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Last week was the first meeting of the new “Father-Son Book Group” at the Hillsboro Public Library, where I work as a substitute Reference Librarian and, starting now, as a once-a-month book group host.  Here’s what I’ve learned so far: 

It will take a while to get going:   Our first meeting drew only two dads and two sons (both age nine).  We had many people asking about the program and checking out the book of the month (Frindle), but it will be a challenge to actually draw them in on a Saturday morning.  All four promised to return next month, and their homework is to find some more people to bring along.    

Reading is not as uncool as it used to be:   I was all prepared to get things started with my sad childhood stories of how I never talked about reading with anyone but my family because it was so uncool to be a boy reader…but it wasn’t really necessary with this bunch.  These four all had no problem being reading males…as one of the boys said:  “you can’t lose at reading.”  We just need to find more guys like them. 

Harry Potter rules the world:   Our Frindle discussion was peppered with references to Harry Potter (one book that I didn’t include on my Frindle Read-Alikes handout).  The HPs provide common ground to so many diverse readers.  Dads and kids all knew them well, and used them as reference points.  “Did the illustrations of Nick match your imagination?”  “No, and neither did Snape in the Harry Potter movies.”  “There wasn’t a lot of life or death action in Frindle, but was it exciting?”  “Yes, but not in the same way as the Harry Potter books.”  “Did Nick or Mrs. Granger change through the events in Frindle?”  “Yes, just like Harry and company.”  I’m exaggerating the abruptness of the transition….we really did talk a lot about Frindle, and HP provided some useful context that helped us define and think about the book we just read. 

Dads and Sons See Things Differently:   I really enjoyed the way both fathers were willing participants in the discussion, rather than leaders or facilitators. And the generational perspectives were clearly evident.  Mrs. Granger reminded one boy of a teacher he knew about who was known for being very strict.  Dad, on the other hand, added that this particular teacher was also one of the best at his son’s school, despite or because of that strictness.  Which is a great example of the two relating the book to their different perspectives on shared experiences.  

Dads and Sons See Things Similarly:   One boy didn’t see why the neighborhood entrepreneur made a fortune from Frindle products, when it was all Nick’s idea.  I expected the older and wiser fathers to mention something about the crucial role of marketing in a capitalist society.  But instead, one of the dads totally agreed that the money that guy made was unfair, then shared his own irritation at modern hip hop musicians who lift samples from the works of truly creative musicians, and then get all the credit.     

Don’t Forget the Donut Holes:   Our snack choice was donut holes, and I bought more than enough, since I didn’t know how many people would show up.  It was pretty impressive how many of these the four participants (especially the two younger ones) managed to put away.  Providing snacks is one of my least favorite program related tasks, and I felt a bit guilty about not coming up with some clever food that relates to the book somehow, but I think I’ll be okay.  I don’t foresee any complaints from these readers if it’s donut holes every time. 

It’s Nice to Have Room to Grow:  Our attendance was low, but the participants were so enthusiastic that I can’t help but think that we’ll grow.  There doesn’t seem to be many book groups like this, but there might be soon.  Author Marc Aronson started one at the Maplewood Library in New Jersey a few years ago and wrote a nice article about it and the Geneva Public Library in Illinois has “The Round Table,” which is for boys plus an adult of any gender.  And Scott County Public Library’s “Pig Skulls” book club looks like terrific fun, as you can see from their blog.  As for our Hillsboro group:  no catchy title yet, and we’re a ways away from a blog, but I’m definitely looking forward to hearing what the guys think about Weasel next month.     

Download the podcast.

Just One More Book!! is one of the ALSC Great Web Sites for Kids, filed under Literature & Languages’ Favorite Children’s Stories category. Advertising- and sponsorship-free, Just One More Book!! (JOMB) is a podcast powered by passion. Mark and Andrea, a husband and wife team, both work full-time jobs and squeeze in a recording session during their morning coffee ritual after dropping their eight-year-old and six-year-old daughters off at school and before heading to work themselves. They publish four shows a week: Mondays being interviews; Wednesdays and Fridays are book chats; Saturday’s content varies.

