YAACing Spring 2014

NEWSLETTER OF THE YOUNG ADULT & CHILDREN’S SERVICES SECTION OF BCLA

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Teen Summer Challenge 2014

Who’s on the Felt Board?: Who Sank the Boat

Yaacs

Munsch Mania!

Summer Reading Club: Inviting Accessibility How Green is the BC SRC Celebrating Indigenous Languages

1 Message from the Editors 2

news

Ukulele Storytime Workshop 3 Summer Reading Club Update 4 Red Cedar Awards Update 6 YRCA Awards Update 7

columns Kaitlyn’s Programming Corner: Munsch Mania! by Kaitlyn Vardy

contents

Message from the Chair

8 Teens Only: Program Planning: Teen Summer Challenge 2014, by Amy Dawley 10 We’ll Link to That!: Jbrary’s Internet Finds, by Lindsey Krabbenhoft and Dana Horrocks 13

Spring 2014 NEWSLETTER OF THE YOUNG ADULT & CHILDREN’S SERVICES SECTION OF BCLA

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16 Vintage YAACING: Rainy Day Stories, by April Ens 20

Munsch Mania!

Summer Reading Club: Inviting Accessibility

Teen Summer Challenge 2014

Who’s on the Felt Board?: Who Sank the

Who’s on the Felt Board?: Who Sank the Boat, by Tina Lee

Yaacs

How Green is the BC SRC Celebrating Indigenous Languages

YAACS (Young Adults and Children’s Services) is a section of the British Columbia Library Association. Founded in 1980, our members include librarians, teacher-librarians and other library workers interested in services to youth in British Columbia. Our purpose is to promote the exchange of ideas among library personnel who work with Children and Young Adults.

YAACING is published 4 times per year.

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Editors: A pril Ens and Alicia Cheng Stefania Alexandru Art Director: Liza Capdecoume

If you are interested in submitting anything for publication, send it to Yaacing@gmail.com Next Deadline: May 15, 2014

features How Green is the BC SRC?

by Cynthia Ford 22 Summer Reading Club: Inviting Accessibility

by Cynthia Ford 23 Picture Books Celebrating Indigenous Languages

by Jane Whittingham 27 Book Review 28 Call for Submissions 29

message from the chair

Happy Spring Yaacing Are you excited about the BCLA conference? This year’s theme is Hello, World and I’m hoping you’ll be attending.

Be sure to pop by the YAACS table to say hello to your fellow Children’s and Teen Services library workers. In case you’re still on the fence about attending or not, let me take a moment to highlight some of the Children’s and Teen sessions on offer this year:

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Jbrary founders Dana Horrocks and Lindsey Krabbenhoft will be leading Guerilla Storytime, which is “an open-mic style session in which the facilitators pose challenging questions relating to storytiming and the everyday work children’s librarians undertake. Participants share things like their favourite fingerplay, their best song to get the wiggles out, or how they deal with chatty parents. It is a way for us to come together to share our experiences, techniques, and tools.”

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Shannon Ozirny, Kate Longley, Tamarack Hockin, and Sarah Felkar will bring their experiences from 3 different library systems to the table in New Century, New Acronym: Technology Advisory for Youth. This session will explore “the secrets to successful tech advisory and tech programming for kids and teens (hint: one of the secrets is not cash!). Attendees will leave with ideas to bring value-added, embedded technology service to kids and teens in addition to fostering connections with the tech community and making youth resident tech experts.”

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Tess Prendergast, Cynthia Ford, Andrea Brown, Andrea James and Vicki Donoghue tackle our sacred Summer Reading Club program, exploring issues of inclusivity in the library community in Summer Reading Club: Inviting Accessibility. “This interactive panel will begin to explore some of our collective assumptions about what summer reading actually is, and how we might ensure and extend the accessibility of our programs to maximize the inclusion of diverse children and families.”

In addition to these sessions, there are other excellent opportunities for us to learn how to stretch ourselves as library workers. Be sure to check out the full BCLA Conference program at https://bclaconnect.ca/2014-conference/.

Hope to see you there!

Sincerely, Saara Itkonen YAACS chair, BCLA

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message from the editors

Oh Spring, Wet, Green, and Wonderful This spring YAACING marks another rebirth with the editorial retirement of April and the arrival of a new editor, Stefania Alexandru. Join us in welcoming her to the virtual table.

In this issue, read up on some fantastic programs for teens and children, catch up on the latest news from a few of our favourite awards, reading programs, and Summer Reading Club, get inspired by the creativity of your colleagues, and freshen up your knowledge of picture books featuring first nations languages.

Happy Spring!

April Ens, Alicia Cheng & Stefania Alexandru YAACING Editors yaacing@gmail.com

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news

Ukulele Storytime Workshop Want to add a little zing to your storytime?

Looking to add a new element?

YAACS is delighted to present another ukulele storytime workshop led by the fabulous and talented duo: Els Kushner and Suzy Arbor!

Join us for an afternoon of songs and stories!

Bring your ukulele and get ready for some fun!

Suitable for beginner ukulele players. All welcome!

Where: Bob Prittie Library, Metrotown Burnaby When: Thursday, April 3, 6:30-8:30pm How: Contact Rachel Yaroshuk to register Cost: $20 - Caroline Johnson and Rachel Yaroshuk YAACS Continuing Education Coordinators, Lower Mainland

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Summer Reading Club

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U P D A T E The days are starting to get longer which can only mean one thing ... SRC 2014 is on its way!

During the “quiet” months of fall and winter, we’ve spent a great deal of time planning and thinking and talking about ways to make this year’s SRC the best ever. Some of the things we wanted to address: how to streamline our ordering process for everyone, how to improve delivery time to libraries, especially those outside of the Lower Mainland, how to better utilize our resources, how to ensure that as a provincial program every child who wants to participate is able to do so.

