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Family Literacy Day - November 1

T. V.
If kids are entertained by 2 letters,
imagine the fun they'll have with 26.
Open your child's imagination.
Open a book.

Anon

Family Literacy Benefits Everyone

Here are 5 easy tips for reading aloud to young children:
~ Read to your child every day . . . for at least 30 minutes in total
~ Read for a few minutes at a time . . . children may only sit for a short time
~ Make the story come alive . . . create voices or sing about the pictures
~ Ask questions about the story . . . let your child ask questions too

~ For infants . . . choose simple, colorful cloth and vinyl books
~ For preschoolers . . . choose books with repetition and rhyme

First 5 LA launched "Read Early, Read Aloud," its month-long public awareness campaign to promote early literacy among Los Angeles County children ages 5 and younger.

Every year, 35% of American children start kindergarten without the language skills they need to learn to read. In fact, studies of individual families show that supporting literacy in the home is more important to a child’s success in school than family income or education level.

During November, parents are encouraged to read aloud to their children, participate in literacy events and consider books when choosing gifts for children during the holidays and other special occasions.

Check Out Some Sites or Books

@ Burbank Public Library

Families for Literacy (FFL): state-wide family literacy programs at public libraries providing adult literacy services to include the families of adult learners with preschool children.

Early Learning with Families (ELF) supports California library early learning services for families with infants, toddlers and preschoolers and as centers of community activity.

California Reads
Parent Intervention Packet
A Taste of Literacy
Building Literacy: Making Every Child a Reader

Latino Family Literacy Project
provides regular training for teachers throughout the United States

Remembering Room 8.

Back in April, I posted about a Daily News newspaper article and book about the famous school cat, Room 8. (click here to read)

While Burbank Public Library doesn't post much about non-Burbank events, this is just too good to pass up. Roger Vargo [who wrote the April article] will be showing a multimedia presentation on Room 8-Los Angeles' Most Famous Feline at the Echo Park library, Sat. Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. The library is located at 1410 W. Temple Street Los Angeles, 90026 (213-250-7808).

Timely Teen Reads

One for Hallowe’en…

“Someone was looking at me, a disturbing sensation if you’re dead.”

This is the first sentence of A Certain Slant of Light, by Laura Whitcomb, an unconventional ghost story and this month’s High School Book Club selection. It is Whitcomb’s first novel but hopefully not her last, as her wonderfully lyrical language and compelling characterizations make this a book that will intrigue teens and adult readers alike.

Helen is a 130-year-old ghost who isn’t quite sure why she didn’t move on when she died; she has discovered that the only way to avoid repetitively reliving the harrowing moments of her death is to attach herself to a human and stay faithfully within a certain proximity to him or her. She is hovering in the classroom of Mr. Brown, high school English teacher and her current “host,” when she suddenly becomes aware of eyes watching her, though no “Quick” human has ever seen her before. She soon discovers that James, who used to be “Light” like her, has moved into the vacant body of a teenage boy who overdosed on drugs, and the two of them embark upon a relationship that leads to some startling turns as they explore the possibilities of life, love and redemption. Melancholy and sweet yet uncompromisingly real in its themes and observations, this is a satisfying journey from first page to last.

And one for Election Day…
From the author of The Gospel According to Larry comes Vote for Larry, Janet Tashjian’s teen candidate for a political novel about the presidential race. Anti-consumerism blogger Josh Swenson (aka “Larry”) decides to run for president—motivating his fervent supporters to press for a constitutional amendment to allow eligibility for 18-year-olds. The story jumps back and forth between Larry’s unconventional campaign speeches and wacky platform and his preoccupation with his love life: Will he choose his best friend Beth—who he’s been crushing on since 6th grade—or new/first real girlfriend Janine, who liked him for himself before politics made him famous? A fun mix of the personal and the political that also poses some astute questions our current candidates might benefit from considering.

Poetry Speaks, Again

Not so new at the library is Poetry Speaks, Expanded… a three-CD set accompanied by a beefy book-full of the poems themselves, to be sure, but wait…there’s more…biographical sketches, smart commentary and straightforward photographs of the poets: some tweedy and pensive, others smiling directly, knowingly; some tortured-looking, some not. I read their savvy and beautiful words while the poets themselves bellow or purr through my headphones; the words boom and sail, seep out and entwine. I am enraptured hearing and reading, steeping in the beauty and power of syncopated, careful language.

Tennyson’s there, remarkably clear in a recording made on a wax cylinder in the 1880’s, and James Joyce trilling along, seriously.
“We Real Cool” lilts Gwendolyn Brooks.
There’s a jazzy haiku from Jack Kerouac

Snap yr finger
Stop the world!
-Rain gets harder.

And Langston Hughes, quietly, thoughtfully, recounting the birth stories of his poems.

We hear grumpy Philip Larkin, the librarian poet, always lamenting:
“Perhaps being old is having lighted rooms
Inside your head, and people in them, acting.”

Love and war play central roles: The cynical Edna St. Vincent Millay crisply dispenses with romanticism, and Dorothy Parker plays it straight, with humor. And ee cummings, well, “he sang his didn’t he danced his did.”
This collection is broad and deep, all-enveloping and ever-lasting.

What We're Reading: The Trouble with Boys

THE TROUBLE WITH BOYS
By Peg Tyre

Peg Tyre is a writer on education and social trends for Newsweek, and this book grew out of a cover story that she wrote for the magazine in 2006. Newsweek and the author received many strong reactions to that article. There were letters from parents that found their own problems with the poor academic performance of their sons collaborated and given voice in an article that got national attention and let them know they were not alone. There were letters which criticized her and made her realize the thicket of gender politics into which she had wandered. Both made her determined to investigate the issue further. Her book explores through both aggregate statistics and individual case studies the scope of the problem, the possible causes, and the changes that may be necessary in our secondary education system if we want boys to achieve their potential in school.

The statistics are in fact alarming. Only 43% of boys are now going on to college as opposed to 57% of girls. Boys, who have always lagged behind girls in reading and writing, are falling even further behind. And they are now falling behind in subjects where they had long performed better than girls in school, like science and math. Except for sports, boys are participating in fewer and fewer extracurricular activities and they are a smaller and smaller group in advanced placement classes. The divergence grows worse as they progress through higher grades at school. And the problem is not confined to poor boys from lower socio-economic classes, boys are underachieving in school across the social and economic spectrum. Boys seem to become more alienated, frustrated, and disengaged as they awkwardly progress through the school system.

The problem is not that boys are less intelligent than girls; that conclusion isn’t any more justified than the not too distant under-achievement of girls in certain subject areas meant that they were less intelligent than boys. The nature of the problem does seem to reside in differences in how girls and boys learn and perhaps at what ages they are receptive to certain instructional methods. You can argue that such gender differences are biological or socially constructed, but in general the variations appear to be quantifiably real. It would appear that relatively recent changes in our educational system have been successful in helping girls to achieve in school, both intentionally and fortuitously, but that they may have been less efficacious for boys. Or perhaps elements are now lacking in that system that are important in fostering the achievement of boys.

In the abstract, the changes that are needed to fix this problem will have to pass through a minefield of gender politics. But the parents at home who worry every day about the problems their boys seem to face in school are not focused on the politics of the issue. Like all parents of both girls and boys they want their children to do well, and not only they, but all of us have a vested interest as a society in all of our children performing to their full potential. While the remedies are not yet clear, a consensus seems to be developing that our educational system is somehow failing boys, that this is fast becoming a crisis, and that we must find solutions. This book is the place for parents and educators to start.

Paddington Here and Now, by Michael Bond

It was a half-century ago that Paddington Bear arrived from darkest Peru and was found at Paddington station in London. The Browns took him home to live with them, and there has never been a dull moment at number 32 Windsor Gardens. Fifty years of marmalade sandwiches later, Paddington Here and Now, by Michael Bond, is just in time for the anniversary.

