Library at WMS

“My Alma mater was books, a good library… I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity.” – Malcolm X

Did you know that The Washington Market School has 7,249 titles in our Hudson and Duane Street libraries combined?  Many thanks to our parents this school year (and past years) who participated in our WMS Annual Book Fair to support our ever-expanding library collection, which contains a vast array of fiction and nonfiction selections for our young learners to explore. 

Susan Bertram joined our school community in 2021 as our librarian. She brings over 30 years of experience as an Early Childhood Educator to our library. Besides maintaining the library and supporting the classroom needs for books that will enhance the children’s exploration of their emergent curriculum, she finds great joy in introducing children to new and classic literature. Over the past couple of months, the children have been listening to and reading fiction, non-fiction, and biographical books by Black authors and illustrators during Library Time. Our literature exploration of Black authors/illustrators coincided with our nation’s celebration of Martin Luther King Jr in January, and Black History Month in February.

Here are just a few of the highly recommended children’s favorites and some of Susan’s impressions of her read-aloud sessions with the children:

Please Baby Please & Please Puppy Please by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee 

This is a preschool crowd pleaser. The children are mesmerized with both of these stories, and love following the mis-adventures of a baby and a puppy (respectively) as they “do what they do.”  The illustrator captures the characters expressions beautifully.  During Library Time, the children laughed especially when the baby dumped a bowl of cereal on their head and ate sand at the playground. It was an excellent time to talk about what babies (and baby dogs) are learning.

Max and the Tag-Along Moon by Floyd Cooper

For any child who has a grandparent who lives away, this is such a relatable and sweet story.  Max leaves his grandfather’s house by car and the moon seems to follow him home.  He realizes at the end of the story that moon reminds him of his love for his grandfather. The illustrations are lovely, capturing Max’s emotions.  During Library Time, this book brought up conversations about visiting grandparents, encouraged talk about the moon, and raised questions like “Who is driving Max home?” as we looked for contextual evidence in the images.

Parker Looks Up by Parker Curry and Jessica Curry

This is the true “day in the life” story of two-year-old Parker Curry. An excursion to The National Portrait Gallery left Parker mesmerized and inspired by Former First Lady Michelle Obama’s portrait. This event led to Parker meeting Ms. Obama in person and a subsequent dance party. During Library Time we talked about playdates, museums, and what we remembered from our own visits to museums.  Susan followed this up with photographic and video documentation of Parker’s experience.

Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed

This is the inspirational biography of a girl determined to see Earth from space. Mae Jemison was always encouraged by her parents to follow her dreams.  Despite being told by her own elementary teacher that she should become a nurse, Mae persisted. On a side note: Mae graduated early from high school, became a Chemical Engineer (Stanford), then a Medical Doctor (Cornell), worked in Liberia and Sierra Leone (Peace Corps), and was accepted into the NASA program.  She waved to her mom and dad on Earth from the 1992 Space Shuttle Endeavour as the first African-American woman in space.  During Library Time we talked about what we wanted to be when we grew up. Susan followed this up with photographic documentation of Ms. Jemison’s space experience.