We read over the helpful comments so many of you provided on the fall survey, including terrific insights into how you tailor the SRC to meet the unique needs of your communities. (And boy, was it ever apparent how much energy, heart, and resources you put into making the SRC a fun and engaging experience for the children in your community!)

We talked to Tess Prendergast about SRC and accessibility (read the story in our features section). We also talked to Chris Diersch (our printer) about increasing our SRC distribution-efficiency. Along the way, we learned just how seriously Chris takes the environment when it comes to BC SRC materials (very!). And a conversation with Neil Firkins (our web guy) produced some terrific ideas on ways to make the BC SRC librarians’ website more interactive.

As a result, some pretty exciting things are in the works for this year and I’ll share more details soon. But the biggest news is that we are piloting a new way of ordering SRC Core Materials this year…

Historically, in early March, each participating library system receives an email with a breakdown of their “free allocations” of SRC core materials (posters, reading records, bookmarks, stickers). This number is based on a percentage of an averaging of the official registration numbers for 2011 and 2012. For some of you, there are simply no funds available to order more, even if that means some kids won’t be able to participate fully. For others, it means it’s time to get out the crystal ball and attempt to calculate just how many more items you might need.

Put your calculator away!

This year, our goal is to streamline the entire SRC ordering process. Each participating BC library system will receive a package of SRC Core Materials (posters, reading records, bookmarks, stickers) based on 100% of an averaging of the official registration numbers for 2011 and 2012, plus a small margin. This means no calculators,

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no crystal balls, no additional ordering. It also means no more worrying about whether you can provide core materials to the children of your community.

Throughout the summer, you may find you are running low on materials or conversely, that you have more than you need. Thanks to Neil, the librarians’ website will have a dedicated blog to swap that info with one another and share accordingly! There will also be a simplified, print-ready version of the reading record available for download on the website.

What happens next?

You can anticipate an email from me by the beginning of March confirming your SRC Core Materials package and the amounts you will receive. At this time, you will also be notified of your free allocation of SRC completions medals. T-shirts and tattoos will be our only “novelties” this year. That means the only items you will need to order (should you choose to do so) will be tattoos and t-shirts, and any additional medals above and beyond your free allocations. You will not order any additional print materials.

If your system previously ordered additional print materials and/or novelties, we encourage you to use those funds on SRC-themed programs and events and/or to purchase fun prizes best suited to your community. Orders for additional items (tattoos, t-shirts, and additional medals) will open mid-March.

If you have not already confirmed your SRC 2014 contact person with me, please do so ASAP!

shipping charges will apply to out-of-province and to non-BC library orders.)

Good things come in SRC Packages!

This year, our printer will “kit” and ship the SRC Core Materials package directly to your library system. This is especially relevant to library systems far outside of Interlink who need to re-distribute materials to their branches in time for school visits and other promotional activities. It also means reduced shipping and distribution costs overall, as items will only be shipped once rather than shipped to Interlink and then redistributed.

Pilots make perfect!

As with any new way of doing things, we know there will be some kinks to iron out along the way. That’s a given. Our hope, though, is that this new ordering and delivery method reduces some of the additional administrative workload that comes with running the SRC, allowing you more time to focus on what you do best — providing opportunities for the children in your community!

- Cynthia Ford BC Summer Reading Club Coordinator

(Non-BCLA libraries and libraries outside-of-BC will be welcome to order SRC Core Materials packages that correspond to their estimated registration numbers. In addition to the cost of the SRC Core Materials package,

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news

Red Cedar Awards U P D A T E

RED CEDAR If you haven’t done so already, please remember to register your group on the Red Cedar website. Once your group is registered, you will have access to group leader resources, including wall charts, tips about evaluating books, etc. And most importantly, it will allow you to cast your votes in April.

Also this year, we are planning for a Gala event in the spring. Stay tuned to www. redcedaraward.ca for updates and details.

Stellar The Stellar Book Awards, BC’s teen readers’ choice award, is still happening for the 2013–2014 season.

Please check out our newly updated site at http:// stellaraward.bclibraries.ca/. We are continuing to update this site so check it often for new information.

In order to vote, teens must read at least five of the nominated titles. Just in case you missed them last time, here are the 2013–2014 Stellar Book Award nominees: Running on Empty by Don Acker

- Noreen Ma

40 Things I Want to Tell You by Alice Kuipers

Secretary, YRCA

Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel The Calling by Kelley Armstrong Rebel Heart by Moira Young Getting Over Garrett Delaney by Abby McDonald Opposite of Tidy by Carrie Mac Three Little Words by Sarah N. Harvey Seraphina by Rachel Hartman Prisoner of Snowflake Falls by John Lekich I, Witness by Norah McClintock The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen by Susin Nielsen

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Young Reader’s Choice Awards (YRCA) U P D A T E

Hello everyone, I am the new BC Young Reader’s Choice Award (YRCA) Representative for the Pacific Northwest Library Association. The YRCA nominations are taken from children, teachers, parents and librarians in the Pacific Northwest–Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana and Washington. From March 15th through April 15th, children in grades 4 to 12 in these provinces and states who have read or listened to at least two of the nominated titles are eligible to vote for their favourite. Children can vote in more than one division, but they must have read at least two books in each of the divisions that they are voting in.

Happy reading everyone!

