Feel the Heat! – Cool Northern Mythology

Take-offs and mashups using mythology as a starting point for YA novels has been a recent trend that shows no signs of abating and the fantasy genre is quickly diversifying its mythology base.  More diverse myths are being brought to the attention of readers and movie goers everywhere and McLure has plenty of titles for you that will keep you in the know when it comes to these myths and legends.

Now that the Dog Days of Summer are over and we are all ready to cozy up with warm drinks and good books that are perfect for those long winter nights, why not cozy up with the imaginative series based on Egyptian, Norse, Chinese, and Middle Eastern myths that are in McLure library?

Middle Grade author, Rick Riordan made his name retelling the Perseus, Greek demi-god myths, in the Percy Jackson series.

That series has been followed by two other series;  The Kane Chronicles, based on Egyptian mythology, that consists of three titles,

Red Pyramid                                    Throne of Fire                            Serpent’s Shadow

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The novels were quickly followed by the graphic novel version of these titles.  Mclure has two of them with the third due to be published soon.

Red Pyramid:                                                               Throne of Fire:

The Graphic Novel                                                   The Graphic Novel

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Riordan has also done a series featuring those fiery gods of the North.  Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series, based on Norse mythology, that currently stands at two titles, with the third that was just published in October.

Sword of Summer                         Hammer of Thor

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The successful conversion of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods novel to the small screen world of TV is a modern retelling of Norse mythology for adults.  The UA libraries doesn’t have that particular novel, but McLure Library has Anansi Boy’s, the sequel to American Gods.  Anansi Boys is based in the myths of West Africa and the West Indies.  So if you like Orlando Jones as Mr. Nancy in American Gods, check him out in a starring role in his own book: Anansi Boys.  It was listed for the Alex Award (Adult books suitable for Young Adults) in 2006 and is at McLure in the School Library Collection.

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McLure doesn’t have Neil Gaiman’s current best seller Norse Mythology, (that is at Gorgas library) but we have a beautifully illustrated version of both Egyptian and Norse Mythology done by well known YA and children’s author Donna Jo Napoli.  The amazing colored illustrations are accompanied by brief explanations of each of the major Egyptian and Norse Gods that make looking at these books a real pleasure for these long winter evenings.

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All of these books are in the McLure Library School Library collection located in the basement of McLure Library.  If you would like to read any of these books call 348 – 6346 or 348-1508 and we will put it on hold for you.  Or you can come to McLure and see what other fantastic reading we have on our shelves.

Retired?

Who knew you could retire a color?  Aren’t the colors a constant?  Unchanging?  The color spectrum a scientific fact?

On the morning of March 31, 2017 Crayola will retire a color from it’s classic 24 count box of crayons.  Exactly which color is going to be retired has been a well kept secret, and the world anxiously awaits this announcement.

This exciting event in the life of the coloring box can be a learning opportunity for the classroom.  Here is a list of crayon read-alouds that can be used in the classroom.

Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt

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Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt              Cover Image

Red: A Crayon’s Story by Michael Hall

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Bad Day at Riverbend by Chris Van Allsburg      Cover Image

Not in the House Newton by Judith Heide Gilliland

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Stand Straight Ella Kate!

 

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“Most tall tales are made up.

But my tale is true.
I was a giant—a real life giant”

Kate Klise and M. Sarah Klise are an outstanding duo in their creation of picture books in the non-fiction genre for children. Stand Straight Ella Kate is a large format picture book based on the true life story of Ella Ewing, who suffered from gigantism. This lovely book is narrated by Ella herself and is featured by delightful illustrations which invoke curiosity among school age children. Some would even get a kick out of Ella being taller than the tallest basketball players in the NBA! Young readers will be introduced to Ella’s struggles with her height difference, but they will also discover, with Ella herself, self-confidence in her ability able to achieve goals that she never thought she could achieve.

The book starts off from the very beginning of Ella Ewing’s life. She was born in 1872 to a farmer and his wife. She was like any other baby at first, tiny and helpless against the world. Until she started growing, by thirteen she was nearly six feet tall, towering over her peers and adults alike. During a Fourth of July celebration, she was ridiculed and teased  as she stood before a crowd to recite the Gettysburg Address. Despite the cruel treatment, Ella never let such words break her spirit, and eventually she decided to use her own differences to her own advantage. She agreed to show off her exaggerated height of eight feet and four inches to a museum, and she found herself traveling with circuses across America—gaining fame and fortune. When she finally returned home, after years of touring, she was able to pay off her parent’s debt to the bank and built her own home, complete with over-sized windows and doors. In her spare time, Ella enjoyed telling friends and family all about the sights and experiences that she encountered on the road. If she had stayed locked away because of her difference, she would have never had the confidence to become a successful and financially stable woman.

