Hello and welcome to Episode Thirty Nine of Page Turn: the Largo Public Library Podcast. I’m your host, Hannah!
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The English Language Transcript can be found below
But as always we start with Reader’s Advisory!
The Reader’s Advisory for Episode Thirty Nine is Bastard by Max de Radigues. If you like Bastard you should also check out: She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper, Abbott by Saladin Ahmed, and Ghostman by Roger Hobbs.
My personal favorite Goodreads list Light It Up is on is To Be Read 2020.
Happy Reading Everyone
Today’s Library Tidbit comes to us from the Children’s AND the Teen Departments and is on tea and The Tea Dragon series by K. O’Neill.
Let’s start with what is tea. Tea is a brewed drink made from the leaves of the camellia sinensis and camellia assamica shrubs. Tea is best when it is made from the youngest leaf buds but you can make tea from older leaves as well. Tea as we know it goes through several different processes to turn it from the fresh leaves to the dried product we know and that some of us love.
I did plan on going through and describing the entire process of how tea goes from fresh leaves to dried tea waiting to be brewed, but it’s really complicated and very dry and honestly it just doesn’t make for great audio. There is a good flowchart on the wikipedia page for processing tea that I will attempt to add to the show notes and you can all check that out if you are interested.
The short version is that depending on the type of tea you want as the end product you will subject your fresh tea leaves to various different processes. Remember, almost all tea comes from the same plant. Some of the processes that leaves go through to become the tea we recognize are: wilting, bruising, oxidation, fixation, shaping, drying, and curing. Not every tea goes through these processes and there are variations within the different processes that effect the outcome and create different teas. For instance, the type of bruising or level of oxidation that occurs.
In addition to tea there are also tisanes which are most commonly now referred to as herbal teas. Herbal teas are made from herbs, flowers, spices, and other plant materials and brewed in a similar manner to tea. Because these are not made with tea most herbal teas do not naturally have caffeine in them making them a popular choice for people who cannot have caffeine due to health or religious reasons or preference.
On July 13th the Children’s Department and the Teen Department are doing crafts and programs centering around The Tea Dragon series by K. O’Neill. The Tea Dragon series is ostensibly children’s graphic novels, but all ages have enjoyed them. Right now there are 3 books in the series with the third The Tea Dragon Tapestry just being released last month.
K. O’Neill is an illustrator and graphic novelist from New Zealand. Their works include, Aquicorn Cove, the Tea Dragon series, and Princess Princess Ever After. Their writing and illustrations are gentle and soothing with a strong emphasis on environmentalism and community. While being heart-warming and cute their works do not shy away from heavier topics, such as parental death, climate destruction, and feelings of isolation and loss.
While the plots of the Tea Dragon series are very good and the art is amazing and detailed, the big draw for most people is just how stinking adorable the dragons are! In the Tea Dragon series each type/variety of tea or tisane has a small “tea dragon” associated with the variety. Hibiscus is a fluffy pink dragon with wings, chamomile is a sleepy yellow, and jasmine is a sleek green, to describe a very few.
Because the series is so popular with our patrons and our staff two different departments stepped up to create fun take home crafts. The children’s crafts are available through registration only and are available to children between the ages of 5 and 12. The teen crafts do not require registration and are available to teens between the ages of 12 and 18 in the teen room. They have also teamed up to create the video for this program which will be available on the Largo Public Library Youth Services Facebook page.
The crafts that come in the kit are, make your own Tea Dragon pin, decorate your own tea cup, and taste some tea! There will also be instruction sheets with each kit. To make your own Tea Dragon pin you will be given shrink film, pin-backs, permanent markers, and a Tea Dragon picture sheet. To make the pin, trace or draw and color your chosen tea dragon onto the shrink film. Cut out the Tea Dragon. Put your design on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a Teflon sheet, this is very important! Do not place shrink wrap onto the metal cookie sheet! The design will shrink in about 2 to 3 minutes. Keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn’t curl in on itself. If this happens take it out of the oven and very very carefully separate the two sides with a spatula. The design will be very hot so do not use fingers.
Once the design has stopped shrinking remove the cookie sheet from the over and let it cool. Once the design is cool glue the design to the pin-back and voila you have your very own Tea Dragon pin!
We hope you enjoy these crafts and also the series! If you’ve read it make sure to let the librarians know which dragon is your favorite!
And now it’s time for Book Traveler, with Victor:
Welcome to a new edition of Book Traveler. My name is Victor and I am a librarian at the Largo Public Library. Today I’m going to talk about a book that we have in the Spanish collection called The Duke and I by Julia Quinn.
SYNOPSIS: By all accounts, Simon Basset is on the verge of proposing to his best friend’s sister—the lovely and almost-on-the-shelf—Daphne Bridgerton. But the two of them know the truth—it’s all an elaborate ruse to keep Simon free from marriage-minded society mothers. And as for Daphne, surely she will attract some worthy suitors now that it seems a duke has declared her desirable. But as Daphne waltzes across ballroom after ballroom with Simon, it’s hard to remember that their courtship is a sham. Maybe it’s his devilish smile, certainly it’s the way his eyes seem to burn every time he looks at her… but somehow Daphne is falling for the dashing duke… for real! And now she must do the impossible and convince the handsome rogue that their clever little scheme deserves a slight alteration, and that nothing makes quite as much sense as falling in love.
OPINION: I had wanted to read this series for a long time thanks to the Netflix adaptation which I saw and I loved. Historical romance is a genre that, although I don’t read much, I do read from time to time.
The Duke and I tells the story of Daphne Bridgerton, a girl who is tired of her mother’s attitudes for getting her a husband, and her brothers’ attitude for keeping prospects away from her, and Simon, a man who does not want to marry. When Daphne meets Simon she sees her opportunity to fake a commitment, which will give both of them time to postpone the marriage, but this situation will cause feelings to arise between them.
The Duke and I has been a light story to read, with a quick narrative that keeps the reader engaged at all times. The story takes place in the third person and we can get to know our protagonists very well, their feelings, concerns and fears. Simon and Daphne have been pleasant leads, although I must say that the Simon from the television series is a bit different from the Simon from the book, or at least for me. In the book, Simon’s attitude is more aggravating. It always amazed me that Daphne didn’t just ran off to get away from him.
The best parts of the book were the interactions between the Bridgerton family. I had a lot of fun meeting them and seeing their family dynamics, and I want to know more about Colin. The book is highly recommended to all fans of the author and those who enjoy this genre.
OUTRO: That is all for today. See you next time on Book Traveler. Bye.
Stay safe everyone out there! Check out our virtual programming here!
For everyone interested our intro music is by Break the Bans and the outro music is by Jahzzar, both artists can be found on Free Music Archive.
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