"Discussion starters" for thinking and talking about books

Here is a link to a powerpoint by Tanya Molina at Centerra Mirage School in Texas, with 30 or 40 suggestions for discussion starters to help students think about their reading / talk about books... Would be great for literature circles. Upper primary / intermediate level.

Go to this link and find on the page the powerpoint called Discussion cards
http://www.avondale.k12.az.us/webpages/tmolina/links1.cfm?subpage=5836

IPL 15 Things

In honor of the IPL’s birthday at March 17, 2010, the IPL launched the IPL 15 Things – introducing 15 of our favorite online technologies, with background information, best practices, related readings, examples of how the IPL is using the technology, and hands-on exercises.
Check out the link below and take the 15 Things Challenge!
http://ipl.ci.fsu.edu/community/wiki/index.php/IPL_15_Things

Kids' Lit Quiz 2011

Here is part of a note from Wayne Mills, QuizMaster, Kids' Lit Quiz :

"Just letting you know that the Edinburgh KLQ World Final was won by the team from England, followed by Scotland and the NZ team (Belmont Int) was third. The NZ Army Band up in Scotland for the Tattoo came along in their red army uniforms at the start of the quiz and performed a haka. The teams got to see Edinburgh really well as they walked quite a bit. They saw the R L Stevenson bookshop, the Sir Walter Scott monument and the graveyard where Burke and Hare infamously disinterred their corpses. Nicola Morgan wrote about that in her book Fleshmarket. I got to meet Ian Rankin and a host of children’s authors. Nicola Morgan and Keith Gray were the after dinner speakers at the international dinner. The Edinburgh Festival was fantastic just buzzing everyday and I can’t wait to go back with more free time to attend everything."

The 2011 Northland Heat for the Kids' Lit Quiz will be on Friday, 1st April (I'm not joking!) in Kerikeri - that is week 9 of Term 1 next year so everyone will need to get reading over the summer holidays...

The NZ National Final will be in the 3rd week in June, and the World Finals will be in Hamilton, the birthplace of the KLQ, for its 20th year, in July (dates to be confirmed).

Reading 2.0

This post is from the Northland PD day blog but I am posting it here also, to promote the resources linked below which inspire new ways of promote reading...

"If we believe in the value and power of books, stories, poems and plays, we also have to remember that it will never be enough simply to publish good stuff. We have to be committed, ingenious, flexible and experimental in coming up with ways of making all that literature come alive for every single child - no exceptions allowed.”

Michael Rosen, Last Laureate Log 11

http://www.michaelrosen.co.uk/foradults_news.html

Think about combining / integrating technology thoughtfully to promote the love of reading… eg using blogs, LibraryThing, texts and tweets, interactive booktalks, book trailers, voicethread, photostory, book related screensavers, audio books, e-books…

One easy and low tech idea from the Reading 2.0 wiki below is putting labels onto books with web information for interested readers to explore themselves, eg

E. Lockhart
If you like E. Lockhart, you’ll like these:
Webpage: http://www.theboyfriendlist.com/
Myspace:http://www.myspace.com/theboyfriendlist
Blog: http://www.theboyfriendlist.com/e_lockhart_blog/
Teen Lit (MySpace): http://groups.myspace.com/teenlit
Readergirlz: http://www.readergirlz.com/ or http://www.myspace.com/readergirlz
Not Your Mother’s Book Club: http://www.myspace.com/notyourmothers

or

Stephenie Meyer
Want more Bella? More Edward? There’s tons more on the web! Check these out:
Webpage: http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/
Playlist: http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilight_playlist.html
Twilight Lexicon (all things Twilight): http://twilightlexicon.com/
Myspace groups: http://groups.myspace.com/stephmeyer or http://groups.myspace.com/booktwilight
Teen Lit (MySpace): http://groups.myspace.com/teenlit
Readergirlz: http://www.readergirlz.com/ or http://www.myspace.com/readergirlz
Not Your Mother’s Book Club: http://www.myspace.com/notyourmothers

