Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carrol Moore Created Libraries for Children

Pinborough, J. (2013). Miss
Moore Thought Otherwise:
How Anne Carrol Moore
Created Libraries for
Children. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carrol Moore Created Libraries for Children

By Jan Pinborough 

Illustrated by Debby Atwell

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Boston, Mass

2013

40 pages

Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carrol Moore Created Libraries for Children is a biography of Anne Carroll Moore in the form of a children’s picture book. Anne Moore lived in a time when children were not allowed in libraries for fear that children would ruin the books or forget to bring them back. It was also commonly believed that reading was not important for children, especially not for girls. After Anne’s parents died, she traveled to New York City, where she went to library school and became a librarian. In her library, she had a room planned just for children. Eventually, she became in charge of all of the children’s sections in the New York Public Libraries. She created a pledge for librarians to use so that all children could check out books. When she got old, Anne traveled across the country, teaching people how to make libraries that were good for children.

I originally read this book while planning a literature focus unit for Emily's Runaway Imagination. I chose to include this book in that unit because it is a great way to introduce the importance of libraries and how much they have changed over the years. I would read this book before reading the first chapter of Emily’s Runaway Imagination because in the first chapter of Emily’s Runaway Imagination, Emily expresses her interest in opening a library to her mother. Her mother writes a letter to the state library to ask for a library in Pitchfork. Though Anne Moore did not write a letter to anyone about children’s sections in libraries, Emily and Anne both have something they feel strongly about and want to fight for. This would become the topic of my first mini-lesson of the unit. 

Atwell's paintings are cozy and described as "folk-art-style" that are filled to the brim with details of the time period. This book is perfect for a unit on women's history, libraries, or biographies, especially for younger readers. 

Purchase the book here and visit missmoorethoughtotherwise.com for further research!

Happy exploring!