During their conversation for this approximately 15-minute podcast, Andrea and Mark answer my questions. Mentioned are:

1. Podcasters Across Borders
2. Kidlitosphere Conference
3. Dennis Lee, poet
4. JOMB’s interview with Henry Winkler
5. JOMB’s Interview with Simon James
6. Stuart McLean, storyteller

Episode 2

Just One More Book!!

Sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) the Week of the Young Child (WOYC) is a time to celebrate children and raise awareness of their needs.  This year — between April 13-19, 2008 — NAEYC affiliate groups across the nation will be drawing attention to our youngest citizens with this annual event.  The NAEYC website provides a number of valuable tools for to assist in planning celebrations and alerting the public to the needs of young children. The planning handbook offers some great ideas for programs and events during this week.  (www.naeyc.org/about/woyc)

Viki Ash, a member of ALSC’s Liaison with National Organizations Serving Children and Youth Committee, reminds us that if we haven’t made contact with our local NAEYC affiliate, we should do so now. Find your affiliate contact information at www.naeyc.org/affiliates/complete.asp.  Libraries and NAEYC are natural partners in the effort to foster the  development of young children.

Greetings!

The Public Awareness Committee of the Association for Library Service to Children needs your input! We would like to expand our Kids! @ your library® Campaign, which kicked off in 2006 and currently focuses on children in grades K-4, their parents and caregivers. (See www.ala.org/kids for more information.)

In phase two of the campaign, we would like to add materials to the campaign tool kit for children in grades 5-8. We are seeking your input before we proceed with the development of materials for this age group. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey. Your feedback will help us in developing the most relevant and needed tools for promoting your library to kids in grades 5-8.

Access the survey here. Deadline for response is February 29.

Thank you in advance for taking time to share your opinions regarding the Kids! @ your library® Campaign!

Mary Fellows
ALSC Public Awareness Committee

The ASPCA has launched the ASPCA Henry Book Club, an
interactive, online book club for kids, featuring the Henry Bergh Award Winning Books.  The winners are announced each year at the ALA conference.

The website www.aspca.org/henrysbookclub will feature two books per month, one for younger readers ages 5-8 and one for older kids, age 9 and up, with author generated Q&A’s, live author chats, quizzes and instructions on starting your own neighborhood or
family book club.  The two books for February are Buddy Unchained by Daisy Bix and A Dog’s Life:  The Autobiography of a Stray by Ann Martin.

On February 14, from 4-5pm (Eastern Time), Ann Martin is scheduled for a live chat. This is a great chance for your kids to get to know a great author. Check out the website for a lot of other great resources related to book clubs and humane education.

The ALSC legislation committee is urgently requesting your aid in support of the SKILLS (Strengthening Kids Interest in Learning and Libraries) Act in the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act. For more information and to take immediate action, please go to the ALA Legislative Action Center site: http://capwiz.com/ala/home/ . (It’s so easy — it’s harder not to take action.)
Also please consider hosting a “I Love My Library” or “I Love My Librarian” Valentine’s Day program, during which kids, teens, parents and teachers can make valentines for their Senators and Representatives that support legislation that impacts libraries.

This is the single most important piece of legislation concerning school libraries that will come before Congress this year. Reauthorization of this bill is critical to the future of school libraries, and you can make it happen!

