December 2002

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Upcoming Events for Children's LibrariansThurs. Dec. 12, 2002 ACL Meeting, 9a.m., Berkeley Public Libr., *Note location change

NEWS AND NOTES

Author Aileen Fisher Dies: Aileen Fisher, who authored more than 100 books for children, died at age 96 at her home in Boulder, Colorado. Many of her books were rhyming picture books, or collections of her poetry.

International Children's Digital Library: The federal Institute of Museum and Library Service has a proto-type website that will eventually have 10,000 children's books available to read online at www.icdlbooks.org. The books are aimed at children ages 3-13, and will come from 100 cultures. Currently, the site has 200 books in 18 languages. This website was designed in part to meet the needs of children in remote locations or those underserved by schools and libraries.
"Wounded Knee" Author Dies: Dee Brown, author of Buried My Heart At Wounded Knee, as well as several books for children on the American West and Native American Indian history, died at age 94. Brown was also a librarian, working for the Dept. of Agriculture and University of Illinois.

Picture Book Museum: The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art opened on Nov. 22, 2002. The "Very Hungry Caterpillar" author is a major sponsor of the Amherst, Mass., museum, which features the work of Maurice Sendak, Leo Lionni, and others.

Join the "BayNews" Staff: "BayNews" welcomes all types of articles from our members, including storytime columns, media reviews, opinion columns, and reviews of professional reading. Just email articles to Penny Peck at Pikly@aol.com. No limits on the number of words, types of articles, etc.

Errata: In the November 2002 issue of BayViews, the review of Starting With Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has a typo: it should say, "Alice McKinley is back!" not "Alice McKinley is black," (italics mine). Also, the review of Giselle Potter's The Year I Didn't Go To School did not mention the misspelled "It's" or the errors in the Italian translation. We apologize.

BAY AREA LIBRARIANS WRITE NEW LATINO CRAFT BOOK

Pavon, Ana-Elba, and Borrego, Diana. 25 Latino Craft Projects, "Celebrating Culture In Your Library" series, ALA, 2003. $30.00/0-8389-0833-0.
Ana-Elba Pavon, Children's Services Manager at the San Francisco Public Library's Mission Branch, and Diana Borrego, children's librarian at the San Jose Public Library, have written a new book on Latino craft projects for librarians and teachers to use in libraries and schools. Part of the "Celebrating Culture's In Your Library" series from ALA (American Library Association), the book stems from a program they did at a California Library Association Conference five years ago. They are also both active members in Biblioteca Para La Gente, the Northern California chapter of REFORMA.

These two children's librarians should be congratulated for such a practical, useful book that is chock full of ideas to use for library programming. Crafts are not the only thing, however - there are also recipes, history on many Latino holidays and celebrations, and an annotated booklist of stories that are perfect for library storyhours.

The introductory chapter offers a wealth of advice on library programming in general, from how to advertise your program to using volunteers, holding a raffle, registration procedures, using music and poetry in your storytimes, and how to evaluate your success. Many of the books and songs offered in the bibliography are in Spanish and English, making them easy to use in a Bilingual Storytime, which is a growing trend in California.
But librarians in states with few Latino residents will still find this useful, because they do such a good job of explaining the history and culture, and offer clear step-by-step instructions for the projects. They even list vendors from which you can order supplies in case you live in an area without a Mexican grocery store. Of course, most of the crafts use tissue paper, glue, yarn, clay, and paints; materials many of us keep in our offices for spur of the moment craft programs!
Every library and school in California will find this book useful; even "craft-phobic" people will find something they can do, like the simple straw streamers or paper beads. I look forward to the next book from Pavon and Borrego!

Penny Peck,
San Leandro Public Library

Books for Children's Librarians

HarperCollins Treasury of Picture Book Classics: A Child's First Collection. HarperCollins, 2002. $24.99/ISBN 0-06-008094-9.

Although this is not made for libraries, this is the type of book many of us will want to give as a gift, or recommend to patrons who ask "What is a good book to buy as a gift?" This collection is unusual in that every word and picture is included, and in the full size that the books were originally published. At 25 bucks, this is really an extraordinary value, with 12 of the most popular and well-respected picture books ever published. These are not the grocery store favorites, but award winners and Notable books, packaged together in a coffee table-sized book that will be read over and over again.

The book has an introduction from Valerie Lewis, founder of "Hicklebee's" children's bookstore in San Jose, CA. It also has an index, suggested bibliography, and endnote from the editor, Katherine Brown Tegen. The royalties from the book will be donated to First Book, a national nonprofit that works to give free books to children of low income families, which often works with Families for Literacy programs.

