Published bi-weekly by
Read to Me, a service of the Idaho Commission for Libraries
In this Issue:
* A click on the table of contents menu takes you directly to the Scoop online.
Welcome
Next week (April 13-19, 2008) is National Library Week. April is also School Library Media Month in conjunction with, and sharing the same theme as National Library Week. This year's theme is "Join the circle of knowledge @ your library®." The School Library Media Month and National Library Week are wonderful opportunities for you to promote your library and its contributions to your communities and schools.
Here at The Scoop, we want to take this opportunity to tell you what a great job you are doing and what an inspiration you are to us as you make a difference in people's lives every day. Kudos!
Meet Patty Gilman
Patty Gilman is the director of the Bellevue Public Library. She started out as a Trustee on the Bellevue Library Board in 2002 and fell in LOVE (again) with the library. When the director's position opened up four years ago, Patty was hired, and feels blessed by the opportunity. All together, Patty has been at the library for six years, two on the Board and four as Director/Janitor/Fundraiser/Designer, etc.
When asked to describe her library, Patty responded, "The Bellevue Public Library is a very small rural library that was almost forgotten and closed not to long ago. But with renewed enthusiasm, a great remodel and a Library Director who doesn't know how to give up, our library has made a serious come back. We are bursting with patrons every day now. We went from being open 20 hours, 4 days a week to 45 hours, 6 days a week. I have an employee for the first time ever! And I am thrilled with the overwhelming outpouring of support our community has given us. Our next goal is to get our own building with a coffee shop and a huge budget!! I'll take that million dollar donation any time and put it to good use!"
Patty's background is in education. She graduated from the University of Nevada-Reno with a degree in Education and started her career as a kindergarten teacher. Her true passion has always been children. The majority of Bellevue Public's patrons are children and they are why Patty loves coming to work. Because they are a small library, Patty does all the youth services work and works with all ages from infants through centarians. She imagines, designs, decides and implements all youth service programs. She partners with community leaders, schools, parent groups, civic groups to create and promote childhood literacy and youth activities. Most of the library's book and supply budget is spent on youth programs and materials.
Patty does two weekly story hours, in addition to monthly daycare/preschool visits, outreach, collection development, summer reading program, family reading events. Basically everything that has to do with youth services she is involved in!
Patty shared some of the libraries recent activities. This past February was "Love Your Library" month in Bellevue. Local businesses donated a percentage of their February sales to the Library to support summer reading and other programs. They are also having a Spring Cleaning Book & Bake Sale. Patty is working on two new programs for this summer. The first is 'Reading by the River" where the library takes a weekly mobile story hour to families at the beach by the Big Wood River. The second is a series of family movie nights in the park. The library is also building its Spanish language collection and is starting a bilingual story hour.
When asked what her favorite thing was about her job, Patty said, "The kids! The people in my community I have come to know and love. And most importantly the sense of joy, pride and accomplishment I feel every day. I am one of the few and lucky people that love my job completely."
Patty found it difficult to name just one favorite children's author/book. She loves Doreen Cronin books, feeling like she shares a very similar sense of humor with the author! She loves Where the Wild Things Are and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day (which is how a long, snowy winter has made her feel). She can think of fifty more books to name and has far too many favorites to list!
As a child, Patty read "Nancy Drew Mysteries" and everything Judy Blume wrote. She also loved everything by Roald Dahl. She recently finished listening to "A Thousand Splendid Suns", which she loved, and "The Fig Eater" by Jody Sheilds, which she thoroughly enjoyed.
Patty's favorite flavor of ice cream is Nutty Coconut from Baskin Robbins and her childhood favorite is Mint Chocolate Chip. When not working at the library Patty loves ice skating with her family, reading (of course), quilting and doing embroidery, painting, playing with her dog and cats, and playing BUNCO with the girls!
She added, "I have really enjoyed meeting all the amazing people in the library field and would love for any of you to come and visit our loveable, little library."
Library to Library
At a recent program, the Garden City Public Library brought in a stop motion animator to teach some techniques in stop motion animation. The library posted some of the results on their website http://tinyurl.com/2ge2p4.