Make this election year, the year of the library!

submitted by Brandy Morrill, ALSC Legislation Committee

Today I had the first meeting of the Spring Session of Teen Team – a volunteer program for middle and high school students.  Much to my great joy, I had a lot of tweeners this time – usually Teen Team has more than its share of Juniors & Seniors due to the really stringent volunteering requirements that the local high schools implement in their accelerated program.  With older teens I’ve noticed that they get interested in the volunteering program when they see the advertisement – we try to put them in a variety of places, in their schools, here in our Teen Center, and also in our library newsletter.  The older teens fill out the forms themselves, call me with questions, and take on the responsibility of participating in the program.  However, this time we did a lot of press leading up to the start of the program in local newspapers and on the radio.  So, the majority of people calling up with questions and asking for more information were the interested parents of tweeners!  The parents saw the advertisements or heard them on the radio and relayed their excitement to their tween sons & daughters.  Thus, this session has a ton of 11- and 12-year old participants who are relatively new to middle school and new to the Teen section of the library!  Our volunteering program has been a great success – I’ve gotten to know a lot of teens in our area, but for the most part, they’ve been quick to move on since they have usually been 16- or 17-years old.  Getting to know tweeners that are civically minded is exciting because hopefully through this experience and getting to know library staff personally they will feel more comfortable not only in the teen room, but in the library as a whole!

Here is some information that will hopefully help you start up your own volunteering program for middle and high school students!

We run 3 eight-week sessions per year, based on the school year calendar. Each session consists of up to 15 teens or tweens all meeting for an hour each week.  The first session is an orientation where my assistant and I introduce ourselves and give them a tour of the library with a special emphasis on the Children’s Room and the Teen Center – the two areas they will be spending most of their time doing special projects for us.  We also go over the agreement that contains information on how they are expected to behave, dress, and our attendance policy. Many of our teens and tweens get community credit for volunteering so there is a sense of mutual benefit and job-training going on. The final session is a pizza party with games like charades etc, book and goodie giveaways!  That gives everyone something to look forward to!   

We work with the folks in our Processing department to allow up to five teens and tweens each week on a rotating basis to go to Processing to help with getting CDs, DVDs and books ready for Circulation!  That’s what all the teens and tweens have told me they look forward to the most!  We also assign them to do pick-up and shelf straightening as well as book cleaning, Storytime toy cleaning and special projects from co-workers from all departments of the Library. 

We keep a Teen Team binder, where each teen or tween signs in and out; we also keep a book cleaning log and a task sheet that shows a list of jobs that they’ve done in weeks past so we don’t keep assigning the same task to the same kid. 

Another thing to take into consideration is timing.  Here’s how we do it - we start the Fall session in late September and end a week or so before Thanksgiving. That way, kids can get settled into school and the program ends before the holidays start getting underway.  Spring session begins in mid-January and ends right before Spring Break. Kids get so busy after Spring Break that participation really drops off so we don’t do any special Teen/Tween programming between then and our Summer Reading Program. In addition to Spring and Fall, we also do a mini five-week program in the Summer. We mainly advertise in the local middle and high schools, our Teen Center and in our Library’s bi-monthly publication.  However, this time we did some extensive marketing through local newspapers and radio, which, as I mentioned, really brought out the tweens due to their parents seeing our information and passing it along.  We have a basic application process which the teen or tween must fill out – not their parents!  We really want them to want to be a part of our volunteering program; if their parents fill it out for them, we think that encourages the thought that the parents are also making them participate.  The only thing we need from parents or guardians is their signature if the participant is under 18.

All in all, Teen Team has been a great experience!  Just another great way of bring Tweens and Teens together @ your library!

Educators and librarians have until April 15, 2008, to apply online for Picturing America, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), in cooperation with the American Library Association. Picturing America is part of the NEH’s We the People initiative.

If your application is selected, you receive a set of 20 laminated posters (images on both sides) and a teacher resource guide. The application guidelines list the image/poster information and the award information, including “Schools and libraries are required to keep as many of the posters as possible on continual exhibit in classrooms or public locations in the school or public library during the September 2008 through May 2009 grant term.”

