Tell Me About Your Picture

When I was a kid, I was really into the Baby-Sitters Club books. I read them obsessively. Maybe my reading horizons weren't exactly broad as a child, but I've recently been able to apply a valuable lesson in childcare learned from these books to my work at the library.

Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, and company were always very careful in their phrasing when taking care of their baby-sitting charges. When a kid drew a picture that, to the baby-sitter, just looked like a bunch of scribbles they would always ask the child to "tell me about your picture" rather than asking what the picture was. Author Ann M. Martin explained that asking a child what their picture is could be potentially offensive. After all, it's probably obvious to the artist what he/she has drawn, so why can't everyone else see it? "Tell me about your picture" can be a gentler, more productive way of talking about artwork that doesn't imply that the artist isn't good at drawing, and in my mind it is also a better frame for opening an extended dialogue about the picture's subject.

How does this relate to what I do at the library? During the summer months we have an activity table with different small projects available for kids to try. This week we are asking kids to draw a picture showing a dream that they have had. When the child brings their artwork to the children's desk and shows it to us, they earn an extra raffle ticket that they can use to enter our big end-of-summer drawing for prizes. This week I've looked at about 200 drawings - many of which are easily interpreted, but many more of which make a lot more sense with a little explanation. Needless to say, I've been putting Ann M. Martin's advice to good use this week!


The interesting thing that I have noticed is that it's even beneficial to use use the phrase "tell me about your picture" with older children who draw very well. This week I have often found that the story behind the finished picture is actually a lot more complicated than the image implies. It's great to hear kids of all ages talking about their inspiration and to hear the details of their sleeping and waking dreams.

So thank you, Ann M. Martin, for your sound advice. It's amazing what little details from books will stick with you!

Ninja Training

My first teen event of the summer took place a few days ago, it was a success! The teens were invited to sign up for Ninja Training, where they would do a series of physical challenges designed to test their endurance, accuracy, balance, agility, and speed. Several of the activities (though not all of them) were taken from a similar program idea posted by the California Library Association. The rest of the activities were of my own design.

I asked teens to sign up ahead of time (that's kind of our policy for summer events), but I was willing to be flexible regarding sign-up with this program. I ended up with twelve teens in attendance, which actually turned out to be the perfect number. I divided the teens into four teams of three. Everyone would receive points for completing the physical challenges and the team with the most points at the end of the program went home with a small prize.

As the teens arrived, I directed them to a table where they could make name tags. I had also found a chart online with a chart for creating your "ninja name" and asked that the teens give that a try (do a Google Image search for "ninja name" to find the chart that I based mine off of - I just basically reformatted it and added some instructions to the top).


Next I gave the teens about 15 minutes to try their hand at making origami ninja stars. I had printed off some written instructions and walked around to help as needed. Click here to see my favorite set of instructions for making the paper shuriken. Be warned that it doesn't print out well - the pictures take up a ton of space, and the website formatting adds several pages of sidebar to the beginning that aren't necessary. But the number of pictures makes it easy for a beginner to follow the instructions.


After folding the ninja stars, I challenged the teens to test their accuracy. I gave them each five paper ninja stars (I pre-folded several so I would not have to rely exclusively on the ones the teens made) and had them stand ten feet away from a box placed on a table. Each teen would receive one point for each shuriken what made it in the box. I set up two tables and two boxes, so I could have two teens competing at once. If I could do this again, I'd have them stand a bit closer to the target so that they would have an easier time with this activity - it's really hard to be accurate when throwing paper objects.

Next on the agenda was a test of endurance - hula hooping. The teens earned more points the longer they were able to keep the hoop up and moving - five points if they lasted 15 seconds, 10 points if they lasted 30 seconds, and 15 points if they lasted a whole minute. I had four hula hoops, so one person from each team was able to try it at once.

After hula hooping we tested our balance by walking with books on our heads. Just as with the shuriken, I had two teens trying this activity at once. I used masking tape to create start and finish lines spanning the short length of the room (roughly 25 feet). Teens earned 10 points if they were able to make it all the way across the finish line, and a bonus five points if they could turn around and come back.

To finish off the program we constructed an obstacle course. This was the part of the program everyone had been waiting for! To complete the course the teens had to hop through the hula hoops...


...crawl under two tables...


...climb over two step stools...


...and finally walk across a balance beam made of 2x4s.


