School Appropriate Or Stifling a Kid's Self Expression

As a teacher/librarian, one of our roles is to guide our students into choosing appropriate ways of expressing themselves in the class & school setting. But when does guiding them lead to stifling their own creativity?

My first reaction was to ask the question, "Well, if you have to ask?" then maybe what you want to do/say/write/draw is not appropriate for a class assignment.

One of my student's has an assignment where they write a surreal poem. His initial expression was to write that this student's addiction to gum was analogous to an addiction to crack. Then his second choice was an addiction to cigarettes. I told him that probably was not the best analogy. Then he did something about a dog & a bone.

Still, I'm not sure I was very comfortable steering him away from his initial response only because I do feel like I'm "forcing" him to conform and poetry is more expression that convention. Not sure if it was right or wrong but a dog & bone is probably more appropriate than crack & cigarettes...

Book Drops: Nonfiction Mondays - "The Frog Scientist"

This week's Nonfiction Monday host is In Need of Chocolate Blog. Check out the weekly round-up to see if there are any new books you might want to add to your collections.

This week I'm featuring The Frog Scientist, by Pamela S. Turner, which is part of the Scientists in the Field series. The featured scientist is Professor Tyrone Hayes from UC Berkeley who studies the affects of pesticides on frog populations. Filled with large color photos, Turner follows Hayes and his students as they collect samples from the field and work in the labs. She also explains the scientific process from posing a hypothesis to conducting experiements to prove or disprove that hypothesis. Another added bonus is the brief biography about Professor Hayes and the look inside his personal and professional life as well as a glimpse into the lives of his research students. The book also included wonderful color photographs of various frogs, website links, an educator's link, and a wonderful bibliography. It is geared more towards 5-7 graders and could inspire children to study the different sciences.

Book Drops: Graphic Novels Friday

Right now, I'm waiting in excitement for my family to visit. I don't really know why I'm so excited but I am. Also, I'm baking another batch of chocolate chocolate chip cookies and I have some Asian short ribs cooking in a slow cooker and I have to get my Graphic Novel Friday post in. So..here I go (by the way, the cookie I'm eating is the bomb!):

1. No Girls Allowed: Tales of Daring Women Dressed as Men for Love, Freedom and Adventure. Written by Susan Hughes and illustrated by Willow Dawson. The illustrations in this book are not the type that usually wows me but she did really well in conveying the stories that Hughes wrote about. The women featured are Hatshepsut, Mu Lan, Alfhild, Esther Brandeau, James Barry, Ellen Craft and Sarah Rosetta Wakeman. Honestly, I have only every heard/read about 2 of these women so it was a really quick introduction to women who did what they needed to to survive. The occupations include a pharaoh, soldiers, pirate, a doctor, a translator and a women who dressed like a man to escape to the Northern United States to be free. Go girls!!!! Do what you need to do to get where you want to go!!!

2. The Good Neighbors Book 1: Kin. By Holly Black and Ted Naifeh. You have a rock star boyfriend, you have the coolest friends but what if all of a sudden you just started seeing things? strange things? strange beings? And your mother just disappeared all of sudden. And your father looks like he's just given up. Some one you don't know is murdered. What would you do? Would you believe what you were seeing? This is what happens to Rue in this dark, gothic fantasy graphic novel. Rue discovers that there is more to her self and her family than she could have ever believed. The story introduces the reader to Rue's other family and they are not a friendly and loving as one would expect. They aren't even human. I can't wait to get Book 2.

Book Drops: NONFICTION MONDAYS

Picture Book of the Day started the Nonfiction Mondays feature and I thought I would join in the fun.

You can check out Rasco from RIF's blog for the Nonfiction Mondays roundup for Monday, December 7.

These books are available at the Burbank Public Library. It's the holidays and maybe you need some ideas for gifts and these two caught my eye. The first one is Do It Yourself Projects! series : Make Your Own Books. It is a great introduction to kids who are crafty. There are very simple projects and it also stresses recycling and reusing materials. 24 pages with 8 projects and a short history about books. Also filled with wonderful color images and step-by-step instructions. It also includes side boxes with great facts about felt, reed paper, etc.