In Term 4, consider ways you can encourage students - and teachers - to read during the summer holidays, possibly using a web 2.0 tool to keep connected with the library and other readers, extend and share their reading…

• Reading 2.0 : Getting the gears to work in harmony by Joyce Valenza http://www.sdst.org/shs/library/pdf/reading20.pdf (2008)

• Reading 2.0 wiki – Anita Beaman and Amy Oberts
  http://readingtech.wikispaces.com/
  In the past, the book and the computer might have been in competition with one another...that's a "Reading 1.0" mindset.
  The technological tools posted in this wiki, however, promote reading without diminishing the importance or value of written text.
  Harnessing technology to excite and empower your students' literary development is our mission for Reading 2.0!

• Technology training wheels : What is Reading 2.0? http://technologytrainingwheels.pbworks.com/Reading-2-Point-0

• School Librarian’s role in reading
  http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslissues/positionstatements/roleinreading.cfm
  ALA Toolkit
  http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslissues/toolkits/slroleinreading.cfm
  

• •Promoting reading using this 2.0 stuff by Stephen Abram
  http://stephenslighthouse.com/files/MMIS_26.pdf
  
  “Reading is a social activity. There I said it. I know a lot of people see it as solitary, introverted, internalized, quiet, and even as anti-social! And frankly it isn’t...”
  
  “Since we really care about books (and reading), can we use the new tools on the web to put our services on steroids? Why 2.0? Well, because it offers the first real opportunity to use technology to go beyond search, storage and retrieval and actually engage with readers in a scalable way beyond our walls and beyond physical book formats.”
  
  

NLNZ Northland PD day blog

Here is the link for the blog I set up for participants at the Annual Northland Secondary / Area School Library Professional Development day we had last week.

The PD day is now into its second decade, though the blog is just in its second year... http://nlnznorthlandpdday.blogspot.com/

Philip Pullman on reading...

“We don’t need lists of rights and wrongs, tables of do’s and don’ts : we need books, time and silence. Thou shalt not is soon forgotten, but Once upon a time lasts forever.”

From Philip Pullman’s acceptance speech for the Carnegie medal, 1996

Recording audio books

Having SO enjoyed some good audio books recently * I was interested in this short Booklist Online article about the process of recording an audio book...

http://www.booklistonline.com/ProductInfo.aspx?pid=4390075

* including Case Histories by Kate Atkinson, read by versatile actress / reader / writer Susan Jameson, and Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith, read by Adoja Andoh who won Audio Book Of The Year for Teatime for the Traditionally Built, another McCall Smith title.

One local supplier of audio books and other A/V material is The Library Supply Company

UK School Library Commission report

From the UK Literacy Trust website :

School libraries are too often a wasted resource.

Many school libraries are under-utilised resources that do not fulfil their potential to improve literacy levels and support pupil learning and attainment.

This is a key finding of the School Library Commission, chaired by Baroness Estelle Morris, and jointly established by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and independent charity the National Literacy Trust.

The Commission’s report, School Libraries: A plan for improvement finds that while school libraries have a unique role in raising pupils’ literacy levels, promoting reading for pleasure and improving their access to knowledge, in many schools the library is a wasted resource because it is poorly embedded in the infrastructure of the school and absent from school development plans. Read more

Click here for a copy of the full report :
http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/assets/0000/5718/School_Libraries_A_Plan_for_Improvement.pdf

and here is an interview with the Commission's Chair.

In the conclusion the report says :

"In its call for evidence the Commission asked the question “is there any other service or partnership which can deliver the outcomes of a school library?”
In neither the evidence supplied nor the research examined could the Commissioners find any evidence that the school libraries role could be delivered in another way.

An effective school library acting as a powerhouse of learning and reading within a school is a unique resource. Our vision of a renewed school library system in the nation’s schools is fundamentally about realising the potential of every child by exciting the latent reader and learner in all."

ipl2 - research and writing guide

ipl2 is the result of a merger of the Internet Public Library (IPL) and the Librarians' Internet Index (LII).