"Things happen to me: I'm that sort of a bear," Paddington explains, so funny adventures happen every day because he takes things literally. Michael Bond comments: "One of the very nice things about chronicling Paddington's adventures is that although the world has changed considerably..., he remains exactly the same; eternally optimistic and ever open to what life has to offer. It makes writing the stories a pleasure."

Tony Hillerman.

Sad news to start the week as word has come that the wonderful writer, Tony Hillerman, has died at age 83.

One of my favorite authors, I first read Hillerman when his breakthrough book Skinwalkers was published. I was hooked; I went back and read all his previous novels and eagerly anticipated each new book featuring Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. It is truly sad news to receive, but it is good to know that his books will live on and provide many others with hours of entertainment and an introduction to the culture and setting of the American Southwest and the Navajo people. Not a bad legacy.



For more details click for an article about his passing.

To see what the library owns by Tony Hillerman, click here.

What We're Reading - The Failures of the Presidents.

With our current Presidential election quickly approaching, the publication of Failures of the presidents : from the Whiskey Rebellion and War of 1812 to the Bay of Pigs and war in Iraq by Thomas J. Craughwell with M. William Phelps arrives as a timely reminder of good intentions with bad results. Chronologically arranged, the authors move through 20 Presidential decisions that, upon reflection and historical context, leave their maker with a bit of egg upon their face. Concise chapters are around 15 pages in length and provide an overview of the circumstances that led to the fateful decisions, the decision that was made and the consequences and effects of the decisions.

Decisions chosen include many that one can easily guess [Watergate, Internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII and the Bay of Pigs Invasion] to some lesser known, yet equally bad decisions [Cleveland and the Pullman strike and Grant's attempt at annexing Santo Domingo]. Another interesting item was how many of our better Presidents are among those who made poor decisions; Washington, F.D.R, and Jefferson are represented along with those who generally make the short list of poor Presidents [Grant, Hoover and Pierce]. Special kudos to both Nixon and Carter for being the only two Presidents to receive two chapters apiece.

The saying, "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it" seems apt for this interesting book and hopefully our soon-to-be elected President will read this and avoid any decisions that will be included in the next edition!

Friends of the Library Book Sale!

If a picture is worth a thousand words, one can only imagine the gallery of pictures that will be available next week at the semi-annual Friends of the Burbank Public Library used book sale. It's time to indulge your reading interests and support the Library. As everyone is looking for bargains these days, is there a better place to find them than the Central Library auditorium?

For full details of dates, times and other valuable information, click here!

Michelle : a biography by Liza Mundy

Liza Mundy is a staff writer at The Washington Post. In Michelle : a biography , she portrays Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama as funny and sharp-tongued, warm and blunt, empathic and demanding. Michelle was raised in a conventional two-parent home, her father was a city of Chicago water plant employee and Democratic precinct captain. Michelle attended Whitney Young High School, where she was on the honor roll four years, took advanced placement classes, was a member of the National Honor Society and served as student council treasurer. She went on to major in sociology and minor in African American studies at Princeton University. She obtained her law degree from Harvard Law School in 1988. Following law school, she was an associate at the Chicago office of the law firm Sidley Austin, where she first met her husband, Barack Obama. They have two daughters, Malia and Sasha, and Obamas are doing a great job raising two amazing young girls.

Michelle has held positions in the Chicago city government as an Assistant to the mayor, and as Assistant Commissioner of Planning and Development; Executive Director for the Chicago office of Public Allies, a non-profit organization encouraging young people to work on social issues in nonprofit groups and government agencies; Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago; executive director for community affairs and, beginning May, 2005, as Vice President for Community and External Affairs of the University of Chicago Hospitals. She served as a salaried board member of TreeHouse Foods, Inc., a major Wal-Mart supplier with whom she cut ties immediately after her husband made comments critical of Wal-Mart at an AFL-CIO forum. Michelle gave political speeches for her husband's presidential campaign at various locations. Early in the campaign, she exhibited her ironic humor and told anecdotes about the Obama family life. However, as the press began to emphasize her sarcasm, which did not translate well in the print media, she has toned it down.

