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January 2009
Awards - Sydney Taylor / Charlotte Zolotow
Activities - Peter Rabbit / Seuss / Percy Jackson
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Upcoming Events for Children's Librarians
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January 2009Awards - Sydney Taylor / Charlotte Zolotow Activities - Peter Rabbit / Seuss / Percy Jackson MARK YOUR CALENDAR Upcoming Events for Children's Librarians |
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Martha Shogren to Retire:
Martha Shogren is retiring once more. The new retirement takes place after 15 1/2 years of "temp" work for the Sonoma County Libraries and her stint ended December 31. Previously, she retired from bunches of years at Berkeley Public Library and in each system she has made her name synonymous with superior, conscientious, creative service. Perhaps more important, in Sonoma, Martha, who is 80-years-old brought new insights and new, fresh local opinions about books, new and old. Because she reviews for, and is active in, the Association of Children's Librarians of Northern California (ACL) and attends the monthly meetings, she supplies the provincials in Sonoma County with a larger view of the world of books for youth . In SCLS, she also serves as a model for what librarians, and particularly librarians in service to children, should be, do, and serve. After her retirement, who will carry news of the outside world to SCLS? In her "retirement" she will continue to be active in ACL and contribute her wisdom and humor. So--as is said: ENJOY.
Ruth Gordon, Retired
TIME TO RENEW!
It's that time again - time to renew ACL memberships. All renewals are due January 1, 2009. The grace period lasts until the end of March. The best way to renew is to print out the application from www.bayviews.org/membership.html , or use a membership brochure. Please submit it at a meeting or mail it with your check to ACL, PO Box 12471, Berkeley 94712. Though it may seem redundant to fill in the same information every year, it helps us to keep our member database accurate.
Performers' Showcase:
Mark your calendars for the next ACL Performers' Showcase. It is scheduled for Sat., Feb. 7, 2009 at the Fremont Main Library: www.bayviews.org/showcase.html
Linda Duncan Dies:
Linda Duncan has been Children's Specialist at Contra Costa County Library for many years. She passed away from a brain tumor.
A memorial service will be held in Lafayette and is planned tentatively for the afternoon of either March 28th or March 29th, 2009.
In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been set up in Linda's name with the Contra Costa County Library to help provide an endowment for reading programs for children. As many of you know, Linda was very committed to ensuring that these programs continue to be available in our public libraries for kids of all economic backgrounds.
Any donations should be sent to: Contra Costa County Library at 1750 Oak Park Blvd., Pleasant Hill, CA 94523, with a note that indicates "Linda Duncan Memorial Fund."
ANNOUNCED BY THE ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH LIBRARIES
2009 Winners of the prestigious Sydney Taylor Book Award are:
The Sydney Taylor Book Award honors new books for children and teens that exemplify the highest literary standards while authentically portraying the Jewish experience. The award memorializes Sydney Taylor, author of the classic All-of-a-Kind Family series. The winners will receive their awards at the Association of Jewish Libraries convention in Chicago this July.
Six Sydney Taylor Honor Books were named for 2009.
For Younger Readers , Honor Books are:
For Older Readers, Honor Book is:
For Teen Readers, Honor Book is:
In addition to the medal-winners, the Award Committee designated twenty-two Notable Books of Jewish Content for 2009: six in the Younger Readers Category, ten in the Older Readers Category, and four for Teens.
Two titles impressed the Award Committee with their uniqueness and range and have been designated Notable Books for all ages:
Notable titles, and more information about the Sydney Taylor Book Award, may be found online at www.SydneyTaylorBookAward.org Interviews with winning authors will be posted on prominent children's literature blogs as part of a "blog tour" beginning on January 18, 2009; details will be posted on the Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog at www.sydneytaylorbookaward.blogspot.com
"How to Heal a Broken Wing" by Bob Graham is the twelfth annual winner of the Charlotte Zolotow Award for outstanding writing in a picture book. The award is given by the Cooperative Children's Book Center, a library of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
In a dramatic story that slowly unfolds in just a handful of carefully weighted words, Graham's picture book follows the fate of an injured pigeon. The marvelous visual storytelling accompanying the narrative includes full-page and double-page spreads and multiple panels on a single page that detail striking moments and affecting scenes. But what might have been an effective wordless book takes on even greater nuance and richness by the elegantly spare and emotionally charged narrative. "How to Heal a Broken Wing" was edited by Joan Powers and published in the United States in 2008 by Candlewick Press.
The 2009 Zolotow Award committee named five Honor Books:
The 2009 Zolotow Award committee also cited eight titles as Highly Commended:
Established in 1998, the Charlotte Zolotow Award honors the work of Charlotte Zolotow, a distinguished children's book editor for 38 years with Harper Junior Books, and author of more than 70 picture books, including such classic works as Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present (Harper, 1962) and William's Doll (Harper, 1972). Ms. Zolotow attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison on a writing scholarship from 1933 to 1936, where she studied with Professor Helen C. White. The award recognizes outstanding writing in a picture book for children in the birth through seven age range published in the United States in the preceding year.
