Book groups, Children's book reviews, Children's literature

Regarding the Fountain, the discussion

It’s been a loooong week, as I’ve been battling laryngitis all week – it is NO fun running storytimes when you can hardly speak, and definitely can’t sing.  But there was one really big highlight of the week: the 5th grade book group discussion of Regarding the Fountain, written by Kate Klise and illustrated by M. Sarah Klise.

One reason that this was such a highlight is that this particular group of kids is fantastic.  Jennifer had this book group for the last two years, and she told me last May that she was really sad that they were moving up and becoming my group, because she had so enjoyed their conversations about books.  I totally agree with her – every one of the kids in this group is there because he or she loves reading, and they are sweet and intelligent and thoughtful and fun.

The other reason that this month’s meeting was so good is the book activity guide that I found on the Klise sisters’ website.  I usually take a look at discussion and activity guides that I find online, but I don’t often follow their suggestions to the letter.  In this case, though, the activities sounded engaging, so I pulled out the pad of chart paper and the markers and went for it.  We didn’t have time to do everything that is suggested on page 2 of the discussion guide, but we did brainstorm about modes of communication, both current and outdated; structural changes the kids would like to see happen at their school; idioms from the book and what they mean; and the names of characters in the book and the “translation” of those names.  We also spent about ten minutes doing a more traditional discussion about the book – what they liked, didn’t like, favorite parts, characters, etc.  I had hoped to also have them design their own stationery, but we simply ran out of time and didn’t get to do that.

Not every book lends itself to this type of interactive brainstorming session, but it fit the bill for Regarding the Fountain, and I highly recommend using the “official” discussion guide for this book.  And the best part about this group meeting was at the end, when I remembered to tell something to Joan, the girl who had nominated the book for us to read in the first place.  “Oh, Joan!” I said, “Did you know this???”  And I held up the first page of the discussion guide, the page that shows the four sequels to Regarding the Fountain.  She gasped with absolute delight – she didn’t know there were sequels to this book she loves – and I gave her the printout that lists all of them so that she could request the books for herself.  And I promised that our library would be adding them to our collection as soon as I put my next book order through…

Children's literature, Librarianship, Young adult literature

One of my favorite links…

As a children’s librarian, I’m constantly bombarded with patrons (both adults and children) who present me with odd-sounding pronunciations for difficult author names.  Eoin Colfer????  I can’t tell you how many different ways I’ve heard his name pronounced.  Rick Riordan???  Almost as bad.  And, until about a year ago, I was just as in the dark about the correct way to pronounce these authors’ names.  But then I discovered one of my favorite reference websites:  the “Author Name Pronunciation Guide” on TeachingBooks.net.  I love that they have an extensive resource of author name pronunciations, and that many living authors have recorded the correct pronunciations of their names, often with fun anecdotes to help the rest of us remember.  Go ahead – give it a try.  I guarantee you’ll be surprised by the right way to say some of your favorite authors’ names!!!

Book groups, Children's literature, Young adult literature

Democracy in action

At the November meetings of the 5th, 6th, and Teen Book Groups, the kids in each group nominated and voted for the books that we’ll be reading for the remainder of this school year (through May).  Here are the winning titles:

5th Grade Choices

  • Regarding the Fountain by Kate Klise
  • Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
  • Olivia Kidney by Ellen Potter
  • Hoot by Carl Hiassen
  • The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
  • Raven’s Gate by Anthony Horowitz

6th Grade Choices

  • 13 Treasures by Michelle Harrison
  • The Glitch in Sleep by John Hulme and Michael Wexler
  • The Lost Island of Tamarind by Nadia Aguiar
  • Raven’s Gate by Anthony Horowitz
  • The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
  • Nick of Time by Ted Bell

Teen (Grades 7 to 9) Choices

  • Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver
  • The Capture by Kathryn Lasky
  • Demons of the Ocean (book one in the Vampirates series) by Justin Somper
  • Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George
  • Terrier by Tamora Pierce
  • The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

It’s a great line-up of books, and I’m psyched.  The only thing I’d change about these suggestions?  The books are primarily fantasy: I do like to mix in other genres, especially mystery and historical fiction.  But I’m very happy that the kids are so happy with the book choices; the democratic choosing of the books has been good for the groups’ dynamics and morale.

