The Spirit of Día

A new professional resource, Celebrating Cuentos: Promoting Latino Children’s Literature and Literacy in Classrooms and Libraries, (Libraries Unlimited, 2011) edited by Jamie Campbell Naidoo just released. Colorín Colorado has reprinted the chapter on Día, "The Spirit of Día : Celebrating Cuentos Every Day," co-authored by Jamie with Irania Patterson (Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Library.) You can read it here.

Learn more about the book here.

NCTE Supports Día

From April 5 issue of the NCTE Inbox:

Celebrate El día de los niños / El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day)

In its 2005 Resolution, NCTE supports El día de los niños / El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day) because the day recognizes that students who participate in culturally and linguistically diverse literacy activities at home, in school, and in the community are more successful readers. Use the ReadWriteThink calendar entry and celebrate Día on April 30!

15 Día Nuggets: #11 Families as Día Partners

To assist those of you planning Día celebrations at your schools, libraries, etc., we’re sharing 15 Día Nuggets, 15 lists of 15 items to assist you in your planning. This month during our second Díapalooza, we’ll finish with Nuggets 11, 12, and 13; showcase the 15 Día Dynamos, and share Bookjoy quotes from kids, our final Nugget.

All 15 Nuggets are available as completed on Pat's web site, individually and as a single downloadable packet.

15 Día Nuggets for Día’s 15th Anniversary

#11 Families as Día Partners

Since Día is a daily commitment, creatively involve parents, adult and young adult family members throughout the year as literacy partners. This list focuses on the particular role libraries and schools play in empowering families who may not view themselves as literacy mentors. Diverse strategies are essential for motivating all community families to be reading families.


1. Provide staff training to increase the effectiveness of literacy programming and outreach for diverse populations within the community.

2. Affirm the importance of multilingual families as literacy partners by using multiple languages in greetings and on signs, ads, web pages, graphics, posters and in family bookjoy sessions throughout the year.

3. Partner with families who speak other languages in presenting bilingual story times, programs, and literacy games.

4. Demystify the library with family tours and presentations that address the interests and concerns of the families served, showcase resources and encourage participation in programs such as Summer Reading.

5. Engage families as storytellers and in creating and sharing literacy posters and kits, and in exploring ways to create and share stories digitally.

6. Model creative strategies for instilling bookjoy at home such as sharing family stories and reading together.

7. Be innovative in helping families create libraries at home, seeking book donations where possible.

8. Introduce and model reading, writing, and arts activities including having families write, illustrate and share their own books.

9. Establish monthly family literacy nights at which students, teachers, and families collaborate in presenting thematic storytelling, puppet shows, etc. to the community.

10. Provide relevant sessions to assist families to be literacy advocates in their family and community, tailoring sessions to their reading practices and languages.

11. With families as partners, plan, implement and assess family literacy leadership training as part of your efforts to empower families within the school or library community.

12. Start an outreach storytelling program in which families volunteer at hospitals and retirement homes or in which older children read aloud to younger ones.

13. Form book clubs for the various literacy levels in your community by assessing the impact of literacy and literature programs on the various communities served.

14. Encourage families to visit the local public and school libraries, to volunteer, check out materials, and collaborate in Día celebration programming.

15. Invite families to be active members of your Día celebration planning committee. You’ll wonder how you got along without their fresh ideas and enthusiasm.

This Month's Día DynamoS

Double pleasure. As part of celebrating Día's 15th Anniversary, I've introduced you to 15 Día Dynamos that are archived on my site.

Our grand finale is a Día Dynamo Duo: Sara Howrey and Lise Tewes. These modest women each wanted to decline the recognition to focus attention on her Día colleague and friend. Symbolically, however, they are shining examples not only of their personal commitment and innovative strategies, but they show us how Día leaders create a literacy legacy.

What hope Sara gave me when I met her years ago in the Cincinnati/Northern KY area where I lived for a time. Sara was unstoppable in her determination to involve the public library in creating new partnerships. She also brought attention to Día within ALA nationally. Like all good Día leaders, she created a committee that she nurtured, so that when Sara retired, Lise was ready to bring her talents to assuming that leadership role. Día has grown thanks to these two amazing women who consistently teach and inspire me.
¡Gracias!

