Baby book shower

A friend of mine who is a happy new grandmother sent me a wonderful photo of her 2 1/2 week old grandson being read Dr Seuss's Ten apples up on top by his father, and the look of rapt engagement was a delight to see.

This new baby will grow up a reader for sure, and in fact his mother's baby shower was a baby, book and barbeque shower and everyone brought a new copy of their favourite book – either one they had read to their children or their own favourite. What a great idea - starting off a new reading lifetime with a library of literary treasures !

I'm sending him All the world by Liz Garton Scanlon and illustrated Marlee Frazee which is my latest, favourite "welcome to the world new baby" book.

http://books.simonandschuster.com/All-the-World/Liz-Garton-Scanlon/9781416985808

"It's hard to imagine a cozier and more spacious world. At once a lullaby and an invigorating love song to nature, families and interconnectedness." -- Kirkus Reviews, STARRED

Into the book - comprehension strategies

I posted about this website last year - a useful resource when talking to students (primary) about ways to get more from reading - but have just recommended the downloadable pdf posters with each strategy simply defined to a librarian asking for just this thing for display in the library, so thought I would mention it again...
Into the book - http://reading.ecb.org/index.html

From the website :

Into the Book is a reading comprehension resource for K-4 students and teachers. We focus on eight research-based strategies: Using Prior Knowledge, Making Connections, Questioning, Visualizing, Inferring, Summarizing, Evaluating and Synthesizing. Try the online interactive activities, or click below to find out how to get our engaging 15-minute video programs.

Behind the Lesson provides information and teaching resources for each strategy. Watch our 10-minute professional development videos and explore the Web site for lesson plans, video and audio clips, downloads, and more.

What does a good library tell you about a school?

A post from Doug Johnson on his Blue Skunk blog, shared on schoolibs by Carole Gardiner from Queens High in Dunedin this morning

http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2010/1/24/what-does-a-good-library-tell-you-about-a-school.html

"Had I any say in the decision, my grandsons would never attend a school that did not have a good* library program. You can tell a lot about a school's philosophy of education - in practice, not just in lip service - by what sort of library it supports."

He then goes on to list 12 beliefs demonstrated by a school with a good school library...

* Good = professional and support staff, adequate materials, articulated curriculum, pleasant physical plant, up-to-date technology.

It brings to mind an apposite quote from Harold Howe, II (1918-2002), former U.S. Commissioner of Education, in an interview "On Libraries and Learning":

"What a school thinks about its library is a measure
of what it feels about education."

School Library Journal, February 1967, v. 13, p. 28.

Meg Rosoff - Bride's Farewell

I think Meg Rosoff would be one of my favourite authors, I've just recently discovered her - every book so readable, so different from the other, so well-written, so thoughtful...

The latest one I've just finished is the romantic, coming of age novel The Bride's Farewell (Viking, 2009) - published as an adult book but for me a definitely a great YA fiction title.


This book is set in 19th century England, and tells the story of Pell, a young woman who steals away in the night to avoid an inevitable marriage and the children, hard work and limited life that it seems to prescribe. She leaves, with her horse, and, unexpectedly, a younger brother, and the hope of finding a different life, but through the adventures and vicissitudes ahead of her, it is clear the links to her family are far from broken.

Amazon has some good reviews, and here is a youtube link from Penguin with Meg talking about the book.

Here is a link to an interview with Meg Rosoff from The Guardian - with some reading from the book, and talking about the books' inspirations and personal connections.

You can tell Meg loves dogs, and horses, and words... Her prose has a wonderful cadence.

"It was a tangle of a family, for better or worse, a right complexity of children, all knotted up with love and jealousy..."

"Pell's father's family were clergymen of the worst sort: charming, immoral, and unkempt, with livings too small to keep a family and behaviour unbecoming men of God."

"For those poor souls who can only think of the terrible fear and danger of a runaway horse, think of this : a speed like water flowing over a stone, a skimming sensation that hovers and dips while the world spins around and the wind drags your skin taut across your bones..."

Here is Meg's blog http://www.megrosoff.co.uk/blog/

Habits are learned. Visit the library.

A 30-second video from the Finnish Library Association. It's delightful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eITfhOwyTU&feature=player_embedded

Shaun Tan, Astrid Lindgren and Bologna

Shaun Tan is the 2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award winner, with its NZ$1 million prize.

On Shaun's wonderful website he writes an account of being told he had won, and what it means for him... http://www.shauntan.net/news1.html

And from the Astrid Lindgren Memorial blog which has more reports about the award, there is also a giddy 60 second video of the Bologna Children's Book Fair which might have to do for some of us until we actually get there one day !

