Sunday, January 26, 2014

3. Young People’s Book Awards

Activity:
-       Write a book review (This could be a book for young people, or a book to support your professional practice)
 

I love kid’s books, I encourage children to pursue their interest, read for fun and curiosity. Kids tell me what they like to read. So every year I take great interest in the Young Australian Best Books Awards, or YABBA to gauge what kids have nominated and have awarded, in particular, the Picture book category. Occasionally, I will compare this with Children’s Book Council of Australia, CBCA, to see if nominations are similar: Authors; titles; publish date and if there were any similar themes, for example, books based on war experiences. In November 2013, Author, Carol Chataway, and Illustrator, Nina Rycroft were awarded for their Picture book collaboration, Pooka. I have written a very short review of the book on my Facebook page  Netti Spaghetti

My reviews are a direct synopsis (with a touch of humour) including reading and craft tips for parents to do with their kids. It is purely used for book reviews. When selecting books to review, I assess: What makes it attractive for me, for kids? Is the image defining the story? Do I like the storyline, the flow, and the rhythm of language? Is there a balance of dialogue between text and image?

Professionally, Netti Spaghetti enables me to focus on the changing trends of children and youth literature; the reading focus of parents and carers by what they are reading to their children. Additionally, it keeps me in contact with the public through remote access. It also adds to my professional identity that I am enthusiastic about kid’s books and I am happy to share it.

‘Our profession is constantly changing. We face new challenges in technology, systems and approaches all the time. You have an obligation to yourself to keep up-to-date, develop new skills, knowledge and confidence to build a successful and rewarding career.’
(ALIA, 2012 http://www.alia.org.au/education/pd/)  

Parents who are frequently mobile (in all sense of the word) prefer easy-to-read App-like reviews to find out what books are currently in the library and recommended by a Librarian. Parents may compare blogs, websites and magazines to guide them with their choices, but by utilizing my Facebook page, the information is immediately sent out to them, this becomes time saving. I started Netti Spaghetti to keep in touch with parents and carers who have been to my early learning programs and that they would also like to keep in touch because they continue to work with children: mums, child minders; Nannies; teachers; Librarians, anyone who has a keen interest in children’s books. It has also become my bookshelf of favourite books and collection of different art and story styles.

I hope to continue writing for Netti Spaghetti and include: film clips of favourite Storytime songs; eBook and Audio book reviews; reviews on Australian Indigenous Writers and culturally diverse stories; and weblinks of interest in regard to Children’s literature. The page requires much more diversity, and ‘timeliness’ with books, for example, readiness for school titles etc. I have learned that although it is a brief review that it takes commitment and preparation to regularly update.


References 

Lipu, S. 2013.  Library Services and Programs [INF330 Module 2 1.0] Retrieved
January 19, 2014, from Charles Sturt University website:
http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/INF330_201390_W_D/page/762bd9da-4de4-475c-00f7-0d6d6d6fd46d

Netti Spaghetti. 2013. Reviews. Retrieved from                                                                          https://www.facebook.com/pages/Netti-Spaghetti/282080981897480

Young Australian’s Best Book Awards. 2013. Retrieved from http://yabba.org.au

Children Book Council of Australia. 2013. Retrieved from http://cbca.org.au

No comments: