Reading is cool in an Igloo

MT. PLEASANT — The school year is fun of all kinds of learning. Tuesday, Mt. Pleasant Christian School (MPCS) and Mt. Pleasant Public Library (MPPL) partnered together to take some of that fun learning outside of the classroom and inside of an igloo.

MPPL’s Children’s Librarian Amy Willson is excited to partner with local schools and is not an amateur when it comes to managing a classroom size of children.

Prior to becoming the children’s librarian, Willson taught for 25 years. The last 10 of those, she spent as a teacher librarian.

MPCS’s third and fourth grade class of 10 students have studied the Inuit people in class this week, and enjoyed the opportunity to learn more at the library Tuesday.

Willson greeted the class warmly and took a little time to show them the library’s fossil replica of the dinosaur Deinonychus before getting down to the topic at hand.

A trip to the MPPL was a perfect addition to the student’s studies as they recently completed an interactive igloo display created from donated gallon jugs donated by patrons.

Just this past May, staff and an anonymous patron donated their time and talents to assemble the structure for summer reading program: Read Beyond the Beaten Path.

According to the Children’s Department Facebook page, the igloo is big enough to fit a few children and an adult.

Mrs. Newell’s class opted to test just how many could actually fit inside the dome.

The 10 students were a few too many to comfortably enjoy their story time inside the igloo, but they did fit well enough for a group photo.

Willson took time to chat with the children about Inuit tribes and read them Little Bear: Inuit Folktale.

The story is a lyrical retelling of an Inuit Folktale by Dawn Casey in which a lonely old woman adopts a polar bear cub with no mother of his own.

The story showcased the importance of storytelling being passed down through Inuit generations and some insights into Inuit culture.

“Inside, the old woman put new moss in her lamp so it burned bright,” the Casey writes in the book, allowing children insight to how lamps were fueled in Igloos.

“Picture books aren’t just for little kids,” Willson said as she read to the class. “I might cry at this part, but it’s OK to cry.”

The bear, raised by the woman, was hurt by people who did not love the bear like the rest of the village, and the class learned more of the compassionate culture of these Inuit people through the Folktale.

“The bear lay unmoving, his white fur stained red,” the book read. “But the old woman knew that he could heal. She put oil on the cut to sooth the pain, and she bandaged the bear’s wounded leg.”

Willson shared other on-topic literature with the children, but mostly used the additional resources to give other examples of igloos as the class was tasked with building their own igloo models for the unit.

Many additional resources were set out for the children to further explore the topic when the class was given some free time to explore the library.

They were able to look more closely at the additional books, the dinosaur exhibit, and the rotating art gallery, which featured work from two of the classmates.

Willson showed the children the library’s summer book sale shelves and allowed students to each take a couple of the sale books to keep, free of charge.

“Those with library cards were given the opportunity to check out library books,” Willson said.

As the students lined up to leave, and they were each offered an apple from the community fruit and vegetable cart.

For Willson, her favorite part of curating these field trips and engaging with young readers is “helping them find a love of reading.”

Not many school classes make it to the library throughout the school year.

However, according to Willson, she does normally sees more classes in the spring as teachers help their students gear-up for summer reading programs.

“Classes are welcome to arrange a field trip anytime during the school year, though” Willson said and encourages as much student interaction with the library as possible.

The MPPL is well utilized in the community.

“We have a lot of home-school families that use the library quite frequently,” Willson said. “We just began out toddler story hour this past week, too.”

While toddler story time sign up is closed through November parents can look for the spring sign up in February.

Just around the corner in October, the library will begin their fall after school programming for elementary children.

For additional information on programs available at the library or to ask about arranging other trips to the library visit the MPPL website at www.mountpleasantiowalibrary.com

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com