Stand Straight Ella Kate would be a great to read out loud to kindergarten through third grade classrooms. This book emphasizes not only on the acceptance of the differences in others, but also the acceptance and confidence in oneself. Here are a few handpicked Pinterest activity ideas and discussion topics for a future classroom! Please leave comments for other ideas you think would go great with this book!

Pinterest:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/69172544255134092/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/69172544255134072/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/69172544255134059/

 

2015 Book Award Results

By Leslie Grant, Graduate Assistant, McLure Education Library

This morning the American Library Association announced the award winners for children’s and young adult books. These include the Caldecott Medal for picture books, the Newbery Medal for children’s literature, and the Printz Award for young adult literature, as well as many others. The results are as follows:

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Caldecott

Winner: The Adventure of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat

Honor Books: Nana in the City by Lauren Castillo

The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract Art by Mary GrandPré

Sam & Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett, illus. by Jon Klassen

Viva Frida by Yuyi Morales

The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant, illus. by Melissa Sweet

This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki, illus. by Jillian Tamaki

Newbery

Winner: The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

Honor Books: El Deafo by Cece Bell

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Printz

Winner: I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

Honor Books: And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard

The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley

Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki, illus. by Jillian Tamaki

 

For more information and a complete list of winners, see ALA’s website.

Series Chapter Books for Beginning Readers

By Leslie Grant, Graduate Assistant, McLure Education Library

Last month we talked about the appeal of series books and shared some picture book series books available at the library. We’d like to continue the discussion with more suggestions.

The introduction of slightly longer books helps readers transition away from picture books. Short, easy chapter books are a great tool for improving reading skills, serving as a stepping stone between picture books and novels. Here are a few series available at McLure we recommend:

Rotten Ralph by Jack Gantos
“Ralph, a very, very nasty cat, finally sees the error of his ways — or does he?”

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Back to school for Rotten Ralph
Rotten Ralph helps out
Rotten Ralph’s rotten romance
Rotten Ralph feels rotten
Practice makes perfect for Rotten Ralph
Three strikes for Rotten Ralph
Best in show for Rotten Ralph

Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne
“Eight-year-old Jack and his younger sister Annie find a magic treehouse, which whisks them back to an ancient time zone where they see live dinosaurs.”

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Dinosaurs before dark
The knight at dawn
Mummies in the morning
Pirates past noon
Night of the Ninjas
Afternoon on the Amazon
Sunset of the sabertooth
Midnight on the moon
Dragon of the red dawn
Dark day in the deep sea
Eve of the Emperor penguin
A perfect time for pandas
Stallion by starlight
Hurry up, Houdini!
High time for heroes

The Time Warp Trio by Jon Scieszka
“Joe’s been caught up in a book before, but this is ridiculous! Joe’s Book, a gift from his magician uncle, doesn’t just tell stories, it zaps Joe and his friends Sam and Fred right into the middle of them.”

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Knights of the kitchen table
The not-so-jolly-Roger
The good, the bad, and the goofy
Your mother was a Neanderthal
2095
Tut, tut
Summer reading is killing me!
It’s all Greek to me
See you later, gladiator
Sam Samurai
Hey kid, want to buy a bridge?
Viking it & liking it
Me oh Maya!
Da wild, da crazy, da Vinci
Oh say, I can’t see
Marco? Polo!

Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park
“Meet the World’s Funniest Kindergartner–Junie B. Jones! In the 1st Junie B. Jones book, it’s Junie B.’s first day and she doesn’t know anything. She’s so scared of the school bus and the meanies on it that when it’s time to go home, she doesn’t.”

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Junie B. Jones and the stupid smelly bus
Junie B. Jones and her big fat mouth
Junie B. Jones and some sneaky peeky spying
Junie B. Jones and the yucky blucky fruitcake
Junie B. Jones and that meanie Jim’s birthday
Junie B. Jones loves handsome Warren
Junie B. Jones has a monster under her bed
Junie B. Jones is not a crook
Junie B. Jones is a party animal
Junie B. Jones is a beauty shop guy
Junie B. Jones smells something fishy
Junie B. Jones is (almost) a flower girl
Junie B. Jones and the mushy gushy valentime
Junie B. Jones has a peep in her pocket
Junie B. Jones is Captain Field Day
Junie B. Jones is a graduation girl
Junie B., first grader (at last!)
Junie B., first grader : boss of lunch
Junie B., first grader : toothless wonder
Junie B., first grader : cheater pants
Junie B., first grader : one-man band
Junie B., first grader : shipwrecked
Junie B., first grader : boo –and I mean it
Junie B., first grader : jingle bells, Batman smells! (P.S. so does May)
Junie B., first grader : aloha-ha-ha!
Junie B., first grader : dumb bunny

Horrid Henry by Francesca Simon
“Horrid Henry and his neighbor Moody Margaret decide to make the most sloppy, slimy, sludgy, sticky, smelly, gooey, gluey, gummy, greasy, gloppy glop possible. Is it the best glop in the world or the worst thing that’s ever happened to them? Plus three other stories so funny we can’t even mention them here.”

