By Liz Thackeray Nelson, Emmaline Ellis, Jennifer Slagus, Sara Sterner, and Megan Van Deventer
Our vision for the blog stems from the continued need to support educators in integrating children’s literature into their teaching contexts, whether that be K-12 or university levels. Beginning in August 2025, we will feature two types of posts on the CLA Blog:
Read This/Teach This Read This/Teach This posts center on a recently published work of children’s literature. The posts provide a comprehensive review of the book as well as some ideas for integrating the text in a classroom setting. We hope that these posts will highlight books and teaching ideas that can be easily implemented in the classroom. Research Resource Research Resource posts center on the practical applications of research in children’s literature. These posts will briefly present the findings of a research study and then present a specific teaching strategy or idea for implementing the research into practice. In upcoming weeks we will publish an example of each of these posts and invite you to consider submitting a post for publication during the 2025-2026 academic year. If you are interested in submitting one of these types of posts to the CLA blog, please contact us at: [email protected] By René M. Rodríguez-Astacio on Behalf of the CLA Research Award Committee  The pleasures of reading children’s literature extend beyond aesthetic experiences. Powerful storytelling beckons its readers to contemplate, speculate and learn about the world around them, building opportunities to nurture hope, empathy and curiosity for what we observe and experience in both our individual and collective lives. Thus, it becomes an imperative to research how children’s books continue to inspire young readers into imagining what else is possible through captivating storytelling, imagery, and language. Each year, the CLA Research Award supports scholars who are committed to inquiring into significant questions related to the field of children’s literature. Given the advancement of technological tools for creating and accessing texts, its implications on current literacy and creative practices, and ongoing sociopolitical and economic pressures, researchers use these funds to pursue important inquiries on the affordances and challenges of storytelling for children and youth in today’s landscape. Suriati Abas, our 2024 recipient, is using the award funding to inquire into how pre-service teachers can use video picture books read aloud as catalysts for literacy advocacy and social justice education. As highlighted by Suriati, “the novelty of this research lies in its focus on the audiovisual experience of diverse picture books for literacy advocacy. Video picture book read-alouds offer a unique combination of visual, auditory, and sometimes interactive elements, potentially enhancing comprehension and emotional connection in ways that may not be possible through traditional print or audio-only formats.” It’s been a privilege to serve in this committee for the past two years. Connecting and learning with researchers through this avenue goes beyond the grant awarded. It builds mentorship and community in times in which there is a critical need for us to consider the significance of children’s literature both in the field and our civic lives. At a time of political unrest and evolving understandings of digital literacies and storytelling, children’s literature remains a powerful vehicle that reminds us of the power of stories and how it connects us. As Donna Barba Higuera invites us to contemplate in her stellar middle-grade novel The Last Cuentista, the power of storytelling encompasses memory, cultural identity, ways of being, knowledge, empathy, and dreaming—important pillars of what makes us human. As researchers in this field, these very threads inform our roles as researchers in the field of children’s literature. Do you have an inquiry involving the field of children’s literature? We invite you to apply today!
René M. Rodríguez-Astacio is Assistant Professor of English at Fresno State University. He is a member of CLA's Board of Directors and chair of the 2024 CLA Research Award Committee.
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Nature and Our Environment
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Feelings and Identity
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This past year has been an absolute joy serving as chair. This work would not have been possible without the dedication, hard work, and countless hours of reading put in by our incredible committee members. It was an honor and privilege to lead them in the journey of discovering thirty titles we believe will enhance, enrich, and entertain many classrooms across the country.
2025 Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts Selection Committee Members
- Patrick Andrus, Eden Prairie School District, Minnesota (Chair)
- Laura Hudock, Framingham State University, Massachusetts (Chair Elect)
- Ally Hauptmann, Lipscomb University, Tennessee
- Joyce Herbeck, Montana State University, Montana
- Lynette Smith, Walden University, Pennsylvania
- Jason Lewis, Tyngsborough Elementary School, Massachusetts
- Mary Ellen Oslick, Stetson University, Florida
Resilience and Resistance: Japanese American Stories in Children's Literature During Remembrance Day
2/25/2025
by Amber Moore on behalf of the CLA Student Committee
Last week was the observation of Remembrance Day (February 19), a date that solemnly acknowledges the anniversary ofExecutive Order 9066, which authorized the unjust incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII, it's particularly meaningful to examine how children's literature helps young readers understand this history. While these stories emerge from one of America's darkest chapters, they also illuminate extraordinary examples of resilience, resistance, and reconciliation that embody core American values. Two contemporary children's books offer powerful entry points for young readers to engage with this complex history while celebrating the strength of the Japanese American community.