Karen Bonanno and school library management

Check out Karen Bonanno's website with various useful presentations, articles and resources she shares... http://www.schoollibrarymanagement.com/index.html

"schoollibrarymanagement.com is dedicated to the information specialists, teacher-librarians, school librarians, library media specialists, and those who work in school libraries worldwide, who are passionate about making a difference to student learning."

Karen held a webinar on school library advocacy in February this year, and her presentation is available here "7 Successful Strategies to Develop your Advocacy Toolkit"

Strategy 1: Identify a memorable message
Strategy 2: Capture killer statistics
Strategy 3: Gather startling facts
Strategy 4: Source quotable quotes
Strategy 5: Find remarkable stories
Strategy 6: Massage the media
Strategy 7: Leverage the network

Her presentation finishes with the tag : Collaboration, Community, Contribution - Build the Tribe.

I'm planning on joining her April webinar this evening - A point of view on Digital Literacy.

The Good Word Junior - tv programme

This was a great programme, and thanks to TV on demand, if you missed it you can watch it here...
http://tvnz.co.nz/the-good-word/good-word-s3-special-video-4045647

Some highlights :

Barbara Woods, Deputy Principal Viscount Primary School, talking about their Book Club
"We knew we had teachers in classrooms doing wonderful jobs at teaching reading but they weren't actually - a lot of them - readers themselves, and we knew that to be a superb teacher of reading you actually need to be a reader yourself...
We quickly found that we could discuss these books with our very good readers in the school and so we brought students on board into book club and now teachers and students discuss literature together..."
Some students spoke about their "first chapter test" to see if a book was going to be a starter.

Other aspects which caught my attention :

• An interview was with librarian Lois Huston at Hebron Christian College - "We don't force them to read, we want them to read for fun !"
• The power of series fiction - finding not only a great book but a great series to hook into...
• The fun and benefits, challenges and rewards of taking part in Wayne Mills' Kids' Lit Quiz
• "I like reading, and it makes me smarter so that's a positive!"
• The "home run book" effect - wonderfully described by a student who talked about the competition she had with her friends to be the first to read a chapter book, at age 6 - her book was Dahl's Matilda. Another student described a home run book as "the perfect book, their favourite book in the whole world, and they read that and after that they love reading..."
  

The next segment followed a similar theme with Antonia Prebble talking about Jane Eyre - her ultimate, all-time, favourite book, as well as a childhood home run book, George speaks by Dick King-Smith - a title I read to my niece this last January, and we enjoyed it.

Finlay McDonald took one of his childhood favourites - Swallows and Amazons - the first "book that switched on the reading light" in his head, a book which "took you out of your world and into another"... It received mixed reviews from a contemporary audience !

Finlay went on to interview Brian Falkner (his key writing ingredients : adventure, suspense, humour) and Mandy Hager who emphasised the need to be truthful in her writing.
Bernard Beckett was interesting talking about 11 and 12 year olds "reading up" - entering teenage world, a world they aspire to, getting pleasure in discovering things for the first time.
Bernard Beckett, a high school teacher, spoke about the main threat to teen reading for pleasure being the pressures of assessment and homework - more of a threat than electronic distractions. So, in a nutshell - ban homework and make books fun again.

Finlay summed up with these guidelines for creating teen readers :

• make them laugh,
• make them the heroes
• be honest about their lives
• keep grownups out of the action
• don't force them to read

Kate de Goldi spoke about her memory of childhood "story records" - known by heart.

Fleur Beale spoke about writing, and the relationship between inspiration and more prosaically, "bum glue" - ie, just sit and write ! She also advised "Anybody wanting to be a writer has to read - you can't really be a writer unless you read.. and then you have to write... and people should keep everything they write, and date it, it will be a a resource for later..."

So, lots to check out with Emily Perkins on The Good Word, Junior.

Good news for NZ schools re EPIC

Communication from Paula Banks, EPIC manager re MOE renewal of their support of EPIC for NZ schools for 2011...

"This is to let you know that the Ministry of Education has just notified me that they will be re-newing their subscription to EPIC on behalf New Zealand schools for 2011.

Another exciting development is that 3 new resources are being added to the subscription. These have not been added yet as I am working through the set-up with the vendor and TKI, but once they have been, I will send an e-mail out to let you know.

The new resources are:

Global Resources In Context http://www.gale.cengage.com/pdf/facts/GML26709_GIC_K12.pdf (A media rich, content driven, easy to use e-resource that brings balanced information to students seeking to understand international issues and news headlines by tying together news, global viewpoints, reference, country information, primary source documents, video, statistics and more.)

Science In Context http://www.gale.cengage.com/pdf/facts/Science-In-Context-Factsheet-K12.pdf (Science In Context features authoritative information for assignments and projects, and provides detailed coverage of popular subjects. Subjects range from earth science and life science, to space, technology, mathematics, science history, biography and more.)

