From: Lisa Von Drasek <lisav_at_bankstreet.edu>
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2010 20:15:39 -0500

Yes, getting through the piles for the quality ones is work. That is why appreciate the book lists on CCBC. The Charlotte Zolotow award lists are a great resource for the best of the best. Sometimes when I hit a wall, it is my go-to for reminders for a great book. Another fine resource is the Irma Black Award books at Bank Street College site. (I never assume people know about this award chosen by over 2,000 children for the best picture book illustrations AND writing. For me it is a list of sure fire read-aloud s http://www.bankstreet.edu/childrenslibrary/isblackwinners.html)

Yet...just today I read aloud with the help of bouncy joyous four-year-olds Apple, Pear Orange Bear. At first glance a kind of slim, one note joke. We filled a good ten minutes reading it aloud together. It is also a book I could see making a great app. An app on my IPad to share with that cranky four-year old on the subway. I would love to have the Adventures of Polo in an electronic format available at all times.

One of the Sept. 11th anniversaries it was suggested to leave a book you love for other people to pick up and find. Wouldn't it be great if busses and subways and restaurants, had baskets and baskets of board books? Wouldn't it be great if all the advertising across the top of the subway car was a wordless picture book like Lion and Mouse?

Lisa

Lisa Von Drasek Children's Librarian Bank Street College of Education School for Children Pre-K- 8 610 West 112th St NY NY 10025

lisav_at_bnkst.edu

212 875 4452

I, too, have often thought "Oh, why don't I have a spare book with me" when I see frustrated, tired, cranky or just plain bored babies and toddlers on buses here in Madison (no subway here). So often, the parents are as tired and cranky as the children--understandably. Teen=2 0 parents, in particular, or single moms or dads trying to managing one or more small children when they and the kids are clearly exhausted, make my heart ache.

For years I've always thought it would be great to have a small book box of board books and picture books on public transportation: Books on Board (I can already picture the logo: a book on wheels). But just providing a well-chosen title to keep forever or put back in the box for the next harried parent or fussy child would not be the sole purpose. It would be to promote literacy libraries, because the two go so hand-in-hand. Every book could be stickered: "Check out more books for free at your local public library."

Public libraries already do so much to support and promote literacy and=2 0 learning, but we also know that wanting to reach more children and families in their communities is part of most/all (I hope) public library missions. To what extent do literacy programs strive to direct people to the public library (or school library) as a resource. To what=2 0 extent do literacy programs, libraries and librarians work together to=2 0 develop specific, consistent messages (e.g., picture books: they're good for your head).

I am asking these questions rhetorically, by the way--not intending to get us off-topic.

All of this goes hand in hand with what has already been expressed: that getting picture books into the hands of parents and children is just the starting point--albeit a signficant one.

Thinking about the parents who come into the library looking for chapter 20

books for their young children because they think they've outgrown picture books takes me back a five years ago to when my daughter was learning to read. I remember struggling, even thought I KNOW better, when I saw her reading a book that was clearly easy for her. It's that=2 0 fear that can be so easy to buy into: my child isn't going to improve/succeed. She's going to fall behind.

I had to have a very serious conversation with myself. I also had to take a deep breath and remind myself about everything I know.

But of course, so many parents don't know what we know. They only know=2 0 the concern or worry or fear. The one: one conversations you are already having with parents, modeling ways terrific picture books can offer rich language and levels of complexity parents may find surprising, showcasing how they provide openings for rich and thoughtful 20

discussions, and of course demonstrating the pure pleasure factor of a great story--always a good thing--won't solve the problem, but they all=2 0 provide ways of countering that fear with information that affirms everything we know about great picture books and what they have to offer kids from birth well into elementary school (I love that today, if a box of review books arrives at my home, my daughter--now almost 11--will always sit down and read the picture books).

While we can't disregard that the cost of picture books makes purchasing 20

them prohibitive, or less attractive, for some individuals and families, 20

it's the value of picture books that matters most. Like some others, I don't see a decline in the overall number of picture books published in=2 0 and of itself alarming; it becomes alarming when it gets harder and harder to find a signficant number of new quality picture books that we=2 0 think will excite and engage young readers and listeners as they reflect 20

the many and varied backgrounds and experiences of children in our country today.

Megan

Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison 600 N. Park Street, Room 4290 Madison, WI 53706

608/262-9503 schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu

www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/

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Received on Wed 10 Nov 2010 08:15:39 PM CST