BayNews March 2005

NEWS AND NOTES

ACL Meetings back in Oakland: Oakland Public Library, Main, has completed the renovation of the Children's Room, so ACL's monthly meetings will move back to Oakland, beginning with the meeting in May, 2005. Meeting time is 9:00am-3:30pm. Thanks to Berkeley Public Library for hosting ACL's meetings for the past year and a half while the construction was taking place!

Reviewers please note: Double-check the editorial guidelines on our website, www.bayviews.org, if you have any questions on format or style matters.

BayNews needs you! BayNews welcomes any articles, news, ideas on storytime or programs, etc. Just send any articles as a Word attachment to email, to Penny Peck at Pikly@aol.com. Thanks!

Performers Showcase
Draws Hundreds

The 19th Annual Performers Showcase drew librarians from across the Bay Area to see 38 different children's entertainers. Held on February 26, 2005, this was the last showcase held at the San Leandro Library. Next year, ACL will hold the showcase at Fremont Main. There was a wide variety of performers, including magicians, clowns, puppeteers, storytellers, animal presentations, and jugglers. Several ACL members worked to make the showcase a success, including emcees Mary Schraeder, Allison Angell, and Armin Arethna, treasurer Sherry Kumler, flyer artist Chuck Ashton, and all the librarians who recommended performers to the event.

The event was organized by Penny Peck, ACL member from the San Leandro Library, who is unable to continue chairing this event due to work demands. She explained, "I have been teaching two classes per semester at San Jose State, on children's literature to grad students working on their masters in library science, so I needed to cut down on my volunteer activities. I know the ACL members who will conduct the showcase next year will do a great job, and I look forward to sitting in the audience next year!"

Peck also expressed her gratitude to ACL for the generous "thank you" gift certificate for theatre tickets, to celebrate her last year as showcase chair. "I had a great 20 year run, now some of the younger librarians can give it a try. I hope they have as much fun as I have had!" Peck will continue as ACL's BayNews editor.

For more information about the 2006 showcase, check ACL's website, www.bayviews.org, for periodic updates.

Storytelling Festival to Celebrate 20th Year

The Bay Area Storytelling Festival will celebrate its 20th anniversary May 21 and 22, 2005, with its event at Kennedy Grove Regional Recreation Area in El Sobrante. Storytellers from across the United States will headline the event.

Dovie Thomason Sickles from Waldorf, Maryland will tell stories from her Lakota and Apache relatives. Award-winning teller Donald Davis will tell stories reflecting his Southern upbringing. Charlotte Blake Alston incorporates music, poetry, and history into her stories celebrating African-American culture. Puppeteer Willie Claflin tells a wide variety of stories, including Scottish ballads, often emphasizing humor. Bay Area team Eth-Noh-Tec, starring Robert Kikuchi Yngojo and Nancy Wang use music, dance, and rhythm to tell stories from Asian cultures.

The weekend also includes special workshops, musical performances, and a story swap. For registration information see the website at www.bayareastorytelling.org.

Notable Reissue

Peter Pan and Wendy, by J.M. Barrie
Illustrated by Robert Ingpen
Foreword by David Barrie
One-Hundredth Anniversary Edition
NY: Orchard Books, 2004 216 pp.

This one-hundredth anniversary edition of the beloved tale of Peter Pan and Wendy includes new illustrations and a foreword by Barrie's great-great-nephew. The text is the original. Ingpen's illustrations appear to be watercolor and colored pencil. They are fuzzy, and mostly sketch-like. Still, this will be useful to replace worn or missing copies, especially in light of the surge in popularity caused by the live action film "Peter Pan" and the recent semi-biographical film "Finding Neverland."

Kathy L. Haug, Richmond Public Library

Do-It-Yourself History Program for Summer - "Dragons & Dreams"

There are a variety of programs you can do without hiring an outside entertainer. Think of these like a children's birthday party, where you organize some games, crafts, a snack, and other hands-on activities. I usually start the program by reading a couple of great picture books, then we break out into various stations, set at tables around a large meeting room (or even at tables in the children's library, or outside at a branch). At each station, we try to have at least two teen volunteers to run that activity - they make sure everyone shares the supplies, help younger children who are not accustomed to using scissors, etc. We make a "Table Tent" showing the activity instructions, so the teen volunteer can refer to it, or older children or parents can read the instructions for themselves if they choose. These "do-it-yourself" programs have covered everything from Harry Potter Parties to Science or History programs. Here is a "do-it-yourself" program that doesn't take too much staff time or expenses, except for the low cost of some craft materials and the refreshments:

KING ARTHUR PARTY
This can attract a wide range of children, from preschoolers to middle schoolers who have studied the Middle Ages. Start with a read-aloud of young King Arthur and the Sword in the Stone legend:

Sabuda, Robert. Arthur and the Sword. Atheneum, 1995.

