Haere Mai – welcome to New Zealand

Throughout the month of February, I was invited to blog about New Zealand literature by the Global Literature for Libraries Initiative. As explained on their “About” page this group, “strives to raise the visibility of world literature for adults and children at the local, national and international levels. We intend to do so by facilitating close and direct collaboration between translators, librarians, publishers, editors, and educators, because we believe that these groups in collaboration are uniquely positioned to help libraries provide support and events to engage readers of all ages in a library framework that explores and celebrates literature from around the world.”

I thought I would add some of the posts here to my personal blog as well – enjoy

This month we will focus on the literature of New Zealand.

Kia Ora – my name is Amanda Bond and I am a New Zealander currently living and working in Istanbul, Turkey. Throughout this month it is my honour to share some thoughts about the literature of my homeland.

I am the Teacher Librarian at Istanbul International Community School which means I am a trained teacher, teaching English literature at High School level before training to become a school librarian. I tell everyone I have the best job in the school and it is true.

I was a student in New Zealand at a time when New Zealand literature was really coming into its own. I remember reading the School Journals that were published four times a year. These Journals are provided to schools through the New Zealand Education Department and are full of different styles of writing; feature articles, poems, stories and plays by New Zealand writers – more on those in another post in the future. I particularly loved the plays. Investing in student literacy and New Zealand writers at the same time seems to me to be a win-win situation. When I reached high school the English Curriculum was developing and beginning to insist that students read New Zealand writers. I was treated to poetry by Denis Glover called Arawata Bill and a film series created for televisions called “Winners and Losers” which dramatised New Zealand Short Stories. Thus began my sincere appreciation for the work of Witi Ihimaera.

I was fortunate to have enthusiastic teachers who instead of teaching all the same old literature chose to embrace emerging writers from our own country. Our family had a tradition of visiting the town library most Friday afternoons. I enjoyed selecting a wide range of books, decimating the displays and seeking out new fiction. Our high school had a huge library and I became friends with the librarian there too. She was always giving new books or ‘another’ book linked to the ones I had previously borrowed.  Teachers and librarians are the original influencers before the word ‘influencer’ was appropriated by YouTubers and thanks to these education professionals I developed a lifelong love of reading.

So over the next 28 days, I want to bring to your attention some of the marvellous writers and publishers from New Zealand, not as an ‘expert’ but as an enthusiast, following the footsteps of the people who encouraged me to love reading and love the literature of my home nation. My hope is that some of the posts will enable you to continue being the influencers that you are.

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Amanda Bond is a New Zealand ex-pat currently working as Teacher Librarian in an international school in Istanbul, Turkey. Her twitter handle is @kiwionthego

Taking an idea and running with it…

Visiting Department meetings can be dangerous. I went to the English Department meeting a few weeks ago to share the news about our new lexile level search facility on our Library Management System Destiny. The news received some moderate response. The discussion then moved on to how to get our students to read and build a reading culture – I just sat back and listened. It was great to hear my colleagues really wanting our students to engage in recreation reading, for fun. Then came the idea – why can’t we have an English Department Shelf in the library? Hmmm I was thinking – how would we catalogue that, how will people find books on a separate random shelf? All the while I was nodding and thinking. This was too good an opportunity to let go by. Okay – let’s see what we can do. I found myself saying. So what we did do was create a virtual English Department Shelf on Destiny in the resource List area. Then we photographed the teachers and made little danglers for the books they recommended. The books are now on display throughout the fiction area of the library. The students are enjoying reading the books their teachers recommended and enjoyed. We have a Google Doc list of which book which teacher recommended so that when the book is returned we can return it to the display.  Below is a mosaic showing the work in progress…

Not Reading Habits but Reading Innovations

I am the guest speaker at the PTA coffee morning this Wednesday. I was asked to speak about Reading Habits.  I have been reflecting on my own reading habits, those of my family and friends. 
The picture to the left is of my children. Campbell reading to his younger brother, I believe from the cover and knowing Evan at that age it was a book about diggers. Evan’s  interest was everything and anything about diggers, trucks and other large machinery. 
I don’t think we can cultivate reading as a habit like we clean our teeth or take our coffee as certain way. I am struggling to find a better word. Reading has always been part of my daily life but I do not think it is a mindless habit. Nothing about our reading should be mindless or routine. Though I have to admit sometimes when the boys were young and they loved certain stories read to them time and time again. it did get rather repetitive. If I tried to skip a page or summarize I was called to account by my ever attentive child. The boys loved those stories for a reason and they certainly were mindful in their appreciation. 
Reading Innovation – there is the phrase I am seeking. I can remember not reading anything for pleasure the whole of my University Career. I was majoring in English Literature. I was delightfully re launched into fiction through Douglas Adam’s Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and enjoyed reading the whole series with my husband, we actually read it side by side sharing the same copy. I remember reading The Book Thief and then feeling so unsatisfied with every other book I read for at least 6 months. That book ruined me for the ordinary. I set myself reading goals and enjoy reaching for them. I am inspired by my friends and what they read. I love talking about books with people and going straight to Amazon.com and downloading the free sample to my kindle to try the next day.
I think as parents and educators we should invite our children and students to develop a Reading Innovation and not a Reading Habit. We should enjoy each other’s reading innovations as well. 

Delightful Duets – my focus for 2013 – 14

I saw this TED talk at the end of the academic year – Lisa Bu gives an amazing account of the impact of reading on her life, thoughts and character. Books changed her shattered dream into a different dream. The way she read books lifted her understanding of many cultures and gave her great joy, as you can see on her face. She ends her talk with the wish “May books be always with you”.

