A few weeks ago, I was in Houston and made a casual reference to Donalyn Miller’s The Book Whisperer, which extols authentic reading and extensive classroom collections. Miller is a Texan, and I was in Texas, but her work was new to many folks I talked with.

Then I remembered that a long, long, long time ago, I asked one of my school library management students if I could share her take on The Book Whisperer on this blog. And I never had.

So, without further ado (because, for heaven’s sakes, there have already been eons of ado), here’s Holly’s take on The Book Whisperer, a la Prezi.

Does your school have small-group or whole-staff readings? Did you know that Educational Leadership has a monthly, free study guide that accompanies each issue?

I didn’t, but I think it could be a terrific way to get current articles in colleagues’ hands without overburdening the discussion leaders with a lot of prep time.

Check it out!

Educational Leadership:What Students Need to Learn:EL Study Guide via kwout

I’m back from ALA Midwinter and taking a quick break before hustling off to lead some teacher professioanl development.  More on Midwinter soon, but in honor of MLK Day, here are some announcements to help you think about future collection development purchases.

WHO WON THE CALDECOTT? NEWBERY? CORETTA SCOTT KING? AND MORE?
All of LibraryLand is abuzz today with the announcement of ALSC’s leading literary awards for children’s and young adult literature, including the Newbery, Caldecott, and Coretta Scott King Awards.  But you didn’t have to travel to slushy, sleety Boston to hear the news.  See the list of winners here.

DEVELOPING RESPONSIVE, THOUGHTFUL MULTICULTURAL COLLECTIONS
Author Mitali Perkins gives some great tips for evaluating multicultural literature here in her outstanding April 2010 article for School Library Journal, “Straight Talk on Race: Challenging the Stereotypes in Kids’ Books.” Her ideas have helped me think with more respect and depth about the role of non-white, non-middle characters in books for kids and what it truly means to have a responsive, multicultural collection.  Consider forwarding the link to your teachers, too — so many classroom collections are built on garage sale or public library Friends sales, which makes those collections particularly vulnerable to outdated views of gender, race, and culture.