The Very Crafty School Librarian is dedicated to all the
Wonderful staff and students, past, present, and future
Of West Orange Elementary School in
Orange, California The Very Crafty School Librarian
PROLOGUE
Mrs. Ammerman was the librarian at Apathy Elementary School and she had a problem. She was concerned that some of the students were bored with reading and she felt she had to take drastic measures.
Mrs. A., as the students called her, was considered to be a very loving and caring person. All the staff and all the students knew they were quite lucky to have Mrs. A. as their librarian.
She was probably the oldest person on the staff and certainly had been at Apathy longer than any other person. Her hair was salt and pepper gray, she
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A. announced, “All aboard everyone. Find a seat, put on your seatbelt and hang on. We’re going to be leaving in just a moment.”
The students quickly jumped on board, and began chattering excitedly, “Where are we going?” “When will we be back?” “What will we see?” “Will we be tested when we get back?”
Mrs. A.’s response? “I don’t know.” (But maybe she did.)
“Before we depart, I’d like to introduce our engineer. This is Mr. Trainer, as in what you are riding today – a train. Mr. Trainer, meet the kids from Mrs. Johnson’s class.”
“Good morning. It’s good to meet you all. I think you’re in for a fantastic journey.”
Mr. Trainer tried to start the engine, but something was wrong. It simply sat there and refused to start. He looked at Mrs. A. and said, “Mrs. A., we can’t go anywhere. We have no fuel.”
Mrs. Ammerman thought for moment. “Oh, that’s because the students must really want to go. If they think real hard about going somewhere we can move out of here. Where should we go first?”
One girl asked, “You mean we can go anywhere?”
“Of course. You must just put your brain in gear and think about some place with all your mind.”
“Can we go to visit Mother Goose?”
“Is that where you’d all like to go?”
There were shouts of agreement and
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We can build another bridge across the river, or we can put an army together and run that mean old thing out of town for good.”
“That’s very risky,” said Mother Goose, “but I’m sure my people will be more than willing to do anything they can.”
“Good. Now I need a couple of volunteers,” announced Alfred. “We’ll secretly swim across the river and try to find Miss Muffet, the cow, Mr. Dish and Miss Spoon. I have a plan for them, too. In the meantime, we can also begin building a new bridge that will really confuse the troll.”
Molly swooned, “Oh, Alfred, you are so brave.”
Alfred was taken aback by that statement. He stuttered and sheepishly replied. “Yeah.”
“I think we need a marching song to sing while we’re doing all of this,” Mrs. A. declared. “It will help keep our spirits going.”
Mother Goose asked, “And do you have a suggestion?”
“I think so. Listen.”
However, before Mrs. A. could show the world what the marching song would sound like, once again Alfred stepped in. “Mrs. A., why don’t you, and Mother Goose, and Mr. Trainer stay here and sing the song while the rest of us take care of our enemy. We kids can handle everything.”
Jokingly, Mrs. A. asked, “You think we’re too old to join in the