Educator's Reference Complete http://www.gale.cengage.com/pdf/facts/ERC.pdf (This comprehensive resource for teachers covers multiple levels of education from preschool to University and includes information on virtually every educational specialty.)

If you are not using EPIC in your school, particularly secondary school, you are missing out on a useful resource. See other posts on this blog for ideas of how EPIC has been promoted...

Puffin Short Story Award

Penguin Group (NZ) & Storylines Children’s Literature Charitable Trust team up again with nationwide Short Story Awards for children.

Following the success of the inaugural Puffin Short Story Awards last year, school children across the country are again invited to show off their writing skills in this unique competition.

The competition, which aims to nurture young writing talent, is now open and culminates in an awards ceremony at the Storylines Auckland Family Day on 28 August 2011. Entries are accepted in three categories: Junior (School Years 4-6), Intermediate (School Years 7-8) and Senior (School Years 9-11).

“ A writing competition for young writers is a splendid way of encouraging young people to realise the power of words to inspire, entertain, inform, persuade and to explore ideas. Becoming a writer goes hand in hand with becoming a reader. Budding writers feed on the words of the authors. As they see themselves in the author role they become more perceptive and critical readers. Storylines is delighted to work in partnership with Puffin/Penguin in this short story competition. It aligns closely with our aims to support New Zealand writers and illustrators for children and to celebrate reading and writing for young people. We look forward to those who enter the competition being among our published writers of the future.”
Dr Libby Limbrick, Chairperson of Storylines, Head of School of Arts, Languages and Literacies , Faculty of Education , University of Auckland.

This year, the prize up for grabs in each category is an Apple iPad. All three winners will also take away 50 Puffin books for their school library.

A team of judges recruited by Storylines will short-list up to 10 finalists per category, and the overall winner in each category will be selected by a high-profile children’s author.
Dawn McMillan is back to judge the Junior category, along with Joy Cowley in the Intermediate category. David Hair joins the team this year as judge in the Senior category. The theme for the competition is open, allowing participants to write about subjects of their own choosing.

The competition closes at 5pm on 3 June. Entry forms and full details are available at www.puffin.co.nz or www.storylines.org.nz

For further information please contact:
Lyn Olds | Penguin Group (NZ) | Tel: 09 442 7465 | lyn.olds@nz.penguingroup.com
www.puffin.co.nz

Books for Keeps

The latest edition of the UK children's literature journal Books for Keeps online is available http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/issue/187
I find it useful getting the email reminder.

Rosemary Stones' editorial mentions a couple of campaigns - Campaign for the Book organised by children's writer Alan Gibbons - see his blog as a forum for library advocacy - both school and public, http://alangibbons.net/ and for the Campaign Charter and signatories http://alangibbons.net/?page_id=206
Now the Bookseller has started a campaign to engage support for public libraries Fight 4 Libraries, and there is a Facebook site http://bit.ly/fight4libraries

Two obituaries of much loved authors - Dick King Smith and Brian Jacques, Michael Rosen on the language of the King James Bible, an interview with author Julie Hearn, a heap of reviews and much more...

Power point 20th century Cinderella

Power Point 20th Anniversary Cinderella is a Slideshare by Rowan Manahan with a modern powerpoint-speak version of the familiar tale, including "loss of 50% of shoes"...

The Willoughbys - Lois Lowry

A Novel Nefariously Written and Ignominiously Illustrated by the Author

.

From the blurb : Villains, benefactors, no-nonsense nannies, abandoned infants, long-lost heirs, and late-life romance all make their appearance along with the irrepressible Willoughbys as the Newbery Award-winning author Lois Lowry pays playful homage to classic works of literature in this hilarious and decidedly "old-fashioned" parody.

This really appealed to my sense of humour and own childhood reading history - yes, I read and loved all those books - Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, Heidi, Secret Garden, Mary Poppins, Ballet Shoes... I read this new book from Lois Lowry in a sitting and would love to pass it on to a young reader who will enjoy the various literary references and jokes, though you could enjoy the book very well without such background.

Lemony Snicket has written a great review for Publisher's Weekly,
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-618-97974-5

Don't miss the fabulous Glossary with its idiosyncratic definitions (of which Lemony Snicket says, "This critic even vaguely recognizes the stratagem of a glossary, in which the more toothsome words are defined unreliably and digressively" as he would !)
METICULOUS means extremely precise and careful. Surgeons have to be meticulous. Some people think great cooks are meticulous, but they are wrong. Great cooks read a recipe, maybe, but then they ignore the instructions and add extra garlic if they feel like it. Surgeons can't do that.

and there is a Bibliography "Books of the past that are heavy on piteous but appealing orphans, ill-tempered and stingy relatives, magnanimous benefactors, and transformations wrought by winsome children."