It provides an A+ Research and Writing pathfinder for teens - taking students through a step by step approach to planning, preparing, researching and writing... http://www.ipl.org/div/aplus/toc.htm

For the "panic stricken" who need something urgently, there is a quick starter guide with just the essentials http://www.ipl.org/div/aplus/quick.htm

and for the thorough students there is a detailed view http://www.ipl.org/div/aplus/tocdetail.htm

Here is the "home page" for teens at ipl2 http://www.ipl.org/div/teen/

Making books with children blog

Making books with children is a great activity and one of the most enthusiastic proponents of this art is Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord.
She has a blog about making simple books with children using mainly recycled materials http://makingbookswithchildren.blogspot.com/
For each activity there is a link to a season or festival or event, the guidelines for making the books and links to youtube videos if needed, as well as some further resources or websites to enrich the content.

Her latest post on September 11 2010 is a charming accordion book celebrating bees - simple and effective, and a wonderful opportunity for writing, art, craft, creativity and authorship...
http://makingbookswithchildren.blogspot.com/2010/09/bee-accordion.html

Teach with picture books blog

Here is a blog about teaching with picture books - full of ideas, enthusiasm, links, and books books books http://teachwithpicturebooks.blogspot.com/

It is one of three blogs by Keith Schoch "a veteran professional educator". He shares his thoughts and expertise with colleagues through : Teaching that Sticks, Teach with Picture Books, and How to Teach a Novel.

Here is his link to Ways to share picture books for those who are unsure, especially with older children... http://teachwithpicturebooks.blogspot.com/2010/01/ways-to-share-picture-books.html

He also started a wiki about focused reading skills with picture book titles added by wiki readers http://atn-reading-lists.wikispaces.com/Focused+Reading+Skills

and here is his list of publishers which "back up their titles with solid, easily accessible teaching resources. With that in mind, I've listed some publishers which I feel really "knock it out of the park" with their online resources for teachers."
Part 1 : http://teachwithpicturebooks.blogspot.com/2009/12/free-teachers-resources-from-childrens.html
Part 2: http://teachwithpicturebooks.blogspot.com/2009/12/more-free-resources-from-childrens.html
and more...

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

Dolly Parton is known for many things, but I hadn't realised that she has established a programme called Imagination Library to give pre-school children free books... http://www.imaginationlibrary.com/usa/howworks.php

It started in her home county in Tennessee and is now a scheme like our Books in Homes with sponsors bringing the programme into their communities... It is currently operating in the USA, Canada and the UK, and over 600,000 children are receiving a book a month from birth to five years old. Here is an interview on the International Reading Association radio station about it
http://www.reading.org/Resources/Radio.aspx
Good on you, Dolly !

It's a book by Lane Smith

I did a post back in January about this new book by Lane Smith, with its Youtube trailer http://libraryzest.blogspot.com/search/label/Lane%20Smith

Well, it is published now, and just as funny as I expected, and today I came across this teacher guide from Walker Books Australia with ideas to extend it in the classroom - and there is a cute printable postcard at the end. http://www.walkerbooks.com.au/statics/dyn/1283737199726/Its-a-Book-Classroom-Ideas.pdf

(This is the Teacher site at Walker Books http://www.walkerbooks.com.au/Teachers/Classroom-Ideas )

but best of all, visit Lane Smith's website http://www.lanesmithbooks.com/Home.html

and his blog Curious Pages in which he talks about how the book came to be...
http://curiouspages.blogspot.com/2010/07/lane-smith-on-its-book.html
and delights in other children's books...

"A site for all your reading disorders. Looking for books about teddy bears or rainbows or feelings? You’re at the wrong place. Here we celebrate the offbeat, the abstract, the unusual, the surreal, the macabre, the inappropriate, the subversive and the funky."