- Noreen Ma Secretary, YRCA

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YRCA 2014 Nominees Junior: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick 13 Gifts by Wendy Mass The worst years of my life by James Patterson Darth paper strikes back by Tom Angleberger The last council by Kazu Kibuishi Big Nate out loud by Lincoln Peirce The Medusa plot by Gordon Korman Intermediate: The son of Neptune by Rick Riordan Between shades of gray by Ruta Sepetys Scorpio races by Maggie Stiefvater Okay for now by Gary D. Schmidt The outcasts by John Flanagan Legend by Marie Lu Michael Vey: the prisoner of cell 25 by Richard Evans This dark endeavor by Kenneth Oppel Senior: Divergent by Veronica Roth Miss Peregrine's home for peculiar children by Ransom Riggs Angel: a maximum ride novel by James Patterson Tiger's curse by Colleen Houck What happened to goodbye by Sarah Dessen Ruby red by Kerstin Gier Ready Player One by Ernest Cline Karma by Cathy Ostlere

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Kaitlyn’s Programming Corner

Munsch Mania!

By Kaitlyn Vardy

Robert Munsch is a much loved author by many, and his books are always flying off our shelves. Both adults and children cannot help but laugh out loud when they read one of his many hilarious books. Since the Prince George Public Library is a huge fan of Robert Munsch, we hosted our second annual Munsch Mania event this past January and had an absolute blast!

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We hosted this event on Family Literacy Day, and implemented the 15 minutes of fun Family Literacy Day theme by having each story teller read their Munsch story every 15 minutes. What we find works best for our library during big events is to not confine the event to our children’s area, but to have story stations set up all around the library. We had six story stations and after each story was read the children could participate in an activity that related to the story they just listened to.

Organizing your own Munsch Mania is quite simple, all you need to do is: •

Have the storytellers pick their favourite Robert Munsch story to read

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Decide on a craft/activity that can be linked to the story

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Set up story stations

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Have handouts that list all of the Munsch stories families can borrow from your library

Since we link our Munsch Mania event to Family Literacy Day we also have a handout offering tips on how practicing literacy skills for 15 minutes a day can be fun and have tremendous benefits for both children and parents. You can find a list of 15 minutes of fun ideas at ABC Life Literacy Canada’s website.

In terms of how many storytellers you should have, that’s completely up to your library’s discretion. We have a mix of staff and community volunteer storytellers. We actually feel quite lucky to have been fortunate enough to work in partnership with local CBC radio hosts for this event.

They assisted with reading Munsch stories, and promoted the heck out of our event during their morning show out of their own goodwill.

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Here is a list of the Robert Munsch books we read and the activities we matched to the stories:

Made moose antlers

Using our handcrafted launcher, children launched Prince Ronald because he really is a bum!

Offered face painting

Children made their own “clang clang rattle bing bang” noise makers

Children tried out a whoopee cushion, even though good families don’t!

Made paper snowmen

In my opinion a Munsch Mania program will be a hit at any library.

Try it and let me know how your Munsch Mania event went! kvardy@lib.pg.bc.ca

Kaitlyn Vardy is the Children’s Librarian at the Prince George Public Library.

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teens only

Teen Summer Challenge 2014 PROGRAMMING PLANNING

By Amy Dawley

I don’t know about the rest of you teen services folks, but delivering successful and popular programs for teens in the summer months has always eluded me.

Compared to other areas of British Columbia, the Northern regions have such a relatively short summer that it’s always difficult to lure teens away from the lakes and parks and into the library to attend programming. After several years of lukewarm summer teen programming, I took a risk in 2013 and delivered a program called “If You Dare: Teen Summer Challenge”.

I am so proud to say that this program idea is entirely Canadianborn. I borrowed the idea and structure of the program almost entirely from a Teen Librarian friend of mine at Kitchener Public Library (with permission!), who had in turn modeled her program on Saskatoon Public Library’s “We Dare You” teen summer challenge. In a nutshell, teens complete challenges throughout the summer for a chance to win weekly prizes, and earn points for a chance to win a grand prize at the end of the summer.

When I am doing program planning, I consider Teen Summer Challenge to be a “soft program,” which is a program that requires some set up time beforehand, but relatively little time and energy while it is actually happening. Some examples of soft programs that I’ve delivered in the past include a “horror haiku” scary poetry contest, a 6-week long Hunger Games trivia contest, a month-long teen art display, and a summerlong “Where in Prince George is Cosmic Space Frog?” mystery photo location contest.

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The significance and importance of this program as “soft” is two-fold: •

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because of the high emphasis our library places on junior programming during the summer months, teen services staff tend to play a supporting role to junior programmers, covering information desk shifts when they are largely unavailable during peak program times as stated earlier, getting teens to physically visit the library in the summer months is difficult— the success of Teen Summer Challenge is largely due to the fact that teens can participate, no matter where they are!

I’m sure I don’t have to say this, but I know we all have to do more with less, and the importance of maximizing our resources and staff time is so important. Being able to deliver quality, meaningful programs for teens in a way that is convenient for them is paramount and being able to achieve this goal while working within existing staff time and budget constraints makes me feel like an evil genius.

check in again at the end of the summer to draw the grand prize winner, contact them, take their picture for your library newsletter, website, or annual reports … and you’re done!

As a teen librarian, my number one priority is always the program and service needs of our teen customers, but I do have to be realistic with how I spend my time.

Previous to learning about Teen Summer Challenge, I was devoting hours and hours of my time to program planning and delivery during the summer that yielded very few participants. The teens just weren’t coming in—they either couldn’t get rides during the day time while parents were working, were on vacation, at a lake, or were enjoying the sun with friends at a park.

Teen Summer Challenge presented an excellent solution—teens were able to participate from where ever they were, and it was especially used by teens that lived in rural and surrounding areas.

HOW IT WORKS

For those of you out there in small libraries who are one-person-children-andteen-programming-andeverything-else superheroes, a program like Teen Summer Challenge means that you can set it up, let it run, and turn your attention to delivering the Summer Reading Club for your younger customers. While running, Teen Summer Challenge requires very little upkeep time: •

speak to teens you see in the library and community personally to let them know it’s happening or to ask them how it’s coming, what challenge they’ve enjoyed best, etc.

