Posts by slthomson@earthlink.net

Read, My Child. Read.

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Nov 23, 2016 in American History, Educators & Librarians, Race | Comments Off on Read, My Child. Read.

Let’s be thankful for libraries, for heroes who marched, for books that share experiences and emotions and lives. John Lewis, thank you.

A Year Later

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Nov 21, 2016 in Educators & Librarians, Race | Comments Off on A Year Later

Patrons doing what libraries make possible–read, gather, think, hope, plan, dream, create!

It’s been a tumultuous year since the events in Ferguson, Missouri sparked outrage and a growing social movement. Remember how the Ferguson Library stayed open, providing a refuge for kids and adults to come together as a community, to learn, to grow, and to stay strong? Many of us donated to that library, and I just received word of how much those donations have helped the community.

You are amazing!

Two years ago, we at the Ferguson Municipal Public Library were doing everything we could think of to help our community at a time of overwhelming need. You cared enough to notice, and cared enough to help. You recognized the special role we, as a library, can play in helping our community heal, and in bringing our community together. There is a well of gratitude in me that I cannot begin to express. Thank you.

What I Can Do

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Nov 16, 2016 in Children's Literature, Race, Writing Process | Comments Off on What I Can Do

I love the art for this book–it’s warm and clever and bright and joyful and energetic. But oh, I do wish that the mom and baby were not both pink.

I don’t usually do politics on this blog (I’ve got Facebook for that!) but, like a lot of us, I’m dismayed, to put it mildly, by the election and the rhetoric swirling around us. And I’m thinking about what I can do. This is not all I have planned, but for the record:

• I’m not going to write a book with only white characters ever again. I’m sorry for the times that I have. I’m sorry for the times that I thought I’d write a more inclusive, more representative, more accurate book “later,” after I got this or that particular idea finished. It’s later. I’m on it.
• I’m going to ask my illustrators not to paint/draw/pixelate only white characters. There is a touchy etiquette dance between authors of picture books and their illustrators, and we word people have to be careful not to tell the picture people how to do their work. I’ve erred on the side of being too polite here. I’m not going to do that anymore.
• There will be gay characters in my books. There will be gay parents who are trying to do right by their kids. There will be gay boys kissing their sweet boyfriends, lesbian girls kissing their adorable girlfriends.
• There will be immigrant characters in my books who are trying hard to adapt to a new place and a new language and to the loss of a homeland and who are not taking anything away from anybody else just by existing.
•  I will try my hardest to make every book that I write an exercise in empathy, in getting into another person’s mind and heart. Because I’m pretty darn sure that’s the only thing that’s going to save us.

Imagine a Read Aloud!

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Nov 7, 2016 in Educators & Librarians, PIcture Books | Comments Off on Imagine a Read Aloud!

Imagine a Night

Got to love the Sevier County Public Library System in Tennessee…they periodically post videos of the librarians reading aloud to kids, as a service to far flung patrons who have difficulty making a trip to the library. I’m honored that they’ve chosen Imagine a Night and Imagine a Place!