Sunday, February 1, 2009

Images and reflections on Fred Lipp's visit

(slideshow produced using PhotoPeach)



Several classes reflected in writing on Fred's visit.

From Rebecca in 3LWh:


"Frederick Lipp I think is a very good author. And I didn't know you could write when you're that old. I found it interesting that if you're an author you can also take part in the action. I like the idea of helping the actual people as well as writing a story. I also found interesting that it it takes a REALLY long time to write a book. I learnt that pictures also make a story come alive. I am glad Frederick Lipp is a children's author and not a grown-up author. Frederick Lipp is great at imagining and creating stories. In Cambodia Frederick Lipp made a new school for girls and boys. Someday I'm hoping to do the same! I can't believe that he came to our school and I would like to do this more often. One day I would like to visit Cambodia and help people. I wanted to ask him questions like: is Cambodia a really poor place, and what is the book that took you the longest to write?"


From Millie in 2MGo:


"I liked Frederick Lipp because he told us lots about Cambodia and he read his books to us. The book that he read was called "Running Shoes". It is about a girl called Sophy. Frederick Lipp was born in Maine, USA, and before he was a writer, he was a minister. I learnt that in Cambodia the way to make a wish is to go to the bird lady and buy a bird and make a wish as you let it go. If it flies free, your wish will come true, but if it goes back inside the cage, it will not come true. I found him and his wife, Kitty, very interesting."

In describing how seeing one photograph led him to write a children's book about Cambodia and eventually to setting up a charity to educate girls there, he told the students,

"Be careful what you write -- it can change your life."

Photos of Fred's visit can also be viewed here on Flickr.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Author visit, Mon Jan. 19: Frederick Lipp


We are very pleased to be welcoming Frederick Lipp on Monday, January 19, 2009, to our school.

Fred is the award-winning author of several picture books, including The Caged Birds of Phnom Penh and Running Shoes, both of which feature young girls in Cambodia striving for an education. (More information about his books can be found on his website.)

He is also the founder and president of the Cambodian Arts and Scholarship Foundation, a nonprofit organization providing educational opportunities for under-privileged children in Cambodia.

A retired Unitarian minister, Fred lives in Maine in the United States.


Below is his schedule for the day as well as the related Global Concerns and units of inquiry of each grade level that tie in with his visit.

NB: All presentations will be in the library/ICT room.

8:45 -- 9:45 AM
Group presentation to all Grade 2 and Grade 3 students

  • Grade 2's Global Concern is the Tabitha Foundation - Cambodia

  • Grade 3's Global Concern is PAL (Promoting Asian Literacy), which strives to provide basic education to those underprivileged children who do not have access to educational resources.
10:15 -- 11:15 AM
Group presentation to all of Grade 4
  • Grade 4's Global Concern is Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN), which acts as a voice for children forced to work as carpet weavers and campaigns against the exploitation of children providing temporary shelters and rehabilitation to children rescued straight of the street, often in bonded labour.
12:50 -- 1:20 PM Group presentation to one half of Grade 1
1:20 -- 1:50 PM Group presentation to other half of Grade 1
  • Grade 1 will be in the middle of a unit on "Work and Leisure", so the work of an author will be of interest to the children as well as thinking about the work and leisure aspects of children's lives in Cambodia.

  • Grade 1's Global Concern is Pinoy in the Philippines, which seeks to provide underprivileged children in the Philippines with quality education so they can break free of the poverty cycle.
We have Running Shoes and The Caged Birds of Phnom Penh in the library already, and the two other books (shown below) are on order from Kinokuniya.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Looking back at Term 1

These photos tell the story of our start-up term — from empty room to over 8,000 books and a regular clientele coming in all day long. Our circulation figures for this term are over 13,000 books checked out -- for just 400 students and 36 teachers.



You will note a few photos of book displays, e.g., on UN Day, Art, Manners, Christmas, etc. As I put out book displays on topics, I’m also creating Resource Lists in our online catalog.

Moving over...

image: kellypuffs @ flickr

Welcome to version 2.0 of my library blog -- as the previous one suddenly deveoped ugly ads inserted at the top of posts. Let's see how this host goes...