YAACING
WINTER 2006
The Newsletter of the Young Adult & Children's Services Section of BCLA
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
We would love to hear from you!
YAACING is published four times a year and always looking for submissions that might interest our membership. If you have tried something new at your library, would like to write a column, report on a conference session, or know of an upcoming event for the calendar, please share it with us. Mail, email or fax your material to:
Phillippa Brown
Youth Librarian
Bruce Hutchinson Library
Greater Victoria Public Library
4636 Elk Lake Drive
Victoria, B.C. V8Z 7K2
Phone: 250-727-0104; Fax: 250 382-7126
pbrown@gvpl.ca
Joanne Canow
Children’s and Teen Librarian
Renfrew Branch Library
Vancouver Public Library
2969 East 22nd Ave.
Vancouver, BC
Phone: 604-257-8781; Fax: 604-257-8704
joanncan@vpl.ca
Deadlines are as follows:
Spring issue for March/April - Feb 1st
Summer issue for May/June - April 1st
Fall issue for September/October - August 1st
Winter issue for December/January - November 1st
Next Deadline:
Spring Issue: Feb. 1st
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Message from the Chair
Season’s Greetings to all my fellow YAACERS!
We’ve organized many great sessions for our upcoming 2007 BCLA Conference. Those of you who are particularly keen on attending children’s and teen sessions will find many to choose from. Many thanks to Vicki Donoghue (YAACS Vice-Chair and BCLA Conference Planning Committee member) and Joanne Canow for helping solicit, develop, and participate in the session selection process this year. They did an excellent job of representing our interests.
We had a YAACS Executive meeting in December where we addressed some important issues while unabashedly bringing in the holiday spirit.
I hope you’ve checked out the YAACING section of the BCLA website recently. Valerie, our webmaster, has done a great job on our site and has indexed past issues of YAACING for your perusal. Remember to continue submitting those wonderful articles, anecdotes, and programming ideas for our next edition.
As some of you may know, I had an accident in October and have been busy recuperating. I wish to thank many members of the executive for their support and assistance during this time. For early in the New Year, we are planning some great social events for all YAACS members in the lower mainland. Heads up!
I wish all the executive members and each and every one of you a wonderful holiday season!
Christopher Kevlehan
Chair, YAACS
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Message from the Editors
After many years of dedicated but solitary service as the editor of YAACING, Phillippa Brown has agreed to share this honour with me. Because we couldn’t logistically share the physical activity of co-editing this newsletter (she lives in Victoria and I live in Vancouver), we agreed that we would take turns. Phillippa edited the first two editions of the 2006/2007 newsletter. I agreed to edit this and the next edition – the final two editions of YAACING for this year.
Phillippa is enjoying a well deserved and new found freedom. I’ve pestered her a bit with questions about deadlines, procedures, and formatting issues I struggled to resolve. With her help, I trust this Winter issue will live up to Phillippa’s past accomplishments. Thank you for the opportunity to serve the membership in this way.
Together, we worked hard at soliciting articles from you - which has worked!! Thanks to many of you, throughout the province, who have made wonderful and thoughtful submissions, adding much needed professional material and encouraging meaningful discussions about children’s and youth services.
This issue offers practical examples of how to incorporate Saroje Ghoting’s key early literacy elements into storytime presentations for kids and adults. In addition, Phillippa reminds us not to forget the important role of early numeracy in storytimes. You’ll find a trio of great articles on teen programming including online bookclubs, social networking, and ways to reduce the library’s “uncool” image for teens. A very attractive Chinese storytime idea might prove helpful to some of us English speaking (only) programmers interested in addressing the needs of our communities. Again, this year’s SLAIS students have submitted good storytime ideas for preschoolers, as well as one for primary students.
I cannot emphasize how much YAACING’s success depends on the submissions that you offer to us, as editors. I hope we will continue to be blessed with wonderful articles, storytimes, and reviews, and wish everyone a peaceful holiday and a blessed New Year.
Enjoy!
Joanne Canow
Co-editor of YAACING
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Fraser Valley Regional Library's Children's Fall Workshop
Fun and Facts of Early Literacy
Communicating with Parents through Storytimes
October 18, 2006: 9:00 am - 4:30 pm
Submitted by Antoinette Guillou, Youth & Outreach Coordinator, FVRL
Early literacy consultant, Saroj Ghoting returned to the lower mainland to present one of her excellent workshops on early literacy for the Fraser Valley Regional Library staff on October 18. Because of the interest in her topic and the high caliber of her presentations, as well as our having enough space to accommodate extra people, we registered some SLAIS students and interested staff from Interlink libraries. A total of 70 people were registered for the workshop with 63 actually attending. Refreshments and a catered lunch provided participants with lots of energy for an interactive and exciting day.
Since many of the participants had used the ideas and materials from Every Child Ready to Read @ Your Library, the main focus of this workshop was to help people gain an awareness of the early literacy skills they were using in their storytimes and communicate those skills to parents and caregivers during storytimes.
Participants brought their favourite picture book and a written plan or outline of one storytime they enjoyed. Seating was arranged into circles of 6 people each with at least one person per group who was familiar with early literacy skills.
Saroj started the day off with a review of the six early literacy skills (print motivation, vocabulary, narrative skills, print awareness, phonological awareness, letter knowledge) and subsequently assigned each group one of those skills for further discussion. This was followed with group presentations, further discussion, questions, comments & examples by Saroj and other participants. People partnered and shared their picture books in order to further examine which early literacy skills could be demonstrated with the books.
In the afternoon Saroj showed techniques for communicating the 6 skills to parents and provided handouts of scripted comments for each skill. She incorporated some practice time for everyone to say a few words about their skill, first to their own fist and then to several other participants. A great technique for raising one’s comfort level!
Many storytime tips and activity ideas were presented along with a sample storytime planning sheet. Participants were instructed to complete a storytime planning sheet incorporating one early literacy skill to be communicated to adults using storytime outlines they had brought to the workshop. Saroj added a downloadable Storytime Planning Sheet to her website so that participants could copy their revised storytime outlines to Word and forward them to my attention. Once they have been compiled an excellent source of early literacy storytimes will be available.
Saroj’s presentation provided participants with an opportunity to really think and talk about the research and outcomes of early literacy storytimes; ask lots of questions; and for many people, develop a higher comfort level of communicating early literacy skills to adults in their storytimes.
Following are two examples of sheets completed during the workshop to practice incorporating early literacy skills into storytimes:
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STORYTIME PLANNING SHEET: EXAMPLE #1
You may find it easier to highlight just one skill, or even just one aspect of one skill, during any one storytime (for example, only the rhyming aspect of phonological awareness).
ALL storytimes must model print motivation, the enjoyment of books and reading, whether or not you specifically articulate information about print motivation.
- Fill in your storytime plan in the order you intend to do it. (You may do some modification depending on ways you highlight a skill.)
