Inaugural Poetry

Elizabeth Alexander has been chosen by President-Elect Barack Obama as only the fourth inaugural poet in American history. The 45-year-old award-winning poet also teaches African American studies at Yale.

Robert Frost was the first Inaugural Poet, chosen by John F. Kennedy in 1961. Bill Clinton followed Kennedy's example, choosing Maya Angelou for the 1993 inauguration, and Miller Williams for his second swearing-in ceremony in 1997.

On a musical side-note, poet Miller Williams is the father of singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams

Resolutions for Resolutions

Mo Rocca has the right idea. Skip resolutions for yourself, and make them for others. He made a few today on CBS Sunday Morning.

What about you?

As for myself, I first thought about making a resolution NOT to make resolutions. But I did that for 2008, and as the saying goes, if you aim at nothing you're sure to hit it.

So for 2009 I've decided to make a few. But just a few so as to aim well.

To help in meeting my 2009 resolutions (only to be listed on this blog once they are met), I have checked out from the library a book I saw on the shelf while helping a customer find a different title. The book is The Productivity Handbook: New Ways of Leveraging Your Time, Information, & Communications by Donald E. Wetmore (2005 by Random House).

I once was highly organized. For example, I exercised daily, I prayed daily, all my photos were labeled in albums, and the towels in the linen closet faced the same direction. But I've lost that, and now find myself bouncing from one pile to the next, rarely completing anything. So for 2009 it is time to focus and produce.

Thanks, Dave.

Dave began my collection of books about librarians with his gift to me of How I Fell in Love with a Librarian and Lived to Tell About It by Rhett Ellis. The gift was for receiving my master's degree in Library and Information Science from the University of South Carolina. Tonight Dave brilliantly suggested I start a list on my blog of books and films featuring librarians! I'm calling it: Dewey Decimal Dames. Submit your suggestions in comments to this post, and watch the lists grow.

An American in Paris

Pennsylvania-born Mary Cassatt was the only American invited into the Impressionists group in Paris in the late 1800s. She became instrumental in bringing art by the Impressionists to America.

Mary Cassatt: Friends and Family is on exhibit at the National Museum of Women in the Arts until January 25, 2009. In preparation for viewing the exhibit, NMWA's curator recommends the biography Mary Cassatt: A Life by Nancy Mowll Matthews.

Encyclopedia of Life

The World Wide Web continues to provide unprecedented opportunities for the collection, organization and dissemination of information. Five organizations are coordinating the Encyclopedia of Life "to organize and make available via the Internet virtually all information about life present on Earth." The Encyclopedia is a series of websites devoted to the 1.8 million or so species of life on earth. Everyone is invited to participate as a curator, a contributor, and/or a donor. The site Encyclopedia of Life went live in February 2008.

The five organizations coordinating the Encyclopedia are the Biodiversity Heritage Library, The Field Museum, Harvard University, the Marine Biological Laboratory, and the Smithsonian Institution.

This new wiki is the brainchild of Biologist E. O. Wilson, who announced his dream at a March 2007 Technology Entertainment Design (TED) speaking engagement. The MacArthur Foundation and the Sloan Foundation committed to an initial $50 million funding grant.

1, 2, Buckle My Shoe

This lovely counting book, set to the nursery rhyme One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, features colorful quilt squares for each number one to ten, sewn with the corresponding number of buttons, alternating with quilted illustrations of the verse. Readers will enjoy counting the buttons and exploring the assortment of patterns and colors in the quilt squares. Ms. Hines uses illustrative foreshadowing -- for example, a hen peeking from the corner of the two-page spread for "Open the gate" followed by a full-picture of the hen for "My big fat hen!" -- which adds to the enjoyment of reading the book over again. The end pages are a photograph of bright buttons. Ms. Hines’ attention to detail makes this a quality picture book.

1, 2, Buckle My Shoe
by Anna Grossnickle Hines
Harcourt, 2008
9780152063054, $16.00

Ms. Hines discusses her quilting and the making of her book online -- click here.