The second book is from the Money Matters: A Kid's Guide to Money Series. This book is A Kid's Guide to Stock Market Investing. It is a set but we only had this one when I was wandering the shelves. Honestly, I wish my parents had this set when I was a kid and I'm only writing about 1 of the books. It is 47 pages and starts with a story about a boy who gets stocks from his grandmother. There is some history about stock exchange as well as current issues, like the foreclosure crisis. It includes a glossary of terms as well as a brief example of how to break down those stock listings in the paper. It also includes a short homework assignment where kids pick their favorite commodity and follow the stock for a month to see how well it does. It has links to websites and other books and online sources for students to use if they are interested in becoming a stockmarket investing.

Both books are engaging and are even great for teens or adults.

Star Wars Library Nerds Rejoice!

Saw a link for this on Unshelved. And how come this is now really on my library wall. It's too amazing!

clipped from www.sheldoncomics.com

Book Drops: Graphic Novel(s) Friday

I am going to attempt again to put some order to my entries...wish me luck!

Anyway, since, I am the de facto graphic novel "expert" (har har) here at the library, I thought I should starting writing little blurbs here so that I remember what I read and why I like them...

Knucklehead by Jon Scieszka. - Opps. This is not really a graphic novel...But I'll just say that it is a hilarious collection of stories about Jon Scieszka's life. Who is this guy? Well, Jon Scieszka is a writer a lot of hilarious children's books, like the recently published Robot Zot and The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Fairy Tales. Knucklehead is a collection of stories from his childhood that had me laughing out loud in my tiny studio. Highly enjoyable!

Stitches by David Small. David Small is a writer and illustrator who won the Caldecott Medal in 2001 for So, You want to be President. Stitches is mentioned a lot on various book review publications and I thought I would give it a go. An honest and intense memoir of Small's childhood in Detroit. (a side note: it's kind of random that both Scieszka and Small are from Michigan) The illustrations are dark and brooding and convey the unhappiness of his youth. His mother had secrets, his father never talked, his grandmother had mental health issues. It ends on hope and is definitely worthy of any graphic novel collection.

French Milk by Lucy Knisley. For some reason, we have this under "Fiction," however, it is not a fiction book. It's actually a travelogue of the month when Lucy Knisley and her mother went to live in a Paris apartment for a month. It's a wonderful journal about her time in Paris, her obsession with French milk and also Oscar Wilde. It's funny, sad, and sweet. Great read and also made me want to live and eat my way through France. Here's a little animation video she made:

Book Drops: "Christo and Jeanne-Claude" by Jan Greenberg (Childrens) (rated 5 stars)

Christo and Jeanne Claude: Through the Gates and Beyond

by Jan Greenberg

I read about Jeanne-Claude’s passing (http://flavorwire.com/51536/rip-female-half-of-art-duo-christo-and-jeanne-claude-dies-at-74) on November 18 and had remembered that I had ordered this book for the library. It just came in so I read it and here is my little review. Rest In Peace Jeanne-Claude.

“All of our projects have this fragile quality. They will be gone tomorrow. They have total freedom. That is why they cannot stay. Because freedom is the enemy of possession and possession is equal to permanence. We have to have freedom with no strings attached.” – Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Starting with “The Gates” (Central Park, New York City, 1979-2005”) and ending with the possibility of experiencing another Christo and Jeanne-Claude work, this biography of Christo and Jeanne-Claude is a great introduction to the couple’s work and lives. It is filled with amazing color and black & white photographs, as well as, reproductions of the sketches that Christo drew of their projects. Greenberg and Jordan present a lovely overview of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s works, which include “Wall of Barrels” in Paris and “Running Fence” in California. The images of pieces featured illustrate the monumental scale of each work and also leave the reader with a sense of awe. It is a perfect way to give children a different perspective on art, nature and industry.

I am left wondering however about what will happen with the projects proposed in Colorado and the UAE. I wonder if “The Gates” will be the last…

More on their work: http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/

See more about Christo and Jeanne Claude: Through the Gates and Beyond