North York Central Library Blog

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to the blog for the Children's Department here at North York Central Library. I am Not Quite Miss Rumphius and I hope you'll come along with me as I explore all things to do with reading, children, and the world they live in. And by the way, if you haven't had the pleasure of meeting the original Miss Rumphius, you can find her here …

And here …

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If you've ever stepped into our children's department, you'll know it's a busy, bustling place. That's what I love about it. The staff are friendly and helpful, the shelves are stuffed with books I can hardly wait to read, every day we meet new enthusiastic library users … and did I mention the babies? As someone I know would say: "Best. Babies. Ever."

Speaking of babies, here's a book that paren'ts of young children will want to bring home to enjoy again and again. It's by much-loved Australian author Mem Fox and it looks like this:
 

Whenever I read this book to a group of grownups and babies, they always respond warmly to the charming illustrations (by British illustrator Helen Oxenbury) and the rhythmic, rhyming text about babies all over the world who have something very basic in common. Babies rate it "two wet thumbs up" and you can find a copy here.

Mem Fox is also the author of the book whose grumpy, snarky title I borrowed for this post:

Talk about an attention-getting title! In this book, Mem Fox talks about her childhood (she was raised with the surname "Partridge" then became a "Fox" when she married) her passion for education and literacy and writing, and her first-hand experience with cancer.

Her candid, down-to-earth tone is exactly what you would expect from someone who has a section on her website called "Loves and Loathings" and includes "Cleaning Up Dog Vomit" as one of the things she hates, alongside "Land Mines" and "Racial Intolerance."

You'll find this book in our Reference collection (a special part of our department I'll be talking about in future posts.) You can also learn more about "Dear Mem Fox" here.

And finally, no mention of Mem Fox would complete without including this best-selling book by her:

"Inspiring," "passionate," and "important" are just some of the words that have been used to describe this book. Not everyone loves it (but then isn't that true of almost any book out there?)

Some critics of "Reading Magic" have reacted to the rather effortless way Fox claims that learning to read takes place. That's simply not always the case, they say. Others feel that the author should have supported her arguments with more research and fewer personal stories.

But don't take anyone else's word for it. Look for this book in the Paren'ts section of our department or track it down here.

And when you are finished reading it, let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!