Sara Howrey

1. When and how did you become interested in sharing bookjoy?

SH: As a reluctant but competent reader, I didn’t think much about bookjoy until I attended a REFORMA meeting in San Francisco while I was still in library school (2001). At that meeting the REFORMA librarians said it was possible to do bilingual storytime without reading or speaking Spanish. What fun! What a challenge! And, believe me, those librarians demonstrated bookjoy that day as they read a picture book page by page in two languages (English and Spanish). The room was electric with enthusiasm for bilingual storytime. Then I met Pat Mora, and she convinced me we not only have the opportunity but the obligation to share the pleasure of reading with children and adults regardless of their native and home languages. For me, bookjoy began with bilingual picture books, and I still believe bilingual storytimes are the pinnacle of bookjoy today.

2. How did you first learn about Día and what has been your experience with Día?
SH: As soon as I was hired as a children’s librarian and allowed to write a grant for bilingual storytime, I was involved in celebrating El Día. For many years I enjoyed the indescribable rewards of planning and presenting El Día in our tri-state area, which is rich with many nationalities and languages. I treasure my ever-growing list of friends who are always willing to help with Día by reading in their home languages.

3.What are your hopes for Día 2011, Día’s 15th Anniversary?
SH: Wouldn’t it be grand if every single public library and school library in the United States celebrated Día? If not now, when?

4. What helpful tip(s) do you have for those organizing a Día event for the first time?
SH: Make certain your celebration features the joy of literacy in all the home languages of your community. Search for native speakers of foreign languages and select simple bilingual picture books for them to read . . . don’t be afraid to ask these willing and enthusiastic new friends to help with your event. (You can find new foreign language friends everywhere: ethnic bakeries and restaurants, universities, health care centers. Seek and you shall find!)

5.What is your favorite example of Bookjoy as either a child or an adult?
SH: I tutor children with dyslexia and experience bookjoy every time a once-struggling reader begins to read fluently. I’ll never forget the expression on a young man’s face as he truly experienced bookjoy for the first time while reading Heat by Mike Lupica. As he completed a particular passage, he stopped, looked up, and searched my face to see if I had noticed the critical and surprising turn of events in the story. I’m glad I was there to witness his miracle of reading with understanding and pleasure.

6. What are you reading now?
SH: In addition to the books my students are currently reading aloud (Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech, Baseball Great by Tim Green, and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien), I am reading:
• Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1. Edited by Harriet Elinor Smith and the editors of the Mark Twain Project.
• Rise to Rebellion: A Novel of the American Revolution by Jeff Shaara.

Lise Tewes

1. When and how did you become interested in sharing bookjoy?
LT: I have always been an avid reader, but I guess my first experience sharing bookjoy was as a mother reading with my 7 children. Reading together was part of our everyday activities, and my children, who now range in age from 26 to 16, still remember their favorite children’s books and the special closeness of those times spent reading together.

2. How did you first learn about Día and what has been your experience with Día?
LT: I first learned about Día through working at the Kenton County Public Library, from my colleague Sara Howrey. Sara was the driving force in the KCPL’s involvement with Día. She organized the first Día celebration at our Covington location in 2004, all on her own. In 2005, Sara joined forces with a neighboring library and the local Catholic Diocese Hispanic Ministry to present a joint Día celebration. I was part of that cooperative event. The partnership with other libraries grew through 2009, including up to 7 different libraries and a dozen community partners celebrating Día at one location together! This experience of networking and supporting each other, financially as well as emotionally, gave us all confidence and commitment to Día. While the partnership has dwindled in the past two years, each library is now offering its own Día event in its own community, so the presence of Día in the Greater Cincinnati area has actually grown.

3.What are your hopes for Día 2011, Día’s 15th Anniversary?
LT: I hope that there can be a greater awareness of the importance of reading with children, in all languages, and that public libraries will take the lead in using Día to promote that important literacy message.

