BayNews September 2004

NEWS AND NOTES

Walter & Valerie Show New Favorites: Walter Mayes and Valerie Lewis, authors of Valerie and Walter's Best Books for Children, will be appearing at the Pleasanton Public Library, 400 Old Bernal Ave., on Saturday, Oct. 9 at 11am. This free program will feature the duo's favorite new books in a fast paced presentation for librarians, teachers, and parents. There is no registration required for this free program, phone 925-931-3405 for more information.

Children's novels too depressing? For a review of Barbara Feinberg's polemic on children's fiction Welcome to the Lizard Motel: Children, Stories, and the Mystery of Making Things Up (Beacon Press, 2004), see the Sunday, Aug. 22, 2004 issue of the New York Times Book Review.

In Tribute: Paula Danziger

Danziger, Paula. The Cat Ate My Gymsuit. Delacorte, 1974.

Paula Danziger was only 59 when she died suddenly last month from a heart attack. The author of many realistic and funny children's books, including the "Amber Brown" series, published her first book 30 years ago - The Cat Ate My Gymsuit.

Danziger's books have always been a great example of fiction that combines humor with honest portrayals of child angst. Her characters are not like TV sitcom kids, snapping out one-liners like a vaudeville comic, but with funny takes on real problems and situations that kids face.

In The Cat Ate My Gymsuit - the title is based on the protagonist's daily excuse as to why she cannot participate in gym class - Marcy is a great kid with what are now called "self-esteem issues." She doesn't like that she is overweight, shy, clumsy, and wears glasses, (not helped by a well-meaning but clueless skinny mom who focuses too much on looks). But the other kids in her class obviously like her, even popular Nancy and brainy Joel. This middle school heroine even gets asked to the dance, but those meaningful but mundane teen dating issues are not the main issue the kids face.

Their favorite teacher, Ms. Finney, is fired for not saluting the flag. She also is a newer teacher, trying some experimental techniques to teach English. Looking back from our viewpoint in 2004, her techniques (like making a video) are not experimental, and the fact she calls herself Ms, not Miss or Mrs., is not at all outlandish. But other than those two details, the rest of the book does not seem dated.

The book is a little exaggerated however, but that is exactly how an 8th grader talks and feels. Everything to them is the biggest deal, and everything seems to revolve around them, so the asinine school principal and verbally abusive father (to the point of being almost criminal), may seem arch to an adult reader but that is certainly how Marcie sees them. And the book may have a too-tidy ending, but kids will find it satisfying that the middle-schoolers have the moral compass, and the adults follow their lead.

If you haven't read one of Danziger's non-Amber Brown books in a while, try one. They are great to recommend to the quiet 6th grader.

Great Website to Bookmark
www.adl.org/bibliography

The Anti-Defamation League's website has a great resource for children's books. Its bibliography section lists hundreds of anti-bias books, arranged by subject. The list also gives each book a grade designation, like K-3, 4-6, etc., a color photo of the book jacket, and a short description of the book. These annotated bibliographies will be great for librarians to give to teachers and parents, as well as using them for our own booklists, displays, storytimes, etc.
The major book categories are Biography, Cultural & Religious, Customs & Traditions, Families & Friends, Folktales, Legends & Poems, and Prejudice & Discrimination. Within these categories, each list is broken down further; for example, Biography is subdivided into sections like Women Inventors, Civil Rights Leaders, etc. These lists will be great for collection development, too.

Re-Releases or New Editions

Steele, William O. all Harcourt, 2004, $17 hardback, $5.95 paperback:
The Buffalo Knife, HB: 0-15-205214-3.
PB: 0-15-205215-1.
The Flaming Arrow, HB: 0-15-205212-7.
PB: 0-15-205213-5.
The Perilous Road, HB: 0-15-205203-8.
PB: 0-15-205204-6.
Winter Danger, HB: 0-15-205205-4.
PB: 0-15-205206-2.

Harcourt has released new editions of four of William O. Steele's historical fiction books aimed at 4th-6th graders. Probably his best know work is The Perilous Road, a Newbery Honor book in 1958. These new editions have brief introductions by Jean Fritz, written in 1990. She mentions that these books use outdated phrases like "Injun," but explains that the characters would have used that word in the 1800's. Even though these books were all written in the 1950's, they are quickly paced and should appeal to contemporary children, especially boys. The chapters end in cliff-hangers, and the historical events are depicted in an immediate manner that really brings history to life. The new full-color jacket art is also quite appealing, depicting the different boys who are at the center of each novel.