Breaking Barriers Through Sport: Wat Kept Playing by Emily Inouye Huey
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Emily Inouye Huey's picture book biography of Wataru "Wat" Misaka provides an inspiring narrative of resistance through athletic achievement. As the first person of color to play in what would become the NBA, Misaka's story demonstrates how talent and determination can transcend racial barriers - even during a time of widespread discrimination against Japanese Americans.
The timing of Misaka's achievements makes his story particularly powerful. His success on the basketball court came even as Japanese Americans faced incarceration and prejudice during WWII. His later drafting by the New York Knicks represented not just personal triumph but a symbolic victory in the ongoing struggle for recognition of Japanese Americans as full participants in American society. Through basketball, Misaka found a way to be seen for his abilities rather than his ethnicity, challenging the very prejudices that led to Executive Order 9066. |
Community and Connection in Those Who Helped Us: Assisting Japanese Americans During the War by Ken Mochizuki (Author) and Kiku Hughes (Illustrator)
Ken Mochizuki's graphic novel Those Who Helped Us approaches the incarceration period from a different but equally vital perspective, highlighting stories of solidarity between Japanese Americans and their neighbors. Through protagonist Sumiko Tanaka's eyes, readers witness both the trauma of forced removal and the courage of those who chose to stand against injustice. The story demonstrates how bonds of friendship and community persisted even in the face of government-sanctioned discrimination.
What makes this book particularly powerful for young readers is its focus on relationships and human connection. While honestly depicting the hardships of incarceration, it also shows how acts of kindness and solidarity helped sustain hope and dignity. The story reminds us that even in America's darkest moments, there were people who chose to uphold fundamental American values of justice and equality. |
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Teaching Difficult History Through Children's Literature
Both books demonstrate how children's literature can serve as an effective medium for helping young readers engage with challenging historical topics. Through age-appropriate storytelling and compelling individual narratives, they make this complex history accessible while emphasizing themes of resilience and resistance rather than victimization. By sharing these narratives with young readers, we help ensure that future generations understand this history while drawing inspiration from those who exemplified core American values even in the darkest of times.
The stories found in Wat Kept Playing and Those Who Helped Us remind us that the Japanese American incarceration experience, while representing a grievous violation of American principles, also revealed extraordinary examples of the American spirit through acts of resistance, resilience, and reconciliation. These children's books help ensure that as we remember this history, we honor not just the injustice but also the indomitable spirit of those who endured it.
Both books can be purchased through the Japanese American National Museum and the Wing Luke Museum. For additional content to share with students, please visit Densho.org, a site dedicated to “preserving Japanese American stories of the past for the generations of tomorrow.”
The stories found in Wat Kept Playing and Those Who Helped Us remind us that the Japanese American incarceration experience, while representing a grievous violation of American principles, also revealed extraordinary examples of the American spirit through acts of resistance, resilience, and reconciliation. These children's books help ensure that as we remember this history, we honor not just the injustice but also the indomitable spirit of those who endured it.
Both books can be purchased through the Japanese American National Museum and the Wing Luke Museum. For additional content to share with students, please visit Densho.org, a site dedicated to “preserving Japanese American stories of the past for the generations of tomorrow.”
Amber Moore is a Ph.D. student at N.C. State University and a CLA Student Committee Member. In 2024, Amber was one of the recipients of the Vivian Yenika-Agbaw Grant.
By Xenia Hadjioannou on behalf of the CLA Online Research Conference Organizing Committee
The organizing committee for the inaugural offering of the CLA Online Research Conference is busily putting the final touches on our plans for a day full of vibrant research presentations on children's literature research and opportunities for invigorating professional conversations.
Have you Registered Yet?
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The conference features presentations from researchers across the United States and the world, a session with journal editors who publish children's literature research, and a keynote talk from Kathy Short.
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*Times listed are in Eastern Standard Time |
Below you will find a sampler of the sessions included in the conference. For details and schedule information, visit the Conference Program.
The conference is co-sponsored by the Children's Literature Assembly and the Mary Frances Early College of Education at the University of Georgia. It is supported by the CLA Endowment Fund, which was established:
- to support original research contributing to the field of children's literature, and
- to support the dissemination of CLA's yearly selections of Notable Books for the Language Arts.
