Monthly Archives: November 2009

Picture book review, Storytime

Recipe for a great storytime

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Yesterday’s preschool storytime was a BLAST – for me and for the kids.  Here’s what made it so fun:

“Open, Shut Them” ~ The group has learned our opening song well, and everyone now sings along with me.

Otis by Loren Long ~ The kids really, really, really liked this book.  They listened with rapt attention; reacted with concerned faces when the calf is stuck in the mud pond; and nearly cheered when the calf got free.  When the story was over, I asked the group what they thought of the story, and they simultaneously yelled, “I LOVED it!!!!”  Though some reviewers indicated that this book might be more for adults than kids, my experience yesterday tells me that it will become a modern classic with kids.

Ready for Anything! by Keiko Kasza ~ A silly story that doesn’t push its message too much, Ready for Anything gently deals with a character who worries excessively.  The kids liked this book a lot (though not with the level of love they expressed for Otis), and we had a good time reading it together.  One girl even predicted the surprise ending, which was fun for us all.

“The Silly Dance Contest” from Jim Gill’s album, Jim Gill Sings the Sneezing Song and Other Contagious Tunes ~ We have all of Jim Gill’s albums in the library collection, and they’ve become so popular that I had to use some programming money from the Friends to buy copies exclusively for use in my storytimes.  These albums are popular for good reason: Jim Gill “gets” kids.  We had a great time yesterday bopping around to this song, giggling so loudly that the parents came to observe through the story room window.  My eternal thanks to Maureen A. for telling me about Jim Gill a couple of years ago!

Jeremy Draws a Monster by Peter McCarty ~ I was worried that this quiet story might not work well in a storytime, but it was a hit.  It even provoked a discussion about how Jeremy changes from the beginning of the book to the end (and a child started the conversation, not me). 

“The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” Abby’s version ~ This week I decided to add a few more layers to this song, going beyond Hugh Hanley’s “Huge Enormous Spider” and “Very Quiet Spider.”  Those two additions are so much fun that I added the very fast spider, the very slow spider, and the very loud spider (ending, of course, with the very quiet spider, for sanity’s sake).  The toddlers on Monday had a good time with these additions, but the preschoolers yesterday REALLY hammed it up. 

And, for our final story, I pulled out my feltboard version of The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle.  And the zebra finger taster puppet somehow thought that each child yesterday tasted like a kind of bug – butterfly, mosquito, dragonfly… – which made for a lot of final giggles before we all belted out “If You’re Happy and You Know It.”

Etc., Young adult literature

Birthday books

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So, what books did I get with that very generous gift certificate to the Concord Bookshop that Jim gave me? Here they are:

The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner (in paperback)

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Fire by Kristin Cashore

The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt

Chez Jacques: Traditions and Rituals of a Cook by Jacques Pepin [my hero]

Lisa listened to this list, then said, “Abby, you DO know that you can get all of those books here at the library, don’t you?”  Yes, I do know that.  But I’m a book-a-holic, and I LOVE having my own copies of some books.  I baby them, I take very good care of them, and then, sometimes, I take them to the used bookstore and sell them when we start to run out of space in our house.  I love libraries, of course, but there’s nothing quite like having your very own copy of a favorite or much-anticipated book.  It’s the combination of the two, libraries and personal copies, that makes the literary world go ’round.

Thanks again, hun, for the gift certificate!

Storytime

Shortage at MGOL

Here’s a definite sign of the poor economy: attendance at my two infant storytimes has picked up significantly.  Parents obviously can’t afford to pay for infant music classes, so they’re coming to the library; while at the library, they’re finding that their local children’s librarian offers a curriculum-based, fun, educational, and very social program.  For free.

The Tuesday morning Mother Goose on the Loose storytime used to have an average attendance of twenty adults and kids, but in recent weeks the average attendance has been thirty-five.  The Wednesday morning MGOL program has traditionally been rather small, sometimes only five attendees, but this fall it has blossomed into a strong program, too, with current average attendance close to thirty.  With this number of attendees, there’s absolutely no spare room in the story room, and I’m actually wondering whether I need to think about moving the program up to the very large program room upstairs.  Or, perhaps, I need to add another MGOL program to spread out the attendees and keep the program in the child-friendly space of the story room.

