MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Upcoming Events for Children’s Librarians
NEWS AND NOTES
Wild about "Harry": In less than four weeks, the new "Harry Potter" film has made more than $200 million dollarsin the U.S and $500 million world-wide, and is starting to appear on some film critics’ end-of-the-year "Best" lists. However, early critical buzz is that the new "Lord of the Rings" film is even better than "Harry Potter."
"Harry" in Latin and Greek: J.K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, will be published in both Latin and Ancient Greek. Bloomsbury, the British publisher of the Harry Potter books, has hired Eton professor Peter Needham to do the translations.
"Forever" by Judy Blume is Banned: The middle schools in Elgin, Illinois removed all copies of Judy Blume’s novel Forever from their libraries, although it remained in the high school libraries. The parent who is the principle advocate for the book’s banishment homeschools her children. The school librarians have appealed the decision, and the school board is deadlocked as to whether or not to put the book back into the middle school libraries. Forever is the only book that has been removed from a school in that district, so far, and the case is still pending.
Mitzi Myers Dies: Longtime UCLA lecturer and children’s literature scholar Mitzi Myers died on Nov. 5, 2001, of pneumonia and the after-effects of a home fire. She was 62. Myers wrote numerous articles on children’s literature, and edited anthologies.
To Our Readers: This issue is a little briefer than usual. Thank you for your patience. I am nearing the end of a four-year term on ALA’s Notable Children’s Books Committee, which has taken my time away from writing BayNews, but I should be able to devote more time to it after the ALA Midwinter meeting. Thanks again to all our readers for supporting BayNews.
Media Review
Joel ben Izzy. "Lights & Laughter: Joel ben Izzy Spins Hanukkah Tales." Old City Press, CD$17. ISBN 0-9712976.
Berkeley storyteller Joel ben Izzy has a new recording of Hanukkah stories, which will be welcome to library patrons who have seen him perform storires, and those who enjoyed his previous recordings. His earlier CD’s and tapes have received Parent’s Choice Awards and have been named to ALA’s Notable Children’s Recordings list.
"Lights & Laughter" includes both traditional and new stories, and is highlighted by the musical accompaniment by "The Kings of Klezmer." Also featured on the recording are the voices of friends and family, which add a layer of richness that help give the feeling of seeing Joel live in performance.
There are eight selections on this recording, beginning with a humorous version of the origin of Hanukkah. Then he follows with a witty description of some of the Hanukkah traditions, like latkas, gelt, and dreidels. His stories are truly for listeners of all ages. "Luck vs. Wisdom" is a fairytale about a princess who doesn’t want to be married to the wrong man.
"My Favorite Menorah" is a brief, personal story about a menorah ben Izzy bought in Israel. "Watching the Candles Burn" is the concluding story, a personal anecdote.
Three of the stories are adaptations of written versions, and the CD liner notes describe the sources for the stories, similar to the best folklore books noting sources. "The Tale of a Shammes" is based on Steve Sanfield’s "What He Could Have Been." "Boy Israel and the Witch" is adapted from a story by the same name found in Howard Schwartz’s Elijah’s Violin & Other Jewish Fairy Tales. "Hanukkah in Chelm" is adapted from a story by Jacob Luria.
To order Joel ben Izzy’s "Lights & Laughter" and other recordings, write Old City Press, 1715 La Loma Ave., Berkeley, CA 94709, or phone 510-339-9320 or 866-236-4999, or visit the website www.storypage.com. You can also contain him regarding storytelling appearances at public libraries.
Books of Special Interest to Children’s Librarians
Jim Trelease. THE READ-ALOUD HANDBOOK: FIFTH EDITION. Penguin, 2001, $15. ISBN 0-14-100161-5.
Now in its fifth edition, Trelease’s update is double the size of his first edition. I have always found the "Read-Aloud Handbook" useful when preparing speeches I need to give to local parents’ groups, as Trelease is concise in his explanations of the importance of reading. With just the right amount of statistics, and quotable quotes, like "99 percent of high school seniors could identify "Beavis and Butthead," but 78 percent couldn’t identify the last line of the Gettysburg Address – even with multiple choice," page 4, Trelease really grabs the reader. Trelease gives a detailed source note list so the reader can follow up on his statistics or other information.
Librarians will be especially interested in Chapter 6, detailing how important libraries are to encouraging a love of reading. Trelease describes several successful library practices, like the increase in marketing and attractive displays where the books are facing out like a bookstore. This chapter also describes the new program Reach Out and Read, where doctors give free new books during well-baby visits.
The fifth edition also delves into how the Internet relates to reading. Trelease isn’t a big fan of the Internet, and he notes that most children cannot discern what is true and what is not on the Internet. And he is not a fan of television. He is a big fan of "Harry Potter," and of book discussion clubs.
The first half of the book is like a pep talk to parents, teachers, and librarians on ways to help promote reading, methods, reasons, and so forth. The last half of the book is called "Treasury of Read-Alouds," which is his annotated bibliography of hundreds of favorite books. He lists picture books, fiction, poetry, and folklore. He doesn’t spend too much time on nonfiction, probably because he is choosing the books a parent would read out loud to children.
Every library should have this on their shelf of parenting books, but librarians may want to keep a reference copy to refer to when you need to grab a quick statistic or pithy quote.
Penny Peck,