June 2005
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Upcoming Events for Children's Librarians
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Upcoming Events for Children's Librarians
ACL Officers Nominated: The ACL Nominating Committee has offered the following slate for the 2005-2006 year: Vice President/President Elect: Allison Angell, Benicia Public Library, Secretary: Derrick DeMay, Oakland Public Library, Treasurer: Sherrill Kumler, Hayward Public Library. ACL’s election will take place at the August meeting.
New ACL Webmaster: Thanks and congratulations go out to our webmaster Shellie Cocking of the San Francisco Public Library. Due to her new promotion, she is unable to continue volunteering for this ACL job. Lucy Meinhardt has agreed to step in and take on this job, and Joy Shioshita will be helping Lucy learn the ropes. Thanks to all!
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!
Professional Interest
Shepard, Aaron. STORIES ON STAGE: SCRIPTS FOR READER’S THEATRE, Second Edition. Shepard Publications, 2005. $15. ISBN 0-938497-22-7.
Shepard has released a revised version of his first book on Reader’s Theater, first published in 1993. Since then, he has also written READERS ON STAGE: RESOURCES FOR READERS THEATER (2004), and FOLKTALES ON STAGE: SCRIPTS FOR READERS THEATER (2003). The three books work hand-in-hand and are essential for any children’s librarian who does programming for school-age children.
For the novice, Reader’s Theater is the simplest version of play production: the actors stand on stage, with script in hand, and read their roles with very little blocking, and often with no costumes, scenery, or props. It is a great way to get kids to read, and Shepard’s scripts are based on books that the kids will want to seek out after seeing or performing in one of these scripts.
Fifteen scripts are featured here, including scripts based on the popular novels THE TWITS by Roald Dahl and SIDEWAYS STORIES FROM WAYSIDE SCHOOL by Louis Sachar. Picture books adapted include Shepard’s THE LEGEND OF LIGHTNING LARRY, Wanda Gag’s MILLIONS OF CATS, and Russell Hoban’s HOW TOM BEAT CAPTAIN NAJORK. Folktale adaptations include Steve Sanfield’s “The Fools of Chelm” and Caryn Yacowitz’s “The Jade Stone.” Shepard is wonderfully adept at choosing elements from the books to make great scripts.
Most of the scripts require 6-12 readers, but can be easily adapted for an entire classroom to participate. Shepard’s useful introductory chapter gives simple, clear advice for the novice teacher in using Reader’s Theater with children. The costumes, props, and staging are so minimal that even an adult with no community theater experience can organize kids into a Reader’s Theater group.
Teachers and librarians are urged to visit Shepard’s extensive website, www.aaronshep.com/rt for more scripts, and further advice on organizing youth Reader’s Theater groups.
MEDIA WATCH
Fromer, Dave. “Shake a Hand” music CD, 2004. $15. www.davefromermusic.com.
Local musician/singer Dave Fromer has a new CD, with many of the songs written by his brother Jon Fromer in a folksong-style. The 14 songs have themes like bedtime, seasons, animals, and nature, that will appeal to preschool through primary grade elementary age children.
The musical accompaniment is a real stand-out on this recording, with great acoustic and electric guitar, banjo, mandolin, drums, marimba, and other percussion. Instead of the tinny electronic music too often found on CDs for kids, this “real” music is very infectious and masterfully done. Fromer’s adult son Reed is one of the musicians on the recording.
Dave Fromer’s pleasant tenor voice has an everyman quality that invites one to sing-along; his choices of keys and pitch are right where kids (and parents) can join in. The songs have a nice variety of tempos, from lullaby to ragtime, to folk and pop. The handful of songs not written by Jon Fromer include Mary Chapin Carpenter’s “Dreamland,” and “Autumn to May,” originally recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary.
Forty years ago, the Fromer brothers and a partner were folksingers in the Bay Area, and recorded an album. His professionalism is very apparent in this new recording for kids. The Mill Valley resident has been a soccer coach for a long time, and he may have tried these songs out on kids. They certainly are a perfect fit for school assemblies in their lyric content and the musical arrangements of the songs. To contact Dave Fromer, visit is website or phone (415) 383-0450. He does library and school concerts.
Sandi and Stevie. “Sealife Songs” music CD, 2004. $16. www.sandiandstevie.com.
In their follow up to their “Insect Songs” CD, duo Sandi and Stevie have written 18 original songs celebrating ocean life. The Danville residents often do school and library concerts in the Bay Area, and can be contacted at their website. They have performed at Children’s Fairyland and were featured on KPIX’s “Evening Magazine” TV show.
Child narrators and singers join Sandi and Stevie on this CD, and the mellow electronic musical accompaniment is very soothing. Even preschoolers will enjoy this, with songs like “Sealife A to Z” or “Fishy Fishy Fishy” with repetition that toddlers can join in on!
Kids will make up choreography to go along with “Jellyfish Flop” and “Ballerina Octopus.” On some songs, Sandi and Stevie sing in character voices tailored to the ocean creature they are depicting.
The children’s chorus is very talented, and Stevie’s tenor voice and Sandi’s light blues-infused pop sound will be one parents will like as much as kids. The CD is done in keys and pitches that easily allow kids to sing-along.
Lauren Mayer. “Second Grade Rocks! Smart Songs for Super Kids” music CD. 2004, Curriculum Rocks. $15. www.curriculumrocks.com.
In the follow-up to “First Grade Rocks!” a dozen new songs link to the curriculum to help kids learn to read, tell time, describe adverbs and adjectives, distinguish amounts of money, identify fossils, and much more. Lauren Mayer writes the songs and sings lead on most cuts. Her sister Nancy Pohlod is a teacher, and she provides the educational content.
Many other singers and musicians work on the album, including a kids chorus, lead vocals by Scott Grinthal, and sax and trumpet players, keyboardists, drummers, and guitar players.
The lyrics are really inventive, and the songs will grab the attention of all ages. The song about money is fresh and different, yet the chorus “Money, Money, Money” may remind some parents of Donald Trump’s TV theme song. “Pieces of a Quilt,” which celebrates diversity, has a Latin rhythm that could be played on pop radio.
The first cut, “Reading to Learn,” will be popular with librarians, with lyrics like “Doing research which is really cool, and a book is the place to go.” “We Work It Out” describes conflict resolution, where kids on the playground negotiate minor tiffs instead of tattling to the teacher. “Adverbs and Adjectives” won’t replace the excellent songs from ABC TV’s “Schoolhouse Rock,” but it is catchy and uses a girl group rock sound.
They have a two new CDs out that are not yet available for review: “California Bound!” which works well with 4th grade, and “Kindergarten Rocks!” Check their website for ordering information and prices for all the CDs.
Penny Peck,
San Leandro PL