- Choose a skill or an aspect of a skill to highlight. (Use checklist below)
- Using “What Can I Say: From Skill to Parent/Caregiver” as a guide, if you like, fill in what you will say related to the skill for the following:
- The opening Early Literacy Tip
- One or two things during the storytime
- The closing
SKILLS: Depending on what you want to say, you can highlight one aspect of a skill, or highlight the skill in general.
- Print Motivation
- Phonological Awareness
- Rhyming
- Breaking words apart and putting them together
- Hearing beginning sounds/alliteration
- Print Awareness
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- Vocabulary
- Introducing new words
- Explain (don’t replace) words
- New meanings to familiar words
- Narrative Skills
- Retelling stories
- Retelling events
- Adding descriptions
- Letter Knowledge
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You will not have a highlighted skill for every component . . .
| Title of Book/Song/Rhyme |
Comment to Adults Based on Research |
| Early Literacy Tip |
Narrative skills are the ability to describe things and tell stories. Researchers have indicated this is one of the 6 early literacy skills that help your child get ready to read. |
| Hello Song |
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Whistle for Willie
By Ezra Jack Keats |
Letting your child retell what happened to Peter and his dog in this story will help develop narrative skills. |
| 5 little puppies (with flannel pieces) |
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| Title of Book/Song/Rhyme |
Comment to Adults Based on Research |
Rhyme:
Here are Gramma’s spectacles |
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Book:
Cows in the Kitchen
June Crebbin |
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Stretch: An elephant goes like this and that.
Shake my sillies out |
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Flannel Board Story:
My Red Umbrella
Robert Bright |
When you go home today you can reenact this story with a big umbrella and your child’s stuffed animals. Let him/her tell the story. Make substitutions with other animals. Telling stories in a different way helps your child with narrative skills. |
| Goodbye song: So long it’s been good to see you |
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| Take home craft: black construction paper & piece of chalk. |
To retell Whistle for Willie (& tell about your own adventures). |
| Closing to Adults |
It was nice to see all of you today. I hope you encourage your child to retell stories to you and other members of the family. There are some wonderful books on display which encourage retelling- take some home. See you next week! |
| Display/Handouts |
ECRR brochures. Library hours bookmark. |
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Storytime Planning Sheet: EXAMPLE #2
You may find it easier to highlight just one skill, or even just one aspect of one skill, during any one storytime (for example, only the rhyming aspect of phonological awareness).
ALL storytimes must model print motivation, the enjoyment of books and reading, whether or not you specifically articulate information about print motivation.
- Fill in your storytime plan in the order you intend to do it. (You may do some modification depending on ways you highlight a skill.)
- Choose a skill or an aspect of a skill to highlight. (Use checklist below)
- Using “What Can I Say: From Skill to Parent/Caregiver” as a guide, if you like, fill in what you will say related to the skill for the following:
- The opening Early Literacy Tip
- One or two things during the storytime
- The closing
SKILLS: Depending on what you want to say, you can highlight one aspect of a skill, or highlight the skill in general.
- Print Motivation
- Phonological Awareness
- Rhyming
- Breaking words apart and putting them together
- Hearing beginning sounds/alliteration
- Print Awareness
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- Vocabulary
- Introducing new words
- Explain (don’t replace) words
- New meanings to familiar words
- Narrative Skills
- Retelling stories
- Retelling events
- Adding descriptions
- Letter Knowledge
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You will not have a highlighted skill for every component . . .
| Title of Book/Song/Rhyme |
Comment to Adults Based on Research |
| Early Literacy Tip |
Phonological Awareness, which means being able to hear the different sounds in words, is one of six skills that researchers say make it easier for children to learn how to read. |
| If You’re Happy & You Know It |
Singing with your child is an easy way to help him or her hear the different sounds in words, because you automatically break up the sounds in words by singing different notes. |
| King Bidgood’s In the Bathtub |
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| Reach Up High Stretch |
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| Title of Book/Song/Rhyme |
Comment to Adults Based on Research |
| Head & Shoulders |
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I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More
By K. Beaumont |
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| Wiggle Your Fingers |
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| Hokey Pokey |
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| Assorted Nursery Rhyme Felts |
Kids love nursery rhymes because they are silly and have a natural rhythm to them, which even babies enjoy. When you’re at home, try clapping along with the rhyme to emphasize the rhythm. This will help your child to hear the words being broken up into parts. |
| Bathtime felt |
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| Two Little Dickey Birds |
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| Wave Goodbye |
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| Closing to Adults |
Thanks for coming. I hope you’ll have fun singing with your children. I’ve put out some song and nursery rhyme books on the table. Feel free to take them home with you, and help yourself to the pamphlets there as well. |
| Display/Handouts |
Books of nursery rhymes, song books & books on bathtime
Rhyming books booklist |
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Teens Online at the Library: Social Networking
Alicia Jinkerson
Lately I’ve hearing a bit of this:
“Hi, I need to find a biography?”
“Do you have any people in mind that interest you? What kind of biography did you have in mind; athlete, actor, inspirational story…?”
“I couldn’t care less, I just need it quickly”
And on several other occasions…
“Can you sign this paper, proving that I came to the library?”
“Sure, but over at the circulation desk, they can just stamp your assignment when you check your books out.”
Silence.
“They’ll stamp your paper, even if you aren’t checking anything out”
“Oh, good!”
Teens often don’t actually need to come into the physical library to complete an assignment. They don’t always want to come to the library and do so only under duress. One local teacher in my area has created an assignment requiring students to use microfiche, when the exact same information can be found through one of our online databases from the comfort of their home. I think many teachers think, going to the library will get these teens out the door, interacting in the community, and that they may actually decide to stay a while and look at some other items. I am all for getting teens into the library, but not through trickery and not by underplaying the resources teens may find most useful as they head to university: online databases. During a recent booktalk, I was also startled to discover how little teens seem to be reading for enjoyment. The majority of students had not read the books I discussed, which were for the most part, all award winning, mainstream, popular titles. Time for pursuing recreational activities may be limited for the modern teen, and that time is often delegated to online activities.
According to a recent OCLC survey, 50% of teens and college students rate search engines as an ideal information source, while only 17% rate libraries as an ideal information source (Kenney & Barack, 2006). Seeking information online from home, suits teens well. Teens are already online building social empires through MySpace, interacting with friends through instant messaging, viewing videos on YouTube, download music, and a score of other activities, often while simultaneously completing homework assignments.
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MySpace, is a website where you get your own page, creating a profile, posting pictures and information about yourself, link to anything you like, post music files, videos, list your contacts, and allow friends to comment. MySpace had 56 million visits in August (Vincent, 2006). With little to no advertising, MySpace has become the 2nd busiest website in the United States since it’s inception in January 2004 (Jesdanun, 2006). According to MySpace, at least twenty-percent of the 100 million registered users are minors. This is what teens are doing after school!
