Notes: Mari and Sammy – Thank you for being your fabulous selves every day, and to Sammy for the late-night cheerleading.

Readers and REAL McRollers – Thank you for your wonderful support and your kind words. They are always, always appreciated.

Hope you enjoy!

It's Storytime (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)

"Hi, Miss Kristin!" Jacob called, waving excitedly as he and Catherine approached the children's desk at the library. "You're back!"

"Hi, Jacob," the friendly librarian replied with a smile. "I heard you were worried about me."

"Yeah, I thought maybe you were sick, but Miss Ginny said you were just on vacation."

"That's right." She smiled at Catherine standing beside Jacob. "Hi, Catherine."

Catherine returned the smile easily. "Good to see you."

"You, too." She grinned, nodding at Catherine's tummy. "Both of you."

"Guess what, Miss Kristin? Niblet is a GIRL!"

"Oh, congratulations!"

"Thank you," Catherine said warmly.

"The baby's name's not really Niblet," Jacob said helpfully. "That's just what we call her."

Kristin smiled. "I know, you told me."

"Oh yeah." He looked sheepish for a moment but quickly moved on. "I'm gonna get a word!" He took off for the basket on the back counter, leaving the two women alone.

"You look fantastic," Kristin said. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel great most of the time."

"Just think, someday the little one inside you will be running through the library," Kristin said, smiling as they watched Jacob run back toward them. "Walking feet, Jacob."

"Sorry," he said as he slowed and walked the last few steps to the desk.

"What d'ya got today?" she asked.

He laid the blue laminated strip of paper in front of her with a flourish and said, " 'Above.' "

"Excellent." She took on a thoughtful expression. "Hmm … now I'm sure I've heard this before, I just can't think … what is the opposite of 'above'?"

Jacob grinned. "Below!"

"That's right, and how," she covered up the word, "do you spell it?"

"A-B-O-V-E!"

"Perfect."

"And I can spell 'below,' B-E-L-O …" he dragged the pause out with a wry smile, "W!"

Both women laughed at his antics.

"Bravo!" Kristin said and smiled, pulling out the small basket of stickers so he could pick his prize. As he searched through the offerings, Kristin looked back at Catherine. "We've got a ton of great board books here, I'd be happy to show you some of my favorites."

"It's not too early?"

"It's never too early for books, is it, Jacob?"

"Never!" he exclaimed immediately upon hearing his name, then stopped, having not really understood the question. "Huh?"

Kristin laughed. "I said I could show Catherine some board books for Niblet because it's never too early for books."

He cocked his head curiously. "But Niblet can't see the pictures. She's in Aunt Catherine's tummy," he said and pointed as if that wasn't already clear.

"I know," Kristin said, smiling. "But I also know lots of moms who read to their babies even before they're born. It's important to start the habit early, and it's a nice, calming activity

to help develop the bond between mother and baby, or father and baby, or anyone else you might want." She glanced pointedly at Jacob.

His eyes widened. "Like me?"

Kristin laughed. "Like you. If Catherine says it's okay."

"Is it okay, Aunt Catherine?" he asked eagerly.

"Of course, if you want."

"Let's find some good books now!" he cried and randomly picked a sticker from the basket without even looking at what he'd grabbed. He looked between the two women, waiting.

Catherine smiled and turned to Kristin. "I guess we're looking at board books."

"Let's do it."

They followed her over to a section of shelves with mostly small square books and knelt down.

"Now of course you're never limited on what you can read to your child," Kristin said, "but these books are created especially for little ones."

"And for little hands," Catherine observed, picking up a book and feeling the thick page.

"Right. They're usually smaller, and have thicker pages that are hard to tear."

"Look at this one, Aunt Catherine, it's funny," Jacob said, holding up a book. "A penguin in a beehive!"

"Ah, one of Eric Carle's board books," Kristin said. "These are neat. The pages are cut in half so you can explore and make matches. This one's about animal homes."

"You gotta keep flipping till you find the right one," Jacob said. "See, here's the bees for the beehive."

"Then what about the penguins?" Catherine asked with a wink at Kristin.

Jacob flipped a few pages. "Iceberg!" he announced.

"I think this one is good for toddlers and preschoolers working on memory and logic," Kristin said. "But not much of a read aloud." She scooted down a little. "However, Eric Carle did illustrate some of the classic read alouds like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?" She handed Catherine two books. "I actually like to sing Brown Bear when I do it in storytime. Fits Twinkle Twinkle Little Star really well."

Catherine flipped through the pages, nodding.

