Category Archives: General literacy

May
08
2013

Annual Public Library Plea

Posted by

It is sad to say, but each year at this time, the three public library systems of NYC need our help. New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library, and Queens Borough Public Library are all facing cuts to the tune of between 32 million and 47 million dollars. What is the impact? Besides cutting qualified staff, these cuts would mean a diminishing of hours, cuts to wifi, storytimes, computer classes, job search programs and cultural programs.
We are lucky at LREI to have 2 great library spaces with degreed librarians to help our students. Many NYC kids are not so lucky, and use the public library as their main source of books and homework help.
All 3 systems have places on their webpages to write to our elected officials to let them know that cutting public library funds cuts the quality of life for all New Yorkers. You can follow the links if you feel that libraries are important and that their budgets should not be cut.

New York Public Library
Brooklyn Public Library
Queens Borough Public Library

Also, one of the best ways to support the public libraries is to USE them. We are so lucky to have 3 amazing library systems within our 5 boroughs. If your child does not already have a card, go to the library and get one. And make stopping in to your local branch a weekly event. Get to know your local children’s librarian. They are a wealth of knowledge about children’s literature, literacy, as well as a great source of book recommendations.

Support New York’s public libraries today!

May
11
2012

Summer reading

Posted by

It is never too early to think about summer reading. The librarians are busily updating our summer reading lists, adding some new and exciting titles that your children are sure to love. Here at LREI we are so lucky to have 4 librarians who are constantly reading. We love talking books with our students, and love the fact that book recommending is a two way street around here.

Here are some suggestions to help your summer reader stay excited about reading this summer.

Book clubs! – Many children love dishing about books together. If you know you will be close to another family, why not set up a weekly book club with your children. Bring some snacks and guiding questions, and your children may just be reading more deeply than if they were on their own. Even if you are not close together, you can facetime a book club! Sometimes a little bit of technology is just what a reader needs to get interested!

Get outside! – Reading need not be an indoor activity. When you are going to the park, or out on the boat, or headed to the beach make sure to pack a bunch of books for your children to choose from.

Read together! – Nobody is too old for reading aloud. Whether it’s a picture book or a chapter book, schedule some daily family time for a read aloud. Be it 5 minutes or an hour, it will be a fun activity that your children will look forward to.

Don’t forget to stop by our Book Swap Thursday May 17 and Friday May 18 to find some new-to-you books to get excited about!

Happy Reading!

Apr
01
2012

April is National Poetry Month

Posted by

Let’s be honest. Many of us do not consider poetry. We may have a fond memory or two of a favorite poem as a child, but chances are as adults we do not work poetry into our “to be read” pile.

We should work on changing this! And why not make that change during April which is National Poetry Month!

Here are a few things you may want to experience with your children during the month of April!

– Why not visit Poet’s House? Located at Ten River Terrace, Poet’s House is a lovely respite filled with poetry and has a children’s room to boot!

– Unable to visit a physical space? Why not check out librarian Travis Jonker’s blog where he always has something poetry going on … including the now famous spine poem gallery! Why not make a spine poem or two of your own?

– If you are near the library at LREI, come on in and ask about our 811s! That is the Dewey Decimal Section where you will find our fabulous poetry collection. We have anthologies and many, many picture book poetry titles as well!

Mar
08
2012

Living in New York City

Posted by

We are incredibly fortunate to be living in or close to NYC. We have 3 amazing public library systems, and a number of independent bookstores that are great places not only to find children’s books, but to attend author events as well. On any given weekend, there are a number of events around books and literacy that are open to the general public.

This weekend there is a middle grade author even happening at Books of Wonder, a Shakespeare program for children at the Schwarzman Building Children’s Room , and every Saturday at 11:30 a.m. McNally Jackson has a children’s story time.

Why not take advantage of some bookish events that New York City has to offer!

Dec
05
2011

It’s Book Week!

Posted by

Book Week is probably the librarians’ favorite week of the school year.  Authors and illustrators visit every classroom.  Watch this blog for announcements of who is appearing each day!

Monday December 5

Lisa Graff – author of Umbrella Summer is visiting Kate and Steve’s 4th grade classroom.

P.D. Eastman – author of Go Dog Go! is visiting Beth and Clare’s 4’s classroom.

Gina Goldmann – contributor to Hands Off Harry is visiting Vonick’s 3rd grade classroom.

Judith Inglese and Dedie King – author and illustrator of I See the Sun in Afghanistan is coming to Rebecca and Nicole’s 1st grade classroom.

