Kidlit Superheroes

Photo by Dashu Pagla

I'm having one of those weeks... or maybe months, where I look around at all the brilliant kidlit bloggers and tweeters, and wonder how they have the time to read so many books, keep up on everyone's blogs, maintain awesome blogs themselves, stay informed of all the latest kidlit news, and work jobs and/or care for their families. Seriously, how do they do it? How do you do it?

I am certainly no kidlit superhero. There are never even close to enough hours in my day. Being in the midst of the international adoption process, and doing major fundraising for said adoption doesn't help, but I was far from Wonder Woman even before all that began.

So I'm laying it all out here. (Not that there will probably be any big surprises for anyone.), in the hopes that others will do the same, and make me feel better. I love to try to put on the pretty Literacy Launchpad face, but here's the reality (hopefully you'll still want to follow my blog by the end of this post):

- As much as I love to read, I hardly ever have time to do it lately. I'm lucky to squeeze in a chapter a night. It's depressing. I haven't read much of anything in a while, with the exception of picture books. What kind of reading role model am I?

- There are dozens of kidlit blogs I wish I could keep up with. I used to be pretty good at this, but it's a sacrifice I've had to make lately. It sucks. I feel totally out of the loop. Thank goodness for Twitter. I get little chirps of interesting things from time to time.

- I'm not all-knowing when it comes to children's books. Not even close. I'm sorry if I've ever let you down, or disappointed you by not having that perfect book recommendation, or by having never heard of that picture book you asked if I knew anything about. There's too many! No. I haven't read them all!

- Similar to the point made above, I do not own every picture book (family and friends: it's O.K. to gift me or Isaac a picture book from time to time). Even if I had the desire to buy every picture book, and a place to store them all, I certainly don't have the means. That's why we love our library! So don't be disappointed when you want to borrow some random picture book from me and I don't own it.

I could go on telling you how far from kidlit superhero I am. But I'll stop there for today. That's a just a little glimpse for ya.

None of us are perfect, right? Right? But I do believe we all possess some kind of super power in one area or another. Whether it be in your career, your family, a hobby, whatever.

When it comes to kidlit, my "super power" is that I can take a picture book and make it come alive with fun. Of course, that's what Literacy Launchpad is all about! I also think I'm a pretty darn good read-alouder (made that word up). I'll claim those strengths in the wake of admitting my mediocrity in pretty much every other area.

We can't all do it all. But when we pool our strengths, we can do BIG things together! And when we're talking about pooling strengths in the area of kidlit, that makes me really excited. Teachers, parents, bloggers, writers, librarians, caregivers... We can change the world. We will change the world!

Jump in here! Admit some imperfections, and then put on your cape and claim your super power! I know you've got one (or two)!