BBC Writersroom

Here is the BBC's Writers room - a place to encourage screenwriting, with examples of scripts, tips and inspiration for writing for television drama, comedy, and children’s programmes...
May be of interest to budding screen writers ?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/

Writing tips http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/writing/tips.shtml

Inspiration from successful writers http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/insight/index.shtml

I read the interview with Ashley Pharoah, c0-creator of Life on Mars amongst other series, which ends with the question
What's the secret of a successful drama series?

Ashley: It has to be in the premise. It's not difficult to come up with an exciting episode one of series one, you have to work out what you're going to be doing in series three, episode six. And the great shows, the great British dramas, have never been about stories. Stories are just the delivery mechanism for the characters. I can't think of a single storyline for Minder. I can probably guess what the storylines of Minder were but what I remember is Terry and Arthur and how they interacted. No-one ever contacts us and says I love the story with the armed robber, or the one where they're trying to stop the jewellery heist, or the one on the train. They say I like the bit where Gene does this, or the bit where Sam crashes the car or the bit where Chris falls down a hole. And it's these character moments that people want to re-live, and the banter.

Stephen Heppell on school libraries

http://www.cilip.org.uk/news-media/Pages/news072010.aspx

Survey of (UK) School Libraries shows gulf between best and the rest

There is a growing gap between the best services and those where resources and management support are failing, according to a new CILIP School Libraries Group report.

The national survey of UK school libraries has just been completed, with detailed replies from 1,547 secondary, middle, special and independent schools and exhaustive activity reports from over 1,000 of these, supplemented by information from 655 primary schools.

The final report School Libraries in the UK: a worthwhile past, a difficult present – and a transformed future? concludes that the vision and support of senior management is vital to success. It is crucial that school management recognise the difference that a good school library can make.

Currently, it is not a statutory requirement for schools in England to have a school library. Making school libraries and librarians statutory would be a big help in securing the vital role that libraries can play in enhancing teaching and learning.

Professor Stephen Heppell said: “The evidence continues to accumulate that libraries - and their librarians - lie absolutely at the heart of 3rd millennium learning organisations: a place for scholarship, a place to escape into adventures, a place of discovery, a place to share and explore, a place for deep thought, a place for surprise, and above all else a place absolutely without limits. The best schools have libraries at their centres not as some sad throwback to an earlier age but as a clear and evocative prototype of what ambitious learning might look like in this century of learning.”

Brooklyn Central Library

Here are the words inscribed at the entrance to the Brooklyn Central Library, New York :

Here are enshrined the longing of great hearts and noble things that tower above the tide, the magic word that winged wonder starts, the garnered wisdom that never dies.

Written by Roscoe Conklin Ensign Brown (b.1867- d.1946; Appointed Brooklyn Public Library Board, 1908; Vice President, Brooklyn Public Library Board, 1922-1938; President, Brooklyn Public Library Board, 1939-1941).

Here is a link to the various other inscriptions in the library...
http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/central/inscriptions.jsp

(Thanks Catherine for prompting me to find the author !)

I came across it in The Core September newsletter - A Tale of Two Libraries by Kenneth Partridge http://www.corecollections.net/Sept10.htm

Here is the link to The Core newsletter archive - one feature each month is new school library websites which can lead to some interesting virtual visits...
http://www.corecollections.net/newsletter.htm

The Khan Academy

Another enterprise with youtube video clips for educational purposes is the amazing effort by Salman Khan whose website the Khan Academy http://www.khanacademy.org/ provides over 1,600 10 minute online lessons from most basic to most advanced mathematics, as well as science tutorials and financial information...

I heard about it when Kim Hill interviewed him sat-20100911-0835-Sal_Khan_YouTube_tutor-048.mp3
Sal Khan is the founder of the Khan Academy, whose homemade tutorials on YouTube are the most popular educational resource on the web. He is currently the portfolio manager of a fund based in California, and has an MBA from Harvard Business School, a Masters in electrical engineering and computer science, a BS in electrical engineering and computer science, and a BS in mathematics from MIT.

