LibWorm.com provides a librarian RSS filtering service. Over 1500 RSS librarian sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest headlines from journals and sites in the Children interest group. http://www.libworm.com/rss/librarianqueries.php Fri, 05 Aug 2011 02:54:28 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://epist.wordpress.com/2011/04/09/jane-eyre-book-to-film/ A Jane By Any Other Name Last week I started reading Jane Eyre since we made plans to see the new movie adaptation, directed by Cary Fukunaga. I had read Jane Eyre many years ago, but didn’t have a good memory of it at all, which became more and more apparent while Mark was reading it for one of his classes this semester. I finished the book the day before we went to see the movie and loved the story all over again. Before I go on, let’s just get some things clear: First, I do not expect a movie to strictly adhere to any book it might be based on, especially if said book would require an epically long film or miniseries to squeeze in every last character and story thread. I don’t think movies *should* try to follow the book closely because a movie is a different animal altogether.   Secondly, here be spoilers. Lots of spoilers. About book and movie. So if you’re planning to either read the book or see the movie soon, just go ahead and add this little blog post to your Read It Later or Instapaper and we’ll meet again sometime. Okay then. You caught that part about the spoilers, right?  Just checking. Let’s start with the casting.  In short: Jane (Mia Wasikowska) – too timid, not enough “direct glare” as she’s famous for in the book. Though the kid playing young Jane was perfect, I thought. Mr. Rochester (Michael Fassbender) – too handsome, but the voice was right on, better than I expected. St. John Rivers (Jamie Bell) – not handsome enough, but adapted well. This is a character that could have been simplified into really annoying or really tyrannical, but was handled very well and given a good balance. The too handsome / not handsome enough complaint might seem petty but it struck me as an important distinction in establishing Jane’s feelings for the two men. ... Sun, 10 Apr 2011 00:10:09 +0100 895909 http://hhsmedia.blogspot.com/2008/02/hope-for-haiti.html Photo Source:http://www.flickr.com/photos/ifrc/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0During the month of February, the HHS Library Media Center is collecting books for children in Haiti. All books must in in good condition and appropriate for a Haitian child between the age of 5 and 16. You can drop your donations in the boxes labeled "Books for Haiti" near the circulation desk by February 28th. Thanks for your support! (Source: Huntingtown High School Library Media Center) Sat, 19 Feb 2011 05:00:00 +0100 821571 http://epist.wordpress.com/2011/01/23/halfway-through-12-books-12-months/ Hurray! I have read 6 of my 12 Books 12 Months list.  And with this book I am fully appreciating the benefits of the 12 Books 12 Months idea because without it, I would most likely have gotten lost on reading tangents about sci-fi Jesuits, emotional food, and teenage demi-gods.  And I would completely forget about all these books that the Sara from 6 months ago wanted to read.  With the 12 Books list and the brilliant monthly summaries from E on latter day bohemian (I think those monthly round-ups really play an important role in motivation), I’ve managed to alternate between my whim readings and my planned readings – thus, moving ahead on some goals while also pursuing other spontaneous interests.  It’s a really good feeling. So even though I was very tempted to immediately jump into the sequel to the space traveling Jesuit story, I did myself a favor and picked up Haroun and the Sea of Stories.  I had heard about this book at the ALA Conference this past summer in D.C. when I had the great privilege of seeing Salman Rushdie at an author talk.  He was charming and intelligent, and his story about the beginnings of this book had me hooked. This is a children’s book with some obvious, but playful, political messages.  Rushdie wrote this just after the fatwa against his life was announced, wondering each day if he would see his son again, to whom the book is dedicated.  So we get greasy politicians, evil tyrants, and egotistical princes.  We also get some absolutely delightful bits — like the chapter headings: The Shah of Blah, An Iff and a Butt, and a wonderful nod to Beatles’ lyrics. My timing in reading this book was good and bad.  Bad – the pace and humor of a children’s book felt kind of jarring when I was in the middle of a stressful, high-stakes work week. ... Sun, 23 Jan 2011 20:57:09 +0100 895911 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/dec/31/new-year-reading Whether you want to improve yourself or simply get your brain going again after Hogmanay excess, it pays to choose the year's first book carefullyIf you're like me and tend to use literature as a kind of How-to guide to navigate life, then the book one chooses to read at the start of a New Year requires some careful consideration. Perhaps this book will be something worthy to get the brain working again after the excesses of the night before … Or an old favourite to welcome in the new year on a friendly, comforting note … Or perhaps something inspiring to set the tone for the upcoming 12 months and strengthen one's resolve to change and do better … Here then are just a few of the titles you might consider opening up on the first of January.Prick Up Your Ears: The Biography of Joe Orton by John LahrOK, so it doesn't end happily, but Orton's journey from abject failure to dizzying success is utterly inspiring and compellingly told. Lahr's admiration and enthusiasm for his subject is contagious, and if his critical dissections of Orton's work occasionally have the air of the study-note about them, there's always the sparkling wit of the diaries to turn to – or even the plays themselves. A one-off talent triumphing against overwhelming odds.The Memory Chalet by Tony JudtPublished earlier this year (sadly posthumously), historian Tony Judt's memoir was written under the most arduous of conditions: paralysed from a neurodegenerative disorder, Judt composed these warm and intelligent essays in his head during what must have been near-unbearable hours of insomnia and dictated them back the next day. The result is a remarkably positive, life-affirming read, and about as far away from the realms of "misery memoir" as one can get.Lucky Jim by Kingsley AmisAnd so to fiction. ... Fri, 31 Dec 2010 09:00:03 +0100 895783 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/31/top-books-hits-of-2010 No surprise on such a literate site that everybody wanted to read some of the best living authors' advice on writing and worrying about literature in the age of Twitter. Elsewhere readers were compelled by children's books, accidental cookbook racism and allegedly unsuitable dictionariesThe wind howls, the snow swirls, the seagulls are picking their way across the frozen canal outside and it's time once more to look back at the stories you've actually been reading in the year of Freedom, aka the second coming of Franzen. Pausing only to mumble the usual invocations to the gods of number-crunching, in the traditional spirit of honesty and openness, let's wrap up warmly against the chill and investigate the dizzy heights of the year in books.Except, darn it, I've gone and wrecked it all, right there. If only I'd paid a little more attention to our top story of 2010, Ten rules for writing fiction. Take a look at line one. "Never open a book with weather," declares Elmore Leonard, and given the stern nature of his other nine rules ("Never use a verb other than 'said' to carry dialogue", "Never use the words 'suddenly' or 'all hell broke loose', "Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip"), I feel sure that the great man would be equally unforgiving of meteorological openings in journalism.With contributions from luminaries such as Anne Enright, Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman and, um, Jonthan Franzen, which run the gamut from wise to witty, spanning the territory from heartfelt to jaundiced along the way, it's not hard to see why these pithy recommendations have proved so popular. Not only do they contain more good sense than my family cookbook, but they also cast a fascinating light on the way the authors approach the task themselves. Consider Diana Athill, whose "only by having no inessential words can every essential word be made to count" seems only a whisker away from being a motto for life. ... Fri, 31 Dec 2010 09:00:01 +0100 895784 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/31/new-year-resolutions They may be absurdly optimistic, but new year's resolutions are vital in keeping hope aliveI tend to find the holiday season touching, but not for the usual reasons. I'm not overcome with religious feeling, or rendered teary by Tiny Tim, or more moved than usual by the intermittent humanity of humanity. What gets me is this: new year's resolutions. OK, maybe not the resolutions themselves – those endless directives from ego to id to get in shape, get out of debt, quit drinking, go back to school, get the photo albums in order and drywall the basement. But each year, I'm impressed anew by the faith behind those resolutions, which is, roughly: we can all be better people tomorrow.This faith is not, of course, supported by the evidence. If we could consistently make good on our new year's resolutions, they wouldn't be such hardy perennials, cropping up in familiar form at the same time every year. And yet, we go on believing that this is the year we will achieve our stated goals. "Is it not stupidity," Montaigne once asked, "to let myself be fooled so many times by one guide?"With all due respect to the great philosopher, I would say: no. These resolutions aren't stupid at all. They are, however, wrong – at least, more often than not. Specifically, they represent a distinct, important and oddly inspiring subcategory of error. I call it "wrongness as optimism".Wrongness as optimism does not slumber quietly all year and then emerge, mistletoe-style, on 31 December. On the contrary, it is with us all the time. Wrongness as optimism is why you lugged three volumes of Proust with you on a two-week holiday. It is why my neighbour swears he just smoked his last cigarette. It is why I went to sleep last night thinking I would wake up early this morning, go to the gym, be home by nine, and finish this article by noon. ... Fri, 31 Dec 2010 08:30:01 +0100 895789 http://philbradley.typepad.com/phil_bradleys_weblog/2010/12/2-million-children-with-no-web-access-at-home.html We're used to thinking about the "Google generation" and the "Facebook generation" and there is a common misconception that children know all about using computers and using the Internet. Of course, this isn't true; I've spoken to many school librarians and children themselves to know that while they are comfortable with using the Internet their actual use still remains quite limited, and their understanding of what can be achieved, how to find the information you require, and assessing it is not as good as one may first expect. This is the case for those children who have access to the Internet; how much more difficult is it therefore for those children that do not. A recent article in the Guardian No web access at home for 2m poor pupils, warns charity point out the quite shocking figures which go to show that too many children still don't have access to the Internet; especially from the poorest homes in the country. In the richest 10% of homes, 98% had a home computer and 97% had internet access, but in the poorest 10% of homes only 38% had a home computer and 30% an internet connection. Even in the South East which is one of the richest areas in the country, if not the richest one in four homes cannot access the Internet.This therefore puts not only children but their parents a grave disadvantage. We are all familiar with the situation in which a child requests help with algebra homework and the parents can do no more than do a good goldfish impression, so how much more difficult is it going to be for both child and parent when it comes to accessing the Internet when neither know what they are supposed to be doing. A school can only do so much and of course a child can only access Internet computers in school when the school is open. This is surely where the library comes into play. Children who do not only need access to the Internet they need access to reading materials and educational material. ... Fri, 31 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895806 http://keptup.typepad.com/academic/2010/12/play-is-better-than-study-drilling-for-college-bound-kids.html Parents, educators, psychologists, neuroscientists, and politicians generally fall into one of two camps when it comes to preparing very young children for school: play-based or skills-based. These two kinds of curricula are often pitted against one another as a zero-sum game: If you want to protect your daughter's childhood, so the argument goes, choose a play-based program; but if you want her to get into Harvard, you'd better make sure you're brushing up on the ABC flashcards every night before bed. We think it is quite the reverse. Or, in any case, if you want your child to succeed in college, the play-based curriculum is the way to go. Read more at: http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/12/29/christakis.play.children.learning/index.html (Source: The Kept-Up Academic Librarian) Fri, 31 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895803 http://feeds.lexblog.com/~r/ediscoverylaw/klgates/~3/90tDDPExFNo/ By: Martha Dawson, Michael Goodfried, K&L Gates This article appeared in DRI’s E-Discovery Connection, Volume 5 Issue 3, on December 23, 2010 Consider how you, or someone you know, uses social networking sites; and consider how valuable this could be in litigation. • “Check out the photos from my climb of Mt. Rainier. It rocked! I guess my back injury wasn’t that bad after all.” • I can’t believe what my boss just did.” • “My kids are driving me crazy. Anyone want to borrow them for the night?” Are Social Networking Sites Discoverable? Social networking sites are internet sites on which individuals or companies can create profiles about themselves and share information with others.  Users can update their status, type blog entries, post pictures or videos, send email or instant messages, or post comments on the profiles of their contacts, among many other offerings.  One of the most important aspects of social networking sites is the ability to link up with other users as “friends” or “contacts,” and decide with whom to share information.  Users can control their privacy settings and choose which information to make publically available, share with their contacts, share with their contacts’ contacts (friends of friends), or show only to certain individuals.  Some of the most popular social networking sites are Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and LinkedIn. To read the full article, click here. (Source: Electronic Discovery Law) Fri, 31 Dec 2010 01:02:17 +0100 895757 http://web.docuticker.com/go/docubase/62942 Multiple Perspectives on Battered Mothers and their Children Fleeing to the United States for Safety: A Study of Hague Convention Cases (PDF) Source:  National Institute of Justice (via National Criminal Justice Reference Service) Mothers who flee with their children because of domestic violence may have few other options to ensure their [...] (Source: Docuticker) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 21:54:00 +0100 895761 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/kkJF/~3/hE1108DO1ds/een-wiibattle-bij-biblioosterschelde.html Mijn betrokkenheid bij gaming in de bibliotheek stond het afgelopen jaar op een redelijk laag pitje, maar op de valreep was er gisteren dan toch nog een evenement: een Mario Kart-toernooi (via Wii Online) tussen vier bibliotheken van BibliOosterschelde, te weten ’s-Gravenpolder, Kapelle, Heinkenszand en Sint Annaland. De deelnemende scholieren waren gevraagd om mee te doen door de collega's die de Skoolzones in hun takenpakket hebben. Zelf was ik in Kapelle, waar 7 kinderen zich hadden aangemeld. Later begreep ik dat er in 's-Gravenpolder maar liefst 20 spelers waren. Het was ouderwets gezellig, om met de kids te kletsen over gaming, chatten en aanverwante zaken. Toen ik, als ouwe rups, even nonchalant de eerste plek opeiste in het spel was het ijs meteen gebroken. Het enige meisje in het gezelschap vond dat 'ik er veel verstand van had'. Ontwapenend. Wat mij betreft gaan we dit in 2011 veel vaker doen. Het is goed voor de contacten met de jeugd, goed  voor de Skoolzones, interessant voor de medewerkers en makkelijk en goedkoop te realiseren bovendien. Oh ja. Het is ook nog een beetje PR. En die jongetjes die samen in een boek zitten te kijken? Dat is niet in scene gezet. Dat je het maar weet! Als je meer wilt weten over over dit onderwerp is de publicatie Gaming in de bibliotheek, van BNBibliotheek, een aanrader. @ (Source: Digitaal Inlichtingenwerk Zeeuwse Bibliotheek) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 18:49:00 +0100 895715 http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/dec/30/cookery-books-of-the-year As the locavore tide reached its high water mark, it's been an intriguing year for cookbooks. Which have you found most useful or inspirational?2010 was an odd year for cook books. Several I had eagerly anticipated were disappointing, and those I had no expectations of surprised, delighted and even excited. One of my favourite books of the year is the Moomins Cookbook. Beautifully designed, full of original Moomin illustrations and quotes and some excellent recipes. It's an accessible introduction to Finnish food and a book which actually made some children I know excited about cooking. It's everything the inaccessible Noma Cookbook isn't. I loved it, but was also incredibly frustrated by it – due to the specialist kit needed the dishes are nigh on impossible to recreate at home. I know it's not really the point of this sort of book, but looking at the photographs made me feel like a child squashed up against the sweetshop window; unable to get in. John Crace's hilarious Digested Read is just too close to the mark. Redzepi is the King of the Locavores, and with the Noma Cookbook that particular movement probably reached its peak. I think we're now moving away