Birdbrains

Since February is National Feed the Birds Month, that is when we have one of my favorite preschool storytime themes: Birds.  There are so many fun books available for the storytime!  As I was preparing for this storytime, I searched my Pinterest board of bird themed crafts.  That is where I saw this adorable project based on the art of Charley Harper.  The project was completed by early elementary children, so I knew that if I wanted to do this for my preschoolers, I would have to find to adapt it.  So, I pulled out some scrap paper, a pencil, and a sharpie and started drawing.

This is the finished product, pasted on a sky blue background. Each of the pieces has been cut so the children just need to glue them to the background and then draw their own embellishments.

Click here for the printable PDF.

Don't worry.  I decided to make it a little easier on those who want to do this craft.  Here are the various pieces. 

Click here for the printable PDF.

Of course, I can't tell you about a preschool storytime theme and not share my storytime plan (click link for PDF). 

Learning to Read

This article was posted on Facebook.

While the commercial is for an alcoholic beverage, the message it portrays, about the joy of being able to read, is a wonderful one.  Regardless of age, learning to read is like gaining a superpower.  

Lizzie Bennet has a lot to talk about

While I have never read the original Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, I have read the zombie version and seen the fantastic BBC production (staring the drool-worthy Colin Firth as Darcy). I think it is safe to say I am a fan of most things Pride and Prejudice.

I don't watch a lot of TV.  I record the shows I like or watching them online, but even then I can easily go a week or few without really watching them.  There have been a few webcasts that I have enjoyed, such as The Guild. Lately I've been watching a episodes of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Love it!  Also love the "spin-off", The Lydia Bennet.  There are only 100 episodes the LBD, and I am about a third through. One nice thing about watching after the series is complete, I don't have to wait for a new episode to be aired!

What is The The Lizzie Bennet Diaries?  A pseudo-vlog starring Lizzie Bennet, set in modern times.  It is Pride and Prejudice reworked for today's world.  It is also full of awesome.  

My latest obsession - free eBooks

 I have a Kindle…somewhere.  I know it is in my house.  I’m just not sure where I put it last.  You see, I’ve rarely used it.  I much prefer a physical edition of a book where I can turn the pages. 

However, I recently started reading eBooks on the Kindle app on my iPhone.  There’s a good reason. 

Some authors publish short stories and novellas to go with a book series.  The ones I wanted to read were only available as eBooks.  So I broke down and purchased them.  Not knowing where the Kindle is, I decided to just read them on my phone.

Then I discovered the wealth of free books available through Amazon. 

The list of titles frequently change.  A book may be free one day and cost $2.99 (or more) the next.  In a wonderful marketing tactic, often the first book of a series will be free.  I’ve gotten hooked on a couple of historical romance series that way and have even purchased the additional series titles. 

How can you find those free eBooks?

Go to Amazon’s Kindle section and look to the right. You will see the top 100 Bestsellers – both paid and free.  Or you can just click this link.

Want to see the bestsellers (paid and free) for a specific genre?  From the Bestsellers page click on the genre listed on the left side.    There are so many books to choose from! 

Some are fantastic.  Some are, well, less than fantastic.  Much, much less.  Some may be only samplings, but that is usually easy to tell.

And since it is National Poetry Month, I will give you the link for the poetry bestsellers.  Enjoy!

Pick Me!

A while back I found this fantastic book display.  It was posted on a blog that I read.  Of course, I pinned it to one of my Pinterest boards for later reference. I shared it with several people throughout our library system.  Even though the original display idea was in a children's department, I thought it would be great for all ages.

One of our branches did the display for all age levels. The adult books were from the Adult Summer Reading entries.

Teen

 Teen

 Adult

 Children's

You can download the PDF the slips and sign that I made by clicking here.(To view the file, you will need a version of Adobe Acrobat Reader (get it free here).)

I Love My Librarian Award

It's that time of year again!  Go to atyourlibrary.org to nominate your favorite librarian for the I Love My Librarian award! You can nominate any librarian...it doesn't even have to be me!

As the website states:

Nominations for the 2012 Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times I Love My Librarian Awards are open through September 12.
10 librarians each will receive a $5,000 cash award, a plaque and $500 travel stipend to attend an awards reception in New York. In addition, a plaque will be given to each award winner’s library.
Recognize the accomplishments of your exceptional public, school, college, community college, or university librarian.

