For Librarians

Visions of Gold and Silver

By on December 23, 2013   /   For Librarians, For Teachers, News  

The milk and cookies are waiting by the fireplaces, stockings are hung, candles are lit in windows the world over and you know what that means? The book award fairies are on their way to spread holiday cheer and shiny gold and silver stickers as they do every year for a few very special books.
il_340x270.310268467It’s mock Newbery season and many library systems and bookstores around the country are posting the results from their hard working mock Newbery and mock Caldecott groups. Here are some links to the ones I know about.
If you’ve ever wondered how those sticker wearing books are chosen here are some links to the criterion for a few of the Middle Grade eligible awards.
If you like to follow the conversation about this years books, Heavy Medal provides lively and informative chat about this year’s crop of contenders.
And here’s the unsung part of the book award story. The librarians who serve on these book award committees usually do so without extra pay. They travel to several meetings in their award-choosing year. They spend countless hours on email communicating with committee members about the titles, and they read hundreds of books. Here’s the thing that surprised me most about the committee members. They often read books many times over. I heard from one committee member that she read a title eight times–a title that didn’t get a sticker in the end. The final winning books are sometimes read many more times than that.
As an author, it would be easy to be discouraged by how few books are singled out for award stickers each year. But here’s something that I have found very encouraging. Each award committee is made up of librarians from across the country and those librarians, following their year of service on an award committee, go back to their communities and advocate for the books they loved, but perhaps didn’t give a sticker to, to be included on state reading lists for children’s choice book awards and Battle of the Books lists.
These state level book awards, though they don’t get the fanfare of a national award are the engine that keeps literary fiction for children in print. Year after year, librarian’s around the country work very hard to choose a list of books for their local readers which are deep and diverse and have the potential to become classics. What I love is that these state reading lists are not the same fare being pushed at the local big box store. They are not always the books that are already best sellers or have a huge marketing push. They really look for those gems that will serve their children well. So if you’re looking for that next great read for a child in your life, look no further than your own state’s reading lists. These programs are generally found under

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your state library association, so for me that would be the Oregon Library Association, or the local Council of Teachers of English.  Battle of the Books is a reading incentive program worthy of a post all it’s own. Here’s a link to the one in my state. Oregon Battle of the Books
So for all you hard working librarians out there, thank you from all of us at the Mixed Up Files for your hard work in championing excellence in children’s books and for sharing your favorites far and wide. Joy and peaceful hours of good reading in your new year!
For all you teachers and parents and writers out there, is there a librarian who’s made a difference in your life? I’d love to hear about them in the comments.
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Life is What You Make It – Inteview with CinderSilly author

By on December 9, 2013   /   Author Interviews, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers  

When I was a kid I loved the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Cinderella. We all wanted to be her, the beautiful damsel in distress who sang, “I’m as mild and as meek as a mouse, When I hear a command, I obey; But I know of a spot in my house Where no one can stand in my way. . .” and that spot she refers to is a chair in a corner where she goes to pretend that she’s someone else. Families gathered around and cheered when the prince finally comes to save our heroine from further abuse.

But, wait. . .  why go in a corner and just pretend your rotten life is good? Couldn’t she save herself? And a bigger question is, why would we want to be like someone who needs to be saved?

There are hundreds of versions of the Cinderella story but I have to say, one that I like best, one that I want my own children to know, is the story0_0_0_0_250_375_csupload_44898558_large of CinderSilly, written by Diana Thompson.

Diana is the founder, director, and facilitator of Dramatic Adventures a program that teaches emotional, social, and problem solving skills to children. In Diana’s own words, “Dramatic Adventures’ techniques transform every day challenges from: Blame to Leadership, Avoidance to Action, Whining to Winning!” Imagine if this program had been around when Cinderella was a kid. Maybe that’s who CinderSilly really is, a Cinderella who spent time at Dramatic Adventures and came out wiser, stronger, and more socially-skilled.

In this version of the fairy-tale, Diana says, “She overcomes the bullying of her stepmother, teasing from stepsisters, the difficult task of chores, and doesn’t need to marry a prince or become a princess to live HAPPIER EVER AFTER.  CinderSilly doesn’t need magic to gain control of her circumstances and her life.  She is a pro-active girl with a positive attitude, who doesn’t accept the traditional victim role.” CinderSilly shows us that “life is what you make it.”

I’d like to welcome Diana to our Mixed-Up Files.

You are clearly a person who believes that life is what you make it and you’ve been involved in so many interesting projects. What is your education and background?

I am a theatre professional and playwright. I attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and worked in NYC as an actor and writer. For many years, I directed children in theatre programs, and placed a strong emphasis on developing life skills through theatre. Over the years, it seemed students needed life skills more and more until that finally became the primary focus and theatre became secondary. I’m very glad it did.

I also partnered with Dr. Betty Brittain, a life-long educator who specialized in problem solving skills to ensure we had a solid foundation.

 What made you decide to write CinderSilly?

0_0_0_0_250_270_csupload_57172462_largeIn 2004, I was developing an interactive storytelling program to teach emotional intelligence to children, entitled Fairytales and Feelings. I was studying stories that would provide a solid foundation for underlying lessons. Of course, little girls love princesses, and my daughter was no exception. I would have preferred she pretend to be a queen. It made me crazy to see she and her friends play pretty and passive. I was amazed that I had never brought home a princess movie, but she still know them all. You know the saying, ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” So, I wrote CinderSilly as a counter role model. This is a girl who is pro-active, overcomes her circumstances and creates her own ‘happier ever after’. She doesn’t even get married.