from books which focus on the local and seasonal, which have so dominated the past few years. This has to be a good thing - there is only so much you can say about our own produce without being repetitive, and going foraging to discover more outlandish ingredients is unrealistic for most of us and is even causing controversy with environmentalists. An alternative to foraging is to use ingredients which either went out of fashion centuries ago, or that have been newly introduced. So we have Jekka McVicar's Herb Cookbook (there's an extract here) guiding us through growing and using every herb you can think of and a few more you may not have such as stevia, Good King Henry and rock samphire. ... Thu, 30 Dec 2010 15:43:00 +0100 895644 http://www.lisnews.org/wo_librarian_featured_christian_science_monitor A digital twist on a dying craft has earned a couple of local librarians place in the national spotlight. Cynthia Dobrez, librarian at West Ottawa Public Schools’ Harbor Lights and Macatawa Bay middle schools, and her colleague Lynn Rutan have run a blog, Bookends, about youth literature for just more than two years. It can be found on the website booklistonline.com. Both are accomplished librarians. Rutan, also a former West Ottawa librarian, sits on the committee that hands out the envied Newbery Award to new children’s books, and Dobrez has chaired the American Library Association’s Printz Award committee. Full article here (Source: LISNews - Librarian And Information Science News) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 14:57:51 +0100 895859 http://lisnews.org/wo_librarian_featured_christian_science_monitor A digital twist on a dying craft has earned a couple of local librarians place in the national spotlight. Cynthia Dobrez, librarian at West Ottawa Public Schools’ Harbor Lights and Macatawa Bay middle schools, and her colleague Lynn Rutan have run a blog, Bookends, about youth literature for just more than two years. It can be found on the website booklistonline.com. Both are accomplished librarians. Rutan, also a former West Ottawa librarian, sits on the committee that hands out the envied Newbery Award to new children’s books, and Dobrez has chaired the American Library Association’s Printz Award committee. Full article here (Source: LISNews.org) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 14:57:51 +0100 895692 http://web.docuticker.com/go/docubase/62973 WIC Participation Patterns: An Investigation of Delayed Entry & Early Exit Source:  U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service Despite the health benefits of participation, many eligible households do not participate in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). While roughly half of infants born in the [...] (Source: Docuticker) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 14:04:00 +0100 895700 http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/barnes-noble-patent-filings-suggest-new-nook-devices-services/ PocketNow has examined patent filings by Barnes & Noble and has some guesses about what they might predict for the future of B&N’s Nook product line. The patent filings suggest future devices to be called “Nook Kids” (previously just the name of B&N’s children’s e-book store) and “Nook2” or “Nook 2”. They also note that B&N has changed from just describing goods in some of its patents (the devices themselves) to also describing services along with them (as in the case of “Nook Study”, “Nook Smart”, and “Nook Cook”). And B&N may also be readying an in-store/on-line customer service program called “Nooksellers”, which would provide customer service through in-store kiosks, telephone, e-mail, and a website (potentially with a Netflix-style recommendation engine). (Found via Engadget.) (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 12:15:00 +0100 895711 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/dec/30/short-stories-fiction The year saw strong work from Lydia Davis, Damon Galgut, Yiyun Li among others, as well as other brilliant stuff I no doubt missedTo start where I finished last year's round-up of the year in short fiction, Lydia Davis's Collected Stories was published in a UK edition this summer. This stocky orange and white volume underlines her position as one of the most fascinating short story writers of the past 25 years, who combines formal experimentalism and psychological complexity with a keen wit. She featured in my brief survey of the short story series in February.Deborah Eisenberg is another great short story writer whose collected appeared this year (albeit only in the US). Every story from her four collections to date is included, which makes for a feast of unconventional storytelling and exquisitely turned sentences. Like Davis, she's profoundly intelligent with language, and frequently very funny.Of the new collections published this year, my personal favourite might equally be considered a novel or memoir. That Damon Galgut's In a Strange Room manages to be both, as well as a collection of stories, is just one of the many extraordinary things about it. Shortlisted for the Man Booker, its three sections were originally published as stories in the Paris Review.An attempt to relate, as accurately as possible, three journeys and relationships Galgut experienced, the book is an interrogation of memory and a study of the way different relationships function. No one would desire to find themselves in these situations, but if they did, they'd want to describe them with Galgut's rigour and penetration. Much of the book's power derives from his ability to pare back situations to their fundamentals.Yiyun Li's Gold Boy, Emerald Girl is my other essential collection of the year. A US citizen who writes in English, Li's stories are mostly set in China, where she lived until 1996, but her influences are international and surprisingly old fashioned. ... Thu, 30 Dec 2010 09:00:05 +0100 895643 http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/holiday-travel-update-gadgets-gadgets-everywhere/ I am on my way home from ten days in sunny Florida visiting my parents, and it was a gadget-rific Christmas. I saw my first Nook and Nook Colour, my first Kindle 3 (alas, out of stock, but I did play with a dummy model) and got stepdad’s iPad set up for him. More on that later—we had a few days alone thanks to a family emergency that had Mom flying home for a few days, so the iPad became our little All by Ourselves project—but I have some general comments on my gadget-rific holiday to tide you over in the meantime! 1) IT’S A GADGET WORLD The first thing that struck me about this holiday season was just how many gadgets there really are out there. I don’t travel much, so I was unprepared for the sheer proliferation of gadgetalia out there in the wild. I think every single person on my whole flight had a gadget of some kind, ranging from iPod Touches (most in the hands of children) to iPads, at least two Kindles besides my own, numerous fully loaded smartphones, a Sony and a few Chinese devices I could not identify. Two people in the seats beside me were even watching video on iPod Nanos! And I was not the only person who had more than one device with me, either! Of course, not all of these people were reading on them. But still, the potential is there. I spent an enjoyable afternoon playing iToys with my nephew, who is not much of a reader, and while we were evenly matched on the arcade stuff and perhaps spent more time than we had to playing with the talking cat, I have to admit that he held his own against me in even ‘intellectual’ games like Jeopardy and Family Feud. And I was happy to have something to do with him that bonded us a little. Small boys are a bit of a cipher for me, since his only interests seem to be hockey and baseball, so gadgetry is perhaps a welcome way into his world for people like me and his gadget-savvy parents. ... Thu, 30 Dec 2010 03:08:51 +0100 895608 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/kRiAgQgavIM/board-game-day.html Today, 24 people showed up for our winter board game day! Groups played all kinds of games, including Life, Apples to Apples, chess, checkers, and Scattergories.  A group even tried out my new random game Quelf, with rave reviews.  The deal was that if a group played a game by the rules to the end, the winner would get a box of movie candy.  (For games like chess and checkers, you could only get candy once, even if you played multiple times.)  I gave away 26 boxes of candy, plus we ate our way through four bags of potato chips, several pounds of other candy, and a bunch of soda and lemonade!  The best moments of the day included Saranjeet needing two cars to carry her family in Life, Owen naming one of his Life children "Ke$ha," Kathy singing "Rawhide" while waving her scarf in the air like a lasso, and Janae thinking McCain was a U.S. President.  I also had fun teaching a group how to play Scattergories with the rules.  And, thanks to Jasmine for bringing in Tutti Frutti...dinging that bell was a lot of fun! If you like board games, we'll have them out at the Random-A-Thon in February.  Be sure to sign up! (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 01:55:27 +0100 895582 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/30/highgate-cemetery-heritage-diana-athill The most resonant kind of cemetery can evoke the history and spirit of a community as eloquently as any written accountIn these final days of the year, many will fall to thinking of those lost in the course of it, from the famous – John Dankworth, Jean Simmons, Michael Foot, Charles Mackerras and Beryl Bainbridge have been among the conspicuous departed of 2010 – to the recently dead among their own families and friends.That made it an appropriate moment for the 93-year-old writer Diana Athill, in her role as a guest editor of the Radio 4 Today programme this week, to take herself and the presenter James Naughtie to Highgate Cemetery, London – a place she had found so alluring, she confessed at the end, that, abandoning her previous preference for cremation, she had now applied for a plot of her own. That will give her a place in distinguished company: Michael Faraday, George Eliot, Lizzie Siddal and, most famously of all, Karl Marx, are among those buried at Highgate. Together, Ms Athill and Mr Naughtie mused on the place and declared it "magical" – for its grand sarcophagi and its simple headstones, for its statuary and sculpted angels (she had always till now thought of angels as sexless, but these were "nearly all girls – and pretty girls"), set amid the trees and flowers and the birds of its "managed forest".There are many places like this across Britain where visitors come, sometimes to honour their own particular dead, sometimes to ponder the deaths and the lives of people they never knew. The most resonant kind of cemetery can evoke the history and spirit of a community as eloquently as any written account. To contemplate the grandiose chiselled memorials to shipwrights, merchants and manufacturers in the Eastern Necropolis at Dundee is almost to breathe the air of the prosperous Victorian days of the great jute city. ... Thu, 30 Dec 2010 00:05:09 +0100 895569 http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/new/index.php/2010/12/29/readers-theater-featured-in-yesterdays-wisconsin-state-journal/ Pinney Librarian Lesley Kircher’s Reader’s Theater for Children programs were featured in an article in yesterday’s Wisconsin State Journal titled School Spotlight: Kids get chance to read aloud by Pamela Cotant. Reader’s Theater is just one of the many programs the library offers for families looking for a way for their child to practice their reading or pre-reading skills in a social and interactive way. Other Reader’s Theater opportunities at Pinney Monday, January 24, 2:30-4 (call 224-7100 to register beginning 1/10) Monday, February 28, 2:30-4 (call 224-7100 to register beginning 2/14) Monday, March 28, 2:30-4 (call 224-7100 to register beginning 3/14) R.E.A.D. to a Dog Saturday, January 8, 10:30-12 at Pinney Branch (call 224-7100 to register) Tuesday, January 18, 4-5:30 at Meadowridge Branch Tuesday, February 15, 4-5:30 at Meadowridge Branch Play Literacy Themes at Central Library’s Youth Services Room (Source: What's New) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 22:33:23 +0100 895586 http://www.teleread.com/chris-meadows/uk-government-booktrust-announce-continued-funding-after-all/ I mentioned last week that the UK government had eliminated its funding for literacy charity Booktrust with the new budget that takes effect in April. In response to public outrage at this decision, The Bookseller reports that the government and Booktrust have released a joint statement saying that the government will “continue to fund Booktrust book-gifting programmes in the future.” However, critics are still skeptical. Labour leader Ed Miliband calls it only a “partial U-turn” (isn’t that kind of like being “a little bit pregnant”? A “partial U-turn” is just a turn!) and points out that the announcement is rather nonspecific, as it does not say anything about what amount of funding will be provided. Hopefully the government and Booktrust will be able to come to a satisfactory arrangement to keep allowing the program to give books to kids and help support child literacy. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 19:36:08 +0100 895611 http://www.lisnews.org/why_i_am_library_traitor_and_love_kindle From the Librarian in Black Bless me, O Biblioblogosphere, for I have sinned. I have betrayed the trust of my librarian people by *gasp* loving my Kindle like I am told I would love a child if I had any interest in being a parent, which I don’t. But I do have an interest in reading digital content on a sleek, affordable, and easy-to-use device. Thus the Kindle. Later in the piece there is some counter language: Now that we’ve covered the pros, here’s why I detest the Kindle as a librarian Full blog post at the Librarian in Black N7M9ZX (Source: LISNews - Librarian And Information Science News) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 17:18:47 +0100 895863 http://lisnews.org/why_i_am_library_traitor_and_love_kindle From the Librarian in Black Bless me, O Biblioblogosphere, for I have sinned. I have betrayed the trust of my librarian people by *gasp* loving my Kindle like I am told I would love a child if I had any interest in being a parent, which I don’t. But I do have an interest in reading digital content on a sleek, affordable, and easy-to-use device. Thus the Kindle. Later in the piece there is some counter language: Now that we’ve covered the pros, here’s why I detest the Kindle as a librarian Full blog post at the Librarian in Black N7M9ZX (Source: LISNews.org) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 17:18:47 +0100 895563 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/29/cutbacks-leavis-english-impact-literary-criticism The end of subsidies and a focus on 'impact'-led research may force literary criticism to reconnect with the public imaginationThe lamentations of English scholars suffering government cutbacks have echoed around the Comment is free and education pages recently. Having three English degrees myself, two of which were free, I feel an instinctive sympathy for this view. But further reflection into the way the subject has changed over the last few decades makes me wonder whether the removal of subsidies, and the introduction of new "impact"-focused research assessments, may not be in the long-term interests of the subject.For most of the past century, prominent academic literary critics – FR Leavis, CS Lewis, Frank Kermode, David Lodge and Terry Eagleton, to name but a few – have sustained animated and original literary debate in the public arena. Some were also novelists, some were prominent media commentators, but all of them published criticism that broke new ground among both academic critics and a wider interested audience. This breadth was crucial in the establishment of English as both a popular and influential discipline. Think of the impact of Leavis in the "two cultures" debate, to select merely the highest-profile example. Yet critics with this profile are now either dead or retired from academic life. Who will maintain the profile of literary criticism?I enrolled as an undergraduate English student at UCL in 1994. How we laughed at the nerds in acrid science labs populated by uncommunicative men with beards, unable to debate their subject in public. Barely 15 years later, there is a much more exciting public debate among scientists than among literary critics. On what topic does Richard Dawkins not have a trenchant opinion?The campus novel genre shows how English studies used to value its public following. ... Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:00:00 +0100 895571 http://web.docuticker.com/go/docubase/62953 Births: Preliminary Data for 2009 (PDF) Source:  National Center for Health Statistics The 2009 preliminary number of US births declined 3 percent from 2008, to 4,131,019; the 2009 general fertility rate (66.7 per 1,000 women) and the total fertility rate (2,007.5 births per 1,000) declined (3-4 percent). The number of births [...] (Source: Docuticker) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 15:43:00 +0100 895507 http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/ibooks-no-itunes-when-it-comes-to-dominating-the-market/ Publishers Weekly has an overview report, with the above name, on the iBookstore and its place in the market. Here’s a snippet: Not everyone is embracing the iBookstore, though. At this time Oceanhouse Media — the leading publisher of children’s digital book apps on Apple’s App Store, with the exclusive right to make apps of Dr. Seuss’s work — is not planning to sell there. “We believe that in order to have an effective digital children’s book you need a level of interactivity that cannot be provided for with iBooks,” says Oceanhouse Media president Michel Kripalani. “Only apps can deliver this high level of interactivity, and much of the work is custom to each specific title.” Oceanhouse Media has sold more than half a million Dr. Seuss digital book apps since its first release (How the Grinch Stole Christmas!) just one year ago, says Kripalani. With 140 apps on the app store, it sells “many thousands” of apps per day, he says. One reason: they’re inexpensive compared to iBooks. “Personally, I believe that many of the books on the iBookstore are overpriced,” says Kripalani. “Why spend $14 on a static digital book when you can have a fully interactive Dr. Seuss, Berenstain Bears, or Mercer Mayer book for $1.99 to $3.99?” (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:42:13 +0100 895514 http://web.docuticker.com/go/docubase/62950 Children and Aids:Fifth Stocktaking Report 2010 (PDF) Source:  UNAIDS From press release : Achieving an AIDS-free generation is possible if the international community steps up efforts to provide universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, and social protection, according to “Children and AIDS: Fifth Stocktaking Report 2010,” which was released today [...] (Source: Docuticker) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 13:30:00 +0100 895509 http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2010/12/twenty-years-later-has-anything-changed.html In 1990 I attended a pre-conference meeting for a White House Conference on Libraries, and I wrote in my notes (and I was a liberal then):". . .libraries will be killed off too if they don't put the brakes on seeing themselves as the social change agent for the nation, believing: they can correct what the churches did wrong; they can teach what the schools didn't; they can prevent what the social workers missed; and stop what the government couldn't. . . Librarians will do more good in the long run if they leave Mapplethorp to the cultural arts commissions and instead see to it that a child can check out material on photography to become the best photographer she can be."Right now because their man is in the White House, maybe librarians have lowered their expectations and will let politicians handle these things? (Source: Collecting my Thoughts) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895585 http://keptup.typepad.com/academic/2010/12/student-creates-scholarship-for-those-with-parents-in-prison.html Among all the weird scholarships out there, nothing exists to help kids who have worked against tremendous odds to get to college despite having a parent locked up in prison. And yes, besides the duck call and potato science ones, there are scholarships based on ethnicity or height or unusual ability. But for this large and largely unsupported population of children - zilch. "My grandmother and I were looking at scholarships and we realized that there was nothing out there for someone like me," she said. So Arrington, who is a commanding, confident senior at Benjamin Banneker High School in Northwest Washington, decided to do something about it. Read more at: (Source: The Kept-Up Academic Librarian) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895503 http://mblc.state.ma.us/jobs/find_jobs/rss.php?job_id=6526 The Dover Town library seeks a permanent Saturday assistant to provide services at both adult and children's circulation desks. This independent, pleasant assistant will maintain excellent customer service, every Saturday from 10:00-4:00, with additional hours. Position open-January 2011 (Source: MBLC Job Listings) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 01:25:02 +0100 895391 http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/dec/29/nudge-in-the-wrong-direction I am pleased to hear this government does not regard behavioural economics as a silver bullet since there are problems with its derivative in "nudging" (The nudge is no fudge, 28 December). The agenda for nudging is predicated on the assumption that people have well-formed preferences. Where people's preferences are poorly formed or unstable, nudging reduces to constructing people's preferences for them, in a manner akin to advertising. This is dangerous because policymakers themselves may not be immune to behavioural traits, because vested interests may capture the policy agenda, and because government cannot presume to know what is in citizens' own best interests.Behavioural economics has been around for long enough to demonstrate that people's behaviour is a great deal more complex than nudging implies: behaviour is highly contextual and varies with a number of factors (eg age and education). What we do know is that, in the absence of detailed case studies and cost-benefit analysis, nudging can have unpredictable and potentially undesirable consequences. The behavioural insight team would do well to treat the critique of nudging with greater seriousness than is currently the case.Dr Judith MehtaCentre for competition policy, University of East Anglia• In welcoming David Cameron's happiness initiative, Larry Elliott says that it makes sense to look at the impact that factors such as inequality have on our wellbeing (Can shopaholic Britain be happy with less?, 27 December). Of course this would be a fine endeavour, but why does he think that the prime minister is interested in the impact of inequality on wellbeing? In launching the initiative, Cameron specifically dismissed the huge volume of evidence demonstrating this connection, saying that he was not aware that anyone wanted to pay higher taxes (ie lower inequality means higher taxes).There is plenty of other evidence showing that what counts in terms of wellbeing is social context. ... Wed, 29 Dec 2010 00:05:02 +0100 895383 http://feeds.lexblog.com/~r/ediscoverylaw/klgates/~3/By2C8-Vivjc/ Willis v. Willis, 2010 WL 5186606 (N.Y. App. Div. Dec. 21, 2010) Plaintiff filed suit against her former husband and his current wife alleging defamation.  Specifically, plaintiff alleged that defamatory statements had been made in an email addressed to her and sent to her account - an account which was also regularly used by the former couple’s children.  One of the children read the email.  Plaintiff alleged that the act of sending the email to that account constituted publication for purposes of her claim. In the course of litigation, plaintiff used the same account to communicate with her attorneys.  Defendant sought production of those emails contending that they were not privileged.  Plaintiff sought a protective order.  The trial court ordered their production.  On appeal, the court found that plaintiff “failed to meet her burden of demonstrating … that the email communications … were made in confidence” and reasoned:According to the plaintiff, her children did not merely know the password to the e-mail account that she used to communicate with her attorneys, but the children regularly used the e-mail account, and, the plaintiff alleged, the defendants' mere act of sending an e-mail addressed solely to her on that account constituted "publication" for purposes of establishing a defamation cause of action.  Furthermore, the individuals who had unrestricted access to the plaintiff's attorney-client communications were not unrelated to the plaintiff's adversary or to her lawsuit (cf. Stroh v. General Motors Corp., 213 A.D.2d 267, 267-268).  While these individuals were the plaintiff's own children, they were also the children of her adversary, and the plaintiff's lawsuit is grounded upon the publication of the allegedly defamatory e-mail to one of the children. ... Tue, 28 Dec 2010 21:54:15 +0100 895759 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FreakonomicsBlog/~3/Bdh9OrCmIP8/ The Royal Society's science journal Biology Letters has published a most unusual paper: it was researched and written by a group of children aged 8-10. Simply titled Blackawton Bees, it is the product of 25 U.K. students who worked with neuroscientists to collect data on whether bumblebees could be trained to learn which flowers to forage from by using color and pattern cues. (Source: Freakonomics Blog) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 20:27:10 +0100 895398 http://www.readersclub.org/reviews/tresults.asp?id=7791 by Ohno, Apolo“Zero regrets. It’s a philosophy not just about sport but also about life” that fuels Apolo Anton Ohno, the most decorated American Winter Olympic athlete of all time. Both sport and life are intertwined in this autobiography as Ohno traces the path that led from a single parent childhood through difficult teen years to the Olympic podium in three consecutive Winter Olympic Games. He also discusses the rigors of his Dancing with the Stars season and victory. Even though deeply personal, this book offers an informative and entertaining insider view of short-track speed skating, competitive sports training, sports psychology, and instant Olympic fame. Ohno’s story is sure to motivate rising young athletes as well as inspire anyone to live a life of purpose with zero regrets. - reviewed by Kim, University City Regional, PLCMC (Source: Reader's Club's Latest) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 20:10:05 +0100 895384 http://www.lisnews.org/salinas_libraries_amp_librarians_trudge_through_holidays SALINAS, CA : -- The good will of library staff helped keep two Salinas libraries from closing their doors on Monday. Salinas city leaders decided earlier this month to close the libraries the week between Christmas and New Year's in an effort to save money. The news caused a public outcry, with many community members requesting some libraries stay open while children were out of school for the holidays. The director of Salinas libraries, Elizabeth Martinez, managed to get enough staff members to work to keep both the John Steinbeck and Cesar Chavez libraries open for most of the week. Angel Gomez and his dad, Edgar, said keeping the libraries from closing allowed them to look for jobs on Monday. "It's a good thing they opened. I found this side job I can do right now," Edgar Gomez said. (Source: LISNews - Librarian And Information Science News) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 19:56:15 +0100 895867 http://lisnews.org/salinas_libraries_amp_librarians_trudge_through_holidays SALINAS, CA : -- The good will of library staff helped keep two Salinas libraries from closing their doors on Monday. Salinas city leaders decided earlier this month to close the libraries the week between Christmas and New Year's in an effort to save money. The news caused a public outcry, with many community members requesting some libraries stay open while children were out of school for the holidays. The director of Salinas libraries, Elizabeth Martinez, managed to get enough staff members to work to keep both the John Steinbeck and Cesar Chavez libraries open for most of the week. Angel Gomez and his dad, Edgar, said keeping the libraries from closing allowed them to look for jobs on Monday. "It's a good thing they opened. I found this side job I can do right now," Edgar Gomez said. (Source: LISNews.org) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 19:56:15 +0100 895413 http://www.teleread.com/library/why-i-am-a-library-traitor-and-love-the-kindle-by-sarah-houghton-jan/ Bless me, O Biblioblogosphere, for I have sinned. I have betrayed the trust of my librarian people by *gasp* loving my Kindle like I am told I would love a child if I had any interest in being a parent, which I don’t.  But I do have an interest in reading digital content on a sleek, affordable, and easy-to-use device.  Thus the Kindle. In true geek fashion I recorded my Kindle unboxing (complete with Space Invader wall clings in the background). Let me tell you why I love my Kindle so.  But before I gush like a schoolgirl in love with Edward Cullen, let me tell you that I feel guilty for loving it.  I boycott the Kindle as a librarian but love it as a consumer. Stellar User Interface Design: The Kindle has a gorgeous form factor.  It’s easy to hold in your hands — light, smooth, and perfectly sized for my hands anyway.  The user interface is easy and intuitive, end of story. Smooth Content Delivery: The simplicity and speed of getting content is amazing.  I’ve been using the Kindle app on my Android phone for months now, and it literally takes you 5 seconds to buy and start reading a book from the Kindle Store. How long does it take to start reading a library eBook from the point you decide to download it? On the Kindle itself it’s just as easy. Cross-Device Content Delivery: Amazon was brilliant in being the distributor for the device, the content itself, and the interface/software used to access the content. But they were doubly brilliant in offering the content & interface on other devices through Kindle Reading apps, so you can use your desktop, laptop, iPhone, iPad, Android phone, etc. to access the Kindle universe of eBooks.  The Kindle device itself is secondary…they really covered their bases. Seamless Syncing: Amazon’s Whispersync technology syncs up your library and where you left off in your books without you having to do anything. Not having to think is good, yeah?  Steve Krugwould be proud. ... Tue, 28 Dec 2010 18:22:46 +0100 895405 http://web.docuticker.com/go/docubase/62074 Where is the Learning? Measuring Schooling Efforts in Developing Countries Source: Brookings Institution Achieving universal education is a twofold challenge: to get children and youth into school and then to teach them something meaningful while they are there. While important progress has been made on the first challenge, there is a crisis [...] (Source: Docuticker) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 11:41:00 +0100 895347 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/dec/28/book-tokens-best-christmas-gift Available since 1932 and still resolutely traditional, book tokens are the best Christmas gift, full of energy. Who needs toys?A book, as we all know, is the gift that keeps on giving, and I certainly hope that Santa fulfilled your festive reading wants at the weekend. But can there be any gift more bursting with potential energy than the magic that is the book token?Book tokens are like money, but better – you can't be distracted by spontaneous non-book purchases that you'll only regret later, and you can't turn their spending power to more mundane tasks such as buying food or paying for utilities. Book tokens are for books alone, and thus their value is magnified considerably.I haven't had a book token for years. In these days of Amazon wishlists and time-poor friends who just ask you what you want because they haven't the leisure or inclination to scour your bookshelves and seek out that missing Gustav Meyrink volume for your collection, few people take a chance on just buying a book for someone. Buying a book "cold" is like buying underwear as a present – you either completely ace it or get it spectacularly, shame-inducingly wrong.I was both shocked and thrilled, looking at the National Book Tokens website, to see that you can buy tokens up to the value of £250. Imagine that: half a monkey to spend on books! For those of us still recession-strapped, however, the more reasonable (and most popular) level is the starting price of a tenner.Book tokens still come in lovely paper versions, of course, but these days you can also get pre-loaded credit card-style gift tokens – a far cry from when book tokens first became common gift currency, in 1932, when they were sold as Green Shield-style stamps that were licked and slapped on to a gift card.There are some fascinating illustrations on the National Book Tokens site of the gift cards and how they've changed over the decades. ... Tue, 28 Dec 2010 11:00:01 +0100 895314 http://blog.njla.org/archives/2010/12/#001039 http://www.nj.com Tuesday, December 21, 2010 By SUMMER DAWN HORTILLOSA JOURNAL STAFF WRITER The English language has found a new hero in Jersey City: 8-year-old Paul Valleau. Paul, who is an avid reader, philanthropist and aspiring writer, is saving the Jersey City Free Public Library one used book at a time. After hearing about the library's budget crisis, the home-schooled student knew he had to help. "He thought of selling the books and donating the money he makes," explained Paul's mother, Aleta Valleau. Paul began selling used books outside a Jersey Avenue consignment store every Saturday. As more people heard about Paul's cause, they began donating books. So far, Paul has raised $81.35 for the library. "This is an amazing little boy," said Jersey City library director Priscilla Gardner. "The Jersey City library is so pleased and thankful he thinks of us." Valleau said, "he has been reading since he was 3 years old . and visits the library two or three times a week. It plays a very important role in his life," she said. "It's fun for him, but he also feels good about it because he's doing something." Paul, who loves reading mystery and adventure series such as "The 39 Clues," "The Boxcar Children" and "The Hardy Boys," is also finding another way to contribute to the library. "I'm writing a book now," Paul told The Journal. "It's about space. Two boys get stranded on Uranus. I don't know too much about the story yet." Paul has already written 14 pages of his novel and says he'll finish it in about a year. Asked if he thinks the library will one day have copies of his book, Paul said, "I bet they will." (Source: NJLA Blog -- The Official Weblog of the New Jersey Library Association) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895728 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TalkingInTheLibrary/~3/xfXlC7uoZXc/new-leisure-reading-books.html We've some new books to keep you entertained before classes start this semester. Many thanks to those that responded to the survey.  Your responses will be used to obtain items of more interest to you. For those that don't know, the Leisure Reading collection is located on the east end of the 2nd floor of Hale Library.  Books can be checked out for a month, and renewed once.   Decision points / George W. Bush.  Last boy : Mickey Mantle and the end of America's childhood / Jane Leavy. Elephant to Hollywood / Michael Caine.   Is it just me? : --or is it nuts out there? / Whoopi Goldberg.  Hell's corner / David Baldacci. Port mortuary / Patricia Cornwell. I still dream about you : a novel / Fannie Flagg. Intrigues / Mercedes Lackey. Moonlight mile / Dennis Lehane. Coming back / Marcia Muller.   (Source: K-State Libraries: Talking in the Library) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895622 http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/boy-saves-allowance-for-whole-year-helps-buy-brother-kindle-for-christmas/ From Reddit comes the heartwarming story of a 27-year-old man whose 13-year-old brother saved his allowance all year to chip in (with other members of the family) toward buying him a Kindle for Christmas. The 13-year-old is the only child of the family who still lives with his parents, and since his father suffered congestive heart failure and has to remain bedridden most of the time, the boy has to do most of the work around the house. The family has gone through financial hard time since then, due to medical bills. Money has obviously been tight, so my youngest brother often doesn’t get an allowance at all. He gets a few dollars every so often from my mom and he had managed to save about $30 in a year. My sister told me she got it in her head to buy me a Kindle for Christmas and my mom and 19 year old brother pitched in as well but they were still short. My youngest brother offered his entire savings to chip in so they could afford it. The post on Reddit has earned 60 comments, many heartwarming in their own right, and hundreds of views so far. I hope that Redditor does something extra-nice for his brother next year. (Found via eBookNewser.) (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 03:36:41 +0100 895353 http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2010/12/27/books-help-me-imagine/ Books help me imagine other places and other people. Sometimes, at the end of the year, I pretend I’m a book critic for a major American newspaper, and put together a top ten list of what I’ve read, regardless of when it was first published. Davis, Lydia. The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis. Reviewed in September. Dickens, Charles. The Pickwick Papers. As Richard Russo and others have noted, while reading this you’re watching Dickens figure out how to write a novel. Also, it’s hilarious. Didion, Joan. Slouching Towards Bethlehem. Didion is a masterful writer. I also recently read and enjoyed her novel, Play It As It Lays, and I hope to read The Year of Magical Thinking in 2011. Harrison, Jim. Legends of the Fall. Three novellas. Revenge and The Man Who Gave Up His Name are pretty good; Legends of the Fall is majestic. Herbert, Zbigniew. Collected Poems. The poem Five Men made me want to read everything Herbert wrote. Jansson, Tove. The Summer Book. Writing about children isn’t often very good. Neither is writing about grief.  Jansson’s book is nearly perfect. Link, Kelly. Pretty Monsters. The story “Magic for Beginners,” available in Magic for Beginners as well as Pretty Monsters, is amazing. Kylee likes Pretty Monsters, too. Munif, Abdelrahman. Cities of Salt. The workings of power on small towns in the desert. Smiley, Jane. Moo. Do you live in the Midwest? Did you go to college? If one of those applies, you’ll probably like this book. Walser, Robert. Selected Stories. A one-of-a-kind writer admired by Kafka. You won’t regret taking a walk with Walser. (Source: MADreads) Mon, 27 Dec 2010 23:49:20 +0100 895270 http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2010/dec/27/matthew-warchus-matilda Matthew Warchus spent two years turning Matilda into a musical. So was it hard work? Not compared to Lord of the Rings, the director tells Maddy CostaFor many theatre directors, transforming Roald Dahl's 1988 novel Matilda into a musical might feel daunting. But Matthew Warchus appears to be taking it in his stride. There's no arrogance in his composure: it's simply the unexpected benefit of having spent four years heaving the behemoth that was the Lord of the Rings musical on to the stage. "It's made everything else feel straightforward – in a good way." Now that confidence has been justified with huge ticket sales and rave reviews. The production looks likely to transfer from Stratford to the West End next autumn.Warchus doesn't play down the challenges Matilda posed: how to convey the child's magic powers, for instance. He spent a large chunk of the show's two-year development period searching for a composer who could be "clever, scurrilous, a bit anarchic, funny, and make you cry" before settling on comedian Tim Minchin, and another chunk working with playwright Dennis Kelly to smooth Dahl's episodic story – portioned for bedtime reading – so that it doesn't end up "like a cabaret". But, compared with the "extreme" problems of The Lord of the Rings, Matilda was "quite manageable".The Lord of the Rings was no hit, despite a handful of positive reviews from critics who admired its "jaw-dropping theatrical brio". Audience numbers were so low that the Toronto and London productions closed before recouping their multimillion pound costs. Looking back, Warchus has no regrets. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as a director to work on that scale with those resources. ... Mon, 27 Dec 2010 22:00:00 +0100 895220 http://plablog.org/2010/12/senate-confirms-president%e2%80%99s-nomination-of-new-imls-director.html Susan H. Hildreth Becomes New Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services On December 22, 2010 Susan Hildreth’s nomination to be director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) was confirmed by unanimous consent by the United States Senate. The Institute, an independent United States government agency, is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. “I am truly honored to have been appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as the fourth Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services,” said Hildreth. “I cannot imagine a more exciting and challenging responsibility than helping to create strong libraries and museums that sustain our heritage and culture and connect people to information and new ways of thinking.” “Although we will certainly miss Susan in Seattle [where Hildreth is City Librarian/CEO of Seattle Public Library,] she is going to be an outstanding leader for the Institute of Museum and Library Services,” said Senator Patty Murray (D-WA). “Susan and I share a passion for making sure that children across America get the literacy skills they need to succeed in school and in life. And I am confident that she will continue the Institute’s great work supporting families and communities across the country.” Hildreth was previously appointed as California’s state librarian by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Prior to her position as California state librarian, Hildreth was at the San Francisco Public Library, where she served as deputy director and then city librarian. Her background also includes five years as deputy library director at the Sacramento Public Library, several years as Placer County’s head librarian and four years as library director for the Benicia Public Library, all in California. She began her career as a branch librarian at the Edison Township Library in New Jersey. ... Mon, 27 Dec 2010 15:36:38 +0100 895276 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/27/lawyers-and-their-love-of-semicolons/ Came across this article and thought SLAW readers might find it useful. It was originally published in the December 2010 issue of Deadbeat, the Ontario Bar Association’s Trusts & Estates Section newsletter. Spelling and Grammar Query Susan J. Stamm* Lawyers love long and complex sentences. Lawyers love lists. Lawyers love semicolons and colons. If we are to maintain our love of semicolons, we must use them properly. Typical usage of semicolons by lawyers is in long complex sentences, or in lists. However, either way, two primary rules must be followed: You can use the semicolon to connect two independent clauses together into one sentence. You can use it as a super-comma. There are also some optional uses. To Connect Two Independent Clauses Independent clauses are series of words that could stand alone as complete sentences (i.e., they have both a subject and a verb). When you have two otherwise complete sentences that you want to connect to form one long sentence, use a semicolon between them. Example: Jane is a dependent child of the deceased; she is the applicant in these proceedings. If you put a comma where that semicolon is, you will have committed a “comma splice,” which some consider a serious grammatical mistake. There is, however, one exception that can cause you a problem. You don’t use a semicolon to connect two complete sentences if there’s a conjunction between the clauses (and, but, etc.). In that case, use a comma. I don’t know why. That is the rule. Example: Jane is a dependent child of the deceased, and she is the applicant in these proceedings. Adding that single word, the conjunction “and,” means that you must change that semicolon into a comma. However, if the first sentence already has one or more commas in it, you do use the semi-colon. ... Mon, 27 Dec 2010 13:00:38 +0100 895176 http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2010/dec/27/archive-review-lewis-carrolls-new-story-1871 Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 27 December 1871Through the Looking-glass, and what Alice found there. By Lewis Carroll, author of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." With fifty illustrations, by John Tenniel, London: Macmillan and Co. 1872. Lewis Carroll has been telling another modern fairy tale to those three fortunate young ladies who have him for their fabulist, and now the result lies before us in a charming Christmas book, where those thousands of children of a larger or smaller growth who have laughed over the adventures of Alice, that most delightful of little girls, may follow their heroine through a new "Wonderland."The realm of marvels which she visits on this occasion is "Looking-glass House," part of which she has often seen in the drawing-room; but her curiosity is strongly excited about the rest. "You can just see a little peep of the passage in 'Looking-glass House' if you leave the door of the drawing-room wide open; and it's very like our passage as far as you see, only you know it might be quite different on beyond."And very different on beyond it proves to be when Alice one day in a dream walks through the looking-glass and explores it. One very natural peculiarity of Looking-glass House is that most things in it are exactly reversed; accordingly if you want to go anywhere you have to turn round and walk the other way. People live backwards too, and their memory consequently works forward; thus there is an unfortunate person whom we find undergoing sentence in prison — "the trial doesn't even begin till next Wednesday, and the crime comes last of all."Readers of the Wonderland will be sorry to hear that it is their old friend the Hatter who is in this predicament. He still preserves his hat, "in this style, 10s. 6d." and seems to have lost none of his knack of getting into disgrace with royalty. ... Mon, 27 Dec 2010 11:43:45 +0100 895223 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/dec/27/poem-of-the-week-grevel-lindop A single gem is a talisman for gathering the fading memories of a departed grandmother in these unassumingly intense versesThis week's poem, "My Grandmother's Opal" by Grevel Lindop, is a quest to reveal the past. The last line-and-a-quarter sums up the significance and difficulty of the quest: "this one spark / saved from the fiery heart of a lost world". Adrift in attics and cupboard drawers, such tantalising "sparks" may be all we have of that mysterious immensity, a person's life, reminding us how little we truly know the people we're closely related to: the grandparents who died before we properly "met" them; that venerable great-grandparent we just missed. Perhaps they remind us, too, of the future whose past we will sooner or later become – our grandchildren, their grandchildren. These distant relatives haunt Christmastime in our culture. To borrow the poem's words, they offer love we can never return – nor properly receive - but which can sometimes seem profoundly present.A poet's historical imagination must work hard and tactfully in this half-world, and, while trying to salvage traces of unique reality, resist the fiction-writer's dramatisations and stay faithful to the facts and memories "sparked". Lindop's poem seems deliberately modest in form, underplaying its symmetrical quatrain structure with irregular lines and half-rhymes. The careless loss of the grandmother's photograph, regretted in the first stanza, might be the poet's blessing in disguise: the gem is a more potent object, a symbol and a cauldron. The opal's rainbow mixture evokes compression, fragmentation and buried depths.Its colour and texture are deliciously realised in the second stanza, with the third adding to the intricacy by punningly evoking the streaks of colour as "figures". ... Mon, 27 Dec 2010 09:00:03 +0100 895141 http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/dec/27/what-happened-next-feminism-women A great year for women? Twelve months ago we predicted that it would be. Were we right?This time 12 months ago we promised it was going to be the biggest year in feminism ever. So was it? Er, sort of. We weren't wrong about it being a celebratory year. But our predictions of the feminist events to watch in 2010 were a bit hit and miss. Where did we strike gold? The significance of the movie Precious, the story of an overweight, illiterate teenager in 80s Harlem, pregnant by her abusive father ("primarily female cast", "a must-see", we said). Come the Oscars, the film won six nominations and two awards. What did we overestimate? The impact of Drew Barrymore's directorial debut Whip It! ("a great film"). That turned out to be a bit of a howler. The film went right under the radar, more's the pity.So what else did we get right? Well, it was always going to be a bumper year and maybe we could have even got a bit more excited about it. 2010 marked the 40th anniversary both of the publication of Germaine Greer's still controversial The Female Eunuch and of Kate Millett's landmark Sexual Politics. It was also four decades since the agenda-changing first ever National Women's Liberation conference. This killer combination of events galvanised campaigning groups everywhere and if anything our predictions of a feminist bonanza in 2010 underestimated the resurgence of grassroots activism.The first ever Feminism Summer School, hosted by UK Feminista in July, was a major success, picking up international coverage. And the Reclaim the Night movement was invigorated in force, with more than 2,000 women attending candlelit vigils in central London in November, where DJs kept the crowds going until 2am. Meanwhile more than 1,000 people attended London Feminism Network's October conference. ... Mon, 27 Dec 2010 08:00:17 +0100 895143 http://ricklibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/12/ricklibrarians-books-that-matter-and.html 2010 was a good book year for me. As I look back, November was especially stellar, as almost every book that I read for a few weeks was superb. It was difficult deciding which were best of the year, but I took a stab at it anyway. I also selected movies and music.In this post, I also include links to all my reporting from library conferences and to all my reviews of new reader's advisory sources.Have a Happy New Year for good reading and cultural experiences.Recent NonfictionClaiming Ground by Laura BellDangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour by David BianculliThe Grace of Silence: A Memoir by Michele NorrisI Am Nujood, Age Ten and Divorced by Nujood Ali and Delphine MinouiThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca SklootLife List: A Woman's Quest for the World's Most Amazing Birds by Olivia GentileLighting Out for the Territory: How Samuel Clemens Headed West and Became Mark Twain by Roy Morris, Jr.Mark Twain: The Man in White: The Grand Adventure of His Final Years by Michael SheldenA Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School by Carlotta Walls LaNierNine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India by William DalrymplePacking for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary RoachZeitoun by Dave EggersRecent FictionCorduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall SmithThe Man from Beijing by Henning MankellThe Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia StuartGreat Old BooksFirst Person Rural: Essays of a Sometime Farmer by Noel PerrinIn Patagonia by Bruce ChatwinRoseanna by Maj Sjöwall and Per WahlööChildren's BooksAn Egret's Day by Jane YolenFace to Face with Elephants by Beverly JoubertMarching for Freedom: Walk Together, Children, and Don't You Grow Weary by Elizabeth PartridgeSaving the Ghost of the Mountain by Sy MontgomeryZen Shorts by Jon J. Muth and Zen Ties by Jon J. ... Mon, 27 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895302 http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2010/12/third-world-children-are-americas-lab.html Parul Christian, DrPHCenter for Human NutritionJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health615 N. Wolfe StRoom W2041Baltimore, MD 21205 Dear Dr. Christian, Today I read the account of your research done on Nepalese children in the Dec 22/29, 2010 issue of JAMA. My first pregnancy was in 1961 and I received prenatal vitamins containing iron, and I believe the need for folic acid has been known and added to prenatal vitamins since before 1990. For some years it has been known that the relationship between zinc and iron is iffy, with the benefits of each perhaps cancelling the other. Why is it ethical to experiment on third world children when we already know the benefits of prenatal supplements, and have known for 50 years or more? The control group will remain behind the supplement group for the rest of their lives. Just looking through other studies on the interaction of zinc and iron, I see Bloomberg is supporting research on poor children in other countries. So was that the real point of this research, to show that zinc is not useful as a supplement? Norma BruceFaculty EmeritusThe Ohio State UniversityParul Christian, Dr. P.H., of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and colleagues conducted a study to assess intellectual and motor functioning in a group of 676 children, aged 7 to 9 years in June 2007-April 2009, who had been born to women in 4 of 5 groups of a community-based, randomized controlled trial of prenatal micronutrient supplementation conducted between 1999 and 2001 in rural Nepal. Study children were also in the placebo group of a subsequent preschool iron and zinc supplementation trial. Women whose children were followed up had been randomly assigned to receive daily iron/folic acid, iron/folic acid/zinc, or multiple micronutrients containing these plus 11 other micronutrients, all with vitamin A, vs. a control group of vitamin A alone from early pregnancy through 3 months postpartum. ... Mon, 27 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895237 http://blog.case.edu/bcg8/2010/12/26/kids_publish_in_peer_reviewed_science_journal Biology Letters has published a journal article by 8 to 10-year olds investigating how bumblebees see colors and patterns. Future scientists in