See what we're reading, what we're donating, & what we're doing throughout the community this month
Written by Liz Johnson & Kara Cecchi
A look back at October:
Wow, October truly was a whirlwind—our fall season is off to such a wonderful start! From filling our Little Free Libraries with books by Hispanic authors & spooky stories to fulfilling our book fair dreams, we were busy. We want to say a special thank you to all of you who donated books off of our Oct Wishlists. Each book was donated into our little free libraries in our diverse, rural communities. And guess what? They are already GONE. This is great!!! It means that diverse books are finding their way into homes, libraries, & classrooms.
Our book clubs: We are now into seven different locations for our MOSS Kids Book Clubs!! We learned all about Día de Muertos with The Ofrenda That We Built, written by Jolene and Shaian Gutiérrez and illustrated by Gabby Zapata. Kids designed their own calavera masks, created an altar with their peers, and took home plenty of printable activities to continue to learn at home. Check out our blog post to grab those printables!
New partnerships: We’ve joined a local elementary school to participate in their Lunch Bunch program — every two weeks, we meet at lunchtime with a group of four third-grade students to read aloud, craft, and encourage a love of books. We’ve had a great time reading Marya Khan and the Spectacular Fall Festival by Saadia Faruqi, who has very generously donated copies of the book for each kid to take home with them.
We teamed back up with Pullen Park for their Pumpkin Palooza! We donated 5 Halloween-themed books & created crafts to pair with each storytime activity. On Friday & Sunday, kids listened to Witch and Wombat, Luna Oscura, & The Little Kitten before making cat (or wombat) headbands to wear. On Saturday, kids listened to Stumpkin & Pick A Pumpkin before apple stamping to create their own pumpkin patches. Over 500 families participated! It was a great success. AND because of that partnership & our previous events at Pullen Park, our co-founder Kara received the OUTSTANDING NEW VOLUNTEER AWARD from the Historic Resources and Museum Volunteer Program through Raleigh Parks, Recreation, & Cultural Resources. Congratulations Kara! (Above, meet Heaven! She won an award too & her first volunteer experience with Pullen Park was at one of our MOSS Kids events.)
A spooktacular event: At the end of the month, we got in the spooky spirit and relived our Scholastic Book Fair days at Books and Booz, our first (but definitely not last!) adult book fair fundraiser. We sold a wide selection of gently used books, bookmarks, button pins handmade from vintage kids books, and other bookish accessories, with the proceeds going towards MOSS Kids Book Project initiatives. We are so grateful to our friends at Larema Beverage Company for hosting us in their outdoor patio space and honored by the wonderful community turnout who came out to browse books, stock up on annotation accessories, and just hang out with our wonderful bookish community. We can’t wait to start planning the next one!
What we're reading:
Our November MOSS Kids Book Club pick is Meena’s Saturday, written by Kusum Mepani and illustrated by Yasmeen Ismail. This beautifully illustrated picture book is a charming story of a family's weekend ritual, a love letter to the gatherings of community and family, and an example of how changing long-standing traditions can start with you. We can’t wait to share more about Meena’s Saturday, and the craft we’ve come up with to go along with it, in next week’s blog post. Check out this supplemental book list to pair with our November MOSS Kids Book Club pick to celebrate and educate about cultural and familial traditions from around the world.
Celebrate and educate Puerto Rican Heritage this November (and all year long). We're hoping you will join us in negating the racist rhetoric that we've recently seen at political rallies. Share these books with your children, friends, and family to empower and uplift Puerto Rican voices, honor Puerto Rican immigrant experiences, and celebrate Puerto Rican culture and traditions. Let's choose to respect all races, ethnicities, cultures, and religions. Let's choose to live and teach in a society that doesn't flourish off the expense of others. Let's choose to be better.