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check in on Teen Summer Challenge every Friday to draw a weekly prize winner and contact them to pick up their prize

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Teens complete challenges to earn points to be entered to win prizes. There are fifty challenges in total, and 5 point categories that range from easy to most difficult. There are 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25-point challenges. For every five points earned, teens get one entry form. So, for example, if a teen completes a 20-point challenge, they earn 4 entry forms. Each entry form goes into a draw for prizes. Weekly prize draws are held every Friday. Grand Prize draws will be held after contest closes. In 2013, we offered 2-for-1 youth pool passes (donated by the City of Prince George) for weekly prizes, and had 6 grand prize packs to give away which were stuffed with donations from a local skate and snowboard shop, our local independently owned bookstore Books & Company, and David’s Tea. The teens were thrilled.

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Almost all the entries can be submitted online through the Teen Summer Challenge website located on the teen section of the Prince George Public Library website. We put a link to an online entry form for written submissions and a photo uploader to submit proof of challenges that teens completed. If creating a website or web form is beyond your library’s capacity, having teens e-mail submissions works just as well! When teens entered a submission online, an entry form was completed on their behalf.

Teens could also submit their challenges in person at any branch of the Prince George Public Library. Teens could submit challenges at any time between July 2 and August 30, 2013, and each challenge could only be submitted once.

HOW IT WENT Awesome! So awesome, that I am in the midst of planning a Teen Summer Challenge for the upcoming summer.

After receiving some feedback from our Youth Advisory Board, many of whom were participants in last year’s challenge, we are attempting to soup up our prize offerings (they placed a huge emphasis on gift cards!). Interestingly enough, the YAB also expressed that they’d like to see this year’s challenges be more explicitly book-related. Last year’s challenges tended to err on the zany, “dare” end of things and the YAB wanted to offer a special program to teens who love books and reading. We are busy brainstorming challenges that blend a happy medium of zany activities with our favourite and most popular teen books.

This year we have also decided to switch up the programming aspect of Teen Summer Challenge. Last year, I continued my usual programming rotation right through the summer—this was based on feedback from teen program participants saying that they wanted to keep seeing their “library” friends during the summer

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months when they are out of school. In practice, however, teens hardly showed up to these programs.

Again, based on feedback from YAB, we are going to turn our attention to offering four high-interest, one-off programs to target teens who might not already be attending programs at the library. We are planning two a month, with the last program being a summer wrapup party for the Teen Summer Challenge that will be invite-only for TSC participants.

I’d like to take this moment to thank the amazing teen services staff at both Saskatoon and Kitchener Public Libraries for coming up with an amazing program idea that really works and for their willingness to collaborate, share, and lend. It is so important to give credit where credit is due, and I encourage you all to contact these institutions to ask for permission to use this model if you would like to try it.

• Kitchener Public Library’s Teen Summer Challenge • Saskatoon Public Library’s Teen Summer Challenge In closing, I invite you to reconsider your summer program offerings to teens. It can really be as simple or as complicated as you make it! Please drop me a line if you have any questions or are going to attempt some teen summer programs of your own. I’d love to hear what you’ve come up with! You can reach me via phone at 250-563-9251 ext. 158 or via e-mail at adawley@lib.pg.bc.ca.

Amy Dawley is the Teen Librarian and Acting Public Service Manager at the Prince George Public Library.

Jbrary’s Internet Finds

By Lindsey Krabbenhoft and Dana Horrocks

AWESOME PEOPLE DOING AWESOME THINGS

We’ll Link to That!

In this column, Jbrary creators Dana and Lindsey continue to share their favourite internet finds of the season. Learn about the amazing things Children and Teen Librarians are doing across the continent!

Our Storytimers of the Season come to us this time from just south of the border in Olympia, Washington. Sara and Emily are the Fairy Twins behind Fairy Twins Book Time, a blog we recently discovered. They’ve got it all: cool storytime ideas and outlines, displays and program ideas for older kids. After reading their origin story plus checking out their Hair Storytime we have no doubt that these two are pure magic.

We noticed a funny thing as we hunted and gathered links this time around: it seemed as if Readers’ Advisory and Technology Advisory were dominating the headlines. We went with it. First up Ingrid, who is known as The Magpie Librarian has written a great piece explaining the process of selection for the Rainbow List which is put together by the GLBT Roundtable of the ALA. Her piece is packed with RA tidbits, reflections on the importance of the Rainbow List and a call out to authors and publishers to keep repping the underrepresented. Angie Manfredi wrote a great post on the ALSC blog which is a nod to the big four Youth Media Awards and an enthusiastic pointing to three other kidlit awards which youth services librarians should pay attention to. Check out the American Indian Library Association’s American Indian Youth Literature Awards, the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association’s Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature and the Amelia Bloomer List which is created by the Feminist Task Force of the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association.

A couple other just plain awesome booklists include Abby the Librarian’s Fancy Nancy Books for Boys (or great books for kids who enjoy wordy reads!), Lisa Mulvenna’s post on 100 Books to Read Before Kindergarten, and Anne of the blog itsybitsymom put together a great Let’s Move booklist, especially helpful for babytime reads. And finally the CLEL Bell Awards 2014 which we blogged about were announced and provide some great ideas to keep celebrating reading, writing, singing, talking and playing!

Now for that technology advisory we mentioned above! Beth of Beth Reads has written a fabulous post on how to promote databases and electronic resources to young patrons. Think speed dating, targeted marketing and contextual promotion: pure genius! With more and more libraries purchasing mobile technology Little eLit has published an incredibly helpful piece by Amanda Foulk on selecting apps for iPads to be used in your kids’ spaces.

