When I was Litle

For my last book of the year I read When I was Little by Jamie Lee Curtis. It is a cute book and a great beginning memoir for children. I Chose this book because I had checked out the Children's Lit book this semester from App and I had to turn it back in. My library had few children's memoirs, but I am glad to have picked this one. I like to see what t is about children's books that make them great sellers and I haven't yet picked it out totally but I can now recogize it even if I can't put my finger on the definition of it.

Dr. Nita,
If you read this...thanks for a great year!

sad to leave

I just got word a week ago that my husband has recieved a job in KY. So therefore I won't be able to finish my MLS here. They say they may transfer in 9 hours but I have 15 so far. That's ok I guess but I will hate to leave all the great people that I have met in this cohort. The profesors are wonderful. I have learned so much from this program. I will be leavign in June so there is no reason to be in summer classes. So sad to go but new opportunities await my husband. Thank you Dr. Nita for all you have taught me!

Epistemology

It is undersndable that the nature of knowledge comes in different ways, hence the various theories of learning. I did my unit plan a kindergarten science lesson that could be done in a library setting. Cognitivsm can me seen in the lesson as we repeat the vocabulary and also show pictures of the different types of weather each day, and students are encouraged to ask qusetions and be given answers by classmates and librarian. Behaviorsim is the interraction of the students with different media and temperature/weather gathering sources. The activities are structured from day to day with a concept that is introduced...guided practce, individual practice, discussion and observation are all part of my plan - though I don't come out and call it these things. And finally, constructivism - the whole lesson grows as children construct their learning from prior knowledge of computer skills, reading skills, and temperature/weather skills that they have learned. The librarian doesn't always tell the children what to do and allows individual learning. Students are encouraged to find out for themelves how to tell the temperature how to know what to wear on a rany day, etc. I really enjoyed doing this lesson/unit plan and learned a lot from it.

Controversy?

The book I just read, The Bronze Bow, could stir up controversy over the religious context. The book is about a young boy Daniel Bar Jamon and is a spiritual, physical, and emotional journey. It won a Newberry which I thought was appropriate to chose seeing as we just spoke with Dr. Naylor about the selection process and being on the comittee for Newberry awards. It was a wonderful book in my oppinion as the history and descriptons of the Holy Lands seemed accurate and wonderful. Some of the criticisms are that the writer is a Sunday School teacher and that her views and characters are swayed, as they follow Jesus. However, being someone who myself follows Jesus, it doesn't bother me.

At my father's funeral his boss spoke about how he did his job so well but above all he was a Christian. His did what was right in the workplace but never did anything to undermine his Christianity. I think that even though I want to be a librarian who is completely fair and knowledgeable about book selections, well, above all I want to be a Christian doing it. Therefore, I think that I am probably not the best person to ask about keeping this book in a library if it is controversal. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I'm Glad I'm Me

This poem is totaly written for my husband...

I’m Glad I’m Me
by Phil Bolsta

I don’t understand why everyone stares
When I take off my clothes and dance down the stairs.
Or when I stick carrots in both of my ears,
Then dye my hair green and go shopping at Sears.
I just love to dress up and do goofy things.
If I were an angel, I’d tie-dye my wings!
Why can’t folks accept me the way that I am?
So what if I’m different and don’t act like them?
I’m not going to change and be someone I’m not.
I like who I am, and I’m all that I’ve got.

Phil Bolsta, “I’m Glad I’m Me” from Kids Pick the Funniest Poems, edited by Bruce Lansky (Minnetonka, Minn.: Meadowbrook Press, 1991). Copyright © 1991 by Phil Bolsta. Reprinted with the permission of the author.Source: Kids Pick the Funniest Poems (1991).

Cute Children's Poetry

Deep in Our Refrigerator
by Jack Prelutsky

Deep in our refrigerator,
there's a special place
for food that's been around awhile . . .
we keep it, just in case.
“It's probably too old to eat,”
my mother likes to say.
“But I don't think it's old enough
for me to throw away.”
It stays there for a month or more
to ripen in the cold,
and soon we notice fuzzy clumps
of multicolored mold.
The clumps are larger every day,
we notice this as well,
but mostly what we notice
is a certain special smell.
When finally it all becomes
a nasty mass of slime,
my mother takes it out, and says,
“Apparently, it's time.”
She dumps it in the garbage can,
though not without regret,
then fills the space with other food
that's not so ancient yet
Text © 2000 Jack Prelutsky. Used by Permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

This sounds like my grandmother. I like the light hearted humor of this poem.

Publish Children's Book

http://www.booksurge.com/content/Google_Childrens.htm?cid=publish_childrens_book&gclid=CKCvmoiFrZkCFQxhnAodZx5qJA

I just mentioned in my last blog about wanting to write children's books. Yeah, I probably won't do that but I did find this site that says you cna publish your works with its help.

This is what it says, "BookSurge, part of the Amazon group of companies, offers a broad array of publishing services to help you craft the book of your dreams, as well as promotional tools and resources to help you gain an audience for your work. Our most popular package for children's book authors includes a customized interior and cover, complete with full-color illustrations to bring your vision to life.
We recognize that selecting a publishing partner and path is an important decision. Once you submit your information in the form below, you'll have access to the following free resources available from Brian Jud, book marketing guru and bestselling author of Beyond the Bookstore:
"Why Self-Publish?," an article evaluating the publishing options available to authors today
"Get Your Word's Worth: 555 Tips for Improving Your Book's Promotion," an eBook filled with low-cost and no-cost promotional techniques."