November is American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, and we’re continuing to update our expansive list of titles for all ages by Indigenous authors. We encourage you to take this opportunity to read and learn about Indigenous culture and traditions, as well as the actual truths of American history that are all too often left out of public education. We love the chance to shine a spotlight on these amazing titles and authors, but as always, remember that these books (and all diverse literature) should be read and celebrated all year round.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: more people (of all ages) should be reading middle grade! Last November, we followed the wonderful Claribel A. Ortega’s lead to #upliftmgreads, and there are so many wonderful new middle grade books out this year that we can’t help but pick up where we left off. Some of our recent favorites: Kareem Between by Shifa Saltagi Safadi & Buffalo Dreamer by Violet Duncan -- both are National Book Award Finalists!! We're diving into The Misfits this week. Check out our freshly updated bookshop.org list for even more great titles.
As we enter the final months of the year, we want to know - what are you most grateful for this year? Learn about sharing and the strength of community with Thank You, Omu! written and illustrated by Oge Mora, and about intergenerational sharing of traditions with The More You Give, written by Marcy Campbell and illustrated by Francesca Sanna, or dive into history and gain new perspective with Keepunumuk: Weeâchumun's Thanksgiving Story, written by Danielle Greendeer, Anthony Perry, and Alexis Bunten, and illustrated by Garry Meeches. Check out the complete list for even more great options!
More booklists in November: We’re in the process of making or updating our lists for Veteran’s Day, World Kindness Day, Transgender Day of Remembrance, and National STEM/STEAM Day. Keep an eye out for these lists, which will be featured throughout November.
What we're donating:
This month we’re filling up our little free libraries with brand new titles to celebrate Indigenous authors, Puerto Rican heritage, honoring our veterans, remembering transgender heroes who worked tirelessly to pave the way, & so many more. 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 November, we could use your help in increasing our selection of books celebrating & uplifting Puerto Rican authors. Check out our wishlists & consider donating today. Help us create a better society by raising kind, empathetic, accepting, & understanding kids.
What we're doing throughout the community:
IMPORTANT NEWS!! Our MOSS Kids Book Club meetup at the Wilson County Public Library has a new date/time! Starting in November, we’ll be meeting every second Tuesday at 10:30am in the Youth Services storytime area. So mark your calendars for November 12!! You won’t want to miss November’s pick.
Book Clubs: We’re continuing to bring MOSS Kids Book Club to all seven partner locations -- four elementary schools across two counties, the Wilson County Public Library, Larema Coffee House, & Drag Story Hour at Boxyard RTP. This month, we're learning about making room for everyone at our tables & family traditions with a special treat for all to taste.
Picture Books on Tap, our adult picture book club: Come out to Larema Beverage Company at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 13, 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.
Lunch Bunch: We’re planning to finish up our reading of Marya Khan and the Spectacular Fall Festival by Saadia Faruqi this month. We have a special surprise for our third graders upon finishing our first book together! We might even be able to squeeze in one more book before winter break. We’ve loved spending time with these students and providing a safe space for them to learn and grow as readers.
What's coming next:
Events: We are eagerly anticipating the installation of two new free libraries in Sharpsburg, North Carolina. They are looking beautiful with fresh new paint — just waiting on a few new screws and an installation date. We can’t wait to stock these fresh libraries with brand new diverse books for the kids of Sharpsburg to take home. We're hoping to host a ribbon-cutting event to officially launch these soon. Also, because our book fair last week was such a success, we’re already looking to plan another one! You can count on another pop-up sometime in the spring, but be sure to follow us on our socials for information about other bookish events! And this month, in honor of our co-founder Kara's birthday, we'll be hosting a giveaway. This is going to be special so make sure your notifications are turned on for all things MOSS Kids.
Booklists in December: We're back with the MOSS Kids Book Awards celebrating our most donated, absolute favorite books released in 2024. We'll be sharing books about upcoming holidays, the winter season, & human rights. Don't forget to follow along with us on our socials to see what we're doing every week.
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