Meanwhile in the United States, a battle over the place of social networking in schools and libraries is raging. Inflammatory statements are being thrown left and right. "The internet and social networking sites have redefined, reinvented, and reinvigorated child predators, drug dealers, and bullies," stated David W. Zellis, first assistant district attorney for Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Zellis claims that "when children in school or at the library are permitted to freely access commercial networking sites like MySpace and chat rooms,” we are allowing a public space to be used by pedophiles to “groom children for future sexual exploitation," (Goldberg, 2006). This kind of over the top statement, makes it sound like libraries advocate and support everything that people can access online. This argument sounds familiar to those who have weathered the filtering vs. not-filtering debate.
The U.S. government-funded National Center for Missing and Exploited Children recently conducted a telephone based survey and found that sexual solicitations via the internet has decreased in the last five years, while aggressive forms of solicitation via mail, phone, or in person have remained stable. In March to June 2005, at the height of the MySpace craze, youth were polled and 13% of respondents had experienced sexual solicitation. In the 1999-2000 survey, 19% of teens had experience sexual solicitation. This survey questioned 1,500 youth who used the internet once a month or more during the past six months and has a sampling error of 2.5 percentage points (Jesdanun, 2006). Perhaps teens are becoming more web savvy. They certainly have more know-how than adults often give them credit for. It’s a generation that has grown up with technology at their fingertips, along with all the associated dangers. I think teens generally know that there are all sorts of people online, just as there are all sorts of people in the world. Some library systems have moved to introduce Internet Safety courses for teens, even going as far as requiring a sticker on the library card to prove that the course has been completed prior to using the internet in the library.
The issue goes beyond safety however and fundamentally challenges our belief about access to web based resources. Julian Aiken, a librarian with the New Haven (Conn.) Free Public Library wrote an article decrying her library’s decision to ban social networking websites such as MySpace:
“The bloggers who use MySpace are at the forefront of a movement to democratize information. Bloggers don't need to get a job with mainstream media for their voices to be heard; all they need do is log on and start typing. My generation has been taught not to trust anything that isn't published by a reputable source (i.e., one we've paid for). I suspect that the new approach--information created by many for many--might just prove the healthier model in the long run.”
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This is a fascinating take on how the packaging of information is evolving as well as the consumption of information. Social networking sites have transformed how relationships have formed and how they are defined as well as how people communicate. It is interesting to speculate on the long term impact of these phenomena. What will be next? Will the furor about social networking sites die down and seem laughable in the future?
Next out of the gate, we have Piczo.com This social networking site, promotes itself as the “most popular among teens in Canada with 2.6 million visits in September within the country, and 17 million registered users worldwide.” Instead of a single profile page, users have unlimited online space (Gerson, 2006). Another fundamental difference, is that there are no search features, limiting social networks to people who have contact outside of cyberspace. This appeals to many teens who want to escape the connotations that MySpace can imply, as a scene for meeting people.
The King County Library System has created a convincing argument for in library use of social networking websites, to be allowed beginning October 2nd (http://www.kcls.org/about/socialnetwork.cfm). The library website states that there are many benefits to such sites and that banning them can further alienate and socially isolate at-risk youth. Locally, MySpace hasn’t caused many ripples in the pond that I have heard of. Public libraries continue to be responsive to public demand. As some local library systems have recently moved to allow cell phones in the library, perhaps instant messaging from library computers will someday be available, a feature often requested.
In the meantime, if everyone else is having fun with social networking, why not the library? One entry this month on the official YALSA blog, explores this very topic, found at http://blogs.ala.org/yalsa.php?m=20061005. You can link to several MySpace Library Profiles, created by teens and updated by teens.
Alicia Jinkerson is a Children’s Librarian with North Vancouver District Public Library and an Auxiliary Librarian with Vancouver Public Library.
Sources
Aiken, Julian. (2006). Hands off MySpace. American Libraries 37(7):33.
Goldberg, Beverly. (2006). House holds hearings on social networking websites. American Libraries 37 (7): 10.
Garofoli, Joe. The online world is getting greyer. Toronto Star: October 31, 2006: C5.
Gerson, Jen. Bye-bye YouTube, hello…. Toronto Star: October 22, 2006: C7.
Jesdanun, Anick. Kid’s wising up to online predators? Edmonton Journal: August 12, 2006: B10.
Kenny, Brian & Lauren Barack. (2006). Libraries losing teens. School Library Journal 18(1).
Vincent, Donovan. Webcasting for a wider audience. Toronto Star: October 30, 2006: A1.
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A TEEN ONLINE BOOK CLUB
IN THE
THOMPSON-NICOLA REGIONAL DISTRICT LIBRARY SYSTEM
Margo Schiller, Librarian
Kamloops Library
mschiller@tnrdlib.bc.ca
In September of 2005, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District Library System launched an online book club for teens. Our goal was to provide a program that would be accessible to teens living anywhere in the TNRD.
Teens, aged 13 to 19, met online several times during the 2005/2006 school year to discuss specific books including: The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tashjian, Skud by Dennis Foon and Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman. For our first chat, we discussed The First Stone and we invited author Don Aker to join us. The participants were very excited to be discussing the book with the author!
The chats were moderated by library staff who led the discussions and ensured that the participants behaved appropriately. All participants were given a time sensitive password to login. This prevented teens from chatting while unsupervised. The chats were web-based, so there was no need for participants to download anything onto their computers.
Although many teens have registered for the club, the attendance for the chats has varied greatly from 22 participants to none. As a result, we are still figuring out strategies to attract teens to the live discussions. We experimented with different times and found that 4:00pm worked well. We have also added incentives, including a random draw for a prize at the end of each chat. A Message Board component is included as well but, as it is not used much, the emphasis has been placed on the live chats.
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Teens register on our web site (www.tnrdlib.bc.ca/teens). They are sent a copy of each of the titles that will be discussed as well as a booklet explaining how they can participate in the club.
We receive a lot of positive feedback from parents, teachers, and teenagers who really appreciate the program. Comments from teens include: “This was a good experience”, “It’s the first book I liked”, and “This is the best time I ever had with a book”. A member of a local PAC commented that her “school has never been known as a reading inspired school – but that has now changed.”
The challenges we have faced thus far include access to computers and book selection. Some teens who have registered for the club do not have a home computer. In addition, the hours of operation of many of our branches conflict with the chats. It is not possible, therefore, for all teens to participate in the live chats. As the age range for the book club is quite broad (13 to 19), it is a challenge to find books that appeal to everyone registered. As a result, a variety of titles dealing with different subject matters and written in different styles have been selected. We encourage parents and teachers to review the titles ahead of time to ensure they are suitable for their readers, and we offer an alternate title when the book selected deals with sensitive subject matter. It would be ideal to have two different clubs, one for younger teens and one for older teens. At the moment, however, there are not enough teens participating to make two clubs viable.
The program has continued into the 2006/2007 school year. We have begun posting the chats on our web site and have added a listserv component to remind members of upcoming chats and new information.
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BRINGING THEM IN
or
How to Disable the Teen Aversion Forcefield Surrounding Libraries
Terrill Scott, Branch Supervisor/Children’s Services/YA Services/Adult & Seniors Services/Circulation Assistant, Agassiz Public Library
It’s something we will not give up on. It’s something which demands a great deal of creativity, which we are willing to tap into. It’s something that we feel is necessary.