Blog administration

In Progress

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When we switched my blog over to this new format in July, strange nonsensical characters appeared in the text of all archived entries.  (And yes, I know, there will be certain siblings who will feel compelled to make a joke here about strange characters…go ahead, get it out of your system…)  I had forgotten totally about the need to fix all of those old entries – all four years plus of old entries -until a week or so ago when I asked that my blog be listed on my alma mater’s alumni blogroll.  Ooops, I said to myself – guess I’d better go through and get rid of those capital letter A’s with the pointy hats on them that appear at the end of every sentence, and sometimes in other places, too.  So I have been chipping away at the project, going in reverse chronological order, and as of this writing I have fixed all entries back through June of 2009.  My goal is to finish this project by the end of this calendar year; until then, please have patience with me if you try to read any un-corrected archived entries.

Library events

Grant funding

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I received great news in the mail the other day: the local Cultural Council approved grant funding of the January program in almost the full amount requested!  I had made a modest request this year, knowing that the state cultural council funding has dropped quite a bit, and I was very, very pleased to learn that our local Cultural Council is willing to support the program that I chose for this year.

The program will be a Magic Show by Bonaparte, on an early release Wednesday in January.  Bonaparte is terrific (he has done one other show at the library in my tenure), and I’m thrilled that he’ll be returning in January.  Many, many thanks to the Cultural Council, and to the Friends of the Library, for supporting this great event!

Book groups, Children's book reviews

Regarding the Fountain

Just finished reading Regarding the Fountain by Kate Klise, the book that we’ll be discussing in this Tuesday’s meeting of the fifth grade book group – and I’m very, very pleasantly surprised.  The book is fresh and funny and clever, with just enough mystery to keep the reader fully engaged (and feeling a little intelllectually superior to the slow-to-figure-things-out characters).

The book was chosen for the group by one of its members, a well-read young lady with an old soul.  She promised us, quietly and with a sly smile, that we’d really like the book, and several times when she’s been in the children’s room she has said to me, with a twinkle in her eye, that she can’t wait to discuss the book she chose.  All a bit cryptic, but now I get why she was being so coy about the book.  It’s unique, a rare thing these days in children’s literature.

Without giving too much of the book away, because I’m sure I enjoyed it ever so much more for knowing absolutely nothing about it, I’ll share a few tidbits about it.  As the subtitle tells us, this is “A Tale, in Letters, of Liars and Leaks.”  The letters are an assortment of faxes, memos, notes, and friendly letters, and the reader would be well-advised to pay attention to all the details of the letters as they read.  Letterheads, names (oh, especially the names), and dates all matter in this story.  A group of fifth grade characters write many of the letters, as does their teacher, the school secretary, and the principal.  Also writing are our two villains, and the mysterious fountain designer Florence Waters (Flo for short).  As I mentioned above, there’s a touch of mystery, which I won’t give away, and lots of friendships forming and flourishing via the pen. 

You’ll have to trust me when I say it’s delightful, and that you should read it.  As an extra incentive, there are fabulous illustrations by the author’s sister, M. Sarah Klise, that remind me at times of Edward Gorey’s illustrations (though Klise does have her own cool style, and I don’t want to degrade that).   You have your assignment.  Read the book.  And I’ll let you know what the fifth graders say about it on Tuesday.

Book groups, Children's book reviews

The Alcatraz Conversations

I’m afraid I’ve waited a bit too long to write about the discussions that the 5th and 6th grade book groups had about Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson, and the details of the discussions have been lost in the haze of a couple of weeks of other book groups and lots of storytimes.  But I do want to mention in general that, surprisingly, the kids agreed with me.

In my previous post about this book, I confessed that I pretty much hate this book.  To quote myself, “It’s all a little too cute, too self-conscious, too adult – it’s impossible to get lost in the story, because the narrator keeps butting in with comments about the book or himself.  And the narrator, Alcatraz, is supposed to be a thirteen year old boy, but his rants and complaints sound more like a forty year old cranky grownup.”  There’s a sense that Sanderson is glorying in his own wit, celebrating how much smarter and funnier he is than his readers, and that really rubbed me the wrong way.

The 5th graders discussed the book first, and except for an initial whispered agreement with one girl who started off the discussion by saying that she hated the book, other than that I kept my mouth shut for twenty minutes or so and listened to them half-heartedly talk about the characters and the plot.  Finally, though, I mentioned that I hated the intrusiveness of the narrator, and the whole book group, in unison, said, “I HATED that!!!!”  Turns out the kids were as put off by the wise-aleck narrator as I was, and they spent the rest of the book group talking about how annoying the writing style was to them.  And in the next week’s book group discussion, the 6th graders didn’t wait for me to bring up the topic of the narrator, nor did they find much at all to love about the book.  One 6th grader had read several of the sequels, but she didn’t want to commit to being a “fan” of the series.

