2009 TBA presented to Author Cynthia DeFelice and Illustrator Andrea U’Ren for One Potato, Two Potato.

Texas Bluebonnet Award

TBA Mission

To Encourage

Texas Children to:

• Read more books

• Explore a variety

of current books

• Develop powers of

discrimination

• Identify their

favorite books

Inside this issue:

TBA Luncheon

TBA Reception

Youth Participation

TBA Family Ties

Camp Bluebonnet

Bluebonnet Tools

TBA Links to History

Welcome TBA Coordinator Intern

TBA 6th Grade Task Force Summary

HISD: Name in Lights

Mackin BookTalk!

Spring 2009 Newsletter

Publicity Sub-Committee: Laura Sheneman and Brad Sveter

Read Five Then Decide

Magic pots filled with bluebonnets adorned the banquet tables as approxi-mately 2,000 librarians gathered from across the state of Texas to congratulate One Potato, Two Potato author Cynthia DeFelice and illustrator Andrea U'Ren. Just as the magical pots doubled the joy of the O’Grady’s lives, so too was our pleasure doubled as we listened to the two Bluebonnet winners share their sto-ries. The ten student representatives from across Texas proudly represented their district and did outstanding jobs with their luncheon assignments. Kylie Crow, student representative from District 7, gave a detailed summary of the winning story. Thomas Allison, student representative from District 8, beautifully intro-duced our two distinguished guests.

As a former Bluebonnet award winner, Mrs. DeFelice recalled fondly her for-mer travels through Texas and shared how the O’Grady characters reminded her of some older neighbors of hers who lived around one of New York ’s Finger Lakes. DeFelice displayed a book she received as a gift when she was a child. This book held the original version of the story as a Chinese folktale which De-Felice reworked to take on an Irish twist. Illustrator U’Ren was humbly touched at the response the Texas students had to her artwork. She shared slides with the audience showing how her initial sketches progressed over time to their finished product. U’Ren’s uplifting tale of receiving the winning notification email warmed the hearts of the TBA Author Award audience.

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Texas Bluebonnet Award

Cynthia DeFelice and Andrea U’Ren, author and illustrator of One Potato, Two Potato, were the special guests at the Texas Bluebonnet Award Reception held on Thursday, April 2, 2009 at the

Hilton Americas Hotel in Houston. The reception honored the winners of this year’s Texas Bluebonnet Award as well as the ten Bluebonnet Youth represen-tatives chosen from each of the ten TLA districts. De-Felice and U’Ren are pictured below signing copies of their book. These gifts from the publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, were given to the youth represen-tatives. The youth traveled to Houston to attend the reception as well as the Texas Bluebonnet Luncheon where they presented the Texas Bluebonnet Award to DeFelice and U’Ren on behalf of the nearly 152,000 Texas readers who participated in this year’s Blue-bonnet program.

During the reception, the students had the opportunity to ask the author and illustrator pertinent questions about their professional and personal lives. DeFelice and U’Ren were especially cordial, open, and honest with the students, leaving a lasting impression on these young readers. DeFelice told the students about her love of writing and described her journey to be-coming a published author. U’Ren discussed her techniques for illustrations and shared some of her early sketches for One Potato, Two Potato with the students.

This experience was made possible by the TLA En-dowment Fund and an annual TBA fundraiser. Parent transportation expenses were also underwritten by the Mackin Library Media this year. Also in attendance at the reception were the members of the Texas Blue-bonnet Selection and Program Committees, the TBA Coordinator and special honored guests. Applications for Youth Participation can be found on the TBA website and are accepted each year starting in August.

TBA Reception with DeFelice and U’Ren

Read Five Then Decide

Author and illustrator respond to questions asked by TBA Youth Participants

Author and illustrator mingle and sign autographs

Andrea U’Ren shares her original illustrations with TBA Youth Participants

Texas Bluebonnet Award Page 3

2009 Bluebonnet Youth Participation Each year ten Bluebonnet read-ers, one from each of TLA’s ten districts, are selected to attend the Texas Blue-bonnet Award Luncheon at the TLA Annual Conference and to present the TBA Award. Librarians from school and public libraries across the state submit applications for participation. The random drawing by district to select the ten schools is held in October. Winning schools, in turn, select a Bluebonnet reader to attend the luncheon and present the Bluebonnet Award. The 2009 Texas Bluebonnet Award was presented to Cynthia DeFelice, author, and Andrea U’Ren, illustrator, of One Potato, Two Po-tato. Pictured below are youth participants for 2009 with DeFelice and U’Ren.

