August Book Challenge

Well, here was August. Not bad. It felt like a long month, and yet rushed because of all the Beehive books I was trying to read (including picture and poetry).

Read a book from a summer reading list or from http://www.neh.gov/projects/summertimefavorites.html           

Much Ado about Nothing by William Shakespeare

Our Town by Thornton Wilder

A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute

                       

Nonfiction           

Emma and Lucy by Gracia N. Jones

How to be Totally Miserable + SOS: A Teenage Guide to Getting Home in Safety by John Bytheway

Case Closed?: Nine Mysteries Unlocked by Modern Science by Susan Hughes**

                       

Other           

Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn

Dragonfly by Julia Golding**

Bruiser by Neal Shusterman**

Half Magic by Edward Eager*

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster*

Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien**

Sass and Serendipity by Jennifer Ziegler (read 100 pages; did not finish)

The Dancing Pancake by Eileen Spinelli**

Rip Tide by Kat Falls

* = On Summer Reading List, but not the High School’s

** = Beehive

August Totals

Audio = 7

Juvenile = 5

YA = 6 

Adult = 5

Pages = 3656

Books = 15

Points = 105

(Passed my Nonfiction goal of 25 for the year, too.)

Beehive Comic Ad

I heard from some fellow librarians about another online comic maker. I decided to try a Book Ad with it instead of attempting to be funny.

'Cause failed attempts at funny are really pathetic.

By MissHeidi84117 | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

My Opinion of ToonDoo: Not bad. It has a lot more choices in background and "props" than BitStrips. But--at least from as much as I played with it--the characters were not as versatile. I created the 3 characters (known as Traitrs) and had to choose their stance. No ability to change it throughout the strip. Whereas I was able to change the character more on BitStrips. Of course, it is possible that non-Traitr characters are  more adaptable. But aside from adjusting size and angle, I have my doubts. Still--they're both fun!

More! More! More!

I have to share this fun with somebody! Think of it as you are my test audience before my presentation. Your comments let me know how I'm doing or if what I've created would be interesting to other librarians (in all settings).

And if you don't think it's interesting, well.....

I guess I'll be presenting some uninteresting stuff!

I figured I should highlight Beehive books in what I'm creating, thus showing how these fun tech things can be used with librarians for teens. (And others, too.)

First
Using Glogster to create a poster of all YA fiction nominees.

Second
Using Glogster to create a poster of a Book Teaser/Ad. I used only pictures and text boxes; no video components.

Third
One can also use Glogster to create a poster to advertise library programs. This was one I used for this past summer. Easy to print off, and also easy to link to on the Internet.

My opinion of Glogster: Not bad. I look forward to trying out the more interactive components (though it prevents the printing out option for advertising and such). In some ways I find Publisher easier to work with, and in some ways Glogster is easier.

Fourth
My Voki Book "Trailer"


My opinion of Voki: Too fun for words. But you've seen that previously. :-)

Fourth
Using Animoto to create Book Trailers. I did a few attempts before I got two that I liked.

#1

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.


#2

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.


My opinion of Animoto: I get irked by the limited use, but it is still fun to create stuff (as you've seen me do in the past already). Many more possibilities in it that I have not explored. And I'm hoping to be approved an account as a non-profit that would give me more leeway. This would be great to send my teens to, or have them create their own.

More Tech Fun

I'm preparing to present at a Fall Conference on Teen Tech stuff. So I'm researching (aka having fun!) figuring out some of the things out there. My friend let me know about Voki, which she and her teens tried out. So I had to give it a try.

And boy what a laugh!!!

Which do you prefer? (I love them both.)

Voki 1



Voki 2


How can it help a librarian? Well...



Always something fun in the Librarian's corner!

July Book Challenges

There are so many places I would like to visit that it usually is not hard for me to find a book set where I would like to go. However, I'm trying to finish the Beehive nominees before school starts so the books are available for the students to read. Not to mention they are all due in August. So I've been plowing ahead with those, and then choosing the only audiobooks that were checked in that sparked even the remotest interest. And yet most of them were set in places I'd already been! Or would rather not go (e.g. under the sea). Thus, I read a decent amount of books, but my points are sadly lacking. Oh well.

By the way, I read books set where I would like to go, not about where I'd like to go. Sorry--I find travel books dead boring!

Read a book about a place you want to visit           

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee

Permanent Rose by Hilary McKay

Nonfiction

The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma

Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant by Jennifer Grant

A Single Voice by Kristin Oaks

Other           

The Wide-Awake Princess by E.D. Baker

Wild Girl by Patricia Reilly Giff

Palace Beautiful by Sarah Deford Williams

Bumped by Megan McCafferty

The Atlantis Complex (Artemis Fowl #7) by Eoin Colfer

Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes

After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick

Eggs by Jerry Spinelli

Enthusiasm by Polly Shulman

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter

Dark Life by Kat Falls

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

*highlighted titles are Beehive nominees

July Totals

Audio = 10 (which helped me surpass my audiobook goal for the year)

Juvenile = 8

YA = 8 

Adult = 3

Pages = 4722

Books = 19

Points = 125