PerKIDS Newsletter 2010 Spring

Vol. 4, No. 2

Go Green at your Library

Soon there won't be any school,
But books will always keep you cool.
Recycle a can or plant a flower.
Knowledge is a sustainable power!
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and READ!!!

One of the most effective ways to improve reading skills is to read regularly and often. From June 28 – August 20, let's go green and have a great time reading books!

Kids and teens who read for the joy of it are the strongest readers. When you participate in a summer reading program, you reap the benefits of greater academic achievement.

In the Go Green Reading Program, you get to make all of your reading choices. All you have to do is tell me about the books you read, and I will send you prizes! You should have received a registration form in the mail in early June.

Return your form to receive a reading log, packet of activities, and a list of great books. We will send you activities (and prizes!) throughout the summer.

Details will be sent about the great events we are planning. I can't wait to go green with you this summer!

Boston Celtics Visit Perkins for Read to Achieve Program

This spring, Boston Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck and team members Brian Scalabrine and Marquis Daniels read aloud from a print-braille copy of Keep Your Ear on the Ball by Genevieve Petrillo (BR 17046) along with three Perkins students.

In the story, Davey, a student who is blind, teaches his classmates that he can do everything they can do - even play kickball. He reads alongside his classmates, writes on a Perkins Brailler, and uses a white cane to find his way to class independently. His classmates stop offering him help when his answer is always, "Thanks, but no thanks."

But no one wants Davey on their kickball team when he continually misses the ball. Working together, everyone comes up with a solution using auditory clues to allow Davey to play the game independently.

After the reading, students and staff asked the players everything from "How tall are you?" (Scalabrine is 6'9") to "What was your college major" (Daniels majored in sociology) to "What is your favorite book?" (appropriately asked by Library Director Kim Charlson).

Brian Scalabrine likes to read Madeline (BRM 1417, RC/DB 44292) to his daughter. Echoing the theme of Keep Your Ear on the Ball and his own favorite childhood classic, The Little Engine That Could (BR 12016, RC 32652), Daniels offered students some encouraging advice: "Never settle - whatever you want to be in life, go full speed towards it."

Scalabrine and his student co-readers led the audience in the Celtics championship chant.

The reading was part of "Read to Achieve," an NBA program designed to build a lifelong love of reading in young people by providing greater access to books. Read to Achieve, supported locally by ReadBoston, is sponsored by New England Eye Center and Aquafina.

Contact the Library to order any of the books listed, or any other books!

Audio Described Movies

Did you know that the BTBL offers descriptive DVDs? Described videos have a second audio track with a narrator's voice describing the action on the screen during the breaks in the dialog and sound effects.

We have Elmo, Between the Lions, and Arthur movies, as well as many others. Contact the Library to order movies!

Also, you can contact the Library for a complete list of movie theater locations that show described movies (where you can borrow headphones from customer service and listen to the description).

To sign up for the Bay State Council of the Blind weekly list of described movies playing in these theaters, send your request to the Library and we will pass it along.

BARD: Braille and Audio Reading Download

Once you get your digital machine, don't forget to sign up for BARD! In addition to the digital cartridges you will get in the mail from the Library, you can also download an unlimited number of books and magazines from BARD.

Visit the Library of Congress' downloadable audiobook and magazine service at nlsbard.loc.gov/MA.

It is fun to visit the "most popular" and "recently added" book lists on BARD. You can transfer your downloads to your new player using a thumb drive or by putting it on a blank cartridge.

To purchase blank cartridges, visit www.perkinsproducts.org or call Adaptive Technology, a division of Perkins Products at 617-972-7373.

The cost of a 1GB cartridge is $10.99 and a 2GB cartridge is $11.99.

Newsline News

Do you need to keep up with the news for your current events class? Now, it's easier than ever with information provided on Newsline!

Newsline is an electronic system that allows users to listen to newspapers and magazines through synthetic voice output via any touch-tone telephone. It is free of charge to registered users and is accessed by calling either a local or toll-free telephone number.

Did you know you can listen to Time Magazine for Kids on Newsline? Written by young reporters, Time for Kids is a division of Time Magazine published especially for children. It is available in editions for grades 2-3 and for grades 4-6.

Dial in to listen to the newest issue, along with the Boston Globe, USA Today, and many other newspapers. Contact the Library to sign up for Newsline and to receive your access code.

Read Me a Smory!

The Smory website has fifty free original stories for kids, read by kids each month. You can listen and submit your own smories.