Online referencing generator

This useful and user-friendly resource was shared on the school library list serv - developed by the School Library Association of South Australia, this online referencing generator helps students understand the process and elements of citing sources correctly. There are three levels, for Junior, Middle and Senior school.

http://www.slasa.asn.au/org/

Video clips for the classroom

From the Reading Rockets September newsletter

WatchKnow Classroom Video Library : http://www.watchknow.org/
This wiki, guided by teachers, makes educational video available to any classroom free-of-charge. So far, WatchKnow has published and categorized more than 15,000 videos including offerings in literature (fables, fairy tales, mythology) and language arts (ABCs, vocabulary, writing). WatchKnow is a great kid-safe alternative to YouTube. And, you can add your classroom video to the ever-expanding library.

The epigraph on the website's header quotes Thomas Edison, talking about the film projector in 1911 "Suppose, instead of the dull, solemn letters on a board or a card you have a little play going on that the smallest youngster can understand."

After disaster - coping with disaster resource for schools

After Disaster: Responding to the psychological consequences of disasters for children and young people, by Peter Stanley and Sarah Williams
NEW ZEALAND COUNCIL FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
WELLINGTON, 2000

In the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake, NZCER is making available for free download a book to help schools, libraries and parents support students.
After Disaster was published by NZCER Press in 2000 and written by registered psychologists Peter Stanley, now senior lecturer, Department of Human Development and Counseling, The University of Waikato, and Sarah Williams.
Described by the authors as a psychological first aid guide, it contains research-based information to help teachers, librarians and parents to understand children’s likely immediate and longer-term responses to disaster. It includes ideas of questions to prompt classroom discussion, and activities to help students work through their experiences.
Parents, Libraries and Schools are welcome to download all or parts of the book, and to share it with their communities. Go to http://www.nzcer.org.nz/pdfs/after_disaster_web.pdf

Christchurch Kids Blog and Quake Map

An announcement from Donna Robertson, Web content manager, Christchurch City Libraries :

"Our new blog for Christchurch and Canterbury has been launched http://christchurchkids.wordpress.com/
We'd love you and your students to explore it. There's plenty of ideas and activities for kids off school in Christchurch and Canterbury. One of our special features is our 'Star author' - this month it's the wonderful Brian Falkner.
Thanks for all the good wishes we've received from around New Zealand and the world, we really appreciate your support."


Also shared about the Christchurch area, this Christchurch Quake Map which clearly shows the frightening frequency and intensity of quakes over the past week... http://www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz/
Site concept and development by Paul Nicholls of the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Bookplates

I was just showing a friend the bookplates which can be downloaded for free (any non-commercial use) to personalise books - such a wonderful resource, and realised I hadn't done a post about it here...

My Home Library
This was an initiative of author Anne Fine when she was UK Children's Laureate 2001 - 3 to encourage children to develop a "home library" by buying second hand books and personalising them with their own bookplate. There are colour and black and white plates, smaller, medium and large sized, with a variety of wording... There is an invitation to artists to provide bookplates for donated books and a few bookplates are there now that say "This book was donated to ... by..." which might be useful for school libraries.

"Everyone needs a Home Library. Make sure that yours keeps growing. Don't forget that books furnish the mind, and unfurnished minds are EMPTY and TIRESOME."

This website also includes tips and tricks for finding books, reviews and fun stuff, and a page with a few suggestions for teachers.

In New Zealand, The Children's Bookshop website has some bookplates by NZ artists including Robyn Belton, Dave Gunson and Gavin Bishop...

NZ Classification and censorship system

The Office of Film and Literature Classification has a free information pack for school libraries to help students and librarians understand New Zealand's censorship system and classification labels for DVDs, films, and books.
Contact the Information Unit for more info on this pack: information@censorship.govt.nz

Digital literacy and cybersafety

Bobbi Newman has just done a post on the libraries and transliteracy blog about a new Google tool for educators http://www.google.com/educators/digitalliteracy.html

There are three workshops: Detecting lies and staying true; Playing and staying safe online; and Steering clear of cyber tricks.

