Financial Literacy

There's a new bibliotherapy category, it seems, brought on by the current economic situation.  While perusing Albert Whitman's Spring 2010 catalog recently, toward the back I spotted, among sub-categories such as autism, abuse, and asthma, the "financial literacy" category.  Three books were featured which were intended for children ages 5 to 10 yrs. They dealt with topics such as fundraising, earning money, and maintaining savings accounts.  Publishers are quick to jump on bandwagons.  Remember the buzz-word a few years ago --"conflict management"?  And "homeless persons"?  The latter theme will need, unfortunately, to continue to be explored in children's literature.  It truly takes a village to raise a kid.  But it starts with parents modeling desired behavior for their children.  We could all tighten our belts a bit these days, don't you think? 

Recommended Read

This is a quirky one that resonates like a cicada on a lazy summer night.  It's a quick read with a slow feel, like main character Popeye's endless, simple summer.  It's about seemingly long stretches of time punctuated by unexpected events that can turn ordinary days into extraordinary experiences.  Here's the bibliographic particulars + publisher's summary --

THE SMALL ADVENTURE OF POPEYE AND ELVIS by Barbara O'Connor.
(New York:  Farrar, Straus and Giroux, c2009), 150 pages.  Summary:  In Fayette, South Carollina, the highlight of Popeye's summer is learning vocabulary words with his grandmother until a motorhome gets stuck nearby and Elvis, the oldest boy living inside, joins Popeye in finding the source of strange boats floating down the creek.

Recommended Read

Ms. Plum IS magical! And so is this book. Ms. Plum is the 3rd grade teacher that every kid wants. Why? Because she's interesting (allows animals and candy in her classroom), she cares about her students' hearts as well as their grades, and she guides them in important and unexpected ways that have nothing to do with math or reading. How? With her mysterious supply closet, which contains just what each of them needs. This one is 104 pages of positively, yes, magical prose. Here's the pertinent details + publisher's summary --

THE MAGICAL MS. PLUM by Bonny Becker (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, c2009). Summary: The students in Ms. Plum's third-grade class soon learn that there is something very special about their teacher and her classroom's mysterious supply closet.

Recommended Read

I finished this one just in time for Halloween! It's a sort of modern day Hansel and Gretel tale with just enough spunk and spookiness to "grab" young readers. Here's the pertinent details + publisher's summary --

THE WITCH'S GUIDE TO COOKING WITH CHILDREN by Keith McGowan
(New York: Henry Holt, c2009), 176 pgs. Summary: Eleven-year-old inventor Sol must recover his self-confidence if he and his eight-year-old sister, Connie, are to escape the clutches of Hansel and Gretel's witch, to whom they have been led by their new stepmother and the man they believe is their father.

Remember their names

If there is one tip that I could offer new youth librarians, it would be to learn the names of the children who come to your programs. When they come to the library again and you have remembered their names, their parents are pleased that you have noticed their special child and the child feels an instant bond because you know them. A connected circle of encouragement is formed to help nurture the child and enrich his/her library experience. I sometimes write down the names of new attendees on a sticky note and keep the sticky note for the next week's round of programs (as a cheat sheet), in case some of the newbees reappear. It's a very simple thing, but it means a lot to those involved. I stopped trying to remember the caregivers' names a long time ago. It's hard enough for me to remember the childrens' names. And, for some reason, I have real difficulty remembering first names that are like surnames, such as Madison or Parker. But I try. And if I forget, I keep asking what the child's name is until I eventually remember it. When I finally "get" it, instant smiles appear on the faces of the child and his/her caregiver.

Outreach Matters

At my current site, and with the ever so lean staffing in our libraries, I don't get out and do a whole lot of outreach programming. But I am committed to doing quarterly programs at the local Boys & Girls Club. This serves those children whose parents work and can't often get them to the library during the week. Going to the Boys & Girls Club changes up their aftercare afternoons and brings the fun of library materials to them. When I do weekday outreach gigs, I always remind the children that the library is open in the evenings and on weekends and that, hopefully, their parents can bring them to the library then. Sometimes I'll tell them that I'll be at my library on Sunday (I work every Sunday), and if they come in and say hello to me I'll give them a special bookmark. It has happened, and when it does, it makes my day. Yesterday was an Early Release day in the local school district, which means the kids only went to school for half the school day. I planned a special library program, in conjunction with the opening of the film, "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" (based on Judi Barrett's book), hoping to rope in some families with extra afternoon time on their hands. Before the program, several kids said "hi" to me and asked me if I remembered them from the Boys & Girls Club program when we did the "Miss Mary Mack" clap rhyme. Not only did they remember their last outreach program, but they found a way to get a parent to take them to the library for an in-house weekday afternoon program. Outreach does matter!

Book Brief

COLD HANDS, WARM HEART (YA Fic) by Jill Wolfson

In the beginning, one of the girls has a warm heart. The other has cold hands. And then a tragic accident happens. In the end, a grieving mother hugs a girl and feels her own daughter's heart beating deep inside the girl's chest. In the center of it all is the complex and moving story of an organ donor. And the many lives that are fraught with sadness, humor, fear, hope, anger, gratitude, guilt, and lots of questions when her death touches them. But mostly it's about the heart recipient. And how she finds a way to truly accept the gift she has been given.