What is stop motion animation? The key concept is incremental changes to drawings or objects (like clay figures, Legos, dolls), to create movement of "life." Stop motion animation utilizes this incremental change process in its own special way. Stop motion captures each image, basically one frame at a time. Good recent examples are movies like "Corpse Bride" or the Academy Award winning "Wallace and Gromit." Anyone can make a good stop motion or time lapse film. You just need a camera, computer, some special software, patience and imagination. See how it's done through step-by-step directions on the Wikihow webpage: http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Stop-Motion-Animation.
The Star Branch of Ada Community Library held a special program during spring break called "Fantasies and Fairytales," which was featured in a special video clip by the Idaho Statesman. You can see it at: http://legacy.idahostatesman.com/media/2008/starlibrary/.
Libraries Plan El Día Celebrations
Boise Public Library and Garabatos Spanish Preschool are co-hosting an event at the main Boise Public Library on Saturday, the 26th of April from 11-2pm. It will include a short performance by the kids that attend the Garabatos (means "Scribbles" in Spanish) preschool. Each child will be donating to the library a bilingual book with their name and the school's name in honor of Children's Day and Book Day. It is their way of building the library up with books that we know the kids have enjoyed in our school while promoting bilingual reading. The program will also include Spanish singing, Mexican dancing by our preschoolers, a Children's Yoga demonstration, Tiernan Irish Dancers performance, Mexican Folkloric Group performance, and Rhythm Dogs performance. There will also be a performance by a group of kids who play instruments made out of recycled items, food, balloon animals and art! Event planners want to make the celebration as diverse as possible as it is a universal holiday. Still pending are Birds of Prey animal Demo and Okhee Chang Korean Group Dancers.
The Jerome Public Library is partnering with Raices and the Jerome Head Start center to sponsor an event on Wednesday, April 30th between 2:15 and 4:00 P.M. The program will be held in two parts to accommodate both preschool and school-aged children. Activities for preschoolers include:
During a transition period (younger to older) Positive Youth will read a story and act out a skip with puppets. School age activities include:
- Craft: Worry dolls
- Snacks
- Group sings "El día de los niños" song: "De Colores"
- Cultural Dancers performance
- Pinata and book give away
The Hayden Library (part of Kootenai Shoshone Area Libraries) and Mountain States Early Head Start will co-sponsor a Day of the Child and Books celebration on April 30th. Family-friendly activites are planned, including: Blockfest, nutrition activites, a puppet show, bubble play, and yoga for children. The Kootenai Shoshone Area Libraries' bookmobile will also be in attendance. For more information see the event flyer.
The City of Kimberly is sponsoring events in conjunction with Children's Day through the local school district and the public library. Funding is being provided to purchase bilingual books for the three school libraries as well as the public library. In addition, city employees will be available to serve lunch and monitor playground areas at the schools. Student council members will have lunch with seniors at the local senior citizen center. The mayor will read a proclamation and make appointments to his newly formed Youth Advisory Council.
The Marshall Public Library in Pocatello will be offering a basic conversational Spanish class beginning on May 1st at 7 p.m. in the Kid's Corner at the library.
Seuss Celebration in Sandpoint
The East Bonner County District Library in Sandpoint teamed up with Sandpoint Middle School and Farmin-Stidwell Elementary to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s Birthday and National Read-to-Me day at the library. Jeannie Lyons and Jacki Crossingham’s seventh grade classes read with Sue Storaalsi and Deb Davis’s second grade classes at the Sandpoint Library on Monday, March 3rd between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m. Pictured from left to right are Lane Butts, Hailey Ball, and Erica Kelley.
Young Adult Corner
Teen Top Ten Book List
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of ALA, sponsors the Teen Top Ten book list. A group of teens read and nominate books for the list which are voted on during Teen Read Week in October. Nominators are members of teen book groups in five school and public libraries around the country. These groups change every two years. The 2007 nominees were chosen by book groups in Connecticut, Kansas, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and Utah, selected for their experience in discussing books.
Readers age 12-18 can vote online during the week. Books for the 2008 award are posted in April. Teens are encouraged to read the books throughout the year so they can vote in October.
In 2007, more than 6,000 teen readers across the country chose "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer as their favorite book in the annual Teens' Top Ten. The online vote took place during Teen Read Week, October 14-20, 2007, with the second entry in Meyer's popular vampire romance series winning easily.