From the jacket blurb about the author :
"Influenced in her childhood by a mother who insisted on surrounding her with books instead of roller skates and jump ropes, Lois Lowry grew up lacking fresh air and exercise but with a keen understanding of plot, character and setting.... "

A good readaloud for upper primary/intermediate maybe, but you'd need to read it yourself to see if it fits your sensibility with the children keen on the idea of becoming orphans and the parents keen on becoming childless... There is a useful review on Amazon which says "Perhaps it is not for all takers, but those with a keen sense of humor and a taste for the bizarre will enjoy this winsome tale of the beastly, the diabolical, the irascible, and the unkempt."

Hougton Mifflin press release

Advocay for the school library

AASL has started sending out a daily advocacy tips. From the simple idea of making sure there was a link to the library homepage from the main school page to setting up an advisory committee. Each day there is a little gems. Sometimes they are great reminders of things I keep meaning to do, but maybe haven’t quite the time. Sometimes they are ideas I hadn’t even thought of, and I start to wonder how that might work in my school. Every once in a while there is one that I know I’m doing! It gives me that feeling of “I’m on the right track!”

If you are a member of AASL you can get these little tips emailed directly to your inbox – once a day, once a week, or once a month depending on your preference. You also have the option to get them as an email or text. AASL also has been posting them on their Twitter. So, lots of ways to get access to these wonderful ideas! If you have ideas that you think make great tips, make sure to share those with the AASL office. You might see them as a future tip down the road.

Tags: AASL · advocacy · American Association of School Librarians · Professional Development · school library media programs

E books in prisons

Here is an interesting article about the potential of e-books in prisons, shared through Library Link of the Day.
http://www.corrections.com/news/article/25312

American Indians in children's literature

I haven't seen Barack Obama's best selling book Of thee I sing but I have heard about it - a letter to his two daughters, featuring 13 "groundbreaking Americans and the ideals that have shaped our nation."
This is a post by Debbie Reese, a Nambe Pueblo Indian from the Upper Village, on her blog : American Indians in Children's Literature. She talks about the book in general and about the entry on Sitting Bull in particular - I found this thoughtful analysis interesting - with reference to this title, and in general about respecting indigenous cultures.
http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2010/12/what-does-sitting-bulls-great-grandson.html

Science images

This seems to be a short-lived blog of just 3 pages and 1 week duration, but it is a great collection of scientific images...
http://wondergalleryofscience.tumblr.com/
Images like this and accompanying text would make great displays in a library.

Ever wonder why computers get "a bug" or need to be "de-bugged"?
http://wondergalleryofscience.tumblr.com/post/1506551925/moth-found-trapped-between-points-at-relay-70

Author Jenny Valentine

I loved Finding Violet Park by Jenny Valentine which won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize (see here for Jenny's happy account of the awards evening) , but have only just got around to reading any other titles by her that I could get my hands on, and thoroughly enjoyed them all - The Ant Colony, The Double Life of Cassiel Roadknight, and for younger readers, Iggy and Me. Still to read Broken Soup.

What I enjoy about the books is well and truthfully described here from the publisher's website :

"...all the classic hallmarks of a Jenny novel – a fantastically strong, sensitive and memorable first person narration; themes of loss and betrayal, family secrets and personal identity; truly quality writing that is 'literary' but never inaccessbile or pretentious..."

Intermediate / secondary for the novels, and mid primary for the Iggy chapter books - a modern version of My Naughty Little Sister, with patient and loving Flo managing the vagaries of her funny little sister Iggy.

There is an interview with her on the LoveReading4Kids website with a list of her various books, including her response to The colour pink. Discuss. "Let’s see… bubblegum, fake fur, rose petals, cold noses, underwear, marshmallows, candy floss, lip gloss…. how am I doing?!"

Heave Ho ! Heinz Janisch

A wonderful picture book - concise, clever, and - as proclaimed on the opening page "This story is told in twelve sentences. Start counting now." The text continues "In the first sentence, a cat runs into the story..." and so it goes as the cat, a dog and three mice co-operate to achieve their goal.
A quirky book which illustrates perfectly the power of picture books with a dozen simple sentences to tell a great story... and maybe a useful writing framework for students' own storytelling?

Available to borrow from National Library.

Scribble, scribble, scribble by Simon Schama

I'm enjoying this new book by Simon Schama - Scribble, scribble, scribble (Bodley Head, 2010)
Here is the blurb :

'Wednesday brought a pungent sheepy smell emanating from the greyish lamb and barley soup my mother optimistically called 'Taste of the Garden of Eden'. Expel me, please. Haddock in the air? That would be Thursday. The faintest whiff of roasting garlic? That would be what my sister and I uncharitably dubbed 'Friday Night Memorial Chicken'; a venerable object smeared on the breasts with a dab of marmite meant to cheer the bird up as it emerged defeated from the oven. Rattling inside the brittle cavity was that one solitary clove of garlic; the exotic knobble that my mother conceded as a romantic touch amid the iron regimen of her unvarying weekly routine.'

