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Call for Papers at Unisa's 4th Children's Reading Conference

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 02 Apr 2012   |   

4th Unisa Children’s Reading Conference
Theme: Social media and children

11-12 September 2012
Sunnyside Campus of the University of South Africa, Pretoria

“One in six children is failing to read books as they spend an increasing amount of time text messaging friends, sending e-mails and browsing social networking sites”.
Social media has become exceedingly popular in recent years, which is a cause of concern among many parents, librarians, teachers and other adults. Sceptics refer to disadvantages of social media such as the effects on children’s ability to concentrate; their ability to communicate; the lowering of literacy rates, etc. In the mean time, children happily find themselves sharing, using and understanding information in ways that were unimaginable a generation ago.
The changes brought about by technology, and social media in particular, in the lives of children should not be denied but embraced. Social media, as technology, should not be seen as a threat to reading and to books in particular, but.as a challenge and tool to introduce children to books and information via mediums other than traditional print.
Purpose of the conference
The purpose of the conference is to provide a forum for librarians, teachers, parents, caregivers, authors, publishers, researchers and academics and any other interested parties to share ideas and knowledge on the broad topic of children and social media.
Call for abstracts
You are invited to submit an abstract of between 150 and 300 words as an e-mail attachment to Prof Thomas van der Walt (vdwaltb@unisa.ac.za). Please include full contact details, institutional affiliation and a brief CV in paragraph format of not more than 100 words.
Presentations will be confined to 20 minutes plus a 10-minute question/discussion session. Your paper should address any of the following and related sub-themes:
• Social media/networking and reading: the impact on reading
• The use of social media/networking to promote reading
• Libraries/information centres and social media
• Marketing libraries as a partner in the social media context
• Utilising the school library as a social media platform in SA
• Social media and reading behaviour
• Moral aspects/ethical of social media and children
• Mobile technologies as enhancer of the reading habit
• Publishing and social media

Important dates
Submission of abstracts: 15 June 2012
Notification of acceptance of abstracts: 13 July 2012
Submission of full-text papers: 15 August 2012
Please note that that the submission of an abstract entails a commitment to attend and present the paper should the abstract be accepted.
For more information about the conference please contact Thomas van der Walt: vdwaltb@unisa.ac.za

Jona Rankin Illustrates More New Titles from Jacana

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 02 Apr 2012   |   

Swimming in the Sun, Finding Aunt Joan and Moving House
by Jenny Hatton, illustrated by Joan Rankin
The fictional Lucy is a delightful youngest child who we meet in a new series of children’s books by Jenny Hatton and illustrated by Joan Rankin. I guess Lucy is about four. In “Finding Aunt Joan” she is on a road trip to visit an aunt. From Mthatha, Lucy and her family drive through the rural Eastern Cape to East London. From the back of the car stuck between her brother Simon, her cousin Sandi and much paraphernalia, she cries, “Are we there yet?” We have all heard that desperate refrain. The long trip is familiarly awful. In “Swimming in the Sun” Lucy and her family are on holiday at Mzamba beach where a day of pure fun is described. In “Moving House” Lucy’s family is packing up their house in Mthatha for a move to Bela Bela. Lucy is understandably anxious but her mother persuades her to “like the sounds of this house.”
Although, according to the back cover, the books are intended to help “beginner readers to build reading confidence”, my non-reading children have asked me to read and to re-read this lovely series. There is a comforting joy to sharing Lucy’s daily and identifiable experiences. The beautiful and ethereal illustrations add colour and depth to the stories. – Review by Jackie May

Book details

• Swimming in the Sun by Jenny Hatton, illustrated by Joan Rankin
  EAN: 9781431402182
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

• Finding Aunt Joan by Jenny Hatton
  EAN: 9781770098039
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

• Moving House by Jenny Hatton
  EAN: 9781431402175
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Hop on Over to the Book Lounge this Saturday for Some Easter Fun!

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 02 Apr 2012   |   

Bunnies hop and eat carrots and are soft and fluffy and they have some of the best stories written about them!

Today we will read great bunny stories and eat Easter Eggs and maybe even hop around a bit!
Storytime is every Saturday at 11am

• Visit The Book Lounge

Classic Stories at the Book Lounge this Saturday

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 27 Mar 2012   |   

This year we want to read you all the classics bit by bit and today we are reading the Gingerbread Man, the tale of the classy cat, Puss in Boots and last but not least, Rapunzel. It is always good to listen to stories that have been told over and over, because you know they are magic!