We move onto ideas and resources for keeping you sharp and engaged, professionally that is. For some straight-up inspiration this older article by The Teacher Tom came across our radar and is a thoughtful look at how we can help prepare our little storytimers for Kindergarten. For another bigger picture

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We’ll Link to That!

piece Katie Salo wrote about ways (and why it’s so important) to serve families beyond our traditional programs on the ALSC blog.

When it comes to thinking about your professional toolkit the fantastic Claudia Haines has written a reflective piece on her tools of the trade and encourages you to do the same. This connects to the resources Abby the Librarian shares with a new youth services employee at her library. Do you use any of these? What would you suggest to a new children’s librarian? Finally building up your Personal Learning Network is something which the folks at Storytime Underground feel strongly about. And thank goodness! Read up on their tips and tricks on connecting with other professionals and may your learning never stop.

PROGRAMMING RESOURCES Let’s start with the early years! There are so many exciting things happening in storytimes this season.

Cate at Storytiming created Infographic Story Stretchers that kids can take home to tell the story again. We love how this handout supports narrative skills and memory skills. Storytime Katie shared an ingenious way to help kids learn colors and how to take turns with her If You Have a… flannel board game.

Kids get to interact with the flannel pieces and the librarian—a win-win! Love is in the air at Fun with Friends at Storytime who shared so many good rhymes and felt stories for Valentine’s Day. If you’ve ever been scared to do a draw and tell story, fear not! Notes from the Story Room shows us how to tell this Valentine’s Day story step by step. Story Time Secrets has wowed us yet again with her adaptation of the classic Mother and Father and Uncle Jon lap bounce.

In her version, suitable for preschoolers, the characters in the rhyme travel on all different sorts of vehicles which she notes strengthens their transportation vocabulary. Plus, turning it into a flannel story helps the kids make a connection between the words of the rhyme and the meaning behind them. Lastly, the wonderful mentors at Storytime Underground shared some amazing resources for creating a storytime for special needs children.

Lots of people have been writing about getting the wiggles out, including us!

Miss Meg created animal dice for her movement storytime. Just roll the dice and hop, slither, and flutter like your favourite animal. Miss Mary Liberry shared a super cute take on the traditional spelling song, Bingo. Her version, B-U-N-N-Y, uses hopping instead of clapping to

encourage kids to be up and active. We also discovered this yearold post on the ALSC blog called Emergency Kit for the Wiggles! The list of recorded music is especially helpful, but we also love the idea of a Storytime Spray you can mist over the kids. If you want to incorporate more movement into your storytime, also check out our Pinterest board full of interactive storytime books.

We love how generous Youth Services Librarians are in sharing their storytime outlines. The next set of links feature storytimes you can print and implement!

One of our favourites this season is this paint themed storytime from Anne’s Library Life. Not only did she include two adorable felt stories, at the end of her storytime she gave the kids actual paint brushes to use as they read I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont. So creative!

Another favourite is this tiger themed storytime at Never Shushed. Claudia is so thorough in her explanations that it is clear she puts much thought and consideration into her choices. This storytime is just top rate! Kendra at Read Sing Play revamped her babytime and shared her new and improved storytime outline. We nearly died when we saw this 70” pizza Miss Tara and Friends created in her pizza themed storytime.

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We’ll Link to That!

Have you seen something on the internet that knocked your socks off? Give us a shout at jbrary@gmail. com.

There were two pop culture inspired storytimes to note. Firstly, Funbrarian shared her Elvis storytime which introduced kids to the King. Secondly, L. Frank Baum’s birthday isn’t until May but that hasn’t stopped Sunflower Storytime from collecting ideas for a Wizard of Oz storytime. It honestly makes us wish we were kids again! Lastly, Hi, Miss Julie! shows you how to take your preschool programming beyond storytimes by taking a tip from preschool centers. Try adding a STEAM program, a writing center, a dramatic play unprogram, or a building centre. Storytimes are the norm, but it’s always nice to challenge ourselves to try something new!

Now on to schoolage and teen programming! We love this list of 10 Valentine’s Day Activities for Beginning Readers from Story Time Secrets. You could make a program out of any of them, or use them as drop-in activities over the holiday. Katie was also featured on The Library Adventure with her list of 10 Passive Library Programs for Tweens.

Anne at sotomorrow also shared a very successful tween program based on the popular TV show Minute to Win It. What a

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great way to show kids that the library is a place to have fun! Speaking of fun, Amy at The Show Me Librarian offered a Family Forts After Hours program that allowed parents and kids to make blanket forts and then snuggle up with a good book. There’s always so many good ideas at her blog—don’t forget to check out her Guide to STEAM for Families with Young Children and her Guide to Unprogramming for School-Aged Children and Teens.

Other ideas for school aged programs include this Read Your Way to a Party program from Storytime ABCs. Sometimes kids need an extra boost to keep reading throughout the year, and this cookie party is a great incentive.

Speaking of treats, LibrErin put on this amazing Life Size Candyland program and the pictures of her staff dressed up as the game characters are sweet! On the healthier side of things, Knowledge Matters planned this STEM Exploring Nutrition and the Body program perfect for teaching kids ages 3–10 about healthy choices.

If you’ll be making any school visits soon, be sure to read Jen in the Library’s list of fables and stories with a lesson she’s

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shared on her visits to elementary schools. Last on our list are three teen programs that blew us away. First is Literary Commentary’s Anime Con which featured candy sushi, anime pictionary, and a cosplay runway! Second up is the Mock Caldecott program

by Valley Storytime—what a great way to get teens evaluating literature, even if they are picture books! And lastly, What is Bridget Reading? made us want to be teenagers again so we could attend her Harry Potter Yule Ball.

