Each year I tell myself this is the summer I cut way back on props and complications and create an engaging, high-participation library program that sets up quickly and easily. And each year I fail miserably! There was the summer Kim and I built seven gorgeous free-standing rod puppets for the retelling of my book The Boy and the Dragon. Another summer meant building Jack, a rabbit hand puppet complete with vegetable garden. Still another brought the creation of the hand puppet Sticky, a fly with a head the size of a basketball.
This summer's reading series theme is "Libraries Rock," and all I can say is, I'm glad my Subaru Outback has the carrying capacity it does. Zeb, my banjo playing buddy, is taking up half the station wagon on his own. Still, I'm truly looking forward to the season!
What does a banjo player have to do with "rocking"? Here's a poem Zeb shares to help explain. Have a wonderful summer! And rock at whatever you do best.
ROCKING
You don’t need a keyboard for rocking.
You don’t need a bass or a sax.
You don’t need a drum
or guitars you can strum
through 20 foot tall Fender stacks.
You rock when you find what excites you.
You study, you practice, you plan.
You rock when you do
what’s important to you
and do it the best that you can.
- Eric Ode, 2018
