From: "PUBYAC: PUBlic librarians serving Young Adults & Children" <pubyac@prairienet.org>

To: "PUBYAC: PUBlic librarians serving Young Adults & Children" <pubyac@prairienet.org>

Date: Tue, 7 Dec 1999 00:01:00 CST

Subject: PUBYAC digest 15

PUBYAC Digest 15

Topics covered in this issue include:

1) RE: Idea to promote reading in the new millenium

by DLHIETT <dlh@greennet.net>

2) Librarian input requested for new public radio show about children's

books

by "Dwyer & O'Grady, Inc." <dosouth@mindspring.com>

3) Re: why library?

by Lola Teubert <lolat@evans.evcpl.lib.in.us>

4) Re: Teen mystery nights

by "Sarah Smith" <sesmith5@hotmail.com>

5) Thanks!!!

by "Sarah Smith" <sesmith5@hotmail.com>

6) STUMPER SOLVED- "WHITTLES/

by Tanya DiMaggio <tanya@mail.sttammany.lib.la.us>

7) Author's Birthdays

by LunarHunk@aol.com

8) Stumper

by "Sarah Smith" <sesmith5@hotmail.com>

9) stumper:bear in raincoat

by "Marie Noe" <marie.noe@alc.org>

10) stumper/outcast toy - Herkimer?

by "Mary D'Eliso" <mdeliso@monroe.lib.in.us>

11) SHORT STORIES

by Barbara Haymann-Diaz <bhaymann-diaz@poklib.org>

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: DLHIETT <dlh@greennet.net>

To: "'pubyac@prairienet.org'" <pubyac@prairienet.org>

Subject: RE: Idea to promote reading in the new millenium

Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 11:09:51 CST

Greetings,

A few weeks ago I asked for some ideas to promote reading in the new =

millenium. I met with the school staff on two occasions and this is =

what we came up with.

"Reading Millionaires in the New Millenium"

This is based on an article one of the teachers read in The Reading =

Teacher Vol.48.No.8 May 1995

This will be a school wide project to promote reading in grades R-4. =20

Starting in Jan2000 students will be tracking reading minutes in order =

to reach a school-wide goal of 1,000,000 minutes! Students will log the =

minutes they read in their Savings Book. The Bankers, which will be 4th =

grade students, will keep track of the total as students become richer =

through reading. ( this will be incorporated into a math class ) =20

We will start the kick-off with a rally which will include a musician =

relating to literature and a play. The school staff and I will put on =

"The Bookworm" by Gwen Chaloner.

Each time a student reads at home he/she records the minutes read in the =

savings book and has the entry signed by their parents.

The savings books are then brought to school and tallied at the end of =

the week.

There will be a Reading Hall of Fame where individual students will =

receive recognition if they read more than 500 minutes in one week.

All the first graders will visit the library for a tour, story and =

scavenger hunt.

The students will also get recognition for library visits. The library =

will log the students visits by individual classrooms and due to space =

constraints we will chart the library visits by grade per month. The =

library will call the school each week with the number of visits for =

each classroom.

We will also display a bulletin board in the Children's room where the =

students may recommend books.

Each child who has a library card will receive recognition (in the form =

of a certificate signed by the school principal?). Therefore, the =

library will note the new library card holders.

This may sound like a lot of work, however, I think that it will be =

worth it!

Here is the harry Potter information. It works, we received out packet

a week ago.

Harry Potter Activity Kit Offer

Attn. Sonya Bundridge

Scholastic, Inc.

555 Broadway

New York, NY

10012-3999

Include a self-addresses adhesive label

------------------------------

From: "Dwyer & O'Grady, Inc." <dosouth@mindspring.com>

To: pubyac@prairienet.org

Subject: Librarian input requested for new public radio show about children's

books

MIME-Version: 1.0

Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 11:41:20 CST

Dear Librarians:

Hi, I’m Tom Bodett, and I need your help. I’m the host of a new public

radio program directed at adults about children’s literature, and I need

advice from you. Over the years, you’ve probably heard me on the radio

talking about a lot of different things – missing socks, paint samples,

motel rooms (plenty of that) – but I’ve never had too much to say about

children’s literature. At least, not until I wrote Williwaw!, my middle

grade Alaska adventure story published by Knopf.