I am talking about connecting teens, or young adults and libraries. To drop the library jargon, I am saying, how do we get them in the door, and keep them there for a little while. I think I have distilled the issue to this most basic level, I believe in the points below, I have offered some honest ideas, some proven some hopeful ideas. I write with humour, a most necessary commodity in dealing with teens and I believe that once we get them in the door, we have our ways of getting library ‘goodies’ into their hands. We can even work on getting them to want to be there … their own kind of wanting, that is.
I hate to sound subversive, but as an adult who raised 2 sons up to, through, and past teen-hood (no, they weren’t really teen hoods!) I learned that we have to be a bit covert at times. We have to be cool, but not too cool. We have to say things without really saying them, to make a point without being obvious. Are you with me on this?
When it comes to these complex members of our society, there seems to be an invisible barrier that shrouds many public facilities. Libraries, for one. It is as if the Star Trek Enterprise has projected its force-field shields around the public libraries that in turn, prevents many teens from being able to walk through the doors. Astounding. Many are the days I have looked out our windows from the circulation counter as a group (sometimes bordering on a hoard) of teens gathered outside our doors to visit, smoke, or undertake the many and varied endeavors that teens take to undertake. Many are the days I have wondered, how do I get them to throw down their butts and their I-don’t-give-a-rip attitude and come inside out of their hostile and confusing world. I have done many things and will continue to do many things, some work, some have little effect (at this time, that is) though I believe, nothing we do with, to or for our young adult population goes unnoticed - be it positive or negative.
As I said, I believe the first step to a teen/library relationship is to get them in the door. Here are a few suggestions to that end:
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1. Food
I don’t have to tell you how effective this is to luring teens. They may not let on, but when you offer food to teens, you have chipped a little wedge in their steely cool armour. I take any chance to offer foodstuffs. I will spend YA programming money on this, I will take donations of food and share it with them … however you get food, share it with them. When there is a preschool storytime, I have been known to take a plate out to the undesignated “smoke-zone” outside our doors and before asking them to move on, (I am seeking to instruct them that it is not cool to block our entrances with smoking and/or spitting and/or profanities, )I offer left over cookies to the teens. At Christmas, I buy those wonderful oranges and offer them around, again, often to the crowd standing around outside. Read my lips, ‘GIVE TEENS FOOD’. Don’t talk a lot to them while giving it, just offer it, answer any questions they ask and move on. This is relationship building and stands you in good stead with teens in general.
2. Free stuff.
During a weeding bout at our library, our neglected young adult section got a refresh. The materials from this that we then discarded (read out books, old teen magazines) became giveaways to the teens. I would go out and offer some of the Skateboarding or MAD mags. Again, not lots of talk, just ‘Want one?’ from me followed by the possible ‘Sure’ from them. Intense conversation I know, but to my ears … a resounding response. Also, the freebies that we get at the library I put a sticker with something like ‘Compliments of Agassiz Library’ and offer them to the lunch room/study rooms of the local high school and youth centre.
3. No-pressure programming
Teens don’t really like to appear to be ‘joiners’. In keeping with this modus operendi, (that of waiting to see “what’s going’ on” whose going and when they are going and who they are going with etc. etc. etc.), I try and think up programs that don’t involve making a big deal of things … that are kind of laid back. … that are what they want, not what we think they should want.
I once did a music program where I ordered in a whole bunch of teen-appropriate music CD’s and got a few pizzas and some pop. I put our portable stereo in the meeting room, kept the door open and invited the kids in … casually of course … and let them see that the library isn’t full of classical, gross, grownup music, but that you can find Gwen Stefani and Eminem, which surprised them (I love surprising teens).t was more of an open door, super-casual affair.
A few years ago, YAAC readers will remember a program held in Agassiz called ‘Rocking in the Stacks’ put on by then Community Librarian, Earla Legault. It was a roaring success, the library was a bit of a concert hall for an evening, but the kids that made the library part of their life after that was noticeable. It was the talk of the YA set.
4. “What are they doing that they can do more and better with the library’s help”
Another approach is noticing what they are doing in their lives, what they are talking about (yes, eavesdrop!), what they watch on TV and what they seem good at. After a particularly bad round of graffiti-ization on the outside of our library walls, I decided that when better weather comes, I will do a graffiti-style art program with a cool young artist and get them to use some window markers and sidewalk chalk to express themselves. It has potential and I look forward to seeing how that works out.
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I have also had great success with a teen Library: Survivor program. Lots of them it seemed to be watching the Mark Burnett production on TV, so I adapted the concept, did some Googling for added info and made my own Survivor: Agassiz Library Style program. It was a great success, lots of smiles and fun. The next year, I did a kind of Fear Factor: Library Style with all kinds of gross things, and that went well too. I am thinking of a Henna program and something about tattoos as that is always a buzz with teens.
5. Young Friends of the Library
Again, on the covert side, there are some teens that do make it in the doors on occasion. Ask them to help out with things and bring a friend or 6 next time you need some booksale boxes moved. Need the library Christmas tree decorated? Ask the ‘external’ library customers (the ones that don’t actually walk in the door, but love the outer perimeter of library property) to come in and do it. (Note: have food and/or music at the ready in thanks). Don’t tell them that they are in the Young Friends of the Library until it seems right. Ask if you can write them a letter to the school acknowledging their volunteer hours, and that may be the ticket to return ‘internal’ library visits.
6. Coercion By School
Last, but by no means least, don’t underestimate the role that coercion and forced entry has when it comes to getting teens into the library. The local high school has been arranging to have many of their classes come to the public library for a tour, short lesson in using the catalogue, and resources we offer from books to Live Homework Help. In this, they all get the chance to get a library card, and set a PIN number for it. What can I say, just getting them in, for all their eye-rolling and grumbling and sass, through this method I have seen many come in on their own time after the fact, the Great Teen Barrier to the library having been breached. Once there, I use my usual tricks, I mean, techniques when they come in, and make using the catalogue a competition with cookies as rewards (of course everyone wins .. I am a child of the sixties!) and will even waive some old fines so their pride is intact and they can start fresh. Something in that says ‘trust and respect’ and seems to allow them to admit to the ‘coolness’ level of the library and ‘yeah, maybe they will come and hang out in the teen corner and gossip and sit and …. read even.’ What I am saying is that I highly, highly recommend hooking up with your local high schools and inviting the classes a tour. Also, when you get the chance and have author readings, get teen-friendly ones and invite school classes. This is a cheap field trip for a school and they are likely to think it a great opportunity for the kids and one less lesson plan to do for themselves … everyone wins!