You can submit fiction, rhyming stories, or poems that are 750 words or less. Listen to some great smories and become a star! Visit the Smory website at www.smories.com.

One Minute Wonders!

View One Minute Wonders to learn great facts about a variety of science and social studies topics. Learn about a Northern Oriole that can eat 17 caterpillars in a minute, music in the 16th century, or vehicles in the world.

The videos are very entertaining! Watch them online at www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc.

Summer Fun Ideas

The Library offers free or discount passes to five area museums.

Visit the fantastic exhibits at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Mystic Seaport, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Museum of Science, and the New England Aquarium with the Perkins passes.

Contact the Library for more information or to reserve a pass.

U.S. citizens with permanent disabilities qualify for a free lifetime access pass to National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands.

The pass admits the pass holder and 4 adults (children under 16 are admitted free).

For more information about the pass, visit www.nps.gov/fees_passes.htm or call 202-208-3818.

Get Connected

Keep up with the latest news and events from Perkins School for the Blind on Facebook.

Visit the Perkins page, growing every day with new fans, at www.facebook.com/officialperkins. Join in and tell us what you'd like to see!

Helen Keller was an author, lecturer, activist, world traveler, ambassador, and icon. The life she led continues to be an inspiration.

Visit the American Foundation for the Blind's Helen Keller Facebook page at www.facebook.com/HelenKellerFans to learn more.

Audiobook Community

Join a social network for audiobook aficionados! You can download free young adult titles and classics, and mingle with your favorite narrators.

Audiobook Community is developed and maintained by AudioFile Magazine staff. Visit www.audiobookcommunity.com for more information.

Do You Have Your New Digital Player?

Have you requested your new digital player yet?

This new player is the smallest unit ever offered by the National Library Service. Patrons can't say enough about how easy it is to use, and it provides listeners with superior sound quality. And best of all, it is free and ready to be sent to you right away!

Stay up-to-date with digital books! The following are just a few of the hundreds of new digital books we have. Contact the Library to order these titles (digital books have a "DB" in front of the number), or any other titles.

How to Scratch a Wombat: Where to Find It, What to Feed It, Why It Sleeps All Day by Jackie French (DB 69072)
Australian author recounts meeting her first wombat, Smudge, thirty years ago and tells everything she's learned about wombats since then from her furry neighbors Bad Bart the Biter, Mothball, and Sneezy. She describes their burrows, love of carrots, ways of rearing their young, and reasons for avoiding the sun. For grades 3-6.

Trick of the Tale: A Collection of Trickster Tales by John Matthews (DB 68649)
Twenty folktales featuring tricksters from around the world--Japan, Canada, East Africa, the United States, England, Russia, and more. In the Irish tale "The King of All Birds," a tiny wren outwits the mighty eagle to win the title. For grades 4-7 and older readers.

Three Cups of Tea (Young Readers Edition) by Sarah L. Thomson (DB 68651)
Recounts adventures of Greg Mortenson, a mountain climber who became lost in northern Pakistan in 1993 and was cared for in a remote village. Discusses his promise to build the children a school and his ongoing efforts to establish other schools where they never existed. For grades 5-8.

Appalachian Trail

Mike Hanson, who is completely blind, is hiking the Appalachian Trail by himself. The trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine, is an amazing 2,178 miles long.

He says his GPS equipment will "tell me where I am. Second, it will tell me what points of interest are around me. A white cane will tell me about obstacles and hazards."

Visit his website at www.blindhiker.com for more information about this incredible journey!

Books about Hiking

Contact the Library to order these cool books about hiking adventures!

Peak by Roland Smith (BR 17994, RC/DB 64746)
A New York City SWAT team arrests fourteen-year-old Peak Marcello for scaling a skyscraper. A judge places Peak on probation and allows him to accompany his father, a famous mountain climber, to Tibet, where Peak hopes to be the youngest person to climb Mount Everest. For grades 6-9.

Escapade Johnson and Mayhem at Mount Moosilauke by Michael Sullivan (RCM 1111)
In his first adventure, a wisecracking boy who thinks he lives in most boring town in the most boring state (New Hampshire) finds plenty of excitement when he is face-to-face with an angry bear on a mountain top. Grades 2-4.

Touch the Top of the World by Erik Weihenmayer (BR 14512, RC 51505)
In this adventure-packed memoir, the author recalls rebelling against becoming blind by age fifteen. Relates acquiring a passion for mountaineering and developing the character traits that enabled him to succeed. Covers his climbing exploits and his wedding on top of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library
175 North Beacon Street
Watertown, MA 02472