 

                                                                   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nov
28
2011

We get by with a little help from our friends…

Posted by

In the LREI library, we do our best to read everything we can get our hands on in order to advise our recommendations to your children.  We can’t, however, read each of the 30,000 or so children’s titles that are published each year.  So what do we do?

We get some help from our friends.

Children’s Literature blogs are invaluable to librarians in the name of reader’s advisory, finding out what’s new, and exploring the titles that we have some how missed.  Here are some of the blogs that I use on a weekly basis to inform my own reading, and to keep up on the world of publishing.

100 Scope Notes

Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian who has been blogging since 2007.  He reviews children’s books, reworks Newbery book covers, talks about happenings in the world of kidlit among other things.  A useful tab can be found on the top of his blog and is entitled “Best New Books”.  Simply click there for a round-up of the latest, greatest titles.

Jen Robinson’s Book Page

Jen is an engineer who just happens to love children’s literature.  She has been blogging about kid’s books for years and she breaks down her reviews, not only by the year in which the book was published, but also by age range, and she also includes links to timely articles about children’s literature as a whole.

Ms. Yingling Reads

I like this blog because Ms. Yingling is a straight shooter.  She will tell you in a quick and concise manner why a book works or why it doesn’t.  She reads a ridiculous number of books, and she has her lens honed on searching for books that will appeal to boys.

Please take some time to check out these blogs.  Nobody has time to read everything; we can all use a little help from our friends!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jun
06
2011

Statistics

Posted by

One of the super cool things about our library software is the ability to run statistics.  The end of the year inventory has all of the librarians considering our collection and the changes that need to be made.  Just for a hoot, I ran a snapshot stat on the top 10 titles that circulated during the 2010/2011 school year in the Sixth Avenue library.

The results may surprise some of you.

Every single one is a graphic novel.

Ok…so let’s branch it out and run the top 50 titles for the school year.  46 of them are graphic novels.

Our graphic novel collection is a small subset of our overall collection but is obviously the go-to section for self selected reading.  It’s hard to imagine, but many libraries are still trying to justify purchasing and keeping graphic novels.  At LREI we are lucky not only to have a great, growing collection of graphic novels, but we are also lucky to have Jesse Karp on our faculty.  In case you are unaware, Jesse is an expert in the graphic novel field.  If you have any questions about the format, or need help finding appropriate graphic novels for your child, please stop on by and ask!

Without further ado, here are the top ten circulating books of the 2010/2011 school year!

10) BABYMOUSE: OUR HERO, by Jennifer and Matt Holm

9) ROBOT DREAMS, by Sara Varon

8 ) BABYMOUSE: SKATER GIRL, by Jennifer and Matt Holm

7) STONE RABBIT: BC MAMBO, by Erik Craddock

6) BABYMOUSE: DRAGONSLAYER, by Jennifer and Matt Holm

5) STONE RABBIT: DEEP SPACE DISCO, by Erik Craddock

4) GRAMPA AND JULIE: SHARK HUNTERS, by Jef Czekaj

3) STONE RABBIT: PIRATE PALOOZA, by Erik Craddock

2) BABYMOUSE: BEACH BABE, by Jennifer and Matt Holm

1) BABYMOUSE: CAMP BABYMOUSE, by Jennifer and Matt Holm

Apr
22
2011

Poetry Fun!

Posted by

poetry magnetic pieces

As most of you know, April is National Poetry Month, and in the library we have been having some fun!

Third graders used laptops to create some magnetic poetry!  How can they do that, you ask?  Well, with the help of a super fun site of Magnetic Poetry Games !  Students paired up, negotiated how they would create their poems, and started clicking and dragging.

There’s nothing like the sound of laughter in the library!

Feb
09
2011

Caldecott of Caldecotts

Posted by

The second grade has been reading the Caldecott winners of the past.  We have been talking about storytelling and the role of illustration within a story.  Some of the questions that we asked during library were; “Are illustrations simply an add on, or are they integral to the story?”  “Can you tell a story with only pictures?”  “What kind of illustrations speak to you?”

As a group second graders read 12 Caldecott winning titles of the past and had the task of figuring out which winner they thought deserved the title of Caldecott of Caldecotts.  We strayed from traditional Caldecott format and had a secret ballot, and the book that came out on top was David Wiesner’s TUESDAY.  TUESDAY won the Caldecott Award in 1992.

tuesday-coverThe  humor found in the illustrations was definitely a factor with our second grade audience.  Frogs flying on lily pads?  Frogs zooming all over town?  Why don’t you come on by the library and check out a copy for yourself to see what captivated our students!