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 Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 12:17 pm
Kyndall was spending more time than usual in this library. She hadn't spent so much time here since Harmony was young and she came in with her all the time to check out new, child appropriate, books. It hadn't changed much and Tony, Mr. Darrow she reminded herself, was conspicuously absent from her view. Was it his day off?
Oh, well, that wasn't why she was there. She was here because she felt the need to perform for an appreciative audience. Children fit that bill delightfully. And somewhere latent maybe it was a useless effort to try and make up for the childhood Harmony was robbed of. She didn't get much of a chance to read to her own daughter or be there for her very much when she was young. She felt she owed the effort even if Harmony wouldn't accept it from her anymore.
She picked up the book she wanted to read, then chose a second and made her way to the rug in the children's section where the event was usually held: four o'clock every weekday afternoon. She sat in the wooden chair reserved for the storyteller and waited for the crowd to gather if it was going to.
She was feeling slightly sentimental that day and chose the Tale of Peter Cottontail and Apply Dapply's Nursery Rhymes - both by Beatrix Potter.
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 8:17 pm
Ainsley had already been in the library when Ms. Rosen strolled right on pass her. Today Ainsley had been reading her book under one of the tables across from where the storytelling area was, and Ainsley could feel the environment changing as four o'clock loomed over them. The air seemed to lighten and more children seemed to flock around than they usually did in the early afternoon. It meant it was time to leave her hiding spot before more children came and became aware of it, and that's exactly what she did. She gathered the book into her arms, and then crawled back out.
She looked around her to make sure no one seen and then skipped over to where the book belonged, placing it carefully where she had found it. Perhaps it was time to go home, and the child began to walk over to toward the exit. She stopped though, her eyes carefully looking towards the story chair with Ms. Rosen sitting there. She'd never seen this woman, and curiosity struck her. It suddenly seemed like a great idea to go over there, she could hear a story. The child did like stories. It certainly didn't have anything to do with the fact there was a new woman there, no not at all.
She smiled a bit, and made her way over, stopping just in front of her.
"Hello," she said politely before she sat down eagerly. "My name is Ainsley."
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Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 10:19 pm
"Hello, Ainsley." she smiled. "My name is Kyndall."
She showed the little girl the books in her lap. Peter Cottontail was about a rabbit, obviously, and showed that on the cover. The other had a little cottage and a mouse. Both were books she loved as a child and stories she hoped to pass along to her own child but had been unsuccessful. It didn't matter. She was here now and there were children to share her stories with.
"I'm going to read these stories. This one is about a rabbit called Peter Cottontail."
She held up the appropriate book.
"And this one has a lot of funny nursery rhymes in it and has a mouse called Apply Dapply."
She lifted up the other book and showed it to her. Then she glanced at the clock and saw the clock tick to four thirty and knew it was time to begin. She signaled for everyone to sit down and behave, though it was a small group and most of them were in the stacks looking for books or with their friends or children. She opened Peter Cottontail first and read it page by page, showing the children the pictures as she finished each one. She missed doing this.
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 2:58 pm
Ainsley nodded her head when the women introduced herself as Kyndall. However, the child found herself wondering what the woman's last name was too. It didn't stand up well against what Ainsley seen in the woman's lap when she showed them to her, her eyes falling on a bunny on a cover almost immediately. The child certainly liked the idea of where this was going, quickly folding her lands into her lap as she began to wait for her to begin.
"I love bunnies," she mentioned on the side before she began. She loved them but it was rare she ever read any books that revolved around them, usually more drawn to stories about far away places and princesses and their princes. She did read the Redwall series, but that was more about little mice and their battle to protect their home.
As the child waited for the other children to sit down and join them, she wondered if the other book's mouse would be interesting as well.
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 3:50 pm
Kyndall was positively enchanted with Ainsley. Not only was the girl polite but she was also attentive and appreciative. Only a few more children came to sit on the rug but that was alright. Kyndall found her audience. She read both books slowly, ending with her favorite nursery rhyme that she used to read to Harmony when she was little. It was so ingrained in her that she didn't even have to look at the book as she said it and simply showed the picture to the group instead.
