Tag Archives: literacy

Hello, Dolly!

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Even when we’re traveling, Katie and I are always in the lookout for literary connections – we’ve been to charming historic towns, unusual houses, legendary locations, natural areas, volcanic landmarks, and the Shire! This summer, Katie visited Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and discovered Dolly’s fantastic literacy initiative, the Imagination Library. Take it away, Katie!

Steel Magnolias. “Jolene.” 9 to 5: The Musical. “Islands in the Stream.” Coat of Many Colors. What do all of these things have in common? The amazing Dolly Parton, of course! While she is most famous for her incredible music career, Dolly is also an author, actor, and founder of the most ticketed attraction in Tennessee, her theme park appropriately named Dollywood. Her proudest achievements, however, involve her philanthropic desire to give back to others, particularly in the area of literacy.

Inspired by her father’s inability to read and write, Dolly founded the Imagination Library in 1995 to instill a love of reading in children. Kids enrolled in the Imagination Library receive a new age appropriate book, free of charge, that is sent directly to their homes from the time of their birth until they enter kindergarten. Dolly wanted children to experience the magic of books and be excited to read, regardless of where they lived or their family’s income. Since its humble beginnings, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has gifted over 250 million books. One in seven children under the age of five in the United States receive books from the Imagination Library!

The program became so successful in the United States that it expanded and is now available in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland. Thanks to funding from Dolly and her community partners, over two million books are shipped each and every month to kids around the world!

Visit the Imagination Library to find a local program in your area and to learn more about this extraordinary resource. As Dolly says, “You can never get enough books into the hands of enough children.” We couldn’t agree more.

Our summer vacation to Tennessee was exactly what we needed this year. We spent a week with friends in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area exploring Great Smoky Mountains National Park, finding cold mountain streams to go fishing and swimming, visiting as many barbecue restaurants as we could find, and staying up way too late looking for fireflies and shooting stars. Some of us were even lucky enough to see a black bear!

No trip to Pigeon Forge is complete without visiting Dollywood. We spent the first part of our day keeping cool at the Splash Country water park. Later in the afternoon, we dashed over to the theme park to ride ALL of the roller coasters. And eat a loaf of Dolly’s world famous cinnamon bread. Dollywood was fully decorated for the annual Summer Celebration with fun bright colored kites and umbrellas waving overhead, gorgeous flower arrangements, interactive fountains, and plenty of butterflies. Definitely stay until the park closes so you can watch the drone and fireworks show – it’s spectacular!

If you’re interested in further literary adventuring, pack your bags and check out this post. And just in case you’re wondering…yes, Katie did bring me back a little present from Dollywood. And yes, it is awesome!

SUPER STORY TIME

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It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s SUPER BIG MAN! Jadon, our high school summer intern, put together one of the most fantastic story times our library has ever seen, complete with jumps, landings, super poses, villains, a kidnapped Miss Katie, and flowing capes!

We read Ten Rules of Being a Superhero by Deb Pilutti (Henry Holt and Company, 2014). Captain Magma and Lava Boy are out and about the house and neighborhood. There are ten rules of being a superhero, from quick response time, to knowing your superpower, to making noise, and of course being brave. Unless there’s a bee in the garden and you’re scared, then your sidekick might need to rescue you.

You’ll need:

  • 1 white t-shirt
  • 1 cape & mask
  • Fabric markers for decorating

As far as story time projects go, this was our simplest yet! Kids decorated white t-shirts with fabric markers. Some wrote their super names, some drew their favorite things. My personal favorite was a tribute to Herbert the Super Turtle (whose origin story still remains a mystery)…

The superheros then received a shiny blue cape (a 20 pack on Amazon is $35). The capes were quite cute and fastened with Velcro. Fabric eye masks with elastic bands also came in the set, but we didn’t hand those out just yet. You had to earn the eye masks by completing all your super tasks!

And this is where things got really awesome.

Our summer intern Jadon knocked it out of the park playing SUPER BIG MAN. When it was time to introduce the craft project, he came leaping into the story time area, posing, booming, and just generally being all around super. He chatted with the kids while they were working on their shirts (and added stars if they wanted), asked them about their super powers, gave fist bumps, and just absolutely rocked it.

When everyone had their shirts and capes on, Jadon took them through some superhero poses. Then he moved the gang on to power jumps (leaping over a soft block):

Next he demonstrated the classic superhero landing and invited the kids to try it too. We used a padded mat for safety. Just look at this perfect form!

Finally, Jadon lead everyone outside to find good deeds to accomplish. But unbeknownst to the kids, the evil Dr. Zafarious was hiding behind a tree on the library plaza. Dr. Zafarious was EPICALLY played by the talented Zachary Painter, Assistant University Librarian for Science and Engineering. While the kids were practicing their super poses, Dr. Zafarious swooped in and kidnapped Miss Katie! The superheroes quickly sprung into action and saved the day. And yes, we did get everything on video…

Villain thwarted, the kids earned their masks and we headed back inside for some epic cape blowing poses in front of box fans. It really was an amazing story time full of good feels and smiles. You could tell the kids were just so proud of themselves.