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Horrid Henry
Horrid Henry tricks the Tooth Fairy
Horrid Henry and the mummy’s curse
Horrid Henry and the scary sitter
Horrid Henry and the mega-mean time machine
Horrid Henry and the soccer fiend
Horrid Henry and the abominable snowman
Horrid Henry wakes the dead
Horrid Henry rocks
Horrid Henry and the zombie vampire

Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
“When George and Harold hypnotize their principal into thinking that he is the superhero Captain Underpants, he leads them to the lair of the nefarious Dr. Diaper, where they must defeat his evil robot henchmen.”

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The adventures of Captain Underpants : an epic novel
Captain Underpants and the attack of the talking toilets
Captain Underpants and the invasion of the incredibly naughty cafeteria ladies from outer space
Captain Underpants and the perilous plot of Professor Poopypants
Captain Underpants and the wrath of the wicked Wedgie Woman
Captain Underpants and the big, bad battle of the Bionic Booger Boy, part 1 : night of the nasty nostril nuggets
Captain Underpants and the big, bad battle of the Bionic Booger Boy, part 2 : the revenge of the ridiculous Robo-Boogers
Captain Underpants and the revolting revenge of the radioactive robo-boxers

Ramona Quimby by Beverly Cleary
“Beezus’ biggest problem was her 4-year-old sister Ramona. Even though Beezus knew sisters were supposed to love each other, with a sister like Ramona, it seemed impossible.”

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Beezus and Ramona
Ramona the pest
Ramona the brave
Ramona and her father
Ramona and her mother
Ramona Quimby, age 8
Ramona forever

 

 

Diversity in Children’s Literature

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By Leslie Grant, Graduate Assistant, McLure Education Library

The call for more diversity among book characters and authors has gained a lot of attention recently. We thought it would be helpful to provide some background and information on the topic to help others better understand the issue and some current reactions.

The lack of diversity in book publishing is by no means a new issue, but articles like “Where Are the People of Color in Children’s Books?” by Walter Dean Myers and “The Apartheid of Children’s Literature” by Christopher Myers helped bring the topic to the forefront within the past few months. The articles both react to and reflect on the baffling statistics from a study by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin that “Of 3,200 children’s books published in 2013, just 93 were about black people.” Rather than being an anomaly, these figures represent the trend of relatively low numbers of minority representation in children’s and young adult fiction.

One of the biggest movements has been the #WeNeedDiverseBooks Campaign. Through the use of social media, authors, publishers, and readers were able to share their reasons for wanting to see more diversity in books. By the end of the first day, the trend had gone viral, leading to thousands of tweets on the topic. The campaign has also been encouraging readers to buy more diverse books and for libraries to work to diversify their shelves.

We Need Diverse Books was largely a reaction to the 2014 Book Expo America. When the book publishing conference announced the lineup for their BookCon panels, the list consisted solely of white male participants. The success of We Need Diverse Books inspired BookCon to create a new panel featuring a more diverse group of children’s authors.

To find out more about We Need Diverse Books and BookCon, read “BookCon Controversy Begets Diversity Social Media Campaign” and “A Loud Start for BookCon”.

 

50th Anniversaries: Children’s Literature Classics

50th Anniversaries

Wrinkle in Time: By Madeleine L’Engle

Wolves of Willoughby Chase: By Joan Aiken

To Kill A Mockingbird: By Harper Lee

Blogpost by Benita Strnad, Curriculum Materials Librarian,  McLure Education Library

 

The book world celebrated the Golden Anniversaries of three very important works of Young Adult Literature in 2012.  In February the publishing firm of Farrar Straus & Giroux threw a big 50th birthday party for “A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeleine L’Engle.  This fall Doubleday celebrated the publication of “The Wolves of Willoughby Chase” by Joan Aiken.  Here in Alabama the 50th anniversary of the coming out of “To Kill a Mockingbird” passed without much fanfare.  All three of these books were landmark publications and brought fame, if not fortune, to their authors, and hours of pleasure to millions of readers over the years.  Each of them was iconic in their own way.  If you are looking for books to give to children and young adults in your lives in the next few weeks consider giving one of these three books. 