The 2007 Teens' Top Ten is:
- New Moon by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2006).
- Just Listen by Sarah Dessen (Viking Children's Books, 2006)
- How to Ruin a Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles (Flux, 2006).
- Maximum Ride: School's Out - Forever by James Patterson (Hachette Book Group USA/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2006).
- Firegirl by Tony Abbott (Hachette Book Group USA/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2006).
- All Hallows Eve (13 Stories) by Vivian Vande Velde (Harcourt, 2006).
- Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (Harcourt, 2006).
- River Secrets by Shannon Hale (Bloomsbury, 2006).
- Bad Kitty by Michele Jaffe (HarperCollins, 2006).
- Road of the Dead by Kevin Brooks (Chicken House, 2006).
For more information, go to: http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/teenreading/teenstopten/teenstopten.cfm
Support Teen Literature Day
Another opportunity to celebrate teens and reading is Support Teen Literature Day on April 17th, 2008, which falls during National Library Week. Libraries are encouraged to host events in their library or through their web site on that day. The purpose of this new celebration is to raise awareness among the general public that young adult literature is a vibrant, growing genre with much to offer today's teens. Support Teen Literature Day also seeks to showcase some award-winning authors and books in the genre as well as highlight librarians' expertise in connecting teens with books and other reading materials.
Here are a few resources:
- YALSA has compiled links to award winning books http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists/
- Teen Reads website http://www.teenreads.com/features/2006-reading-list.asp
Features information about teens' favorite authors, books, series and characters. It is part of The Book Report Network, a group of websites founded in 1996 that share thoughtful book reviews, compelling features, in-depth author profiles and interviews, excerpts of the hottest new releases, literary games and contests, and more with readers every week.
Book Look
Bilingual Children's Titles Promote El Día de los Niños
A list of recommended reading list of children's books in both English and Spanish for ages infancy-14 years is now available. The Publishing for Latino Voices Task Force of the Association of American Publishers (AA)) and the Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), have partnered to create a bibliography of approximately 24 English-and- Spanish-language titles. It is currently available at www.publishers.org/main/Latino/Diabibliographylist.htm .
The reading list was selected by ALSC's Quicklists Consulting Committee. It includes bilingual coming of age stories, and nonfiction, all celebrating Latin culture and Latin American identity. "We hope this bibliography will serve as a guide for stocking bookstores, libraries, schools, and family bookshelves in homes nationwide," said Pat Schroeder, president and CEO of AAP.
Upcoming Events
Deadlines for Read to Me mini-grant and more are approaching!
If you are interested in participating in any of the upcoming Read to Me programs, here are some deadlines to keep in mind:
Mark Your Calendars and Check out the Tracks for ALSC Institute
The 2008 ALSC National Institute will be held September 18-20, 2008 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Trailblaze your path to library success while attending the ALSC National Institute. The Institute is a two and a half day intensive learning opportunity with a youth services focus and is designed for youth library staff, children’s literature experts, education and library school faculty members, and other interested adults.
The Institute will feature three exciting tracks that will repeat on Thursday and Friday so that attendees may take advantage of two of the three tracks:
- Technology and children’s services
- Programming in the new millennium
- Inspiring lifelong reading with the best of the best in children’s books and a special focus on ‘tweens and reading
Attendees will also attend their choice of one of three Saturday morning workshops.
- Blogging the best books-- hands-on
- Programming for English language learners: outreach, programming, and best practices for serving young children and their families
- Nuts and bolts of author visits
Authors Laura Vaccaro Seeger, Sharon Creech, William Joyce and Christopher Paul Curtis are also on the agenda!
See http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/alscevents/institute/index.cfm for more information and stay tuned for information about how ICFL might be able to help with expenses.
Upcoming events in May:
Get Caught Reading Month - Is a nationwide campaign to remind people of all ages how much fun it is to read. May is Get Caught Reading month, but the campaign is promoted throughout the year. Get Caught Reading is supported by the Association of American Publishers (AAP). Launched in 1999 by former Congresswoman Pat Schroeder, President and Chief Executive Officer of AAP. For more see www.getcaughtreading.org/.