Harry Potter jeopardy, the snacks, the decorations — takes us right back to Hogwarts. Thank you so much to everyone for blogging about these wonderful programs!

Dana Horrocks and Lindsey Krabbenhoft are a dynamic duo working as On Call Children’s Librarians at West Vancouver Memorial Library and the Vancouver Public Library.

Who’s on the Felt Board

Who Sank the Boat?

Based on the Book by Pamela Allen Felt Story by Léa Morinville

Pamela Allen’s Who Sank the Boat is a great guessing story for younger children and can be used as part of an animal or boat themed storytime. This is a great example of how to take an older picture book and make it into a timeless felt story.

Scholastic has provided some teaching notes and there are many other activities and themes you can use along with the book. http://www.scholastic.com.au/schools/pdfs/downloads/boat_ TN.pdf Felt story designed by Library Assistant Léa Morinville and submitted

by Librarian Tina Lee of the New Westminster Public Library.

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Who’s on the Felt Board

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Who’s on the Felt Board

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Who’s on the Felt Board

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Vintage Yaacing

Rainy Day Stories

By April Ens

Stuck living under a rain cloud this spring?

To help you find a little joy in the damp times, we're reprinting Eva Wilson's “Rain Showers” preschool storytime, first published in spring 2002. So pull out your rain books, and prepare to do some stomping, splashing, and pitter pattering. And if you still can't get into the spirit of it, don't worry, it's only a few more months until summer.

April Ens is a Children’s Librarian at the Vancouver Public Library

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Vintage Yaacing

Originally published in the Spring 2002 issue of YAACING. Pages 21-22.

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How Green is the BC SRC?

Feature

By Cynthia Ford

All the BC SRC print materials are produced as eco-consciously as possible. Our printer, Chris Diersch from Print It Group Inc., wouldn’t have it any other way!

THE PAPER WE USE • has a minimum of 10% Post Consumer content • is Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF). ECF is a technique that uses Chlorine Dioxide instead of elemental chlorine to bleach paper pulp.

This process substantially reduces the dioxins left in mill wastewater THE INKS WE USE • are vegetable oil based inks and UV (ultraviolet) cured. These inks give off no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and require fewer chemicals for cleanup. And, because they are anti-skinning (no “skin” forms on the surface of the ink can), they produce no ink can skin waste.

IN ADDITION While preparing for printing (a process known as “make-ready”), the paper is used multiple times as Chris and his team check colours, etc.

This paper is then put back into the recycle stream.

All of the printing plates are recycled, and no film (and associated chemicals) are used to make those plates.

And, finally, all offcuts from the print run are recycled.

Cynthia Ford is the BC Summer Reading Club Coordinator.

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Feature

Inviting Accessibility SUMMER READING CLUB

By Cynthia Ford

Originally published in the BCLA Browser 5.4. Reprinted under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

This summer a library Outreach Services worker asked whether the BC Summer Reading Club was “accessible”? It was an interesting question. Experientially, and anecdotally, I know library staff throughout the province welcome all children to the SRC. They remind kids, and parents of pre-readers, that listening to a story “counts”, whether it’s an audio book or a real live human doing the reading. So, I answered with a cautious ‘yes’.

But then I wondered: what exactly is accessibility in an SRC context? What barriers might exist? How can we, as library workers, as a summer reading program, be more explicit about accessibility?

To explore these questions, I met with Tess Prendergast. Smart, engaging, and passionate about bringing kids and libraries together, Prendergast brings both theoretical knowledge and real-world experience to the conversation. She is a children’s librarian with the Vancouver Public Library who’s registered probably thousands of summer readers, and she just happens to be a doctoral student in UBC’s Department of Language & Literacy Education. Prendergast’s research focuses on early literacy in the lives of children labeled with disabilities. She is also the parent of a child labeled with disabilities.

IDENTIFY BARRIERS CF: When we talk about reading and “accessibility”, it’s often around print-impairment or vision disabilities— TP: Disability is an umbrella term. Just because you have a disability, doesn’t mean you are going to have problems with print or reading or cognition or anything. There are so many more barriers than just print!

CF: So let’s talk about some of those.

TP: Why embarrass themselves? It’s not easy for people say to total strangers “my son is in grade 4, he has dyslexia, he’s now reading at a grade 1 level.”

The BC Summer Reading Club (http://kidssrc.bclibrary.ca/) encourages children to read books throughout the summer vacation. In operation since 1991, the BC SRC now reaches more than 85,000 children in over 200 communities and neighbourhoods. The club is sponsored by the British Columbia Library Association, with funding assistance from Libraries and Literacy, Ministry of Education, the RBC, and BC libraries.

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These kids are not going to voluntarily come to SRC. Their parents are probably not going to put them in if it’s a real struggle.

CF: If they do come in, how do we help?

TP: We need to say: “We’re going to help you find something that works for you.”

And not make it an interaction where they have to keep divulging about their challenges at school.

They need to be celebrated for what they’re reading.

CF: It’s ok to read non-fiction!

TP: Fiction vs. non-fiction can be a cultural issue and we need to be very careful. If you say, “Oh, this Dad would just not let his kid take this book out”, it may be because he was not schooled with fiction as

I had a 10-year-old come to the library.

He’d heard he had to read 50 books over the summer and he was absolutely petrified. And I said, “no, no, you don’t have to read 50 books, you can read one book all summer!”

And the relief!

CF: How would you address oral storytelling? Say a grandparent is telling a story, as opposed to reading one...would that count?

TP: I would count it.

That’s the thing. Look at the name: it’s the summer reading club.

We have very narrow notions of what that is. With all the new media and ways of being able to express ourselves, I think we need to agree that the old definition of reading is not enough.

We can still call it the SRC, but we need to be OK with what reading involves.

Reading is a sharing of language, the exchange of ideas. It’s a huge deal...people are doing their PhDs on this!

