Friday, June 21, 2013

Hong Kong Public Library


Lessons in shelf awareness

Tuesday, 18 June, 2013, 9:34am








My daughter and I are now proud card-carrying members of the Hong Kong Public Library. My plan to get library cards for us last year got as far as completing the form and queuing at the registration counter because I had forgotten to submit proof of address. I'm ashamed to admit that it took us six months to get around to returning with all the necessary documentation.
This is especially momentous for me because I grew up in public libraries in Canada. Both my parents worked during the week, and most shops were closed on Sundays back then. So every Saturday afternoon, my parents would drop off my brother and me at whichever public library was nearest to where they were planning to shop, because this was the safest place they could think of to leave two primary school-aged children. They would pick us up hours later, after they had finished their errands.
In those early years, I remember reading books only while at the library and participating in the librarian's circle time reading. By the time I reached the age of nine or 10, an afternoon at the library always ended with struggling to decide which books to take home, and being rushed by my parents because I could not edit down my choices for the coming week to the maximum I was allowed to borrow at one time.
There is a wide variety of picture books about going to the library, Don Freeman's Quiet! There's a Canary in the Library is a favourite in our home, with elegant sentences about animals causing a rumpus and giraffes reading tall tales.
Famous siblings Charlie and Lola make a trip to the library in Lauren Child'sBut Excuse Me, That Is My Book. Precocious Lola doesn't quite understand the concept of borrowing when she sees another girl walk by with the book that she wants.
In contrast with Lola, a character from another book series is too earnest about book borrowing. In Alexander Stadler's Beverly Billingsly Borrows a Book, Beverly Billingsly is horrified to learn that the first library book she checks out is two days overdue and imagines terrible consequences for this misdeed.
Debbie Bertram and Susan Bloom's The Best Book to Read is a good introduction for preschoolers who want to learn about the experience of going to the library. For older children, The Shelf Elf Helps Out by Jackie Mims Hopkins explains the Dewey decimal system.
On the Sunday morning that we took my daughter to the Central Public Library in Causeway Bay, I was delighted to see the children's library filled with clusters of families: parents and toddlers, children with their grandparents, older groups of siblings and friends.
The first book that my daughter pulled from the shelves was Jerry Pinkney'sThe Lion and the Mouse. I was impressed with her award-winning choice, and we happily found a spot to cuddle and read together. She liked it so much that she asked us to read it again. I reminded her that this is a library book, so we can check it out of the library and read it many more times at home. Then my husband pointed out that the book came from the "special award winners" shelf and could be enjoyed only at the library. How cruel!
We grudgingly moved on and were careful to guide our daughter to shelves containing books that could be borrowed.
The Central Public Library has a wonderful children's book section, and the government was clever to design a large indoor play gym to encourage toddlers to associate the library with fun and joy.
Our next stop will be the branch library at City Hall in Central, with hopes of visiting a few other branches in the coming months.
Annie Ho is the board chairwoman of Bring Me A Book Hong Kong, a children's literacy charity bringmeabook.org.hk

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Moody Kids


'Pete's a Pizza' book offers tips on easing children's mood swings

Tuesday, 04 June, 2013 [UPDATED: 9:17AM]







When my daughter is eager to relate news back to her teachers, she has a habit of interrupting them at inconvenient times.
Once, after she told me the street that her teacher Miss K lived on, I mentioned that I used to live on the same street before getting married. My daughter exuberantly told poor Miss K about it as she was trying to corral a dozen five-year-olds for morning exercises.
One Monday morning as my daughter was getting ready for school, I recount with her all the fun things we did at the weekend. I tell her gently that if she wants to regale Miss K with these tales, she can do so after morning exercises - or better yet, when she is asked about it.
Much to my surprise, my daughter's eyes cloud over and she looks terribly offended. She crawls under our coffee table, declaring that she will never go to school again.
I lovingly explain that she shouldn't react this way. When she refuses to budge, I give up on cajoling and turn to reverse psychology, shrugging my shoulders and telling her it's perfectly fine with me if she never sees her teachers or plays with her friends at school again.
This tactic fails and I suddenly realise that we're late for school. In the end, I resort to scolding and threats.
After dropping her off at school, I return home in a mood. In my mind, moody parents are bad parents, so I escape to the internet and trawl for answers about my daughter's sudden mood reversal.
After briefly considering whether my daughter has "oppositional defiant disorder" or is a "chronically inflexible child", I stop the madness and turn off both the computer and my neurotic thoughts.
I decide to stick to the logical strategy I forgot that morning: listen and lighten up. The next time my daughter gets surly, I should simply pay attention and care about what she has to say. I mustn't be so quick to dismiss her words and judge her actions.
I take inspiration from William Steig's homonymic children's book, Pete's a Pizza, wherein the father responds to Pete's moodiness by picking up the boy as if he were a big ball of dough and setting him on the kitchen table. Pete's mother joins the father in "kneading" and "garnishing" Pete, who giggles as they sprinkle flour (talcum powder), tomatoes (draughts game pieces) and cheese (pieces of paper) on him.
Although the story was written and published after Steig's 90th birthday,Pete's a Pizza is based on a game he used to play with his daughter.
In any event, as with those seemingly endless nights of late-night milk feeds, I take comfort in knowing that moody episodes also don't go on forever.
Annie Ho is the board chairwoman of Bring Me A Book Hong Kong, a children's literacy charity bringmeabook.org.hk