In this carefully reported biography, Liza Mundy captures the complexity of this remarkable woman.

What We're Reading: The Turk

The Turk: The Life and Times of the Famous Eighteenth-Century Chess Playing Machine
Tom Standage

In addition to being a book nerd, I am a Terminator nerd. This is why I was so giddy upon discovering that the Turk - the pesky chess playing computer that led to machines becoming self-aware, becoming angry, and bringing war upon humankind in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - was a reference to an actual chess playing automaton. Dressed in the Turkish garb of the day, this mechanical wonder played a very strong game of chess. Many debated this curious and convincing display of intellect. Was it possible that the automaton was purely machine? Or, as some insisted, was it merely a magician's trick with a human operator controlling the actions of the Turk?

Standage guards the secret carefully until the end, but the history of automata and the Turk trivia he provides are fascinating. Who knew that both Napoleon and Benjamin Franklin allegedly played games with the mechanical man? Highly recommended, even for non-nerds. (However, if you're reading a book about chess? Probably a nerd.)

Lĭt / uh / ruh / sē Äw / fĭs

Hoberman Picked as Poet Laureate
Publishers Weekly: October 9, 2008 by John A. Sellers

As part of its fifth annual Pegasus Awards, the Poetry Foundation has selected Mary Ann Hoberman as Children’s Poet Laureate. Hoberman inherits the two-year position, which comes with a $25,000 prize, from Jack Prelutsky. The purpose of the award is to raise awareness of poetry among children.

Hoberman received the honor at an awards ceremony earlier this week in Chicago. “Generations of readers who first discovered poetry in the books of Mary Ann Hoberman remember it not as a dry textbook encounter but as a moment of joyous play,” said John Barr, president of the Poetry Foundation, in announcing Hoberman’s appointment. “Her poems tease young minds even as they please young ears with rhythm and rhyme.”

In August 2009, Little, Brown will release Hoberman’s next book of poetry, All Kinds of Families ! READ MORE

Check Out a Website or a Book @ Burbank Public Library

You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You
Little, Brown, 2005
~ very short Mother Goose tales to read together

The Llama Who Had No Pajama: 100 Favorite Poems
Harcourt Brace, 1998
~ covering everything from centipedes to whales, from swinging on swings to ice-skating in winter, from eating applesauce to celebrating birthdays, the delightful poems in this collection convey the experiences of childhood

The Cozy Book
Browndeer Press, 1995
~ a delightful look at all the warm, delicious things that make up a cozy day

Burbank Bulletin Board

Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center is hosting a free community forum about biomedical ethics, entitled "Caring Conversations: Overcoming Barriers to Compassionate Care". It will be held on Saturday, October 25 from 10 AM - 2 PM, though registration begins at 9 AM. The following topics will be discussed:

• Catholic? Non-Catholic? What to expect at Providence
• Goals of Care: Caring Conversations Before You Need Them
• Plain Speak: Health Literacy, Informed Consent, and Shared Decision-Making
• Magic, Miracles, and Modern Medicine: If All the Hands That Reach Could Touch

Space is limited so reservations are recommended. Please RSVP by Wednesday, October 22. The phone number is 818-847-4335.

Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center
Hope Conference Center
501 S. Buena Vista Street, Burbank

Parking is validated.


View Larger Map

"Quoth the raven, 'Nevermore.' "

“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.”

--Edgar Allan Poe

Is there anything more evocative of the Halloween season with all its restless spirits and shades than the writings of Edgar Allan Poe? His Raven, with its hoarse, ominous rendition of “Nevermore!” and the sound of thumping from beneath the floorboards in The Tell-Tale Heart have sent a shiver down many a spine.