This year’s conference was held at the George Brown Convention Center in Houston. The luncheon was held at the Hilton Americas Downtown, conference hotel, on April 2, 2009. Kylie Crow from District 7 presented an amusing and insightful speech about the winning book. Tho-mas Allison of District 8 entertained the audience with antidotes about the winning author and illustrator. These enterprising young readers presented the Bluebonnet Award to DeFelice and U’Ren representing some 152,000 other Bluebonnet readers who read Bluebonnet books and then voted for their favorite one. The youth participants traveled to Houston and had the experi-ence of a lifetime!! The TBA Committee wishes to sincerely thank all youth participants and sponsors who made this year’s Award Luncheon such a wonderful success!!

Applications for next year’s Youth Participation can be found at this website: http://www.txla.org/groups/tba/forms/Student_Form.rtf

Read Five Then Decide

Be sure to visit…. Mackin Books 2009-2010 Texas Bluebonnet Award BookTalk! interactive website. It is designed for Bluebonnet readers and promoters. At the site, you will learn more about the authors and illustrators of the nominated books. Readers can even rate their favorite 2009-2010 Bluebonnet nominees.

Texas Bluebonnet Award

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Fathers have great power to affect the development and wellbeing of their children. The following Blue-bonnet titles are rich with family connections. In particular, these titles show the influence a father can have on his children’s lives.

Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things by Lenore Look

Alvin’s dad works hard, but his dad is also a little odd at times. Whenever he gets angry, Alvin’s dad begins to spout curses in his finest Shakespearean voice. His dad also has a playful side. One place it appears is when he gathers his children to play with his beloved childhood toy, Johnny Astro. Like his father, Alvin is also a little unusual. The second grader becomes mute every time he gets on the school grounds. Alvin’s family tries to help him overcome his fear of girls, school and other scary things. In one attempt, Alvin tries to get his brother to help him prepare a PDK (personal disaster kit) so he will be ready for whatever comes his way at school. Alvin faces each new challenge, struggling through to become a gentleman just like his father.

Pale Male: Citizen Hawk of New York City by Janet Schulman

How could a bird possibly be Father of the Year? This true story tells the story of a red-tailed hawk as he grows from a young hawk into fatherhood in the area around New York City’s Central Park. Pale Male makes his home in several places but ultimately settles for the rooftop of an upscale Fifth Avenue apartment building. The inhabitants in this posh resi-dence are not at all happy about the nest droppings that fall on them and the sidewalk be-low. Eventually, Pale Male steals the heart of many in the city and his fame attracts large crowds. The Father of the Year award is bestowed on Pale Male after he helps raise 23 chicks over a nine year period. What an honor! What a bird!

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall

The Penderwick father is faced with a new challenge since his sister has decided that it is time for him to begin dating again. This decision sets the Penderwick sisters off on many new adventures as they devise a “save Daddy plan”. The girls know no one could ever be a replacement for their deceased mother, so Daddy must not date. After several emergency MOPS (Meeting of Penderwick Sisters) meetings, the girls attempt to find the worst possi-ble dates for their father so that he will be inclined to never date again. Family love and laughter abounds in this story as the girls eventually help their father find the perfect match.

Two-Minute Drill by Mike Lupica

Chris’ dad told him, “You know what we always say in this family. You don’t always get to pick the things you are best at.” Chris is good at moving. He changes schools often. It is difficult for him to fit in and make friends. He soon makes friends with Scott, the star foot-ball player at school. Chris admires Scott for the athletic talent he dreams of having. Their friendship deepens when Scott confides a secret problem. While Chris believes he’s the one with the “real” problem, Scott reassures him that “when you are friends with somebody, then it’s your problem, too.” The boys help each other overcome their problems with the help of the wise words shared by Chris’ dad.