To bring this discussion around to the beginning and its end …. we all know that it takes incredible patience, time and did I mention patience, to make sure our YA customers get the service that they too deserve. I mean that nicely and respectfully. I once said to my husband when viewing the rather odd (I mean that nicely too!) behaviour of a young man and I said, “What was he thinking!? Tell me, you were a young guy once!” He said to me, “Well, honey, he wasn’t.” “Wasn’t what?” I retorted. “Thinking. Sometimes kids don’t think.” I think what he meant was that they don’t think the same, and truly they don’t and that’s okay, they are doing what they have to do to get themselves grown up. In library land we can be open and patient, as they do not live with us, eat our food and tax our emotions on a daily basis. Let’s use this and welcome them, and then when they become grown-up, taxpaying and think like us, they will love their library and continue to use it, get their friends and maybe their own children to use it …. and so on and so on and so on.
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RED CEDAR AWARDS & STELLAR AWARDS REPORT
by Christina Gerber (YAACS Red Cedar Liaison)
Librarian, Vancouver Public library
The updated and improved Red Cedar and Stellar Awards websites are ready for registration!
The Red Cedar is British Columbia’s Young Reader’s Choice Award and now in its 10th year! Every year thousands of children between grades 4 and 7 from across the province are invited to read books from the nominated lists of non-fiction and fiction titles and vote for their favourite. The final awards are presented to the authors by the children at an annual Awards Gala. The 2007 gala in Comox/Courtney on Vancouver Island will mark our 10th year anniversary!
You can find the full list of nominated titles and more on the Red Cedar website.
The new Red Cedar website has an improved registration process and new features. Come and join us at www.redcedaraward.ca.
The Stellar Book is B.C.'s Teen Readers' Choice Award.
Nominees for the 2006/2007 Stellar Book Award were selected by groups of teens on Vancouver Island. The list of nominated titles is on the Stellar website at www.stellaraward.ca
From November to April, teens read, review, discuss and vote online for their favourite nominees. In May, the winner of the Stellar Book Award will be announced.
Librarians wishing to support the Stellar Awards simply need to encourage their students to sign up and facilitate access and discussion of the titles. There is no need to register as a group leader, teacher or librarians. The Teens register directly online!
Come and join!
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Take-Home Booklist
Today your child had a storytime about China. We all had fun learning some Chinese words and we talked about Chinese Dragons. Listed below are some books you might want to share with your child at home. They are all available at the public library.
*Demi. Demi’s Dragons and Fantastic Creatures. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1993.
We read this book in our program. It’s a big picture book with bright dragons who sprawl across its pages in brilliant, colorful collages with neat poems to keep them company.
Flack, Marjorie and Kurt Wiese. The Story About Ping. New York: Penguin, 1933.
This is a very old children’s book, but still a classic tale about an adventuresome little duck that lived on the Yangtze River in China.
Ormerod, Jan. If You’re Happy and You Know It! New York Star Bright Books, 2003.
This book has great pictures and is a fun play on the popular children’s song. It has nothing to do with China, but today we sang the song with the help of a few Chinese words.
Schaefer, Carole Lexa. Someone Says. Illustrated by Pierr Morgan. New York: Viking, 2003.
This is a perfect book for preschoolers. It is playful, imaginative and positive. The children are Chinese, but the feelings and fun times are universal.
*Schaefer, Carole Lexa. The Squiggle. Illustrated by Pierr Morgan. New York: Crown Publishers, 1996.
We read this book today. The illustrations are a great introduction to the Chinese culture and traditions, but it is also about a little girl who shares her imagination and joy with her friends at preschool.
Thong, Roseanne. Round as a Mooncake: A Book of Shapes. Illustrated by Grace Lin. San Francisco, Ca: Chronicle Books, 2000.
This is a Shapes book with a Chinese twist. The illustrations are absolutely wonderful!
Tsubakiyama Margaret Holloway. Mei-Mei Loves the Morning. Illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman and Co., 1999.
Mei-mei and her grandfather have a wonderful morning together in an urban setting in modern China.
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Young, Ed. Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China. New York: Philomel Books, 1989.
This award-winning book is considered a Chinese version of “Little Red Riding Hood”. It has many similarities to its Western counterpart, yet Ed Young’s mastery of watercolor illustrations made this book stand out.
Young, Ed. My Mei Mei. New York: Philomel Books, 2006.
This is a beautifully illustrated book about adopted Chinese Children.
Zimelman, Nathan. The Great Adventure of Wo Ti. Illustrated by Julie Downing. Toronto: Maxwell Macmillan Canada, 1992.
This book reads like a fable, as a lazy and bored fish, living in the safe haven of a palace in Peking manages to outwit a predatory cat.
And last, but not least, here’s a book that is a good source of ideas for ‘magical’ birthday parties:
Kilby, Janice Eaton and Terry Taylor. The Book of Wizard Parties: In Which the Wizard Shares the Secrets of Creating Enchanted Gatherings. Illus. by Marla Baggetta. New York: Lark Books, 2002.
Patty Montpellier
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Min Tong
Second year students in Judith Saltman’s SLAIS Children’s Services Class
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Bibliography for Chinese-English Storytime
*Demi. Demi’s Dragons and Fantastic Creatures. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1993
Flack, Marjorie and Kurt Wiese. The Story About Ping. New York: Penguin, 1933.
*Kilby, Janice Eaton and Terry Taylor. The Book of Wizard Parties: In Which the Wizard Shares the Secrets of Creating Enchanted Gatherings. Illus. by Marla Baggetta. New York: Lark Books, 2002.
Ormerod, Jan. If You’re Happy and You Know It! New York Star Bright Books, 2003
*Nelson, Esther L. Singing and Dancing Games for the Very Young. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., 1977.
Schaefer, Carole Lexa. Someone Says. Illustrated by Pierr Morgan. New York:Viking, 2003.
*Schaefer, Carole Lexa. The Squiggle. Illustrated by Pierr Morgan. New York:Crown Publishers, 1996.
Thong, Roseanne. Round as a Mooncake: A Book of Shapes. Illustrated by Grace Lin. San Francisco, Ca: Chronicle Books, 2000.
Tsubakiyama Margaret Holloway. Mei-Mei Loves the Morning. Illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman and Co., 1999.
*Webber, Desiree, Anne Corn, Elaine Harrod, Donna Norvell, Sandy Shropshire. Travel the Globe: Multicultural Story Times. Illustrated by Sandy Shropshire. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1998.
Young, Ed. Beyond the Great Mountains: A Visual Poem About China. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2005
Young, Ed. My Mei Mei. New York: Philomel Books, 2006.
Zimelman, Nathan. The Great Adventure of Wo Ti. Illustrated by Julie Downing. Toronto: Maxwell Macmillan Canada, 1992.
*Used for today’s storytime.
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Early Numeracy In Storytime
Over the last couple of years BC’s children’s library services providers have been inundated by ALA’s Every Child Ready to Read @ your Library. We are well versed in the six skills of phonological awareness, print awareness, print motivation, vocabulary, narrative skills and letter knowledge, and are striving to incorporate them into our storytimes.
While I applaud this incredible array of resources and research, and hone my own programs to illustrate these skills - something seems to have been lost. Where is the math and science that would pepper our programs of the past? I also have realized that I didn’t go far enough with my own daughter to give her a solid foundation in early math concepts or numeracy, and I am not the only one.