Questions about Picturing America may be directed to:

American Library Association
Public Programs Office
50 East Huron
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 280-5045
(800) 545-2433, extension 5045
www.ala.org/publicprograms
[email protected]

National Endowment for the Humanities
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Room 511
Washington, DC 20506
(202) 606-8337
www.neh.gov
[email protected]

A couple weeks ago I pulled out one of my all-time favorite picture books and shared it with a group:  Fortunately by Remy Charlip.  They seemed to enjoy it.  They laughed at the right places, had some good guesses when asked “what unfortunate thing do you think he’ll find in the water?” (“Sharks?  Pirates?  Oil Spill?”)  And when Ned finally arrived at his own surprise birthday party at the end, they seemed as satisfied as most kids are every time I read the book.  The difference, though, is that this was an audience of grown ups.

One of my favorite tasks of my job in the Early Childhood Outreach department is doing educational presentations for parents.  When a Head Start or a childcare center has a Parent Night (or Parent Day, or Parent whenever), we do our best to share information about why it’s so important to read to kids and offer tips and examples on how to make the experience especially fun and effective.  So I talk some about early literacy skills and child brain development and share some impressive statistics.  And these can all be pretty powerful.  But the part when I read a book is the most fun, and it some ways it’s every bit as important as the other stuff.

I’m lucky to work with Nell Colburn, a fabulous librarian, and she’s the one who really showed me how much powerful content you can get from reading a book to the parents.  Based on observing her, I start by encouraging the parents to pretend they’re preschoolers while they listen.  Some are a bit reluctant, some don’t play along at all, and some really get into it.  All responses are okay.  But I also tell them, as Nell does, to observe with a critical eye at the same time, noticing details about how I share the book with them.  So when the book is finished, we talk about what they noticed, and they almost always catch everything:  Asking questions; talking about the words and pictures; showing enthusiasm; being a bit silly….   It’s all very relaxed and fun.  Partly because the best children’s books really work for all ages.  Also, it’s an unexpected treat for many grownups to just sit and listen to a story, even one that’s meant for kids.  Few of us get the chance to do that often enough. 

But beyond the fun, though, that experience sets the stage for the information that follows.  It’s fine to say that talking about pictures helps develop vocabulary, but when you then remind them that many of their kids might not know the words “pitchfork,” “parachute,” or “fortunate,” and show how those can lead to conversations, things really start to click.  I’ll ask how many of them could probably retell most of that story by memory after just one listen, then relate that to the importance of narrative skills.  We talk about how the experience might be different for kids if they’re hearing the story a second, or third, or tenth time, and what they learn through that repetition.

I’ve always felt more comfortable presenting to kids, rather than adults, and probably always will.  And I admit that assuming the role of “presenter- of-early-literacy-research-to-parents” took me way out of my comfort zone for a while.  But I think I’m okay with parent presentations now, and the reason should have been obvious from the start:  when in doubt, whatever the audience, read a funny story.    

I just discovered a great new way to bring more tweens into my library – gaming!  I know, I know, video gaming in libraries has been around for awhile now, but last Thursday was my library’s first foray into the venture, even though I’ve been gaming at home for years!  Future Guitar Gods (most of them tweens) were born as I sat back and enjoyed the sounds of Nirvana, Heart, and Sonic Youth on a workday, no less!  Not only did they play video games, but they were amazed to see the library’s great collection of gaming magazines and books, including Electronic Gaming Monthly and GamePro.  They were also super excited to meet new gamers (which included me!)!  Guitar Hero II and Guitar Hero III were definitely the star games, and my mind was filled for the rest of the day with the guitar solos from Mississippi Queen and Bulls on Parade, the most popular songs to play by far.  Instead of tournament style, we played freestyle; not once did I have to chide anyone for hogging the games, and I only had to sit through Freebird, the longest song on the game, twice!  All the tweens and teens graciously gave up the guitars to those waiting when their song was over.  I was lucky to not have to rent or buy a lot of equipment for our first foray into the gaming world, and that made it easier to convince my library to sponsor this event.  I brought my Playstation 2, Guitar Hero II and my 2 personal guitars.  My very helpful volunteer, Billy, brought his Playstation 2 and his Nintendo Gamecube for those gamers not interested in Guitar Hero.  The Library graciously paid for Guitar Hero III, an extra guitar controller so that all four Guitar Hero players could have a guitar to play, and a few Gamecube games from Blockbuster.  For those of you looking to do a Guitar Hero gaming day – 1 word of advice:  make sure that you unlock all the songs and save your game to a memory card before the gaming day.  Lucky for my tweens and teens, my husband and I love playing Guitar Hero, so we “worked” really hard on our off time to make sure all the songs were unlocked and saved.  That way your tweens and teens can have access to all 30 or so songs, instead of the requisite 10 or so the game gives you if you don’t unlock any beforehand.  I was excited to meet new tweens and introduce them to their wonderful library; I’m hoping they will remember how much fun they had at this activity when they see advertisements for other tween/teen library programs or when I visit them at their school.  All in all, this was a fun and easy first attempt into the library gaming world that definitely brought the tweens and teens together…for next time I’m wishing for a Wii!