Cookery is not necessarily a subject one immediately associates with Simon Schama - one of Britain's most respected historians and commentators. But this selection of his occasional writings is a treasure trove of surprises. Passionate, provocative, entertaining and informative, "Scribble, Scribble, Scribble" ranges far and wide: from cookery and family to Barack Obama, from preaching and Shakespeare to Victorian sages, from Leonard Cohen and Hurricane Katrina to 'The Fate of Eloquence in the Age of The Osbornes'. Never predictable, always stimulating, "Scribble, Scribble, Scribble" allows us to view the world, in all its diversity, through the eyes of one of its most original inhabitants.

Book covering videos

There are Raeco videos on youtube which might be useful if teaching some helpful school library book covering volunteers...
Here is on about covering paperbacks with Duraseal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L80EMSb4xh8
and one on Lyfguards
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz7V782Cdbs&NR=1

Maori waiata

I was directed to youtube to watch a video of a waiata to practice for an event in Auckland and I came across this site http://folksong.org.nz/waiata.html which might be of interest...

NZ authors, teaching notes

From Sarah Forster Education Manager New Zealand Book Council

"I have just found these on Text Publishing's website. They are an Australian publisher, but have picked up a lot of our most popular authors, publishing Bernard Beckett, Lloyd Jones, Leon Davidson, Maurice Gee, and Anna Mackenzie. In case any teachers are looking for notes - I know some of these books are likely to be in class sets now! "

http://textpublishing.com.au/resources/teaching-notes

Picture books

A sad little piece from the NY Times about languishing picture book publishing and sales, and the pressure some parents feel to rush through picture books to get to the chapter book fiction and the "real reading" including this sorry tale :

"Some parents say they just want to advance their children’s skills. Amanda Gignac, a stay-at-home mother in San Antonio who writes The Zen Leaf, a book blog, said her youngest son, Laurence, started reading chapter books when he was 4. Now Laurence is 6 ½, and while he regularly tackles 80-page chapter books, he is still a “reluctant reader,” Ms. Gignac said. Sometimes, she said, he tries to go back to picture books. “He would still read picture books now if we let him, because he doesn’t want to work to read,” she said, adding that she and her husband have kept him reading chapter books."

Oh, dear.

Market Books - Whangarei

I wonder if Northland schools know about Market Books in Whangarei ? If not, it might be worth checking out...
http://www.booksellers.co.nz/members/member-profiles/market-books-%E2%80%93-using-book-month-promote-whangarei-store

NZ Post Children's Book Awards

The finalists have been announced for 2011 NZ Post Children's Book Awards
http://www.booksellers.co.nz/awards/new-zealand-post-childrens-book-awards/finalists-announced-2011-new-zealand-post-children%E2%80%99s-b
as selected by our own Dee Brooker, Librarian at Whangarei Boys' High School who is one of the team of three judges.

If schools haven't received their resource pack yet, then contact the Bookseller's Association to have one sent to you.

Apparently the Activity Pages for the 2011 books are due to be posted on the website any day soon. http://www.booksellers.co.nz/awards/new-zealand-post-childrens-book-awards/resources/finalist-activity-pages

Cover to Cover

Kerikeri High School's book blog Cover to Cover is a treasure trove of great posts, links, reviews...

Just a couple recent posts - a fun bookshelf reorganisation video and a post about The Guardian's new childrens and teen website ....

Lots of great stuff to explore here from this ardent blogger.

Gene Smith - hero librarian

Here are a couple of obituaries - from The Economist and The Daily Telegraph, for Gene Smith, a librarian whose passion, intellect, tenacity and enterprise "almost single-handedly ensured the survival of Tibetan literature..." He died in December 2010.

From The Economist obituary :
"Over five decades, Mr Smith made it his business to put Tibetan literature back together. He did it more or less single-handedly, fired by his love of the language and the culture and aided by a brain that rapidly became an encyclopedia of lineages, sutras, lives of lamas, and the history and ownership of every book he came across. Expatiating in serene but fearsome detail to friends in his rooms in Delhi, or Boston, or New York, all of them piled floor-to-ceiling with cloth-wrapped pecha, he could instantly find a page anywhere to illustrate a point.
Though people considered him a teacher, he was always a librarian, with a librarian’s love of catalogues and connections; but his Buddhism added to that a reverence for the transmission of texts, on which all spiritual progress rested."

