Rock County Public Library Big Read activities 
Books are available at all the Rock County Public Libraries.  Stop in to borrow a copy or use the Arrowhead Library 
System's library catalog, RockCat, to have one put on hold and delivered to the library of your choice.

All library events are free and open to the public, some may require registration.

Kick Off Party!
Thursday, April 1 from 5-7 p.m.
Hedberg Public Library, Janesville 
Sixteen area libraries throughout Rock, Walworth and Jefferson County will formally kick-off the area’s second Big Read literacy project with a reception at Hedberg Public Library that will include music by Felipe Rodriguez, Jr., free food, and chances to win special giveaways. 

Felipe Rodriquez Jr.'s "Latino Musical Traditions"
For the past 35 years Felipe has been performing traditional folk music from Puerto Rico, Mexico and Cuba to diverse audiences in Wisconsin and throughout the U.S. as a way for others to gain an appreciation of the music, language, culture and traditions of Latinos in the U.S. He combines music and lecture as a means to expose the reach styles, rhythms and beats from each group from a historical perspective through his guitar playing and singing, thereby demonstrating the many folk styles of music that exist and which are still heard today in Latino communities. Strongly believing in audience participation, he brings along the “maleta,” which is a suitcase full of traditional instruments, and explains how each has influenced a particular style of music.

Beloit Public Library - return to top
608-364-2915 - 605 Eclipse Blvd.
Website

Papel Picado - Thursday, May 13 at 4 p.m.
For ages 6-12– To celebrate The Big Read and the book My Life with the Wave, 
we will be decorating banners using a Hispanic art form. 

4th Wednesday Book Discussion - Wednesday, May 26th at 7 p.m.

Clinton Public Library - return to top
608-676-5569 - 214 Mill St.
Website

3rd Tuesday Book Discussion Group - Tuesday, April 20 at 7 p.m.

Senior Center Book Discussion Group - Thursday, April 22 at 10:30 a.m.
This group meets at the Senior Center, 508 Front St.

"My Life With the Wave" - Wednesday, July 7
Part of the summer library program for kids.  More information TBA.

Edgerton Public Library - return to top
608-884-4511 - 101 Albion St.
Website

Children's Storytime on 'My Life with the Wave' - Tuesday, March 23 at 10:30 a.m.

Afterschool Art - Wednesday, March 24 at 3 p.m
For school aged kids. The children will be making "maracas".

No Foolin' A Free Book - Thursday, April 1 at 10 a.m.

Book Discussion - Thursday, April 22 at 6:30 p.m.

Eager Free Public Library - return to top
608-882-2260 - 39 W. Main St.

To be announced.

Hedberg Public Library
608-758-6588 - 316 S. Main St., Janesville
Website

Big Read Kickoff - Thursday, April 1 from 5-7 p.m.
See above.

Bilingual Poetry Open Mic - Sunday, April 11 from 2-4 p.m.
Although not directly sponsored by The Big Read, this bilingual program for adults and high school students
in celebration of National Poetry Month fits right into the Hispanic focus of the Big Read project. 

Madison poet Nydia Rojas will talk about the process of writing poetry.  Her poems have been published in Wisconsin Academy Review, International Poetry Review, Calyx, and other magazines.  

Adults and high school students are invited to step up to the mic to read a sample of their poems in English and/or Spanish. Refreshments will be provided by the Janesville Area Writers Club.  Open to all speakers of English and/or Spanish. 
Translation will be available. Poets interested in reading their work are asked to check in at 1:30 p.m. 

Book Discussion - Thursday, April 15 at 6:30 p.m.
Discuss the short stories "Chac Mool" and "August Afternoon" at Hedberg Public Library. 

Children's Day, Book Day/El día de los niños, el día de los libros - Friday, April 30 at 7 p.m. 
Celebrate this special day with fun-filled activities, stories, food and books! Vénganse para ayudarnos celebrar este día 
especial con actividades, cuentos, alimento y por supuesto libros…¡todo lleno de diversión! No registration necessary.

Cinco de Mayo - Saturday, May 8 from 1-4 p.m.
Join us as we celebrate the victory of the Battle of Puebla, an important date in Mexican history. Sample authentic 
foods and beverages, cultural arts, music, dance and more. No registration necessary.

Milton Public Library
608-868-7462 - 430 E. High St.
Website

Milton Reads 2010 Kickoff! - Thursday, April 1 between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Stop by the Library and enter to win a free copy of Sun, Stone, and Shadows. 
Kick-off sponsored by the Friends of the Milton Public Library.

Book Discussion - Wednesday, April 7 at 1 p.m.
No registration is needed.

Kids in the Kitchen: Mexican Foods! - Saturday, April 10 from 10:30 a.m.-Noon. 
Kids, ages 8-12, will learn how to make delicious Mexican foods, and then eat their creations! 
Registration is necessary.

Fiesta and Book Discussion - Thursday, April 15 at 6:30 p.m.
Book discussion with perspectives from Library Director Lisa Brooks and City Administrator Todd Schmidt. 
Refreshments provided by El Paraiso Restaurant.

My Life with the Wave, Children’s Arts and Crafts Event - Saturday April 17at 11 a.m. 
Crafts include papel cortado, a traditional Mexican paper banner, and paper bag piñatas.

Art Display - Throughout the month of April
Enjoy art inspired by Sun, Stone, and Shadows, created by Milton High School students.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the center of American Culture. The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. Support for The Big Read is provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Transportation for The Big Read is provided by Ford.

For more information and events around the area go to the UW-Whitewater Young Auditorium's blog: <http://youngauditorium.wordpress.com/>.  For more information about Rock County’s participation in The Big Read, please contact Martha Gammons at the Arrowhead Library System, 608-758-6695 or gammons.martha@als.lib.wi.us.