I soon discovered what thousands of children’s book writers,

illustrators, and librarians have known for a long time – outside of

your local library and bookstore, there are few places to learn about

books that have been published for kids. The publishing industry relies

almost entirely on a method referred to as the "word-of-mouth campaign"

-- which is, of course, about as high tech as a horse shoe, and just

about as effective at informing an interested public about books. But,

lucky for us, an Italian fellow named Marconi came up with a little

invention around a hundred years ago that can really add some clout to a

word-of-mouth campaign. They call it radio. And I know something about that.

One day, I was talking to my old friend Ben Manilla, one of the best

radio producers in the business, about what a shame it was that there

are five to seven thousand new children’s books published every year and

there were so few ways to learn about them. Being a dad himself, Ben

knew well the grab bag experience of selecting random titles for his

four year old from the local library or bookstore.

We both began talking to Jeff Dwyer and Elizabeth O’Grady , children’s

literary agents who represent some of the most respected names in

children’s book publishing, and out of those conversations came the

Loose Leaf Book Company, an entertaining hour-long weekly public radio

program for adults devoted entirely to the writing, illustration,

publishing, and celebration of children’s literature.

Each week we choose a broad subject such as Home, Schools, Vacations,

or -- as in the case of our pilot program -- Time. We select six to a

dozen titles spanning all age ranges from toddler to young adult and

look at our subject through the lens of ---children’s literature.

The program is highly produced in Ben’s state of the art facilities in

San Francisco highlighting short dramatizations, author and artist

interviews, news features from the world of books, and chats with

regular experts and champions of books. All of the audio elements are

mixed in a high energy and evocative format to please any listener,

whether or not they have kids, or even care about books. For those who

do care about books, they will receive some solid recommendations from

some respected individuals who know a thing or two about it.

Fortunately, we received the immediate support from the Children’s Book

Council (CBC) who have agreed to provide us with an unbiased panel of

experts from the field of children’s literature to assist in the

selection of quality titles for the program. We have received financing

from Random House, Little Brown & Co.-, Houghton Mifflin, Harcourt

Brace, Winslow Press and Sterling Lord of Sterling Lord Literistic.

Recently, when we tested the pilot episode of Loose Leaf at the Public

Radio Program Directors Conference in Memphis, we met with great

enthusiasm. We are busily working on our commitments with radio

stations to secure the debut of the Loose Leaf Book Company in January

2000. Presently, seventeen stations have agreed to broadcast the show,

and we’re adding new stations weekly.

As the host of the show, my job is to play the part of the inquisitive

guide. I paint the subject across all of our featured books, and ask

the important questions that come up. I am not the book expert. I sit

on the same side of the windshield as the listener and attempt to steer

the program where I think they’ll want to go.

I’d like you to visit our website at (www.looseleafbookcompany.com),

listen to our demo show, and tell us what you think. We are aware that

the library community is not represented in the body of the show, and we

would like to hear your ideas on how we can fix that. Also, we hope

that with the aid of the CBC we’ll be able to include representatives

from the library world to our selection panels.

A terrific idea that we spoke with public radio program directors about

while we were in Memphis was producing a three minute "cutaway" (that’s

radio talk) within the program which would allow a local station to

invite a librarian from their own community to contribute personal

favorites which might relate to the theme of that week’s show. The

subject of each program will be decided and distributed far in advance

of each weekly broadcast. That’s one idea from a bunch of radio people.

We’d like to hear some ideas from librarians who speak to people

everyday about what’s being published and read.

Our website is continuing to evolve, just as the program itself does.

Listen to our demo, cruise the site awhile, and please get back to me

with your impressions and inspirations. If you use Microsoft Internet

Explorer with MS Media Player rather than Netscape, you may find that

the audio works easier. Our goal is to serve the interests of people

interested in books in an informative and entertaining fashion. From a

writer’s first words on a fresh notepad, to a dog-eared storybook

finding it’s way down a library stairs in the hands of a child – I find

the entire process fascinating, and I know our listeners will too.

Please take a look for yourself, and help us to make it that much better.

Sincerely Yours,

Tom Bodett Please respond to: tbodett@looseleafbookcompany.com

------------------------------

From: Lola Teubert <lolat@evans.evcpl.lib.in.us>

To: pubyac@prairienet.org

Subject: Re: why library?

Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 12:02:04 CST

Dear Suzanne,

WHY LIBRARIES? Lately there has been much discussion on and off the web re

LITERACY. I am a YA Librarian and literacy coordinator: working with ms & hs

and college students and train volunteer tutors to tutor adults, drop-outs and

push-outs. My budget isn't very big and i must use it for YA bks and

magazines. I need tutoring material and there are no funds. I do works

directly with the Literacy Center at Ivy Tech, but thery require you to go

thru their program.As a PL I feel anyone -tax payer in our community is

entitled to getting materials for a student they maybe assisting with bASIC

SKILLS. I am very low on tutoring materials and have to rely on gift money.

