On April 1, 2008, I attended "Great Books" in Baltimore. It is a two day annual event. Librarians, teachers, and other adults from Maryland attended one of the two days.
Prior to the event, each attendee read thirteen specific books published in 2007. At the event, the attendees met with with the "Great Books" facilitators, and discussed books geared to three different reading groups: picture books, children's books, and young adult books.
After a buffet lunch, we had the option of purchasing books by guest speaker Bruce Coville. Bruce Coville has written many children's books dealing with magic and/or fantasy. Mr. Coville's lecture, which followed, was humorous.
Great Books is valuable because it requires you to be up-to-date by reading recently published books. This is useful as a reader's advisory. The individual book discussion sessions let you hear other people's reactions to the books in a nurturing environment.
Showing posts with label Great Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Great Books. Show all posts
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Great Books Celebration 2008
On April 2nd I attended the "Great Books Celebration" sponsored by the Consortium of Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, and Howard County. The first hour the three committes (picture books, kids books, teen books) presented their favorites among the lists they compiled. Too many to ennumerate here but the lists also have annotations so I recommend getting them from a colleague who attended.
We then broke out into our discussion groups. I attended the "You're My Best Friend" picture group - books read were: "The Golden Rule" by Cooper; "Help! A Story of Friendship" by Keller; "This Is Just to Say" by Sidman; "Nothing But Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson" by Stauffacher; "My Friend is Sad" and "Today I Will Fly" by Willems. We discussed the pros and cons of the books and how they could be used and/or displayed to encourage customers to check them out. The second session I attended was called "Who Let the Dogs Out?" - books read were: "City of Dogs" by Michael; "Cracker: The Best Dog in Vietnam" by Kadohata; "How to Steal a Dog" by O'Connor; and "Marley: A Dog Like No Other" by Grogan. These were all juvenile titles. The books included fantasy, realistic fiction, historical fiction and nonfiction. Again it was useful to discuss the pros and cons of these titles. The last session I attended was called "Who I Was" - books read were: "Before I Die" by Downham; "Does My Head Look Big in This?" by Abdel-Fattah; "Parrotfish" by Wittlinger; and "Story of a Girl" by Zarr. These were all young adult titles. Again we discussed pros and cons of the titles and more importantly what audience they were intended for.
The speaker this year was Bruce Coville author of many children's books ("My Teacher is an Alien", "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" etc.). Some of the more interesting points he made were that boys often do not have male role models at the elementary school level (men who read books) and the same could be said for Children's Librarians as most of us are women as well. He also lamented that U.S. publishers often are concerned with length in children's books but British publisher do not. He pointed out how kids will read lengthy books if it's something they are interested and excited about (i.e. Harry Potter). Side note - he is also a very entertaining speaker.
I know that the information I gleaned from these sessions will help me with reader's advisory questions, book talks, and I may use some of the titles in the children's book discussion group that I run at Fairland Library. I definitely recommend to other librarians who have an interest in children's and teen books to attend next year.
We then broke out into our discussion groups. I attended the "You're My Best Friend" picture group - books read were: "The Golden Rule" by Cooper; "Help! A Story of Friendship" by Keller; "This Is Just to Say" by Sidman; "Nothing But Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson" by Stauffacher; "My Friend is Sad" and "Today I Will Fly" by Willems. We discussed the pros and cons of the books and how they could be used and/or displayed to encourage customers to check them out. The second session I attended was called "Who Let the Dogs Out?" - books read were: "City of Dogs" by Michael; "Cracker: The Best Dog in Vietnam" by Kadohata; "How to Steal a Dog" by O'Connor; and "Marley: A Dog Like No Other" by Grogan. These were all juvenile titles. The books included fantasy, realistic fiction, historical fiction and nonfiction. Again it was useful to discuss the pros and cons of these titles. The last session I attended was called "Who I Was" - books read were: "Before I Die" by Downham; "Does My Head Look Big in This?" by Abdel-Fattah; "Parrotfish" by Wittlinger; and "Story of a Girl" by Zarr. These were all young adult titles. Again we discussed pros and cons of the titles and more importantly what audience they were intended for.