So it’s true – sometimes the kids and I do have the same opinion about a book.  Many times I’m far harsher on a book than the kids are, but in this case I think the kids were actually harsher than I.  I respect that the author was trying something new, edgy, and different, because there is too much “safe” children’s literature these days.  But I’m glad that the kids in the book groups could clearly articulate their thoughts and criticisms of this book, and I think they gained a new perspective on literature as a whole through their discussions.

Blog administration

Update…update…need to update…

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Now that my silly brother lives so far away (California??  ugh), I’m suffering from the lack of my WordPress advisor to help me update my blog.  I don’t know why I’m so lame and clueless when it comes to backing up and updating my blog, because I’m not a techno-phobe, and I’m not an idiot (at least, not a *total* idiot).  But I’ve been steadfastly ignoring the note that appears in a yellow bar at the top of the screen every time I log on to my blog these days:  “WordPress 3.0.2 is available.  Please update now.”

Ah, Dan, Mr. California, whatever shall I do?!?!?!?

Book groups, Teens, Young adult book review

Wolf Brother

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This week, the Teen Book Group (which is grades 7 to 9) discussed Michelle Paver’s Wolf Brother, the first in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series.  This was a book nominated by a group member, and voted on by all members of the group, which definitely boosted the conversation about the book (as opposed to the book I chose  for them at the beginnning of the year, Mortal Engines).  Interestingly, though, we spent a good amount of meeting time not discussing this book in specific, but rather addressing one of my pet concerns about contemporary children’s and young adult literature.

I will admit that I was less than inspired for this meeting of the book group, having just gotten over last Thursday’s stomach bug – just in time to get this week’s sore throat and cold.  But I think that my less-than-healthy physical state actually helped to inspire a slightly different type of conversation than we usually have.  At first, I kind of sat back in a stupor and let the kids have at it.  They kept looking at me from the corners of their eyes, utterly astonished that I wasn’t complaining about the fact that they were comparing Wolf Brother  to Harry Potter (usually, I vociferously enforce my anti-Harry Potter ban in all book group discussions).  But as I sat listening to them take the discussion in this direction, I decided to ask them to talk more about why so very many children’s and young adult books are part of a series, and why so very, very few are stand-alone works.  Why do kids and teens prefer to read books that are a part of a series?  What is the appeal? 

The group members replied that a series is better because you learn more about the characters – the plots are better able to be described and fleshed out – and the reader isn’t left with a cliff hanger; all plot issues are worked out in full over the course of a series.  One member commented that he read a stand-alone novel once that ended with a cliffhanger, and he would have much preferred it if there was a sequel, since the book ended in an unresolved manner.  To my mind (something I didn’t say to the group), I prefer a book that leaves something to the imagination at the end.  I love finishing a book, then going to bed and dreaming about what might happen next to the characters.  I love getting so involved in a story that I can continue it for myself, in a myriad of possible directions.  But I didn’t say that to the group, though in hindsight I wish that I had.

Instead, I asked them the following: do the reasons that they stated for the value of series books mean that most children’s and young adult literature is about plot, not quality of writing?  And they immediately agreed, and said yes, most books they read are about plot.  One clever young lady raised her hand very high, looked me in the eye, and said, “Abby, I’d like to ask you: what is your definition of quality literature??”  Ouch.  Tough question to be asked as you’re sinking down in your chair, under the influence of a mega-sore throat.  But I replied that I love Jane Austen’s works (groans from the peanut gallery), and that I also love some books by contemporary authors, like Gabrielle Zevin’s Elsewhere.  I also said that the definition of “quality literature” is obviously subjective, and that we each might have a different opinion.  But I thought that we could all agree that the Twilight saga is plot-driven but terribly (terribly!) written.  Thank goodness, they agreed, and then we tried to rank the book of the day’s discussion, Wolf Brother. 

