Friday, December 4, 2020

Free Virtual Children's Program Links of Interest

Check out these free virtual family programs from Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss from Beauty and the Beast Storytelling. They are also authors of the Noodleheads series with Tedd Arnold. Martha and Mitch have given public librarians permission to share these virtual program links for patrons to enjoy from home. Feel free to use them and enjoy!


Story Gifts: Free Virtual Performances

Having spent the past forty years as visiting storytellers/authors, we feel immense gratitude to everyone who welcomed us into their schools and libraries. We’d like to offer “story gifts” as a way of saying thanks and bringing some cheer during these challenging times. Teachers and parents, we applaud your herculean efforts, and hope these stories will help, even in a small way, to get your children—and you--to the other side of this universal nightmare.  We have created two free virtual performances, one for kindergarten--second graders, and one for third--fifth graders. These are also perfect for families enjoying together at homeHere are the links:


Feel free to share with other teachers, parents, or anyone who loves stories.

Free Ready to Go Author Visits: 
More storytelling gifts for the classroom—or living room
We are also the authors of more than twenty-five books and are not retiring from writing. Our Noodleheads series with Tedd Arnold, creator of the Fly Guy series, won a Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) Honor Award and a Notable Book of the Year Award from the American Library Association. It also won the Aesop Prize from the American Folklore Society, which predicted that this series of early-reader graphic novels for ages 5-9 is "going to be a hit!” The fifth book, Noodleheads Lucky Daywas just released.  


Each book in the 
Noodleheads series was inspired by several world folktales about fools. We are creating videos for each book in which we tell the old folktales, read part of the book, explain some of the idioms that the characters, Mac and Mac, take literally, and encourage children to create their own stories. These videos are free, virtual Ready to Go Author Visits. They help children understand that world folktales transcend barriers of time, country, and cultures. As long as people have been around they’ve done foolish things—and made up stories to laugh at their own foolishness. The books delight children with wordplay, jokes, and slapstick humor, while at the same time encouraging critical thinking and inviting kids to use their noodles--spotting the holes in Mac and Mac's grand plans, and anticipating how things will go awry.

Links for the Author Visits we’ve done so far:
Noodlehead Nightmares Author Visit
Noodleheads Lucky Day Author Visit


NoodleheadsBooks.com includes these videos, teacher guides, an event kit, games, writing prompts, and lots of fun information on all things Noodlehead.

It’s official! We’re retiring from school visits after forty years of telling stories together. 
January 1, 2021 marks the fortieth anniversary of our meeting at a New Year’s Day brunch. We told our first story together less than three weeks later. We had planned to make the 2020/2021 school year our last but the pandemic came along and changed everything. It seems unlikely that schools will be having live performances/workshops during this school year, so we have decided to retire from school visits.  We are sad not to be able to say goodbye at several schools where we have worked for many years but are pleased that we had the time to create these videos.
 
We’d love to hear from you!
Our retirement is bittersweet. What a fun job we had--looking out at a sea of uplifted faces with slack-jawed looks of wonder never got old. Other aspects of our job did—such as driving on icy roads, packing and unpacking, setting an alarm for the wee hours, etc. If we performed or did residencies at your school or library, or you've used our books, we'd love to hear from you.

 
You can find us on the Web at: Beauty & the Beast Storytellers
On Facebook at:
 MitchWeissMarthaHamilton  
On Instagram at:
 Two Noodleheads 
 

We are developing a mailing list and plan to send out an infrequent newsletter such as this when we create new videos or publish new books. If you do not wish to receive these emails, just reply with "Unsubscribe” as your subject heading.

With gratitude,
Mitch and Martha

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

CLASC Virtual Semi-Annual Membership Meeting RSVP Date Extended Until Friday, November 13th

There is still time to RSVP for the CLASC Virtual Semi-Annual Membership Meeting! The RSVP date has now been extended to Friday, November 13th. Please email joanneb@commackpubliclibrary.org to RSVP by this date and click here for more details about this exciting virtual event. We hope you can join us!

Wednesday, October 7, 2020

COVID-19 Children's Book Resources from Northwell Health

Please follow the link below for access to free children's books in PDF format from the perspective of a child learning about COVID-19, as well as a newly released title about a child returning back to school. Both books are written by Northwell Health physician Dr. Lauren Block and her husband, Adam Block. Please feel free to share with your colleagues and patrons.  


Background from Dr. Block: 

As primary care physician in the Division of General Internal Medicine at Northwell, I am happy to share the children’s book I wrote with my husband on the science behind the COVID-19 pandemic. Kelly Stays Home: The Science of Coronavirus is available as a free PDF at http://www.kellystayshome.com with versions for big kids age 7-11 and little kids age 4-6. Discover along with eight-year-old Kelly the science behind the COVID-19 illness, viral transmission, basic epidemiology, and social distancing needed to protect your kids and community. Learn how viruses spread, how vaccines work, and what herd immunity is. Parents will learn how families can advocate for diagnosis, treatment, and help the less fortunate during the pandemic. Hope you and your families enjoy and please share with colleagues, friends, and patients.

Thursday, October 1, 2020

Full-Time Children's Librarian - East Hampton Library

 Please click here for information about a Full-Time Children's Librarian job at the East Hampton Library. Interested candidates should submit a resume and cover letter by October 14th, 2020.