And one more problem has arisen.  I don’t have enough musical intruments to accomodate everyone.  On Tuesday, I had to rethink my lesson plan mid-way through the storytime, when I realized that there were more than twenty-four people in the room, and I only had twenty-four wooden rattles to offer to the crowd.  Quick switch then to the jingle bells (we own thirty-six bells), and we used all but one of those.

I’ve decided that it’s time to use some of my program budget from the Friends of the Library to purchase more musical instruments and scarves from Musikgarten.  With about half of my program attendance coming from storytimes, this seems like a very prudent use of the funds available for programming, especially considering that with proper care these instruments will last for many years (as opposed to hiring a performer – when the performance is done, it’s done).  And the instruments are really lovely, very well-made, very durable, very easy to wash and maintain.

As for the sudden surge in attendance – will people continue to come to the library for infant programs, even if the economy recovers?  I think so.  The parents who are attending my storytime have compared it to ones they used to pay money for, and they’re happy enough with what I offer to recommend it to their friends and family.  Free is good, but free with quality and educational value is even better.

Children, Picture book review, Storytime, Teaching

Preschool Storytime & Circle Weave

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Yesterday was an art week for the preschool storytime, and for our project I chose “Circle Weave” from MaryAnn Kohl’s book Preschool Art, my favorite resource for great art ideas for ages four to seven.

Before the project, though, I read three books to the kids.  I realize I’ve been remiss lately and haven’t been reporting on what books have been a hit in storytime, so here is a brief rundown on the books I used yesterday and the reactions of the kids to each book:

First up was Scaredy Squirrel at Night by Melanie Watt.  I broke the cardinal rule of storytimes, and didn’t preview this book before I read it aloud.  Big mistake. Though cute, this book doesn’t lend itself well to a storytime read aloud (which I should have remembered from reading the first two Scaredy Squirrel books to storytimes in the past).  Too many little details in little pictures – the kids had a tough time seeing what was going on in the pictures and also understanding the story line.  I’d still recommend this book, but for a lap sit reading with one or two children; in a lap sit, kids would be able to really study the pictures and also ask questions about what is happening in the story.

The kids were an exceptionally patient, sweet group, though, and lasted well through the first story, even though they weren’t totally engaged.  Next up:  Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas.  I love Thomas’s illustrations, and I love the all-out goofiness of the storyline: four dust bunnies finding rhyming words – all except Bob, who keeps saying things that don’t rhyme, like “Look out!”  Bob, of course, is the voice of reason, trying to warn his fellow dust bunnies that there is a broom and a vacuum cleaner after them.  I thought the kids would find this situation funny, but in fact several were deeply disturbed (and I do mean deeply disturbed) that the dust bunnies were being harmed.  I tried to explain that dust bunnies are just bunches of fluffy dirt that we all clean up, but my explanation was met with furrowed, worried brows.

After that flop, I was ready to move right on to the art project, but H. pointed out that I still had one book left to read.  So we read Potato Joe by Keith Baker, a book that I had put in my preschool storytime pile a couple of weeks ago.  I don’t know what I was thinking.  The book is just too young for this crowd, and though they were patient with it, and counted the potatoes aloud with me, they were clearly bored by it.  I’m not condemning this book, though; it would be an excellent choice for my toddler storytime, and I will definitely use it for that group in the future.

On to “Circle Weave.”  For this project, I pre-cut a couple of dozen five inch diameter circles from poster board of various colors.  I also pre-cut two foot lengths of yarn; I had bought yarn in five different colors, two of which are cool multi-color skeins of varying shades.  Before embarking on the project, I introduced it to the kids by showing them the pile of poster board circles.  Then I showed them a circle with six small triangular slits cut around the edge (see Kohl’s book for an illustration and details on how to do this).  We talked about how the circle with the slits was different from the other circles, and I told the kids that their first assignment was to cut their own slits.