Diamond Willow

Diamond Willow is a unique book, putting together the coming-of-age struggles of a twelve-year-old girl, the history and heritage of the Athabascan Indians, the culture of Alaska, and the creative writing of author Helen Frost. The story is told in diamond shaped poems, mirroring the markings on polished Diamond Willow sticks. The writing is picturesque and beautiful. For example, “Silence stalks around us like a cat. Even Zanna doesn’t chatter it into pieces.” I read this book through in one sitting.


Diamond Willow by Helen Frost
2008; $16.00
Ages 10 to 14

Choo Choo

This delightful board book features die-cuts helping to illustrate the landscape through which the little train and its happy passengers travel.



Choo Choo by Petr Horacek
Candlewick, 2008
ISBN 9780763634773
$5.99

Gulliver Snip and His Clipper Ship

Each night Gulliver becomes Captain Snip and guides his ship on exciting adventures -- all from his bath. That's because, "Gulliver Snip had a clipper ship that his mother called the bathtub." Each two-page spread features rhyming text and an illustration of Gulliver in the bathtub adjacent to a full-page illustration of Captain Gulliver in his imagination.

Gulliver Snip by Julia Kay (A Picture Book)

Henry Holt and Company, 2008

ISBN 9780805079920

$16.95

Bad Kitty Gets a Bath

Laugh out loud funny! Nick Bruel knows cats (and dogs), and his portrayal of them is very funny in Bad Kitty Gets a Bath. Kids will enjoy the various writing styles used (comic book, newspaper, novel, textbook), the illustrations, and the glossary (which includes some advanced words). I think this book might even be enjoyed by a reluctant reader.

Bad Kitty Gets a Bath by Nick Bruel
Roaring Brook Press
August 2008
Library/Reinforced; 9781596433410; 13.95

Countdown to Brisingr

Brisingr, the third book in Christopher Paolini's "Inheritance Cycle," will be released tonight at midnight -- September 20, 2008.

The "Inheritance Cycle" began with the book Eragon. Paolini completed his first draft of the book when he was fifteen. His family self-published it, but later was contacted by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young readers. Author Carl Hiaasen, who himself writes books for young readers, brought Eragon to the to publisher's attention after his step-son read it. Eragon was published by Knopf in 2003. Eldest, the second book in the series, followed in 2005.

Paolini had thought his "Inheritance" series would be a trilogy. But when the draft for the third book neared 2000 pages, he decided it would be best to divide the story into a four book cycle, changing it from the Inheritance Trilogy to the "Inheritance Cycle". Brisingr is book three. Book four will complete the story.

The adventures of Eargon and the dragon Saphira were made into a movie by Fox in December 2006.

The "Inheritance Cycle" webpage includes activities and an Eragon Screensaver.

Anne is 100

Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables, the first book in her famous eight novel series, was published in Canada in 1908. In celebration of the centennial, visit these websites.

Anne 2008

The Lucy Maud Montgomery Institute

Two recent articles highlight Anne's 100th birthday. Ramin Setoodeh wrote "It's Still Not Easy Being Green: 'Anne of Green Gables' turns 100 this year, but she's the most modern girl in the bookstore." in the July 28, 2008, issue of Newsweek.

Jayne Clark of USA Today wrote 'Anne of Green Gables' still rules Prince Edward Island'.

Edith Wharton Society

The International Edith Wharton Society first met in 1983, and continues to "foster Wharton scholarship." The Society's website features information about and links to related conference sessions and publications, and excellent biographical and historical information about Edith Wharton, her writings, and the history of the time in which she lived. Membership in the Edith Wharton Society is inexpensive, and includes a subscription to The Edith Wharton Review.

Virginia Honors Its Own

Voting is open until June 30, 2008, for the Library of Virginia's book awards. The "People's Choice" awards are given for one fiction and one nonfiction book by a Virginia author. The "Cardozo Award" is for children's literature by a Virginia author. VOTE HERE! Or, obtain a paper ballot at a Virginia public library.

Basho (1644 - 94)

"The temple bell stops --
but the sound keeps coming
out of the flowers."

Translation by Robert Bly.
Found in A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver.

Your LitLinx Librarian will be away for a week. Postings will resume on or about June 10, 2008.