May 1 – Mother Goose Day - Mother Goose Day was founded in 1987 by Gloria T. Delamar in tandem with the publication of her book, Mother Goose; From Nursery to Literature. The day is now listed in many calendars of events and celebrated throughout the United States. For tips on celebrating or crafts to make see www.librarysupport.net/mothergoosesociety/tips.html or http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/mayholidays/l/blmay1st1.htm.
May 5 – Cinco de Mayo – Is primarily a regional and not an obligatory federal holiday in Mexico. The date is observed in the United States and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. A common misconception in the United States is that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico’s Independence Day; Mexico's Independence Day is actually September 16, which is the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico. For more go to www.mexonline.com/cinco-de-mayo.htm.
May 6 - National Teacher Day - The Teacher Day annual theme has been replaced with a standing tagline, "Great Teachers Make Great Public Schools," and draws attention to the crucial role teachers play in making sure every child receives a quality public education and conveys the hard work they do each day to make public schools great for every child. The day is backed by the National Education Association (NEA). For more see www.teacher-appreciation.info/Teacher-Appreciation-Day-2008/ or www.nea.org/teacherday/index.html.
May 4-10 - Reading is Fun Week – Is a reminder of how important books are in our lives! The library has something for everyone--whether you like romance, adventure, RPG, fantasy, drama, true crime, nonfiction, or poetry. Check out these quick, easy things to do to continue the momentum of the notion that reading is fun and support your libraries at: www.youthnoise.com/page.php?page_id=1958.
May 11 – Mother’s Day - Is a day honoring mothers, celebrated on various days in many places around the world. Mothers often receive gifts on this day. The United States celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. In the United States, Mother's Day was loosely inspired by the British day and was imported by social activist Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War. For more history of Mother’s Day see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother's_Day. For some fun kids’ crafting ideas see www.daniellesplace.com/html/mothersday.html.
May 26 – Memorial Day - Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday that is observed on the last Monday of May. It was formerly known as Decoration Day. This holiday commemorates U.S. men and women who have died in military service to their country. More history about Memorial Day can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day. For ideas of how to observe Memorial Day go to www.usmemorialday.org/observe.htm.
Other events and observances include: Be Kind to Animals Week and National Family Week (4th-10th), National Police Week and Universal Family Week (11th-17th), School Principals’ Day and Stepmother’s Day (May 1st), No Homework Day and No Diet Day (May 6th), National School Nurse Day (May 10th), National Bike to Work Day (May 19th), Brother’s Day (May 24th) and What You Think Upon Grows Day (May31st).
Authors Birthdays:
May 6 - Leo Lionni (1910-1999). Leo Lionni wrote and illustrated more than 40 highly acclaimed children's books. He launched his career as an author/illustrator of books for children in 1959. He is the author of Alexander and the Wind-up Mouse, Frederick, In the Rabbitgarden and others. For more on Lionni see www.randomhouse.com/kids/lionni/author.html.
May 9 - Eleanor Estes (1906-1988). Eleanor Ruth Rosenfeld (Estes) loved to tell stories to children. She began by working as a children's assistant in her hometown library, but when she became sick with tuberculosis, she spent the quiet days of her recovery writing down her childhood memories as a series of stories for young readers. Eleanor is the author of The Hundred Dresses, Ginger Pye, The Moffats and more. www.embracingthechild.org/aestes.html
May 10 - Christopher Paul Curtis (born in 1953). He was born and reared in Flint, Michigan. After high school graduation, he worked on the assembly line of the Fisher Body Plant/Flint Plant No. 1 and graduated from the Flint branch of the University of Michigan. His first book, The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963, received a Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor book citation in 1996, and Bud, Not Buddy received the Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award in 2000. His most recent book is Elijah of Buxton. You can read about the author at: http://christopherpaulcurtis.smartwriters.com.