Pinned

It is official. I am addicted to Pinterest. As it currently stands, I think that Pinterest is one of the most useful social media tools available. I’m able to easily organize ideas and sources for so many aspects of my life. While I don’t view the goodness every day, I do spend much time perusing the goodness and pinning my finds. I started out using it just for work type things – i.e. libraryland and literacy stuff. I now also use it for a few personal things, namely collecting recipes. Due to this, I try to avoid Pinterest when I am hungry. It has a way of making me want to eat lots of yummy foods!

 

I do more than just collect pins on my various boards. I even do more than reorganize those pins from time to time! Thanks to the site I have found several crafts and activities for work that have been successful, such as the Very Hungry Caterpillar decoration (shown in the Main Children’s department at my work) that is shown above. I’ve also found inspiration for other projects, such as the bulletin board shown below, based on this pin. 

 

 

I need to remember to take pics of the pins I try so I can share them.  Yet another thing to add to the list of things to do.

caught reading

Thanks to Pinterest, I came across this gem of a site that has photos of famous people reading.  This is one of my favorites!  I want it as a READ poster.

ALA Youth Media Awards 2012 Jan. 23

Printz I have known…

As I mentioned before, I want to read more of the Printz winners and honors. The first Printz award was given in 2000, so there aren’t nearly as many books on the list as there are for Newbery. As I also already mentioned, I’ve read seventeen of the books. They are listed below:

• 2001 Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison, Honor
• 2001 Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman, Honor
• 2002 A Step from Heaven by An Na, Winner
• 2003 The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer, Honor
• 2004 The First Part Last by Angela Johnson, Winner
• 2004 The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler, Honor
• 2005 Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt, Honor
• 2006 Looking for Alaska by John Green, Winner
• 2007 American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, Winner
• 2007 An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, Honor
• 2007 The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Honor
• 2008 Repossessed by A. M. Jenkins. Honor
• 2009 The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart, Honor
• 2009 Nation by Terry Pratchett. Honor
• 2010 Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman, Honor
• 2010 Tales of the Madman Underground: An Historical Romance, 1973 by John Barnes, Honor
• 2011 Stolen by Lucy Christopher, Honor

Since the only year I am missing is 2000, I am going to start with the winner from that year: Monster by Walter Dean Myers.

In other news, I am trying out Pinterest. So far I am just using it for library/reading themed links. Click the link to check out my boards.

Read for the Record 2011

Mark your calendars!  Jumpstart's Read for the Record is scheduled for October 6.  The book chosen for this even is Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney. 

What is Read for the Record?  From the website:

Each year, millions of adults and children gather on a single day to set a new reading record and to show their support for early literacy by joining Jumpstart's Read for the Record.

So, on October 6, cuddle up with a little one and support literacy by reading Llama Llama Red Pajama.

Not to be a b*tch, but...

I recently talked a little about the Top 100 YA Novels for Feminist Readers from Bitch Media, which was published on January 28. I’ve been meaning to expound on the topic a bit more, but haven’t made the time until now.


Looking over the list – both the original and the revised versions – I have heard of many of the books, but have only read about 25-30 of them.

My issues with the list:

Firstly, my biggest issue is this little line that the deviser posted in a reply on the comments:

“While I read most of the books on this list, there were a few that I just researched”

Why would you recommend books on such a list without actually reading all of the titles? If I heard great things about a book but had yet to read it, I might still recommend it to someone on a person to person basis. I would also say, “I haven’t read this yet, but have heard wonderful reviews on it!” I wouldn’t feel comfortable publishing a list of book recommendations, such as Bitch Media’s list, without actually reading each book on the list or being sure to mention first I hadn’t read them all.

Now on to my second issue with the list: If you are recommending a list of books, I feel you should be 100% ready to back up those titles. Obviously the list’s creator and the organization that published the list didn’t feel that way. After a few comments complaining about two novels and a quick weekend of actually reading those and one other book, all three were replaced. By not backing up the decision to include those titles in the first place, the list loses whatever power it may have held.

Issue number three…how can you publish a list of books on an ideal without describing what qualities make up that ideal or what features of each novel make it one that should be read? No where in the original publication of the list does Bitch Media explain just why it is that “every feminist should add to the stack of books on their bedside table.” Of the percentage I have read, I can’t quite understand what makes them all top notch feminist novels, especially in the eyes of an organization whose mission “is to provide and encourage an empowered, feminist response to mainstream media and popular culture.”