All of the 12 titles included will be favorites: from Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina, to newer books like If You Give A Mouse A Cookie by Laura Numeroff and Pete's A Pizza by William Steig. Each "book" is followed by a page of extension activities; these include discussion starters for parent and child as well as hands-on art activities. This page also includes a one-paragraph biography of the author and illustrator.
But the extension activities pages aren't what make this great, although they in no way take away from the collection. It is the 12 choices, done fully with all the white space, colors, and original page layouts, that make this so wonderful. My particular favorite is Crockett Johnson's Harold and the Purple Crayon. It is so revolutionary that it is hard to believe it is as old as I am, published in 1955. The unique look at a child's imagination, and the nearly surreal concept and execution in the pristine illustrations, could have been published today and be just as innovative and original. It is doubly hard to believe that this came out at the height of the conformity of the Eisenhower administration!

The collection also reflects the inclusion of social concerns, with one African-American character, the baby in John Steptoe's Baby Says (1988) and gender stereotyping, in William Pene DuBois' William's Doll (1972).

One of my old favorites that isn't as popular as Goodnight Moon, but is included, is Tomi Ungerer's Crictor. Kids and parents don't know about this book, but when I use it in storyhour, all of Ungerer's books circulate in greater numbers! Another old favorite is the Hoban's A Baby Sister for Frances, which looks "old fashioned" to kids at first glance, but once they hear the story, they can't wait for the others in the series.

For most of us, the twelve single volumes are the best way to read these books. But grandmothers may want a copy of the "Treasury" so they can read it when the grandchildren come to visit.

Penny Peck,
San Leandro Public Library

Berenstain, Stan & Jan. Down A Sunny Dirt Road: An Autobiography. Random House, 2002, $20/ISBN 0-375-81403-5.

Not being a big Berenstain Bears fan (I was already reading when their first books were released), I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy this as much as I did. I know kids check their books out of my library in huge numbers, and I find their work a light and humorous look at everyday problems, but this autobiography gave me a new appreciation for their style of artwork and look at their subject matter.

Most of the book focuses on their youth and experiences during World War II. As samples from art school show, they both were serious art students; cartooning was a way to make a living. Strolling through the book, I realized I had been a junior high fan of their "other" series, "It's All In the Family," a comic similar to "Family Circus" with human (not bear) characters, but with older preteen characters and their parents. I had several of these paperbacks and enjoyed their cartoons in McCall's and Good Housekeeping magazines.

Another interesting portion of the book describes their work with Dr. Seuss, who served as their first editor. He was clearly a unique person who made a huge impression on the Berenstains, and was influential in their early success. In fact, it was Dr. Seuss who decided the Bears should be named after the couple.
Kids who grew up reading "Berenstain Bears" will find this interesting because it covers such a wide field, including their childhoods and schooling. With lots of spot illustrations, examples of their Bears and other cartoons and artwork, and family photos, this is a brisk, interesting read.

Penny Peck,
San Leandro Public Library

New Releases of Old Favorites

Knopf Publishing has released the wonderful children's novels by Roald Dahl in new editions illustrated by Quentin Blake. Some of the original books had illustrations by Dahl; my old copies of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator had Dahl's distinctive pen and ink drawings.
These new releases will be useful as replacement copies - in fact, for some of Dahl's books, like The Twits, these are the only hardbacks in print. They are handsomely designed by Molly Leach, with striped endpapers decorated with cartoons of the characters, in a variety of metallic-colored jackets. Each of the novels concludes with an interview with Dahl (the same in each book); only "Revolting Rhymes" doesn't have the interview.
Blake's energetic cartoon-style pairs well with Dahl's fantasies. It is refreshing to see a chapter book for ages 9-12 with drawings and spot art every few pages; I wish more novels for youth had drawings to decorate the pages.

If you are interested in replacing worn copies of Dahl's books, these are fine additions. Here is a list of the library binding editions available, all from Knopf, all 2001 or 2002, all $17.99:

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY: 0-375-91526-5.

CHARLIE AND THE GREAT GLASS ELEVATOR: 0-375-91525-7.

DANNY THE CHAMPION OF THE WORLD: 0-375-91425-0.

FANTASTIC MR. FOX: 0-375-92207-5.

GEORGE'S MARVELOUS MEDICINE:
0-375-92206-7.

JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH:
0-375-91424-2.

ROALD DAHL'S REVOLTING RHYMES:
0-375-91556-7.

THE TWITS: 0-375-92242-3.

WONDERFUL WORLD OF HENRY SUGAR AND SIX MORE: 0-375-91423-4.

Penny Peck,
San Leandro PL