May 15 - Norma Fox Mazer (born in 1931). She is a prolific and beloved YA author who has entertained readers of all ages with her realistic and poignant stories. Some of her works include: Girlhearts, Out of Control, Silver and others as well as short stories and picture books for younger readers. www.teenreads.com/authors/au-mazer-norma.asp
May 17 - Gary Paulsen (born in 1939). Gary Paulsen is one of America's most popular writers for young people. Although he was never a dedicated student, Paulsen developed a passion for reading at an early age. After a librarian gave him a book to read — along with his own library card — he was hooked. He is the author of Hatchet, Dogsong, The Winter Room and more.
www.randomhouse.com/features/garypaulsen/about.html
May 23 - Margaret Wise Brown (1910-1952). She was a prolific American author of children's literature, which include Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny, both illustrated by Clement Hurd. www.margaretwisebrown.com
Summer Reading News
The bugs have left the building!
That is the cheer shouted by ICFL staffers who were charged with packing the boxes to mail to 76 libraries who signed up to do school visits. Over 70,000 bugs were counted, packed and mailed over the past two weeks. It's enough to make you buggy! Public librarians will be taking the bugs on their 200+ school visits to promote "Catch the Reading Bug." Pictured left to right: Taushina Eagle, Sandy Hetzel, Betty Hoshaw, Nancy Reese, Tina Schilling (front).
Don't forget to sign up online for the free Fred Meyers' "Books for Summer Readers." Books will be mailed the end of May to participating libraries. These books may be used for any summer reading book distribution, either at the library or through outreach.
Puppet Newsletter Available 
Puppet Tales newsletter is a feature of Mr. Anderson's Company, an online source for books, puppets, musical instruments and other storytelling props to enhance storytimes. With each free issue of Puppet Tales, librarians can click and print a new collection of great ideas, tips and tricks to enrich their storytelling. Puppet Tales showcases programs, products and ideas to jump-start your creativity and put spark in your storytime. You can even gather the issues together in a binder for a great reference all year long! The February 2008 issue features ants and the March 24, 2008 issue features spiders. You can read it online and subscribe at: http://www.misterandersons.com/puppettales/index.html.
Free book kit available from publisher
Did you know that the night before summer is Friday, June 20th? That's the premise of ‘Twas the Night Before Summer, written by Anne Margaret Lewis, illustrated by Wendy Popko and published by Mackinaw Press. The book comes with a free library event kit, which includes:
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‘Twas the Night Before Summer poster
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Make your own Luna moth wings instructions
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Luna Bee May stickers
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Luna moth Fact Sheet
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Luna Bee May coloring Sheet
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Luna Bee May Lemonade
Libraries can call 231-946-7737 or email Brian Lewis at:brian@mackinacislandpress.com to get the kit. Macinaw Press also has a special offer to order any book(s) free and get another copy free (no limits).
Your Summer Reading Website
The early bird gets the worm -- or is that bug? Check out the Bear Lake District Library's bookmark contest that they are promoting on their website. They also have a list of their summer programs and some cool websites that relate to the "Catch the Reading Bug" theme.
We mentioned in the last Scoop that e-branch libraries could use specially created "Catch the Read Bug" and "Metamorphosis" web graphics. This is available for other Idaho public libraries who do not have a Drupal e-branch. Eric Hildreth explained in a message to LIBIDAHO:
"Recently, I sent out a post letting all of the participants of the Idaho Commission for Libraries' e-Branch in a Box service know this year's Summer Reading themes were available for use on their sites. I have received a ton of responses to this and was asked where the non-eBranch folks could get a version of the theme for their sites. Well, you asked for them, and now they are here! If you would like to use these templates on your website, please let me know and I will e-mail them out to you. I have created a zip archive of both the Metamorphosis theme and the Catch the Reading Bug theme. These zip files contain an example HTML template page, the CSS file that was used to style the template, and all the images that were used in the template.
Contact Eric at:
Eric Hildreth
Web Design Specialist | Idaho Commission for Libraries
208 334-2150 x146 | in-state toll-free: 800 458-3271
eric.hildreth@libraries.idaho.gov
Skype, Gtalk, Yahoo, MSN: ejhildreth
School Zone
Resource for School Newsletters
Ed Extras is a free monthly service that offers preschool programs, elementary schools and PTAs articles about learning that you can include in your parent newsletters. The one page articles are available either as a formatted PDF or as a Word document in both English and Spanish. It is easy to subscribe, and once you have signed up, you will receive an e-mail every month, letting you know that a new article is available. You can then either cut and paste the text of the article from the Word document into your newsletter, or you can print out the already formatted PDF and staple it in with the rest of your newsletter and distribute it to parents. Ed Extras is part of The Reading Rockets project, a initiative of WETA public television station.