This was a fairly short course, but in the room we were in we didn't have space for anything bigger. I timed each teen as they ran through the course and gave them points based on their speed - 25 points for finishing in less than 15 seconds, 20 points for finishing in 15-30 seconds, etc. The teens generally finished faster than I expected, and if I could do this program again I think I'd give points in 10-second intervals instead of 15-second intervals. They had lots of fun running the course, and this proved to be the most popular part of the program.

Overall I'd consider this program a great success. The teens seemed to have fun with the challenges and it sparked a little friendly competition. All told the program took about an hour.

Variations of this program that I considered but did not (for various reasons) implement:

1) Do it outside! Take advantage of nice weather. The extra space also allows for a longer obstacle course, and if supplies are available two courses could be set up and run competitively. Makes doing the origami rather difficult though on account of the wind.
2) Get a local martial arts teacher to do a demonstration. This eats up time that could be spent doing physical challenges, but I think it would be an appealing presentation.
3) Talk a bit about the role of the ninja in Japanese culture/history. Show off some weapons. Would take a bit to research to get this information right, but could be cool. It's possible that a martial artist/instructor might be able to do something with this as well.

I might use this program idea again in the future. There was also a bit of interest in the program from younger kids as well, and I think it would be easy to addapt some of these activities for kids.

Perfection

Said by a father, who was apparently impressed that I knew exactly where to find the book his daughter was seeking (So Totally Emily Ebers by Lisa Yang) without even needing to look it up in the catalog:

"You're perfect!"

I don't know that I can really call myself perfect, but I'll certainly take the compliment!

Sneak Peak - Summer Programs

The Summer Library Program is here! This year the theme for the kids' reading program is "Dream Big: Read" while the teens have the theme of "Own the Night". Both themes focus our efforts on nighttime, nocturnal animals, outer space, dreams, and other evening activities.


Things have been a touch chaotic here in my corner of library land thanks to retirements, new hires, and general crazy as we prep for our busiest time of year, and to be honest no one around here is feeling as prepared as we could be for summer reading. But despite the insanity I'm so excited about the special events we have planned for this summer! I'll have lots of fun programs to blog about in the coming weeks. Be prepared for posts regarding ninjas, bat pellets, making sit-upons, and more!

How to Survive Anything - Gender Inequality

Last week I cataloged two items for the children's graphic novel collection. These two books made me very angry:

They seem innocent enough when you first glance at them. They are yet another installment in the "survival guide" genre, telling kids how to deal with various circumstances. These titles stand out with their graphic novel approach to the genre.

A closer look, however, shows that apparently boys and girls need to be prepared to survive very different circumstances. The boys' book give useful advice on how to handle shark attacks, how to navigate using the stars, and how to escape from quicksand. The girls' book, on the other hand, deals with more social elements: How to throw a great sleepover, how to handle a fight with your BFF, and how to get ready for soccer try-outs.

Seriously? According to these books, all boys are outdoorsmen in exotic lands, while girls have nothing at all to worry about except for parents, zits, and friends. This is so insulting to members of both genders. Boys need a guide to social situations just as much as girls do since I'm pretty sure that boys need to interact with their peers too. And there is absolutely no reason why a girl won't need advice on how to prevent a polar bear from attacking you. Pretty sure that the polar bear doesn't care what your gender is.

There is a single survival tip that can be found in both the boys' and girls' volumes: How to Survive a Zombie Attack. Clearly Scholastic's editors know what's really important. But even this piece of advice is presented on unequal footing. The girls' book encourages girls to use their brains and suggests evasion tactics. The boys' book includes some instruction on evasion, but also suggests creating a shelter and bonking zombies on the head with a baseball bat as a way of stopping them. So while girls get to run away, boys get to kick some zombie butt.

What's especially irritating is that on the cover of the girls' book we see a girl harnessed up on a zip line, seemingly ready for adventure. But there is no adventure advice to be found in this graphic novel. Of course, the fact that the girl is also holding her cell phone should probably have been a hint.

Overall Grade: D

Diversity in Teen Lit

Who are the heroes in Young Adult literature? I've stumbled upon two very interesting articles that really get into which teens are represented and - perhaps more importantly - which ones are not in recent YA titles.

This article, compiled by blogger Tiana Smith, talks about the physical descriptions of female protagonists in 50 of the hottest teen novels from this year. Apparently the old adage used to describe heroines in medieval fairy tales is still true as blonde = beautiful. Most characters, however, are brunettes described as "ordinary" or "almost beautiful."

This blog post by Kate Hart looks at the covers of YA books from 2011 and breaks down what is featured there. It's a pretty extensive study as she looks at race, gender, colors, and other items in great detail. Apparently publishers think that white girls in pretty dresses sell books.