Family Ties: 2009-10 Bluebonnet Titles

(continued) Read Five Then Decide

Family Ties: 2009-10 Bluebonnet Titles (concluded)

Texas Bluebonnet Award

Where I Live by Eileen Spinelli

Diana’s father is quite a jokester until one day when things get seriously quiet at her house. While Diana is afraid her parents are going to get a divorce, the truth is that Diana’s father has lost his job. The rest of this free-verse poem tells of Diana’s feel-ings as she adjusts to her family moving to Pittsburgh. The move does bring the fam-ily closer to her beloved Grandpa Joe, but Diana had to leave behind everything and everyone else she treasures. Diana turns to her poetry journal to help lighten her pain. She struggles to leave her old world behind, but she finally manages to feel at ease in her new home and new surroundings.

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Camp Bluebonnet the DVD The Red Carpet Premiere for the Camp Blue-bonnet video was held for the first time in San Antonio Texas. Santikos Embassy Theatres hosted the event on March 17, 2009. It was at-tended by the stars of the video, teachers, princi-pals, parents and friends. Special guest, Grace Lin, also attended. Her book The Year of the Rat was on the 2007-2008 Master List.

This year’s digital production allowed students to interact with animated animals as they attended Camp Bluebonnet. Camp activities such as camp-fire cooking, camp crafts, ghost stories, and ani-mal lore provided introductions to the titles on the 2009-2010 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List.

Eleven students from the North East Independent School District and St. Luke’s Episcopal School appeared in the video. They either participated as campers, counselor, or animal voices. The video was produced by Big Sky Media Group. All the participants were proud of the video and were ex-cited to be in a great production.

The TBA video sub-committee members Felice Feldman, Cindy Boatfield and Allison Wilson were on hand to introduce the cast members and special guests at the Red Carpet Premiere.

You may purchase the DVD by clicking on the supplies link on the TBA home page. Your district may choose to purchase the rights to video stream this year’s Bluebonnet video. Prices are based on the number of campuses that would view the video stream. A campus that has purchased rights to the video stream has rights to show the video to all rooms on a campus. Go to the following link for more information and pric-ing (http://www.txla.org/groups/tba/streaming.html). The purchasing form link is located on the TBA home page click on “Streaming TBA Video Form.”

Read Five Then Decide

Texas Bluebonnet Award

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Read Five Then Decide

Bluebonnet Resources at Your Fingertips

One of the major roles a school librarian plays is being a key promoter of reading. Our wish is for our students to fall in love with reading and become lifetime readers. As librarians, we can maximize our opportuni-ties with the students to ensure that we are meeting the students’ needs and interests in our library. One method of doing so can be found by ac-cessing the TBA web resources.

As you begin your Bluebonnet planning, check out what resources have been made available to you online from the TBA activities committee. Refer new librarians in your district to the website so they too can join in the big vote when their students “Read Five Then Decide.”

The Readers Advisory offers suggestions of both fiction and nonfiction titles that are themati-cally tied into another story. These provide opportunities for the librarian or teacher to extend students’ reading selections and offer lesson extensions.

Readers Theater allows students to give a dramatic presentation of one of the Bluebonnet titles using a script form. The beauty of these short dramas is that they require no memorization on the actors’ parts, no special costumes, and no prior prep (besides photocopying the scripts). The students simply read from the script with expressive voices and gestures. What a fun way to bring a book to life and make comprehension fun!

Webliographies are digital equivalents of bibliographies. Whereas, bibliographies list print re-sources, webliographies list resources that can be found on the internet. The Bluebonnet weblio-graphy provides the name of the website, its URL, and brief annotations describing what you can expect to find on the website. These also provide a way for the librarian or teacher to extend les-son plans and collaborate on unit development.