"Five Little Monkeys!" Jacob exclaimed, holding up another book triumphantly. He started dancing on his knees. "One fell off and bumped his head!" he sang.

"Speaking of singalongs," Kristin said with a smile. "You really can't go wrong with something that has a nice rhythm and rhyme. Makes it easier to read and listen to, plus it's good later to build pre-literacy skills. Listening to rhymes helps young children parse out sounds and syllables that will help when they start to learn how to read. Nursery rhymes, Dr. Seuss, that kind of thing." She slid down a few feet. "Jane Yolen has all these good dinosaur books. How Do Dinosaurs Go to Sleep?, How Do Dinosaurs Count to Ten? …"

"Look!" Jacob interrupted, spotting another title. "How Do Dinosaurs Love Their Dogs? So Niblet will know how to take care of Cammie!"

"We should definitely get that one," Catherine said with a smile.

"And Sandra Boynton is fabulous. She's got a bunch of really cute books. Hey, Jacob, I bet you'll like this one." She pulled out Blue Hat, Green Hat and gave it to him.

He opened it and began to read. " 'Blue hat, green hat, red hat, oops.' Haha! Look at that. He's got the hat on his feet!" He quickly turned to the next page. " 'Red shirt, blue shirt, yellow shirt, oops.' Hahaha!" He laughed at the illustration of a turkey with the shirt on his legs. He continued flipping through the pages. "This is a good one," he said, looking at the humourous illustrations.

"A lot of her other books are also songs. We've got her CDs, too, if you're ever interested." Moving on, Kristin scanned the shelves, looking for another author. She pulled a book from the shelf. "Ohhh, this is one of my favorites. The Quiet Book. It's got the sweetest illustrations, but is also so clever, describing different kinds of quiet like, 'Don't scare the robin quiet' and 'Hide-and-seek quiet.' "

"Oh, that is lovely," Catherine said, looking through the pages.

"And of course the companion, The Loud Book."

Catherine smiled. "Of course."

"Whoa! This is a big one," Jacob said, pulling an oversized board book from the shelf. "There's a hole in it!"

"Open it up," Kristin encouraged. "You're supposed to look through the hole to find things that match the words."

Jacob held up the book, reading, " 'Things that are near and things that are far?' " He looked through the hole. "Ha! The desk is far away," he swung back toward them, "but you're near!"

"That'll be a fun one when Niblet is older," Catherine said. "You'll have to show her how to use it."

Jacob grinned. "Yeah!" He continued to hold the book up, looking through the rectangular shaped hole in the middle.

Kristin turned back to Catherine. "There are lots of great interactive books like that for toddlers and preschoolers. I could go on and on, but I'll leave you to it. Just one more thing. Now's a good time to explore since you don't have to worry about a little one tearing the pages or crawling off halfway through or tossing the book on the floor when they get distracted. That's coming," she grinned, "but Niblet's a captive audience right now, so you can read whatever you like."

"Like Fly Guy?" Jacob asked eagerly.

Catherine and Kristin both laughed. "Sure, bring on Buzz and Fly Guy," Catherine said, ruffling his hair.

He jumped up and ran toward the early reader shelves.

"Walking feet," Kristin reminded him.

"Thank you so much," Catherine said as they two women rose. "I'm sure this won't be the last time I ask you for some good books."

"I'm always happy to do it. That's what I'm here for."

Jacob returned with an armful of books. "You sit over there in the comfy chair, Aunt Catherine," he said, gesturing to the padded chair by the window. "And I'll sit by you so I can read to Niblet. Can I get one of those red chairs, Miss Kristin?" he asked, referring to one of several child-size chairs by the round tables spread throughout the space. "And put it by Aunt Catherine's chair? Please?" He looked at her hopefully.

"Go ahead and pull one over," she agreed. "Just move it back when you're done."

"Okay!" he said excitedly. "Come on, Aunt Catherine!"

"I have a feeling this is going to be adorable," Kristin said to Catherine as they watched Jacob walk determinedly toward the padded chair.

Catherine smiled. "I may have to ask you to take a picture."

"Oh, absolutely."

A few minutes later, Kristin snapped a picture on Catherine's phone of Jacob very earnestly reading There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Fly Guy to Catherine's tummy as Catherine looked on, smiling.

On their way out, Jacob and Catherine stopped by the desk again.

"Well, how did Niblet like Fly Guy?" Kristin asked.

Jacob looked up at Catherine questioningly.

She smiled. "I think she's a fan."

"Elephant and Piggie next time?" he asked hopefully.

"Sure."