This whole issue which kinds of characters are presented in teen books is worth considering. Are we doing teens a disservice by not featuring more diversity in our books? Are girls in pretty dresses affecting teen self esteem in the same way that beauty magazines can? It's food for thought.

New Kids' Reads

It's been quiet here in Library Land. Almost too quiet. The weather is turning nice and kids are spending their time outside isntead of in the library.

So to hold us over until my next interesting, blog-able story comes along, here are a few books from the kids' room that I'm looking forward to reading:

Fake Mustache by Tom Angleberger
I'm a big fan of Angleberger's The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, and I'm excited to see what he can do this this book. In this title a young boy tries to take over the world with the help of his impressive fake mustache. I've been promised that hilarity ensues.

Little Dog, Lost by Marion Dane Bauer
A novel in verse telling the story of a boy who needs a dog and a dog who needs a boy. I cataloged this book just this morning and it seems like it could be a real charmer.

The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine
Here's another book by an author who has pleased me in the past. This book is piece of historical fiction centered around school integration in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1958. Just as with her 2009 novel The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had, Lavine pulls together the themes of friendship and bravery to tall a story dealing with race relations.

The Fairy Ring, or How Elsie and Francis Fool the World by Mary Losure
This work of non-fiction tells about the Cottingly Fairies hoax. Two girls staged photographs of fairies to get their parents to stop teasing them. Little did they know that this innocent deception would spiral far beyond their control.

The Unseen Guest by Maryrose Wood
I'm a super big fan of the "Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place" series, and I'm sure that this third volume will be lots of fun to read. I can't wait to get started!

Fractured Fairy Tales

I love a good fractured fairy tale. This month my book display in the teen area is full of such stories!


Here are just a few books that have made an appearance on this display:

Cloaked by Alex Flinn
This story is made up of bits of several different tales, including "The Elves and the Shoemaker," "The Six Swans," and "The Frog Prince." The crazy combinations keep this book interesting. Flinn has also written a number of other fairy tale renditions, including the popular Beastly.

Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George
This novel is a retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses". The setting is especially intriguing in this version - it makes me think of 18th Century Europe. Also, the hero is a young man who knits. If you liked this one, also try the companion novel, Princess of Glass.

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
This book takes many of "Little Red Riding Hood's" themes and builds a story fit for a modern setting. There are also supernatural elements as sisters Scarlett and Rosie hunt werewolves.

A Long Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan
"Sleeping Beatury" meets the popular sci-fi genre in this book. Doesn't that sound like an intriguing combination?

Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson
A retelling of the fairy tale of the same name, in which a mistreated younger sister is blessed to have diamonds and flowers fall from her lips when she speaks. Her older step-sister attempts to earn the same blessing, but is cursed for her arrogance as snakes and toads fall from her mouth instead. This version is set in India.

The One And Only Ivan

Ivan is a silverback gorilla who lives at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall. Ivan is used having humans visit him and rarely thinks about his former home in the jungle. Generally Ivan is content to sit in his domain, talk to his friends Stella the elephant and Bob the dog, watch television, and - best of all - create art with crayons and paper.

Things change, however, when business at the mall slows and visitors become few and far between. To bring in more business a baby elephant named Ruby is added to the mall's menagerie. Ruby is frightened. She misses her home in the jungle and her family. Suddenly Iven is forced to look at her situation - and his own - through new eyes. Finally Ivan has someone to protect, someone who needs a mighty silverback gorilla to provide for her. But what can Ivan do to change Ruby's situation when he is stuck in a cage?

There is so much to appreciate about this novel. First of all, The One and Only Ivan is a stunning, inspiring book full of emotional power. Author Katherine Applegate did a great job giving Ivan his own voice, using brief paragraphs and efficient, poetic languate to pull readers into Ivan's story. This style of writing really makes this book a page-turner. It's just beautifully written.

In many ways the writing reminds me of Kathi Appelet's 2009 Newbery Honor winner The Underneath with one important difference: I found The Underneath incredibly depressing. I love the fact that even though The One and Only Ivan gets into some serious issues regarding animal rights and captivity and even though parts of this book are sad (I'll admit that I teared up a few times), the story never becomes bogged down in sadness. There are plenty of hopeful, inspiring moments too and lots of well-developed character to love, and I truly feel that this tone makes The One and Only Ivan much more accessible to readers.

Overall Grade: A



Need more convincing? Check out the book trailer:

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