action! See the Associated Press article for more information. (Source: e3 Information Overload, E-Resources for Engineering Education) Mon, 27 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895128 http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/grimms-rapunzel-3d-interactive-pop-up-book/ (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Mon, 27 Dec 2010 01:07:18 +0100 895170 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/27/breaking-trust-over-book-fund As a children's author and mother I was dismayed to learn of the Department for Education's decision to cut all funding to the Booktrust bookgifting programmes in England (In praise of… Booktrust, 23 December). Booktrust has introduced thousands of children to the pleasures and benefits of reading. I have friends who'd never have thought to read with their children were it not for Booktrust. I've met families in our local library who, by their own admission, would never have become regular visitors without Booktrust's initial prompt. Now, libraries aren't exactly high on the government's agenda either – so what exactly are they doing to give ensure that every child has access to books?Bookgifting is one of those rare government-funded schemes that actually works. Booktrust doesn't just give children books; it gives them the power to imagine. It also gives families an enjoyable way to interact – a welcome alternative to toys and television.When busy parents forget storytime, it is understandable. When the government forgets it, it is unforgivable. I can only hope that the funding cut-off date of next April Fools' Day is Michael Gove's idea of a bad joke.Michelle RobinsonBristol• The fact that the government has cut off funding to the Booktrust bookgifting schemes is not only outrageous but will directly affect the viability of early years reading and learning in both children's centres and libraries. It is not simply about giving a load of money to a charity to dole out books. It has been since 1999 a way of libraries, primary care trusts and early educators working together at a local level and parents being empowered with high-quality resources, whether books, library joining incentives, regular visit incentives or giving the chance for health visitors to talk about the importance of literacy alongside health advice. Half of the gift is the message that goes with it. ... Mon, 27 Dec 2010 00:05:03 +0100 895144 http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/dec/26/free-books-scheme-funding-u-turn Government promises to work with children's charity after decision to axe Booktrust's £13m grant sparks literary outrageThe government has made a partial U-turn over providing free books for children, after the poet laureate accused ministers of behaving like "Scrooge at his worst".Education secretary Michael Gove held hurried consultations with Booktrust, interrupting his Christmas break when the charity released a letter confirming the government was to axe a £13m annual grant for free books that benefit 3.3 million youngsters a year.While the prime minister David Cameron was upbraided by Labour leader Ed Milband for "another mean-minded" removal of funding, in a joint statement, the charity and the education department confirmed that although the £13m grant would not continue as such, ministers would work with Booktrust to help disadvantaged children.The joint statement said: "[We] are determined to ensure that reading for pleasure is a gift every child can enjoy. That is why the DFE will continue to fund Booktrust book-gifting programmes in the future."Although the current contract will end in April, the department is talking to Booktrust about how to develop a new programme which will ensure that every child can enjoy the gift of books at crucial moments in their lives while ensuring we develop an even more effective way of supporting the most disadvantaged families to read together. The department and Booktrust will be working together, with publishers, in order to ensure that we can make every possible saving in developing an enhanced programme."The statement came as Carol Ann Duffy, appointed poet laureate in 2009, joined other authors to attack the cut. The charity provides free books for children from the age of nine months until 11.Duffy said: "Support for Bookstart is support for the dreams and imaginations and futures of British children. To withdraw that support is to behave like Scrooge at his worst. ... Sun, 26 Dec 2010 20:19:31 +0100 895073 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/26/our-history-in-100-objects-touch In this ever more virtual world, our enchantment with things we can touch and use to express ourselves intensifiesThe pile of unwrapped presents beside the bed on Christmas night is one of my favourite childhood memories; so many new things to treasure and play with. Several decades later some of them are still with me, albeit faded and shabby. Christmas, among other things, is a fabulous celebration of our love of things – the objects with which we furnish our lives, express identity and communicate.It has become fashionable to deride this as consumerism, but the paradox is that as more and more of our lives are mediated by screens and keyboards, and the virtual world of word and image dominates, the enchantment of things intensifies. Increasingly, we come to appreciate the value of the concrete – how something is made, designed, crafted – and the pleasure of touch.A clutch of books remind us of this enduring human love affair with things; in particular, two successes of 2010 the History of the World in 100 Objects, by Neil MacGregor, and the Hare with Amber Eyes, by Edmund de Waal, a history of his inheritance of 264 Japanese netsuke – carved ivory and wooden toggles. Both remind us that objects offer their own particular form of communication. As De Waal puts it early in his book as he weighs the small objects in his hand, "some of the older ones are slightly worn away: the haunch of the faun resting on leaves has lost its markings. There is a slight split, an almost imperceptible fault line on the cicada. Who dropped it? Where and when?"Things communicate in a way that is often suggestive and associative, working on the imagination as music or poetry might, opening up possibilities in contrast to how in the rest of our lives, we handle huge quantities of precise information. ... Sun, 26 Dec 2010 19:00:00 +0100 895074 http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/dec/26/elisabeth-beresford-obituary Prolific writer who enjoyed her greatest success with the recycling WomblesElisabeth Beresford, who has died aged 84, enjoyed her greatest success with the creation of the Wombles. The family motto of the colourful underground creatures – "making good use of bad rubbish" – sprang from a concern of the writer's that chimed with the growing ecological awareness of the next four decades. Famously, the inspiration for the figures came on a Boxing Day walk on Wimbledon Common, south-west London, during which her daughter, Kate, misnamed it Wombledon Common.As elsewhere with Beresford's work, the point of departure was real – here, the place and the characters, largely drawn from uncles, grandparents, siblings and her children: Marcus, her son, genial and interested in food, inspired Orinoco; Kate inspired Bungo, a strong character in the books, though not in the films.Their underground and above-ground adventures begin simply; in The Wombles (1968) the characters do little more than potter about tidying up, braving humans and dogs when necessary. Gradually, over the next 10 years, the adventures become more ambitious and more far-flung in titles such as The MacWomble's Pipe Band and The Wombles Go Round the World (both 1976).As often happens, the early home-based books worked best, since their clear message – the importance of litter collection and recycling that Beresford believed in passionately – was at their heart. Then in its infancy and largely confined to an alternative lifestyle, the theme transformed what was essentially the story of a spirited and likable but conventional family with old-fashioned values into one with an original and contemporary edge to it. It spread the message of recycling to a wide market and touched a chord with many readers, who went on to set up Womble Cleaning Up Groups on Wimbledon Common and elsewhere. ... Sun, 26 Dec 2010 18:18:00 +0100 895075 http://missolibrary.blogspot.com/2010/12/miss-brooks-loves-books-and-i-dont.html At the end of October I took on a new position and I can't actually believe it has been two months since my last post. Well the holidays have brought gifts and anyone that knows me knows that I love getting children's books. Last year, I heard of the book Miss Brooks Loves Books! (and I don't), but I did not realize how great it was until two days ago when I got my own copy. Miss Brooks Loves Books! (and I don't) is wrtitten by Barbara Bottner and illustrated by Michael Emberley. The child's expression of the cover is priceless as she sits on a pile of books listening to a story. Miss Brooks is the librarian and she loves to dress up as characters and share books. Her special idea for May Book Week is to give all first graders an assignment - "You need to pick a favorite story to share with the class. I want you to wear a costume and tell us all about it. Really show us why you love it!" she says.The child is not too excited about the assignment, no book makes her happy. Her mother finally says, "You are as stubborn as a wart." The child all of a sudden wants a story about warts. The mother finds a Shrek book and the child loves it. The mother and child make an orge costume. The child even makes stick on warts for the whole class. Miss Brooks and the class are so excited!This book is a clear reminder that there is a book for every child. They just have to discover it. (Source: MISS O's SCHOOL LIBRARY) Sun, 26 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895794 http://outofthejungle.blogspot.com/2010/12/prison-libraries-true-value-lies-beyond.html A very good essay in the Boston Globe Ideas section today by Avi Steinberg, who recently came out with the memoir, Running the Books about his stint as a prison librarian in the Boston area Suffolk County House of Correction. He writes about the periodic, well, probably ongoing, attacks on prison libraries, from well-meaning reformers who fear that the books will undermine the principle of punishment or might encourage prisoners to consider making a break for it or more fruitless appeals. Steinberg writes with excellent detail about the experiences he had as a prison librarian that lead him to the opposite conclusion. In his opinion, the true value of the prison library lies not so much in the reading material, as in the civilizing, educating locus of the place. The prisoners, who learn that the library is a haven that can make them feel like normal people for that short visit, run there when allowed, they are so eager to arrive. Prisoners who are allowed to work as library assistants value the privilege, and take the leadership skills into life after prison. It was more educational that spending time in the recreation yard, and it was less formal than the classrooms. It was a public space, and often the only time these individuals had ever been exposed to a library. They were learning important skills to take with them after they were released, even if they only read glossy magazines. Steinberg's argument is the classic rehabilitation argument, but it is an important one, and he gives some very good details from his time at the Suffolk County House of Correction. Steinberg introduces the reader to Fat Kat, his head of circulation, and unofficial captain of the inmate prison work detail. Fat Kat's name describes both his physical appearance and his boss persona. He was mid-way through his sentence when Steinberg met him. ... Sun, 26 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895153 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/26/20-things-we-learned-in-2010 Observer writers and experts chart the concepts, trends and buzz words that defined the past year and are likely to shape the next one1 The new politics is, in fact, the old politicsNick Clegg will regret many things about 2010. One will be his decision to produce a Lib Dem election poster warning that the Tories would raise VAT. A few weeks later Clegg, installed as deputy prime minister, was backing coalition plans to – yes – raise VAT.Then there was the pre-election pledge to vote against any rise in tuition fees. Six months later Clegg was pushing a policy to triple them.These shifts were damaging not just because they were old-fashioned U-turns but because they fatally undermined the party's raison d'etre – its commitment to deliver a new, honest politics. A vote for the Lib Dems, Clegg had said, would be "a vote that counts".It was all part of his broader attempt to promote the merits of voting reform – the Lib Dems' core policy. Fair votes through proportional representation would mean that everyone's vote would matter and everyone's voice would be heard.Floating the idea of "new politics" and calling for an end to the duopoly of the "old parties" made Clegg more popular than Churchill for a while. But it is dangerous to take the moral high ground in politics.A mid-December poll for the News of the World found 61% of respondents saying that they didn't trust Clegg, compared to 24% in April. In a few months, he had gone from being one of the most trusted politicians to one of the least trusted.To many, the "new politics" had begun to feel very much like old politics – if not rather worse, as angry protests hit the streets and chants rang out about promises broken. Toby Helm2 Kanye West is pop's top innovatorIn 2009, Kanye West had the distinction of being called a "jackass" by the US president, after rudely interrupting an acceptance speech by his fellow performer Taylor Swift at an awards show. ... Sun, 26 Dec 2010 00:07:13 +0100 894991 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/26/literacy-booksforchildrenandteenagers Politicians say they are saddened by children's lack of literacy, and yet they are cutting the book gifting schemeGiven we have cuts in the educational maintenance allowance, housing benefit and myriad other areas of public life, cutting the book gifting scheme may seem irrelevant to many. However, given our politicians' sadness at the poor reading skills of our children, these cuts are very short-sighted.Booktrust, the charity that oversees these schemes (Booked Up, Booktime, Letterbox Club and Bookstart) has a wealth of knowledge and research about how they work and the good they do. The schemes encourage a love of reading from babyhood onwards. That's why so many countries around the world – including Colombia and Uganda – have copied them. We are so used to hearing governments tell us literacy rates are falling, so why, in heaven's name, cut something that is proven to help?The schemes cater for children at every stage – from Bookstart, which offers the very best picture books to babies via health centres, Booktime for four- to five-year-old children when they start school, Letterbox Club, which offers regular parcels of books to looked-after children of all ages, to Booked Up for 11-year-olds.I am an author who has had her work selected for Booked Up, and has taken part in the selection process (in a different year, naturally). To those of us fortunate enough to have children with heaving bookshelves and well-used library tickets, book gifting might seem like a luxury. I expect most Tory – and Liberal Democrat – politicians have never been in a house without books, have never come across children who have not been able to choose books to own rather than just borrow.Booked Up has done amazingly good things for children all over England. It offers 11-year-olds the choice of one of 12 top-quality books to own for free. ... Sun, 26 Dec 2010 00:06:08 +0100 894992 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/26/20-things-we-learned-2010 It was a year in which game-changing developments in social media competed with a new political turf wars over the 'squeezed middle'. Here a team of Observer writers and experts chart the concepts, trends and buzzwords that defined the last year and are likely to shape the next one1 The new politics is, in fact, the old politicsNick Clegg will regret many things about 2010. One will be his decision to produce a Lib Dem election poster warning that the Tories would raise VAT. A few weeks later Clegg, installed as deputy prime minister, was backing coalition plans to – yes – raise VAT.Then there was the pre-election pledge to vote against any rise in tuition fees. Six months later Clegg was pushing a policy to triple them.These shifts were damaging not just because they were old-fashioned U-turns but because they fatally undermined the party's raison d'etre – its commitment to deliver a new, honest politics. A vote for the Lib Dems, Clegg had said, would be "a vote that counts".It was all part of his broader attempt to promote the merits of voting reform – the Lib Dems' core policy. Fair votes through proportional representation would mean that everyone's vote would matter and everyone's voice would be heard.Floating the idea of "new politics" and calling for an end to the duopoly of the "old parties" made Clegg more popular than Churchill for a while. But it is dangerous to take the moral high ground in politics.A mid-December poll for the News of the World found 61% of respondents saying that they didn't trust Clegg, compared to 24% in April. In a few months, he had gone from being one of the most trusted politicians to one of the least trusted.To many, the "new politics" had begun to feel very much like old politics – if not rather worse, as angry protests hit the streets and chants rang out about promises broken. ... Sun, 26 Dec 2010 00:05:53 +0100 894994 http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/dec/26/gullivers-travels-jack-black-letterman I was six when first I came across Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels in the form of the 1939 animated movie by the Fleischer brothers. It was the first full-length cartoon by Disney's only rivals at that time, and I remember enjoying it. The film took in just the journeys to Lilliput and Brobdingnag, and a decade passed before I discovered that Gulliver's Travels was a great work of satire that had fallen into the hands of children, and despite being written by a distinguished clergyman it