The libraries and transliteracy blog is worth bookmarking http://librariesandtransliteracy.wordpress.com/

(Shared on the list serv by Donna Watt, SLANZA Communications Leader, Information Centre Manager Aurora College)

We have great New Zealand resources for cybersafety and digital literacy on Netsafe's website http://www.netsafe.org.nz/ full of information, guides, templates and advice...

They are about to launch a new approach to cybersafety for schools called Learn:Guide:Protect at the U-Learn conference in Christchurch in October, and Nancy Groh, Senior Cybersafety Consultant at Netsafe provided this logo, so look out for information arriving in your school in Term 4.

Cover to Cover - new KKHS book chat blog

Cover to Cover is Kerikeri High School Library's great new book chat blog with reviews, book trailers, and celebrations, and it is full of enthusiasm and reading recommendations...
http://kerikeri-covertocover.blogspot.com/

Mysteries and reading plans

The late Carol Otis Hurst was a storyteller, lecturer, author and language arts consultant in the USA and had been an elementary school teacher, librarian and author. Her children's literature website is now ably continued by her daughter, Rebecca Otis, with reviews of great books for kids, ideas of ways to use them in the classroom and collections of books and activities about particular subjects, curriculum areas, themes and professional topics.

You can sign up for free, quarterly email newsletters, and the September issue features Mysteries in the classroom for preschool to junior secondary level, fiction and non-fiction, and some ideas for classroom discussion and activities :
http://www.carolhurst.com/newsletters/1503newsletters.html
This could be a great way to hook some students into the mystery genre.

My niece is 6 and loving the Milo and Jazz series of mysteries - it is the first time I've heard her read a book, notice other titles in the series and request all five... an example of having a "reading plan" which is an important element in becoming an avid reader.

Donald Graves, quoted in Nancie Atwell's The Reading Zone, once said that he thought a revealing measure of the effectiveness of a reading programme or literature curriculum was whether students had plans as readers : ideas about what they want to read next or whom they want to read next...

Steven Layne gives his students a Someday template to note down any possible books for future reading - for older students it is called Books to consider, and he talks about choosing books from the library as "going shopping".

Donalyn Miller in her end of year survey asks her students "Which topics, authors, series, titles etc do you plan to read in the future?"
(Read her September 5 2010 blog post about how to accelerate a reader - not through commercial programmes but the tried and true elements of access to books, time to read, reading engagement, school-wide support, well stocked libraries with qualified librarians, student choice - hear, hear.)

The Sin-eater by Gary Schmidt

Here are a few snippets from The Sin-Eater to give a flavour...

Grandpa could be cantankerous as all get out, but when it came to Grandma, he smoothed out like an old dog circling down by a wood stove.

It came to me that the story wasn’t just a story to Grandpa. It was his own history coming down to him from generation to generation, a story about people whose blood we carried. For a moment there was no difference between Grandpa and Erastus; I felt the story settle down into me until it was more memory than story.

You can’t tell someone what fall leaves look like in New Hampshire. In fact, you can’t even really remember what they look like from one year to the next. Every fall they throw a surprise party, and suddenly you remember what you’ve forgotten. And it’s not just the colours. It’s the cooler breezes that draw across the leaves, making them shiver. It’s the cold dew that beads on them and wets the arm of your jacket. It’s the dusty smell when they are dry in the afternoon. And it’s the thick smoke that coils up from them when they burn just before suppertime.

Gary D. Schmidt and Kate De Goldi

Here is a link to a discussion between Kate De Goldi and Kim Hill about the fiction of Gary Schmidt, an American children's writer of nonfiction books and young adult novels.

sat-20100717-1140-Childrens_Books_with_Kate_De_Goldi_Gary_Schmidt-048.mp3

I'd not heard of this author either, but was inspired to get the books from National Library, read them, and I too loved them, especially The Wednesday Wars, which made me laugh and cry...