Taylor, Theodore. all Harcourt, 2004, $17 hardback, $5.95 paperback:
Teetoncey, HB: 0-15-205298-4. PB: 0-15-205294-1.
Teetoncey and Ben O'Neal, HB: 0-15-205296-8. PB: 0-15-205297-6.
Odyssey of Ben O'Neal, HB: 0-15-205299-2. PB: 0-15-205295-X.

Best known for The Cay, Theodore Taylor is still writing from his home in Laguna Beach, California. Harcourt has released new editions of the "Cape Hatteras Trilogy," focusing on Ben and a mute girl he rescues off the coast of North Carolina. Written in the 1970's, these adventure stories don't have some of the archaic language that Steele used (see above), and each has a map of the real Outer Banks where the novels take place.
Each book also has new jacket art of the protagonists that should attract new readers looking for a combination of action, adventure, and historical settings. I also appreciate that Taylor has chosen to focus the novels on a male and female, giving the books very wide audience appeal; too few adventure stories feature a female protagonist.

Halloween Program Ideas

Here are some "do it yourself" Halloween Program Ideas, adapted from a recent compilation on the PUBYAC Listserv. With library budget cuts, you can use just a few of these to enhance a Halloween Storyhour or use several to do a library program, without spending a lot of money. Many of these ideas may be familiar to long-time librarians, but newer librarians may need some tried and true ideas!

Margaret Read MacDonald relates how to tell a Witches' Brew story using an overhead projector in "When the Lights Go Out: 20 Scary Tales to Tell." Using a pyrex pie plate filled with water, the image is projected on a wall where the kids can see it, as you add and stir various spooky ingredients ("bile of frog" - green food coloring, "bone of bat" twig) and then toss in bromo crystals at the end for the stew to bubble and turn black.

Try "The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything" by Linda Williams. The kids in the audience act out all the motions and volunteer kids hold each piece of clothing. At the end you have an assembled scarecrow on a stick that you pull out. You can either use real clothes (and use a second set of the same for the scarecrow) or make them from laminated construction paper and assemble the scarecrow with a second set held together with paper fasteners. A nice touch is to have the storyteller sitting in a rocking chair. Other good interactive stories to pair with this are: "Big Pumpkin" by Erica Silverman (again act out with volunteers, audience choruses out the repeated words), and "One Dark Night" by Edna Mitchell Preston.

Put the Boo! In Bookmark For Halloween:
Help yourself to free library bookmarks at...
http://www.ssdesign.com/librarypr/content/p100400a.shtml

'Gross out' spooky laboratory scavenger hunt:
Put different items in bags (not clear but opaque bags, so the kids cannot see through the bag), and let kids guess which body part is in the bag. Jello makes a great heart or liver, candy corn works for teeth, a baby carrot left out so it gets somewhat soft is a terrific finger, cold spaghetti for intestines, and a dried apricot is shaped like and really feels like an ear. A rubber glove with warm water and tied at the end feels like a real hand.

For a creative literacy-based project I created a black spooky house out a rectangular tall box. I spray painted it, cut out windows and glued curtains inside and hung a big spider from the roof and put cobwebs and ghosts inside the windows. I cut out a silhouette of a leafless tree, a mummy and a cat and I used it as a way for children to create a story as a group. Each child (that wanted to) added a sentence to the story, using something that was on the house. We had a silly but workable story, and it was a fun time. We typed it up and made copies towards the end, so kids could take the story home. It was only about 2 paragraphs long.

Try "We're Going on a Ghost Hunt" (variation of Bear Hunt). It will appeal to younger kids who may be too frightened of really scary stories. They will also enjoy crafts and face painting. You can make masks or simple puppets. For a snack, try some traditional doughnut holes, apples, and trays of candy. Put apple cider in a punch bowl with gummy worms for a deliciously icky punch.

Other favorite books: "Frank Was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance," " Brooms are for Flying," " Where the Wild Things Are," " Jeepers Creepers: A Monsterous ABC," "The Ghost-Eye Tree," and "My Monster Mama Loves Me So."

Penny Peck,
San Leandro PL