Know the Numbers
Minneapolis Ranked "Most Literate City"
John Miller, president of Central Connecticut State University, has authored the 2007 America's Most Literate City (ALMC) survey, ranking American cities with population of 250,000 and above of six key indicators: newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment, and Internet resources. Over the past five years that the survey has been conducted, Miller has observed that Americans are attaining ever greater educational levels, but are frequenting bookstores and subscribing to newspapers less frequently. Forty-three of 59 cities studied have a higher percentage of high school graduates than they did five years ago, and 46 of the cities have a higher percentage of college graduates. Libraries are staying about even, with the number of library buildings, volumes in the collection, and circulation of books and other materials staying steady. Reading online is showing substantial growth. Almost all the cities surveyed have more free Internet access points. Joining Minneapolis at the top are Seattle (2nd), St. Paul, MN (3rd), Denver (4th), and Washington, DC (5th). For more information, go to: www.ccsu.edu/amlc.
A Closer Look at Puppets as Storytime Aides
By Cathy Schlief
Cathy works in the youth services department at the Ada Community Library. She says puppets are her favorite friends. “The article has clues to puppetry fun for those who wonder about whether or not to invite such critters into their storytime," she said.
Children come hungry to your storytime! Toddlers and preschoolers bring with them an appetite for learning. They are ready to gobble up the information you offer them through stories, music, rhymes and fingerplays. Some of the tidbits they gobble up quickly are concepts like opposites; loud & soft, fast and slow, heavy and light. Boys and girls are eating machines when it comes to learning the alphabet, colors, numbers and nursery rhymes. As librarians providing the storytime, we want to make the experience fun, maybe even laughable fun. Puppets will aid you in teaching concepts while providing laughter.
Those exotic, odd, and goofy looking characters called puppets can introduce your audience to opposites, colors, numbers, alphabet and nursery rhymes. I work with several puppets during each of the Toddler Storytimes at Ada Community Library. My cloth friends are always happy to help me. So, how does a puppet help with the above? Let me introduce two of my favorite critters and how their personality helps to teach simple concepts and nursery rhymes.
Take a look at Willy for example. Willy is a green felt dinosaur. His mouth is like working a sock puppet, lots of expression. This mixed-up dino introduces the children to the idea of opposites or colors or the alphabet. He is amazingly good about teaching the opposites loud and soft. When I ask him to speak softly, he speaks LOUDLY. When asked to speak loudly, Willy of course, speaks softly. Our routine goes something like this: “Willy, I am so glad that you are here today. Why don’t you tell the children good morning?” Willy responds only after clearing his throat and coughing. “GOOD MORNING CHILDREN” booms his voice. “Oh Willy,” I respond, “that is much too loud. Tell the children good morning again, but “softer.” Are you ready children? Are you ready to hear Willy greet you again, but softly this time?” I repeat. Willy takes time to clear his throat (this is half of the fun). He shouts louder, “GOOD MORNING.” I cover my ear and reply, “Oh my! You are so good at being loud, why don’t you say Hello, loudly then.” Willy gets ready by coughing on the children. (This is a good time to discuss the use of tissues.) “Okay, I’m ready to speak loudly,” answers the dinosaur. “Cover your ears,” he retorts. “Hello children,” he whispers. As you can tell, Willy is always mixed up about opposites.
From confused Willy I move into a new realm of laughter. Those wonderful old nursery rhymes are fun to teach. It is total fun helping children memorize one. Little Boy Blue is just one of many you can share with your audience. So, with a book in hand and pictures to share, I read through Little Boy Blue a couple of times. As a group, the children and I repeat the nursery rhyme two or three times. Now the audience is primed for fun. Out comes my helper, a floppy prince-in-gold hand puppet. After introducing him as my helper, he sits on my knee. (Beside me are two props the children aren’t paying attention to.) The children and the prince begin repeating Little Boy Blue. “Little Boy Blue come blow your balloon,” shouts the prince. I blow up a balloon and let it fly across the room. Youngsters squeal with delight. “Was that what little Boy Blue blew on?” I ask. The children shout “No.” What was it then?” I respond. “It was a horn!” children shout. Now we repeat the rhyme again. I say, “let’s repeat it again.” This time the puppet shouts out “Little Boy Blue come blow your nose.” Out comes a hankie from my side and prince-in-gold blows his nose. Of course, he blows noisily while burying his face in my hankie. You’ve guessed it. Everyone has to repeat the rhyme until it is right.
