Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Children's Literature on the Net

The following information comes from an October, 1997, information bulletin distributed by the Library of Congress, Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Washington, DC:

Among the ever-growing number of children's literature sites on the Internet, many contain full-text versions of children's classics. Below is a list of selected sites that offer a wide variety of text-based literary resources, both informational and primary documents.

General: The following sites contain a vast amount of information on children's literature. In addition to links to texts, they also include lists of award-winning books, recommended reading lists, bestseller lists, resources for teachers and parents, and much more.

Children's Literature Web Guide:

http://www.ucalgary.ca/~

dkbrown/index.html

Electronic Resources for Youth Services: Children's Literature

http://www.ccn.cs.dal.ca/~

aa331/childlit.html

ELECTRONIC TEXTS:

Public Domain

Electronic Children's Books

gopher://lib.nmsu.edu/11/.subjects/Education/.childlit/.childbooks

This site contains the full text of many classic works of children's literature including The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, Robinson Crusoe, The Call of the Wild, and many more.

Authors

The following sites contain text-based material by or about an author:

Louisa May Alcott

http://www.coppersky.com/louisa

Lewis Carroll

http://www.lewiscarroll.org/carroll.html

Beverley Cleary

http://www.teleport.com/~krp/cleary.html

Dr. Seuss

http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~ttorres/seuss.html

Arthur Ransom

http://humboldt1.com/ar/literay/

Saint-Exupery, Antoine de

http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~smfriedm/exupery/

Shel Silverstein

http://www.dmv.com/~quix/shel.html

Mark Twain

http://web.syr.edu/~fjzwick/twainwww.html

New Catalog of Braille Books

We have been asked to carry the following announcement:

Seedlings Braille Books for Children announces its new 1998

catalog. This catalog contains over 300 low-cost Braille books for

children. Thirty-eight books have been added this year, including

pre-schoolers print, Braille, and picture books. For more

information check the Seedlings Web page at

[http://www.22cent.com/seedlings] or write to: Seedlings, P.O. Box

51924, Livonia, Michigan 48151-5924, or e-mail: [email protected]

Active Learning Conference

From the Editor: About four years ago I attended an Active Learning Conference conducted by Dr. Lilli Nielsen. Active Learning is both a method and a philosophy about promoting learning in multi-disabled, blind children (it works for children who are "just" blind, too). It was among the most useful conferences I've ever attended as a professional or as a parent. I highly recommend it to parents, teachers, therapists, or any care giver or service provider of children who have visual, physical, or mental disabilities. Here is an announcement about an upcoming Active Learning Conference in March:

Penrickton Center for Blind Children Presents:

Dr. Lilli Nielsen

A Conference for Active Learning, March 2, 3, 4, 1998, Holiday Inn-Southgate, Southgate Michigan.

For registration information contact the Penrickton Center for Blind Children, telephone (313) 946-7500, fax (313) 946-6707. Registration fee is $150 if paid by February 6, 1998, and $175 after that date.

Schedule:

* Monday—Active Learning vs. Passive Learning: Many children with multiple impairments wait for adults to provide stimulation. Therefore, they become passive. An overview of Active Learning techniques will be presented emphasizing simple ways to change the environment so that a child becomes an "active learner."

* Tuesday—Perceptual Aides that Promote Active Learning: Dr.

Nielsen has developed specific equipment such as the Little Room, The Resonance Board, Support Bench, Essef Board, and more. The benefits of this equipment will be explained and demonstrated. Dr. Nielsen will demonstrate her Active Learning techniques with a blind multi-disabled child.

* Wednesday—Identifying Where To Begin: Discovering the emotional level of a child to develop a starting point in Active Learning. Dr. Nielsen will explain how to utilize Active Learning to promote the development of oral motor skills, which will further enhance a child's feeding and communication skills. The relationships of Active Learning to the development of a child's independence in self-care skills will also be discussed.

About the Presenter: Dr. Lilli Nielsen is employed as special education advisor at Refsnaesskolen, the National Institute for Blind and Partially Sighted Children and Youth in Denmark. Trained as a preschool teacher and as a psychologist, Dr. Nielsen has worked with handicapped children for over 37 years, the last 30 years with blind and visually impaired children (birth to 21 years of age) with and without other disabilities. Dr. Nielsen has written numerous books and lectures around the world regarding the Active Learning approach she developed. She also designed equipment to provide an optimal environment for active learning to take place.

