Summer reading -- and I don't mean Harry Potter

I am enjoying the readaloud edition of "The Conch Bearers" by Chitra Banarjee Divakaruni (read by Alan Cummings). Here is the story of Anand, a 12-year-old boy living in the slums of Calcutta, India. He meets a mysterious and kind man, Abhaydatta, who convinces him to join a journey to return a magic conch to it's rightful place, the Silver Valley, deep in the Himalaya Mountains. Tagging along is a street urchin, Nisha, a girl our hero's age. The three journey far, always followed by the evil Surabhanu, a former member of the Abhaydatta's Brotherhood of Healers. This quest is full of the exotic sights, sounds and flavors of India. If you like Harry Potter or the "Series of Unfortunate Events," you may find this book just as much fun. This is the beginning of a series, too, so you'll have more of the adventures of Anand and Nisha.

Rats and cheese!

Wow! Such amazing talent in our little library last week! Tuesday, we saw Jack Prelutsky and Chris Raschka, and learned some really disgusting songs. Anybody want a rat for lunch? Mr. Raschka illustrated Mr. Prelutsky's poems with such grace and humor. I loved how three blue slugs magically appeared in the moment following Mr. Prelutsky reciting the line from his poem "I wonder why my dad is mad?" And how Mr. Raschka decorated the dad's undies (which were pinned to the wall).

What is a "teaching library?"

When I was growing up in the 1960s, I went to the library to commune with the stacks of books. I remember, very fondly, long quiet moments alone with the librarian. No obligation to converse. Sometimes the woman (it was always a woman) would hand me a book, make a brief suggestion, smile. I don't ever remember asking her for advice. I do remember when I learned how to use the Dewey Decimal Classification System, in a small school library in Aberdeen, South Dakota. How the stacks seemed to open up, like the covers of the books they contained.

Today, the world of libraries have changed in many, many ways. The role of the school librarian has evolved, too. Instead of wordlessly putting a book into a student's hand, we have the time to muse with the student -- what was the book he last read and loved? what did he like about it? what kind of books does she like to read? what is the difference for her between "screen time" and reading? What about each is valuable and important?

In addition to how librarians encourage reading print, we teach many other facets of the world of information ... how to use an encyclopedia -- print and online; how to navigate the Internet and find reliable, useful and timely information; which library (public or school) has the newest "Magic Tree House" book, and is it available for checkout; how to choose a useful keyword for an online search; how to take notes, do research, write a bibliography, skim and scan books and websites; the meaning of a database, and how to use it. Finding a book that is "just right for me." The list could go on for miles.

It is one part of the job that keeps it stimulating and interesting. Of course, the most important part is the children. Which brings me back to that librarian in Aberdeen, South Dakota. And the incredible gift she gave me -- a book. A gift I hope to pass along to the children I meet in the Jamestown library.

Gritch the witch is in the house!

Author Margie Palatini will visit Jamestown on Friday, March 23. She will spend the day with students, making presentations at assemblies and having lunch with 12 lucky students (grades 3-5). Students who wish to meet with her should pick up the contest rules in the library. Jamestown's sister school, Hoffman-Boston, will send kindergarten through second grade students to Jamestown for the assemblies as well. This is the first (of we hope many) time our students will get together for an author visit. Hoffman-Boston (grades 3-5) students are taking part in the same contest, vying for the opportunity to meet with Ms. Palatini. We are grateful to the Jamestown PTA for funding this wonderful venture.

Award-winning poet and illustrator to visit

Children's Poet Laureate Jack Prelutsky, and Caldecott-winning illustrator Chris Raschka have collaborated on a new book, "good sports." The author/illustrator team will visit Jamestown on Tuesday, March 20. All Jamestown students will participate in an assembly during which Mr. Prelutsky and Mr. Raschka will talk about their collaboration, the inspiration for their book, and their other published works. Wow! We are grateful to Aladdin's Lamp Children's Bookstore for making this possible, and for offering books for sale to our students at a 20% reduced price.

Calling all gamers!

Kids -- I just returned from a conference that was all about kids and technology. I learned that there are a lot of great things that you and I can learn from games. They even had a word for these kinds of games: "serious games." So I have two questions for you: what do you learn from games? how could we use them to learn in the library? Post your ideas and comments in the comments part of this blog and we will talk about them sometime soon in library.