A Time It Was: RFK

A Time It Was: Bobby Kennedy in the Sixties by photojournalist Bill Eppridge is out in time for the June 5, 2008, fortieth anniversary of Bobby's death. In 1968 Eppridge was covering Kennedy's presidential campaign for Life magazine, and was outside the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles when he heard and counted eight gunshots. Of his now-famous photograph from that night Bill says, "It went through my mind not to take the picture, but this was history." Bill talks about the experience in an article, with photographs, on NikonNet.

Thirteen Moons

Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier, author of Cold Mountain, is historical fiction about a white boy, abandoned on the frontier then adopted by a Cherokee chief, who helps the tribe retain its North Carolina land during the 18th century displacement of Native Americans by the U.S. government.

The book's title comes from the Native American tradition -- later followed by European settlers -- of naming each of the thirteen full moons and the month in which each moon occurs during a year. The names vary from tribe to tribe. The Farmer's Almanac lists the following.

January - Full Wolf Moon (named for the wolf packs howling during winter nights)
February - Full Snow Moon (because February usually sees the heaviest snows)
March - Full Worm Moon (because as the temperatures warm earthworm casts appear)
April - Full Pink Moon (named after wild ground phlox, one of the earliest spring flowers)
May - Full Flower Moon (spring flowers are abundant)
June - Full Strawberry Moon (strawberry harvest)
July - Full Buck Moon (because July is when the antlers of bucks usually begin to grow)
August - Full Sturgeon Moon (good fishing -- especially of Sturgeon in the Great Lakes)
September - Full Harvest Moon (occurs closest to the autumn equinox)
October - Full Hunter's Moon (animals are fattened, and it is time to hunt)
November - Full Beaver Moon (time to set traps before the water freezes)
December - Full Cold Moon (nights are longest during December)

Charles Frazier is an alumnus of the University of South Carolina (Ph.D. in English, 1986) -- which also is my alma mater (Master's Degree in Library and Information Science, 2006).

Time's Top 10 Websites

Scroll through a page-by-page listing with descriptions at
Time Magazine's Top 10 Websites (2007).

The winners are:

1. Lemonade.com
2. AskSunday.com
3. Wink.com
4. TeachPresident.com
5. Goodreads.com
6. MenuPages.com
7. Don'tForgetYourToothbrush.com
8. VolunteerMatch.com
9. Fatsecret.com
10. Indeed.com
    

Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne

As a youth services librarian, there are books that I use in my programs every year. One of those is Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton. Since it was published in 1939, the book has never gone out-of-print. When I read it, no matter if the audience is composed of four-year-olds, fourth graders, or parents, there is always hushed listening and usually applause at the end. Now available online, provided by the books publisher Houghton Mifflin, are seven activities related to the story. The link to the activities is also provided in the right hand column of LitLinx, under the category, "Lesson Plan Linx."

Save The Mount

Edith Wharton's beloved U.S. home, The Mount, a National Historic Landmark, is threatened with foreclosure. To save this visitor destination, some $3 million must be raised through the Save the Mount campaign by October 31, 2008.

Edith Wharton was the first women to win the Pulitzer Prize in Literature, which was awarded in 1921 for The Age of Innocence.

PW: More Best Seller Lists

In addition to the New York Times and the Washington Post , another source for bestseller lists is from Publishers Weekly. From the Bestseller Lists tab, the drop down box provides selections for Audio, Children's, Comics, Fiction, Paperback, Nonfiction and Religion.

Under the Book Life tab, there is a choice in the drop down box for Bestsellers, which provides articles about and lists of award winning books.

"More Than A Library"

The Library of Congress, founded in 1800, is the largest library in the world. For a virtual tour, I recommend viewing the library's introductory multimedia presentation.

And The Winners Are ...

The Children's Choice Book Awards have been announced for 2008. The books of the year by category are as follows.

Kindergarten to Second Grade
Frankie Stein by Lola M. Schaefer

Third to Fourth Grade
Big Cats by Elaine Landau

Fifth to Sixth Grade
Encyclopedia Horrifica by Joshua Gee

Illustrator of the Year
Ian Falconer for Olivia Helps With Christmas

Author of the Year
J. K. Rowling for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The first annual Impact Award went to NBC's Al Roker for his work with kids and books via "Al's Book Club for Kids."

