CHICAGO — Not just a sourcebook or a reference, but a complete multimedia guide, Linda L. Ernst’s “The Essential Lapsit Guide: A Multimedia How-To-Do-It Manual and Programming Guide for Stimulating Literacy Development from 12 to 24 Months,” published by ALA Neal-Schuman, is an innovative, comprehensive resource that will help you stimulate the minds of your youngest patrons with rhymes, songs, fingerplays, books and other creative activities. The engaging materials and methods in this book are equally useful for experienced children’s librarians looking for new ideas and new librarians starting to build their own program for the very young. Through researching the latest in early learner and developmental theories, Ernst:
- carefully details the physical, mental, emotional and social development of children 12 to 24 months;
- guides you through using Lapsit programming to perform effective outreach to all segments of your community;
- shows how to build and maintain effective partnerships with caregivers, child-care providers, early childhood educators and others;
- offers tips for seeking funding for early childhood services.
A detailed assortment of Web Extras, accessible on a companion website, provides further ideas and instructional techniques not featured in the book. Included are a bibliography of chapter resources, a list of rhyme lyrics that appear in the book, full-page sample handouts and templates, and 47 video clips featuring rhymes and activities that encourage audience interaction, performed by the author.
Ernst has been a children’s librarian for more than 35 years, focusing on library service and programming for very young children. She has given training workshops for the King County Library, Seattle Public Library, Everett Public Library and the Sno-Isle Library System in Washington. She has also given workshops in Kentucky, Michigan, San Francisco and Scottsdale, Arizona. Conference programs include the Pennsylvania Library Association and the Washington Library Association. The Children’s and Young Adult Services Interest Group of the Washington Library Association awarded her the 2004 CAYAS Award for Visionary Library Service to Youth. She has served as chair of the Early Childhood Programs and Services Committee for the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and was a member of the 2007 Caldecott Award committee. Her previous books include “Baby Rhyming Time.”
ALA Store purchases fund advocacy, awareness and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide. Founded in 1976 by Patricia Glass Schuman and John Vincent Neal, Neal-Schuman Publishers, now an imprint of ALA Publishing, publishes professional books for librarians, archivists, and knowledge managers. Contact us at (800) 545-2433 ext. 5052 or editionsmarketing@ala.org.
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