Mold. Yuck!

Moldy, nastiness, growing in a library book!

I love gross stuff!  I love weird stuff!  I will be the first person to touch and experiment with something when other people are squirming in their seats. But. I have to say I have my limits.  Especially when books come back damaged like this one did. Just LOOK at all that mold growing inside the book!  Yuck!  I love to use this book as an example to students at the beginning of the year on how to NOT take care of our books.  We talk about the four things to beware of when you are reading a book.
1.  Water! The way the pages wrinkle and smell mildewy afterward create books you do not want to cuddle up to!
2.  Food and drink!  I share this Junie B. First Grader book as my example.  Honestly, I have no clue if that's how it got moldy.  I like to think so.  It was especially fun to use a microscope camera to get that bottom right image.  Super cool!
3.  Little people!  There are times when little brothers and sisters just don't know how to take care of books like the big kids!
4.  Pets!  Not just dogs...cats too! And gerbils, and hamsters, and fish.  I like to remind the kids that all animals can chew, poop, and pee...so lets keep our books away from all animals.  (I'm a dog lover, what can I say?  I don't want to say specifically dogs!)  :)

Do you have any other suggestions on book care?  Do you have any fun tips and tricks that work?  I'd love to hear them!

Happy Reading Everyone!