Today we meet Andi, aka cloudscome, of A Wrung Sponge. Andi writes about the books she’s reading, parenting, gardening, and cooking at her fabulous blog. Oh, and she’s also a librarian. Kelly at Big A little a sent Andi an interview so we can get to know her better.
Kelly: Hi Andi! It’s nice to talk to you. How long have you been blogging?
Andi: Since March 2006
Kelly: Which category are you judging in?
Andi: Non-fiction picture books
Kelly: Why do you blog?
Andi: I love to talk about books. I registered with Blogger so I could comment on other people’s blogs and decided to start a blog of my own to keep track of what I am reading. Sometimes I read one book after another so fast they all blur together and I can’t remember what I’ve read. I have kept databases and logs and journals before to keep track, but the potential for networking with other readers through blogging is phenomenal. I have been thrilled with the interchange so far!
Kelly: What do you most love about children’s books?
Andi: The graphics, the language, the beauty, the stories, the depth of human truths, the interconnections, the life displayed, examined, and shared, the wonder in a child’s eyes, the laughter and tears…I could go on.
Kelly: Which nominated non-fiction picture book that did not make the shortlist is your favorite?
Andi: Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carol Boston Weatherford.
Kelly: Do you and your kids ever disagree on reading choices?
Andi: I have three sons and my boys all love the Berenstain Bears. I am really tired of reading them. I have always thought they were shallow and superficial. Now that I am reading them to my third son after 19 years of bedtime stories I am beginning to realize there is a lot of depth and wisdom hidden in there. My sons are sometimes wiser than I.
Kelly: If you could have a fictional character visit you for a day, who would it be and how would you spend the time together?
Andi: I’d love to go for a hike with Miss Rumphius, scatter some lupine seeds, and have a picnic by the sea.
To check out Andi’s style, read her recent review of Free at Last! Stories and Songs of Emancipation. She concludes her review with this thought-provoking paragraph:
"None of this history is easy to read. I think far too many white people have never heard these tales and so our perspective on our own history is sorely skewed. In my study of the Reconstruction Era as a young student I don’t believe I was given the full picture. I think even as an adult I need to read and reread this history. Over at Race Changers last week the theme was on learning about lynching. I didn’t follow the links given there because I thought it would be too horrible for me to fully grasp. This truly is one of the most shameful periods in American history. Maybe it says something about me and why I am a children’s librarian, that I need to learn the hardest truths from a child’s level of instruction. I find that this volume is a good way to begin to catch up on the truths that have so long been obscured."