 

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“A Wrinkle in Time” was a book that couldn’t find a publisher because it was so different.  L’Engle was studying, what was then, the revolutionary field of quantum physics while she was taking a ten week camping trip across the U. S. with her family in 1959.  She states that she saw landscapes that were totally alien to her and combined with the material she was reading she began to imagine a who new world.  The genre of science fiction was only in its infancy when L’Engle completed the book and started sending it to publishers.  They weren’t sure how this genre was going to be accepted by the public and so were leery of the manuscript when it arrived on their desks for several reasons.  It featured a female protagonist in an area that in the early 60’s was considered a male profession, it dealt with sophisticated scientific concepts that weren’t yet widely known, it dealt with evil in a very real way, which was not part of children’s literature, making it difficult for publishers to decide if it was a book for children or adults.   As a result, the book was rejected by 26 publishers before Farrar Straus & Giroux accepted it.  The year it was published it was awarded the Newbery award from the American Library Association, an edgy and somewhat radical departure from more mainstream titles that had won past awards.  The novel has stood the test of time and is still widely read and has been in continuous print since its publication.  Eventually, L’Engle published four other books about the Murry family that are known as the Time Quintet.

 

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“Wolves of Willoughby Chase” was first published in Great Britian in 1963 and subsequently in the U. S.  The author, Joan Aiken, was the daughter of famed American poet Conrad Aiken, and was born and raised in Great Britain.  Like “Wrinkle in Time” this was book that had a hard time finding a publisher.  It defies genre categorization and sometimes is classed as supernatural fiction, alternative fiction, and fantasy fiction.  When it was published it was one of the first works for children that featured alternative history and geography.  Ultimately the book was the first in a series of 12 books that have come to be known as the “Wolves Chronicles.”  These books vary in length from 150 pages to 250 pages and fit into that nitch of readers in grades 4 through 6 or 7, who are past introductory chapter books and yet might not want to read a novel of greater length than 250 pages.  With time the “Wolves of Willoughby Chase” sort of faded from the view of teachers, parents, librarians, and readers, but with the renewed interest in fantasy and series books for children the book is back in the limelight.

 

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2012 is the Fiftieth anniversary of the film version of the book.  The movie is readily available in Netflix if you want to watch the film, but it might be a good idea to revisit the novel during this anniversary year.   Alabamians are mostly aware of Harper Lee’s masterpiece of a civil rights novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” as it has certainly become one of the pillars of American literature and its place as a classic is assured.  The myth and legend of the book has only been enhanced by the reclusive nature of the author and the fact that no other book by her has ever been published leaving her with a perfect record in the bestseller category.  Lee was well connected in the New York publishing literati of the era and so unlike the previous mentioned titles, she did not have much of a problem finding a publisher for her book.  After it was published it was well received by the critics and became an immediate bestseller.  It also won the Pulitzer Prize in the same year.  Unlike the other two titles this one was not a children’s novel.  It was published, and remains, an adult novel.  However, it is now required reading in many high schools and so has found a place in young adult literature.

 

All three of these novels, once published, were successful titles, winning an immediate following and with the passing of time each of these titles has become an accepted classic in children’s and young adult literature.  With the cooling temperatures outside, it is a good time to read, or in some cases reread, these 50th Anniversary titles.  All of them can be found in McLure Library and in Gorgas Library.  There are also copies at the Tuscaloosa Public Library.  They can be purchased at either Books-A-Million or Barnes & Noble.  (They would make great stocking stuffers!)

 

 

What are the Youth Media Awards?

The Midwinter meeting of the American Library Association annually announces the winners of  outstanding books and media for children, sponsored by various committees of the section,  Association of Library Service for Children (ALSC).   This was formerly known as the announcement of the Newbery Medal, for ‘the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature’,  and Caldecott Medal winners for  the most distinguished American picture book for children published in the previous year.   The Awards Ceremony is now known as the Youth Media Awards, because of the addition of awards for other categories of book publishing and media.   The recent ALA meeting was in San Diego, CA, and the announcements made on January 11, 2011.

 

Briefly,  Moon over Manifest,” written by Clare Vanderpool, is the 2011 Newbery Medal winner. The book is published by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc.   “A Sick Day for Amos McGee,” illustrated by Erin E. Stead, is the 2011 Caldecott Medal winner. The book was written by Philip C. Stead, and is a Neal Porter Book, published by Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing.  The UA Libraries does not have these books yet.  We do have the Newbery and Caldecott winning books in a special section of the Education School Library area in McLure.  For all the details, go to  http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/mediapresscenter/presskits/youthmediaawards/alayouthmediaawards.cfm 

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