The Reviews section has gathered professional reviews for you. The reviews offer literary criti-cism about the books’ content, style, and merit. It is a quick way to find out what professional journal reviewers have to say about the title. They provide a brief summary of the title and give the reviewer’s opinion about the appropriateness of the title for different ages and the reviewer’s overall impression about the quality of the book. These reviews allow the librarian or teacher an opportunity to decide if a title is appropriate for their needed purpose. All links can be accessed from the TBA current nominees page.

Clink on the links below

Primary Purpose For the librarian

For the classroom teacher

For the student

READERS ADVISORY Makes reading con-nections to other titles

√ √ √

READERS THEATER Student activity √

WEBLIOGRAPHY Lesson development √ √ √

REVIEWS Literary criticism √ √

Texas Bluebonnet Award Page 7

Historical Links: 2009-10 Bluebonnet Titles

Our world is shaped by the people and events of yesterday. History can be taught as cause and ef-fect lessons to our readers. On this year’s Master List the genres of poetry, biography, non-fiction and historical fiction are used as literary forms to bring history to life for Bluebonnet readers.

In her book ¡Yum! ¡MmMm! ¡Qué Rico!: America’s Sproutings, Pat Mora intro-duces the origins of some of our favorite native American fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts. Illustrator Rafael Lόpez uses vivid colors to bring to life the excitement of these taste sensations. The book is both an informational work and a work of po-etry. Mora shares with her readers a brief account of who enjoyed these “sproutings” and how they were used in the past and to this day. This is paired with original haikus that deliver the food straight to the reader’s senses.

Doreen Rappaport writes the biography of Lady Liberty from the vision of Liberty’s designer to the sweat of her steel workers. The reader is treated to the perspectives of eleven different people who were emotionally connected to the creation and con-struction of the Statue of Liberty. Matt Tavares’ illustrations capture the stages of Liberty’s design and construction and finally, her triumphant unveiling to a country that grew to embrace the lady and all that she symbolizes.

In What to do About Alice?, Barbara Kerley tells the story of Alice Roosevelt, daughter of Theodore. Alice’s effervescent and independent personality pops right off the pages. The reader follows Alice as she grows from a rambunctious daughter of a U.S. senator, to a young lady who helped with the care of her step family and took on the role of the president’s goodwill adviser. Edwin Fotheringham’s action packed illustrations bring this history to life. He draws Alice jumping on couches, riding Daddy piggyback, bouncing downstairs, and riding a bicycle downhill with no hands after throwing off her leg braces. This biography will leave your readers wanting to learn more about Alice and maybe even Teddy.

Kadir Nelson wrote and illustrated, We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. In it, he shares the trials of baseball players of color who faced the challenges of racism and segregation for their love of the game. Readers learn the history of the Negro League from it’s beginnings with owner and organizer Rube Foster, to its decline and ending with the integration of Jackie Robinson into Major League Baseball. Along the way, readers are introduced to the characters and heroes of the league who did not get a chance to play in the “major leagues” because of the color of their skin. The conver-sational style of Nelson’s narrator puts the reader in the stands and on the bus to the next game with the team. Kadir Nelson’s illustrations are striking. He paints a strong and proud group of men enjoying a game that is shadowed by the racism of the times.

Read Five Then Decide

(continued)

Texas Bluebonnet Award

Historical Links: 2009-10 Bluebonnet Title (concluded) Someone Named Eva, written by Joan Wolf is a historical fiction novel that is set in Czechoslovakia, during its occupation by Hitler’s Nazi forces. This is the story of Milada an eleven year old, blonde and blue eyed, Czech girl who is taken from her family and placed in the Lebensborn program. She is given the name Eva and told to forget her family and her past. She is forced to learn the language, culture and Nazi ideology of the German occupiers. This is the story of Milada’s struggle to keep her identity in the face of horrifying circumstances.

This group of Bluebonnet titles presents historical lessons to your readers in a va-riety of genres that are sure to catch their interest.

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New TBA Coordinator Intern The TLA Executive Board has named Martha Edmundson, the next Texas Bluebonnet Award Coordinator. Martha will begin her three-year tenure in April of 2010.