CLA Online Research Conference Organizing Committee
Jennifer Graff, University of Georgia
Xenia Hadjioannou, Penn State University, Berks
Lauren Aimonette Liang, University of Utah
Miriam Martinez, University of Texas San Antonio
Liz Thackeray Nelson, Utah Valley University
Mary-Kate Sableski, University of Dayton
Jennifer Slagus, University of South Florida and Brock University
Jennifer Graff, University of Georgia
Xenia Hadjioannou, Penn State University, Berks
Lauren Aimonette Liang, University of Utah
Miriam Martinez, University of Texas San Antonio
Liz Thackeray Nelson, Utah Valley University
Mary-Kate Sableski, University of Dayton
Jennifer Slagus, University of South Florida and Brock University
By Grace Enriquez on behalf of the CLA DEI Committee
As children’s literature professionals, educators, and enthusiasts, we know our field faces challenging times ahead. Widespread misinformation and misunderstanding about educational theories and practices, coupled with fiery partisan rhetoric, have resulted in a swelling of bans and crackdowns on stories that work to make sure all children can find their voices, languages, histories, and lived experiences in books.
As delineated in the CLA Bylaws, the DEI Committee encompasses a steadfast commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusivity within CLA:
As delineated in the CLA Bylaws, the DEI Committee encompasses a steadfast commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusivity within CLA:
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"The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity Committee Chair and members shall help ensure CLA’s commitment to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusivity. The committee shall help create and/or review CLA policies and position statements shared with CLA members and/or the greater public. The committee shall work with membership and nominating committees for recruitment as well as help distribute calls for CLA-related applications. Committee members shall also serve as resources for CLA Standing Committee Chairs when they are developing materials and programs." |
In these unsettling times, we reassert CLA’s pledge. This past year, led by stalwart past chairs Adam Crawley and Elizabeth Bemiss, the DEI Committee engaged in the following pursuits to support CLA’s commitment:
CLA Member Survey
The committee created and distributed the survey in November, a week prior to NCTE, and analyzed the results in December. The survey gathered and analyzed information from the CLA membership about career role and stage, education level, age, gender identity, languages read and/or spoken, race and ethnicity, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, veteran status, and other identity information individual members wanted to share. The survey also asked about members’ experience and interests in children’s literature, ways CLA could be more accessible, suggestions for CLA to be more welcoming to diverse groups of people, and suggestions for improving the survey. Results were shared with the executive board. Stay tuned for next steps to help the organization determine ways to better support its DEI commitment!
DEI One-Pagers
Per our CLA charge, committee members continued the work begun in 2023 to create one-page guidance documents to help other CLA committees to support DEI goals in their own work. We hope to finalize these one-pagers and distribute them soon.
Diverse Books We Love
To support educators’ work to promote social justice with diverse books, committee members shared a list of personally recommended books that foster DEI work through the CLA Blog. The post Sharing Books We “Love” to Support On-Going Work During Troubling Times was published in February 2023. Be on the lookout for personal “loves” from this year’s committee.
We look forward to buliding upon this important work and ensure that diversity, equity, and inclusion continue to drive our work with children and the books they read.
For more information about the DEI committee, please contact committee chair Grace Enriquez ([email protected]).
For more information about the DEI committee, please contact committee chair Grace Enriquez ([email protected]).
Grace Enriquez is professor of language and literacy and chair of the Ph.D. in Educational Studies program at Lesley University. Grace received the CLA research Award in 2013. She is current chair of the CLA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee.
By Katie Caprino
If you’re looking for children’s picture books that will help your students learn how to process life’s biggest emotions, you’re in the right place. In this blog post, organized into emotional eras, I introduce you to six children’s picture books that will help your students navigate their emotions and will help you open up conversations in your classroom about many of the biggest feelings.