What is so wonderful is the way Kate talks about these books, and others, making connections and identifying themes and common elements between the various books, as well as with the author's own life or background, with other authors - before, contemporary or since, and with wider trends in literature and social developments... This is the talent of an avid, thoughtful, knowledgeable, articulate, life-long reader!

Alex's Adventures in Numberland

I am just reading Alex's Adventures in Numberland by Alex Bellos, Bloomsbury 2010, subtitled Dispatches from the wonderful world of mathematics, and finding it fascinating - sort of like Bill Bryson's writing in The short history of nearly everything... full of information and enthusiasm, with an eye for quirky detail, interesting characters and humorous turn of phrase...

Here is a link to Alex Bellos' website http://alexbellos.com/ - lots of interesting info - even for a non-mathematician like myself - check out his August post about the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) 2010, which has been taking place in Hyderabad, India.

Here is a review of Alex's book by David Bodanis, author of E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation, in The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/apr/25/alex-bellos-adventures-numberland-mathematics

One for the secondary school library and to tell maths teachers about...

Publishers' websites : teacher's guides

If you are looking for inspiration and ideas for ways to incorporate children's literature into classroom programmes - with the proviso about not "doing" a book to death - there are often notes available on the publisher's website, eg

Harper Collins
http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/Teachers/TeachingResources.aspx

Walker
http://www.walkerbooks.com.au/Teachers/Classroom-Ideas

Allen & Unwin
http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=71

Random House
http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/

Also check out either the author's own website or the "character's" website, as well as resources such as : Carol Hurst , Children's Literature Web Guide , Resources for School Librarians etc etc etc

Kaye Webb and Puffin books

I have just read So much to tell you which is the biography of Kaye Webb, written by Valerie Grove to celebrate 70 years of Puffin Books. I found it interesting, readable, informative, inspiring, and sad.

Kaye was the influential editor and driving force behind Puffin Books during the "golden age" of children's literature in the UK in the 1960s / 1970s, establishing the Puffin Club, Puffin Post as well as Puffin holidays and events which influenced thousands of children's reading and writing lives, and participation in the children's literature community...

Kaye was married three times, her third husband was artist Ronald Searle (of St Trinian's fame), survivor of Changi... Kaye said that "My business life has worked out beautifully. My private life has been the reverse."

Here are a couple of reviews :
http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=So_Much_To_Tell_by_Valerie_Grove
http://vulpeslibris.wordpress.com/2010/08/27/so-much-to-tell-by-valerie-grove/

Also recently published is Puffin by Design - 70 Years of Imagination (1940 - 2010)

Here is a synopsis from the Penguin website, including a short video about shooting the cover
http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780141326146,00.html

and here is Kate De Goldi talking about it with Kim Hill :

sat-20100814-1145-Childrens_Books_with_Kate_De_Goldi_Puffins-048.mp3

The book which Kate refers to is The child that books built by Francis Spufford.

Holocaust encyclopedia

From Booklist online :

http://www.booklistonline.com/ProductInfo.aspx?pid=4376114

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., is both an educational institution and a memorial to the victims and survivors of this attempt to annihilate people deemed unfit by the Nazis. This online encyclopedia makes some of the material available in the museum accessible to anyone with an Internet connection.




The encyclopedia is translated into 12 languages: English, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Turkish, Portuguese, Arabic, Greek, simplified Chinese, Farsi, and Urdu.

On the home page, popular articles are arranged by topics that covers all aspects of the Holocaust: the Third Reich, the Holocaust, Victims of the Nazi Era, Rescue and Resistance, and After the Holocaust.

Users can also browse all articles A–Z, and look through the museum’s collection of ID cards, which are valuable resources for those researching family histories.

The encyclopedia also includes educational resources for both students and teachers as well as items from the museum’s collection of photographs, personal testimonies, histories, artifacts, documents, maps, and music.

An important feature of this resource is the fact that it relates history to current events. There are articles about the genocides in Rwanda and Darfur as well as about the war in the Congo.

It also includes information about all of the groups persecuted by the Nazis: Rom (Gypsies), homosexuals, Poles, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the disabled, political opponents, among others.