There should be money for educ in the library sys from gov't as low basic

skills on the part of our citizens hurts everyone. PLUS-- the library is a

non-threatening place for a person who is reticent to admit he/she needs help

and we have the books and trained tutors -given funding!!

I am a Sr Laubach tutor &trainer. It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT for lib adm &

government to value literacy and see the need to be able to assist those "out

there" wanting-needing tutorial asst. I have written grants:however, with only

one part-time person in my dept. it is difficult to obtain grants. I did get

on and rec'd bks, computer and GED on software. These are used consistently.

Hope this helps.

Happy holidays!

Lola

Lola Teubert

Evansville-Vanderburgh County Public Library

22 SE. Fifth St.,

Evansville,IN.47708

812-428-8229

fax 812-428-8215

lolat@evans.evcpl.lib.in.us

------------------------------

From: "Sarah Smith" <sesmith5@hotmail.com>

To: pubyac@prairienet.org

Subject: Re: Teen mystery nights

Mime-Version: 1.0

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Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 12:16:18 CST

I have used one of the kits, which I adapted for an eight-week long summer

reading program. We used "Barbecue with a Vampire" or something like that.

The teens loved the program. The only bad thing with the kits is that the

answer/solution never changes so you can't reuse them on a regular basis.

You have to wait until you have a new group of teens!

Sarah

Harrison, Michigan

------------------------------

From: "Sarah Smith" <sesmith5@hotmail.com>

To: pubyac@prairienet.org

Subject: Thanks!!!

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Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed

Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 12:23:56 CST

To all who e-mailed Chuck Coulson's radio transcript and other articles on

the Harry Potter controversy, a huge THANKS!!! I have a lot of great

sources for my paper. Now if I just get that A....

Anyway, thank you for your assistance. I tried to keep all the requests for

the paper. With any luck, I'll finish it this week, since it is due

Thursday. (I am a terrible procrastinator!)

Thanks again,

Sarah

Harrison, Michigan

______________________________________________________

Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

------------------------------

From: Tanya DiMaggio <tanya@mail.sttammany.lib.la.us>

To: PUBYAC@prairienet.org

Subject: STUMPER SOLVED- "WHITTLES/

MIME-Version: 1.0

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Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 18:19:14 CST

Thanks to all who responded with the answer. The book is called "You are

Special" by Max Lucado. According to Lesley Knieriem:

From: "<Lesley Knieriem>" <lknierie@suffolk.lib.ny.us>

To: Tanya DiMaggio <tanya@mail.sttammany.lib.la.us>

Subject: Re: STUMPER: Whittles?

Your patron may be thinking of "You Are Special" by Max Lucado.

It originally appeared as a chapter in his book "Tell Me The Secrets" and

was later issued separately as a picture book illustrated by Sergio

Martinez.

The book features the Wemmicks, carved wooden characters who give

each other gold stars or gray dots, depending whether they are pretty or

talented or clever or not. Punchinello visists the wood carver Eli and

learns that he loves all the wooden people, no matter what others think of

them.

The only reason that I am not absolutely certain that this is your

patron's book is that "You Are Special" is a fairly obvious religious

allegory (Eli stands for God) and there is no indication that your patron

remembers this aspect of the book.

On Thu, 2 Dec 1999, Tanya DiMaggio wrote:

> Hello everyone.

> A patron is asking for a book that she saw several months ago in a

> bookstore. She doesn't know the title and is not sure about the characters

> either. It is a an easy picture book, about a man who carves wooden

> people. If the people are good, they get a star on their chest. If they

> are "bad" they get a dot. She thinks they are called "whittles", or

> "whiddles". The moral of the story is giving compliments. I checked in A

> to Zoo and on Amazon.com to no avail. Please respond to me personally if

> you know the book. Thanks. Tanya

>

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> Tanya DiMaggio

> Children's Librarian

> Slidell Branch

> St. Tammany Parish Library

> 555 Robert Blvd.