The speaker this year was Bruce Coville author of many children's books ("My Teacher is an Alien", "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" etc.). Some of the more interesting points he made were that boys often do not have male role models at the elementary school level (men who read books) and the same could be said for Children's Librarians as most of us are women as well. He also lamented that U.S. publishers often are concerned with length in children's books but British publisher do not. He pointed out how kids will read lengthy books if it's something they are interested and excited about (i.e. Harry Potter). Side note - he is also a very entertaining speaker.
I know that the information I gleaned from these sessions will help me with reader's advisory questions, book talks, and I may use some of the titles in the children's book discussion group that I run at Fairland Library. I definitely recommend to other librarians who have an interest in children's and teen books to attend next year.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Great Books Celebration 2008
Great Books is a Consortium of Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard Counties
Baltimore County wanted to have their own notable books modeled after ALA, but changed the title to Great Books, because their focus was good fun books that kids want to read, not necessarily need to read for an assignment.
The three committees, Great Picture Books, Great Books for Kids and Great Books for Teens each reviewed over 100 books and then selected their favorites:
Great Picture Books:
Some Dog by Mary Casanova
The Perfect Nest by Catherine Friend
The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice Harrington
Living Color by Steve Jenkins
How to he a Baby: By Me, the Big Sister by Sally Lloyd-Jones
Today at the Bluebird Café: A Branchful of Birds by Deborah Ruddell
I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry
Nothing But Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson by Sue Stauffacher
My Friend is Sad//Today I Will Fly! by Mo Willems
Every Friday by Dan Yaccarino
Great Books for Kids:
No Talking by Andrew Clements
Glint by Ann Coburn
How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O’Connor
The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt
The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures by Brian Selznick
Someone Named Eva by Joan Wolf
An Inconvenient Truth: The Crisis of Global Warming by Al Gore
Great Books for Teens:
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron
Before I Die by Jenny Downham
I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle
Un Lun Dun by China Mieville
Freak Show by James St. James
The Arrival by Shaun Tan
A Lifetime of Secrets by Frank Warren
Guest Author
Bruce Coville, author of I Was a Sixth Grade Alien and Magic Shop series, entertained the audience relating his background, how he became a writer and his philosophy about reading and children. Mr. Coville was born and has lived most of his life in Syracuse, New York. Always a reader, he especially remembers his father reading him Tom Swift.
He became a writer because of a teacher in sixth grade who asked the students to write a story and then read it. Mr. Coville explained that “the right story at the right time” opens up doors to a kid’s heart. A story also helps bring ideas to life and is a way to encourage courage in children. Reading is a gender issue, as children see reading as a female activity and culturally it is not o.k. for kids to be their best. Stories help children to heal so they can help heal the world. Our job is to open doors and stories help children reopen doors.
Book Discussion Groups:
Each participant enrolled in 3 different discussion groups. My Picture Book group was “On the Road Again” and we discussed Stick by Steve Breen, Lightship by Brian Floca, Casey Back at Bat by Dan Gutman (not owned my MCPL), Wind Flyers by Angela Johnson, and Bow-Wow Bugs a Bug by Mark Newgarden (not owned by MCPL). I would encourage you to read Stick, a humorous and delightful journey of a frog, Lightship, a fascinating look at a lightship before light houses were built, and Wind Flyers which recounts the story of a young boy, his love of flying and joining the Tuskegee airman. My Great Books for Kids discussion group was “Little Intrigues” and we discussed The Case of the Left-Handed Lady by Nancy Springer, The Secret of the Priest’s Grotto: A Holocaust Survival Story by Peter Taylor, The Theft and the Miracle by Rebecca Wade (not owned by MCPL) and Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos by R.L. LaFevers. Read The Case of the Left-Handed Lady if you are a Sherlock Holmes fan, as the female detective Enola Holmes is Sherlock Holmes’ sister. My Great Books for Teens discussion group was “Moments from the Past” and included Harlem Summer by Walter Dean Myers, Laika by Nick Abadzis (not owned by MCPL), Tamar by Mal Peet and Wildly Romantic by Catherine Andronik (not owned by MCPL). Laika, was a fascinating graphic novel about the first dog to go up in the Russian Sputnik II. Harlem Summer, my favorite, is the coming of age story about a boy during the Harlem Renaissance.
