PD Blog Post #1 Book review of CBCA Honours Winning Picture Story Book of the Year 2020, "Three" written and illustrated by Stephen Michael King.

For my first blog post, I chose to write a book review of the Children’s Book Council of Australia  (CBCA) Honours Award winning picture story book “Three”, written and illustrated by Stephen Michael King (2024). As I did not have access to a physical copy of the book I had chosen, I used my Story Box Library membership to see the book (2024).

Figure 1

(Stephen Michael King, 2020)

During this activity, I learnt that I need to read a book multiple times to grasp more of the themes the author is trying to convey. Picture story books contain multiple layers of meaning that is not always obvious in a single read and it is important to understand these layers in order to pass on this knowledge during library programs. Added to, by the illustrations, it can mean that a short picture story book can be illuminating on multiple themes.

Figure 2

(Slide Share, 2014)

By knowing Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development Theory, of using scaffolding to help assist children’s development (Sprouts, 2020, February 28) and understanding what messages the books are conveying; I can design programs to provide scaffolding for young children to enhance their development. Including, basic educational needs of literacy and reading, but in reference to “Three” (Stephan Michael King, 2020) it can help provide children with their social development by providing programs to teach self-acceptance, gratitude and diversity.

I find that I do a lot of things instinctively, without theory to support the programs and resources I choose for the library. By completing this activity and relating it to a developmental theory, I am beginning to fill those knowledge gaps to better understand why I make certain decisions and make better choices. It will also allow me to extend my planning beyond what I might have in the past to provide richer experiences for patrons. The Queens (New York’s) Library Child Development Table  (Cerny et al., 2006, pp. 6-9), provides a fantastic framework of the developmental stages of children and young adults as well as their potential library needs; I intend to include this into my programme planning and collection development, from now on.

Figure 3: sample of Child Development Table

(Cerny et al., 2006, p. 7)

The CBCA annual book awards aim to “promote quality literature for young Australians by Australians” (2024, about the book of the year awards section). Therefore, I chose to focus on a book that received one of the CBCA’s highest awards, highlighting the fact that having book awards assists librarians in choosing new books, that not only engage readers but also help to support their development. However, during research I discovered an article that suggests that prizing books has become an alternative form of censorship; in that instead of banning “bad” books, books that are considered “good” by the judging committing are promoted (Kidd, 2009, pp. 200-201). Reminding me that as well as using some book awards to guide some of my selections, I should also be discriminating about relying solely on them in order to avoid accidental censorship and allowing me to provide a well-rounded collection and library programme to my young patrons.

Figure 4: Stephen Michael King in his studio.

 (CBCA, 2020, July 14)

References

Cerny, R., Markey, P., & Williams, A. (2006). Outstanding library service to children putting the core competencies to work. Association for Library Service to Children, American Library Association.

Children's Book Council of Australia [CBCA]. (2020, July 14). Stephen Michael King on 'three'. [video] YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp_2YY1yJ50

Children's Book Council of Australia [CBCA]. (2024). About the CBCA Book of the Year Awards. Retrieved 16 March 2024 from https://www.cbca.org.au/about-the-awards

Kidd, K. (2009). “Not censorship but selection”: Censorship and/as prizing. Children's literature in education, 40(3), 197-216. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-008-9078-4

King, S. M. (2020). Three. Scholastic Australia.

King, S. M. (2020). Three [book cover]. https://www.stephenmichaelking.com/books/three/

King, S. M. (2024). Three. Story Box Library.

Slide Share. (2014). English literature reading skills: Layers of meaning - lord of the flies example. [Image]. Retrieved 24 May 2024 from https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/layers-of-meaning-lord-of-the-flies-example/34873641

Sprouts. (2020, February 28). Vygotsky's cognitive development through social relationships [video], YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I2hrSRbmHE

Welcome to my Proffessional Development blog

Welcome to the new section of my blog: my Library Services for Children and Young Adults Professional Development Blog.

I had created a previous blog, 12 years ago, when doing my Diploma. My intention was initially, as others had done, to continue using this one. Why not, I thought? I like the idea of keeping all my blogs in one place.

My first issue: what was that blog called again? "Sam's blog", "Sam's Library Blog"? I had no recollection on what topic had been, and I was certain it was in the title. After fluffing around for about an hour, searching online, attempting to search old paperwork, I gave up. I will have to start a new one. 

Let's try WordPress I thought, that's popular, no, that seems a little complicated. I'll try Blogger, searching for INF330 blogs to have a squiz at what others had produced in the past, I saw many people using it. Low and behold, when I login with my Google account, first thing I see is my old blog, job done.

So, I look forward to producing four new posts for you. Covering my experiences of completing four activities that address the topics of diversity, censorship, young peoples book awards and emerging technologies.

Professional Development Free Icon by Karyative

References