Please excuse my very short post. I am in the midst of a reading frenzy to prepare for the 2008 Mock Sibert, Mock Newbery, Mock Caldecott and Mock Geisel programs presented and hosted by the children’s librarians of the Allen County (IN) Public Library.

The mere thought of being on an actual award committee intimidates me, but the mock elections are, for me, great professional development tools. If you are involved with a mock election program, I would love to hear about it.

So, happy new year! Now I have to get back to my stack of books.

Hennepin County Libary in Minnesota produces a “Birth to Six” enewsletter  that contains fingerplays and book suggestions.   Go to http://www.hclib.org/BirthtoSix/ to sign up.  Although some of the information in the enews is about their local storytimes, the new fingerplays that arrive every other month are very nice to have.

Linda Braun, YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) blog manager, shares with ALSC Blog her recent podcast (YALSA Podcast #30) in which she speaks to Teen Librarian Sarah Couri and Children’s Librarian Rebecca Schosha, both with the Donnell Library Center of the New York Public Library, about their new monthly program that gives adults the opportunity to discuss books for youth.

Download the podcast.

Many thanks to Linda, Sarah and Rebecca!

Note: The ALSC Blog will begin a series of monthly podcasts in 2008. Please email your topic suggestions to [email protected]

I am currently serving on the ALSC 2008 Institute Planning Committee. The Institute will be held in Salt Lake City in Sept. 2008.

We would like to have a panel of libraries who have had different, unique, great programs!

Please e-mail me if your library would be interested in sharing your great programs with others.

–Carla Morris

About a year ago, I was hired into my very first Teen Librarian position. Technically, I was hired to serve tweens and teens. Unfortunately, tweens haven’t been frequenting my teen room or the programs I’ve offered. However, I had a breakthrough that I’d really been hoping for…I had two tweens make the big step from our 4^th through 6^th grade book club into my teen book club! I was so excited to have new members that I didn’t realize that I might have some new challenges in regards to discussion topics, books chosen, and the acceptance of younger members by the older book clubbers.

When I started my new job this past January, my book club was well established by my predecessor; it had a core group of teens who attended every month. They knew what they wanted to eat (natural snacks) and what kind of books they wanted to read every month if I’d let them (fantasy). The teens in my book club were and are pretty advanced in their reading; they had read a good mix of adult and young adult fiction. They are a great group of kids; they welcomed me with open arms when I took over even though I knew they had really loved the woman I replaced. So, when a few new kids signed up, I hoped that my clubbers would welcome them with open arms, as well – and they definitely did. I was so proud of them because I know cliques and friendships can be quite overwhelming during the teen years, but there wasn’t one second when they made the new members feel ostracized.

