Newsletter 2413 Issue 2413200957112137

INTERVIEW

• Dolly Parton: The Book Lady
  For the last 13 years, country music icon Dolly Parton has been immersed in her literacy program, Imagination Library, which provides one book each month to registered preschoolers in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.
  
  With six million books emailed each year, Imagination Library recently teamed up with Rotary International to encourage individual Rotary clubs to cover the cost of new volumes and shipping. more » » » 

Blogs

• A Fuse #8 Production
  Elizabeth Bird, Children's Librarian, Children's Center at 42nd Street
  Press Release Fun: The Bridget Zinn Auction
  Matthew Holm and the Portland, Oregon children's literary blogger community (oh yeah, baby, the big guns) are calling on YOU to help out Bridget Zinn. Bridget is a librarian, a blogger, and an a...
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• NeverEndingSearch
  Joyce Valenza Ph.D, High School Librarian,
  VocabGrabber: the vocab fun continues!
  After seeing yesterday's post on WordSift, Ben Zimmer of Visual Thesaurus, wrote to tell me of the launch of a new vocabulary tool: VocabGrabber. Another great tool for classrooms across the dis...
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• ShelfTalker: A Children's Bookseller's Blog
  Josie Leavitt, Co-owner, Flying Pig Bookstore, Shelburne, Vt.
  Small Town Life
  I live in a small town. The store is in a slightly larger town. My world revolves around these two towns, wich have a combined population of just over 10,000. Sure, there are times I long to be ...
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• Practically Paradise
  Diane Chen, Librarian, Hickman Elementary School, Nashville, Tennessee
  Someone Named Eva
  I was thinking about the teacher who wondered where authors get these ideas. It's more complicated when we are considering historical fiction. When students read historical fiction, the first thi...
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Mother's Day Stories

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• My Mom, the Librarian
  You can discover some of the most interesting trivia while reading the New York Times wedding announcements. For instance, this past Sunday financial journalist Jean Chatzky was married. She does regular money segments on NBC’s Today Show. Besides learning that she’d recently written the book The Difference: How Anyone Can Prosper in Even the Toughest Times (Crown Business, 2009), I was delighted to learn that her mother, Elaine Sherman, was a retired librarian of the Capitol Hill Day School in Washington, DC.
  
  With Mother’s Day upon us, I started to wonder how many other big names had mothers who were librarians. With the help of Google and my colleagues on the school librarian discussion board LM_NET, I’ve come up with a varied collection of librarian moms with celebrity offspring. more » » » 
• Momma’s Boy: David Lubar
  Young adult author and game designer David Lubar shares his fondest memories of his mother, a librarian:
  
  "I have so many wonderful, love-filled memories involving my mother and books that when I was invited to contribute to this section, I was afraid I would never find the best one. As I thought through all of the time I spent with her, I realized that the best thing I can share here is not a memory but a revelation. more » » » 

WHAT ARE THEY READING FOR FUN?

• Novels about immigrant life, manga, and a book of poetry
  Pam Gardow, Memorial High School, Eau Claire, WI:
  
  Our graphic novels collection gets tons of use. Some favorites right now are Tito Kubo’s “Bleach,” Tsugumi Ohba’s “Death Note,” and Masashi Kishimoto’s “Naruto” (all Viz Media). For books with powerful emotional punch, students are reading Elizabeth Scott’s Living Dead Girl (S & S, 2008), Julie Schumacher’s Black Box (Delacorte, 2008), Melina Marchetta’s Jellicoe Road (HarperTeen, 2008), Sara Zarr’s Sweethearts (Little Brown, 2008), and anything by Ellen Hopkins. Jonathan Friesen’s Jerk, California (Penguin, 2008) about a teen with Tourette’s syndrome, is also doing well. more » » » 

REMARKABLE READS

• Wedding Jitters
  Weddings, though joyful events, can be stressful for kids who are gaining siblings or a new parent, or moving to a different home. With nearly 11 percent of weddings occurring in June, anticipate the needs of nervous ring bearers, flower girls, and young wedding guests with this list of reassuring and fun bridal titles.
  
  BLACK, Sonia W. Just for You!: Jumping the Broom. illus. by Cornelius Van Wright & Ying-Hwa Hu. Scholastic. 2004. pap. $3.99. ISBN 978-0-439-56878-4. K-Gr 3–Erin’s big sister is getting married and she wants to give her a very special gift, but her piggy bank funds are low. more » » » 

LIBRARIAN'S INTERNET

• Smokey Kids
  www.smokeybear.com/kids/default.asp
  
  Spring brings rain and thunderstorms to some parts of the U.S., but in Florida and the Southwest, it is the season for wildfires. (In fact, as I write this, the radio is reporting on the large wildfire currently burning outside Santa Barbara, CA.) No matter what time of year it is, it’s important to teach kids how wildfires and forest fires get started and what they can do to help prevent them. more » » » 

JOB OF THE WEEK