I hope that puppetry sounds like a good storytime activity and that you will try it. These are only a couple of fun ideas to encourage you to pull out those huggable cloth beings. Utilize them to teach early concepts such opposites, colors, numbers or the alphabet. Nursery rhymes deserve attention too. Use puppet aides to teach and entertain. Children will enjoy every morsel of fun you dish out to them.
Tips & Tools
Ezra Jack Keats Foundation has $500 mini-grants available
The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation announces its annual call for proposals for its $500 mini-grants for public and school library programs. Proposed programs should encourage literacy and creativity in children, but need not be related to Keats’ work. For ideas on programs or to download an application, go to www.ezra-jack-keats.org/programs/minigrant.html. Grant proposals are due September 15, 2008. Decisions will be announced by December of each year. You will receive notification by mail whether or not you have been awarded a grant.
Adolescent Literacy Website
Educators and parents have a new resource for helping children read and write better. AdLit.org, which targets educators and parents of adolescent readers, was recently launched from WETA Learning Media. Building on the success of sister sites ReadingRockets.org, ColorinColorado.org and LDOnLine.org, the new service focuses on helping students from fourth through 12th grades to read and write better. AdLit.org offers research-based articles, instructional material for classroom teachers, tips for parents, book recommendations, exclusive interviews with top authors, and a free, monthly e-newsletter called Word Up! It also features Mash Up, a blog about reading and teens.
News Beyond Idaho
A Dragon that Blogs
Some libraries have a storytime mascot, but the East Longmeadow Public Library in Massachusetts has taken it one step further. They developed a unique method of blogging to keep parents and children up to date about all the great things happening in the Children's Department. Leroy, the library dragon and ultimate reading buddy, has a new blog. He keeps families informed weekly (and sometimes daily) about special events, workshops, and story times, as well as dispensing his dragon-brand of wisdom about favorite books, activities, and holidays. He also asks for feedback from readers. You can read Leroy's blog at http://libraryleroy.blogspot.com/. [Source: WRapper: the newsletter of the Western Massachusetts Regional Library System, January/February 2008]
Multnomah County Library Inspires families to read and experience books together
Multnomah County Library (Portland, Oregon) staff created Every Family Reads to motivate families to read and experience books together. The 2008 program celebrates bilingual literacy. “We encourage your family to participate by reading and discussing the featured book, Yum! ¡Mmmm! ¡Qué Rico! Americas' Sproutings by Pat Mora. This special edition paperback provides the text in both English and Spanish. Look at the book one way, it's in English; flip it over, it's in Spanish. Author Pat Mora has won numerous awards for her many children's books and her work as a literacy advocate,” the library’s web site states. The site goes on to say:
Library promotional materials state, "Come to any library in the Multnomah County Library System beginning March 1 to sign up and get your gift copy of Yum! ¡Mmmm! ¡Qué Rico! Americas' Sproutings. Books and materials are most appropriate for children in grades K-5. To enhance your reading experience, the library will offer programs related to the book and bilingual literacy, such as the Childsplay National Tour theatrical presentation of Tomás and the Library Lady, a visit from Pat Mora, bilingual celebrations, and workshops involving poetry, crafts and food. Regardless of your family's cultural background, we hope you will embrace this opportunity to learn about language and culture together. One of the most important things parents can do to boost the educational success of their children is to read to them. We hope this program will inspire you to set aside some time to read together, talk about books in your home, and visit your neighborhood library. We look forward to hearing about your reading adventures!"
Every Family Reads is made possible by The Library Foundation and is supported by Meyer Memorial Trust, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and PGE Foundation. Additional support is provided by TriMet. For more information, see http://www.multcolib.org/familyreads/index.html.
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