The Calm Era
For those times when we want to help our students cool down, be patient, and pause before saying whatever is on their mind, I recommend Julia Cook and illustrator Carrie Hartman’s (2005) My Mouth is a Volcano. In My Mouth is a Volcano (Cook, 2005), Louis is told that he erupts, just like a volcano. Through lively language and colorful illustrations, readers come to learn how Louis interrupts others and are given many glimpses into his interrupting at school and at home. He just cannot keep his thoughts to himself or wait until others are done speaking. Until, of course, Louis is interrupted by one of his classmates. It takes this moment for him to realize what he has been doing to others all along! This moment provides opportunities for you and your students to discuss what it means to consider others’ feelings before acting. |
The Grumpy Era
There’s no need to stray away from the negative emotions with your students because there are just some days when we feel, well, grumpy. Even though Jim, a monkey, does not think he’s grumpy in author Suzanne Lang and illustrator Max Lang’s (2018) Grumpy Monkey, all the other jungle animals think he is. As is sometimes true with our students – and us – naming someone else’s feelings for them often does not go well. Jim dismisses (rather rudely) all of the animals’ ideas about his feelings and suggestions on how to improve his mood. Just as with most humans, Jim needs to eventually come to the realization that he is grumpy on his own ... and after he has some time to cool down and assess his own situation. What this book helps us understand is that not only is it okay to feel grumpy (or any other emotion for that matter) but that sometimes we all need time to process our emotions. What is also a cool thing at the end of Grumpy Monkey (Lang, 2018) is that only when Jim has come to terms with his emotions can he be helpful to his friend. This is a really important message in this book. |
The Shy Era
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It is sometimes really difficult to help shy students participate and see their value in the classroom. Cat Min’s (2021) Shy Willow shares the story of a rabbit named Willow who learns how to push through her shyness to make a little boy’s wish come true. After a letter from Theo comes to the mailbox where she lives, Willow is determined to make Theo’s wish of having the moon shine brightly for his mom’s birthday come true.
Unique in its approach to shyness, Shy Willow (Min, 2021) does not simply introduce readers to this idea that one should merely accept their shyness. Rather, it showcases a character who preservers through a challenging ordeal, that of asking the moon to shine brightly for a little boy Theo’s mom on her birthday. The outrageous plot allows students to discuss what difficult actions they may have taken or can take even though they are shy. As Willow reads the young boy’s letter to the moon, she is still really nervous. And, yet, because of the moon’s praise and seeing the effect her action has on Theo and his mom, Willow becomes an inspirational character, a model of not letting shyness win. For it is not just the moon that shines brightly at the end of Shy Willow. It is Willow herself. Another text that encourages students to work through their shyness is Shannon Anderson and Hiroe Nakata’s Too Shy to Say Hi. Shelli has such difficulty saying hi and avoids interacting with her peers.
When she makes a commitment to ask her friend Lupita to play, Shelli has to work up the courage. Her hard efforts pay off though, and some of her worry drifts away. Readers see how making a goal of speaking and interacting with others can have positive outcomes. This title is an important one not just for those students who are shy but for their peers who are not. Sometimes it can be difficult to understand how someone can be so shy that they do not say hello to people. I appreciated that this book can be helpful for students who are and are not shy. Anderson’s (2021) Too Shy to Say Hi is a great companion text to Shy Willow (Min, 2021), as they both offer opportunities for teachers and students to discuss the power of overcoming shyness and how even though it can be difficult, it can have really powerful rewards. |
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The Worry Era
It should be no surprise that even many elementary school students struggle with worry and anxiety. Percival’s (2018) Ruby Finds a Worry is just the book to help you talk about these topics with your students. Ruby is full of joy ... until she feels a little worry. But the worry, which is shown as a colorful blob behind her in the illustrations, gets worse and worse. And even though she tries to hide it, it will not go away. Until, that is, she notices another boy has a worry. And they learn that the only way to get worry to go away is to talk about it. And it’s not an unrealistic depiction of a worry-free world; it’s an honest approach to the fact that worry does exist but that humans can have coping mechanisms with which to face our worries. Ruby Finds a Worry (Percival, 2018) is wonderful not just in its visual and written depictions of what having extreme worry can be like but also in its discussion of how it is important to talk about one’s worry. What Ruby realizes is an important lesson to student and adult readers alike: Keeping feelings in can cause more harm than good. This book provides a platform for readers to engage in conversations on what it is that worry feels like to each individual but also about who are trusted people in our lives with whom we can share our worries. |
The Joy Era
When I read Loren Long’s (2024) The Yellow Bus, I felt a sense of nostalgia for Shel Silverstein’s (1964) The Giving Tree. For years a bus shuttles happy, noisy school children, feeling a deep sense of joy. One day the bus is taken out of the school bus rotation and starts giving adult riders lifts to their myriad destinations. The bus is full of joy then, too. And then one day, the bus is left in a city lot. The bus is not driving people around. The bus feels an immense emptiness. The bus is lonely and without purpose. What happens in the subsequent pages helps readers see value in self-reinvention and the ultimate human need to be amongst people and feel a sense of purpose. Through several “repottings,” the bus ultimately feels that immense joy again – often in unexpected and beautiful ways. The power in The Yellow Bus (Long, 2024) is its ability to help readers see that joy may not always come in ways that we think it will. But joy is still possible. Even the geographical locations where the bus finds itself mimic the emotional ups and downs that are perfectly normal in life. And whereas joy is certainly the main emotion in the text, it is not the only one. This fact helps readers understand that this sometimes yearned-for permanent joyfulness is not as guaranteed as we may want. For the real value in this text is what joy feels like and looks like may not always remain constant in our lives but it is always possible. |
Just as life has a range of emotions, so, too should the bookshelf in your classroom. Myriad emotions and feelings should be represented in your classroom library so that your students can learn how both how to name and process their own emotions but also how their actions can influence others’ emotions.