This training will increase my knowledge of books and how an author views literature and its uses. The lists of Great Books will be helpful when choosing books to booktalk to the schools. The book discussions clarifies various issues in each book and exposes me to different viewpoints
Baltimore County wanted to have their own notable books modeled after ALA, but changed the title to Great Books, because their focus was good fun books that kids want to read, not necessarily need to read for an assignment.
The three committees, Great Picture Books, Great Books for Kids and Great Books for Teens each reviewed over 100 books and then selected their favorites:
Great Picture Books:
Some Dog by Mary Casanova
The Perfect Nest by Catherine Friend
The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice Harrington
Living Color by Steve Jenkins
How to he a Baby: By Me, the Big Sister by Sally Lloyd-Jones
Today at the Bluebird Café: A Branchful of Birds by Deborah Ruddell
I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry
Nothing But Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson by Sue Stauffacher
My Friend is Sad//Today I Will Fly! by Mo Willems
Every Friday by Dan Yaccarino
Great Books for Kids:
No Talking by Andrew Clements
Glint by Ann Coburn
How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O’Connor
The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt
The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures by Brian Selznick
Someone Named Eva by Joan Wolf
An Inconvenient Truth: The Crisis of Global Warming by Al Gore
Great Books for Teens:
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron
Before I Die by Jenny Downham
I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle
Un Lun Dun by China Mieville
Freak Show by James St. James
The Arrival by Shaun Tan
A Lifetime of Secrets by Frank Warren
Guest Author
Bruce Coville, author of I Was a Sixth Grade Alien and Magic Shop series, entertained the audience relating his background, how he became a writer and his philosophy about reading and children. Mr. Coville was born and has lived most of his life in Syracuse, New York. Always a reader, he especially remembers his father reading him Tom Swift.
He became a writer because of a teacher in sixth grade who asked the students to write a story and then read it. Mr. Coville explained that “the right story at the right time” opens up doors to a kid’s heart. A story also helps bring ideas to life and is a way to encourage courage in children. Reading is a gender issue, as children see reading as a female activity and culturally it is not o.k. for kids to be their best. Stories help children to heal so they can help heal the world. Our job is to open doors and stories help children reopen doors.
Book Discussion Groups:
Each participant enrolled in 3 different discussion groups. My Picture Book group was “On the Road Again” and we discussed Stick by Steve Breen, Lightship by Brian Floca, Casey Back at Bat by Dan Gutman (not owned my MCPL), Wind Flyers by Angela Johnson, and Bow-Wow Bugs a Bug by Mark Newgarden (not owned by MCPL). I would encourage you to read Stick, a humorous and delightful journey of a frog, Lightship, a fascinating look at a lightship before light houses were built, and Wind Flyers which recounts the story of a young boy, his love of flying and joining the Tuskegee airman. My Great Books for Kids discussion group was “Little Intrigues” and we discussed The Case of the Left-Handed Lady by Nancy Springer, The Secret of the Priest’s Grotto: A Holocaust Survival Story by Peter Taylor, The Theft and the Miracle by Rebecca Wade (not owned by MCPL) and Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos by R.L. LaFevers. Read The Case of the Left-Handed Lady if you are a Sherlock Holmes fan, as the female detective Enola Holmes is Sherlock Holmes’ sister. My Great Books for Teens discussion group was “Moments from the Past” and included Harlem Summer by Walter Dean Myers, Laika by Nick Abadzis (not owned by MCPL), Tamar by Mal Peet and Wildly Romantic by Catherine Andronik (not owned by MCPL). Laika, was a fascinating graphic novel about the first dog to go up in the Russian Sputnik II. Harlem Summer, my favorite, is the coming of age story about a boy during the Harlem Renaissance.
This training will increase my knowledge of books and how an author views literature and its uses. The lists of Great Books will be helpful when choosing books to booktalk to the schools. The book discussions clarifies various issues in each book and exposes me to different viewpoints
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