Bits from Barb

SLP Update

Resources for Children who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Deaf

1. Tactile Graphics

Wisconsin public libraries can order a set of tactile graphics for children who are blind or visually impaired through the Wisconsin Center for the Blind's Outreach Services Office. This packet consists of 6 pages of raised graphics that correspond to the following pages in the 2009 CSLP manual:
1) The crickets from page 145.
2) The set of three finger puppets from page 177 and the set of 2 wraparound finger puppets from page 155.
3) The star and poem from page 183 (the star is in tactile graphics, the poem is in Braille).
4-6) Three sheets are included for the objects to do the activity on pages 137, 139 and 141.

Order forms for the Tactile Graphics can be found on the DLTCL web page at www.dpi.wi.gov/pld/slp.html.

2. Braille Items

If librarians need reading records or certificates Brailled for participating children, or if they need any instruction sheets or letters Brailled for the summer reading program participants, they can order those materials through the OSCI Braille program in Oshkosh.

Order forms for Braille materials can be found on the DLTCL web page at www.dpi.wi.gov/pld/slp.html.

3. Sign Language Training Video

Librarians who would like to learn some basic sign language to use this summer can download a free copy of a sign language training video from the Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP) web page at www.cslpreads.org/learning-tools/diversity.html. E

These resources were developed through the cooperation of Rhonda Puntney, Chair of the CSLP Diversity Committee, and DLTCL.

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Web Sites that Foster Creativity

Check out some of the websites recently added to ALA's Great Web Sites for Kids listing. The full listing is included below, but the following sites seem especially appropriate:

First Palette is an art site with ideas for educators and parents who share an enthusiasm for art, who recognize the value of doing meaningful and fun activities together with kids, and who have a passion for nurturing creativity and the love for learning. www.firstpalette.com/

Giggle Poetry is the self-proclaimed, number one fun poetry site for kids on the web! Learn to write poetry, create poems online, and read and rate hundreds of poems. Teacher resources available. www.gigglepoetry.com/index.aspx

Imagination Café is safe, fun, education and entertainment site for kids and tweens with quizzes, recipes and articles on careers, animals, history, sports, science, and more! www.imagination-cafe.com

The Jack Prelutsky site explores the wacky and inventive poetry of Jack Prelutsky, the first Children's Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation. www.jackprelutsky.com

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Motion Sensitive Controllers are the Newest Gaming Technology

Motion-sensitive controller are the newest technology leading companies are promoting for use with their electronic games. Microsoft is working on Project Natal, an impressive and complex full-body, hands-free motion-sensitive control system, both Nintendo and Sony revealed plans for new, advanced systems of their own.

Sony introduced the Eye Toy, a system that incorporated users' body movements into some games, years ago, and Nintendo's Wii vaulted to huge popularity on the strength of the innovative controls of its now-famous Wii-mote. But the video game industry seems to be moving toward much more intuitive ways to play games.

Microsoft's Project Natal is a hands-free, full-body sensing control system that can be used to play games, watch movies, do virtual painting, and much more. It appears to be easy to use, and quick to get going on. It's not known yet how much it will cost, or whether it will be bundled with the Xbox or sold as an accessory.

Nintendo announced improvements to Wii Motion Plus. The changes take the successful Wii-mote and adds a physical feedback system that lets users feel what they're doing, and it also allows for rotational motion in 3D space, such as spinning a skydiver's body around. For more information on the new advances go to http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-10255497-235.html.

International Latino Book Awards

The Latino Literacy Now is a non-profit organization that supports and promotes literacy and literary excellence within the Latino community. The organization announced the following award winning children and teen titles.
Best Educational Children's Book - English: "The Song of the Coconut" by Adalucía ,Cholita Prints & Publishing Co.
Best Educational Children's Book - "Spanish: Quiero Ser Poeta - Rafael Garcia Jolly, José Carbonell Pla, Antonia Moreno, María D. Torres Bañuls," LetraRoja.
2ND Place: "El secreto del dorado" by Maria Villegas and Jennie Kent , Villegas Asociados S.A.
Honorable Mention: "Figúrate: Animales, Fantasía y Mundo" by María Villegas and Jennie Kent, Villegas
Asociados.
Best Educational Children's Book - Bilingual; "Dealing with Insults - Qué Hacer con los Insultos" by Mariann
Johnson, Rosen Publishing/Buenas Letras.

