When I was little, I loved story time, and it didn’t matter whether it was at our library, or at school, or at a special event, or even just at home, a home-grown story hour, if you will. I was an early reader, and devoured books as eagerly as a puppy eats treats. But there was something so special about being read to. It felt as if I were extra-special cared for. I loved seeing how the reader held the book just so, and how they would give us time to look at the pictures and talk about them. I used to copy them when I had story hour in the playroom for my stuffed animals and dolls. Decades later, when I got covid for the first time, in isolation, I took advantage of audiobooks. I played them out loud, no earbuds, just a voice in the dark, telling me stories, comforting me in my journey through quarantine.
Another thing I loved as a child was dress-up! We didn’t have too many dress-up clothes, so I would improvise, coming up with something really glamourous in my imagination, even though it was usually an old slip and a cowboy belt. In my mind, I was wearing the most beautiful tutu, just like the ballerinas we saw when we went to the ballet. I also had friends who had piles of dress-up clothes and we would spend hours playing, using our imaginations to have the most amazing adventures. Needless to say, we were almost always princesses, doing fabulous deeds, always with amazing and totally glamourous wardrobes.
That child in me is not too far from the surface. Anyone who knows me also knows that I have no plans of ever getting through my dinosaur phase. And that child in me was absolutely blown away when I saw my first Drag Queen Story Hour. The queens were absolutely amazing, with such carefully created costumes and make-up that they could have been in the movies! Families came to participate and the kids were awestruck at these beautiful, larger-than-life people came to read stories to them. The back-and-forth between queens, kids, and parents was full of fun and
camaraderie. I’ve missed the ones that the library has hosted since covid, so I didn’t get to meet the performers pictured above, but good news! The library is hosting another Drag Queen Story Hour on October 19, from 11-noon! Less than a month to go! It will be held upstairs where there is plenty of room. I’m going to bring my inner child to the event, and I hope I’ll see you there too!
See you in the stacks!
/Annie
