Gordon School Librarian Inspires a Picture Book About Everyday Magic

At Gordon School, magic starts with a tap. A wooden book outside the library of the progressive nursery through eighth grade independent day school invites students to “Touch this page and magic will happen,” a tradition that has ushered generations of curious hands through the doors. Now, that familiar invitation has inspired a picture book honoring the librarian who made the room feel magical in the first place.

Magic Will Happen, written by Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie of Providence and illustrated by Barrington-based published children’s book illustrator Laurel Aylesworth, celebrates longtime Gordon School librarian Frances Martindale, who joined the East Providence school in 1996 and spent 30 years shaping its library, directing theater, welcoming visiting authors, and helping students find both new worlds and pieces of themselves on the shelves. Martindale knew nothing about the project until Gordon revealed it at her recent retirement celebration. “If I still lived in England, I would say that I was gobsmacked,” she says. “I was stunned, humbled by my school’s appreciation.”

The story follows Joy, a new Gordon student, and her teacher, Ms. Arias, who is based on one of Ms. Martindale’s longtime colleagues. Ms. Arias introduces Joy to Ms. Martindale and the library she leads. Rather than fit three decades of Martindale’s accomplishments into one picture book, Tallie focused on the spirit behind them. “Frances’ legacy is one of care, attention, and intention, so the book needed to be about those things,” Tallie says.

Tallie, an accomplished author whose work includes the Ezra Jack Keats Honor-winning children’s book Layla’s Happiness, saw that care firsthand during a 2021 visit to Gordon. Students approached Martindale to say they had enjoyed her latest recommendations, then immediately asked what to read next. Martindale listened closely to each child before sending them back into the stacks. “Frances created a library environment that was joyous,” Tallie says. “I left the library feeling that I had encountered a new role model.”

For Martindale, a library has never been simply a quiet place to check out a book. Children also arrive looking for belonging, room to wonder, and adults who take their interests seriously. Some want a cozy reading nook. Others need a place where they can be “both reflective and also sometimes loud.”

That second option came in handy during one particularly lively storytime. When a group of four-year-olds asked how large a megalodon could grow, Martindale compared its 45-foot length to the distance between her reading chair and a nearby window. Before she could finish the sentence, the children were already on their feet, pacing and “swimming” across the library to measure the prehistoric shark for themselves.

Tallie wanted the book to carry that same energy when read aloud. She shaped the language by listening to it, a practice she learned from poet Sonia Sanchez. “When you write for children, you know that somebody will be reading the book to them,” Tallie says. “It’s important to create a world that jumps off the page sonically and surprises the listeners.”

Aylesworth’s illustrations give that world its movement and expression. Martindale
especially loves the bright, joyful cover and a later spread where Joy begins noticing what she shares with Ms. Arias. The small details capture what Martindale spent decades cultivating: children recognizing themselves, connecting with others, and discovering that the library has room for all of it.

Her retirement celebration supplied one more scene worthy of a picture book. When Gordon unveiled an outdoor storytelling space in Martindale’s honor, she jumped from her seat and ran over to see it. The children ran right behind her. While the fanfare took place in May, the books are expected back from the publisher, and can be ordered now. Initial copies of Magic Will Happen are being sold at cost, with proceeds going to the Frances Martindale Fund and the future of the school’s library leadership. Learn more at GordonSchool.org.