This proved to be way too much of a challenge for the kids.  I had incorrectly assumed that parents would come in to the room to help out with the slit cutting, but many of the adults had very young children they needed to watch and thus were unable to assist.  Luckily, none of the kids had a meltdown when they struggled with cutting, and luckily, I was able to quickly cut slits in stacks of circles.  But there were ten dicey minutes at the start of this project where I thought for sure it would be an absolute failure.  All of the kids were frustrated with the cutting, some of the kids were having a really tough time with taping the ends of yarn to the back of their circle (one boy pulled off two feet of scotch tape and looked up at me with puzzled, desperate eyes), and one little boy totally didn’t understand that we only need to use one piece of yarn at a time.

But suddenly the tide turned, and everyone started to have fun.  Some kids did straight weaving, lacing the yarn in and out of the slits, but other kids got incredibly creative.  We had necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and paper dogs being walked on yarn leashes.  We had letters woven on to the circles.  Each child kept asking for another circle, please, and each child made at least five woven circles.  One little boy kept leaving the room – I thought he was bored and leaving, but he was actually delivering woven circles to his mother, then he’d come back to make another.  The kids kept at this project for a full half hour, and only stopped when their parents came in to say it was time to go.

This art project was a very good lesson for me as a teacher/facilitator: don’t give up if you think the project isn’t working.  Have patience, let it evolve, let the children be challenged for a bit, and allow them to come up with their own solutions to the difficult task given to them.  If you give the kids the space and freedom to work, they will end up surprising you with their creativity and artistic joy.  And then everyone leaves happy: teacher, children, and parents.

Book groups, Children

Gregor the Overlander

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Tuesday was the November meeting of the 5th grade book group, and we discussed Suzanne Collins’ Gregor the Overlander.  Six kids showed up (impressive, considering I forgot to send my usual email reminder the day before the group), and we had an odd mix of deep discussion of heavy topics and juice-through-the-nose giggles.

So let’s get the juice spurting giggles out of the way: when the bagels and cream cheese were about half-devoured, the group’s newest member excitedly raised her hand, and I called on her.  And she burst into song, “The rocket’s red glare…Rats bursting in air…>giggle giggle snort<…”  And the whole group lost it.  I have to admit, the song works.  And though gross, it’s pretty funny.  And actually related to the book.  I let everyone giggle until the giggles started to sound forced, then I tried to rein the group back in to the book discussion.  It took a few minutes, and there were a few more attempts to start the song up again (all very politely preceded by the raising of hands), but eventually we got back on track.

I posed a few questions of my own, and then moved on to two questions from the Scholastic website that particularly intrigued me:

1.  “The prophecies of Bartholomew of Sandwich foretold many things that have occurred in the Underland including the death of Luxa’s parents. When prophecies are fulfilled, is it because of fate or because people shape their behavior to conform to the prophecy? Discuss the concept of self-fulfilling prophecies. Also discuss the belief in free will versus fate.”

2.  “Quest is a recurring theme in the fantasy adventure genre. You might argue that there are two quests in Gregor the Overlander. One is that of the Underlanders to fulfill the Prophecy of Gray and thus prevent their annihilation by the rats. The other is Gregor’s quest to find his father and bring him home. How are the two quests interrelated? Why can one not exist without the other?”  (both questions from the Scholastic book discussion guide on Gregor the Overlander.)

After the juice snort giggles, I wasn’t sure how these questions would go over, but the kids launched into a fabulous discussion of fate versus free will, and then quests and the genre of fantasy.  Interestingly, the group was split evenly on the fate/free will issue, with half of the kids believing that fate completes governs our lives, and the other half arguing that our lives progress as they do entirely because of free will.  The kids talked about the first question for a good fifteen minutes, in great depth, with intelligence and perceptivity.  I was impressed.

We didn’t spend as long on the second question, but our conversation was just as interesting, and I think we cleared up some misconceptions amongst the group members as to what constitutes fantasy.  Several of the kids mentioned that they prefer quest fantasy to fantasy sans quest, since a quest makes the plot exciting and adventurous.  (Not one of the kids mentioned Harry Potter here, which makes me very happy!)

The group’s consensus was that they all loved this book, and two of the six had already gone on to read the entire rest of the series.