Martha earned her MLS from Texas Woman's University and is currently part of its Adjunct Faculty, teaching undergraduates “Literature for Children”. She re-tired from the Denton Public Library after 29 years of service as a Children’s Li-brarian, Branch Manager and as Coordinator of Youth Services from 1999-2008.

Martha has been an active member of TLA throughout her career. She has held many leadership positions. She has chaired the Children’s Round Table, the Public Library Division, and District 7. She has served on many committees including the Tayshas Selection, ALA’s Notable Videos for Children and was a part of the TBA Committee from 1987-89. Martha was honored in 1995 with the Siddie Jo Johnson Award for outstanding achievement in children’s library service.

Martha lives in Denton with her husband Gerald of 42 years and their Shetland Sheepdog Max. She has a daughter residing in Arkansas with her family and three grandchildren. Did we mention that she earned a Bachelor of Music from North Texas State University and she is a classically trained pianist? Martha will be the first public librarian who will serve as Coordinator of the TBA. We wel-come her back to the TBA Committee.

Houston ISD and Suzanne Lyons “Your Name is in Lights”. Suzanne is one of HISD’s Library Specialists. She served as this year’s contest coordinator for their “Name That Book!” elementary division competition. The contest introduces students to classic children’s literature as well as contemporary award-winning books, representing a variety of genres. HISD used the 2008-09 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List titles as the core books for their

competition. Almost 500 students from 71 of HISD’s elemen-tary schools competed in this contest. T.H. Rogers Elementary took first place this year. Read Five Then Decide

Houston ISD: Your Name is in Lights

Spring 2009

Texas Bluebonnet Award

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Summary of TBA Sixth Grade Task Force The TBA Sixth Grace Task Force had three all day meetings and conducted two extensive surveys of he Texas library community. After evaluating the question of 6th grade inclusion and allowing for all ypes of input the Task Force unanimously recommends that 6th grade students should continue to be ncluded in the program. Below are important points from the 19 page report:

TBA selection criteria states that nominated books should “include a fairly equal distribution for ach grade level” and “reflect a variety of difficulty levels for children in these grades, with at least one asy and one mature title.” It is evident from TBA voting results that children enjoy reading from many levels” of the list. Some choose to read “up” and some “down”.

The TBA program requires that only five books be read—not all twenty. The reason for this is that ll books on the list are not for all maturity or ability levels. This objective needs to be stressed.

The overlapping of TBA and Lone Star programs is similar to overlaps in National Awards such as he Newbery and Michael Printz Awards.

Texas is a diverse state and the TBA list should reflect this working hard to include something for veryone.

The Task Force acknowledges that children’s interest levels and reading abilities vary widely within grade. With this in mind, it is difficult to assign exact grade levels to a book. The lack of these assign-ents acknowledges that books overlap grades and ages of children.

“Sixth graders should not be punished because different districts decide to place sixth graders in dif-erent settings”.

Though 6th grade voting numbers may be smaller than the other grades their votes would be a sig-ificant number of votes to lose (12,111 in 2009).

The Task Force feels that the library community needs to trust the professionalism of the TBA Se-ection Committee.

The list is developmentally sound and provides a bridge to the middle school for 6th graders.

The Task Force can not justify eliminating the 6th grade from a program that promotes and encour-ges reading.

The 6th grade participation serves as a model to younger students.

he Task Force encourages participating librarians to create opportunities for 6th grade students to act as Book Buddies” to younger 3rd grade students.

he entire report is very interesting. Click here to read.

BA Sixth Grade Task Force Committee members:

haron Amastae, Camino Real Middle School, El Paso, Chair; Cynthia Baker, Wetmore Elementary School, San Antonio; homas J. Barthelmess, Austin Public Library; Mary C. Christmas, Corpus Christie ISD; Eliza T. Dresang, Information chool, University of Washington; Marianne C. Follis, Lewisville Public Library; Carlyn Gray, Round Rock ISD; Sue W. cGown, Retired from St. John’s School, Houston; Carolyn Reynolds, TLA Liaison; Pat Scales, President, Association for

ibrary Services to Children, David W. Schuster, Plano ISD; Rose Trevino, Houston Public Library

Read Five Then Decide