Rules by Cynthia Lord

I wrote previously about the book club Barbara Merritt, Scarborough School District head librarian for Grades K-8, and I co-host. Barbara is a real dynamo when it comes to promoting books at the schools and is terrific at finding questions that get the students talking. Go hear to read about the books we read for Grades 3 and 4. 

This past Wednesday, May 7, had us finishing up the Newbery honor book, Rules, written by Maine author Cynthia Lord with fifth graders. The idea for the book came from the author's own experience raising a son with Autism. The story centers around twelve-year-old Catherine who is frustrated with having an autistic younger brother. Catherine longs for a normal existence, but finds her world is further complicated by a friendship with a young paraplegic. There was much to discuss. What was super special was having Cynthia Lord came in person! to talk with the students. She was fantastic. Cynthia brought along to share some of her plastic ducks -- you'd have to read the book to understand their significance, and her Newbery honor plaque (we all were allowed to make a wish by placing our hand over the Newbery medal). Lord also shared some writing tips we all found useful. Thank you, Cynthia Lord. We all hope you keep writing!

This Wednesday, May 14 another group of fifth graders who read, The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg will get to Skype with author Rodman Philbrick. His book is set during the Civil War and is about twelve-year-old Homer's extraordinary adventures after running away from his evil uncle in rural Maine to rescues his brother who has been sold into service in the Civil War. Another Newbery honor book from 2010, we are looking forward to hearing Mr. Philbrick, who also wrote the very popular young adult novel, Freak the Mighty.  

Stay tuned for upcoming information about the summer reading program, Fizz! Boom! Read! Sign up will begin the week school is out!

Reading and Electonic Devices

I'm speaking out about electronic devices. Though I see their advantages for adults, all too often smart phones to iPads become just another electronic babysitter. Instead of engaging children while shopping, you see young children, even infants, sitting in the shopping carts staring down at a screen watching some character move through a series of obstacles. Conversations with children are so very important to their development of language! By putting your child in front of any electronic device, according to research, can have a huge impact on how they process information and their overall behavior.

In this article from the Huffington Post (10 Reason Why Handheld Devices Should Be Banned for Children under 12), The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Society of Pediatrics state infants aged 0-2 years should not have any exposure to technology(no DVD's or TV), 3-5 years be restricted to one hour per day, and 6-18 years restricted to 2 hours per day (AAP 2001/13, CPS 2010). Though we do know that children and youth use 4-5 times the recommended amount of technology, with serious and often life threatening consequences (Kaiser Foundation 2010, Active Healthy Kids Canada 2012)
 
Another article asks the question, "Could ebooks actually get in the way of reading?" According to research, digital devices can be distracting, leading to diminished comprehension, fluency and engagement. Students reading comprehension is much better when using print. I know for myself, if I reading an ebook I tend to stop every few pages to check my email, FaceBook, even the weather! It is extremely difficult to stay on task, no matter how much I love the book.


We all know digital devices are here to stay. How we use them, and any new technology, is the key. Helping our children be the best they can be is important and the Library offers a tremendous collection of print materials to support your child's reading habit.

I often wonder if children would have been as absorbed in the Harry Potter if the popular series would have had to compete with today's technology.

Stop in. We love recommending books.

Spine Label Poetry

Instead of posting a favorite poetry book, I thought it would be fun to encourage you all to write your own poems. How? By using the spines of books you have at your house. Anything will do. Visit 100 Scope Notes for inspiration. 

Be wild and crazy, but most importantly just have a good time.
 

How do you do it? Just grab some books off your bookshelf and see if you can put together a poem. See what you can create. Take a picture and email it to me (lcapizzo (at) scarboroughlibrary(dot)org) and I'll post it on this blog.

Happy writing.

A Poke in the I, selected by Paul B. Janeczko

Concrete poetry are very, very different from regular poems because the visual appearance of the poem matches the subject. 

I

NEED

CONTACT

LENSES

like i need a poke in the eye

by John Hegley

Paul Janeczko is a poetry anthologist extraordinaire. He's also from Maine. He has put together a collection of poems using the concrete -- or shape-- appearance. A Poke in the Eye: a collection of concrete poems is a handsome collection with illustrations done by Chris Raschka, a Caldecott winner for illustrating the Hello, Goodbye Window. Raschka's abstract paintings lend a playfulness to these fun poems. Raschka says, "Concrete poetry is the yoga of words. Like feeling your breath and your bones, you begin to notice what words and sentences actually look like."

Pick this up to share with your family. You'll be glad you did.

Forget-Me-Nots: poems to learn by heart

I was made to memorize poems when I was in school, but, unfortunately, remember only one of them,  Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Lord Tennyson, and then only the third stanza at that!

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
   Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of hell
   Rode the six hundred.

 
Forget-Me-Nots: poems to learn by Heart, selected by former Children's Poet Laureate and National Book Award Winner, Mary Ann Hoberman, is a collection of poems suitable for memorizing. Poets include Robert Louis Stevenson, Ogden Nash, Elizabeth Coatsworth, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Douglas Florian, and more.

Fog by Carl Sandburg

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

Next time you visit the Scarborough Public Library, ask Marilyn to recite a poem. She has a wealth of them

stored in her memory.

Valerie Worth

Valerie Worth (b.1933- d.1994) was the author of many poetry books for children. I have always loved the simplicity of Worth's free verse poems.

crows

when the high

snows lie worn

to rags along

the muddy furrows,

and the frozen

sky frays, dropping

gray and sodden

to the ground,

the sleek crows

appear, flying

low across the

threadbare meadow

to jeer at

winter's ruin

with their jubilant

Thaw! Thaw! Thaw!

Accompanying each poem is a pencil sketch by Natalie Babbitt, who is also an amazing author. Babbitt's images are perfect companions to the poems.

Worth's poetry encourages observation. You can see that in the poem back yard.

back yard

Sun in the back yard,

Grows lazy,

Dozing on the porch steps

All morning,

Getting up and nosing

About corners,

Gazing into an empty

Flowerpot,

Later easing over the grass

For a nap,

Unless

Someone hangs out the wash--

Which changes 

Everything to a rush and a clap

Of wet

Cloth, and fresh wind

And sun

Wide awake in the white sheets.

When reading this poem, it reminds me of lazy summer days; of gazing out and marking the time of day by where the sun is as it crosses the porch. I can even smell the freshness of the laundry after being hung outside all day, drying in the gentle breeze and warmed by the sunshine.

Check out all the small poems and fourteen more by Valerie Worth and share them with your children. 

From the stacks

 Sharing poems with your child helps children develop a love of language. Read more...
 
One book in our collection that is just right for introducing poems to your child is, Here's a Little Poem: a very first book of poetry, Ccollected by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters; Illustrated by Poly Dumbar.

A.A. Milne, author of the beloved character Winnie-the-Pooh wrote some terrific poems.

Halfway Down by A.A. Milne
Halfway down the stairs
Is a stair
Where I sit.
There isn't any
Other stair
Quite like
It.

I'm not at the bottom,
I'm not at the top;
So this is the stair
Where
I always
Stop.