially launching our campaign on Wednesday, April 9th on National Library Outreach Day (formally national bookmobile day), but you're hearing it here first! Here's the link to donate. We ask that you help us spread this far & wide. Our kids need access to diverse and inclusive literature now more than ever with libraries & the freedom to read under attack. It's free to share our posts & our donation link. Help us reach our goals & finally secure our bookmobile!!
May Events: The opening of the East Tarboro Garden brings a new free library to our community along with a seed library! We'll also be launching our newest MOSS Kids Book Club outdoor location. Our first MOSS Kids kid, Milo, is turning 7! And we'll be having an adult book fair in the garden. Stay tuned for more information! Booklists in May: We'll be sharing books celebrating children's mental health & our love of comic books. We'll also be updating our book lists for AANHPI Heritage Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, & our favorite space reads. Milo will be sharing his newest reviews-- Minute Reviews with Milo-- & we'll be creating book lists for global accessibility awareness & interpreter appreciation. Don't forget to follow along with us on our socials to see what we're doing every week.
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