We all agreed that the strengths of Wolf Brother lie in the relationship between Torak and Wolf, and most especially in the meticulously researched details about life as a hunter in Europe 6,000 years ago.  We all finished reading the book with the feeling that we had a sense of what life was like all those thousands of years ago, which is a big plus for the book.  But the writing is neither great nor terrible: it furthers the plot, but doesn’t excite the reader with its use of language.  I’d say that 90% of the group agreed that the book was a good diversion, but not our favorite, and that we wouldn’t bother to read the rest in the series (there are currently six sequels).  It should be noted that the book has one very big fan in our book group, who has read all seven of the books multiple times – and who was the group member to nominate it for discussion.  So of eight readers in attendance, Wolf Brother  has one very devoted follower, and seven readers who see its worth but don’t adore it.  That, actually, is not all that bad for a book.  And it did lead us to an excellent discussion, which I appreciate.  This teen book group is a smart, well-read, incredibly cool bunch of kids, and it was great fun having such a deep conversation with them.

Storytime

Mini baby boom

Last year, the Infant Storytimes were full to bursting, with up to 40 adults and kids attending each of three separate storytimes each week.  In a very small town, mind you.  The Storytime for 2’s & 3’s, on the other hand, was small to miniscule, with sometimes frustratingly low enrollment. 

This year, the Infant Storytime has calmed down significantly, but the Storytime for 2’s & 3’s keeps growing…and growing…and growing.  In a great example of how libraries must always be fluid and flexible with their programming, I’ve decided to eliminate the Wednesday morning Infant Storytime and replace it with at least one (perhaps two, we’ll see) Storytime for 2’s & 3’s, which will be in addition to the 2 sessions of 2 & 3 year old storytime that is already taking place on Monday mornings.

One challenge in dealing with this mini baby boom of mostly two year olds is that the format of the Infant Storytime is significantly different from the format of the 2 & 3 year old storytime.  The younger storytime is a drop-in format, and quite active and loose in terms of behavior expectations.  No child under the age of two can be expected to sit completely still for a whole forty five minutes, and thus the only behavior rule in that storytime is that children cannot cross the once invisible, now visible (long story) line that runs across in front of me and my storytime supplies.  Gradually, as they get older, the kids in this youngest storytime learn how to be in a group, and by the time they reach the age of two they’re ready for a new challenge.

Which is why the struture of the Storytime for 2’s & 3’s is very different.  It is theme-based, and much more instructional and storyteller-focused.  The kids are expected to stay in the laps of their caregivers, and to be attentive to the stories and fingerplays.  There are still many interactive segments, and the kids do get to have some activity mid-way through the storytime, but in general this storytime feels much more like a class, and, indeed, I’m trying to accomplish more direct teaching of concepts in this storytime.  Obviously, this storytime is much shorter than the infant storytime, since the demands are higher on the children, and this storytime is only twenty to twenty-five minutes.

In order for the Storytime for 2’s & 3’s to succeed, though, I do require pre-registration, and I do limit the number of pre-registrants to twelve children per session.  Ideally, the number would be only ten, but it’s unrealistic to expect perfect attendance from all families each week, so I bumped the number up to twelve.  Only one problem this fall:  we ended up with sixteen children in the first session and fourteen in the second.  Yikes.  It’s incredible the difference that those extra bodies have made in the room.  With more bodies crammed (yes, indeed, crammed) into the story room, the children are much more distracted and much less at ease than they tend to be in a smaller group.  I haven’t been able to do many of the coolest parts of my lesson plans, because there are simply too many children and the cumulative attention level is far lower than I would like.

So, the solution is:  add one more, or perhaps two more sessions of this storytime (I know there are a lot more children who are on the cusp of turning two and will be eligible for this storytime come January).  I’ll ask for volunteers to switch to the new time(s), and if that doesn’t work, I’ll hold a totally democratic lottery.  I think that once the group size has been diminished, the parents attending will be truly astonished at the difference in their children’s attention span and at how much their children are able to take away from each storytime.  And, of course, I’ll have much more fun presenting the storytime, too.  My boss has asked if it’s too much on my plate to be doing this, and I keep reassuring her that it’s not – that I’ll enjoy the process infinitely more if the groups are smaller.  And there’s also a lot to be said for me repeating the presentation of a storytime, since practice does make perfect, and no practice is better than the practice in front of an actual group.  (Which is a good reason to switch to the Wednesday group!)

The official time slot request papers will be available starting on the morning of December 13 at that day’s Storytime for 2’s & 3’s.  Once all papers have been submitted, I’ll review them and see how the groups work out, and whether we will need to resort to a lottery.  I have a feeling that it will all be ok, though, and that the groups will form naturally and happily via the time slot request sheets…

Reflections on children, literature, libraries, and life…and cats.