Looking for more inexpensive programming ideas for Spring? How about a celebration of all things Beatrix Potter, including her most famous character Peter Rabbit. Begin with flyers and publicity that resemble Tea Party invitations, announcing the date, time place, etc.
On the day of the program, have something for people to do while others are still arriving. Begin with everyone making a paper hat of some type (you can call them Easter Bonnets, but they are also Tea Party hats). For instructions, check out: http://www.creativekidsathome.com/activities/activity_9.shtml
As you notice the majority of the group finishing their hats, you can start with some games:
Pin the Carrot on Peter
Make a poster of Peter Rabbit, complete with his blue jacket. Make some orange paper “carrots,” and let each blindfolded child tape the carrot to the poster, aiming for Peter's mouth.
Give out bunny toys as prizes!
Lettuce Bowling
Using the plastic pins from a children's bowling game, set it up according to the instructions. Instead of using the plastic bowling ball, use heads of lettuce that are wrapped in Saran wrap, and bowl away!
Rabbit Race
There is nothing like a fast, all-action race to bring the party to fever pitch, even if the participants are nothing more than cardboard rabbits. The first thing you need to do to prepare for this game is to cut out the rabbits. There must be one rabbit per player and they should be identical in every respect - no sticking a fluffy cotton wool bobtail onto one because it will slow it down. Lastly pierce a hole in the centre of each bunny's head . Once you have made your racing rabbits, line up a row of chairs - one for each rabbit - and tie a length of string, about twelve feet long, to the back of each chair. Thread the strings through the holes in the rabbits' heads and place the animals at the start line. Now the players take over. At the off, they seize the loose end of the string and, by relaxing and tightening the string, the rabbit is inched forward towards the chair. For swifter progress, it is important that the rabbit should be inclined slightly towards the chair. Having reached the chair, the rabbits must turn for home. To make the rabbits change direction, the players need to waggle the string and tighten and relax it quickly. Again ensure that the rabbit is leaning towards the direction in which it is supposed to be heading. (Thanks to tipsmaxabout.com for this idea).
You can also use the commercial Peter Rabbit board game.
Now that the kids have used up some great energy on the games, you can move onto either crafts or refreshments. For refreshments, try some traditional tea party snacks. Maybe tea in teacups (cups from donations or from the thrift store), little finger sandwiches, and little cookies and cakes.
Crafts should also tie into the Peter Rabbit theme, but you can adapt Easter crafts. How about a Peter Rabbit stick puppet? There are several other craft ideas available from:www.first-school.ws/activities/onlinestory/animals/peterrabbit.htm or www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/peter_rabbit.htm
Recently on the PUBYAC listserv, there were several great ideas for a Do It Yourself Dr. Seuss program. Many libraries and schools celebrate his birthday the first week of March, as part of the Read Across America program. Here are some ideas you can use for a school-age program, or adapt for a preschool storytime:
Crafts
Make-Your-Own Seuss Hat: Printed out templates of Cat and the Hat hat, Horton elephant ears, and a daisy (for Daisy-Head Mayzie) on cardstock for the kids to color in and cut out. These pieces were then stapled on a cardstock headband for the kids to wear. www.seussville.com
Special thanks to Maren Wilbur and PUBYAC for this compilation of program ideas based on the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan. You can incorporate some ideas into a book club meeting, or do a party in celebration of this popular character. This is a great program for those in grades 4-8, especially boys, who may not enjoy a tea party program!
Claiming: as kids arrived, the Oracle of Delphi (wrapped in lots of gauze fabric) divided children among 4 cabins based on their answers to some questions (and a lot of randomness to keep the cabin sizes roughly equal). Once they knew who their parent was, they had a bandana tied on based on their cabin's color (Red: Ares, Blue: Poseidon, Yellow: Apollo and Purple: Athena) and were then tested by drinking some ambrosia (accompanied by dire warnings that only demigods could drink it without suffering). They then went in to meet their counselor.
Waiting: since kids started coming pretty early, we played the ABC's Winged Sandals videos on the large screen while the children waited for camp to officially begin.
Cabin activities: The 4 cabins rotated between the activities, spending 20 minutes at each station. Each activity began by reading a Greek myth with some connection to the monster they were attempting to defeat at that station (Hercules and the hydra for the archery unit, Medusa for swordfighting, Dragon of Boethia for Ancient Greek and Minotaur for the Labyrinth).
Refreshments: grapes and grape juice at the Dionysus table and blue cake and blue Kool-Aid at the Demeter table (because Percy's mother makes blue food for special occasions).
BayNews needs you! BayNews welcomes any articles, news, ideas on storytime or programs, etc. Just send any articles as a Word attachment via email, to Penny Peck at baynews@bayviews.org. Thanks!
Submitted by : Penny Peck, San Leandro Public Library
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