About the Book: 
Description (Amazon.com) - This anthology presents a collection of twenty stories of extraordinary quality, written by the finest Mexican authors born during the first half of the twentieth century. Through these pages, readers will tour the real and the unreal, the faithfully rendered and the fantastic, as well as the tangible past of Mexican history. They will also travel between urban reflections on everyday life and intimate inventions that set Mexico apart from landscapes, other cultures, and other literatures. 

From Josefina Vazquez Mota, Minister of Public Education, Mexico - Literature is perhaps Mexico's best landscape, encompassing both past and present, revealing the multiple colors of its geographic expanse and the shapes of its imagination and memory. The Short story provides our best and quickest view - or our most faithful mirror- of all things Mexican. This anthology presents a collection of twenty tales of extraordinary quality, written by the finest Mexican authors. 

From Dana Gioia, Chairman, National Endowment for the Arts - The Big Read is the largest literature program in the history of the U.S. government. Created by the National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest, the Big Read is designed to revitalize the role of reading in American Culture and promote the transformative power of literature. Sun, Stone and Shadows: 20 Great Mexican Short Stories has the distinction of being the first book published expressly for The Big Read Program. Its stories, selected with U.S. readers in mind, represent a remarkable array of Mexico's rich and vibrant literary history. Sun, Stone and Shadows is a catalyst for cultural understanding and conversation between the people of Mexico and the United States. 

For Children:

My Life with the Wave
by Catherine Cowan, illustrated by Mark Buehner 

My first trip to the seashore, 

one wave tore away from the sea. 

She caught my hand, and we raced 

away together across the sand. 

Based on a story by Nobel Prize laureate Octavio Paz (included in Sun, Stone and Shadows), this delightful tale of a boy and his pet wave is charmingly retold with beautiful new illustrations. 



Children's Activities based on the book or Mexican culture at Rock County Public Libraries:

Beloit Public Library:
Papel Picado - Thursday, May 13 at 4 p.m.
For ages 6-12– To celebrate The Big Read and the book My Life with the Wave, 
we will be decorating banners using a Hispanic art form 

Clinton Public Library:
"My Life With the Wave" - Wednesday, July 7
Part of the summer library program for kids.  More information TBA.

Edgerton Public Library:
Children's Storytime on 'My Life with the Wave' - Tuesday, March 23 at 10:30 a.m.

Afterschool Art - Wednesday, March 24 at 3 p.m
For school aged kids. The children will be making "maracas."

Hedberg Public Library, Janesville
Children's Day, Book Day/El día de los niños, el día de los libros - Friday, April 30 at 7 p.m. 
Celebrate this special day with fun-filled activities, stories, food and books! Vénganse para ayudarnos celebrar este día 
especial con actividades, cuentos, alimento y por supuesto libros…¡todo lleno de diversión! No registration necessary.

Cinco de Mayo - Saturday, May 8 from 1-4 p.m.
Join us as we celebrate the victory of the Battle of Puebla, an important date in Mexican history. Sample authentic 
foods and beverages, cultural arts, music, dance and more. No registration necessary.

Milton Public Library
Kids in the Kitchen: Mexican Foods! - Saturday, April 10 from 10:30 a.m.-Noon. 
Kids, ages 8-12, will learn how to make delicious Mexican foods, and then eat their creations! 
Registration is necessary.

My Life with the Wave, Children’s Arts and Crafts Event - Saturday April 17at 11 a.m. 
Crafts include papel cortado, a traditional Mexican paper banner, and paper bag piñatas.

Student Art Display - Throughout the month of April
Enjoy art inspired by Sun, Stone, and Shadows, created by Milton High School students.

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Sones De México - May 4, 2010
Performance at Young Auditorium

In Mexico, "son" is a term used to define a large family of regional music and dance styles. Each region has its own brand of son—gusto, son jarocho, son huasteco, etc.—each with its own repertoire, instruments, and dancing and singing style. A fandango is a dance fiesta where son is played and danced, often from sundown until sunrise or longer. It is also a playful time where tradition becomes fluid: rules are made and broken as old forms are applied to new experience. After the fiesta, tradition is passed on quietly, as the events of the fandango crystallize in the memories of the participants, becoming new lore for future resurgence. We call this a living tradition.

About Sones de México Ensemble
Sones de México is a unique ensemble of seasoned Mexican folk musicians and educators that hails from Chicago, a city that boasts a Mexican community that is quickly nearing one million people. The group formed in 1994 to keep the tradition of Mexican son alive in its many regional forms, true to its roots and old masters, and current and fresh at the same time.

GRAMMY Award Nominee—Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album of 2007
Latin GRAMMY Award Nominee—Best Folk Album of 2007

“…a dazzling array of Mexican folk-music forms with a preservationist’s care… burst[ing] with energy, and novel arrangements and ideas are everywhere.” —The Chicago Reader 

“traditional Mexican music from various styles and regions, expertly and vibrantly performed.” —Spinner.com

Chicago’s premier Mexican folk music group. The Chicago Tribune says: “[They] move seamlessly between styles and instruments playing with rock’n'roll energy without sacrificing cultural authenticity.”

The Big Read Grant - return to top
The Rock County Public Libraries receive support for this project through a grant received by UW-Whitewater Young Auditorium from The Big Read, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the center of American Culture. The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. Support for The Big Read is provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Transportation for The Big Read is provided by Ford.

Young Auditorium Big Read blog: 
http://youngauditorium.wordpress.com/

The National Endowment of the Arts "The Big Read" website:
http://www.neabigread.org/books/mockingbird/index.php