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This story time would not have been possible with the boundless energy and creative planning of Jadon, who is a rising high school sophomore and official library legend! We caught up with him for a quick  interview…

Tell us a little about yourself!

I live with a family of 4 (extended family aside), each person in my biological family is musical in at least one way. Most common in singing or piano. I’ve been attacking all sides, including other instruments. I’m a multi-instrumentalist and a producer. I’m an aspiring actor as well. I’m taking acting coaching from Jerry Compiere, a highly accomplished musician and part time drama producer.

What is your superpower?

My superpower is Intelligence. Intellectually, I’m able to compensate for my strength, have a good alias, and I’m able to look a little stupid to hide the fact I’m not. I can read people, and I’m pretty outgoing.

How was story time at Cotsen?
AMAZING! Story time was such a different experience, it’s difficult to put it into words. Cotsen was an extremely different experience from all the other places I’ve worked. And I’ve worked in daycares before with my father. He works in one now. It was much different to be seen as a special guest kinda like SNL and I were Bruno Mars. It was amazing from the moment I entered and heard the kids gasp in amazement. I loved working there and I hope one day I can work there once more.

What’s next for Big Man, superhero extraordinaire (and Jadon)?

Big Man is trying the “Clark Kent thing.” Laying low, being normal (Somewhat normal) and being ready to save the world when needed. And Jadon…he’s going to figure out who he is and what he has to contribute to the world. Direct quote from Big Man, “I’m starting with the man in the mirror. I’m asking him to change his ways. And no message could’ve been any clearer. If they wanna make the world a better place. Take a look at yourself and then make a change.”

Charmed, I’m Sure!

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Professor Flitwick is going to be thrilled, because this post is all about charms! When we learned that Malaysia, one of our awesome high school summer interns, was a huge Harry Potter fan, we just knew this kit was hers to test! Accio bracelet!

The “Harry Potter Clay Charms” kit by Klutz is intended for ages 8+ and retails for about $25. Contents include an instructional manual, 7 types of clay, a sculpting tool, a mini marker, a bracelet and hardware, a small bottle of glaze, and a paper display stand that looks like the Hogwarts Express.

The instructional manual was particularly good, chock full of full color photos, ideas, and instructions for making up to 29 characters, objects, and creatures from the famous series. I will now turn the post over to Malaysia, and don’t miss the interview with her at the end of the post. Take it away, Malaysia!

Upon opening this kit, I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of materials and inspiration provided to make these charms! The booklet gave great tips on handling the clay, tips on making shapes, and even color mixing for certain shades. As for the clay itself, the quantity for each color ranges, with blue being the least, and black and gold having the most. I’d suggest letting the clay sit out for a few minutes at room temperature to soften it a bit before handling, but it wasn’t too hard to use.

The first charm I tried my hand at was Hermione Granger, and after twenty minutes spent on her hair alone, I was regretting my decision. While she was the only human character I tried, I think it’s safe to assume the others would be of similar difficulty. There were a lot of components to the human characters, so save them for last – or first – depending on your level of patience.

Most of the other charms were fairly easy, and seem fit for the hands of someone 8 and above. Aside from the mandrake, the rest of the charms were quite simple and easy to make presentable, or resemble the photos from the book in some way. I’d recommend working with darker colors first, then progressing to the lighter ones, because once they mix…there’s no undoing it! Also, some of the coloring can rub off onto your workspace or your fingers.

Back to the dreaded Mandrake: while adorable and misleadingly simple, it’s actually quite hard to get right! Turns out, it’s a bit of a challenge to make balls of clay look effortlessly perfect as this plant. I tried using the clay shaping tool provided with the kit for a bit of assistance, but I wasn’t too successful. By this point, there was a fair bit of clay stuck onto the blade, which was stubbornly difficult to remove. The other tools (marker, charm hoops, and glaze) were simple and easy to use. Dr. Dana cooked the charms in her oven, I glazed them, and then I attached them to the bracelet:

Overall, this charm kit has earned a ⅘ star rating in Muggle terms. It’s hard not to have fun trying to perfectly recreate these beloved icons in clay form, or even just to laugh at your mistakes! So, in wizarding terms, I’ll have to give this an E in their O.W.Ls for Exceeding Expectations!

We absolutely loved having Malaysia in the office this summer, laughing and talking about Potter. So naturally, I couldn’t let her go without asking a few Potter-related questions…

What House are you?

Slytherin, proudly.

What’s your favorite book in the series and why?

Half-Blood Prince. With Voldemort really coming back, it’s a bit funny (and relatable) to see Harry and the other students balancing their teenage lives while also trying to plan on defeating He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. On a smaller note, I think it’s one of the first times we see some vulnerability in the haughtier characters like Draco, which really just puts it into perspective that this magical, whimsical world we all love is going to take a darker turn.

Which character do you associate with the most and why?

It’s probably cliché, but Hermione Granger. I can be a bit of a know-it-all at times, even when it seemingly backfires. And even to this day, one of my worst fears is getting a bad grade…or worse, expelled.

Which charm in this kit speaks to you the most, and why?

I liked the Deathly Hallows charm the most, it’s an instantly recognizable sign of the Harry Potter universe, without being too elaborate or difficult.