The life of a teenage bodysnatcher - McLeod

Another great read - for secondary schools - The Life of a Teenage Bodysnatcher by Doug McLeod (Penguin, 2010)

Best let the author tell about it...

http://www.readings.com.au/news/the-story-of-my-book-doug-macleod-on-the-life-of-a-teenage-body-snatcher

and there is a full page review by Allison Paterson in Magpies Vol 25 Issue 3 July 2010 p14 (the cover book). She ends her review "Our mid-secondary boys will find the off-beat, bizarre story of Thomas Timewell very much to their liking and will be asking the question "When's the next one coming out?" We really must have more of the Timewells and their eccentric existence."

This was a surprising, entertaining, occasionally gruesome read, but with an ethical heart, Dickensian flavour, and a good sense of humour, and I strongly recommend it - along the lines of Neil Gaiman's Graveyard Book and just as good.

Pull out all the stops ! Geraldine McCaughrean

Geraldine McCaughrean's latest book is Pull out all the stops! (OUP 2010) - to be published in America as The Glorious Adventures of the Sunshine Queen (Harper Collins, 2011). It continues the story of Cissy and Kookie from Stop the Train but you don't have to have read the first one to enjoy this one.

I am a great fan of Geraldine McCaughrean's writing - every page seems to have an image or description which I find I want to read it out aloud to someone and say "listen to this..." Here's one on a page I just opened - old Elijah who steers the riverboat has an unreliable memory "Memories only came to Elijah sporadically - like post to an African explorer."

Here is a synopsis from the publisher's website : Cissy Sissney has always longed for a life filled with adventure, and her wish is unexpectedly granted when she is sent to live aboard the Sunshine Queen—a shipwrecked paddle steamer that houses the Bright Lights Theater Company. When the showboat is carried back out to sea, the motley crew on board embarks on a wild and hilarious journey. But along the way, one of their own falls into grave danger…and Cissy learns that the stakes of fame are higher than she could possibly have imagined.
Renowned storyteller Geraldine McCaughrean weaves a rip-roaring river adventure that’s chock-full of sidesplitting humor and daring escapades. Readers won’t be able to resist riding along on the Sunshine Queen’s thrilling journey in this fun and accessible tale.

Set in 1894 on the Missouri River and its tributaries, it is funny (the part with Kookie in the river with the alligator had me laughing almost too hard to read it aloud to a friend) and action packed - a tall tale, full of larger-than-life characters in life-and-death situations, imaginative, adventurous and brilliantly written.

Here is a review on LoveReading4kids by Julia Ecccleshare :
http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/5854/Pull-Out-All-the-Stops!-by-Geraldine-Mccaughrean.html

It would make a great readaloud, and there is an audio book too.

Here is Geraldine's website : http://www.geraldinemccaughrean.co.uk/

Wild self story starter

Here is a cool site a friend shared with me (thanks Marisa!)
Build your wild self http://www.buildyourwildself.com/ from New York Zoos and Aquarium.

Here you can design your human self and then add your favourite animal parts to create a whole new you - one with wings or a prehensile tail !

Here are a few links to blogs with how this has been used in the classroom...
http://sharpsav.com/blog/fresh-look-fridays-build-your-wild-self.html

http://www.whiteboardblog.co.uk/2009/02/build-your-wild-self/

http://www.edgalaxy.com/literacy/2010/10/4/build-your-own-wild-self-just-like-where-the-wild-things-are.html (this blog tags itself "cool stuff for nerdy teachers")

Reading Superheroes

Have you caught up with the fantastic Reading Superheroes competition as part of the national Book Month celebrations ?
http://schools.natlib.govt.nz/nz-book-month-2011

Reading Super Hero competition

All students can enter this nationwide competition and affirm reading role models in schools. Tell us your story in 100-150 words and reading super heroes could win great prizes.

To enter the competition, please fill in the form.

See also the accessible, useful, inspiring brochure on Reading Aloud which is free for schools to download and share with their school community...
Read Aloud brochure [PDF 167 KB]

Hello again !

Well, I've had a great long holiday and loved every minute of it - lots of visitors staying, lots of sewing - quilts and other projects (including getting my name on the Thorburn Family Cup for Needlework at the North Hokianga A and P show at Broadwood!), plenty of reading - a tottering pile of books here to share, some wonderful sailing in the Bay of Islands and Whangaroa, and a certain amount of sorting - my house and my grandmother's estate... This all meant very little computer and desk time - hence my poor neglected blog... I wonder if I have any readers left ?!
Anyway, I'm getting back into real life, with busy days at work and a growing collection of things that I think - hey, I should put that on my blog, so here goes, a sunny Sunday morning and a bit of a catch up - and then business as usual with the various bits and pieces that I come across.
If you haven't abandoned the idea of visiting LibraryZest over this hiatus, thanks for your patience and hello again !