The Moorchild

Do you ever feel like you just don't fit in anywhere? That's how Saaski feels -- and with good reason. In "The Moorchild," by Eloise Jarvis McGraw, Saaski lives in a small village in Wales. She is half "folk," the villagers' word for fairies, and half human. The other kids don't like her, and the adults are a bit afraid of her. You can probably imagine that she tries to fit in, but it never works very well. What you probably can't imagine is the magic and the surprising ending of this gentle adventure. Here are a few clues: a bagpipe, and fish hook and rosemary ...

And the winners are ...

Imagine walking on beach and finding an old camera. When you develop the photos, you see amazing creatures (a blowfish becomes a hot air balloon). Slowly, you discover that the camera has been used by children for many years. Author/illustrator David Wiesner has created an amazing, magical world in his witty picture book, "Flotsam," the winner of the 2007 CALDECOTT AWARD, which was announced Monday, January 21, in Seattle, WA.
CALDECOTT HONORS go to author/illustrator David McLimans for "Gone Wild, an endangered animal alphabet." Every letter features a different animal, and McLimans captures the essence of the animal without contorting the animal into the alphabet shapes. A box on each page tells us facts about the featured animal (habitat, number in the wild, etc.).
CALDECOTT HONORS also go to "Moses, when Harriet Tubman led her people to freedom." Among first and second graders at Jamestown, this was the most popular book. It shows us Tubman's journey to freedom, illustrates her close relationship with her God, and the conviction that led her to help bring other slaves to freedom. The illustrations are rich, moody and powerful. The large format contributes to the strong effect this book has on readers.

What is "appropriate" literature in the Jamestown library?

FOR PARENTS:
An observant parent recently pointed out "Evvy's Civil War" by Miriam Brenaman, which her 4th grade daughter had been reading. While the book gamely addresses the challenges of being a girl during the American Civil War, it also delves into dark realms in it's treatment of the plight of being a slave girl. Brenaman writes that she wanted to show today's girls (and boys) what it was like to be constrained so severely, simply by accident of birth. Benaman's depiction is engaging, and earned a number of enthusiastic reviews when it was published. Nevertheless, I pulled it from the library and offered it to a middle or high school library, and here's why: the book deals with issues (rape being the primary one) in a way that I perceive to be too detailed for the average 10 or 11-year-old. Yes, it's *my* perception. Because there is no hard and fast rule about what should or shouldn't be in an elementary school library, I and my school library colleagues consider the following:
1. Value of the work as literature: is it well written?
2. Value of the content of the material: is it up-to-date? does the work treat the content accurately?
3. Relevance to the curriculum: is the content relevant to our curriculum? if not, does it enrich the curriculum or the body of literature about the subject? This is a teaching library, so our primary focus is on supporting and enhancing the established curriculum.
4. Age and maturity of readers: does the work treat issues in a way that *the average* young child is able understand? At Jamestown we have many precocious readers, children who are capable of reading adult literature. However, their ability to relate to or comprehend more complex emotional material (for example) is limited to their brief life experience. There is so much great literature written specifically for children that for our limited collection I still have many choices without buying material intended for older audiences.
5. Popularity: some materials (e.g., "Geronimo Stilton," "American Girl" series) are in the library because they are fun to read. One of our missions in the school library is to help engender a love of literature and reading. Sometimes these works do not fit into the curriculum model. I estimate that less than 25% of our collection fits into this category.
These are some of the factors that are considered before any book, magazine, DVD or database is added to our collection. I would be happy to talk to anyone who has questions or concerns about this policy, or about any of the choices we make here in the library.

Graphic stories

We've just gotten a big pile of graphic stories in the library, thanks to the generosity of the Jamestown PTA. Woo hoo -- everybody likes to read these! These are true stories about real people and events, like "Dolly Madison Saves History" and "The Curse of King Tut's Tomb." But these books look like comic books, with great color illustrations and plenty of action. Of course, we have some "Calvin and Hobbes," "Peanuts" and other traditional comics, but this is our first venture into the fast-growing graphic world for young readers. We have a new series of graphic fiction in the library, too: "Bone," about a soft little creature and his fantastic adventures. "Babymouse," in all her pink glory, will soon be in the library to tempt our younger readers.

Parents: There is plenty of research to support the idea that the graphic story content can successfully compete for the attention of our screen-happy children, especially reluctant readers. Try them as a way to draw your child into a topic or simply into the act of sitting with a book and reading. For kids who are wiggly, the busy-ness of the graphic story page can often engage them enough to experience a whole story ... and you can enjoy a little walk down memory lane (I guarantee they're more fun than "Betty and Veronica" were)!