And of course we will do some colouring in, which will make it the perfect way to start your Saturday.
Storytime is every Saturday at 11am.

• Visit the Book Lounge

Eastern Cape Parents 'Shut Down' 294 State Schools

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 27 Mar 2012   |   

Fed-up parents in Eastern Cape have “unofficially” shut down about 300 schools in their communities because they would rather send their children elsewhere to receive a better education.

It is reported that the state is to spend R657-million less on new schools this year as provinces battle to meet the demand for classroom spaces.

Yesterday, opposition parties, the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union and Equal Education lambasted the department for what they alleged was a string of failures.

They claim it has failed to provide safe classrooms, teachers, food, transport, textbooks and stationery for schools.

They were reacting to education MEC Mandla Makupula’s budget and policy speech to the Bhisho legislature on Thursday.

“Communities have unofficially closed 294 public schools in Eastern Cape. These are just being vandalised and the law requires that we’ve got to [hold] public hearings,” Makupula said.

The hearings would ascertain whether the department should close or merge the affected schools. The hearings, which will take place across the department’s 23 districts, are expected to result in the closure of many schools with less than 100 registered pupils.

The department reportedly indicated earlier this year that there were already 500 schools earmarked for closure because of low enrolments.

Makupula’s statement was made after DA leader and Western Cape Premier Helen Zille called Eastern Cape pupils flocking to Western Cape for a better education “refugees”.

The Daily Dispatch, The Times’s sister paper, reported last month that a Western Cape education department 10-day snap survey at the beginning of the year showed that about 8000 children from Eastern Cape had unexpectedly entered the Western Cape’s education system.

• Read complete article at Timeslive

Why Dogs are Afraid of Storms

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 19 Mar 2012   |   

Why Dog is Afraid of Storms
By Maryanne Bester, illustrated by Shayle Bester – Jacana
Nothing like a quirky animal story to tickle a child’s reading pleasure. This entertaining romp is a treat for first-time readers with the use of simple beginner words, repetition and dollops of humour to get the reading juices flowing. The tale of a character simply named Dog who has a hilarious rumble with a herd of wily cows is also suited for pre-schoolers who will adore Shayle Bester’s fabulously funny drawings of the cows in all kinds of feminine guises. – Review by Heather Robertson

Book details

• Why Dog is Afriad of Storms by Maryanne Bester, Shayle Bester
  EAN: 9781431402199
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Come Feel Silly During Storytime this Satuday at the Book Lounge

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 19 Mar 2012   |   

What is better than a story that makes you laugh out loud, the kind that makes you giggle a bit and feel silly?

Today we are reading funny stories that will (hopefully!) make you laugh and giggle and feel a bit silly.
Storytime is every Saturday at 11am

• Visit the Book Lounge

University of Johannesburg Launches Maponya Mall Reading Programme

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 19 Mar 2012   |   

The University of Johannesburg (UJ), in collaboration with Maponya Mall and Sanlam, will be launching a fun new reading initiative aimed at pre and primary school children to encourage reading for pleasure inside and outside the classroom.
The three-fold mission of the Maponya Mall Reading Programme, to be launched at the Centre Court of the Maponya Mall, Soweto on Saturday, 17 March at 09:00, is to encourage and educate families about their important role in raising a reader; support schools in assuring that students read on grade level by the end of the third grade and to facilitate community involvement in helping young readers be successful.

UJ’s Executive Dean of Education, Professor Sarah Gravett, together with the university’s foundation phase students will jump-start the reading programme by reading selected books to the children and their parents in order to start discussion on issues from the tactical to the ethical and everything in between.

“Reading to one’s child is crucial to various aspects of development. From the womb through to the intermediate phase, reading to one’s child is essential. Reading is a very important way of activating and initiating the development of more complex thinking and linguistic literacy, which can prove crucial to the years of foundation phase schooling. The earlier reading is used as a tool to stimulate language development the better, since we never exist without language; we use it all the time,” says Prof Gravett.

According to Gravett selected stories can be used to teach a child something about society and the world. “By exposing the child to the right story, one is able to refer to the events and essential facets of narrative to teach them something about the world. For instance, a story that deals with friendship can be used to teach values and ideas accompany bonds of friendship.”

She concludes: “The question should not be whether I should be reading to my child, but what I should be reading and how I can use the reading experience to teach my child something about society. Even though the mere act of reading to one’s child is important since it stimulates the development of linguistic literacy, it should be accompanied by the deliberate attempt to teach one’s child something new. Your child’s success at school depends on what you are reading to them.”

• Read complete article at Businessnews