It is my sincere hope that the next time you are pursuing the bookstore or library shelves to select your next read aloud that you will truly consider selecting one with all the feels.
The Books
Anderson, S. (2021). To Why to Say Hi. (H. Nakata, Illus.). Magination.
Cook, J. (2005). My mouth is a volcano. (C. Hartman, Illus.). National Center for Youth Issues.
Lang, S., (2018). Grumpy monkey. (M. Lang, Illus.). Scholastic.
Long, L. (2024). The yellow bus. (L. Long, Illus.). Roaring Brook.
Min, C. (2021). Shy willow. (C. Min, Illus.). Levine Querido.
Percival, T. (2018). Ruby finds a worry. (T. Percival, Illus.). Bloomsbury.
Cook, J. (2005). My mouth is a volcano. (C. Hartman, Illus.). National Center for Youth Issues.
Lang, S., (2018). Grumpy monkey. (M. Lang, Illus.). Scholastic.
Long, L. (2024). The yellow bus. (L. Long, Illus.). Roaring Brook.
Min, C. (2021). Shy willow. (C. Min, Illus.). Levine Querido.
Percival, T. (2018). Ruby finds a worry. (T. Percival, Illus.). Bloomsbury.
Kathryn Caprino is a CLA member and is an Associate Professor of PK-12 New Literacies and the Director of the Teaching & Learning Design Studio at Elizabethtown College.
Dear readers of the CLA Blog,
Thank you for reading the CLA Blog throughout the year. As schools and universities are moving into their winter breaks, the CLA Blog will take a winter hiatus until the second week of January.
We extend our wishes to you and yours for a lovely holiday season, full of the celebrations you cherish. May the new year be one of joy, peace, and humanity.
See you in January!
Warmly,
The CLA Blog Editors
Thank you for reading the CLA Blog throughout the year. As schools and universities are moving into their winter breaks, the CLA Blog will take a winter hiatus until the second week of January.
We extend our wishes to you and yours for a lovely holiday season, full of the celebrations you cherish. May the new year be one of joy, peace, and humanity.
See you in January!
Warmly,
The CLA Blog Editors
By Miriam Martinez and Jennifer Slagus on behalf of the CLA Online Research Conference Committee
Imagine this: Spending an entire day immersed in the latest research on children’s literature. If you’re used to attending literacy conferences, you might think that’s not something that usually happens! So, how can you access such an experience? By attending the Children’s Literature Assembly Online Research Conference, of course!
This inaugural conference, sponsored by the Children’s Literature Assembly and the Mary Frances Early College of Education at the University of Georgia, promises a full day dedicated to Illuminating Children’s Literature Research in Theory and Practice.
This inaugural conference, sponsored by the Children’s Literature Assembly and the Mary Frances Early College of Education at the University of Georgia, promises a full day dedicated to Illuminating Children’s Literature Research in Theory and Practice.
Mark your calendars: The CLA Online Research Conference is scheduled for Friday, February 21st, 2025, from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM ET.
Organized into three strands--research in theory, research in practice, and policy and politics—the conference will offer a rich array of the latest research in children’s literature. The keynote presentation will be given by Dr. Kathy Short, a leader in the field of children’s literature for three decades. Throughout the day, participants can choose from 20 different sessions featuring a wide range of international presenters. There will also be a journal editors session where attendees can meet with editors, learn about their publishing preferences, and discover upcoming calls for papers.