The BC Ministry of Education has produced a selection of materials developed by the BC Early Numeracy Project (K-1).¹ Looking over this material it strikes me that public libraries have a role to play in developing early numeracy skills starting with our youngest children’s programs and working our way up. However, since I have limited time and space, I can only give you a basic introduction to early numeracy for our youngest 0-5 audience. You may want to look over some of the Project’s material for ideas for older children.
Early numeracy is about developing a positive attitude towards numeracy. It is also about developing very basic concepts and skills that will support “developing” numeracy. The developmental progression of numeracy laid out in the BC Early Numeracy Project, is: Emergent, Early, Developing, Expanding and Established” and is assumed to develop through kindergarten to grade three.² However, the emergent and early skills can begin to develop a lot earlier through play, songs, nursery rhymes and picture books. Here are examples of some of the skills:
- Estimation - more or less; bigger or smaller
- Patterning - red, red, blue; Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see?
- Counting/numerals - 1,2,3, Go!; …9, 10 a big fat hen
- Visual/spatial - geometric shapes; dice patterns at a glance; tanagrams
I can already hear your creative minds kicking into high gear with tremendous ideas for demonstrating these skills and I will endeavor to expand on these skills with some examples of my own
First of all, remember that numeracy is everywhere. It is in the games we play, recipes, street signs, clothing, and even us (how many toes?). Second, numeracy is about developing abstract thinking and to support it children need multi-sensory experiences.
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So in one, two, three Go!
Let’s start with Estimation.
At preschool and younger levels, children are pretty quick at estimating that “he’s got more than me” but you can nurture that skill by talking about big books and little books. Books like Let’s Hide from Wibbly Pig by Mick Inkpen are examples of bigger and little characters: Tiny Pig and Big Pig. “Isn’t he big!” Questions like: “Who’s bigger/smaller?” “Who has more spots?” with classics like Billy Goats Gruff leap to mind as other ways of talking about estimation.
Patterning
“Patterning is seeing repetitive cycles, events and images that are predictable.”³ If this isn’t a made for storytime skill, I know not what is? Patterns are in the songs we use like Old MacDonald, Five Little Ducks, Ten in the Bed or Five Green and Speckled Frogs. Patterned books such as Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you see by Bill Martin, Where is the Green Sheep by Mem Fox or I Went Walking by Sue Williams are incredible teaching tools. Questions like “What comes next?” start to develop abstract ways of thinking or stopping half way through a line and having the kids shout out the well known words. Books like Claire Beaton’s Daisy gets Dressed and many others with stripes and spots enhance pattern recognition.
Counting/Numerals
Who hasn’t said one, two, three GO? Nursery Rhymes are wonderful resources for developing recognition of numerals and how to use them. Big Fat Hen is now a picture book by Keith Baker, but the traditional rhyme is wonderful on it’s own for going all the way up to 20. 1,2,3,4,5, Once I caught a Fish alive gets toddlers counting their fingers and 1,2,3,4 Mary at the cottage door has a great rhythm they will soon learn. Numbers are a triple barreled concept however. They include the numeral 3, the amount as in three flying pigs and the word Three.
Picture Books can extend the recognition of all three aspects of numerals. Eric Carle’s Very Hungry Caterpillar, Over in the Meadow by Ezra Jack Keats, Canada 1, 2, 3 by Kim Bellefontaine are some of the many titles in our collections. Titles that take preschoolers beyond 20 are even better.
And don’t forget counting in reverse: Zoom zoom zoom going to the Moon.
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Visual/Spatial
“Understanding where things are in our world and how they relate to each other helps us make sense of our world.”4 Felt stories and, of course, picture books offer numerous opportunities for exploring our world visually. Aikendrum takes everyday objects and turn’s them into something else all together. Lois Ehlert in Color Farm makes creatures out of geometric shapes and Saxton Freymann’s amazing fruit and vegetable illustrations in Dog Food or Fast Food, and his many others, are take visual exploration to the extreme!
Returning to a Very Hungry Caterpillar as a felt story, the food can be laid out in dot patterns (think dice) visually representing numbers in a fourth aspect. Feltstories offer numerous ways of looking at geometric shapes building snowmen, houses or even the man in the moon. The opportunities are endless.
In Conclusion
This is only a brief introduction to early numeracy but many of these concepts are inherent in what we do in our early literacy programs. With a little bit of thought we can demonstrate early numeracy concepts simply and easily within our early literacy programs. In the process we enhance our young communities’ early numeracy skills, laying the foundation for them to master far more complex numeracy concepts within a couple of years.
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Endnotes
¹ Supporting Early Numeracy: BC Early Numeracy Project (K-1). British Columbia. Ministry of Education. 2003 (2004?).
² IBID. pg. 7
³ Math for Families: Helping your Child with Math at Home/ BC Early Numeracy Project (K-1). British Columbia. Achieve BC. 2006: pg. 6.
4 IBID pg. 8.
Phillippa Brown is a Children’s and Family Literacy Librarian at the Bruce Hutchison Branch of the Greater Victoria Public Library.
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 For LIBR 527 - Services for Children
Zoo Storytime!
 A Program for Preschoolers
By April Ens and Manami Saito 
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Outline
- Welcome Song: Sing, Sing, Sing
- Storybook #1: Lizzy’s Lion
- Action Rhyme: An Elephant
- Storybook #2: Dear Zoo
- Action Song: 4 Little Monkeys (finger puppets)
- Draw & Tell: Monkey Story
- Storybook #3: Bruno Munari’s Zoo
- Feltboard Song: The Animals in the Zoo
- Storybook #4: Whose Baby Am I?
- Goodbye Song: Now it’s time to say goodbye
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Resources
Butler, John. Whose Baby Am I? New York: Penguin Group, 2001.
Campbell, Rod. Dear Zoo: a pop-up book. New York: Little Simon, 1982.
Cobb, Jane. I’m a Little Teapot. Vancouver: Black Sheep Press, 1996.
Lee, Dennis. Lizzy’s Lion. Toronto: Stoddart, 1984.
Munari, Bruno. Bruno Munari’s Zoo. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1963.
Thompson, Richard. Draw-and-Tell. Toronto: Annick Press Ltd., 1988.
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Songs and Rhymes for Zoo Storytime!
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Sing, Sing, Sing
(To the Tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat)
Sing, sing, sing with me.
Sing out loud and clear
To tell the people everywhere
That storytime is here.
An Elephant 
An elephant goes like this and that
(Pat knees)
He’s terribly big,
(Hands up high)
And he’s terribly fat.
(Hands out wide)
He has no fingers;
(Wriggle fingers)
He has no toes.
(Touch toes)
But goodness gracious, what a nose!
(Make curling movement away from nose.)
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Four Little Monkeys
Four little monkeys
Sitting in a tree
Teasing Mr. Crocodile,
"You can't catch me."
