Secrets of Dripping Fang Series Review

This week, I’d like to review a series rather than just a single book. My oldest son is in 3rd grade and reading Beginning Chapter/3-4 Readers. While he is not exactly a reluctant reader, he really needs the right type of story to get him interested so I was excited when we discovered the series Secrets of Dripping Fang by Dan Greenburg. Greenburg is best known for his other Beginning Chapter paperbacks The Zack Files.

Dripping Fang centers around a set of twins named Wally and Cheyenne Shluffmuffin. They become orphans when their parents die in odd accidents (dad drowned in a Porta Potti) and they are forced to live at the Jolly Days Orphanage. The problem is that the twins will never get adopted because Wally’s feet stink even after a bath and Cheyenne is allergic to everything. When they are taken home by two little, old ladies called The Onts, they discover that their new parents are really two giant ants breeding larvae so they can take over the world and enslave the human race. Wally and Cheyenne must escape their new home and brave the wild Dripping Fang forest to tell someone about the Ont’s horrible plan. On the way they meet glowing slugs, talking wolves, a professor and his spider wife, and even have a run-in with their dad who was turned into a zombie and then a vampire. On top of it all, no one believes their story of giant ants and they keep getting sent back to the Onts as runaways.

This series is perfect for the kid who is unimpressed with the typical Magic Tree House and Hank the Cowdog books. It does require a certain degree of sophistication as the books are rife with sarcastic humor. The children at Jolly Days Orphanage are described as wretches and they are treated horribly by the owner, Hortense Jolly. Some readers might not be ready for the scary elements like zombies and spiders, but this series fills the niche of horror/humor for a young audience. It just might be the series that hooks the reader that turns down everything else because it looks “too boring.”

"Why I Need My Library" Teen Video Contest Winners!

In keeping with the theme of switching the schedule of blog postings this week, and the fact that I got Tuesdays and Thursdays confused, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Logan Heights Library teens for winning a 3rd place prize in their age category in the ALA "Why I need my library" teen video contest.

This contest was sponsored by the American Library Association which put out a call for teens to advocate for their libraries by creating 1-3 minute videos about why they need their libraries. The contest took place from January to April 2011 and during this time 157 videos were submitted.

The Logan Heights Library teens worked on this video for a month. They wrote and played their own song. They filmed the video in 1 day with the library's Flip video camera. They created their storyboard, chose their wardrobe and drew the art work on the white board featured on this video as the background. Most of the time was spent editing by the teen videographer who came into the library twice per week to use the security guard's MacBook and use his software to edit and add images to the video. These teens are all 13 years old and members of both the Logan Heights Library teen council and the the library's teen music group. Staff and adults assisted teens with ideas and equipment but the entire process and production of the video is based on content from the teens.

I'm very proud of our teens and their efforts advocating for their library. In addition to this video, teens at the Logan Heights Library are constantly getting involved as volunteers, by participating in library activities and promoting library programs. Recently, one Logan Heights teen council member spoke in front of City Council to voice how much his library means to him and urge them to reduce budget cuts to libraries and keep libraries open for him and his friends.

The teens won $1000 for the their library and are hoping to use it for teen programs and towards purchasing some furniture for a teen space.

Check out their video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdS8jr_P1FA

ALA Conference Video

I know the schedule says Mondays are for "professional activities," but this video is too great not to post. ALA's John Chrastka presents tips for how to make the most of your conference experience with a 1950s educational video twist. Three of our resident bloggers are headed to New Orleans for the Annual Conference (I will be posting daily) so be on the look out starting June 23rd. It might be pretty photo heavy since my sister the photographer is joining me on the trip, but get excited (I am)... It's CONFERENCE time!

Promotion + Schools = Summer Reading Success

It's the end of the school year and the fun is just getting started for us youth service librarians as the countdown to Summer Reading begins. However, there are a few things to do before school is out to ensure that you have high attendance at your programs and get kids reading over the summer. Here is a check list of ways to work with your school to promote the library and Summer Reading.

Open Houses
Open Houses start as early as February (I usually miss these because I am too late), but most are in May. This is a great time to contact your school and ask to set up a table to have library materials to hand out to parents. Also, don't forget the back to school Open Houses that are usually a few weeks after the start of school. Another good time to remind families about the library.

Class Visits/Assemblies
Ask to speak to individual classes or at assemblies where you can again promote the Summer Reading. Assemblies are nice because you can talk to large groups of kids at one time. If you can get into an award assembly that is even better because parents come and you get to talk directly to the person who will be bringing the child to the library. Some librarians get very creative putting on skits during these assemblies. Anything to get the kids to remember the library! You also want to get the teachers excited about your reading program because they will promote your programs.

Flyers
Send home flyers to every school age kid in your service area. This is another way to get contact with the parents. Schools will ask you to have the flyers grouped by class size and counting out flyers is a perfect job for a high school volunteer. Schools often have a cut off for the last day they will accept flyers to be sent home, so be prepared early.

After School Programs
Find out if your school's after school program will be open during the summer. Find out how you can help them (and your statistics) make a great summer for the students. I provide books and reading incentives (provided centrally by my library system) to these school sites because they often can not get to the library. To make it easier on yourself contact the coordinator of the after school program. This person will help you coordinate the filling out of paperwork and help negotiate any problems that may arise. Plus it is nice to have an extra ally in the school district.

The hardest part of working with your school is getting into the school. If you can find a teacher, principal, or librarian who will work with you, you will be set. I was fortunate to make friends with the District Librarian and thus the library techs at the individual schools. This has made getting into the schools much easier and afforded me many other contacts within the school district. Of course there are many ways to gain contact with schools and I would love new ideas, so readers please share your experience working with schools.

Posted by Anna