Monday, April 21, 2014

YA Quote Quiz Display





































I like displays that are interactive, especially when they are for teens.  For my next Teen Space display, I decided to pick out quotes from some of my favorite YA reads, and make a display that would quiz viewers on which book the quote is from (all you have to do is lift the flap to find out).  This display also gave me the chance to display some of the great books that the quotes are from.

How do you think you would do?

SPOILER ALERT!  

If you want to know the answers to the quote quiz, see below.

"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once."
- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

"I am haunted by humans."
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

"You love me. Real or not real?"
- Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

"My Name is Inigo Montoya.  You killed my father. Prepare to die!"
- The Princess Bride by William Goldman

"Take a person's memories and you change who they are."
- Allegiant by Veronica Roth

"And in that moment, I swear we were infinite."
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

"Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold."
- The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Monday, April 14, 2014

Celebrating Caldecotts

Image via RandophCaldecott.org.uk
Beginning in 1937, the ALA began awarding the prestigious Caldecott medal to the illustrator of America's "most distinguished picture book for children." The medal gets its name from Randolph Caldecott, an influential 19th century English illustrator. The image on the Caldecott medal comes from his illustrations for The Diverting History of John Gilpin, a poem written by William Cowper.  Check out the entire list of Caldecott winners and Honors (runners-up) and pick out your favorite!

Children and their families got to enjoy a special Caldecott-themed storytime and craft this past weekend.  It was a beautiful day so I had a low turn-out for the storytime, but I continued to have the kids do the craft throughout the day and they LOVED it!  I started out the storytime by pointing out the "shiny gold sticker" on each book, and explained that it was a very special award.  I asked them to pay close attention to each book's pictures, since that is what they won their award for.  I had a small group of very eager and interested participants.

Here is the lineup...
  • Song: Hello, How Are You?
    • Our "Hello" song.
  • Book: A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Erin and Philip Stead (Winner, 2011)
    • One of my personal favorites, a sleepy story that went over surprisingly well with the little ones.
  • Song and Flannel: "I Went to the Zoo One Day" (sung to the tune of London Bridge)
    • I went to the zoo one day, zoo one day, zoo one day, I went to the zoo one day and I saw a _________! (Use flannels of different zoo animals and have children identify each one you put up on the board.)
  • Book: King Bidgood's in the Bathtub by Don and Audrey Wood (Honor, 1986)
    • Not as much of a hit as it has been in the past for preschool storytime, probably because this crowd was on the younger side and did not understand the story's silliness.
  • Flannel: Rub a Dub Dub Three Bears in a Tub
    • Bears are easier to make out of flannel than men!
  • Book: Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes (Winner, 2005)
    • Probably the favorite pick for this group, little kitten is so endearing.
  • Flannel: Where is Kitten?
    • Substituted a flannel kitten for Mouse in the House- this flannel is always a favorite.  By chance the kitten was in the last house picked, and I had the kids meow so that kitten would be less shy and come out of her hiding spot.  They were thrilled.
  • Joseph Had an Overcoat by Simms Taback (Winner, 2000)
    • Attention spans were wandering at this point.  I would try it again as a first book.
  • Our Hands Say Thank You
    • Our "Goodbye" song.

For our craft I had children make their own Caldecott books.  The prep work for this project was extremely high but I do believe it was worth the effort because I've never seen a craft go over so well! They were so very proud of their Caldecott creations.  I pre-made booklets out of construction paper and blank white paper, and glued color-printed cutouts of the Caldecott medal to AccuCut award ribbons.  It was their job to glue their award onto the book, and to write and/or color pictures to create their own Caldecott winning story.  We had a story about a kitten, a dog, a bird, and someone named "Crispy" who found a map.  "Reading" their stories as they beamed with pride was my favorite part of the day.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

STEAM Team: Robot Making!


This week's STEAM Team combined Technology, Engineering, and Art when I had participants create their own "robots" out of recyclable materials.  It only took me a couple of weeks to safe dozens of recyclables, especially thanks to it being the time of the year for Girl Scout Cookies.

Along with cans, boxes, aluminum foil, and bottles of all sorts, I provided many random things from the craft closet that I thought would make good robot parts: googly eyes, buttons, beads, dixie cups, masking tape, and plastic springs.  

Boys and girls alike were ECSTATIC about this program.  They loved picking out their own robot
parts and many kids made more than one robot.  I encouraged the children to design their robot with a purpose by asking, "What would you like your robot to do?  I want a robot that will walk my dog!"

They were creative and thoughtful, and used wonderful engineering skills to make their robots stand and balance. Many of them created their robots while not only doing the robot, but also speaking in robot language, which was pretty amazing.

This program was singlehandedly the most successful I've had in promoting our library collection, as every participant wanted a robot book to take home along with their new robot friend.