'Mr. Eddie' is a storyteller extraordinaire

When he was in kindergarten, he rode school bus No. 45, and he still remembers how his teacher would always instruct him to watch for that number after school.

It sort of stuck in his head for the rest of his life as his favorite number, he says.

Which makes today extra-special for him: Not only is it his birthday, it's his 45th birthday.

And he's been partying like it's Christmas.

On Sunday, KVOA Channel 4 broadcast a taping he did for them a couple of weeks ago, reading one of the six children's books he has written, this one with a Christmas theme.

His story-time families brought him plenty of sweet goodies for his birthday — he's a skinny guy who loves cookies and brownies, channeling the energy he gets from them into his storytelling.

He has also taught Sunday school for about 20 years, he said.

Mr. Eddie — birth name Eddie Dembowski — has built up quite a following among the Northwest Side preschool set over the past 17 years.

His official title is "library associate in children's services," which encompasses many tasks, but the one he's most known for is his story times.

He jumps. He sings. He dives and falls.

Mostly, he gets the children engaged in what he's reading to them, working his hardest to bring each book to life.

"He's so lively that it makes me laugh as much as it makes my son laugh," said Gina Roe, who brought her 4-year-old son and 16-month-old daughter to Dembowski's last pre-holiday story time.

Story times went on hiatus Dec. 18 and will return to the library Jan. 2.

Roe began taking her son to see Mr. Eddie when her son was 2 years old, and she has brought her children every couple of months since then.

"He doesn't just stand up there and talk at the kids," she said.

Lisa Yarmolovich regularly takes her 5-year-old daughter to the story times, a weekly habit they've had since the child was a year old.

"She was a little bit scared (of Eddie's antics) but she was into it, so we just started coming," Yarmolovich said. "We've always tried to get here in time so he doesn't run out of tickets."

The tickets are a very big deal to Mr. Eddie fans.

His reputation spread quickly in the 1990s, and the line for story time outgrew the 100-person fire code capacity for the Nanini library meeting room, 7300 N. Shannon Road.

Library staff began passing out tickets to the first 100 people in line to help alleviate hurt feelings for those who didn't get in.

"It used to be really chaotic," said Julie Hagood, a fellow children's library associate who handles the infant and toddler story times at Nanini. She has worked with Dembowski for eight years. "He's got a great following. He's very well-liked and well-loved in the community."

Hagood said she appreciates that Dembowski is one of the few men in the library system who do story times. He used to be the only one, she said.

While he has a very big personality and distinct style, it only complements what the library offers, she said.

"Eddie definitely has a reputation, but you could go to any library branch and find a different style of storytelling."

Dembowski downplays the amount of attention he gets.

"It's very flattering, but also it helps promote educational services for kids," he said. "No matter what branch we're at, we put a lot of ourselves into working with the kids and being creative."

On the side, he's made some educational videos, and he has been known to do birthday parties and visit school book fairs.

He enjoys staying connected to his story-time families after the kids head off to school, he said.

"Being here 17 years, I've gotten to see whole families grow up and kids come back from college to say hi."

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