2ND Place: "Teo in Palo Verde" by Adam Del Rio, Lectura Books.
2ND Place: "Ronaldinho" by José María Obregón, Rosen Publishing/Buenas Letras.
Honorable Mention:" Las Abejas" by Katie Franks, Rosen Publishing/Buenas Letras.
Best Children's Picture Book - English Abuelos - Pat Mora - Groundwood Books
2ND Place: The Secret Legacy - Rigoberta Menchú - Groundwood Books
Honorable Mention: Kitchen Dance - Maurie J. Manning - Clarion Books
Best Children's Picture Book - Spanish: "Los Tres Reyes De Oriente" by Lluis Farre, Bambú.
2ND Place: "El mejor mariachi del mundo " by J. D. Smith, Raven Tree Press.
Honorable Mention:" Mira, Mira" by Angels Navarro, Bambú.
Best Children's Picture Book - Bilingual: "Rachel and the Lion" by Stephanie Lainez , Story House Books.
2ND Place: "Colors!¡Colores!" by Jorge Luján , Groundwood Books.
Honorable Mention: "The Storyteller's Candle" by Lucia Gonzalez, Children's Book Press.
Best Young Adult Fiction - English: "Dark Dude" by Oscar Hijuelos, Atheneum/Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.
2ND Place: "Amor and Summer Secrets" by Diana Rodriguez Wallach, Kensington Publishers.
Honorable Mention:" Mr. Clean and the Barrio" by David Bueno-Hill, Urbano Books.
Best Young Adult Fiction - Spanish or Bilingual: "El Asunto Galindo" by Fernando Lalana, Bambú.
2ND Place: "Odisea" by Albert Jané, Combel Editorial, S. A.

Honorable Mention: "Carlito's Story" by Max Benavidez and Katherine Del Monte, Lectura Books
Honorable Mention: "No sapiens" by Ariel González , Libros en Red.
Best Young Adult Nonfiction - English: "The Barefoot Shoeshine Boy" by Al Rivera, Author House.
Best Young Adult Sports/Recreation - English: "Soccer's Story & A Futbol Fable" by Gil Sperry, Amigo del Mar Press.
Best Young Adult Sports/Recreation - Spanish or Bilingual: "Go Milka Go! ¡Core, Milka, Corre!" by Raquel Benatar, Renaissance House.
For more information about the award go to http://lbff.us/latino-book-awards.

System Youth Services Liaison Posting
Barbara Huntington, DLTCL
June 2009

Books About Environment

Megan Schliesman said a new bibliography from the Cooperative
Children's Book Center (CCBC) highlights books for children and
teens about the environment:

Eco-Reading: Selected Books for Children and Teens about Our Earth
and the Environment is available on the CCBC web site.

Bits from Barb

2008 CSLP Art Work should be Removed from Library Web Sites
Under CSLP's copyright guidelines all libraries should
take down the 2008 SLP art work from their web pages by the
end of September. Now that the 2009 manuals are here,
libraries can put the new art work up instead. Please
remind your librarians that CSLP's copyright must appear
if they use any CSLP art work electronically. Up
until this year,partnering agencies were not allowed
to use the CSLP art work on their web pages at all,
but that will change in 2009 (see next item for details).
Under an agreement from several years ago, public libraries
maycontinue to use the art work from all past CSLP programs
onprint items whenever they wish. They can not, however, allow
partnering agencies to continue to any of the artwork. All
use by non-library agencies,including schools, should cease
at the end of the given summer.


New Edition of "Teen Spaces, The Step-by-Step Library Makeover"
Kimberly Bolan has written a new edition of
her book "TeenSpaces."  It is available through the American
Library Association. Good examples of teen spaces in libraries
around the country are now readily available, and interest
in them continues to grow. With a strategic use of web-based
technologies-from the author's website to a Flickr account-
this second edition showcases success stories as it reaches out
to attract a global community of YA librarians committed to
meeting the needs of young adults.


National Gaming Day November 15th
Hundreds of libraries across the country are preparing to
celebrate the American Library Association's (ALA) first
annual National Gaming Day @ Your Library on November 15th.
ALA invites libraries of all types to join in the
celebration by registering for two national gaming
activities: a national video game tournament, and a board
game challenge. Libraries also can develop their own
activities by using free resources from the ALA.
For more information go to
http://gaming.ala.org/resources/index.php?title=Main_Page.