4. What helpful tip(s) do you have for those organizing a Día event for the first time?
LT: Look around your own community. Identify the diverse populations that live in your area and reach out to them. Invite them into the Library and ask them to participate in Día. When people are personally invited they feel welcome and committed. Most people from other cultures and countries are pleased as punch to have an opportunity to share their culture and language with others, and Día can be the way to make that initial contact and let all your diverse populations know what the Library can offer. Find partners in your community who are already working with those target populations, and get them involved. Don’t forget to include your “regular” patrons, who may not represent diversity but who still need to be encouraged to share bookjoy with their children! And network, network, network!

5.What is your favorite example of Bookjoy as either a child or an adult?
LT: I still remember the sound of my first child, barely two years old, “reading” aloud to me! We had read the same book so many times that she had memorized it. She “read” it perfectly, without mistake, and I was the proudest mom on earth! Today, she is a high school English teacher, sharing bookjoy with her students, and I’m still the proudest mom on earth!

6. What are you reading now?
LT: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood. It’s the second book of a new series called “The Incorrigible Children of Aston Place.” It’s very clever and funny!

News

ALSC announced the opening of 2011 registration for Día. Let others know about your upcoming Día programming and see what Día celebrations are occurring all over the country. Spread the Día word!


Cool stickers, right? Receive complementary stickers when you register.


PoetryTagTime is the first electronic-only poetry anthology for kids! This eBook project was compiled and edited by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong. Included are 30 new poems by 30 well-known contemporary poets writing for children -- including a poem by Pat.Visit the website for more information. (Available April 1)

15 Día Nuggets: #7 Día's Full Name in 15 Languages

We're catching up with the Día Nuggets, posting #7 today, resulting in #s 1-8 available individually and as a downloadable packet.

To assist those of you planning Día celebrations at your schools, libraries, etc., we’re sharing 15 Día Nuggets, 15 lists of 15 items to assist you in your planning. During our second Díapalooza during April 2011, we’ll showcase the 15 Día Dynamos, 15 Mora Award winners and the 15 Día Nuggets, etc. Click here to read blog posts from our first Díapalooza!

15 Día Nuggets for Día’s 15th Anniversary

Nugget #6 What Every Día Advocate Needs to Know

El día de los niños, El día de los libros/Children’s Day, Book Day

 

1. American Sign Language: click here to view video

2. Chinese:

3. Croatian: Dječji dan, Dan knjiga

4. French: Le Jour des Enfants, Le Jour de les Livres

5. German: Kinderstag, Der Tag der Bücher

6. Greek: Ημέρα του Παιδιού, ημέρα βιβλίου

7. Hindi: Bacche ka din, Kitab ka din (Punjabi: Bacche da din, Kitab da din)

8. Italian: La Festa dei bambini, La Festa dei libri

9. Navaho: Ałchíní Baa Hózhóogo Bee E'e'aah Naaltsoos Wólta' Bee E'e'aah

10. Polish: Dzień Dziecka, Dzień Książki

11. Portuguese: Dia da criança, Dia do livro

12.Russian: Детский день, книжный день OR День де т ей, День книги

13. Swahili: Siku ya Watoto, Siku ya Vitabu

14. Tagalog: Ang araw ng bata, Ang araw ng aklat

15. Vietnamese: Ngày Nhi-đồng/Ngày Thư-viện

NYT Article to Ponder

I so admire the words and work of Nicholas Kristof. When I speak around our country, a land of significant economic disparities, I often say that children are sometimes proud of speaking Spanish related to the economic level of their families. Non-Latino children in private schools brag to me about speaking Spanish. Some Latino children whose families are struggling to survive in our country wonder whether to admit that they are bilingual. Sad irony. Let me know what you think of Kristof’s op-ed piece “Primero Hay Que Aprender Español. Ranhou Zai Xue Zhongwen.”

          _____________________________________________________

New Contest for Bilingual Publishing

Ediciones Monarcas—a new, not-for-profit publisher of bilingual (Spanish-English) books for children—announces the Infinity Auto Insurance Leer Conmigo Award in Children’s Literature. Each month they will award a $1,000 prize and publish the best submission received. A contest website is coming soon. For now, you can read guidelines and more information here.