Curriculum Materials Center
Livingston Lord Library
Carol Sibley, Curriculum Librarian
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Curriculum Materials Center Carol Sibley, Curriculum Librarian |
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Comstock Book Award 2008 The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians by Carla Morris, illustrated by Brad Sneed, and published by Peachtree Publishers. Melvin loves the Livingston Public Library which he visits
every day after school. There he befriends reference librarians Marge, Betty,
and Leeola, who answer his many questions and help him with school projects and
contests. Melvin attends all the library programs, including movie nights and
sleepovers. In high school he works part-time in the Library and at his
graduation his librarian friends beam with pride. The story has a satisfying,
cyclical closing when another young boy comes to the library and gets help from
the new librarian—Melvin!
This homage to librarians is brought to life with Brad Sneed’s detailed and humorous watercolor and gouache illustrations. Each librarian, along with Melvin, age appropriately as Melvin grows up to finally join them at the Livingston Public Library. Students in grades three and four were great fans of this story. They enjoyed the humor, the interesting characters, and the detailed illustrations. The topic of libraries was a popular theme. The children liked learning how librarians find all kinds of information and “how smart librarians are.” Carla Morris, who is the children’s librarian at the Provo City Library in Utah, got the idea for this book from a “real boy who blossomed under the wings of Provo’s librarians.” Carla lives with her husband and three children in Springville, UT. The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians is her first children’s book. Illustrator Brad Sneed lives near Kansas City, KS with his wife, a daughter, a dog, two rats, and a gecko.
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