contained much that was considered unfit for the young.I've since seen a number of adaptations, but only one of real worth: the version Sean Kenny, who died tragically young in 1973 aged 40, co-wrote, co-directed and designed at Bernard Miles's Mermaid theatre. It was a remarkable imaginative and intellectual achievement, taking in all four books (so kids got to hear about Laputa, Glubbdubdrib, the Houyhnhnms and the Yahoos, as well as Lilliput) and including a sea sequence shot in a pond on Hampstead Heath. Mike d'Abo, the Cambridge-educated pop star, played Gulliver, and I think the show might have been called Gulliver Travels. Less celebrated than the original Oliver! or his sets for Theatre Workshop and the National, Kenny's Gulliver is a memory I cherish of a great artist of whom Ken Tynan once said: "I have a fearful premonition of the next show Mr Kenny designs. As soon as the curtain rises, the sets will advance in a phalanx on the audience and summarily expel it from the theatre."In Rob Letterman's truly dire 3-D version of Gulliver's Travels, Lemuel Gulliver has been demoted from 18th-century ship's surgeon to 21st-century clerk. Stuck for a decade in the mailroom of the New York Herald, he's played by that all-purpose slob and loser, Jack Black. ... Sun, 26 Dec 2010 00:05:20 +0100 894997 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/26/kate-horsley-fancy-dress William has everything he ever wanted. Sophie, lying beside him, is expecting their first child. She is perfect, it is Christmas, so why does he feel so awful? An exclusive short story by Kate HorsleyWilliam woke up earlier than he would have liked. It was the morning of Christmas Day, but it was still dark outside. He thought about trying to go back to sleep, but even though he felt tired, he knew he wouldn't be able to. He got out of bed and walked over to the window. The blind had been lowered and he edged his body between the material and the glass. He looked down at the road running adjacent to the house. The streetlamps were still lit; grey parking meters stood at intervals along the pavement. The families in the row of houses opposite didn't appear to be up: the windows were dark and each building gave the impression of great stillness. He could hear some wind in the trees, but apart from that it was very quiet, as though there'd been a large fall of snow. He walked back over to the bed and he sat down on the nearest corner. Sophie had always been a good sleeper; she could sleep anywhere – in the back of a car, curled up on a sofa at a party. Since she'd become pregnant, she'd started having lie-ins too. Over the last few months William had grown more sensitive to his wife's habits because he'd been having trouble sleeping himself. It was a similar pattern every night. He'd go to sleep for a few hours and then he'd wake up, very suddenly. Sometimes he was still awake at six or seven the following morning. It all felt quite out of character. William liked to think of himself as a steady sort of man, the type of person who didn't let things get the better of him. He hadn't mentioned what had been happening to anyone – he didn't want to worry Sophie – until a few nights ago when he'd had a conversation with his brother on the phone. John had said something about it being a difficult time of year. ... Sun, 26 Dec 2010 00:05:12 +0100 894999 http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/dec/26/once-upon-life-rhoda-janzen Raised a "good plain girl" in a Mennonite family in 1970s America, Rhoda Janzen coveted and eventually acquired her own secret weapon against conformity – a black strapless bra. But before long her secret was out…I grew up in a conservative Protestant community called the Mennonites. We were so conservative that to my sheltered Mennonite eyes all other churches seemed dens of worldly iniquity and permissiveness. Many Mennonite children were home-schooled, or went to private Mennonite schools, so that children would learn proper Christian values. However, my parents sent us to public school in North Dakota, where the difference between us and Most Kids was glaringly obvious. For other girls, being a Christian meant wearing a cute dress on Sundays. For me it meant no dancing, no radio, no slang, no fashion – in short, no exposure to a world from which my community was anxious to cut itself off.The Mennonite idea was to demonstrate a commitment to Christ by stepping away from popular culture. This would give us the freedom to take up more important concerns, such as peace and social justice. But as a young girl I was not interested in peace and social justice. What I wanted was freedom to interact with peers. Jesus was all very well, but could He bring me boys, magazines, and frilly lingerie?Mennonites, unlike Mormons, don't wear undergarments designed to confer a special holy feeling. There's no online Mennonite outlet from which we order our modest underduds. But as soon as I turned 10, I was introduced to a hideous, wide-strapped, no-stretch bra that crushed my fantasies of young ladyhood. "A bra should be a wholesome thing," said my mother. "Good plain girls wear good plain bras." As for me and my bra, we would serve the Lord.Then I started babysitting. True, sometimes the parents paid in potatoes. But more often than not they paid in dollars and cents. Which could be hidden and tirelessly counted. ... Sun, 26 Dec 2010 00:04:01 +0100 895000 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/25/booktrust-funding-cut-reading Parents praise the work of the literacy charity, which will now lose its £13m government grantDanni Grady, a dentist from Poole in Dorset, had never heard of the Booktrust programmes until she had her first child, Grace, now four. "But when we were given the books I thought, 'what a great idea'," she says. "It was a lovely surprise. It's extremely sad to think it is going to disappear."Usually, new parents receive the first tranche of books – the Bookstart baby packs – before their child's first birthday. A second allocation encourages parents to read aloud with their children after they start school while a third programme, Booked Up, aims to give a free book to every child starting secondary school in England.Grady, who is married to a physiotherapist and now has a second daughter, Olivia, two, acknowledges that some people may question why middle-class parents need books subsidised by the taxpayer. But she insists the value of the programme lies not in saving parents the small amount they would otherwise have had to spend. "It's not necessarily about the books themselves; it's the encouragement you need to read to your children which I don't think comes naturally if you're not a big book reader yourself. That encouragement you can get from receiving just a few books is great."Reading to children, Grady argues, is one of the joys of parenthood. "From a selfish point of view I enjoy it. It's good fun. They get a lot out of it. It is exciting when you see their language skills developing. I know with my older girl that before she could say anything her understanding of what was what was great, just from looking at books together and saying, 'point to this or that', and she would do it."Grady argues that books can be a vital weapon in the war with the television. "One of the issues we face nowadays is the battle with the TV, which is always on. ... Sat, 25 Dec 2010 19:14:41 +0100 895004 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/26/booktrust-funding-cut-pullman-motion Philip Pullman and Sir Andrew Motion round on decision to slash £13m government grant to the Booktrust charityLeading writers today rounded on the government for its "repugnant, foolish and pointlessly destructive" decision to axe all funding for a free book scheme that benefits 3.3 million youngsters a year.Children's author Philip Pullman attacked the move as an "unforgivable disgrace", while the former poet laureate Sir Andrew Motion described the cut as "an act of gross cultural vandalism".These uncompromising views were echoed by Viv Bird, chief executive of the Booktrust charity, who said she was "astounded and appalled" when told all government support for their work was going to be scrapped. "There was no dialogue. It was completely devastating," she said.The Booktrust charity runs several programmes that together provide free books for children from the age of nine months until their first term of secondary school when they are 11, and is widely admired by teachers, parents and authors.They began as a pilot project in 1992 but were awarded government funding in 2004 to become universal. But 10 days ago – despite having previously offered to take a 20% funding cut – the charity was told it was to lose 100% of its £13m-a-year government grant.The literary world has reacted with horror and has begun a campaign that has echoes of the one launched against the decision of the education secretary, Michael Gove, to axe funding for school sport, a plan revealed in the Observer. In fact, the decision to end Booktrust's funding is thought to have been taken to finance the education secretary's eventual U-turn on sport, which saw much of the threatened £162m cash for school sport partnerships restored.The reaction by authors to Gove's latest move has been furious. "It's like seeing someone smashing aside a butterfly with the back of their hand: wanton destruction," said Pullman. ... Sat, 25 Dec 2010 19:08:02 +0100 895005 http://www.lisnews.org/surprising_potential_prison_library Article in the Boston Globe by Avi Steinberg who made a name for himself as a prison librarian. People tend to see a prison as a monolithic institution, a place solely dedicated to locking criminals up. But many inmates experience prison in a more dynamic way, as a clash between institutions. And what I experienced every day was that, in the collision between the institution of prison and the institution-within-the-institution, the library, something constructive and potentially long-lasting was being formed. Prison libraries aren’t miracle factories. The day-to-day was often far from inspiring. Glossy magazines and mindless movies were, for many, the main attraction. Pimp memoirs were among the most frequently requested books. And yet, even an inmate motivated by nothing more than a desire to watch “The Incredible Hulk” in the back room of the library was much more likely to come across something educational — a book, a program, a mentor — once he entered the library space. Just as important, this inmate was becoming a loyal patron of the library, something he could carry with him to the outside world, and perhaps pass on to his children. In prison, I saw inmates literally run to the library. I wondered then, as I wonder now, how much we might gain from thinking ambitiously, creatively, how to harness the energy that currently fills this little institution-within-an-institution — and find ways to cultivate it more deliberately, to direct it over the prison walls and back into the lives of our neighborhoods. (Source: LISNews - Librarian And Information Science News) Sat, 25 Dec 2010 15:27:49 +0100 895877 http://lisnews.org/surprising_potential_prison_library Article in the Boston Globe by Avi Steinberg who made a name for himself as a prison librarian. People tend to see a prison as a monolithic institution, a place solely dedicated to locking criminals up. But many inmates experience prison in a more dynamic way, as a clash between institutions. And what I experienced every day was that, in the collision between the institution of prison and the institution-within-the-institution, the library, something constructive and potentially long-lasting was being formed. Prison libraries aren’t miracle factories. The day-to-day was often far from inspiring. Glossy magazines and mindless movies were, for many, the main attraction. Pimp memoirs were among the most frequently requested books. And yet, even an inmate motivated by nothing more than a desire to watch “The Incredible Hulk” in the back room of the library was much more likely to come across something educational — a book, a program, a mentor — once he entered the library space. Just as important, this inmate was becoming a loyal patron of the library, something he could carry with him to the outside world, and perhaps pass on to his children. In prison, I saw inmates literally run to the library. I wondered then, as I wonder now, how much we might gain from thinking ambitiously, creatively, how to harness the energy that currently fills this little institution-within-an-institution — and find ways to cultivate it more deliberately, to direct it over the prison walls and back into the lives of our neighborhoods. (Source: LISNews.org) Sat, 25 Dec 2010 15:27:49 +0100 894960 http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/dec/25/wombles-creator-elisabeth-beresford-dies Writer of children's books invented much-loved creatures who made use of 'things that the eveyday folk left behind'Elisabeth Beresford, the writer best known for creating the much-loved children's television programme,The Wombles, has died.The 84-year-old invented the characters of the Wombles of Wimbledon Common, who became household names in the 1970s.Beresford died at 10.30pm yesterday in the Mignot Memorial hospital on Alderney, in the Channel Islands, after suffering heart failure, her son Marcus Robertson said.The first Wombles book was published in 1968 and, after it was broadcast on Jackanory, the BBC decided to make an animated series. Beresford wrote over 20 Wombles books within a decade, which were translated into more than 40 languages. She also wrote a Wombles stage show, one version of which ran in the West End.A total of 35 five-minute films were broadcast on BBC One accompanied by Mike Batt's music and the programme's synonymous theme tune, Underground Overground, Wombling Free. The characters were voiced by actor Bernard Cribbens and the puppets created by Ivor Wood.Beresford was inspired to create the characters by a child's mispronunciation one Christmas, when she took her children to Wimbledon Common for a Boxing Day stroll and her daughter Kate referred to the area as "Wombledon".A number of the characters she developed were based on members of her family. Great Uncle Bulgaria was based on her father-in-law, Tobermory on her brother (a skilled inventor), Orinoco, on her son, and Madame Cholet on her mother.Beresford was born in Paris in 1928, although her family home was in England. Her father, JD Beresford, was a successful novelist and book reviewer and friends of the family included HG Wells, George Bernard Shaw, W Somerset Maguham and DH Lawrence.Her own literary career began as a ghost writer, specialising in speeches, including for Conservative MPs. ... Sat, 25 Dec 2010 15:21:57 +0100 894955 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/dec/24/season-s-readings-readers-favourite As part of our seasonal series, we asked you to nominate your favourite Yuletide reads, and this is the books blog's Christmas top of the popsAs part of our Season's Reading series, we asked you to nominate your favourite Christmassy reads. Here's the 2010 Christmas reading list, compiled by you.Christmas verse was popular with many of you, with "A Child's Christmas in Wales", Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and "The Night Before Christmas" all receiving mentions. PMakar explained why her vote went to Dylan Thomas: "'A Child's Christmas in Wales' is my favorite. No preaching; no sentimentality. But real feeling, wonderful humor, and beautiful language."As with the Books desk's choice of favourite Christmas tales, children's books dominated the nominations. natalie1 and galfriday nominated Dodie Smith's The Hundred and One Dalmations, while Rachelthedigger, seconded by Garkpit, suggested JRR Tolkein's Letters from Father Christmas. Many of you agreed with Sarah Crown and chose the The Dark is Rising, Ianmark declaring it "perfect from first word to last. Not just one of the best Christmas books, but one of the finest novels ever written for children." But, it was John Masefield's The Box of Delights with seven nominations, and Dickens's A Christmas Carol with eight, that proved the most popular festive tales. As Dowland says: "A Christmas Carol. Much imitated. Never bettered (except by the Muppets...)