The following was submitted by a CMLE scholarship recipient.

Submitted by: DeAnn Redfield, St. Cloud Christian School 

Do you love children’s books and anxiously wait for each year’s new books to be announced? Are you looking for a great professional development opportunity to find out about new children’s books? Peggy Sharp’s program “What’s new in Children’s Literature and How to use it in your Program 2012” offered through the Bureau of Education & Research is highly recommended. The program includes an extensive resource handbook that contains annotated bibliographies of new children’s literature. The handbook has book sharing ideas, student activity resources, and “Top Ten Picks of the Year”.

Benefits of attending this seminar include previewing new children’s books, both fiction and nonfiction; learning about trends in delivery of stories and factual information such as e-readers, apps, trailers, and social networking sites; and exploring teaching strategies to help students get the most out of a book without destroying the joy of reading.

My library will benefit because I learned so much about new children’s books and instructional strategies to incorporate them into the school’s curriculum. Having a resource book to take with me is an added benefit. While I was learning about Peggy Sharp’s top ten books of the year, I made my own list of ideas to use in my library program. Librarians are encouraged to have a wish list of books to order if extra funds find their way into the budget. I am prepared with a list of twenty great books to add to my collection – Peggy’s favorites and my own.

More information about this event can be found at the following site: http://www.ber.org/seminars/CourseInfo.cfm?seid=BE22F1-STC