A Feast of Stories

During Thanksgiving week, I shared a feast of stories and songs. Food-related storytimes are almost always crowd-pleasers (in my experience anyway!). We started with Anne Shelby’s Potluck (Scholastic, 1991) in which friends with names from A to Z bring dishes (alphabetical, of course) to a potluck. I began by asking who knew what a potluck was — and neither the group of first graders nor the all-ages group knew. So that was fun to explain. We sang “Jelly Jelly in My Belly” from Sharon, Lois & Bram’s The Elephant Show. It’s a cumulative song, with new foods being added with each verse, then returning to the chorus of “Jelly, Jelly in My Belly, hip, hip, hip, hooray!”

Song: “Jelly Jelly in My Belly” from Sharon, Lois & Bram’s The Elephant Show

Book: Let’s Eat by Ana Zamorano (Scholastic, 1997)

A family story as much as a food story, with phrases in Spanish sprinkled through the text. Each day of the week a family member is missing (for various reasons — sister is practicing dancing, grandfather is in the middle of telling a story) and each day the mother sighs, “Que pena!” I had the children repeat the mother’s phrase so they were ready on Saturday, when the mother is absent, to fill in for her, just as the boy in the story does.

Action Rhyme: Peanut Butter and Jelly

Peanut, peanut butter and jelly

Peanut, peanut butter, and jelly

First you take the peanuts and you pick em, pick ‘em, pick ’em,

Next you take the peanuts and you smash ‘em, smash ‘em, smash ’em

Then you take the peanuts and you spread ’em, spread ‘em, you spread ‘em out (slowly)

Repeat chorus

Now you take some grapes and you pick em, pick ‘em, pick ’em,

Next you take the grapes and you smash ‘em, smash ‘em, smash ’em

Then you take the grapes and you spread ’em, spread ‘em, you spread ‘em out (slowly)

Repeat chorus

Now you take the sandwich and you bite it, you bite, you bite it, bite it, bite it

Next you take the sandwich and you chew it, you chew it, you chew it, chew it, chew it

Then you take the sandwich and you swallow it, you swallow it, you swallow it all.

Repeat chorus last time – but hum it this time!

 Book: Arroz con Leche/Rice Pudding: A Cooking Poem by Jorge Argueta (Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press, 2010)

This bilingual poem makes making rice pudding seem like an adventure. There are milk waterfalls, singing rice, dancing salt stars and sugar snow, and “foamy waves and clouds” that “turn the pot into sea and sky.” The language is lovely and the illustrations by Fernando Vilela, in muted tones with interesting perspective and bold outlines did capture the children’s attention.

Song: “Spaghetti Legs” by Jim Gill

Other fun food books are Mouse Mess  by Linnea Riley (Blue Sky Press, 2007) and One is a Feast for A Mouse, by Judy Cox (Holiday House, 2008). What are your favorite food related songs and stories?

November is Picture Book Month

I kindof think every month is picture book month, but I’m happy to see picture books honored in November. I do believe in the picture book as an art form and in picture books for older readers. I just made a booklist of picture books biographies. Recently a group of children’s authors published a wonderful manifesto in defense of the picture book: Proclamation! Long live picture books!

There has also been a call from IBBY and IFLA to participate in a picture book survey:

We ask you to take a few minutes to jot down the top five (5) children’s picture book titles that you enjoy sharing with children and that have been created and published in the United States.

After all titles have been submitted, we will rank order the nominations and submit the United States’ top ten list to the IFLA Libraries for Children and Young Adults Committee.  Act soon! The survey closes in about two weeks.

Aim of the Project:  To create a list of picture books from around the world that have been selected and recommended by librarians. These can then be used:

• As a way of celebrating and promoting the language, culture and quality of children’s book publishing from each country
• By countries wishing to purchase books from other countries and are looking for ‘favorite’ titles to help build and develop their collections
• By “Sister Libraries” as a way of exploring the children’s literature of their ”Sister Library” countryhttp://www.ifla.org/en/news/videos-by-sister-libraries
• As an opportunity to encourage interaction and growth within IFLA
• To develop the list into an exhibition with supporting catalogue that can be exhibited at the IBBY and IFLA conferences in 2012

CRITERIA:  THE BOOKS SHOULD

• have been published first in the United States
• have been written originally in English
• be in print (and therefore available for purchase)
• be excellent for reading aloud to and with children
• be suitable for any age between 0 – 11 years
• have or will last the test of time
• represent the best in picture books of the United States
• be of good quality and a high standard of publishing
• have text and illustrations that work well together
• reflect a positive message

 

START THE SURVEY HERE:  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RRF23LP

Many thanks!

