Day 22 - April 9, 2007

MONDAY -- The first day of the week are always busy as soon as I get to the Children's Room. When I got there at 5pm, Hala, Arpine, Cecile and Lyda were busy at work. Lyda is the new assistant children's librarian replacing Hala. Hala is now in between libraries as she prepares for her new post as a branch librarian.

I set off to work finishing the aprons for Thursday night's event. I was able to finish about 50 more of the paper aprons. It was tedious work but I found it therapeutic cutting and pasting and tying the yarn. In the end, we ended up making more than the 150 we need for the event.

When I finished my project with Lyda and Evelyn's help, I read some chapters of the book I am reading "Crispin: At the Edge of the World" by Avi. I read the first book Crispin: The Cross of Lead (2003 Newbery Winner) before I started with the internship and I liked the story because it was well developed. I really enjoy reading about this period in time, the 1300s and I thought that the author did a good job describing what was going on during those times. Crispin was a courageous boy who gave up his heritage in order to save his friend Bear who was held captive by a noble's kin. Bear was put in a dungeon by those who wanted to kill Crispin to prevent him from claiming his birthright. The second book continues as Bear and Crispin fled the Castle of Great Wexly.

I asked Lyda and Evelyn tonight about the distinction between books to recommend to children of varying grade levels. Although I have become confident in finding the right books when it comes to non-fiction and juvenile fiction books, I still get stumped when asked for recommendations for 3rd or 4th grade readers. Evelyn told me that it always depends on the reading level of the child but the chapter books are basically divvied up between:

JO - Picture books (Usually read to toddlers and pre-schoolers by parents)
JE - Early readers (Grades 1-3)
JC - Beginning chapter books (Grades 2-4)
JI - Higher content picture books (Grades 3-5)
J - Juvenile fiction (books vary in level from 3rd grade to 8th grade)

I learned that it is always best to ask for the child's reading level because there are 1st graders who are advanced readers and there are some 5th graders who are behind. I have helped 6th graders who wanted to use books that are intended for 3rd graders, i.e. with more pictures than words. At the same time, there are 2nd and 3rd graders who request for the Harry Potter books. Now, I understand better how to recommend which books to what age and grade levels.