"There once was an amiable guinea pig
Who brushed back his hair like a periwig
He wore a sweet tie as blue as the sky
And his whiskers and buttons were very big."
The picture, of course, was a little guinea pig with a vest and top hat on with his blue tie and bushy face. It always used to make Harmony laugh to hear that last one which made Kyndall smile at the memory. When it was over the children clapped politely and the others dispersed, leaving the teacher so she could go through the second book again, smiling to herself.
She noticed Ainsley was still there.
"Did you enjoy these books, Ainsley?" she asked, grinning at the little girl. "The bunny was very clever, wasn't he?"
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Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 11:54 pm
Ainsley listened to the storytelling of both books carefully as Ms. Rosen read them to the group of children. It may have been a small group of children but that hadn't stopped Ainsley from enjoying it, certainly not fearing being alone on the floor listening. Who could turn down a story about not only bunnies but guinea pigs as well? She'd seen a guinea pig once in the pet store before when she was admiring the bunnies and they were pretty cute as well. They certainly looked fantastic in bow ties too, judging from the book, just like Octavian Oswald!
"Very much so," she replied. Ainsley enjoyed many books, and almost never turned down the chance to learn a new story no matter the level it may have been. "Very clever," she giggled.
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Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 7:09 pm
She set the books aside for now. She'd have to put them back eventually but for now she had the interest of the little girl and was enjoying her conversation. Ainsely seemed as enchanted by the books, and by the Peter Cottontail one specifically, as she was charmed by the girl herself. She handed the book over to the child if she wanted to look through it again to see the pictures.
Ever the teacher she felt like she had to inspire the girl to think about what she heard.
"What was your favorite part, Ainsley? Why do you like Peter Cottontail?"
She realized the little girl was young and wasn't expecting an essay, just a thought about opinion. Children were quite capable of knowing what they liked and didn't like. She knew that from experience. Besides, it was never too early for critical thinking. She smiled kindly and waited for an answer, being very careful not to look like she was trying to prompt or teach. Some children were skittish about such things.
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 5:19 am
There wasn't really a reason to like Peter Cottontail other than the fact it was about a rabbi and that Ainsley loved rabbits. It was a simple enough reason but that didn't diminish it any in her eyes. What was there not to love about a story about a rabbit (that didn't go and die a horrible death for making pie). Adventurous rabbits in search of carrots and other delicious vegetables surely had some tales to tell that Ainsley would listen to in awe.
"No favourite," she replied. "I just like rabbits."
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 1:53 pm
Ok, so maybe critical reasoning was still a few years off.
Still, she wasn’t daunted by her failed prompt and smiled all the same. She remembered Harmony at this age and for a moment saw her daughter standing in front of her instead of the little girl. She blinked and it turned back into Ainsley again.
She really needed to stop beating herself up like this. What happened could not be changed. All she could do was fix what was happening now with her nearly adult daughter. Besides, she also had a chance to work with children and mold future lives like the one in front of her. She meant to do that if she could.
“I do the story time here every Saturday. Will you come back to see me again, Ainsley?”
There were enough bunny stories in the children’s section to keep busy for a while yet. She was most familiar with Beatrix Potter but there were other authors to draw from.
Maybe next time it would be The King, The Mice, and the Cheese
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Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2011 8:08 pm
Any sort of critical reasoning about rabbits was a long way off. Ainsley was pretty simple minded when it came to rabbits and not very judgmental toward them in any way. A story about them was automatically wonderful because it was related to her dear bunny Prince Octavian Oswald and thus pretty much sugar, spice and everything nice.
"Every Saturday?" She asked, reaffirming.
It wasn't that Ainsley had to readjust her schedule so she could come, but she was usually in the library somewhere and she had never seen her here before. Maybe it was just that she was either playing with Mr. Darrow, Dogby or off in her own world that involved the stories in the books that made mountains of the world that was otherwise the library.
"I'll be here," she smiled. Somewhere here.
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