SanSouci, Robert D. Young Arthur. Doubleday, 1997.

Cole, Joanna. Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Medieval Castle. Scholastic, 2003.

Then, we played a Sword in the Stone game - we had a papier mache stone with a toy sword inside. There was a magnet glued on the end of the sword that picked up paper-clipped papers. The papers opened to indicate what prize was won. This was really popular, and everyone won a prize.

We also made a variation on Pin the Tail on the Donkey - Pin the horn on the Unicorn!

Craft stations: We had several craft stations, and kids took as long as they wanted to make the items. We had dragon puppets, crowns, castles, paper stained glass windows, family crests, and other medieval art projects. Look in Avery Hart's Knights and Castles: 50 Hands-on Activities to Experience the Middle Ages, Williamson Pub., 1998. Another great book for craft ideas is Elizabeth Ingrid Hauser's Princess Crafts, Sterling Publishing, 2004.

Science Book Awards

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), with generous support from Subaru, announced the winners of the first ever SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books at their annual meeting's Family Science Day event. SB&F, the review journal of AAAS, marks its 40th anniversary this year with the creation of the SB&F Prizes celebrating science writing and illustration. The 2005 SB&F Prizes honored five authors and one illustrator for their lasting contribution to science literature for children and young adults.

AAAS and Subaru Congratulate the 2005 SB&F Prize Winners:

Children's Science Books authors:
Patricia Lauber
Laurence Pringle
Seymour Simon

Children's Hands-on Science Books author:
Bernie Zubrowski

Children's Science Book illustrator:
Jim Arnosky

Young Adult Science Book author:
James Trefil

The 2006 SB&F Prizes will honor recently published, individual science books. For more information on the SB&F Prizes, please visit
www.sbfonline.com/prizes.

JEWISH STARS: RECOMMENDED BOOKS WITH JEWISH THEMES FOR SCHOOLS & LIBRARIES

"JEWISH STARS: Recommended Books with Jewish Themes for Schools and Libraries" is now available on the website of the Association of Jewish Libraries in PDF format, free for downloading at www.jewishlibraries.org. This new, annotated bibliography will enable teachers, librarians, and parents identify recommended books that will help children learn about the Jewish religion, Jewish culture, Jewish history, Israel, and contemporary Jewish life.

The twenty-nine page bibliography includes over 200 titles that are appropriate and relevant for public school, public library, and other general collections, and are accessible to readers with limited knowledge of Judaism. The bibliography is organized by topic: Basic Judaism & Other Religions, Jewish Biographies, Contemporary Jewish Life, Jewish Folklore, Jewish History, Jewish Holidays, Israel, Jewish
Life Cycle Events, and World War II & the Holocaust. Each topic is divided by age level. A list of web resources, review publications, conferences, and other resources is also included.

"This is a really outstanding piece of work that deserves wide distribution," explained Linda Silver, President of the Synagogue, School, and Center Division of the Association of Jewish Libraries. "Part of our mission is to foster access to information, learning, teaching and research relating to Jews, Judaism, the Jewish experience, and Israel so this marks a real achievement for the Association of Jewish Libraries."

"Lemony Snicket"
Programming Ideas

With the April 2005 scheduled release of the "Lemony Snicket" movie on DVD, many libraries may want to plan a Lemony Snicket party. If you want to show the film, be sure to check out the public performance rights if showing the DVD, or you can rent the 16mm film; check with SWANK motion pictures on rights and rental fees.

There are lots of other great programming ideas on "The Series of Unfortunate Events," many of which were listed on the PUBYAC listserv. Here are some ideas that could be done at any size library, or at a kids' book discussion group, plus, you can visit www.lemonysnicket.com for trading cards to print out, other games, etc.
- build an invention (using any materials you have around, we used straws and pipe cleaners and paper clips and anything left over from other projects) to rescue papers stuck in a "fire" (pile of sticks) - the idea is that because the fire is hot, you can't get too close to it!
-Pin the Teeth on Sunny (like Pin the Tail on the Donkey)
-guess how many peppermints are in the jar (Baudelaires can't eat them)
-get eye tattoo on left ankle (rubber stamp)
-make a Count Olaf eyebrow using white "bump" chenille stems, then hold a Count Olaf Look-alike contest with eyebrows
-Reptile Room -make paperplate snake (decorate & cut in a coil, pattern for spiral snake available at www.enchantedlearning.com)
-Mr. Poe hacking contest using a microphone (prizes: throat lozenges)
-eyeball juggling (draw eyes on ping-pong balls)

Refreshments: lemonade and "eyeball" cookies (oval shaped sugar cookies with a frosting eyeball detailed with black and red decorator icing), lemon candy, eyeball candy, gummy snakes.

Penny Peck,
San Leandro PL