Linda M. Pavonetti, IBBY Vice President and ALSC Representation to the IFLA Libraries for Children and Young Adults Committee

Barbara Genco, ALA Representation to the IFLA Libraries for Children and Young Adults Committee

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Since I’m currently deep into a research project on international books, this survey is definitely of interest to me. It will more valuable if more people participate, so I hope you will take the time to share your thoughts. I look forward to seeing the results and hopefully learning about new books from other countries.

Leaves are falling . . .

Today’s Rhyme Time, storytime for children 18 months through 3 years, featured rhymes, songs, and books about fall.We started out with David Ezra Stein’s Leaves (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2007.)  This is bear’s first year and he is disturbed by the leaves falling off the true. Not so upset that he can’t go to sleep though. And when he awakens in spring, new leaves welcome him. Another book with a similar theme is Carin Berger’s Little Yellow Leaf (Greenwillow, 2008), which is about a leaf that just keeps hanging on . . . even until there is snow on the ground.  I appreciated the careful word choice in this one, “Not ready, thought the Little Yellow Leaf as a heavy harvest moon bloomed amber in the starry sky.” Berger’s illustrations are also notable, and the book is beautifully designed and printed on thick, heavy paper. For preschoolers there is also Leaf Trouble, by Jonathan Emmett, illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church (Chicken House/Scholastic, 2009) about a little squirrel who  is also disturbed by the leaves falling and tries to put them back on the trees. Though the illustration styles of all three are very different, they are all very appealing.

We sang “Falling Leaves” to the tune of “Frere Jacques”:

Falling leaves, falling leaves,

All around, all around,

Twirling twirling twirling

Twirling twirling twirling

To the ground, to the ground.

We also did the “Furry, Furry Squirrel” action rhyme from Early Literacy Storytimes @ your library. I introduced this one by saying it was a rhyme about a squirrel and asking the children if they had seen a squirrel and what it looked like. I had three puppets hidden under a blanket (a raccoon, a skunk, a squirrel). We talked about how squirrels have fluffy tails, so we looked at each tail to find the squirrel.

Furry, furry squirrel

Hurry, hurry hop

Scurry up the tree trunk

To the very top.

When you reach the branches

Hurry, turn around

Furry, furry squirrel

Scurry to the ground.

Additional books for preschool and older children include Leaf Jumpers by Carole Gerber, illustrated by Leslie Evans (Charlesbridge, 2004), Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert (Harcourt, 2005), with the latter inspiring children to make their own leaf creatures.

Stories worth listening to

Today’s feature on StoryCorps is a must listen for librarians, teachers, literacy advocates . . . everyone with a heart. Enjoy!

http://storycorps.org/listen/share/?id=8330

Meanderings . . . checking in from the journey

It’s all about enjoying the journey, not necessarily the destination, right? So I’m checking in to let you readers know where I am on the journey.

Where have I been? August was great  . . . winding down summer reading, enjoying the summer routine we finally found ourselves in, and finally . . . vacation! Sun, sand, surf, extended family, lovely sunsets, so many natural wonders: sand dollars, brown pelicans, dolphins, osprey, sea turtles, sand pipers, seagulls, crabs, and more.

Now it’s the first of September. Some journeys are getting close to complete. Last graduate class began this week: Technology in the Lives of Children and Young Adults. Looks promising. CAS final project to complete, focusing on international books (Bringing the World to your community). Other journeys are just beginning: new book club for 1st – 3rd graders at the library. New committee appointment: ALSC’s  Metamorphosis Task Force, charged with helping more ALSC committees make the transition to virtual operation, of which I am *thrilled* to be part!

So this blog will continue to be updated . . . but probably pretty irregularly. I hope to get back to things I’ve enjoyed participating in, like Nonfiction Monday and the new BookTalk Tuesday. But I’m also learning life is about focus, about continually defining and redefining interests and priorities. I always have more ideas that time!  And an ever-growing stack of books on my reading list. And sometimes it’s necessarily to focus on finishing projects. You can also find me on Goodreads and Twitter if you’re wondering what’s up! Best of luck to all of you on your respective journeys.

The Air up There

Amazing photographs and a very accessible narrative by wildlife photographer Robert Haas combine in I Dreamed of Flying Like a Bird: My Adventures Photographing Wild Animals from a Helicopter (National Geographic, 2010.) Though at first the photographers’ job seems quite glamorous, all of the gear, safety precautions and cold made me appreciate the task more. Now I might like to accompany him on a trip, but don’t have a desire to be an aerial photographer, hanging out of a plane, wearing two safety harnesses and multiple layers of clothes, even a ski mask, to stay warm. I’m glad someone had this dream, because the pictures are amazing. I find it really interesting how a different physical perspective also gives different perspective to our thoughts and knowledge about these animals. The shapes the flamingo flocks take is amazing (bording on unbelievable) and the great shots of ocean animals were surprising as well.