."In no particular order, here are some of the most voted for Christmassy reads:A Christmas Carol by Charles DickensThe Box of Delights by John MasefieldThe Dark is Rising by Susan CooperChildren of Green Knowe by Lucy M. BostonLetters from Father Christmas by JRR TolkienA Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan ThomasThe Gift of the Magi by O. ... Fri, 24 Dec 2010 15:26:07 +0100 894799 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/griffey/~3/_uRmKARFlcc/ Way back in 2008 I wrote up my absolute favorite Christmas tradition, from Cataluna in Spain: Caga Tio. If you don’t know about this _awesome_ tradition, you really should click through and read about it: Catalan families go into the woods and find a Christmas Log (Tio de Nadal) to bring into their home. It’s painted or otherwise decorated with a face, and wrapped in a blanket. Over the weeks before Christmas, the Caga Tio is fed sweets and other treats, in order to get him ready for the command performance on Christmas. After weeks of being fed, the Caga Tio is ready. He is then beaten with sticks by the children of the family until he poops out treats for the children, usually in the form of the Catalan treat called turron. Yes…the log poops out the children’s treats, which they then consume. Caga Tio literally translates into “Pooping Log”. Love this tradition, mainly because it’s sounds so crazy to Americans. (Source: Pattern Recognition) Fri, 24 Dec 2010 15:12:11 +0100 895157 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/dec/24/government-against-reading The withdrawal of funding from Booktrust's free books programmes recklessly ignores the all-round educational benefits of booksThe government has just cut all funding of the free book projects administered by Booktrust – the independent charity that provided millions of children with free books.People will remember Michael Gove speaking at the most recent Conservative Party conference calling on schools to be places where children read great authors, such as Dryden and Pope. Though some of us were a little mystified as to why he had plucked those two particular authors from the pile, I for one thought for half a moment that perhaps this government was going to set out its stall as a champion of the reading of literature. As the Guardian recorded, I tried on several occasions to interest first Ed Balls and Jim Knight, then Vernon Coaker in the idea of the Education department asking schools to develop their own policies on reading for pleasure.Reading for pleasure can easily sound like some kind of wishy-washy, soft option, while instructional stuff like learning-to-read through "synthetic phonics" and endless worksheets requiring children to answer questions about the facts in short passages, sounds tough and purposeful. In actual fact, as the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) research of 2006 showed, children who read for pleasure achieve better school performance than those that don't.How come? Because literature takes children into abstract thought in two key ways. Firstly, it marries ideas with feelings: while the reader is caring about what happens, the scenes and the flow of the book deal with ideas of, say, anger, fear, jealousy, justice, compassion and much, much more. Secondly, it gives rise to what we can call "acts of comparison". Any child who reads widely, often and for pleasure will inevitably make comparisons between what they're reading, why they're reading and how they're reading. ... Fri, 24 Dec 2010 12:23:59 +0100 894798 http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2010/dec/24/bbc-mr-james-whistle-come-you-my-lad-christmas The 24 December screening of James's story Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad is sure to deliver some Christmas chillsIf the BBC's new dramatisation of MR James's story Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad does any justice to the original it won't be children but adults who struggle to get to sleep this Christmas Eve.Oh, Whistle ... is arguably the scariest story ever written. James was a macabre master of atmosphere and intimation. His stories generally feature scholars, librarians or collectors of curious rare art and books. In the archetypal James story a donnish figure, a bit dry and rational, is cut off from the comforts of the university common room in some remote cathedral, hotel or foreign town and visited by enigmatic signs – a rattling in the corner of the room, a runic inscription in a book, a picture that slowly changes – that gradually build in terror and intensity until a final, awful revelation is glimpsed. That sight of supernatural power is always momentary, fleeting, yet absolutely devastating: an encounter with absolute dread.James was himself a scholar whose masterpiece was a hugely influential translation of the New Testament Apochrypha. That vast knowledge haunts his tales. For if ghosts are the apparent theme, what makes his stories so scary is a sense of a larger, darker picture of the universe that holds such entities. In James's stories, ghosts are always evil. They are malevolent and murderous and may be summoned by black magic. The devil is his real subject; his supernatural visions have a nasty edge of satanism. Yet in a richly British way this is filtered through beautifully painted evocations of place.Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad – which was previously, brilliantly filmed in 1968 by Jonathan Miller for a terrifying BBC film – is set on the Norfolk coast, in a landscape of sand dunes and old churchyards that would be scary even without any specific supernatural goings on. ... Fri, 24 Dec 2010 10:52:42 +0100 894802 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/us/08picture.html (Source: Library Link of the Day) Fri, 24 Dec 2010 08:00:00 +0100 894805 http://kidslit.menashalibrary.org/2010/12/24/happy-holidays-4/ Happy Holidays everyone!  Here’s hoping you have a beautiful celebration with family and friends and lots of great books to read.  This blog will return on January 3rd, after a brief break for cookies, snowflakes, and reading.  (Source: Kids Lit) Fri, 24 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895767 http://itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/12/holiday-post-2010-stuff-and-things.html Another popular thing to see this time of year are shopping guides and gift suggestions. Now, anyone can point to some big corporate site to get the usual. I am thinking a few more interesting things. By the way, if you have not done all your shopping, what are you waiting for? You should be done by now. You should definitely be done by now if you bought stuff online. However, if you need some real last minute ideas, or you just want some holiday amusement, stay a while and check some of these out. Spirits: Mostly alcoholicLiquor Snob has put together their "Holiday Shopping Guide 2010." So does Drinkhacker over here. Intoxicated Zodiac points to some interesting items you could have put on the grown-ups stockings: whisky dram samples. You can get them some from Master of Malt. If I had a wish list, I would not mind getting those on my stocking. Stuff for the geek in your life Blag Hag points to these nice Plush Microbe Holiday Ornaments. Topless Robot has "20 Delightfully Offbeat Nerd Gifts Under $20." Mashable listed "10 Customizable Holiday Gifts for Your Tech Savvy Office." Now do you have a geek in your life? Are they very particular, say Star Wars fan or Doctor Who? Not to worry for here is a list of "Gift Ideas for Ten Major Species of Science Fiction Fan."  Via Io9. A few naughty things (some may be a bit NSFW). The only reason I am putting this under the naughty column is because of the Boink guided journal. As the company describes it, "Commit to having sex for 30 days in a row? And write about each experience in its glorious detail? That’s what Boink is about." I thought it was a nice and unique item. The company is Flytrap. Hat tip to Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. Em & Lo have some suggestions for "Sensual Holiday Gifts for That Special Someone." The sex manual parody on the list sounds amusing, just the type of thing I would like to read. ... Fri, 24 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895484 http://rabid-librarian.blogspot.com/2010/12/youve-got-to-love-this-headline.html Never bring an iPhone to a knife fight: Cops: Man says he has gun in eatery stick-up, changes mind when cooks whip out blades Personally if it came to needing money for my child I would probably sell my iPhone rather than use it in lieu of a gun, but that's me. Moral of the story: Don't mess with cooks at Indian restaurants. (Source: The Rabid Librarian's Ravings in the Wind) Fri, 24 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895454 http://keptup.typepad.com/academic/2010/12/how-do-college-kids-rate-six-weeks-of-winter-break.html Most working adults don't get much official time off during the holidays—the Explainer, for instance, is only released into the wild on Christmas and New Year's Day. But students get tons of vacation time—some college breaks last as long as six weeks. How'd these kids get so lucky? They can thank the stagflation and energy crisis of the Carter era, mostly.  in the 1970s, when many academic institutions found themselves in dire fiscal straits, administrators realized that if they altered the calendar, they could reduce spending. By starting the term during late summer and by shutting their doors for a month or more over the winter holidays, they saved significantly on heating costs at a time when oil prices where cripplingly high. Read more at: (Source: The Kept-Up Academic Librarian) Fri, 24 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894810 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/24/gillian-clarke-queens-gold-medal The national poet of Wales awarded medal in recognition of her latest collection, A Recipe for Water, as well as her body of workThe national poet of Wales, Gillian Clarke, has won one of Britain's most prestigious awards, the Queen's gold medal for poetry.Speaking to the Guardian, the 73-year-old said she was "stunned", because she was "not accustomed to winning things"."I believed it with my head, but not with the rest of me," she said.Born in 1937, Clarke has published a series of collections since her 1971 debut, Snow on the Mountain, which have made her one of Britain's best-loved poets, and seen her work become a fixture on exam syllabuses.The poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, who served on the prize committee, saluted the award, which she said was in recognition of both Clarke's latest collection, A Recipe for Water, as well as her body of work, which at its best "stands comparison with Seamus Heaney"."Gillian Clarke has been such an important figure in our country's literary landscape, and her new work is so fresh, so relevant, that it's lovely to see her writing at the height of her powers," Duffy said."As most children who study GCSEs will know, Gillian's work is very accessible," she continued. "But what's striking about her poetry is that it has great depth, so it rewards at first reading, and then as you return."Her editor at Carcanet, Michael Schmidt, said he was "delighted" at the award, particularly as Clarke is a woman, Cardiff-born, and living and working in Wales, where she was made national poet in 2008."It's wonderful when the peripheries become the centre," he said. Though Clarke doesn't write in Welsh, he continued, she is "deeply influenced by the Welsh language and Welsh culture, combining the industrial urban and the rural". ... Fri, 24 Dec 2010 00:00:01 +0100 894726 http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/dec/23/gullivers-travels-review Jack Black stars in a defanged version of Jonathan Swift's 18th-century satire. By Peter BradshawTo make a faithful version of Swift's 18th-century satirical fantasy Gulliver's Travels, you'd probably need to get Tim Burton to team up with Ken Loach. Or maybe get Michael Winterbottom to make something with the witty, freewheeling, questing spirit of his Tristram Shandy film A Cock and Bull Story. As it happens, this moderate new Hollywood version is directed by Rob Letterman, whose previous credits include Shark Tale and Monsters Vs Aliens and co-scripted by Shrek writer Joe Stillman. As is traditional with Gulliver adaptations, the third and fourth sections of the book are entirely missed out – that is, the sections with the Struldbrugs, the Yahoos and Houyhnhnms – and all we get is the first two tales, in which Gulliver first visits Lilliput, where everyone is very small, and then (briefly) Brobdingnag, where they are very big. Jack Black plays Lemuel Gulliver, a nerdy present-day loser in the mail-room of a fancy magazine, secretly in love with the travel editor, Darcy, played by Amanda Peet. He bluffs his way into a travel assignment in the Bermuda Triangle, where he finds himself in the land of the little people, where everyone is either a British actor (Emily Blunt, James Corden) or speaks with a British accent (Jason Segel). It isn't too bad: there is one funny sequence in which Gulliver puts on a theatre show for the benefit of his minuscule new friends, purporting to be scenes from his own remarkable life, which are all horribly plagiarised from movies like Star Wars and Titanic. But as so often, this diluted Gulliver's Travels is presented as if it were a children's story, clearly influenced by similarly defanged versions of Alice In Wonderland. Actually it is a very different, fiercer beast. A grown-up Gulliver is what we need.Released on Boxing Day.Rating: 2/5ComedyAction and adventureJonathan SwiftPeter Bradshawguardian.co. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 22:36:00 +0100 894727 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booksquare/~3/3cksAY7pETg/ No matter where you stand on the various issues surrounding the future of publishing, one thing is clear: without readers, what we do doesn’t matter very much. We sometimes take the privilege of our bookish lives for granted, forgetting how many people out there would give anything to be able to pick up a book and read it. Yet, this is the season of giving (and, yes, tax deductions). Every year, we here at Booksquare make a pitch for our favorite causes, hoping some of you, like us, will find a little something extra to give this now and in the future. If you have a favorite cause that relates to literacy, reading, or education, let us know in the comments. ProLiteracy — As always, our list is topped by Proliteracy.org. You can contribute either financially or by volunteering as a literacy tutor. When you are a reader, a to-your-soul reader, it’s almost impossible to imagine a world where people can’t read. The reasons vary, and the solution is not simple. Helping others learn to read should be the primary goal of the publishing industry — any way we can. If you can’t donate money, can you donate time? First Book — Just as teaching the world to read is important, getting books to children is essential. First Book gets books to children who need them. You remember your first book, you remember reading as a child. Help share that joy. Bonus! through December 31, your donation will be matched book-for-book by Random House. Girls Write Now: Girls Write Now is a non-profit organization devoted to mentoring the next generation of women writers. Focused on New York’s underserved and at-risk high school girls, this program helps them find their voices through creative writing. Donors Choose — The problem with growing up the child of a public school librarian is that you know how completely screwed up our public school financing priorities are. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 20:22:00 +0100 894713 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BookKitten/~3/dC8sIYB8N5k/bwa-ha-ha.html Just read an Old Wives' Tale that sciatica pain during pregnancy is an indication that the child is a boy. Perhaps because boys can be a pain in the butt? Ha! (Source: Book Kitten) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 17:31:26 +0100 895481 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/23/booktrust-literacy-government In order to save just £13m, the government is denying the power and the pleasure of literacy to children from all backgroundsAt this stage in the cuts, no one can expect much in the way of compassion from the government. All the same, it takes a distinguished brand of heartlessness to pick Christmas as the moment to announce that the Department for Education will be cutting all its funding for the book-giving programmes run by Booktrust. In a couple of days, children will be unwrapping thoughtfully chosen picture books and paperbacks given by friends and family, but right now the government is crippling a charity that has done great work to bring the power and the pleasure of literacy to children from all backgrounds. Ed Miliband was right to accuse the government of knowing "the price of everything and the value of nothing" when it cut the funding for the scheme.Bookstart (aimed at preschoolers), Booked Up (which lets children of secondary school age choose a free book) and Booktime (a complementary scheme to encourage parents and children to read together) are all funded by a combination of public and private money: with the £13m Booktrust receives from the government, it's able to generate another £56m value in funding from partners in the publishing industry (figures supplied by Booktrust). That's more than a 400% return on investment, which ought to look like good value to anyone – but not the government of brave new austerity Britain. "In these difficult economic times, ministers have to take tough decisions on spending," drones the brief statement from the DfE.It's a wearying repetition of the cuts vocabulary that suggests that whoever is in charge of departmental communications could do with receiving a book, just so they've got some literary influences apart from the collected speeches of David Cameron. But Bookstart and its fellows have done much more than just draw down cash. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 15:00:01 +0100 894731 http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2010/dec/23/green-hornet-kick-ass Michel Gondry's superhero might be creating a buzz, but haven't we heard this 'ordinary guy decides to fight crime' shtick before?It might not have performed well at the US box office, supposedly the ultimate arbiter of future big budget movie-making, but Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass has certainly made a profound and lasting impact on the world of comic-book films. Perhaps it's a little like the old adage about the Velvet Underground's first album (albeit on a rather larger scale), that each of the 1,000 or so people who bought it went out and formed a band. Or perhaps Hollywood is aware of quite how many people illegally downloaded a copy of the film.In any case, I doubt that films such as Michel Gondry's forthcoming The Green Hornet, which arrives in the UK and US on 14 January, would have looked quite the same before Hit Girl and Big Daddy's big-screen debut. Kick-Ass seems to have created a "third way" for the genre that eschews both high camp and "dark and serious" approaches in favour of a postmodern take, allowing the audience to laugh at various genre tropes. In a sense, it's the superhero film's answer to Wes Craven's Scream, which poked fun at horror sensibilities yet remained a pretty scary movie in its own right.But back to The Green Hornet, which is looking increasingly like the heir to Kick-Ass. A new featurette for the film (below), which stars Seth Rogen as publishing-heir-turned-crimefighter Britt Reid, and Jay Chou as Kato, pitches the project as a different kind of superhero movie in which the protagonist is just an average guy who decides to take up a career fighting crime. Sound familiar?"We knew that me as a superhero is not something that people would expect," says Rogen. "So to start with something that people could totally see me as, which is a moron that drinks all day, and slowly turn that guy into a superhero, became something that was interesting. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 14:24:11 +0100 894610 http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/dec/23/ed-miliband-attacks-government-over-scrapping-booktrust Bookstart scheme gives free books to parents of newborn babiesEd Miliband today accused the government knowing "the price of everything and the value of nothing" as he rounded on ministers for pulling the funding for a scheme that gives free books to parents of newborn babies to encourage a love of reading.The Labour leader said the decision to withdraw all funding from Booktrust, an independent charity which provides book packs for newborns and toddlers through health centres, nurseries and libraries, would deprive young children of an early opportunity to engage in reading.Booktrust was told last Friday that the Department for Education was withdrawing all of its £13m funding for the scheme in England from April. The government's £13m was used to generate a further £56m worth of sponsorship for the book-gifting schemes from publishing partners and corporate sponsors.The programme is backed by the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.The charity's national book-gifting programmes are well-known and wide-reaching. Bookstart gives a free pack of books to every baby in the UK, Booktime donates a book pack to children shortly after they start school, and Booked Up enables each child starting secondary school to choose a book for themselves. The charity's aim is to give everyone the chance to experience what it calls "the delight and power of books and the written word" regardless of income, literacy skills, disability or culture.Miliband said that the book-gifting programme was one of the Labour initiatives that gave him most pride.He rounded on Liberal Democrat ministers for lacking the "courage of their convictions". "The Lib Dem party has pressed the case for giving the poorest children a better start in life," the Labour leader said. "This Conservative-led government knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 12:49:27 +0100 894607 http://itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/12/holiday-post-2010-basics.html We have almost made it to the end of 2010, and we have made it to the holiday season. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice, Festivus, or some other holiday (or you just enjoy having time off at this time of year), may you have a peaceful and safe time. As I have done in previous years (here is the one from last year if interested), here is my small gift to my three readers where I go around and collect interesting, amusing, or just miscellaneous things that may be of interest this holiday season.Once again, I have enough for a series of posts. So, we will start today with The Basics. I will also make a post for readers and another one for humor and lists. So, stay tuned this week.  The BasicsOne of my favorite links this season is NORAD's Santa Tracker. For years now, we enjoy keeping track of Santa as he makes his way around the world. This never fails to make me smile. Apparently, they now even offer options to track Santa on your mobile phone (please, just don't do it while you are driving). I can always count on the U.S. Census Bureau to put together a set of facts and figures about the holiday season. Here is their 2010 Holiday Season fact sheet. And wow, PNC Financial Services is still doing their annual calculation of the Christmas Price Index. This year marks their 27th year doing it, and I always find it very entertaining. Here is the 2010 edition. Small note: the site does have an auto-play this year, so you may want to adjust volume accordingly. It does have a very interactive element I think kids will enjoy (as well as kids at heart). You want to be safe this holiday season. From GovGab, here are some fire safety tips for your home. GovGab also offers some tips and advice on "Drinking and Driving During the Holidays." The idea here is to be safe and responsible when you drink during the holidays. A drink here and there is a very traditional thing to do (if you choose to consume alcohol. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895486 http://rabid-librarian.blogspot.com/2010/12/there-was-this-story-on-news-about-how.html was providing a free ride day before yesterday to see the Southern Lights display at the Kentucky Horse Park and then today and tomorrow if 'Santa' is driving the bus, the fare is free. The comments were mostly by grumpy Scrooges who can't stand to pay any tax, and they own their own homes and cars and can't be bothered to support mass transit. Here's my comment: I happen to be one of those people who rides LexTran nearly everyday and relies upon it to get to work so that I can pay my city/county taxes. Granted, I also can't afford to own my own home, so I don't pay the tax for LexTran, but I also don't have children, and yet I pay for our schools, and I don't complain, so I really wish others wouldn't complain about supporting a mass transit system for the city. I do pay $360 or more a year to ride LexTran, so I am supporting it. People get so bent out of shape about the slightest tax, and yet without taxes we would have to cancel services that would get people in an uproar. A little holiday cheer isn't going to make or break the system, or any of us, for that matter. Lextran Spreading Some Christmas Cheer (Source: The Rabid Librarian's Ravings in the Wind) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895459 http://rabid-librarian.blogspot.com/2010/12/shame_23.html Young Wife, Mother Of 2 Killed By A Simple Pothole Amazingly enough, the chunk of concrete that sailed through the pickup truck and struck Jo Fisher somehow managed to miss her two children, flying between them to exit through the back window. The stretch of I-20 was riddled with potholes. A temporary patch had been put into place hours before the accident, and it was fixed a couple of weeks later--but that was too late to save a life. I feel bad for everyone involved--the family that lost a loved one, and the woman whose car kicked up the concrete, through no fault of her own. It seems like things are improving, at least, there in the state of Alabama, where they've been laying down smooth pavement in a bid to fight the potholes. It's a shame that the tax dollars are not there to keep up the infrastructure, and in cash-strapped times such as these, it's probably worse. (Source: The Rabid Librarian's Ravings in the Wind) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895457 http://rabid-librarian.blogspot.com/2010/12/making-difference-repaying-debt-life.html WWII pilot who forever repaid rescuers dies at 94: Islanders healed Fred Hargesheimer who returned to Ea Ea to build schools Fred Hargesheimer got a second chance at life after being rescued by villagers of New Britain in Papua New Guinea. He'd been shot down by a Japanese fighter in World War II and was nursed back to health and hidden by the villagers until his returning to the US. The story could have ended there, a story of adventure to tell the grandkids. But Hargeshiemer did something far better--he returned to the village and spent decades building schools, libraries, helping create jobs, and even teaching the children there. He involved his family throughout that time, and tried to give back to the community as much as he could. On his last visit, in 2006, Hargesheimer was helicoptered into the jungle and carried in a chair by Nakanai men to view the newly found wreckage of his World War II plane. Six years earlier, on another visit, he was proclaimed "Suara Auru," "Chief Warrior" of the Nakanai. "The people were very happy. They'll always remember what Mr. Fred Hargesheimer has done for our people," said Ismael Saua, 69, a former teacher at the Nantabu school. "These people were responsible for saving my life," Hargesheimer told The Associated Press in a 2008 interview. "How could I ever repay it?" (Source: The Rabid Librarian's Ravings in the Wind) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895456 http://ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/12/virtual-worlds-for-kids-research.html Bernadette, aka hvxsilverstar, alerted the Librarians-In-Singapore list members to a special "Virtual Worlds for Kids" issue of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research on "Virtual Worlds for Kids". The accompanying note from the Editor-In-Chief: "... We hope this volume of scholarship will provide much needed insight into the ever increasing use of virtual worlds by kids (3-14 years old), which represents a significantly larger market share than virtual worlds use by adults."Incidentally, the journal is licensed under a CC-BY-NC-ND license.The issue's guest editors were Dr. Sun Sun Lim (National University of Singapore) and Dr. Lynn Schofield Clark (University of Denver).THINK-ALOUDI thought the journal articles was timely, in light of recent articles I read about kids and teens not taking to twitter and blogs. The peer-reviewed articles contains lots of thinking points in the context of libraries.For instance, in Diana Burley's "Penguin Life: A Case Study of One Tween’s Experiences inside Club Penguin", this para on page 12 caught my eye:"Penguin life has been interesting. It has presented a dynamic backdrop for the exploration of how personal, behavioral and environmental factors have influenced the development of my tween daughter’s social identity, and of how the platform of Club Penguin makes it easy to experiment with identification, and more challenging to read social cues that relate to those identifications."And also, page 11:"Racial identification similarly changes, so that young people are challenged to see that race may not be solely related to appearance but may also be related to one’s choices and particularly to the affiliations one chooses. In Club Penguin, race as manifested through the penguin body color is a seen as a legitimate reason for gathering and for exclusion. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894975 http://book-kitten.blogspot.com/2010/12/bwa-ha-ha.html Just read an Old Wives' Tale that sciatica pain during pregnancy is an indication that the child is a boy. Perhaps because boys can be a pain in the butt? Ha! (Source: Book Kitten) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894925 http://unhq-appspub-01.un.org/lib/dhlrefweblog.nsf/dx/23122010122453PMUNRNF6.htm The Children and AIDS: Fifth Stocktaking Report 2010, issued jointly by UN specialised Funds and programmes including UNFPA, and UNICEF has been issued. Issued in conjunction with World AIDS Day 2010, this report states that achieving an AIDS-free generation is possible if the international c... (Source: UN Pulse | A Service/Blog of the United Nations Library) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894866 http://westwoodchildrensdept.blogspot.com/2010/12/long-walk-to-water-by-linda-sue-park.html This is a story in two voices. First we hear Nya’s voice as she is trudging in the broiling hot African sun to fetch water for her family. The water jug is light going the three hours to the water supply, but very heavy on the way back. Nya does this everyday, twice a day. Water in the Sudan is very hard to find and carry, but without it, no one could live. This isn’t taking place 100 years ago; this is happening in 2008. Next, we hear Salva’s voice. It is 1985 and he’s in school, and like most students, he is waiting for the end of the day so he can go home. Shots ring out, and the teacher tells everyone to run, run into the bush and don’t look back. Soldiers have come to kill the villagers, so Salva runs. He doesn’t know where he is going or if his family is alive, but he runs. Salva’s run takes him far, far from home for many years. In alternating chapters we hear Nya and Salva tell their stories, neither of them knowing that one day they will actually speak to each other, brought together by something we take for granted every day: water. Review by Loretta Eysie (Source: book bits) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894793 http://westwoodchildrensdept.blogspot.com/2010/12/smile-by-raina-telgemeier.html Raina was not looking forward to getting braces, but before she could even get started, she fell and badly damaged her front teeth. Middle school isn’t a very supportive place to live through the experience of having her teeth fixed. It’s embarrassing, humiliating, and maddening, not to mention painful. Her “friends” aren’t helpful; in fact they probably hurt her feelings more than help her. This graphic novel, based on the author’s real life experience, is about teeth and friendship –both sometimes painful! Review by Loretta Eysie (Source: book bits) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894792 http://westwoodchildrensdept.blogspot.com/2010/12/lost-children-by-carolyn-cohagan.html Josephine’s life with her rich father is very lonely and quiet since her mother died. Her father doesn’t pay any attention to her at all –he doesn’t even speak to her! And to make matters worse, he is responsible for a new town law that says everyone must wear gloves all the time. At school the kids hate Josephine because they hate wearing gloves, so she doesn’t have any friends either. One day while searching the old shed in the back of her huge house, Josephine meets a boy from a different time., but before she can ask him anything, he disappears. Josephine decides to investigate the old shed to see if she can find any clues, and while she is searching, she falls through the shed wall into a dark, scary basement. When she lands on the basement floor, the first thing she hears is someone barking, “No, no that’s all wrong!.....I’m going to throw you down those cellar stairs,” and “you ant brained speck of fly dung! Into the cellar!” Josephine doesn’t know yet that she has landed in a different time zone and a different world –a dangerous world filled with horrible creatures and a more horrible master. Review by Loretta Eysie (Source: book bits) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894791 http://westwoodchildrensdept.blogspot.com/2010/12/heart-of-samurai-by-margi-preus.html In 1841, while on a fishing trip to earn food for his family, 14-year-old Manjiro and his crew become stranded on an island off the coast of their home, Japan. With very little to eat and the remaining crew hurt or sick, Manjiro, who has always dreamed of becoming a Samurai, decides to be brave and search the island for help. While on the other side of the island, he spots a giant ship sailing close by, and summoning all his courage, Manjiro swims out to the ship. He is shocked to find that the captain and crew are “blue-eyed barbarians,” the “devils” his countrymen have feared and banned from their shores for the past 250 years. Although the captain is kind, the ship is a whaling ship and the voyage is dangerous and long. Manjiro learns much from the captain and the crew, but he is always torn between the excitement of adventure and the dream of going home. This book is based on the true story of a boy named Manjiro, who had the heart of a Samurai, and who is said to be the first Japanese person to visit the new world. Review by Loretta Eysie (Source: book bits) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894790 http://westwoodchildrensdept.blogspot.com/2010/12/mockingbird-by-kathryn-erskine.html “…Devon says you can’t moan or scream or shake your hands up and down or rock or get under a table or spin around over and over in public.  Actually you can’t do most things over and over in public because that’s not normal unless it’s something like clapping of laughing but you have to do it only at the right times and places and Devon always tells me. Now I don’t know anymore.”  Caitlyn is in fifth grade and she has Asperger’s syndrome.  That makes it hard for her to read other people’s emotions (she uses a chart to memorize how a person’s face looks when they’re feeling a certain emotion) or to understand idioms (like putting herself in someone else’s shoes).  What she’s really good at is drawing, reading, doing things exactly the same way every time (Thursday is pizza night), and remembering rules (“You shouldn’t get in someone’s personal space”).  Caitlyn and her dad are trying to find a way to go on after losing her older brother, Devon, in a tragic event.  Caitlyn’s mother died years earlier, so it’s just the two of them.  The school counselor, Mrs. Brook, becomes Caitlyn’s main source of information about human behavior, advice on how to make friends, and most importantly, how to get closure about Devon’s death.  There are many light moments in the book when Caitlyn’s inability to see past the literal meaning of something causes misunderstandings, even with Mrs. Brook. Her many eccentricities are also charming, like her habit of naming gummy worms before eating them.  Her descriptions of others’ behavior can be quite funny –“We are at recess and I think Mrs. Brook might have Asperger’s too because she is very persistent which is one of my skills.  She is stuck on her Let’s Make Friends idea even though I am making it very clear with my eyes that I am no longer interested in this conversation. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894789 http://kidslit.menashalibrary.org/2010/12/23/yasmins-hammer-poetic-and-important/ Yasmin’s Hammer by Ann Malaspina, illustrated by Doug Chayka In Dhaka, Bangladesh, Yasmin rides to work in the morning in her father’s rickshaw.  Though Yasmin longs to go to school, she has to help earn money so that her family can eat and her father can someday purchase the rickshaw.  Yasmin thinks about the quiet days in her village before the cyclone forced them to move to the noise and bustle of the city.  Now she must work breaking bricks for use in building roads and buildings.   Even Yasmin’s little sister must work in the brickyard so the family can survive.  Yasmin comes up with a plan of how she can both help her family and make sure that she can be educated too.  Each day she works harder and faster than anyone else, and the boss gives her extra coins.  These she saves for her secret plan that no one in her family knows about. Sprinkled with Bangladeshi words, Malaspina’s text is poetic and strong.  She captures the city and the country in tangible ways, through colors, sounds and smells.  This is a book about child labor, though it is not overly dramatic.  It is a quiet story of desperation in the face of poverty.  The focus is on the importance of education for children and the struggles that a family must overcome to offer it.  Chayka’s illustrations are filled with warm light.  They capture the hustle of the city streets, nicely contrasting it with the quiet of the countryside.  Bright colors, enliven his paintings that invite readers into this story. This is an important book that offers a glimpse of children living in very different circumstances than we see in our part of the world.  It is one that will spur discussions and also have children realizing how well off they are to not have to work and to be able to go to school.  Appropriate for ages 5-8. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894747