Pretty cool

Boy

I think this is going to be great when we finally get t discuss our books with students in Australia. The coolest thing being that they are in Australia. I also like the fact that they can give me their reactions to the books from a young persons standpoint. Since I am not a teacher it is hard for me to really relate to the kids I think but I guess it hasn't been too long since I was that age. I would love to have those days back! I don't think Boy is the greatest Dhal book I have ever read but it really allows readers to see the inspirations for some of his great works such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach. I wish I were a children's book writer.

Catching up

Since the death of my Dad I have realized I am falling behind on these posts. I do thoroughly enjoy this class. Reading these children's books is actually a stress reliever most of the time because I don't have to think too hard when reading them :) I have really enjoyed Coraline the most I think...I love modern fantasy. I think that I would have to say Ida B. and The Moves Make the Man were probably not the greatest to me at this time because of what I have been going through. Mental illness is so real but children need to see characters experience it as well as cancer as in Ida B. I havn't yet decided my next book as an individual book but will do so soon.

Update

I have been so busy with my father's funeral and also all the estate stuff that I haven't blogged as much as I should so I am going to make up for it now. Since I have blogged I have read Ida B. Coraline, The Root Cellar and The Moves Make the Man. These are all wonderful books. Ida B. was a great book about hardships and healing as well as growing up and imagination. The Moves Make the Man is also a book about a child who's mother is suffering with an illness. This one is mental illness. The children all overcome obstacles such as lonliness (Root Cellar an Coraline) and illness (The Moves Make the Man and Ida B.) These have all been great reads and helpful to young readers I feel by way of showing that all children have hardships as well as the ability to overcome obstacles. The theme running through all of them is just that. Even thouh time shift fantasy and modern fantasy were the genre's of two of them. I really enjoy this class and it is great to get to read books that are easy reads though they have a lot of meaning and are great works of literature.

Books for 4,5,6

I am picking all of the books up that I have selected or group has selected today from the public libary minus 1 that I haven't yet found. I had Cat in the Hat and A River Ran Wild previously from a friend who works in an elementary school. Therefore, this weekend I should be able to get all of my reading done and my discussions posted. The wiki is what I am currently worried about :)

Discussion of books

We met in a chat room on Tuesday, Feb. 10 to discuss 2 of our 3 group selections: "The Cat in the Hat" and "A River Ran Wild." We all liked the rhythm of Cat in the Hat, rhyme and repetition of this book for beginning readers was excellent. It stuck in our heads and flowed almost muscially. I found myself actually speaking the same way as the book read when I was finished reading it aloud to my dogs. We then discussed the illustrations. We found it interesting that the same 4 colors were used throughout the book. I believe that this was so illustration did not get in the way of the words. The simple words that children could use and almost predictable words beacuse of the scheme. It was mentioned that the fish probably represented an authority figure. Constantly saying "no" and your mother would not like this. Perhaps, we all thought, the cat and thing 1 and thing 2 were products of the childrens' imaginations on a boring rainy day with no parents around. Cat's are known to be mischievious and sly, so maybe that is why a cat was chosen. We also noted, that the Cat came back and cleaned up his mess, a good lesson for children to learn that even a playful cat cleans up after himself. Also, we noted that this book was written in the 1950's when children were seen and not heard. 2. A River Ran Wild Well, we ran a little wild in our discussion of this book as well. This book was based on a true story of the Nashua River and its history. Native Americans originally settled on this clean and pure river. They only took from the river what they needed. Some traders came along and they lived in harmony with them. However, eventually white settlers came with different ideas about nature and is uses. They built dams for farming and mills. They dumped all kinds of pollutants in the river which got worse as the industrial revolution came about. Eventually there were paper mills and the river not only stunk but died. All wildlife in the river ended. Then came a special lady who made it her mission to clean up this river and was successful. This book portrayed history, i.e. the industrial revolution and all the amazing innovations. It also discussed the cost of innovation. We did not like that the white man claimed the Native American's land as their own. We loved the lady who worked to clean this river. She was an early environmental activist. She started her cleanup mission in 1962 before there was a Clean Water Act(1965). So you could say she was a pioneer. The book taught about historical periods as well as how individuals can be proactive and leave eco footprints on the world they live in by taking on one project at a time. We all agreed that the illustrations were beautiful and the borders on every other page were very interesting in their depictions of people, places, animals and things from the story. Definitely a learning experience for kids. We then went on to reflect about our own lives and how we use natural resources,( hunting, gardening, canning). We talked about all the research that went into the book. And touched on a place in Catawba County, called Hart's Square which is a rebuilt village from the 1800s that is made up of cabins and structures found throughout western NC that represent that time period. It would be a great place for a field trip to show children how life used to be. A lot of hard work but no pollution! We all truly enjoyed this book and it did make us think.

Great Project for 5190

My group chose to do the IBBY (International Board of Books for Young People) as our international fair project. It has been very fun to do this project and I love the group I work with. I worked with one of the girls in 5010 as well. I have done a short video (photo story) about 8 minutes long with songs from each of the countries we have selected that IBBY is a part of...Switzerland, Denmark, South Africa and Egypt. In 2008 IBBY was held in Africa and so many of the books I was able to get pictures of are African selections. In 2009 it will be Egypt. IBBY presents the Hans Christian Anderson award each year to a writer and to an illustrator. Here is the mission of IBBY as stated on www.ibby.org "to promote international understanding through children's books,to give children everywhere the opportunity to have access to books with high literary and artistic standards,to encourage the publication and distribution of quality children's books, especially in developing countries, to provide support and training for those involved with children and children's literature, to stimulate research and scholarly works in the field of children's literature."
I am also interested in finding some dress up items for my group but haven't been able to find them yet. Since we now have another week before this project is due I will try again to find some items to use from these 4 countries. I probably won't buy anything if I can't find something from each of our 4 target countries.