Along came Mr. Crocodile,
Quiet as can be
SNAP
Three little monkeys…
Two little monkeys…
One little monkey...
No more little monkeys
Sitting in a tree
Mr. Crocodile has a sore tummy.
The Animals in the Zoo
(To the Tune of Wheels on the Bus)
The Bear in the zoo goes grr grr grr
Grr grr grr, Grr grr grr
The Bear in the zoo goes grr grr grr
All day long…
The Kangaroo in the zoo goes hop…
The Monkey in the zoo goes eek…
The Crocodile in the zoo goes snap…
The Rhino in the zoo goes snort…
The Lion in the zoo goes roar…
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Now It’s Time to Say Goodbye
(To the Tune of London Bridges)
Now it’s time to say goodbye,
Say goodbye, Say goodbye
Now it’s time to say goodbye,
We’ll see you all again.
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Baby Board Book Reviews
Reviews and article written by Joanne Canow, Children’s and Teen Librarian, Renfrew Branch, Vancouver Public Library.
Reviews reprinted from BabyVibes online “zine” with the kind permission of Lisa Foeste, the editor at: www.babyvibe.ca
What follows is a series of monthly book reviews about baby Board Books, with information for new parents about the importance of and selection criteria for books for babies. This opportunity arose at the suggestion of Lisa Froeste, who contacted Rhian Piprell, the chair of the BC Books for Babies executive. As an informed new parent and parenting/family/baby zine editor, Lisa saw an opportunity to highlight the work that BC Books for Babies was doing for all families of newborn babies as well as all the library systems in BC. She suggested that someone write book reviews as well as provide copy and logos from the BC Books for Babies website that would provide parents with early literacy information. As the YAACS representative on the BC Books for Babies Executive, I offered to take this project on and get the ball rolling.
The first installment of a baby Book Review was sent to BabyVibes in August, and has continued monthly. The site is archived and holds a wealth of useful information for new parents. If you want to see the full page articles including the reviews and Books for Babies promotion and copy, look for the full page articles in the BC or West Coast edition and under the first Wednesday of the month.
Who would have thought one could write so many words about Board Books! Even I was surprised! The articles are written with parents in mind, so while they are not academic, they are certainly enthusiastic. Lisa has done a wonderful job of profiling our new BC Books for Babies program while spreading the word that, “Books are for Babies, too!”
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Peek-A-Moo! New York: NY, 1998.
August 02, 2006
What baby can resist playing Peek-a-boo while being read a story enlivened with lift-the-flap features that add movement and dimension to the story. Using playful sing-song rhyme and animal noises, each double page spread gives clues through words and images about which farm yard animals are playing peek-a-boo! The book ends with an illustration of a baby, saying, “Guess who? What do you say? Peek-a- … boo! Says you! Parents will really enjoy reading this book over and over to their babies, if only to watch their delight and amused expressions increase over time. This storytime favourite, because of its’ playfulness, repetition, and rhyme can be read to children over and over, well into their toddler years, with great shared pleasure between the baby and reader.
Miller, Margaret. Baby Faces. Simon & Schuster, New York: NY, 1998.
September 06, 2006
This board book is part of a series called “Look Baby! Books” that are really appealing to babies. You’ve probably noticed how much your baby loves to meet with and stare at other babies and children – babies of all ages love to look at other babies! Baby time programs at your local library, community centre, or health clinic provide wonderful opportunities to observe your baby’s curiosity and thirst for socialization with other young children. In book formats, babies get a real charge from looking at photographs (rather than illustrations) of other babies. This particular series is good, as it illustrates racial diversity (look for books that depict your child’s racial heritage – your baby will identify with the images and feel socially included).
The text is very simple – one word on the left page matches the baby’s (often funny) facial expression on the right page. Using a total of six words and pictures, the book begins with the word “yucky!” and ends with “yippee!”. With simple words and very expressive facial expressions, this book encourages the development of meaningful vocabulary. Parents will enjoy moments of pure joy watching their babies engage with any of the books from this series, while adding story, context, and meaning to its’ simple message.
Other titles by Margaret Miller in the “Look Baby! Books” series include:
I Love Colors
What’s on My Head?
Get Ready, Baby
Baby Pets
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Me & My Bear
Baby Food
Peekaboo, Baby
Baby Talk
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Boynton, Sandra. Moo, Baa, La La La. Simon & Schuster, NY: New York, 2004.
October 04, 2006
This board book is an extremely playful and popular choice found in most public libraries. It is for an older baby (from 6 month to 2 years) but the bright colours and simple large images will catch the visual attention of most younger babies. Older babies will love joining in the storytelling, joyfully repeating, and anticipating the animal noises in the story. Because it is a large format board book (12” x 12” square lap board book), it is easier for parents to handle and its’ large illustrations are easier to see than in smaller board books.
The twelve pages of rhyming text and silly caricatures of animals greatly appeal to both parent and child. A cow says “Moo”, a sheep says “Baa”, and then three bizarre dancing pigs say “La La La”. “No, no!” you say, “that isn’t quite right,” says the text, followed by animals making the “correct” animal noises. The animal noises (for example, the dog’s “bow wow wow”) should be loudly exaggerated to hilarious effect on the baby. On the final page, all the stunned looking animals stare expectantly out at the reading audience. The text says, “It’s quiet now. What do you say?”, encouraging bursts of probable impromptu storytelling and more “woof woofs” and “moo moos” from your smiling baby.
It’s a fun story time book that will inspire giggles, smiles, and opportunities to tell of past encounters with cows! However it ends, your child will want to hear and “read” this simple story over and over, while developing vocabulary and enjoying language play in the comfort of your family story time.
While Ms. Boynton also produces what the publisher calls “seriously silly” music for children, her other baby story time titles include:
Hippos Go Berserk. Simon & Schuster, NY: New York, 2004.
Doggies. Simon & Schuster, NY: New York, 2004.
Going to Bed Book. Simon & Schuster, NY: New York, 2004.
If you’ve been following this new series of baby book reviews, you’ll have noticed that all the reviews have been of “baby board books”. Some of these titles are also hardcover books, but I highly recommend that you buy board books for your babies. They will happily chew, teeth, and slobber all over these books, but this is your baby’s way of “getting to know” their books. As the book becomes a favourite toy, your baby’s early literacy skills will grow in leaps and bounds - they will grow to love books! Early awkward book grabbing and clutching will develop into looking and recognizing behaviours, fine motor skills, and later great book handling dexterity. Most important, read and sing to your baby, while introducing language and nurturing bonds that will greatly increase their future academic and social potential!
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Murphy, Mary. I Kissed the Baby! Candlewick Press, Cambridge: MA, 2003.
November 01, 2006
This board book has been adapted from a hard cover book, so it’s a little longer than most – a stunning 16 pages of demonstrations of love for a baby! I Kissed the Baby is particularly attractive for young babies who see black and white images easier than colours. The large, simple, and bold graphic images of animals excited about the new baby are all black and white. Each page has a little bit of brilliant colour on its edges that attracts the attention of older babies. The text is also black on white and “written” in a large, cheerful, and child-like font.