However, I realized that in order to fully incorporate tweens into the book club, certain things that “had always been” would need to change. First, I realized that what is considered “appropriate” reading for a 16- or 17-year-old isn’t necessarily considered “appropriate” for 12-year-olds, which was the age of my two newest members. In my book club, the members and I vote on what we’d like to read in the months to come. Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club and Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner were two of the books on our potential voting list. I felt I had to step in because there was a good chance that Fight Club was going to be our February selection based on discussion I heard from the group. I love the book Fight Club; I think I read it when it first came out when I was about 18 or so. I know the older book clubbers could handle it – I know we would’ve had a great discussion about it. Yet, looking at those two 12-year-old faces, I knew I had to get some kind of guidelines in place in order to ensure that the book club was offering reading material that was appropriate for all the ages in my group. I empathized with them, told them I knew the book was good, but since it wasn’t housed in the Teen Fiction area, we would have to pass. Same went for The Kite Runner. They complained – said they wanted to start reading books with more substance, books that would encourage big discussions. I suggested that we read the graphic novel Persepolis to show what it was like to live in a different country with different religious values and opinions. They couldn’t believe that a graphic novel would show that as succinctly as other, more “adult” books, but they were wrong – and happily admitted it at last month’s book club. And, I felt good knowing that all the members of my group could take our selection home and show it to their parents or guardians freely.

So far, book club has been going great with the teens and tweens. One of the 12-year-olds hasn’t been back lately; even with the most simple of books we get into really long winded, philosophical discussions that he didn’t seem to enjoy. But, the other 12-year-old comes almost every month. We had a great discussion about The Golden Compass that he was highly interested in. The discussion about Twilight was less interesting for him. But, I guess that’s how it would be for any member – some books you really want to discuss and others you don’t. No one is ever disrespectful about book choices of others and everyone has to read at least 40 pages to even participate in the discussion.

I’ve learned that reigning in isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and I’ve learned to incorporate new mediums to keep everyone interested. This month we’re doing a special book & movie discussion on Watership Down. Due to my love of graphic novels, we’ve also started incorporating those into our book selections, which was met with weirdness at first, but now members are recommending graphic novels left and right. Tweens have been a welcome addition to my “Teen” book club and I hope that more continue the journey from Children’s Book Club to Teen Book Club.

There’s only one month until the American Library Association names the winner of the first Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production. This new award, a joint effort of the Association for Library Service to Children & the Young Adult Library Services Association, will recognize the single best audiobook created for listeners ages birth through age eighteen, along with possible honor titles. The award, on the same tier as the Printz, Newbery, and Caldecott awards, establishes audiobooks as a true literary genre. Find out more here.

Do you have time for a Mock Odyssey in the next month? Poll your patrons to see which 2007 audiobook titles they think deserve the Odyssey Award. Or share your choices here with the other ALSC Blog readers. Then log on to the ALA website Monday, January 14th, from 8-9 a.m. (EST) to watch the award press conference and see the announcement live.

The 2008 Odyssey Committee has evaluated 379 audiobooks which total just short of 2000 hours of listening – an amount of time equal to 50 weeks of full-time employment! We are still under the headphones, entering the final stages of listening to the very best in children’s and young adult audiobooks. Be sure to watch for the final selection, and lend your ears to the sound of great literature!

Mary Burkey
Chair, 2008 Odyssey Award Committee

I’m addicted to duct tape, and it is all the library’s fault. During Teen Read Week, I put together some duct-tape programs, and had so much fun looking at the amazing creations that teenagers came up with and making my first-ever duct-tape wallet. I also found out about CLEAR duct tape—and now, I am addicted.

With clear duct tape, you can tape over just about anything, and it shows through. Here’s an example. At our library book sales, I buy the 25 cent books that no-one else wants. The old Golden books with torn pages. The old school books featuring Tom, Betty, Susan, Flip, Bunny, and Pony (the Canadian version of Dick and Jane). Those old books have the most amazingly colourful illustrations in them. Fine literature they are not, but as far as children’s book kitsch goes, they are the best. So – close your ears, non book-alterers- I then cut out the pages, and cover them with clear duct tape, and I make cool things with them. Wallets. Purses. Bookmarks.