Hans Rosling and The Economist

I did a post a while ago about Hans Rosling's engaging, informative, surprising 2006 TED talk on the use - and presentation - of data / statistics to understand the world, and I have just read a profile of him in November's Economist - here is the link http://www.economist.com/node/17663585?story_id=17663585&CFID=158252112&CFTOKEN=51531046 This piece updates Hans Rosling's efforts to make data accessible, both from organisations and through software...

The Economist is known for its well-written and eclectic obituaries - here is a quote about them by author Marilyn Johnson - "There is no chariot as elegant for a final send-off as The Economist obit. Each one is a literary marvel, a dazzling ride through an era. The subjects are lucky (except for the death part) : they cross to the other side in incomparable style."

In 2010 a collection was published - The Economist Book of Obituaries, featuring 199 people and one parrot - here is the link to the Amazon page with reviews... http://www.amazon.com/Economist-Book-Obituaries-Keith-Colquhoun/dp/1576603261

One of my favourite Economist obituaries is of two characters remembered from television in England in the 1970s - it deftly connects weather forecaster Jack Scott and "On the buses" tv sitcom star Reg Varney, and provides insight into the English temperament - post-war and today... brilliant http://www.economist.com/node/12719434

Happy Christmas - traditional and modern

Happy Christmas everyone !

Christmas Hallelujah Chorus flashmob
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE

Christmas 2.0 - the digital story of the Nativity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZrf0PbAGSk

Book art - Hokey Stokes

A friend shared this blog with me - amazing, magical, book art with a surprise behind the covers / beyond the spine - created by artist and scientist Julia Field
http://hokeystokes.blogspot.com/

Here are a couple of beautiful book page wreaths for Christmas...
http://hokeystokes.blogspot.com/search/label/papercraft

Thanks Linda :)

Thinkfinity

Here is a website from the US Verizon Foundation with a wealth of resources for teachers, students and parents...
http://www.thinkfinity.org/

I've found some fun activities for children at home http://www.inventionatplay.org/playhouse_tinker.html

the Thinkfinity blog has a post about summer learning loss http://www.thinkfinity.org/thinkfinity-blog with links to activities http://www.thinkfinity.org/summer-fun-activities

and now I understand how microscopic creatures turned into oil ! http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/energy/interactive/index.php

From the website :
Verizon is a long-standing partner in national and global campaigns to improve literacy and educational attainment. The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon, invests in initiatives that leverage innovative technology and interactive learning to increase teacher effectiveness and advance student achievement. We are committed to enabling children and adults to acquire the complex set of skills that are required for success in the 21st century and empowering them to access, absorb, evaluate and use the infinite amount of information that broadband delivers

• Quick and easy access to the highest-quality teaching and learning materials
• Sharing resources and ideas in our online community
• At-home activities for students and parents
• Professional development training
  

Bookshelves of Doom blog

This lively and personal book blog Bookshelves of Doom http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com/bookshelves_of_doom/
was highlighted in the National Library's Reading at the beach online community http://schools.natlib.govt.nz/reading-beach

Book trailers and teachers as readers

Lawrence High School Library, Lawrence Kansas website "Building a community of readers" has some good resources and ideas....
http://library.lhs.usd497.org/home.html

Here is a link to getting started with book trailers - "digital booktalks"
http://library.lhs.usd497.org/BookTrailers.html

And here is a link to Teachers' favourite books - photo, book list - highlighted in post on basketball... http://library.lhs.usd497.org/teacherpicks.htm#Jackhood

Celebrations, authors and Dewey

Here is a blog by a school librarian, Susan Rigsby, http://susangrigsby.wordpress.com/ who does a compilation post each month on the aspects being celebrated - special days, appeal weeks, and selected author / illustrator birthdays. It is US based and there are so many "celebrations" listed it is overwhelming, but it could be useful in a school library to pick some days to feature and highlight.

Thanks to this I've discovered that today is Dewey Decimal System Day (Melvil Dewey’s b’day, 1851). I think I've mentioned this great article from School Library Journal before but if you haven't read it, it will give you a whole new appreciation of the man !
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA148748.html

Instructions by Neil Gaiman

Instructions by Neil Gaiman was originally published as a poem in A wolf at the door and other retold fairytales (Simon and Schuster, 2001) but here is published in small picture book format, illustrated by Charles Vess (Bloomsbury, 2010) and it is a wonderful guide to what to do if you find yourself in a fairytale...



Here is a youtube book trailer for it - effective the way the colour saturates the illustrations - and it sounds like Neil Gaiman reading it himself...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWRvqO1MjIs

Here for a copy of the poem, http://www.endicott-studio.com/cofhs/cofinstr.html

and here is Neil Gaiman's website with plenty to explore about this prolific and varied author http://www.neilgaiman.com/

Mouse circus http://www.mousecircus.com/ is the official Neil Gaiman website for young readers, and here is the page about Instructions which ends with "Its message of the value of courage, wit, and adventurousness makes it a perfect gift for anyone embarking on a journey, especially graduates of any age."