I read over 400 versions of Cinderella. Stories that included witches, and alligators, and all sorts of things. Though the settings and characters were drawn differently, they still had a lot in common – they all portrayed a young woman playing the victim. Magic saves her, and then she marries a prince. CinderSilly is the anti-Cinderella! She is a young girl, who proves that you can make your own magic.

How can teachers, librarians, and drama teachers use this book in their classrooms?

­I ran CinderSilly as part of the Fairytales and Feelings series for 7 years before completing the book. Over that time, we carefully integrated tools for teaching social and emotional intelligence. In fact, we packed so many great things into the book, I wanted to make sure they were a solid resource to anyone who wanted to draw upon them. So, we put together a supplemental book entitled Empowered Princess, filled with crafts,activities, and discussion topics which is available on CinderSilly’s website. CinderSilly is also available through Follett Library Resources, Baker & Taylor, and the Barnes & Noble Bookstore catalog.

The artwork for the book is gorgeous! Tell me how you found your artist.

I am the former theatre director of the Denver Children’s museum. While I was there, I had the honor of working with Jill Haller, the exhibits director. She and her husband Thom were two of the most creative individuals I had ever met in my entire life. Jill created the Center for the Young Child, (among other amazing exhibits) while I was there and I saw first hand how captivating her work was for children. I knew I wanted to create this book to work with the two of them. They produced such a beautiful product, the book is displayed in the Denver Art museum gift shop. From the time we began the art work, it took four years to complete.

Will there be more books in the Fairytales and Feelings series?

Yes, we are working on the next project. Sign up at cindersilly.com, and you will be the first to know.

Thank you so much for joining us here. I’m looking forward to more empowering fairy tales from you!

 

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Jennifer Duddy Gill is the author of The Secret of Ferrell Savage. (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, February 2014)

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Biographies: The World through Others’ Lives

By on December 6, 2013   /   Book Lists, For Librarians, For Teachers  

IMG_1264A few weeks ago, I met with two new teachers planning a biography unit on persevering in the face of challenges.  As they talked about the books they wanted to use, I was suddenly transported back to my own middle grade years when I haunted the school library bookshelves for the “orange books” — the Bobbs-Merrill series of biographies written for kids.

Talk about perseverance and challenges!  Molly Pitcher: Girl Patriot made me want to stand up with George Washington’s army, to brave the battlefield and bring my pitcher of lifesaving water to save fallen soldiers; to swab, load, and fire the crucial cannon that sent the British soldiers fleeing into the night.

Biographies can be powerful lenses into others’ lives, and the number of excellent biographies for middle grade readers continues to expand.  Fortunately, we now have picture book and chapter book biographies that represent notable people from widely diverse backgrounds.

As an example, I’d like to share the books that the teachers, Ashley Hankins and Jess Stuecklen, chose for their study of perseverance and resilience.

Ashley and Jess wanted their students to consider what it means to face challenges and to “understand how people hold on to their values and beliefs … and rely on or reach out to their community” when life throws challenges in their way.  They built the unit around chapter books for students to read and discuss in small groups.  They used the Who Was …? series of chapter book biographies published by Grosset & Dunlap, including Who Was Anne Frank? by Anne Abramson and Nancy Harrison.

Then they added picture books to help their students see that challenges come in many forms and that people find ways to persevere under wildly differing circumstances.  They said they intentionally chose books about people perhaps less well known than those in the series, because “we wanted students to see that all people have the ability to overcome challenges and go on to accomplish remarkable things.”

Ashley and Jess wrote the descriptions below to help students’ families understand how each book reflects the theme of their unit.

Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez by Kathleen Krull; ill. by Yuyi Morales.  This beautifully illustrated picture book chronicles the life of civil rights leader Cesar Chavez. Beginning with his life as a young boy growing up on a farm in California, the book shows how struggles in Cesar’s early life developed Cesar’s character. His perseverance eventually led him to take charge and stand up for the rights of farm workers everywhere.

Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story by Paula Yoo; ill. by Dom Lee.  Olympic diver Sammy Lee was the first Asian American to win a gold medal. Before this achievement, Sammy experienced discrimination as a Korean American growing up in the 1930’s. Even though people of color could only use the pool one day a week, Sammy was able to rise above his challenges to succeed as a diver.

 Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World’s Fastest Woman by Kathleen Krull; ill. by David Diaz.  Caldecott Medal-winning artist David Diaz illustrates this true story of Wilma Rudolph, three-time Olympic gold medalist. This book documents Wilma’s childhood, in which she suffered from scarlet fever and polio–leaving her left leg paralyzed. Against all odds Wilma went on to become one of the fastest women in the world.

emmaspoemEmma’s Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty by Linda Glaser; ill. by Claire Nivola. Few people know how the Statue of Liberty came to represent the United States as a country that welcomes immigrants. This picture book introduces us to the life of Emma Lazarus, the author of the famous poem “The New Colossus,” which helped turn the statue into a symbol of freedom and liberty. The poem was engraved on the entryway to the Statue of Liberty, and features the famous lines “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

Thanks so much to Ashley Hankins and Jess Stuecklen for sharing their exciting biography unit!  To learn more, please visit their classrooms:  Welcome to P6!: Biography Unit (Jess) and Ms. Hankins Class (Ashley).  You’ll find background information on the unit, as well as family activities designed to connect students’ families to the great learning that is going on at school.

 

Katherine Schlick Noe teaches beginning and experienced teachers at Seattle University. Her debut novel, Something to Hold (Clarion, 2011) won the 2012 Washington State Scandiuzzi Children’s Book Award for middle grade/young adult and was named a 2012 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People.  Visit her at http://katherineschlicknoe.com.

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