CF: In the SRC “all reading counts, all formats count”! As a program message, how do we articulate that more explicitly?

CF: So the potential for misunderstanding how a program like the Summer Reading Club works is a barrier.

TP: There are some very antiquated notions around reading: “SRC reading needs to be printbased, needs to be sustained over a period of time, needs to be for pleasure, needs to be fiction”...as opposed to whatever they want to read, like WWII history! We have to be careful of not messaging that the only way you’re going to succeed in SRC is by reading Secret Garden!

for the ways that they choose to raise their kids.

a way of learning. It’s completely unfamiliar to him and he feels like he can’t participate. So let’s give the family something that will fit, instead of getting offended that this family doesn’t read fiction or picture books. No child in the world died because they never got to read picture books. It really is important that families find respect

TP: Don’t have it as a “little dot” at the bottom of your messaging. Have it way up above! I can tell you that messaging around early learning is extraordinarily geared to mainstream “typical” kids. And it needs to be interrupted. Parents of kids who are not “typical” start to ignore those messages. Why wouldn’t they?

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CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACCOMMODATION CF: How do we define opportunity?

TP: Opportunity is a way to participate. It’s access to an activity that everyone else gets to do.

Let’s say you have a kid who for whatever reason struggles with reading. You want an activity that has an opportunity for some kind of accommodation around whatever the difficulty is. For example, let’s say a child with extreme ADHD cannot read for 20 minutes, nonstop, a day. It’s got nothing to do with their willingness to do that, their neurology will not allow them to do that.

So you accommodate that by saying “Set yourself a goal that is a hard for you, but achievable, and do it in these pieces.” You have made it so they’ve got an achievable goal that works with their abilities, not their disabilities.

I like that the SRC means you don’t have to read every single day over the summer and 1520 minutes seems achievable across a wide population, as long as it’s explained that it can be accommodated around the individual child.

EXPLICITLY INVITE INCLUSION CF: It can be challenging for staff to get through the SRC spiel as it is. Given the realities, how do we clearly communicate the program is inclusive, accessible?

TP: Well, I think if they show up at your desk and their ready to sign up, they’re already made it through certain barriers.

I think we are doing an exceptional job of serving and meeting the

needs of the kids that we’re seeing.

We need to think hard about who we’re not seeing.

CF: What do we say to those kids?

TP: We want to

communicate that participation in the SRC is positive, that no one’s testing them. At all! We don’t do reading levels.

I like that we do [SRC] activities that are fun, that are hands-on, that they can succeed at. Starts to sound clichéd that we keep going on about fun, but if you think about how human beings do things, fun is what drives our behaviour. We talk about engagement. Kids don’t come home from kindergarten and say, “I was really engaged today.“ They say, I came home and I had fun!”

Even though we get sick of saying the actual word “fun”, we really need to be OK with that as the be-all-and-end-all. Because that does all the cognitive and learning things we want.

CF: Because ultimately it triggers that intrinsic piece...

TP: Exactly! We don’t need to be blathering on to the kids about how reading in the summer is going to help them with school...they don’t want to think about school.

They’re done! They need a break.

They will advance their reading because more experience with reading will help them become better readers. That’s common sense! If kids spend time reading in the summer, they’re less likely to “slide”. No teacher wants a kid to ‘skill and drill’ all summer.

CF: So where do we find the kids who aren’t looking for us?

TP: Partnerships with whoever is helping them, that’s where.

We need to be able to say to a learning disabilities association, “We want everyone to participate.

Can we work together to make this happen? What would work for you guys?”

CF: So going into the communities and getting it first hand.

TP: Talk to people who actually have a learning disability, “What would’ve worked for you?” Find an insider. You need informants!

Find someone who has say, Down syndrome, who is a self-advocate.

Ask, “Did you ever participate in something like that in your community?” And they’ll say, “No way, are you kidding me?” “What would have made it work?” “Well,

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an invitation would have helped.”

CF: Perhaps we assume that invitation is there…

TP: We need to stop assuming that because we have an attitude of inclusion we are actually being inclusive in our practices. Being inclusive should be thought of as an active verb.

CF: We have good intentions…

TP: Of course we do. But we don’t actually know how to do it because we haven’t learned how.

And what happens is that people do nothing because they don’t want to make a mistake. I don’t blame them!

If we really mean, “everyone is welcome”, then we admit: “I actually don’t know how to make everyone feel included so I’m going to ask”. Sometimes it can be very hard to get in. We just keep trying different ways. Saying “oh, they don’t want us there anyways isn’t good enough.”

CF: Can one program be accessible to everyone?

TP: Yes, I think so. But it has to be engineered from the start. You can’t just go “I think we’re going to be inclusive today!”

And we need to accept that the ways people participate may not be the ways we thought they would or should. Maybe they’re not motived by a reading book and sticker, but can they still come to the LEGO party? Yes! Currently, the same kids who are well-resourced in their families and their development are the ones who are most benefiting from SRC. They don’t have developmental problems. They’re typical-- most kids are typical -- which is great!

YAACING SPRING 2014

CF: But we want to respond to greater diversity: cultural, linguistic, neuro.

TP: That’s what I mean. When we’re talking diversity, we’re literally talking everything.

TP: I get the education piece – we want to give kids the opportunity to maintain the level of reading – I do understand that. But what I guess I think is even more valuable is that they are participating in something that is meaningful.

For example, we don’t necessarily think of First Nations in terms of linguistic diversity, although many First Nations are working hard to revive their language. We need to be responsive to that.

This comes down to what our core values are: That you’re part of a community. You should be attached to all of these resources and the library can do that for you.

Scholars call it literate citizenship.