Arab American Book Award Winner
The winner of this year's  Arab American Book Award in the
Children or Young Adult category  is "Tasting the Sky:
A Palestinian Childhood"  by Ibtisam Barakat (Farrar,
Straus and Giroux). The award is given annually for a book
written or illustrated by an Arab American or that addressed
the Arab American experience. The portrayal or
representation of Arab Americans must be accurate
and engaging, avoid stereotypes, and reflect rich
characterization.


Books to Read to Children During a Financial Crisis
A review of several American children's books that deal
with tough economic times for families is included in
a recent posting by Erica S. Perl's at www.slate.com/?id=2201710
Among the titles annotated at the site are:
Little House on the Prairie-Wilder
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry-Taylor
Ramona and her Father-Cleary
Tight Times-Hazen
How to Steal a Dog-O'Connor


First Lady Doyle's Recommended Children's Titles for this Month:
First Lady Jessica Doyle has initiated an online
book discussion club for children and adults.
Each month her Web page for the book club,called
"Read On Wisconsin," lists the titles for discussion.
All books were carefully selected by a Literacy
Advisory Board and reflect a commitment to
diversity in their content and message.
Mrs. Doyle hopes you find them as interesting and
appealing as she does.

The titles recommended for this month are:
Preschool: "Jazz Baby" by Lisa Wheeler
Primary: "Los Gatos Black on Halloween" by
Marisa Montes Intermediate: "The City of Ember"
by Jeanne DuBrau Middle School: "Middle School
is Worse than Meatloaf" by Jennifer L. Holm and
"Touching Spirit Bear" by Ben Mikaelsen High School:
"Sunrise Over Fallujah" by Walter Dean Myers

For more information, or to join the "Read On Wisconsin"
book club, go to
http://readon.wisconsin.gov


 SYSTEM YOUTH LIAISON POSTING
 Barbara Huntington, DLTCL
 October 2008

Nicole's Favorite Children's Book

How many books -- for adults or children -- have inspired dozens of
sequels, countless books that borrow the story or reference it, several
movies (the latest a science fictional version on the SciFi Channel) and
no less than three major stage musicals? L. Frank Baum's "The Wizard of Oz" is an American cultural touchstone, and my favorite children's book of all time.

The book that initially many librarians refused to stock or recommend
endures as a great read-aloud for children of all ages, full of dry wit
and utter strangeness. I revisit it at least once a year. Forget all of
the wonderful adaptations that have been done since; "The Wizard of Oz" itself is one of the zaniest, funniest and most memorable stories of all time.

Nicole Lowery
Lakes Country Public Library

Want to share YOUR favorite children's book of all time? Email Jamie!

Bits from Barb

Children's Book Week

This is just a reminder that Children's Book Week has been moved from November to May. The artwork for the 2008 theme is now available. Mary Grand Pre, who is best known in children's literature circles as the creator of the Harry Potter covers, designed this year's official Children's Book Week poster. The Children's Book Council is offering the official poster at no charge this year. For information on Children's Book Week web site go to www.cbcbooks.org/cbw/index_2.html.

UW-Madison Summer Course
Bilingual Storytime Workshop, August 11-13, 2008
Participants will gain an understanding of cultural differences and learn how to
effectively incorporate elements of Hispanic, Native American, and Hmong cultures into children's programming.
For more information, contact Anna Palmer, ahpalmer@wisc.edu or 608-263-4452.