This is an outstanding resource for anyone interested in history—and it is free.

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/

10 Best Websites For Free Audio Books

A screen shot and brief profile of 10 recommended websites to search for free audio books to download :

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/easy-listening-pleasures-10-websites-free-audio-book-downloads/

BBC Dimensions website "How big really?"

This website was shared from the OZTL Net list-serv on the NZ school lib list-serv by Carol Gardiner at Queen's High School Library :

BBC Dimensions http://howbigreally.com/ takes important places, events and things, and overlays them onto a map of where you are.

For example, the floods in Pakistan, if centered over Wellington, would stretch the length of New Zealand...

E-books - and the Periodic Table

The National Library Services to Schools website has posted a useful new page on e-books
http://schools.natlib.govt.nz/e-books-new-directions-readers-and-libraries

and currently featuring in the Inspire Me section on the home page is a piece on e-Books, iPads and the Periodic Table which wonderfully illustrates the potential of e-books to bring information alive in three dimensions and interactivity, not to mention the inspiring enthusiasm of Theodore Gray who is passionate about the elements - I love his Periodic Table table...

This is one to share with the science teachers in your school.

http://www.youtube.com/user/periodictabledotcom

Author birthday celebrations

Monday 13th September (Monday of week 9 of term) is Roald Dahl Day - his birthday - and the website has various resources to celebrate it, including a Quiz Pack with 3 levels of questions Supereasy , Easy and Hard, and a Sports Day Pack with ideas, posters, certificates etc http://www.roalddahlday.info/Resources.aspx

The US readwritethink website http://www.readwritethink.org/ (IRA and NCTE) has a great calendar viewable by day, week or month with author birthdays and other literary celebrations with links to classroom activities, websites and related resources...
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/?month=09&year=2010&main-tab=week#main-tabs

Types of Calendar Activities :
Authors & Texts - Birthdays, publication dates, and more
Historical Figures & Events - Notable people and happenings in history
Holidays & School Celebrations - Special days and how to observe them
Literacy-Related Events - Celebrations that promote and encourage literacy

See also http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/authordate.html for a list - by author or by date

and here is an enthusiastic blog http://www.happybirthdayauthor.com/

Celebrating children's literature was a joy for me as a special education teacher in the classroom. I decided to share my ideas with parents, homeschoolers, and enthusiastic teachers, as I take time off to be a stay at home dad. I hope you enjoy the format of this blog to study an author each week to celebrate their birthday. Check back often to celebrate more children's author birthdays!

Here are some September posts http://www.happybirthdayauthor.com/search/label/September - Shel Silverstein, Tomie de Paola, Jack Prelutsky, Jon Scieszka...

Teen Read Week - YALSA

Teen Read Week is in October in the USA is organised by YALSA - Young Adult Library Services Association :

For more than a decade, librarians and educators nationwide have joined together in October to encourage teens to "Read for the Fun of It" during YALSA's annual Teen Read Week celebration. This year's theme—Books with Beat @ your library—serves as a creative starting point for developing dynamic events in schools, public libraries, and bookstores, that will inspire young adults to discover new genres, check out poetry, listen to audiobooks, and much more. No matter what direction you take the theme, this event is a great way to encourage teens to visit the library and read for sheer enjoyment!

Here is the website http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/teenreading/trw/trw2010/home.cfm

and I recommend checking out the wiki which is full of ideas for this and previous year's themes - 2008 was Books with bite picking up on the vampire craze...
http://wikis.ala.org/yalsa/index.php/Teen_Read_Week#Introduction

Talking about books - SLJ article by Olga Nesi

Here is an interesting article about using "reader advisory" strategies, such as "appeal terms" to help children speak more thoughtfully about the books they read - going beyond "This book is great. I really like it. It is about... "

It’s All About Text Appeal: Want readers’ advisory to make a difference? Teach your kids how to speak intelligently about books.
By Olga Nesi August 1, 2010

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/home/885803-312/its_all_about_text_appeal.html.csp