           

I decided that my reading goal for 2013-14 academic year would be to do as she suggests read books in pairs, comparative reading for life. Where do I start? She seemed to make quite deliberate choices in her paired reads. 
My first pair of books were complimentary. I real Carol Dweck‘s book Mindset: The new psychology of success. Dweck’s work has been the topic of many conversations amongst my colleagues at work last year. She writes about fixed and growth mindsets. People with growth mindsets are more resislient, often much more success than others. They see that their own efforts can make a difference to their learning and success. I found the many anecdotes she gave very interesting and made her research and findings very accessible. Already the leaders of our school are initiating further discussions about growth mindsets. This is an exciting prospect for our students.
The very next book I read was Gifted Hands Ben Carson’s autobiography. This is a great story of a man who went from being a student who was always bottom of the class to being the one who was incredibly successful. Ben Carson is a leading neurological surgeon and has had many successes pioneering life saving surgery. What helped this boy change from being a challenged learner to a successful one? His mother always emphasized that his effort would bring rewards. She challenged him to read and as he did he found he remembered more, his reading ability improved and with it his ability to complete math problems, engage with science and finally discover his passion for the brain.

Both books with the brain as a focus. Both books showing how a growth mindset can help some one develop and fulfill their potential. A delightful duet to begin my reading challenge this year.

A little mystery is just what we need… and like.

All wrapped up with a message clue..
 Last week we created our version of “Blind date with a book”. We saw other libraries around the world doing this for their patrons – images are on pinterest and in blog posts like this one from Rockville Library
Sharing the surprises
We were amazed at the response from our students. We chose YA fiction with International settings and issues to encourage not only the risk taking element but also international mindedness. We limited the books to students in grades 5 – 12 because they are Young Adult books. We set up the display on Thursday morning and by Friday morning the entire display was decimated. 
The sign of a successful display – many gaps to fill.
Unwrapping the surprise

Word got out and students came in specially to choose one of the mystery books. The challenge we gave to the students was to choose a book based on the message and then commit to read it. What impressed me was the willingness on the part of the student to participate. Boys were opening books that had covers that were a little ‘feminine’ but they were not put off, in fact they were more willing to take a risk to read something very different to what they would usually choose. Girls were unwrapping books about war and instead of saying they weren’t interested they were checking more details by reading the blurb and then starting the book. 

Most of the books came from my “Round the World in 80 books” adventure last year – reading 80 YA fiction books meant I knew what to choose. It was so much fun to watch the students unwrap their books and then excitedly share them with their friends.
We have now had a delegation from the lower grades to make blind dates for them too. Next week…

Everything bad is good for you 360


The title alone made me want to read this book. The full title is Everything bad is good for you: How today’s popular culture is actually making us smarter. Steven Johnson is a well known social commentator with other books like The Ghost Map about the cholera epidemic in London and his latest Future Perfect about how people were using decentralized peer networks to solve problems. 
In Everything bad is good for you Steven Johnson is looking at popular culture like computer and video games and television. His findings are fascinating. As time has gone on all of these popular media have become more sophisticated, demanding greater levels of intellectual involvement from their consumers and audiences. So what has been popularly described as creating a dumber society is in fact – and Johnson provides compelling evidence to prove his case, doing the opposite.
I really liked his references to the importance of reading as part of popular culture. “We should all encourage our kids to read more, to develop a comfort with and an appetite for reading. What are the rewards of reading, exactly? Broadly speaking they fall into two categories: the information conveyed by the book, and the mental work you have to do to process and store that information. When we encourage kids to read for pleasure, we’re generally doing so because of the mental exercise involved.” (pg 21-22)
He also acknowledges the negative influences of gaming and television watching but on the whole his message is very positive and optimistic. We are all getting smarter not dumber from enjoying these forms of media.

Book 75 – The Queen of Water by Laura Resau and Maria Virginia Farinango – Ecuador

As you can see this novel is based on a true story. Pictured below are Laura Resau and Maria Virginia Farinango. This is a fictional story based on the life of Virginia. The main character is called Virginia and we meet her as she is turning 7 years old. She lives with her family in an Andean village in Ecuador. She works in the fields all day with her family. They are called “longa tonga” or stupid Indians by the ruling class of mestizos – the Spanish descendants of the conquistadors  Virginia at age of seven is taken by a mestizo couple to care for their baby and do the household chores. They live in a city a long way from Virginia’s home village. The wife terrorises Virginia and often beats her mercilessly. The husband calls her his ‘hija’ or daughter. Virginia spends her first year plotting ways to run away but as time goes by she gets used to her life, she likes the baby she is raising and this couple lead her to believe her family do not want her.

Virginia’s spirited self belief is amazing and she dreams of a different future. She demands to be taught to read and once she does she secretly reads all of the books in the house – including the books the wife is using as a Biology teacher in a high school. When she finally does have the courage to break free from this family Virginia’s determination to make a life for herself leads her to hard work but great success.
Laura Resau’s website promoting the book
Book trailer by a student at Hillsborough County Public Schools 

Book 74 – Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to not Reading – USA

It is almost sacrilege to follow a review of ‘The Book Whisperer’ with a book with this title. I guess the title is what makes it so appealing. The story line is interesting. The main character hates reading so much he pays another student to read and write book reports for him – well buys him food. When suddenly his surrogate reader decides to stop Charlie Joe Jackson has to suddenly find a substitute. He has a huge assignment coming up which involves a lot of reading.

This book is very funny. Written in first person by Charlie he vows to keep the chapters short as he knows other children out there hate reading too. However, as his story gets more complicated he simply can’t help himself but to write longer chapters. 
This funny exploration of plagiarism and academic honesty is a great read. I enjoyed every minute – but don’t tell Charlie Joe.

Tommy Greenwald’s Blog            P.S Charlie Joe supports libraries – see trailer below.