Monday, March 29, 2010

“The Creepiest Children's Books Ever (PICTURES) - Huffingtonpost.com” plus 3 more

“The Creepiest Children's Books Ever (PICTURES) - Huffingtonpost.com” plus 3 more

The Creepiest Children's Books Ever (PICTURES) - Huffingtonpost.com

Posted: 29 Mar 2010 06:23 AM PDT

Growing up, we all had at least one book that affected our psyche - some in more positive ways than others. The right book at the right time can teach children a lot more than any advice an adult can impart. But then there's these. Not only are these books creepy and/or hilarious to adults, but any kid who reads them is most likely in for a traumatizing treat.

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SLU students collecting children's books for Malawi - WatertownDailyTimes.com

Posted: 29 Mar 2010 02:27 AM PDT

CANTON — Camels and college students are joining forces to spread literacy.

A St. Lawrence University student group is helping to set up a library in Malawi. The Islamic Culture Club is collecting children's books to donate to the Camel Book Drive, and its members have a way to go before their May deadline.

They began collecting books in February and have a few boxes stored away in members' dorm rooms and other spots around campus.

They've collected about 100 books so far.

"We already have a ton of books in storage. We've had a lot of monetary contributions from people on campus, so we hope to buy quite a few," said sophomore Ashley N. Hartz, one of the drive's organizers. "You have to have at least 1,000 books to donate."

Miss Hartz discovered the Camel Book Drive after reading "The Camel Bookmobile" for a first-year class. The novel is based on a true story about a library in Kenya that travels around the country on the back of a camel.

After reading the book, she decided to get involved with the organization last year. Working by herself, she collected about 2,000 books to send to Botswana, a country north of South Africa.

This year, she got the Islamic Culture Club involved and it began doing the same thing for Malawi, a small country in southwestern Africa.

Malawi is not an Islamic country, nor are most of the members of the club Muslims.

"We wanted to do something that would make a difference. We heard about this and we were just like, 'Wow,'" said club member Jason S. Vengersammy, a sophomore. "If we do the same thing (as Ashley) but with the manpower of an organization like the ICC, we would see different results."

Since the beginning of the drive, the club's 20 members have been calling libraries and schools to solicit donations and carrying collection tins around campus, asking students for a few dollars or spare change.

"That we've found to be very effective," Mr. Vengersammy said. "College students, you have to poke at them a little bit."

The club is relatively new; it started a few years ago, but membership fizzled out and it disappeared. It reorganized and was recognized officially by the university this month.

It has held an event to celebrate Eid, the Muslim holiday marking the end Ramadan, and regularly collaborates with other cultural clubs on events.

Though the books members are collecting are written for children, they might be read by an older population as well. The country has a literacy rate of slightly more than 60 percent, according to the CIA World Factbook.

The club is looking for books with simple subject matter; it is sensitive to worries that what it is doing could be a form of cultural imperialism.

"We don't want to send religious books. We don't want to send books about technology they wouldn't have. Nothing to try to westernize," Miss Hartz said. "We want a lot of books that teach the ABCs or colors. They love animal books — something they can relate to."

To get involved in the drive,

e-mail Miss Hartz at anhart08@

stlawu.edu.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Imagination brings these children's books to life - Everett Herald

Posted: 28 Mar 2010 11:56 PM PDT

All the little girls out there who like to wave magic wands, wear their tutus to the grocery store and their tiaras to bed, these two new books are for you.

Actually, "The Night Fairy" by Newbery Medalist Laura Amy Schlitz ($16.99, ages 6 to 9) and "The Very Little Princess" by Newbery Honor winner Marion Dane Bauer ($12.99, ages 6 to 9), will appeal to anyone who believes in the power of imagination. It's just that, at a certain age, little girls wear that belief on their puffy pink princess sleeves.

Both tales have a strength at their core, a message that learning to depend on yourself is worth any magic.

In "The Night Fairy," young Flory is attacked by a bat, who spits her out but not before her wings are destroyed. She lands in the garden of a giant (well, a human). Without wings, Flory cannot escape and decides to adapt to daylight.

For a being as tiny as she is, some of her adventures in the garden are harrowing, but she's one resilient fairy. For instance, she turns Skuggle, the squirrel who keeps trying to eat her — boy, do squirrels have one-track minds — into a friend and, ta-da, a mode of transport.

Schlitz employs a gentle sense of humor and delightful descriptions that will send young readers into their back yards looking for evidence of fairies. Angela Barrett's color illustrations beautifully enhance the tale.

"The Very Little Princess" takes a sad premise — a mother leaving her child — and wraps it in a protective fantasy. During an argument between her mother and her never-before-seen grandmother, Zoey wanders upstairs in her mother's childhood home, where she discovers a tiny china doll, Regina, who comes alive. This find links Zoey to generations of little girls and offers hope that she, too, will endure.

I would argue against Bauer's twist at the end — it changes the fantasy — but that might be in anticipation of more Regina stories. This one's pretty good by itself.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

In Our Schools: Montville teacher publishes children's ... - Morris County Daily Record

Posted: 29 Mar 2010 01:01 AM PDT

Montville physical education teacher Len Saunders has encouraged children around the world to exercise at least once a year for more than 20 years.

His 21-year-old Project ACES, All Children Exercise Simultaneously, program is an annual event that gets more than a million children around the globe running, jumping and dancing every May.

Saunders, 49, of Old Bridge, has now published two children's books that he hopes will keep children ages 2 to 7 moving all year long. Children today spend so much time doing sedentary activities, such as watching television and playing video games, that Saunders wanted to combine reading and exercise.

"I just want to motivate kids to exercise and I'm trying to find creative ways to do that," said Saunders, who has taught physical education at Montville's Valley View School for 25 years.

Saunders created two characters -- Joey the Kangaroo and Spunky the Monkey -- who do various exercises as they explore their worlds. Published by Authorhouse, the books can be purchased from Saunders' website for $9.23.

Joey jumps rope, does push-ups and touches his toes. Spunky comes across different animals in the forest and asks children if they can slither like a snake, flap their arms like a bird or pretend to climb a tree like a bear.

At the end of each book is a daily checklist parents, teachers and children can do together to keep track of their exercises. In addition, Saunders has a website where animated characters show children how to do various exercises.

"Parents need to motivate their kids to be active," Saunders said. "It's important to be out there — be active with them and be a good role model."

Saunders said he's increasingly concerned about statistics that show children are less healthy today. A father of two young boys, ages 4 and 11, Saunders said he engages them every day in some kind of physical activity. Children should do at
least one hour of exercise every day, which is not a lot considering children spend an average two-to-four hours a day watching television or playing video games, he said.

There are 25 million American children, ages 2 to 19, who are overweight or obese — that's 1 in 3 children, according to the American Heart Association.

Saunders said he recommends that parents start a daily family walk routine and watch the beverages their children drink, since most drink too much of what he calls "liquid candy."

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.
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