The third issue kind of goes into my other issues with the list: Why are some of those titles even on there? As I’ve said, I have read about 20-30 titles, and can’t for the life of me understand why some are considered to be the epitome of stellar feminist teen literature. I’m not saying that they aren’t decent novels, just that I don’t see why some are on the list.

The Rule of 50

Recently my supervisor shared with our department Nancy Pearl’s revised Rule of 50. Having read through the article in which the esteemed Ms. Pearl shares her revised rule, I found myself nodding quite a bit.

Two examples: 

1. While I’ve always been a voracious reader, it wasn’t until recent years that I finally stopped feeling so very guilty when I didn’t finish reading a book. Why was I spending so much time on books that I didn’t like when there are so many more books I want to read? Is it a product of my upbringing? Just like I was told to clean my plate at dinner (i.e. eat everything on it), did I feel that I needed to read the entire book?
2. As stated in her essay, not finishing a book now doesn’t mean it can’t be attempted again later. This brings to mind The Lord of the Rings. Why? Because I read The Hobbit and started to read LOTR three times before I finally finished the books. Did I think they weren’t good? No. The story just didn’t hold my attention enough until the third try. On a side note, the three readings were in 7th, 9th, and finally, 12th grades. 

So, this brings us to the original Rule of 50. It is simple. Give a book 50 pages. If by page 50 you still feel that it isn’t for you, go ahead and set it aside for something else. If you just want to know how it ends, feel free to check the last few pages without reading through the middle chapters.
The revised rule? That I will share using the developer’s own words:

This rule of 50 worked exceedingly well until I entered my own 50s. As I wended my way toward 60, and beyond, I could no longer avoid the realization that, while the reading time remaining in my life was growing shorter, the world of books that I wanted to read was, if anything, growing larger. In a flash of, if I do say so myself, brilliance, I realized that my Rule of 50 was incomplete. It needed an addendum. And here it is: When you are 51 years of age or older, subtract your age from 100, and the resulting number (which, of course, gets smaller every year) is the number of pages you should read before you can guiltlessly give up on a book. As the saying goes, “Age has its privileges.”

And the ultimate privilege of age, of course, is that when you turn 100, you are authorized (by the Rule of 50) to judge a book by its cover.

Of course, as an avid audiobook “reader”, I wonder how to translate the original rule to the audio counterparts of books? Usually I give an audiobook one CD, which is approximately an hour of listening. Should I listen longer?

Hey there little Red Riding Hood...

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce.

After a childhood attack that left their grandmother dead and Scarlett severely scarred, sisters Scarlett and Rosie March see the wolves prowling the world posing as men, luring young women to their gory deaths. When these werewolves, or Fenris, begin to hunt in their small Georgia town, they realize something is very wrong.

Along with their close friend, Silas, they go hunting – for both wolves and information. Finding out that the increase in Fenris is due to a “Potential” being somewhere in the surrounding area, they vow to find this man and hopefully save him from becoming a monster.

The two sisters always felt they shared a heart and were two halves of one whole. As they grow into adulthood, differences begin to surface. Scarlett lives to hunt the Fenris and save those who cannot or will not see the monsters in the shadows. Rosie, also a skilled hunter, longs for something else. As her feelings for Silas turn deeper than just close friendship, she is torn between her loyalty to her sister and her desire for something more than hunting monsters.


A great modern retelling of the classic Red Riding Hood story, this is also somewhat a “coming of age” tale. At sixteen, Rosie is on the brink of adulthood. Circumstances of their lives have caused Rosie and Scarlett to mature more quickly than most of them contemporaries, but it isn’t until Silas returns to Georgia after being away for a year that Rosie begins to come into her own self. Because of the changes in her relationship with Rosie, Scarlett also must become her own self.

I read this book because of the hullabaloo on Twitter about a list published recently on Bitch Media: 100 Young Adult Books for the Feminist Reader. Sisters Red was originally on the list, as were Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan and Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott. After a couple of complaints and a quick weekend review, the three titles were removed from the list. A timeline can be found on the blog Chasing Ray.

The complaint against Sisters Red was that the book promoted a “rape culture” due to one character having a feeling that the women who dress up and don’t know about the Fenris deserve what is coming to them. After reading the book, I feel that the passage that was quoted was taken out of context and that the book, as a whole, does not promote a culture in which the women attacked deserve what happens to them.