Now, just in time for Halloween and in celebration of Teen Read Month, Burbank Public Library presents Broadway and film veteran Duffy Hudson, “In the Shadow of the Raven,” his dramatization of the life and work of this master of the macabre. Edgar Allan Poe will walk on stage to share his life story and perform three of his most haunting works—The Raven, Annabel Lee, and The Tell-Tale Heart—on Tuesday, October 21, at 7:00 p.m. Join us in the auditorium of the Buena Vista Branch Library to learn more about this American poet, short-story writer and the man hailed as the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. (School extra credit may be given at teachers’ discretion.)

Teen Review: All We Know of Heaven

MITCHARD for TEENS
Jacquelyn Mitchard, best-selling author of Oprah’s first book club selection, The Deep End of the Ocean, has branched out into teen lit once again. (Her first Young Adult title was last year’s Now You See Her, also published by HarperTeen.) All We Know of Heaven trades on Mitchard’s characteristic exploration of family dynamics tested by catastrophic circumstances. Two sophomore girls, friends since childhood, are driving home from cheerleading practice when a swerve on an icy road brings them into the path of a trucker helpless to stop. Bridget and Maureen are rushed to the emergency room, but after heroic efforts, the passenger dies and the driver lies battered and unrecognizable in a coma. Family and friends mourn the loss of one girl and hold vigil at the other’s bedside, but then the doctors discover they have made a terrible mistake: The girl who lived is the one everyone thought had died. An absorbing exploration of the response of ordinary people to tragic circumstances.

Books with Bite

Vampires and Werewolves and Ghosts, Oh My!
October is Teen Read Month at Burbank Public Library, and this October’s theme, propelled by the fascination with all creatures supernatural, is “Books With Bite.” Burbank teens, grades 6 through 12, are invited to write a short book report on their favorite scary page-turner (or any favorite book) and submit it to any of the three Burbank libraries by October 31. Each report written gives a chance to win a pair of AMC movie tickets! Winners will be notified by November 7. Are you stumped for a book to read? Ask your friendly and knowledgeable teen librarians! Melissa Elliott at Central branch, Anarda Williams at Buena Vista branch, and Melissa Gwynne at Northwest will be happy to steer you towards a book that will give you chills! (But if you don’t want to visit The Nightmare Academy, or find the relationship between Blood and Chocolate, never fear! we can refer you to less frightening fare.)

What We're Reading - Sheep Blast Off!

Parents needing something new to read to their preschoolers will be happy to learn that Nancy Shaw has written a new picture book in her and illustrator Margot Apple's charming "Sheep" series.

Sheep Blast Off! is the 7th book to feature the sheep and tells the tale of their close encounter [and misadventures] with a space ship. As usual the sheep attempt to do something, trouble ensues and miraculously the sheep [with a bit of help by a sheepish green alien] once again avoid disaster and have a happy ending.

Charming simple rhymes and those ever wonderful colored pencil illustrations ensure a good time will be had by parents and toddlers alike.

Don't be sheepish, if you haven't met the sheep please do, you'll never have a baaad time with them!

Lĭt / uh / ruh / sē Äw / fĭs

October: Health Literacy Month

Health literacy is defined in Healthy People 2010 as: "The degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions".

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services included " improved consumer health literacy " as Objective 11-2 of Healthy People 2010. Identifying health literacy as an important component of health communication, medical product safety, and oral health.

More info about Healthy People 2010 is available @ the National Network of Libraries of Medicine:

~ Definition & Skills Needed
~ Economic Impact of Low Health Literacy
~ Role of the Consumer Health Librarian
~ Health Literacy Organizations and Programs
~ Web Resources & Bibliographies
~ Listservs


Health Literacy Out Loud 3-CD Set includes:
~ Readability & Understanding
~ An Adult Learner's Perspective
~ Creating & Using Excellent Written Materials



Ask Me 3
Good Questions for Your Good Health
~ a quick, effective tool designed to improve health communication between patients and providers.