I just adore Jez Alborough’s books, especially for story times. His books alone have led me to do more duck and bear story time themes than I really should. But his books are just so wonderful! First, there is exactly the right amount of text on each page for preschoolers to listen to. Second, the pictures are bright, big and bold so they project perfectly to a group. And finally, the stories are exciting and funny. Can’t beat that combo!
And best of all… You can save his books to be read last. If you do story times you will know how amazing that is. I always save his books for the finale, because they get even wiggly chatty kids to settle right down and be swept up into the crazy worlds of inept ducks and huge bears. They should be in all libraries and part of your list of story time books.
Month: February 2005
Lowry Banned
firstamendmentcenter.org: news offers the sad article that a Florida elementary school has decided to remove Anastasia Again! by Lois Lowry from the school library shelves. A parent had asked for the entire Anastasia series to be banned, but the school board removed the single book.
After serving on a couple of committees for our local school, I wonder what their process was and whether they had a committee of community members and if so what that committee recommended. Both committees that I have served on talked at length about the Freedom to Read and parental rights, conversations that usually lead to the retention of books.
Comic Blogs
Comic Weblog Updates offers a quick way to find out recent postings on blogs about comic books. The site has an RSS feed.
Stories of War
NPR had a wonderful show on The Connection.org : Telling Tales of War to Children. Two of the books featured are about Alia, the librarian of Basra who saved the book collection from the Iraq war. The larger discussion is about books for children that are set in a war zone.
Comic Sites
The Association of College and Research Libraries has an article of interest to public librarians as well. Comic books and graphic novels offers a large selection of comic book sites. Some of the sites are more scholarly than public librarians may need, but many of them are top notch for collection development information or even better for casual reading.
Fairy Tale Site
The Complete Andersen :: The Hans Christian Andersen Center
This site claims to have the most comprehensive collection of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales in English online. The site has an amazing array of stories, some very familiar and other new ones to discover.
Via Neat New Stuff on the Net.
Teen Top Ten
The nominees for Teens’ Top Ten have been announced by ALA. This award is very cool because teens pick the winners. The books are even nominated by teens. Teens should start reading the nominations now, so that when June comes around they will be able to vote for their favorite.
Here are the nominees:
Aidinoff, Elise The Garden
Dessen, Sarah The Truth About Forever
Federici, Debbie L.O.S.T.
Le Guin, Ursula Gifts
Limb, Sue Girl, 15, Charming but Insane
Mackler, Carolyn Vegan Virgin Valentine
Marchetta, Melina Saving Francesca
Picoult, Jodi My Sister’s Keeper
Randall, David Clovermead
Shreve, Anita Light on Snow
Sonnenblick, Jordan Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie
Wolf, Allan New Found Land
Zephaniah, Benjamin Gangsta Rap
Graphic Novels from the UK
Grovel.org.uk offers information on the latest graphic novels, complete with reviews. They also provide a monthly list of the most popular graphic novels, writers, and artists. But best of all, they offer a graphic novel news section that has an RSS feed. Sweet!
Great Library Teen Site
TeenWeb is the teen section of the San Jose Public Library website. It is one of the best library teen sites I have seen. First of all, it is up to date and fresh looking. Second, it allows teens to offer content of their own like book reviews. Very nice! Of course, what else would I expect from the 2004 Library of the Year?
Waking Brain Cells 