Home-made Wikki-Stix™

The following information comes from the May, 1997, POBC News and Views, the newsletter of the Parents of Blind Children Division of the NFB of Colorado:

Wikki Stix™ are colorful waxy strings available at toy and crafts stores which have been a favorite creative toy for children for many years. A little like pipe cleaners in that they are bendable, Wikki Stix™ have the advantage of being able to stick to each other or to objects. Here is a recipe for making your own Wikki Stix™-like product. (Attributed to Nancy Getten of the Montana School for the Blind.)

Materials:

One large empty coffee can

Paraffin wax

Toilet Sealant (available at hardware stores)

Crayons (optional)

String

Wax paper

Process:

Put equal amounts of paraffin wax and toilet sealant in the coffee can. Place can in a pot of warm water and heat until wax is melted. Stir in crayon shavings, if desired, to color. When all is melted and mixed, dip pieces of string in the mixture and lay out to dry on wax paper. Keep the wax warm as you work or it will harden. Once the strings have cooled, you can bend, shape and reuse as you would the commercial Wikki Stix™.

Blind Runner Makes History

The following news article appeared in the May/June, 1997, issue of The Palmetto Blind, the newsletter of the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina. The information came from a press release from SCSDB.

South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind's (SCSDB)

Sonya Bell Makes History in State Track Meet For the first time in U.S. history, a totally blind runner participated in a state track and field championship. The SCSDB girls' 1,600 relay team, led by star athlete Sonya Bell, finished sixth in the S.C. State Championships on May 15, 1997. For this accomplishment, Sonya and her teammates each received resolutions from the S.C. Senate and the S. C. House of Representatives in May.

Sonya Bell, 16, of Chester has won national medals in gymnastics, ice skating, and track and field. She received the 1994 national ARETE Award for Courage in Sports and has been featured by the CBS Evening News, ESPN, FX Network, SC-ETV, Sports Illustrated and Jet Magazine.

She set a national record for a totally blind runner in the 400 meter run with a time of 67.1 seconds at the Spartanburg County Track and Field Championship in April. In 1996, Sonya was chosen to be a member of the 1,600 meter relay team to demonstrate Paralympic events during the U.S. Olympic trials in Atlanta.

Braille Transcription Services

The following resource list is reprinted from the Slate and Stylus, Vol. 14, No. 3, a publication of the National Federation of Blind Writer's Division:

This is a partial list. We are simply listing, not giving, our endorsement to those included.

* MTS (Multimedia Transcription Service), 131 Maine Street, Suite 120, Hackensack, NJ 07601. (201) 996-9423 or fax (201) 996-9422. Will convert print, fax, or disk into Braille, large print, disk or cassette. Contact for cost.

* Housing and United Services, Inc.: Attn., Michael Marrazzo, 47 Center Ave., Leonardo, NJ 07737, (908) 872-1990, or (908) 291-7215. Will do large print, Braille, and audio cassette. Contact for fee.

* National Braille Association, Attn: Angela Coffaro, 3 Townline Circle, Rochester, NY 14623, (716) 427-8260. No rush orders! Braille or Thermoform produced on one-sided 11 by 11 � paper.

Cost $.12 per page, $1.00 extra for binding. $5.00 minimum order.

Can do Nemeth or Music.

* Sun Sound, Attn: Dede Pearse, 3124 E. Roosevelt, Phoenix, AZ 85008, (602) 231-0500, fax (602)220-9335. Print materials converted to Braille, large print, disk, electronic bulletin board or cassette, materials can be sent via print, modem, or disk; binding services are also available; cost $.30 per letter-sized Braille page, less for quantity orders.

* Quik-Scribe, Attn: Ron and Sue Staley, 14144 Burbank Blvd, #4, Van Nuys, CA 91401, (818) 989-2137, fax: (818) 989-5602. Print, large print, Braille; will do computer manuals, textbooks, instruction brochures, Nemeth or music. Can transcribe from print, Apple, or MS-DOS disks. Send materials via mail, modem, or Internet:[[email protected]] Turn around time is three days to three weeks for small orders. Credit cards accepted. Call for fee schedules.

Speak to Me Catalog

We have been asked to carry the following announcement:

Give the gift that says something. The Fall/Winter 1997 Speak to Me catalog features plenty of children's items including talking dolls, singing and talking plush bears, singing toothbrushes, comb and brush sets, electronic talking teaching toys for kids of all ages, and kid-sized keyboards. We will always continue to offer those favorite unusual and wacky products such as talking key chains, unique music boxes, etc. Call Denise Russell at (800) 248-9965 for your free Speak to Me catalog. Request print, cassette, or disk.