This book is a visual treat that children will enjoy looking at and perhaps be inspired to learn more — about a certain type of animal, environment, or photography. Read more about Robert Haas on the National Geographic web site:

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photographers/photographer-robert-haas/

Mother Goose Time: Shapes

This week I finished up the summer session of Mother Goose Time, a storytime for young children ages 18 months – 3 years. I tried to include more interactive elements this session, to encourage parents and caregivers to play and explore with their children. One new theme I tried was shapes. Before the program began, I outlined a large square and triangle in masking tape on the carpet. This was relatively easy to do since the carpet of the activity center is already divided into squares. The first book I introduced was Michael Hall’s second picture book, Perfect Square (Greenwillow, 2011). As the children entered the room they gathered three paper shapes – a red square, a yellow circle, and a blue triangle. Before beginning to read, I had them all hold up the red square and we counted the edges together.

I used the Humpty Dumpty rhyme from Saraj Ghoting and Pamela Martin Diaz’s Early Literacy Storytimes @Your Library: Partnering with Caregivers for Success (ALA, 2006). For this rhyme, children curve each hand into a half circle. They put their hands together to make an egg (a long circle shape), bring them apart when Humpty falls, and at the end, after “all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again” shout “But I can!” and bring their hands back together. Repeat. And repeat again.

We counted the sides of the square again and of the triangle. We talked about how the circle had one side that kept going around and around, which they traced with a finger. I asked children hold up the yellow circle before we read part of Roseanne Thong’s Round is a Mooncake: a Book of Shapes  (illustrated by Grace Lin, Chronicle, 2000) and they looked for the round moon  and other round objects in the pictures.

Then I passed out ribbons for a free dance to Greg and Steve’s “Round in a Circle” song, from the CD We All Live Together, Vol. 1. We then all (parents, caregivers, children) joined hands in making a big circle, doing “Circle Songs from Long Ago” which includes Ring around the Rosy and Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (from Hap Palmer’s Early Childhood Classics: Old Favorites with a new Twist, 1998).

Our last book was Kevin Henkes’ Kitten’s First Full Moon(Greenwillow, 2004).  Children held up the triangle for the kitten’s pointy ears and the circle for the moon or the bowl as I read the story.

At the end I brought out a tunnel for the children to crawl through and a pop up tent in the shape of a triangle so that they could explore being in a circle or being in a triangle. They were also encouraged to stand in and walk around the shapes on the floor. So we explored shapes in many different ways: visually, kinetically, spatially — looking at shapes, tracing shapes, making shapes with fingers (small motor skills) and with body parts (large motor), being inside shapes, and dancing and singing and reading about shapes.

The shapes storytime was much more fun that I had initially thought it might be. It turned out to be one of my favorite, and most successful, storytimes of the year. I also reminded parents that children have to learn shapes before they can learn to recognize letters. It’s a great early literacy skill!

If you haven’t seen Perfect Square yet, check out this trailer:

All about Wombats

I’ve been a fan of Jackie French’s Diary of a Wombat since it was published in 2003 (Clarion). The pithy, droll text and charming illustrations work wonderfully together to create an incredibly funny and appealing book. Bruce Whatley’s wombat is adorable — somehow he manages to convey real personality through posture and expression, given more emphasis by a simple white background. Wombats don’t do much during the day, as they’re nocturnal. They do scratch a lot and like to take dust baths. Oh, and dig. Lots of digging. Told from the womat’s point of view, this book is great read-aloud with a child or with a group.

Much more recently, in 2010, Diary of a Baby Wombat (Clarion, 2010) arrived. I was delighted when I saw a sequel and moments later, dubious. Could they really create something as charming and sweet and laugh out loud funny as the first? Happily, the answer is yes. In this story the baby wombat meets the newcomer to the human household . . . another baby. They play together quite well. Bruce Whatley’s pictures are once again practically perfect. I love the expressiveness of the wombats. Just the one open eye of the mother in a picture where they are supposed to be sleeping, but the baby is wakeful is so effective. The plain white background accentuates the poses and movement of the main characters of the baby wombat, mother wombat, and human baby. A delight.

