LibraryAdventure.com Interview: Meet Jennifer Wharton, Youth Services Librarian

The second post in The Library Adventure's new series of interviews with library professionals was published this morning. Check out my exchange with Jennifer Wharton here.

Story Time Music: Saying Goodbye

 

Over the past few weeks, I have been blogging about my experiences with story time music. I have discussed recorded music, a cappella singing, and playing live music, and I have also shared my thoughts on selecting hello songs, extension activities, and movement-based songs. In today's concluding post to the series, I focus on using music to end a story time session.

Just as a hello song signals that story time is starting, the goodbye song lets everyone know it’s time to go home, or at least that story time is finished, and it's time to move on to whatever comes next. To be truly effective, I think a goodbye song needs to directly state that it’s time to leave, and that we’re saying goodbye. If there is a craft or other activity to follow, the song would ideally reference the transition to that activity as well.

Though adults can watch the clock and figure out that story time is about to end based on the fact that 30 minutes is up, kids don't have that advantage, so I like to help them wind down from story time with a predictable closing routine. At most of my morning story times, this routine consists of singing If You're Happy and You Know It and then our goodbye song. At class visits, kids know we're just about done when we sing Laurie Berkner's These Are My Glasses. At pajama story time, we wind things down a bit more calmly by singing goodnight to animal puppets with Goodnight (also by Laurie Berkner). Kids are creatures of habit and routine, and if the end of story time is the same every single time, they begin to understand intuitively that it's time for the session to end when they hear certain songs.

Three great goodbye songs and rhymes are listed below:

• We Wave Goodbye Like This is my preferred goodbye song. The motions are very simple - waving and clapping - and the song signals the end of story time and also applauds the kids for participating. The song is also very short, so if people get up and start leaving in the middle of it, they're not really interrupting anything the kids will miss out on.
• The Open, Shut Them Goodbye Song is my simplified goodbye song for babies and toddlers. The youngest kids typically can't open and shut their hands very well, but they can definitely raise their hands up high and wave goodbye. I always sing this song twice so the kids can learn it, and it's definitely a favorite of the parents as well. 
• My Hands Say Thank You is the first goodbye rhyme I ever learned, and I still tend to use it for Thanksgiving themed story times. It's a nice alternative for librarians who don't like to sing, and it works best with twos and threes.

Thank you so much for reading this series of posts about using music at story time. If you missed any of the previous installments, all are linked below:

• On the Record 
• Going it Alone
• Live from Story Time! 
• Saying Hello
• Extension Songs (and Rhymes)
• Stretching and Movement 

#ArmchairBEA Day 5: Middle Grade/YA

Armchair BEA ends today, and the final topic is Middle Grade/Young Adult. As I mentioned in my introduction on Monday, I read a lot of middle grade. I also read some contemporary YA. Today, I'm sharing some of the criteria I use when I review books at this level. Below are 8 tips for evaluating middle grade and young adult books.