> Slidell,LA 70458-1600

> 504-646-6470 x17

> 504-645-3553 fax

> tanya@mail.sttammany.lib.la.us

>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Lesley Knieriem ~

~ YA / Reference Librarian (631) 549-4411 ~

~ South Huntington Public Library fax (631) 549-6832 ~

~ Huntington Station, NY 11746 lknierie@suffolk.lib.ny.us ~

~ ----------------------------------------------------------------- ~

~ "Someone out there was about to find that their worst nightmare ~

~ was a maddened Librarian." -- Terry Pratchett, GUARDS! GUARDS! ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

------------------------------

From: LunarHunk@aol.com

To: pubyac@prairienet.org

Subject: Author's Birthdays

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Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 18:29:45 CST

Hi, Everyone,

A group of us at Greenville PL are working on a list of author's

birthdays. We are planning on having to authors highlighted on our website

each month. We are going to base are choices on birthdays. We are also

going to include a list of others born each month.

Anyway, we have been unable to locate the following birthdays after

checking the internet and a number of children's authors books. They are:

K.A. Applegate

Jan and Stan Berenstain

Jan Brett

Joanna Cole

Nina Crews

Demi

Dan Freeman

Patricia Reilly Giff

S.E. Hinton

Patricia MacLachlan

Patricia Polacco

Maria Polushkin

Joanna K. Rawlings

Louis Sachar

Allen Say

Shel Silversein

Gertrude Warner

Any help would be appreciated. We are also looking for Franklin W. Dixon and

Carolyn Keene. We know the more recent books were written by a team of

writers, but we would like to highlight the original authors.

Aaron Coutu

Reference Assistant

Greenville Public Library

Greenville, RI 02828

------------------------------

From: "Sarah Smith" <sesmith5@hotmail.com>

To: PUBYAC@prairienet.org

Subject: Stumper

Mime-Version: 1.0

Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed

Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 18:36:02 CST

Okay, not a whole lot of information here but this is what I have--

1. A Jewish(?) family that lives in an apartment upstairs.

2. Several girls in the family.

3. A series of books.

4. Read about ten years ago, but they were "older" publishing date.

5. In one book, a girl spills tea on her dress and decides to dye

her dress with tea.

6. In another book, they dance around a maypole.

Patron and I would greatly appreciate any help all of you can offer. She

read these books a while ago and would like to re-read them. I am having no

luck finding author or titles. (We do not have any children's selection

aides or indexes, so...)

Thanks in advance,

Sarah

Harrison, Michigan

______________________________________________________

Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

------------------------------

From: "Marie Noe" <marie.noe@alc.org>

To: "PUBYAC" <pubyac@prairienet.org>

Subject: stumper:bear in raincoat

Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 18:42:24 CST

We have a patron-memory stumper. Book about a bear wearing a raincoat.

Bear possibly has button eyes, one of which is missing. We tried the

Paddington (his coat looks a lot like a raincoat to us) and Corduroy

(missing button), but neither was recognized by patron. Any ideas?

**********************************************

Marie Noe marie.noe@alc.org

Librarian II (915) 676-6067

Abilene Public Library fax-(915) 738-8082

202 Cedar Street Abilene, TX 79601

------------------------------

From: "Mary D'Eliso" <mdeliso@monroe.lib.in.us>

To: PUBYAC@prairienet.org

Subject: stumper/outcast toy - Herkimer?

MIME-Version: 1.0

Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 18:49:20 CST

O wise librarians -

Here's a stumper that someone may remember:

A patron of ours remembers this picture book being read on the Captain

Kangaroo TV show circa 1963-69.

It concerns a "homely" (this descriptor is repeated many times) puppet or

doll, possibly named Herkimer. He is an outcast in the toy store - none

of the other toys like him. The story climaxes with a fire in the toy

store in which everyone is saved by - you guessed it - Herkimer! He is

loved by all.

Any ideas? Thanks for your consideration.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Mary D'Eliso, Children's Librarian Monroe County Public Library

mdeliso@monroe.lib.in.us Bloomington, Indiana

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

------------------------------

From: Barbara Haymann-Diaz <bhaymann-diaz@poklib.org>

To: pubyac@prairienet.org

Subject: SHORT STORIES

Mime-Version: 1.0

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 19:01:43 CST

Hello Pubyacers - I have a patron who is looking for two books he read as a

child. He is probably near 70 years old. Here's his description of them:

1. a sad story of a dog bred and forced to fight in dog fights - told by

the dog.

2. story of a young Welsh or Irish boy who had a life of hunger - high

point of the story is the morning his mother gives him marmalade on his

bread. Told by the boy. Anyone recognize them? Appreciate the help.

end

Barbara Haymann-Diaz, Head of Children's Services

Poughkeepsie Public Library District

93 Market Street

Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

Phone: (914) 485-3445 x 3315

e-mail: bhaymann-diaz@poklib.org

------------------------------

End of PUBYAC Digest 15

***********************