The best part though, is that this is exactly the kind of activity that I can do while listening to a book. This is my second year on the Notable Recordings for Children committee, and I’ve gotten creative in my listening times. I can’t just sit and listen—my hands have to be busy. Cutting pages from old books and covering them with clear duct-tape is just one of the many activities that keep me from falling asleep. Last year it was removing 8 layers of wallpaper from my 100-year old house (when I look at my now-smooth painted walls, I still remember Enchantress from the Stars, which I listened to for an entire layer). In the summer, it is weeding the garden and painting trim on aforementioned house. In winter, it tends to be crafts. Making tassels for bellydance costumes, sewing, baking, cleaning house—all are done with earphones firmly glued to head. My husband says I’m like a teenager—except I’m not listening to the latest hip-hop tunes, I’m jamming to baby jazz or Jim Dale’s dulcet tones.

I’m already starting to worry about what happens next year—when I’m no longer required to listen while awake—when I no longer get those massive boxes of books on CD and actually have to wait for them like the rest of the world. I’ll still be addicted to duct tape…and maybe then I can listen to that copy of The Golden Compass I have stashed on the audioshelf. Because it is hard to read a book with sticky tape in your hands.

Weekly storytimes have always been one of my favorite things about being a children’s librarian, except for one part:  fingerplays.  Yes, I understand the importance of fingerplays for developing motor skills.  And yes, they foster early literacy skills, vary the rhythm of the session, give kids a chance to participate, and all that.  And I have a great time with some fingerplays.  It’s just that I always find myself going back to the same old favorites, time after time, year after year. 

Like “Where is Thumbkin.”  It can’t be beat.  It has a tune even I can sing, it’s repetitive but not too repetitive, and you can have fun with variations.  My favorite version involves using a deep voice for Tall Man, a high squeaky voice for Pinky, a lively “zoop!” after each “run and hide,” and a curtain call at the end where all ten characters come out for “bows,” “kisses,” and  a group hug.  And I have a handful of other favorites that I probably rely on way too much. 

But many of the standard fingerplays just don’t interest me much. Web and book searches turn up endless varieties of “five little whatevers” and “my fingers can do this or that,” but most just seem lame.  The kids don’t mind when I repeat, of course, and it does reinforce all those important skills, but I always feel guilty for not continually finding new fingerplay treasures to mix in with the old stuff; the way it works with books. 

I’ve tried making up my own fingerplays, but these are either as boring as the ones I’ve already rejected, or simply inappropriate for a preschool storytime setting.  Like the time I tried to create one for a November session, but it just came out all wrong. Maybe because my own children and I had just turned vegetarian and were having a hard time getting excited about the coming holiday: 

“Five little turkeys knocking at the door / One got its head chopped off and that left four! / Four little turkeys walking by a tree. / ‘Bang!’ went the shotgun and that left three! / Three little turkeys wondering what to do. / One was stuffed and cooked and that left two! / Two little turkeys trying to have some fun. / The butcher got his carving knife and that left one! / One little turkey tried to run and hide. / But it was Thanksgiving, so all the turkeys died!”  Probably a good thing I never tried this one with any kids besides my own.  And in the end I guess I’ll stick to my own standards, but on the rare occasions I hear someone say “I just found a great new fingerplay” I always take notice. 

Many libraries like to include high quality films in children’s programs. But of course, we need a public performance license to do this and it can be hard to find good films that we want to use. I’ve worked with KIDS FIRST! , a non-profit organization, for a couple of years and once again they are offering a great deal (free) for public libraries. The performance license is included with the DVD so it’s all legal. At the end of the program your library can even keep most of the films for the collection (although the public performance license expires).