"Looks like you've got a few to take home as well," Kristin said, nodding to the books in their arms.

"Jacob helped me pick out a few. He said it'll be good practice to take them home and read."

"Yeah, just like I had to practice when I was learning how to read."

"Well, if you have room for one more … one of my favorite new books just got returned." Kristin picked up a book she had been holding at the desk. "It's beautifully illustrated and the text is so wonderful and universal about the love between parents and children."

Catherine flipped through it. She came to a page in the middle and stopped. Smiling, she said, "I think we'll definitely take this one home." She looked up. "Thank you again."

"Yeah, thanks, Miss Kristin!"

"You are always very welcome." She smiled. "All three of you."

Catherine stepped onto the back deck after dropping Jacob off and smiled to see Steve and Cammie playing in the backyard. Both looked in her direction, and Cammie bounded toward the deck to greet her, Steve following at a more leisurely pace.

Catherine set down the canvas bag of books next to the lounger and kissed the top of Cammie's head, rubbing both cheeks affectionately. Steve joined them on the deck and waited for his own greeting.

"Hey," he said, kissing her.

"Hey yourself," she returned with a smile. "Looks like you two have been having a good time."

"Absolutely."

He stepped around her and opened the small refrigerator. He took out two bottles of water, pouring one into the bowl by Cammie's Casa and then opening the second one. He offered Catherine the bottle first, then took a long drink after she declined.

She stretched out on the lounger and he took a seat close by, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"How was the library?" he asked.

"Great. Brought home a few books."

"I see that."

"Jacob helped me pick some out to read to Niblet."

"To read to Niblet?" he repeated. "Already?"

"Yeah, Kristin said it's a good idea. Nice bonding experience and establishes the habit early." She grinned and took out her phone. "Check this out." She showed him the picture of Jacob reading to her tummy. "How cute is that?"

"That is – and you know how I feel about this word, so this is saying something – adorable."

"Isn't it? He was so serious about it, explaining that the little old lady wasn't really swallowing a cat and a dog and a goat and a cow, that it was all pretend."

"Thatta boy. Looking out for Niblet already." He straightened, reaching for the bag "I want in on that. What'd you get?" He pulled out a few of the books and examined the first of the stack. "LMNO Peas." He chuckled. "I see what they did there."

"It's very cute. There's a little pea investigator. And a parachutist."

He quirked an eyebrow and she laughed.

"Sailor peas, too," she continued, grinning.

He shook his head. "This is gonna take some getting used to." He looked at the next title, Llama Llama Nighty-Night. "Hey, Joanie liked these."

"That's why I got it," she said with a smile. "And Jacob thought we'd like that one." She indicated the long book underneath.

"Boats Go," he said, his lip quirking in a half smile as he turned the pages.

"But this one," she reached into the bag and pulled another book out, "I got for you."

"We Sang You Home," he read, confused. She nodded at him to look through it. He flipped the pages and stopped when he came to the same page that had made her pause earlier. He glanced up to see her smiling softly. " 'As we give you roots, you give us wings.' "

He looked back down, his eyes drifting over the illustration of parent and child in a field of flowers, a dragonfly in their midst.

Without a word, he moved down to the deck, settling beside her lounger. He placed a gentle hand on her tummy. "You listening, Niblet?" he said. "It's storytime."

Catherine smiled down at him, her fingers finding their way into his hair, and she closed her eyes as he began to read.

Hope you enjoyed!

Books mentioned (several also have picture book editions):

My Very First Book of Animal Homes, by Eric Carle (Philomel Books, 1986)

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?, by Bill Martin, Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle (Henry Holt & Co, 1996 and 1997)

Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow (Houghton Mifflin, 2012)

How Do Dinosaurs Go to Sleep?, How Do Dinosaurs Count to Ten?, and How Do Dinosaurs Love Their Dogs? by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Mark Teague (Blue Sky Press, 2016, 2004, and 2010)

Blue Hat, Green Hat, by Sandra Boynton (Little Simon, 1984)

The Quiet Book and The Loud Book by Deborah Underwood and illustrated by Renata Liwska (Harcourt, 2013 and 2015)

Look! by Édouard Manceau (Owlkids Books, 2014)

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Fly Guy, by Tedd Arnold (Cartwheel Books, 2007)

LMNO Peas, by Keith Baker (Little Simon, 2014)

Llama Llama Nighty-Night, by Anna Dewdney (Viking Books, 2012)

Boats Go, by Steve Light (Chronicle Books, 2015)

We Sang You Home, by Richard Van Camp and illustrated by Julie Flett (Orca Books, 2016)