As we ran out of time, I introduced the December book selection to the kids.  I told them that I had chosen my favorite book of all time, and that I’d never dared to have a book group read it before, since I love the book so much.  But that I trusted them, and couldn’t wait to hear what their thoughts on it will be…and then I showed them the book.  Anyone care to guess what this mystery book is?  [My siblings, especially Dan, will have the upper hand here.]

Children's literature, Librarianship

Jealousy, thy name is Abby

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Yesterday the newest issue of School Library Journal arrived in my mailbox, and I felt a strong surge of an emotion I thought I’d kind of outgrown: jealousy.

Everywhere you look in the children’s literature world, you see the name of Elizabeth Bird and her blog, “A Fuse #8 Production.”  I’d decided that I hated her a long time ago simply based upon how often I see her name, but yesterday the (admittedly baseless) hatred turned to jealousy when I saw the cover photo of children’s literature bloggers, with Elizabeth Bird front and center.  Not only is the woman a big deal in my work world, she’s also cute, young, pretty, and well-dressed.  And she looks like someone I’d probably want to have as a friend.  Bah humbug. 

Like many of us, I had lots of visions of grandeur growing up and going through college and graduate school; I was sure that I was wicked special and that I’d make a splash somewhere, sometime.  But, let’s face it, fame and fortune are far away from the little town in which I work.  No disrespect intended towards the town, but it’s small potatoes compared to New York City and the New York Public Library, which is where Ms. Bird works.  Logically I know I’m making an impact where I am, but I’m not too likely to meet Important Children’s Authors and Illustrators in my rural library.  Nor will I be invited to serve on the Newbery Award Committee, or write articles for the Horn Book magazine.  (I barely survived six months of writing entry-level reviews for the Horn Book Guide – what a slog that was.)  I imagine that Elizabeth Bird probably bumps into famous authors and illustrators just buying her morning coffee before work.  There’s no place to buy coffee in the town in which I work – no downtown, really, other than the library and the schools and the churches – and no money to buy that coffee, anyway.

I’d also love to know how the object of my friendly jealousy manages to find the time to write intelligent blog posts every day, and read lots and lots of current children’s books, while working as a children’s librarian.  Surely she must have a staff at her disposal?  Surely she’s mostly responsible for the big picture stuff, not all the nitty gritty details of storytimes and patron service?  Because I’m a pretty energetic person, and I come home at the end of a work day drained and with little creativity left to write a blog post.  Not to mention that I rarely feel like looking at a computer screen in the evenings after having spent an entire day working in front of a computer.

Or maybe she’s able to write her blog posts at work?  Could it be that she even gets to read children’s books at work?  That would be a dream come true for me.  Though I truly love what I do at my job, I do feel like I’m becoming further and further removed from the analytical and theoretical side of children’s books that I so loved in graduate school.  In recent days I’ve spent more time applying copious amounts of hand sanitizer than I have thinking about Reader Response theory.  Actually, I don’t think that Reader Response theory has entered my mind more than once or twice in the last year.  But I’ve thought a lot about how to project my voice at storytime or keep the kids in my book groups focused or how to locate the books that kids have been burying in odd places in the stacks.

So I guess it’s official: I’m jealous because I know that my chance to Be All That has passed me by.  And it surely doesn’t help things at all that I didn’t make good use of my internship at the Horn Book to make connections with people there like Roger Sutton.  Like most professions, to “be someone” in the children’s literature world you have to work someplace important, like New York City, and you have to have powerful friends in the business.  In my hidden little corner of the world, I’m never going to make headlines.

But at least I’m a rock star to the kids who come to my library.  And if I were smart and mature, I’d be happy with that.

Children

A fan

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Yesterday:

I was sitting at my desk…one of my Mother Goose on the Loose storytime regulars came in with her mom and older brother…and I overheard her say:

“Abby’s home!  Abby’s here!  Abby’s home!!!”

I guess I do kinda live at the library.  And I guess Jim is right when he says I’m like a rock star to the little kids.  Because Janey kept up that refrain, “Abby’s home! Abby’s here!  Abby’s home!” for the whole half hour that her family was at the library.  Her mom and I thought it was pretty funny, and pretty cute.