Before you get too sentimental about wombats, or wonder how French knows so much about them, read the non-fiction companion to these books, How to Scratch a Wombat: Where to Find it . . . What to Feed it . . . Why it Sleeps All Day (Clarion, 2009), also illustrated by Whatley. French relates much of her knowledge about wombats, gained from years of living with them and serving as a rehabilitator for injured or orphaned wombats. You’ll get a clear sense of the delights, oddities, and nuisances of living with wombats.  When adding on to their house, a wombat decided to use a neglected burrow slated to be under the front steps. French had to choose whether to change the plans of the house or to move the wombat. Knowing wombats, she decided to change the building plans!  French’s philosophy is that “it is a privilege to live alongside wild animals.” (p. 85) The writing is factual, funny, engaging and personal all at the same time. And there is still much we don’t know about wombats. I enjoyed learning more about wombats, would love to get to see one (or even scratch one) in person, and I’m grateful there are people like French willing to share their environment with them, despite the challenges they sometimes poses. You can find out more about wombats, get updates from French’s garden, and see photos of the wombats at French’s website: www.jackiefrench.com

Becoming Jane

Every once in a while a book comes along that touches your heart. Me . . . Jane by Patrick McDonnell (Little, Brown 2011) is one of those books for me. From the title page, which shows a photographs of a young girl, wide smile on her face, holding her stuffed toy chimpanzee, this book grabbed my attention. Though it doesn’t say officially until the last page, this is Jane Goodall. Somehow I felt that. (Her picture is on the back cover as well.) I can’t quite explain why I was so moved by this image. It was many things: I wondered how much it says about how we parent; who gave Jane that chimpanzee? was a stuffed chimpanzee a usual toy in the 1940s? how do some people know from such a young age exactly what they want to do? how does environment shape us? And the adult in me reflects on how Jane Goodall has changed our view of chimpanzees and continues to lead the call for conservation today. What a difference she has made by following her dreams. All of these thoughts at once. I was overwhelmed.

Some of Jane’s sketches and notes from her childhood – games she made up for the Alligator Club are included. The paper is thick and heavy, and even a little yellowed at the edges. McDonnell’s watercolor illustrations are delightful, with a winsome, determined young girl and charming animals. The illustrator also incorporated ornamental engravings (leaves, maps, astronomy diagrams and more) from the 19th and 20th centuries on the pages with text, which add depth and visual interest. There’s plenty to pour over here. Another sketch of Goodall’s at the very end shows Jane sleeping in a tree, with a chimp sleeping in her tent!

The Watcher: Jane Goodall’s Life with the Chimps by Jeannette Winter(Schwartz & Wade, 2011) goes into a little more depth about Goodall’s life. This introductory biography is great for elementary age readers.  The story details how young Jane carefully watched all the animals in her world, big and small. I love the example of the robin, who slowly grows comfortable enough to build a nest on Jane’s bookshelf! The small book is beautifully designed. After Goodall travels to Africa, Winter’s illustrations break the confines of a small central box to flow across the pages. I loved how the reader could spot the chimps hiding, before they were willing to show themselves to Goodall. The paper is thick and heavy. The text is deceptively simple; it is clear Winter has chosen her words carefully. The prose is nicely spaced with short length, spacing between the words, and could probably be read by a beginning reader (would love to see this book considered for the Geisel Award!)

Both books describe Goodall’s childhood love of the outdoors, her constant companion, Jubilee, and her dreams of Africa. Winter’s biography takes us further, adding details of her remarkable scientific observations at Gombe. We get to meet David Greybeard. Winter descibes Goodall’s first night at Gombe: “Jane lay awake listening to new sounds – the croak of a frog, the hum of crickets, the laugh of a hyena, the hoot of an owl – and looking up at the stars. She knew she was Home.”

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You can find out more about Jane Goodall at her website: http://www.janegoodall.com and from her own writings about her work, including My Life with the Chimpanzees.

In this CNN interview from April 2011, Goodall talks about Jubilee, her childhood stuffed animal, that she still has.

Biblioburro: Book and Screen

A few months ago I read Jeanette Winter’s Biblioburro (Beach Lane, 2010), a small, bright picture book with a subject impossible for a librarian to dislike! The story is based on the life of Luis Soriana, who delivers books to children in remote parts of Columbia — via burro. My favorite part was the nearly wordless two-page spread where Luis tells the children — who he has given pig masks — the story of the three little pigs. The story is depicted in thought bubbles above the children’s heads. Illustrated with really bright, folk art style illustrations by Winter.

And tonight, July 19, on Point of View on PBS premieres Biblioburro. Hurrah! You can see Luis, the burros, the library, and the children he helps in this documentary. I love when a book comes alive like this, seeing the person, hearing his voice (in Spanish) and seeing the actual setting, the terrain that requires burros to navigate, and the excited faces and voices of the children. And I’ve only seen the trailer so far:

Central Ohio viewers note: This is not on WOSU’s schedule; it will air on WOUB-Athens at 10 p.m.