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Items of Interest Newsletter
August 2005

New books about kindergarten & the first day of school
YALSA booklist - Teen "Books That Don't Make You Blush"
ALSC Notable Books
2006 ALSC Professional Awards
Preschool Services Discussion List Serve
Ideas sought for the 2007 "Get a Clue" manual
Teen librarians speak out
YSS Press

New books about kindergarten & the first day of school

I can't believe that another summer is nearly over.  And we all made it through another successful Summer Library Program.  Now we're focusing on those first days of school.  A few books have been recently published to help young kids make the transition from summer freedom to school days:

Brand-New Pencils, Brand-New Books, written and illustrated by Diane deGroat.  HarperCollins, 2005.

Gilbert is excited and nervous about his first day of first grade.  How will first grade and kindergarten be different?

Bunny School: A Learning Fun for All, written by Rick Walton, illustrated by Paige Miglio.  HarperCollins, 2005.

Walton and Miglio depict common kindergarten experiences and help young children prepare for their very first days of school.

Kindergarten Kids: Riddles, Rebuses, Wiggles, Giggles and More! Written by Stephanie Calmenson, illustrated by Melissa Sweet.  HarperCollins, 2005.

Each rhyme in this picture book highlights one aspect of kindergarten.  Ideal for year-round sharing.

School, written and illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully.  HarperCollins, 2005.

A very young mouse joins her older siblings on their first day of school.

Tucker's Four-Carrot School Day, written and illustrated by Susan Winget.  HarperCollins, 2005.

Even though Tucker is apprehensive about his first day of kindergarten, he quickly realizes that he's going to enjoy school.

What are your favorite first day of school books?  Send your suggestions to kidslist!

YALSA booklist - Teen "Books That Don't Make You Blush"

The Young Adult Library Services Association's (YALSA) Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults Committee is developing a list of recommended reading parents and teens can agree on: “Books that Don't Make You Blush: No Dirty Laundry Here.” The booklist features fiction and nonfiction that is wholesome in nature, as well as popular, ranging from Meg Cabot's “All American Girl” to Kenneth Oppel's “Airborn.”

Other book and media lists for teens are available on YALSA's booklist & book awards web page.

And check out the books nominated for next year's Best Books for Young Adults to get a sneak peek at the books that are generating some buzz.

ALSC Notable Books

Let's not forget the younger kids!  Check out the Notable Books Committee's discussion list to take a look at the books this committee is considering for next year's list.

2006 ALSC Professional Awards

Information and application forms for all the 2006 ALSC professional awards are available on the ALSC Web site.

ALSC professional awards include:

ALSC/BWI Summer Reading Program Grant
ALSC/Sagebrush Education Resources Literature Grant
The Bechtel Fellowship
Distinguished Service Award
Penguin Young Readers Group Award
Maureen Hayes Author/Illustrator Visit Award

The application deadline for all awards is December 1, 2005 .

Preschool Services Discussion Group List Serve
ALSC provides a Preschool Services Discussion group list serve.  This list provides ideas for serving preschool children and their families.  Many participants share ideas for successful storytimes and library programs.  

To join:

Send an email message to LISTPROC@ALA.ORG
Leave the subject line blank

In the text in the body of the message, enter the following:
subscribe PRESCHSVCS [YourFirstName] [YourLastName]
(but  use your own first and last names).
Do not include the brackets in your message.

For example, a message should read: subscribe PRESCHSVCS Jane Doe

Ideas sought for the 2007 "Get a Clue" manual

Patti Sinclair is looking for ideas for the "Get a Clue@ Your Library" 2007 summer library program manual.  She would like ideas for each of the chapters and would especially like ideas for school visits, ways to promote the program in the local community, library decoration, and bulletin
board ideas, mystery skits that use clues in an interesting way, and family, adult literacy and intergenerational activities.
 
The chapters include:
Chapter 1       Planning
Chapter 2       Promotion
Chapter 3       Detect It! Super Summer Sleuthing
Chapter 4       Solve It!  Puzzles, Codes and Ciphers
Chapter 5       Dig It Up! Mysteries from the Past
Chapter 6       Discover it! Science Mysteries
Chapter 7       Explain It! Real life mysteries.
Chapter 8       Get a Clue for all ages

The deadline for submitting ideas is December 1, 2005 .

Send your ideas to: Patti Sinclair, 306 Virginia Terrace, Madison , WI   53726 or via e-mail.

And remember that the 2006 SLP poster art is available to view online!

Teen librarians speak out

An article in Pages Online: The Magazine for People Who Love Books highlights teen librarians and the important services they provide.   Kevin King, teen librarian at the Kalamazoo Public Library in Michigan , and friend of all youth services librarians in the South Central Library System, is quoted in this article.

YSS Press

Just a reminder – current and back issues of the YSS press are available online.

Have you just read a great book and want to send a review?  Do you have a program idea to share?  Send your information to Shawn for the next issue of Items of Interest!

For more information about Items of Interest, contact Shawn Brommer.

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