If a child were to say, “This is how we’re doing our SRC: our elder is telling a story every night,” that would be fantastic. “Of course you’re getting a medal!” But I’d also be completely surprised if you even got them to sign up.

That’s the important piece, that relationship. You must have had a very trusting relationship with that community

Because you are, you have a place. That’s why.

CF: The kind of inclusion you’ve been describing. I think most library workers readily bring that sort of inclusive attitude.

TP: We’re not going to find a librarian who says, “I’m sorry, a kid with dyslexia still needs to read print and a kid with ADHD still needs to sit for 20 minutes.” I think you’d find someone who says, “I need to know what I need to do to make this work.”

CF: How do we know if we are getting it right?

TP: People get excited about numbers. It’s just counting, it’s not research. You want narrative, qualitative research. Hear everything there is to hear and pull out the strongest themes. And no tests!

CF: If we set aside the idea of “summer slide”, what value does the SRC offer to all these children?

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THE BC SRC seeks to be a “place” that is accessible and welcoming to all children and their families. Help us learn to make that invitation more explicit and the opportunities more accommodating. We welcome your thoughts at bcsrc@bclibrary.ca

Cynthia Ford is the BC Summer Reading Club Coordinator.

THE BC SRC seeks to be a “place” that is accessible and welcoming to all children and their families. Help us learn to make that invitation more explicit and the opportunities more accommodating.

Feature

Picture Books Celebrating Indigenous Languages

By Jane Whittingham

I

ntroduce children to the richness and diversity of indigenous languages and cultures with this selection of picture books featuring aboriginal languages from across Canada.

1. Flett, Julie. Lii yiiboo nayaapiwak lii swer: l’alfabet di Michif = Owls see clearly at night : a Michif alphabet.

Vancouver: Simply Read Books, 2010.

Experience the critically endangered Michif language with this bilingual alphabet book from indigenous author/ illustrator Julie Flett. In her distinctive artistic style Flett introduces children to the unique Metis culture, and beautifully captures some of the different plants and animals that share the Metis’ prairie home territories. Printed in English and Michif, Owls see clearly at night

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Have you ever wondered why foxes seem to be standing with their legs crossed? One possible reason for the fox’s odd stance is revealed in this beautiful retelling of a traditional Tlicho (Dogrib) legend. The tale is authentically presented in both English and Tlicho, with sumptuous paintings that bring the story’s animal characters vividly to life. A Tlicho pronunciation guide is included, as well as indepth explanations of the Tlicho language.

presents all of the letters of the alphabet from Atayookee! (Tell a story!) to Lii Zyeu (Eyes), with the except of q and x, which do not appear in Michif.

2. Flett, Julie. Wild berries.

Vancouver: Simply Read Books, 2012.

Explore the woodlands with an indigenous child and his grandmother and discover the Swampy Cree dialect in Julie Flett’s stunning picture book.

Flett’s striking illustrations elegantly mirror the simplicity of the story, and the translated Swampy Cree words, in their vivid red font, seem to leap off the page. A beautiful story of family and nature.

3.

Football, Virginia, James Wedzin, and Mary Siemens. How the Fox Got his Crossed Legs.

Penticton: Theytus Books, 2009.

4. Jameson, Catherine, and Julie Flett. Zoe and the Fawn.

Penticton: Theytus Books, 2006.

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iscover the indigenous Okanagan (Syil) language with a curious, determined little girl named Zoe, as she and her father explore the woodlands near their home in search of a fawn’s mother. Zoe is a delight, and illustrator Julie Flett’s simple artwork gently captures the wonder of childhood and the beauty of the natural world.

5. Teevee, Ningeokuluk.

Toronto: Alego.

Groundwood Books, 2009.

Follow along with a young Inuit girl named Alego as she collects clams with her grandmother and explores the diversity of coastal life in her Arctic home. Printed in Inuktitut and English, and featuring charming, child-like illustrations that will appeal to young readers, Alego is a beautiful introduction to life in a part of the country that for many Canadians may seem as remote and unfamiliar as a foreign land.

Jane Whittingham is a student in the Master of Library and Information Studies program at the University of British Columbia.

review Zebra Forest

by Adina Rishe Gewirtz Candlewick Press, 2013 Audience: middle school Eleven-year-old Annie and her younger brother live a pretty isolated existence in the care of their grandmother, who seems wise in some ways but is very antisocial. Annie’s mother left long ago, and her father was killed–or so the story goes. Then there’s a mass escape from the jail on the other side of the dark zebra forest of the title, and suddenly the family is being held hostage by a prisoner.

The ordeal drags on for weeks, and Annie finds a well of inner strength as dark secrets are revealed. Icy fear gives way to wary understanding, to dialogue, to compassion. There’s a major contrivance here that, once accepted, does nothing to lessen the powerful impact of this book. Well-written and complex, Zebra Forest is a good read for a mature middle-schooler.

- Jon Scop, Burnaby Public Library

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call for submissions

YAACING is published four times per year and is always looking for submissions that might interest children’s and teen specialists in BC libraries. We accept news pieces, articles, program descriptions and ideas, conference reports, and much more. If you would like to write a regular column, send us a brief pitch.

Submissions should be no more than 2500 words, sent in an editable format (not PDF). Please include a byline with your job title and workplace, or for students: your school, program and class information, if applicable.

YAACING invites your contributions to our Review and Felt Story sections: Reviews: Please send us reviews of books, blogs, websites, or other resources. Submissions should be no more than 300 words. Longer reviews may be considered for publication as featured articles.

Felt Stories: Share your creativity! YAACING is looking for felt story patterns. Submissions should include a printable pattern, photograph of the finished product, and related rhyme or note about the origin of the story.

The deadline for the Summer 2014 issue of YAACING is May 15, 2014. Email your submissions to the editors at Yaacing@gmail.com

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