Reading Instructions instantly transported me to my childhood reading of all the Andrew Lang fairytale retellings of Perrault and Grimm and others in The Olive Fairy Book, The Crimson Fairy Book, The Lilac Fairy Book, The Orange Fairy Book - with all the third sons setting off to find their fortune, old crones under trees repaying kindness with directions, impossible tasks and creatures with mysterious powers - wolves, toads, eagles along with witches, giants, goblins and ogres...
Andrew Lang was my great-aunt's godfather, and I have all the books from the early 1900s he inscribed for her at Christmas and birthdays, with their gold edged pages, embossed and decorated front covers, colour plate illustrations with tissue linings.

Here is a link to Neil Gaiman's advice for young writers... read a lot, live a lot, write a lot... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpNb5NwxX_g&NR=1

Obsolete occupations

From NPR (National Public Radio) USA :

The Jobs Of Yesteryear: Obsolete Occupations
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124251060
As computers and automated systems increasingly take the jobs humans once held, entire professions are now extinct. Click through the gallery to see examples of endangered professions, from milkman to telegrapher, and hear from people who once filled those oft-forgotten jobs.

Booklinks : historical photographs

Here is an interesting article from Booklinks about "bring[ing] the historical evolution of photography to life for your students through quality literature and Library of Congress primary source photographs." http://www.booklistonline.com/ProductInfo.aspx?pid=4566919

Classroom Connections: Photography as Art—Books as Hooks to Primary Sources. Petri, Gail (author). December 2010 (Book Links).

It includes links to information about Dorothea Lange's arresting photo Migrant Mother

Using resources such as Matapihi, Digital NZ and Te Ara, we can help our students access their New Zealand photographic heritage.

Dictionary of NZ Biography moving to Te Ara

From Jock Phillips, General Editor, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Kia ora
We are writing to let you know that the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography is moving from www.dnzb.govt.nz to its new home on Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. The biographies are now available at www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies.

We'll be officially launching on 8 December 2010 and are releasing new biographies about Edmund Hillary, David Lange, Bill Rowling, Robert Muldoon, Sonja Davies, Arthur Lydiard, Douglas Lilburn, Hone Tuwhare, Allen Curnow, Janet Frame and Peter Blake.

If you are linking to biographies at www.dnzb.govt.nz those links will be redirected to the new biographies from Monday 6 December 2010. To reassure you, we're putting in place redirect rules so your links to specific biographies get to the right place on the new site. If you notice any problems with the redirect rules please let us know (email matthew.oliver@mch.govt.nz).

Alternatively you can update the links by using the same alpha-numeric ID that you currently link to with the following prefix: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/

For example, a link to Michael Joseph Savage looks something like this: http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=4S9

The new link uses the ID of 4S9 and looks like this: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/4S9

We hope you enjoy the new look biographies.
Kind regards, Jock Phillips, General Editor
Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, Ministry for Culture and Heritage

www.mch.govt.nz - www.teara.govt.nz - www.nzhistory.net.nz

Bookshelves

How about these for bookshelves ?

From the Reading Matters blog
http://kimbofo.typepad.com/readingmatters/2010/11/gifts-for-book-lovers-part-1.html
which has the tag line Book reviews of mainly modern and contemporary fiction
Check out the various lists in the right hand columns, including a long list of book blogs...

Falling Books Bookend (red and green versions also available), £22.50, Design My World

Umbra Conceal Invisible Bookshelf, £10.50, Henry Tibbs

Literary map of UK...

Now we need one of these of NZ - might be a project for some student librarians ?
http://www.theliterarygiftcompany.com/literary-map-2678-p.asp

World's greatest bookshops

How about this as a world tour ?
http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20101118-the-worlds-greatest-bookshops

The world is just awesome...

Here is one for last Thursday, Thanksgiving in the US - a Discovery channel video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at_f98qOGY0&NR=1&feature=fvwp

(People have been invited to create their own video in response and here is a Doctor Who version for fans http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1J_MUUQLlw&feature=related )

I came across it in this blog http://www.readingupsidedown.com/ . I also enjoyed this post about how to treat a book - do your books look well-loved or well-preserved ? http://www.readingupsidedown.com/?p=1799

I love what Anna Fadiman has to say on this subject, in one of the essays "Never do that to a book" in her warm, funny, clever, articulate book Ex Libris - Confessions of a Common Reader which revels in language, books and libraries.
http://www.amazon.com/Ex-Libris-Confessions-Common-Reader/dp/0374527229