• Don't judge a book by its cover.
  This is a cliche, of course, but it's a good place to start. Book covers can and do change from edition to edition. They reflect one illustrator's interpretation of an author's work, and sometimes the current design trends in the publishing field. Though books with similar content sometimes have similar covers, there are also many situations where the cover of a book does not live up to the wonderful story it advertises. At least read a little bit about a book before you completely dismiss it. Sometimes stories with hideous covers turn out to be real gems - and if  they're lucky, they get better covers when the paperback editions come out! 
• Look for plot holes.
  Plot is a key component in books for older readers, and especially in middle grade stories.  As you read, pay attention to the way events unfold. Is the story plotted in a logical way? Do things happen in a sequence that makes sense and slowly builds up to a satisfying conclusion? Are things tied up plausibly? Are there loose ends? Truly well-plotted stories often make you forget that you're even reading a story in the first place because everything flows so smoothly and naturally.  
• Consider genre conventions.
  Some genres come with their own expectations. Mystery novels generally include a series of red herrings, followed by the eventual unveiling of  the truth. Fantasy novels require world-building and an establishment of rules within that world before they can proceed to tell a believable story. Historical fiction is bound by history, and anachronisms must be avoided. When you read, consider what readers expect from the story's genre and decide whether the book meets or fails to meet those expectations.   
• Scrutinize the setting.
  Whether it evokes a certain mood, creates certain weather conditions, or provides a character access to certain people, places, or objects, the setting of a story often enhances its overall success. Watch for the specific details an author uses to transport readers into his or her world. Do these details make it easy to imagine the setting? Has the author provided enough information about the setting to contribute something significant to the story? Conversely, does the setting overshadow other more important aspects of the book? The importance of setting varies from story to story, but it's a point worth considering in your reviews.
• Look beyond likability. 
  Too often I read book reviews where the reviewer's opinion is completely wrapped up in whether he or she liked the main character. The likability of a story's main character is actually not an indicator of the quality of a book. There are books with intentionally deplorable main characters. There are books with unreliable narrators, who may or may not be likable depending on the lies they tell. Some narrators (e.g. Holden Caulfield) annoy certain readers and elicit hero worship from others. It should not be a question of whether you would like to hang out with a particular character, but whether he or she is interesting to read about. Truly well-developed characters will all have some flaws, and, in moving through their stories, they will make mistakes. This journey toward overcoming these flaws and mistakes is what makes a good story. Instead of simply dismissing a book because the character doesn't appeal to your taste, think about a book's other qualities before giving it a bad review.  
• Tune into your inner child/teen.
  Some children's books - particularly the award winners and classics  - easily appeal to adults. Others (Junie B. Jones, for example) might annoy adults and appeal much more to kids. Since kids are the intended audience for middle grade books, and teens the intended audience for young adult, it's important to look at things from those points of view. Maybe you don't love a book now, but how would you have felt about it at sixteen? Maybe your adult sensibilities make a particular plot point annoying to you now, but thinking back, it might seem like just the kind of thing you would have done yourself as a kid. When in doubt, talk with the kids in your life about how they see the books they read. Understanding where they're coming from will help you better evaluate the books published for them.  
• Call out cliches and stereotypes. Keep an eye out for tired and overused phrases, images, and stereotypes in books. Don't hesitate to point out instances of insensitivity to particular religions, races, or backgrounds, and be mindful of trite descriptions and contrived endings. Relying on cliches is a sign of lazy writing; the best children's books avoid cliches and look at familiar things in new ways.
• Separate your personal and professional opinions. 
  Reviewers, like librarians, should try to be as objective as possible when evaluating books. If we are doing our best to put the right book in the hands of the right reader, then our personal feelings are far less important than our overall objective opinion of a book's quality. Some parents don't allow their children to read books containing violence, or sexual content. This does not mean that a book containing those themes is inherently poorly written. It just means that book is not for that particular family. It is possible to find the content of a book objectionable, boring, or otherwise dissatisfying and still recognize that the book represents quality literature. Whatever my personal reaction to a work, my professional instinct is always to find the people who will appreciate it and recommend it to them.

Story Time Music: Stretching and Movement

Though some groups are calm and engaged for all of story time without the need to move around, most story time sessions require a chance for everyone to get their wiggles out. Songs and rhymes work equally well for this purpose, as long as they give everyone an opportunity to be on their feet, blowing off that excess energy.

With older children (preschool and up), and especially with class visits, I like to make the stretching activities somewhat open-ended so that the kids have an opportunity to get creative and suggest their own movements. Older kids sometimes start to think that singing is cheesy or boring, so it helps a lot to get them on board by asking for their input. I might even let them choose a song from a list of known favorites.

With toddlers, it's a good idea to repeat the same movement songs over and over again. At first, the kids will most likely just stand and watch you do the motions, but after several sessions of careful observation, they will start doing those motions with you - and on their own at home too! Toddlers also really like to hold onto props during dancing songs, and it can be fun to encourage them to put props on their heads, elbows, toes, tummies, etc.

With babies who don’t yet walk around, I tend to use rhymes and songs about bodies - such as Head and Shoulders or Tony Chestnut - not necessarily to get their wiggles out, but to help them become aware of their bodies, and to learn the names of their hands, toes, heads, etc. I tend to use a similar structure for all my story times, regardless of age, so I usually plug in these body-themed songs in the same place I'd include a movement song for older kids.

My favorite story time stretches include:

• Hat, Coat, Pants, and Shoes
• Shake My Sillies Out
• Hands Up High
• Here We Go Up, Up, Up
• I’m a Little Teapot

What would you add to the list?

There is just one post remaining in my story time music blog series. Next week, I will conclude my reflections with a post about goodbye songs.