KIDS FIRST! is offering a FREE screening program for libraries. The program runs from November 15 -January 15, 2008.  The program includes fun selection of titles from studios, including Arthur and the Invisibles, Deck the Halls, Toddworld: Appreciating Differences, Goosebumps, Land Before Time: The Wisdom of Friends, and so many more. There are a limited number of each program, so the quantity that each library receives depends on then total number of libraries requesting titles, however you will receive at least 5 titles if you are among the first 50 libraries to submit an application.

Public performance rights for these titles are available through January 15th at no additional cost, so the library could host a Winter Film Festival or sponsor after school screenings or create a Junior Film Critics Club. If a libray would like to host a Film Festival, please call KIDS FIRST! to arrange programming.

Here is a quick overview of the program.

Is there any cost to the program? None.

How many titles will I receive? We guarantee 5 titles to the first 50 libraries applying for the program.

When will I receive the titles? Within 10 days of application.

How do I get the application. Just email or call Ann Church at KIDS FIRST! [email protected] or 505-989-8076.

Do I get to pick my titles? No, titles will be pre-selected, however, most will be from major studios.

To see a listing of screenings go to http://www.kidsfirst.org/fest/

Do I return these titles? Some titles must be returned and will be clearly marked. Titles must be returned by January 31, 2008.

Do I have public performance rights for these titles? Yes, for the period of November 15 - January 15th, 2008.

Can my library put these titles into circulation? We hope you will!

When and what paper work is required? Complete a survey for each title. The survey will be emailed to you and can be returned via email.

Can I get more information? Please call Ann Church at 505-989-8076 or email [email protected]

Hot dog! It’s National Children’s Book Week time again! And for our library (and I bet for yours) that means lots and lots of tours and class visits.

We like to tell the kids who visit the library in the weeks surrounding this one that CBW is the time that we celebrate the birthday of books. If the spirit moves us, we sing a rousing “Happy Birthday” chorus and then get down to the nitty of gritty of explaining to young kids how these books can get into their hands and then back to us.

We liken the library to a home - this is where the books live. But, of course, the books love to visit with kids! With a library card, children can take home books and other materials for a visit. And, just like a visit from a friend, the books have to return home to the library after a few weeks so they can visit with other children. This simple explanation hits home with children and helps them see how a library works.

We show the kids around - each year theming the tour of collections, check-out and Info desks and display areas to go along with a favorite children’s book. This year we are using Eric Carle’s Very Hungry Caterpillar. Wooden fruits and veggies are plunked down at high points (DVD’s; Toy Library; new book display; book drop, etc) and we walk around using a caterpillar puppet -and the sharp-eyed kids- to find the food, munch it and describe to the tour group what area they are in. Kids remember the food on subsequent visits with parents when library staffers are overheard saying to kids “Remember, you check out your books over by the banana.” It brings a grin to all our faces.

Do you have fun and innovative ways to celebrate books and libraries during your CBW tours or other times of the year? Feel free to share!

For the past few days I have been attending Winter Wheat, a writer’s workshop at Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio. One of the sessions today had an activity that I thought could translate well to programming for school-age children.

Ed Buchanan, a graduate student with the University of Akron, shared a writing exercise in which we were to take the first line “Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water” and in seven minutes or less, write, what he called, “the missing middle” that leads to “Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after.”

Here is what I wrote in the allotted time:

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. But there was no pail.
“I thought you brought a pail,” said Jill.
“No. I handed it to you.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure or I would be carrying it, wouldn’t I?”
“O.K. Now what? Mom’s going to be mad if we don’t have the water.”
“If we walk back down it will take forever.”
“Yes, but we need to get it. I’ll race you. Go!”
Jack ran as fast as he could.
“Wait for me!” yelled Jill, but Jack had a head start. She was gaining on him when Jack fell down and broke his crown. And, Jill came tumbling after.

Following the exercise, I immediately thought of you, dear readers. Would this type of exercise, creating “missing middles” of nursery rhymes, work in your programming plans? Please share your thoughts and ideas about writing with children in the library.