ALA Step Up to the Plate Promotion
The boys of summer are stepping up to the plate for the start of the first week of baseball season 2008. The American Library Association (ALA) and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum are getting into the swing of things, too. Season three of Step Up to the Plate @ your library officially launches this week. The program teams up two American classics - baseball and libraries-to promote the importance of information literacy skills and increase awareness of the library as an essential information resource. The Step Up to the Plate trivia game is now available to library patrons on the program's Web site at www.ala.org/baseball.
 Season three of the program, is a whole new "ball game," celebrating the 100th anniversary of the iconic song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."  People of all ages will be encouraged to visit their library and answer a series of trivia questions inspired by "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Categories of questions will include ballparks, baseball in popular culture, fan experience, and baseball pioneers. One grand-prize winner will receive a trip to the Hall of Fame in October 2008.
Librarians are encouraged to visit the program Web site to register for free promotional tools to help promote the program locally. Tools include program logos in both English and Spanish and a toolkit that includes sample press materials and programming ideas. To date more than 500 librarians from across the country have registered for the program.
Librarians who bring in the most entries can win incentives for participation in the program.  The library that brings in the most entries will get a $100 bookstore gift certificate and a copy of "Baseball's Greatest Hit: The Story of 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game,'" by Andy Strasberg, Bob Thompson, and Tim Wiles. The next three libraries will receive a $50 ALA Graphics gift certificate and a copy of "Baseball's Greatest Hit." For more information about Step Up to the Plate trivia game or the promotion in general, go www.ala.org/baseball.


Map Added to the Performer Web Page
Public librarians and staff from other organizations who want to hire performers for their children's programs can now use the new Performer Map to locate potential candidates in their area. This map uses the free Google Maps service. On the map, every city with at least one performer in the Performer Directory has a location marker. Clicking a marker displays its information window, which includes:
*       The city name
*       An alphabetical list of performer names
*       The primary directory category for each performer
*       An underlined link to each performer's main directory entry
In the full-size map, the location markers are also listed in order by city name on the left side of the window. Clicking a marker in the city list scrolls the map to the city and displays its information window. The markers are color coded for Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin. In performer entries of the directory pages, the city/state of the contact line is linked to the Performer Map. Clicking the link displays the city on the map and it's information window.Note: Performers who are represented by a booking agency that is listed as their contact are not included in the Performer Map.

Check it out! 

Copies of Past Wisconsin Manuals Available
The DPI Publications Office is cleaning house and has copies of three manuals used in the past available at no cost to interested libraries. They may be of interest to your local schools or day care centers. The titles are 1990 "Readlicious," 1996 "Razzle Dazzle Read," and 1998 " Mave Waves: READ!"
Let Jamie know if you would like any copies of these!

Some 2009 SLP Resources
March's "Puppet Tales Newsletter" written by Stephanie Stokes, California, for Mister Anderson's Company, has a link to free Spider Web Soup label that can be downloaded. It looks like a Campbell's Soup label and fits around a standard sized soup can. To sign up for the free news letter go to www.misterandersons.com/contact/index.htm.
Mackinac Island Press has a new title that may support the bug theme this summer. The title is 'Twas the Night Before Summer," a takeoff of the poem, "A Visit from St. Nicholas." A young girl fears she will be bored during the summer, but a luna moth appears in a magic flying ship and shows the girl and her brother all the fun things that they can do. They stop to watch bugs in a county fair-like setting and at the beach, watch fireworks, and roast marshmallows before they return to their beds. The whole book is available for preview.


El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children's Day/Book Day)
 Libraries across the country will join Dora the Explorer(tm), members of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and REFORMA in celebrating El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children's Day/Book Day), also known as Día, on April 30. Día celebrates the importance of advocating literacy for every child, regardless of linguistic and cultural background. Dora the Explorer(tm), the popular children's television character who invites children to share her adventures in learning, is featured in the Día 2008 brochure, poster and bookmark.
 Libraries showcase their various multicultural programs and services through Día celebrations. Día events support literacy and bridge cultures through bilingual book displays and story hours; family literacy fairs; bilingual writing projects, and programs that will encourage parents to inspire their children to read.
 Día honors children, their languages and culture, encourages reading and literacy, and promotes library collections and programs that reflect the country's changing populations. For a brochure featuring multicultural book lists and tips on how to encourage children to read, please visit the Día Web site at www.ala.org/dia. Libraries that register their Día events through the Web site will receive copies of the complimentary brochure, while supplies last. In addition, posters and bookmarks are for sale through ALA Graphics at www.alastore.ala.org.
 ALSC is the national center for Día. Through a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, ALSC is working with national organizations, such as Dia's Founding Partner, REFORMA, to initiate communication and education efforts that promote Día to families across the United States. REFORMA is the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking.
 If your library is celebrating Día please go to the ALA web site and describe what you are doing. Currently there are no entries for Wisconsin.

SYSTEM YOUTH LIAISON POSTING
Barbara Huntington, DLTCL
April 2008