Everything in this book is cheerful, beginning with the cover image of a large white duck kissing her new yellow baby duckling. Their kissing is accentuated by a sprinkling of pink hearts around them. Throughout the book, many different animals, depicted in black graphic shapes, enthusiastically celebrate seeing, feeding, singing, tickling, and kissing the new “baby”. Finally, the white mother duck gets a chance to kiss her happy baby again. The last page shows a well loved and well kissed yellow duckling ecstatically saying “Quack!, Quack! Quack!.” What do you think your baby will learn to say after you’ve read this lovely book, over and over? Of course, “Quack!, Quack! Quack!“
Older babies will love to participate in the storytelling too, anticipating the different animals and the final quacking noises of the happy baby duck. Whatever your baby’s age, they’ll want to see, hear, and “read” this lovely story again and again. This board book is a fun romp that celebrates new babies and showers them with love and attention, just as you will do when reading it to your baby. Laugh, sing, tickle, and, “Quack! Quack! Quack!” with your baby, while preparing them for a life-time of love, language, and self-confidence.
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The following article was written by Terry Clark about the Vancouver Public Library’s “Baby Welcomings” program, our system’s way of embracing the BC Books for Babies program, encouraging new families into the library, and promoting our library programs, services, outreach, and children’s librarians. Other systems in the Lower Mainland are also using this model. This article was published in the October edition of BabyVibes
WELCOME BABIES!
By Terry Clark, Children’s Librarian, Vancouver Public Library
November01, 2006
Did you know that even new born babies can have their own Library Card? Your library has wonderful Board Book collections in their branches. Many libraries offer really popular free Babytime programs for parents and their new babies. It is so important that babies are surrounded with language, books and love.
To reach families all over BC, there is a new Books for BC Babies Program, which gives every newborn baby a colourful cloth bag stuffed with a board book, a music CD, information on the importance of reading to infants, and lists of baby rhymes. The Vancouver Public Library works in partnership with the Vancouver-Richmond Health Board to deliver bags during the Community Health Nurse’s first home visit. The Midwives Association of BC also delivers bags to newborns. If you have had, or adopted a baby in 2006, and not received your baby’s Books for BC Babies bag, please pick one up at your library. This program is funded for three years (largely by the Ministry of Children and Family Development) and new babies will get these great bags in 2007 and 2008, too.
To extend a special welcome to all these beautiful babies (did you know over 5600 babies are born in Vancouver each year?), the Vancouver Public Library now offers Baby Welcoming Days three times a year. An invitation to a Baby Welcoming is included in each bag delivered or picked up in Vancouver. The first programs were held in April and August at the Central Library (Children’s Division) and the Renfrew, Oakridge, Fraserview, and Britannia branches. An enthusiastic mix of parents, babies, siblings, grandparents and friends joined their children’s librarians for songs and rhymes and refreshments, tips on early literacy, a library tour, and a chance to borrow their baby’s very first library books. The Baby Welcomings are for all babies (to two years old) and their families and caregivers.
Join us at the Vancouver Public Library’s Branch Baby Welcoming Days!!
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Welcoming Song
Sung to the tune of “You are my Sunshine”
adapted with new lyrics by Terry Clark, April, 2006
You are my sunshine
My little sunshine
You make me happy
That you were born
You’ll always know dear
That we all love you
Welcome, babies, to our world!
You are the future
Our little seedlings
You’ll grow up strong
With love and care.
Friends and family
And all your neighbours
Will help you learn, and play, and share.
So make a circle – a friendship circle,
Embrace you tightly in our arms
We will protect you and educate you
Welcome, babies, to our world!
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Fairytales and Folktales
A Program for Grade 3 Students
Story: The Boots of Buffalo Leather
Booktalks: Classic Fairytales
Story: The Tiger, the Brahman and the Jackal
Booktalks: Fairytales and Folktales from different regions of the world, Fractured Fairytales
Story: Jack and the Robbers
Books
The goose girl: a story from the brothers Grimm. Retold by Eric A. Kimmel. Illustrated by Robert Sauber. (Holiday House, 1995).
The nightingale. Adapted and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. (Phyllis Fogelman Books, 2002).
Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Compiled by the Brothers Grimm.
Complete Works of Hans Christian Anderson. By Hans Christian Anderson.
The tiger and the wise man. By Andrew Fusek Peters. Illustrated by Diana Mayo. (Child’s Play, 2004)
The true story of the three little pigs, by A. Wolf. As told to Jon Scieszka. Illustrated by Lane Smith. (Viking, 1989)
Earthquack! By Margie Palantini, illustrated by Barry Moser. (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2002).
The stinky cheese man and other fairly stupid tales. By John Scieszka and Lane Smith (Viking, 1992).
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Princess Sonora and the long sleep. By Gail Carson Levine. (HarperCollins, 1999)
Cinderboy. By Laurence Anholt. Illustrated by Arthur Robins. (Orchard Books, 1996).
Sleeping Ugly. By Jane Yolen. Illustrated by Diane Stanley. (Coward-McCann, 1981).
Bigfoot Cinderrrrrella. By Tony Johnston. Illustrated by James Warhola (Putnam, 1998)
More Books
Classic fairy tales. Retold and illustrated by Michael Foreman. (Sterling, 2005)
The seven wise princesses : a medieval Persian epic. By Wafa Tarnowska Illustrated by Nilesh Mistry. (Barefoot Books, 2000)
The Nutmeg Princess. By Richardo Keens-Douglas. Illustrated by Annouchka Galouchko. (Annick Press, 1992)
Boy soup, or, When giant caught cold. By Loris Lesynski. (Annick Press, 1996)
One for day/One for night. Based on the stories of George MacDonald, retold by Irene Watts, illustrated by Mark Long. (Tundra Books, 2002)
Mala by Gita Wolf. Illustrated by Annouchka G. Galouchko. (Annick Press, 1996).
Coyote in love with a star. By Marty Kreipe de Montano. Illustrated by Tom Coffin. (Abbeville Press, 1998)
A ring of tricksters: animal tales from America, the West Indies and Africa. By Virginia Hamilton, illustrated by Barry Moser.
Uncle Smoke stories. By Roger Welsch. (Knopf, 1994)
Old bag of bones: A Coyote tale. Retold and illustrated by Janet Stevens (Holiday House, 1996).
The prince of the pond. By Donna Jo Napoli, illustrated by Judith Byron Schachner. (Dutton, 1992).
The three little wolves and the big, bad pig. By Eugene Trivizas, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. (Margaret K. McElderry, 1993).
The prog frince : a mixed-up tale. By C. Drew Lamm, illustrated by Barbara McClintock. (Orchard Books, 1999).
SLAIS LIBR 527 –Services for Children
Andrea Galbraith and Daphne Hamilton-Nagorsen
November 17, 2006
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YAACING
THE NEWSLETTER OF THE YOUNG ADULT AND CHILDREN'S SERVICES
SECTION OF BCLA
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