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EDITORS CORNER
Note from the copy-editors to the member-reviewers:
Okay, look: We know you want to tell us the WHOLE story, but we don't have time for that! Please don't tell us "what happened", just tell us "what the book is about". We know you've heard this before, but still we editors find ourselves striking out many long sentences. To help everyone understand, here's an example:
First, the long version:
"Vera, born in Croatia to a Serb father and Croat mother, immigrates at age 14, with her family, to Chicago, in the early 1970s. But within months, they must move again to the Bay Area for her father's engineering work. Leaving her best friends in Croatia is difficult enough, but when her young brother contracts tuberculosis and must remain in Chicago, along with their mother, Vera, alone with her father for the first time in her life, feels abandoned. The delightfully illustrated correspondence with her grandmother in Zagreb becomes Vera's lifeline. Although her grandmother offers much more than recipes for Vera to cook for her father, her advice leads to a near-disaster with a local shopkeeper's son.
After a series of increasing serious but humorous misunderstandings, and a night spent in an INS detention cell, Vera finds the inner strength both to cope with the changes in location, language, and family life, and to accept apologies and allow friendships to blossom. In the heroic and inspiring final chapter, her family is reunited, and she has grown enough to help care for them as well. Recipes are included."
Now, the short version:
"In this inspiring and humorous first novel set in 1974, 14-year-old Vera, of Serbian and Croatian heritage, immigrates to the United States and finds a way to cope with the changes prompted by the move and the serious health issues facing her younger brother. Alone with her father in the Bay Area, she also navigates the waters of new friendships, new independence and new responsibilities with humor. Letters between Vera and her grandmother in Zagreb add perspective and visual delight. Recipes are included."
The point is that the editors can't simply strike out excess plot details. Only you can find the right words to succinctly combine the salient plot elements and your opinion about the book. Readers will discover the details; librarians need a rough sketch in order to make a purchasing decision.
- Thanks from Erica and Jane.
Note: The above review is a completely fictitious review of an unwritten, unpublished, imagined book that Erica Siskind dreamed up at lunch.
Boynton, Sandra. Dog Train: A Wild Ride on the Rock and Roll Side. Workman Publishing, 2005. Book and CD, $17.95, ISBN 0-7611-3966-4.
Like the previous Book and CD efforts Philadelphia Chickens (2002) and Rhinoceros Tap (2004), this package features a colorful music book that accompanies a CD of original songs, sung by celebrities. The songs are clever, the guest singers are all very accomplished, and the illustrations are Boynton's trademark cartoon animals. The fun had by the singers is infectious and joyful; kids will dance and sing along to this Broadway musical in book form. The book includes the musical notation for piano and guitar players as well as the lyrics.
The Spin Doctors begin "Tantrum" as a lament, asking quietly to be left alone. Then they ramp up the decibels to tantrum levels. "Dog Train" is performed by Blues Traveler, and lead singer John Popper's harmonica sounds like a train whistle. "Sneakers" is a celebration of everyone's favorite footwear, brought to life by the bass baritone of Mark Lanegan.
Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, two of the best American singers from the past 50 years, give "Boring Song" their traditional nightclub feel. Drummer Mickey Hart accompanies the Bacon Brothers on "Pots and Pans" which would be great for storytime, where the kids can play along with their own sticks and pans. "I Need a Nap" joins Oscar nominee Kate Winslet with comedy song Grammy winner Weird Al Yankovic. This romantic power ballad is in the tradition of the songs from the musical "Avenue Q."
Alison Krause, who has more Grammy Awards than any other singer, performs "Evermore," which is a sweet lullaby. "Penguin Lament," sung by Five for Fighting, expresses how a penguin's life isn't the joyfest made out in recent documentaries. "Don't Give Me That Broccoli" has a rockabilly feeling due to the San Francisco band The Phenomenauts; it may remind some of Dana Carvey's Broccoli song parody done on "Saturday Night Live." "Dragonfire" is a joyous ballad about a little dragon. Another song that would be easily adapted for storytime is "Wave Bye-Bye."
Billy J. Kramer, part of the British Invasion that brought us the Beatles, sings "Cow Planet," a new wave quest for space travel which is sung in three separate cuts. Hootie and the Blowfish conclude the recording with "Rock to Sleep 54." The 16 song CD is rounded out by ""Thus Quacked Zarathustra." That Boynton's songs fit such a diverse group of performers is amazing. Parents will play this on the car stereo system, even when the kids aren't along for the ride!
Weiss, Jim. "Romeo and Juliet." Greathall Productions, 2005. CD $14.95. ISBN 1-882513-85-1.
Weiss, Jim. "Thomas Jefferson's America." Greathall Productions, 2005. CD $14.95, ISBN 1-882513-86-X.
Award winning storyteller Jim Weiss has two new CDs out, done in his customary style. Weiss performs stories from memory into the microphone instead of reading a script. In "Romeo and Juliet," he has adapted the play into a one-hour story. Shakespeare's original language is adapted for younger students; he has tried to use as much of the original as possible, with the exception of vocabulary that will be unknown to younger listeners.