I guess I should thank the creator(s) of the list on Bitch Media. If the list hadn’t changed I may not have picked up this book. To you I say: Thanks for caving in to a little bit of pressure!

Youth Media Awards countdown!

January is an exciting time in the world of youth literature. In January both the Association for Library Service to Children and the Young Adult Library Services Association – divisions of the American Library Association (ALA) – announce the winners of such distinguished awards as the Caldecott, Newbery and Printz. The Youth Media Awards – which take place the Monday of ALA’s Midwinter Meeting – is an event that has been likened to the Academy Awards of Youth Literature. Attendees line up at the doors an hour before the event is to begin, hoping to get a good seat. The whoops and hollers from the crowd as a beloved book or author is announced as an honor or winner fill the air. Excitement charges the audience like electricity. It is an amazing event to attend in person.

Over the next few weeks I am going to post about past winners and honors. As it has been some time since I’ve done a Picture Book Preview, I am going to focus mostly on picture books. This means I’ll be focusing mostly on the Caldecott Award, as it is awarded to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. My friend Sarah D. will be writing some of the reviews as well. Hopefully this means she will soon share some reviews of novels as well (That’s a not-so-subtle hint, Sarah!!).

Buying Books

It's December (!!), which means the holiday frenzy has started. Looking for some wonderful gift ideas? Check out this blog post by MotherReader: 105 Ways to Give a Book.

I am proud to admit that I am the giver of books as presents. My two cousins who are 20+ years younger than me and my nieces and nephews have often received books for birthday and Christmas gifts. This year I will be giving books to seven of the thirteen people I'm purchase gifts for. I know this as I have most of my holiday shopping already completed. (please refrain from throwing stuff at me...unless you are throwing money or gift cards).

Like, OMG, he sparkles!!

A Libraryland friend asked on Facebook for a link to a particular Twilight comic synopsis. Not knowing about this treasure, I asked for the link as well. Here it is. Be prepared to LOL.

Like, you know, Stephanie Meyer? Get it?


Thanks for sharing, Karen!

Around the Blogosphere

I’m always trying to catch up with reading the various blogs I subscribe to. It takes quite a bit of time, as some bloggers can be rather plentiful with their posts.

Recently blogger Pragmatic Mom started several new series of posts. My favorite so far? The Teach Me Tuesdays. I must remember these posts when it comes time to plan programs for next year’s Summer Reading Program. Of the three or so TMTs thus far, there has been a theme of multiculturalism that perfectly fits the SRP them of One World, Many Stories.

Meanwhile, Mother Reader has been doing a series of posts focusing on the Cybil Awards while also highlighting her ABC Storytime features. She’s also doing a book giveaway…

Liz at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy has provided a review of the book Hush by Eishes Chayil. This is the second blog that I read which has reviewed this book. Unfortunately, no one has ordered it yet for my library. *sigh* I would like to read it!

Bad Mummy Bec has really ramped up her posting! She’s been featuring a variety of crafts and other just plain cool things on her blog. I think I’ve even read somewhere (perhaps on Facebook) that she is starting a Bad Mummy forum. Bec, m’dear, if you are reading this, care to do a post or few featuring children’s lit Down Under?

Sarah at Simply Primal and Simply Sunshine is talking about Thanksgiving dinner…especially doing it gluten free.

Sharon at Sharon's Life is planning a holiday. Here's hoping she can go somewhere fantastic. Hey, Sharon, think you can stow me in your luggage?

That’s just a few of the many blogs I’m currently reading. I need to find the time to post again on my own HodgePodge blog…and to write up a few more book reviews for here! Perhaps I'll "cheat" and post this on HodgePodge as well. You won't tell, right? ;->

GLEE and Members Project - Library

Freebie

I'm home sick with a horrible cold, but still trying to keep up with my listserv and blog reading. This was posted on one of the listservs, with a request to pass it on to others. Please note that the link is only for today, Wednesday, October 6, 2010.

Rakesh Satyal, a wonderful writer I met through PEN (he's also an editor of adult books at HarperCollins) wrote a novel about his childhood, growing up gay. In response to the suicides of gay teenagers, he and his publisher are offering free Kindle downloads of his book, BLUE BOY, today only. Please spread the word to anyone who's interested or could be. The link is here:

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Boy-ebook/dp/B00276HAJ4/ref=ed_oe_k