The awards were announced on Tuesday, May 13, at the Children's Choice Book Awards Gala in New York City. The gala was hosted by author Jon Scieszka (rhymes with "Fresca"), the National Ambassador of Young People's Literature and spokesperson for Children's Book Week.

The Children's Book Council, the official sponsor of the Children's Choice Book Awards, is a nonprofit trade association of publishers of children's and young adult trade books in the United States. Trade books are those published for general readership -- as opposed to specific readership, like a classroom -- and are available through book stores and major book clubs.

Children's Book Week

May 12 - 18, 2008
Information about and resources for celebrating Children's Book Week are available at bookweekonline.com

Picturing America

Applications for the second round of Picturing America will be accepted August 4 through October 31, 2008. Co-sponsored by The National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Library Association, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Picturing America provides art and history resources to schools and public libraries.

One Great Resource - HowStuffWorks

HowStuffWorks. If you haven't browsed this website, you're missing an incredible resource. Founded by North Carolina State University Professor Marshall Brain in 1998, HowStuffWorks has become a premier web location for explaining with easy to understand descriptions, graphics and videos, how everything in the world works. The site also features consumer ratings and reviews to assist with pre-purchase research. Among other awards, it was named in 2006 and 2007 one of Time Magazine's "25 Websites We Can't Live Without".

The Red Kayak

Author Priscilla Cumming's Red Kayak has been awarded the 2007 Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Award and the 2007 Oklahoma Sequoyah Award. The book was also included on the American Library Association's 2006 list of Best Books for Young Adults.

Three teen aged boys living on Maryland's Eastern shore face a tragedy with differing beliefs about right and wrong, and personal responsibility. The novel is popular with boys and girls, age 10 and up.

Priscilla Cummings also is an excellent speaker for school groups.

Author 411

Sponsored by Random House Children's Books, Author 411 connects youth, literature, and authors. Four teen book groups are chosen per month to read a selected work (or works) of that month's featured author. Later in the month, the teens meet with that author online to discuss the book(s).

I first learned of this program from the Rockingham Free Public Library and Museum in Bellows Falls, Vermont. Rockingham's youth services librarian had applied for her teen readers to participate, and they were chosen for the June 2008 feature with author Michael Scott.

The teens are reading Scott's soon-to-be released The Alchemist, book one in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series; followed by The Magician, book two, to be released June 24. After reading both books, the teens will meet to prepare questions for their later online meeting with Scott.

Previous authors featured in Author 411 include Jerry Spinelli, Louis Sachar, and Linda Newbery. Transcripts of previous author - teen discussions are available at Author 411.

Author Michael Scott, popular in his native Ireland, is considered an authority on mythology and folklore. His new book The Magician, will be released on June 24, 2008.

A special thank you to my friends at Rockingham for the introduction to this program and resource.

What's the Difference? Internet vs. WWW

What is the difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web? Are they one and the same? No, they are not. The Web, or WWW, is a part of the Internet. The Internet is, "a worldwide network of networks."* So what is a network? A network is one or more computers connected together.

This is the basic information that should be included in elementary school library and information literacy classes.

One book that does a good job presenting this basic information is The Incredible Story of Computers and the Internet: A Kid's Guide to Incredible Technology* by Greg Roza.

British Children's Author Enid Blyton

Enid Blyton is an author I had never heard of until yesterday when a librarian friend introduced her to to a group of fifth-grade girls and me while we were sipping lemonade, eating biscuits (cookies) and writing poetry. Ms. Blyton's stories sounded so appealing that I had to know more. Although not well know in the United States (at least in my experience), Blyton's books are considered internationally renowned mystery and adventure stories. Some of the popular titles include The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, Malory Towers, the Noddy stories for younger children.

On The Enid Blyton Society website, I read that:

"Several decades after her death, Enid Blyton is not forgotten. The best of her lives on in her books, many of which are still in print, and she continues to entertain, educate and inspire children around the globe through the words she wrote. She encourages her readers to look afresh at the world around them—to observe, explore, investigate, discover and learn. Long may that continue! To quote a few apt lines from Enid Blyton's "The Poet," published in The Poetry Review in 1919:

"Dear heart
And soul of a child,
Sing on!"