As always, Weiss plays all the roles, changing his voice to inhabit old men, women, and children. The retelling has both narrative describing the plot, and dialogue. He uses the technique of choosing an English dialect based on the class of the person: the nurse has a working class, almost Cockney accent, the parents sound more upper class and refined. Weiss is especially adept at the older characters: Friar Lawrence, Juliet's nurse, and the couple's parents. Older students will be better served by unabridged recordings of the play, but this serves as a great introduction to the story by elementary school age children.
"Thomas Jefferson's America" contains original stories based on Jefferson's life. The stories are framed with Jefferson, now retired from the Presidency, recounting incidents from his life to his grandchildren. As is his trademark, Weiss plays all the characters. The vignettes include Jefferson's experiences in Williamsburg with Patrick Henry, his marriage to Martha, his work on the Declaration of Independence with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, and his work as governor of Virginia, ambassador in Paris, and President. Weiss uses quotations from Jefferson and the other historical figures to flesh out much of the dialogue, including Jefferson's thoughts on slavery.
Weiss has an amazing ability with regional dialects; his New England characters are distinctive from the Southerners, for example. The complex issue of Jefferson's experience as an anti-slavery slaveholder is explained clearly. This style of recording brings history to life, and will be very useful to 5th grade teachers to use in class.
Report on Grandparenting
The session Old is New Again: Grandparents Raising Grandchildren at ALA's annual conference in Chicago 2005 drew together a panel of experts to help librarians deal with this growing trend.
The scope of the issue is staggering. "More than 3.9 million grandparents are raising grandchildren in their homes." While each situation varies greatly, almost all grandparents deal with multiple issues as parent, grandparent, and as an individual.
Dr. Lee Madden, a clinical psychologist urged librarians and educators to treat the grandparents and children with sensitivity because they are often embarrassed about having a grandparent in the parenting role. Yet the library offers an ideal place for grandparents to get the support they need and help them learn how to parent this new generation in a world quite different than when they were new parents.
Locating and advertising programs to grandparents offers challenges. Consider social services and community gathering places as avenues of communication. To attract and keep grandparents, several tips were outlined:
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Connect with the group
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Show interest and offer reminders
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Ask them to talk about what THEY want to talk about
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Give away free stuff
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Offer refreshments
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Provide free child care or visit them in their homes
Another panelist, Linda Waycie from the Children's Home & Aid Society of Illinois, suggested that grandparents are looking for:
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Friendships for themselves
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Understanding and discussions with other grandparents
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Friends for their grandchildren
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Information to help them
Which is an overview from the Extension Service of West Virginia University on "Grandparents Raising Grandchildren" and an article from Young Children (May 2005) on "Supporting Grandparents Who Raise Grandchildren." Look for more information in Jan Watkins' article coming in the spring issue of Children & Libraries !
Early Childhood Services and Programs Committee
Linda L. Ernst, Chair
Kay Bowes
Christine Caputo
Susan Cooper
Vicki Fox
Doris Gebel
Melanie Huggins
Rachel Payne
Nicole Sparling
Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award
The Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, under the aegis of Penn State University has announced the 2006 winning titles. The Award goes to Joyce Sidman for SONG OF THE WATER BOATMAN (Hougton Mifflin).
Honor Books include:
A MAZE ME: POEMS FOR GIRLS by Naomi Shihab Nye (Greenwillow) and A WREATH FOR EMMETT TILL by Marilyn Nelson (Houghton Mifflin)
From the Winds of Manguito: Cuban Folktales in English and Spanish. Retold by Elvia Pirez. Edited by Margaret Read MacDonald. Translated by Paula Martin. Illustrated by Vmctor Francisco Hernandez Mora. Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, 2004. (ISBN 1-59158-091-9; $35 hardback; 157 pp.)
Roy Makes a Car by Mary E. Lyons. Illustrated by Terry Widener. New York: Atheneum, 2005. (ISBN 0-689-84640-1; $16.95 hardback; 32 pp.)
The Flying Canoe. Retold by Roch Carrier. Translated by Sheila Fischman. Illustrated by Sheldon Cohen. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Tundra Books, 2004. (ISBN 0-88776-636-6; $15.95 hardback; 24 pp.)
Grandma Lena's Big Ol' Turnip by Denia Lewis Hester. Illustrated by Jackie Urbanovic. Morton Grove, Illinois: Albert Whitman and Company, 2005. (ISBN 0-8075-3027-1; $15.95 hardback; 32 pp.)
The Minister's Daughter by Julie Hearn. New York and London: Atheneum, 2005. (ISBN 0-689-87690-4; $16.95 hardback; 264pp.)
ALA NAMES MOST CHALLENGED BOOKS
The most frequently challenged book for 2005 was Robie Harris's It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing UP, Sex, and Sexual Health. People who objected to the book cited homosexuality, nudity, and sex education as the reasons. After It's Perfectly Normal, here are the others that made the Top Ten:
Forever by Judy Blume
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher
Detour for Emmy by Marilyn Reynolds
What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones
Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey
Crazy Lady by Jane Leslie Conly
It's So Amazing! A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families by Robie H. Harris