Whether you’re a faculty member planning your Spring syllabi for undergraduate or graduate classes, or a literacy leader planning your Spring professional development, or a teacher committed to using children’s literature in the classroom, the CLA Online Research Conference is a meaningful addition to those plans. Encourage your colleagues and students to attend. The discounted student registration rate is just $15.
Registration is now open on the conference page on the CLA website, or at tinyurl.com/CLAonConf. The regular registration rate is $30, with a discounted rate of $15 for students.
We are excited to offer an accessible and affordable opportunity for students and established researchers to gather and learn about current children’s literature research in theory and practice. And we can hardly wait to see you on Friday, February 21st for an illuminating day of learning and rich discussion about research in children’s literature!
Whether you’re a faculty member planning your Spring syllabi for undergraduate or graduate classes, or a literacy leader planning your Spring professional development, or a teacher committed to using children’s literature in the classroom, the CLA Online Research Conference is a meaningful addition to those plans. Encourage your colleagues and students to attend. The discounted student registration rate is just $15.
Registration is now open on the conference page on the CLA website, or at tinyurl.com/CLAonConf. The regular registration rate is $30, with a discounted rate of $15 for students.
We are excited to offer an accessible and affordable opportunity for students and established researchers to gather and learn about current children’s literature research in theory and practice. And we can hardly wait to see you on Friday, February 21st for an illuminating day of learning and rich discussion about research in children’s literature!
Please share the downloadable pdf flier widely!
Miriam Martinez is a Professor Emerita of Literacy Education at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She is chair of CLA's endowment committee.
Jennifer Slagus (they/she) is a doctoral candidate at Brock University in Ontario, Canada and a Visiting Assistant Librarian at the University of South Florida. They are the Chair of the CLA Student Committee.
Jennifer Slagus (they/she) is a doctoral candidate at Brock University in Ontario, Canada and a Visiting Assistant Librarian at the University of South Florida. They are the Chair of the CLA Student Committee.
By Xenia Hadjioannou
As I am writing this letter, it is early fall in Pennsylvania. Though short sleeves are still in order, the leaves are beginning to turn, signaling changes that are just around the corner. By the time the editorial process of this fall issue of the Journal of Children’s Literature is completed, copyediting and design are finalized, and the finished journal is published on the CLA website, weeks will have gone by, and we will be a breath away from the 2024 NCTE Convention in Boston, Massachusetts.
The 2024 annual NCTE Convention will mark a significant anniversary for CLA, as fifty years prior, during the 1974 NCTE Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana, “a plan was made to form a Children’s Literature Assembly” (Gleason, 1975, p. 4) and a formal proposal was submitted to NCTE for its establishment. The proposal was accepted in 1975, and the assembly began its work as a formalized group. However, as journal issues take significant time and require a lot of hard, dedicated work by many people to develop and bring to the public, so did establishing the Children’s Literature Assembly. As Amy McClure (2015), our CLA historian, notes in an article commemorating and reflecting upon CLA’s forty years, the formation of the assembly was decades in the making. She adds,
The 2024 annual NCTE Convention will mark a significant anniversary for CLA, as fifty years prior, during the 1974 NCTE Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana, “a plan was made to form a Children’s Literature Assembly” (Gleason, 1975, p. 4) and a formal proposal was submitted to NCTE for its establishment. The proposal was accepted in 1975, and the assembly began its work as a formalized group. However, as journal issues take significant time and require a lot of hard, dedicated work by many people to develop and bring to the public, so did establishing the Children’s Literature Assembly. As Amy McClure (2015), our CLA historian, notes in an article commemorating and reflecting upon CLA’s forty years, the formation of the assembly was decades in the making. She adds,
It is a story that transcends geography, professional role, age, ethnicity, and gender (Kromann-Kelly, 1986). It is also a story of passionate commitment, hard work, stimulating ideas, and determination— all for the purpose of ensuring that both teachers and librarians have the knowledge and dedication to share high-quality, intellectually engaging, culturally responsive, and pleasurable books with children. (p. 69)
In recognition and appreciation of the dedicated commitment of the many people who have contributed to CLA both prior and since its establishment, in NCTE 2024, we will kick off a year of celebrations of CLA’s fifty years and of reflective engagements with our assembly’s past and future. Visit the CLA Booth in the Exhibit Hall (Booth #235), which is hosted by the Ways and Means Committee, to catch a glimpse of the amazing artwork included in this year’s Art Auction and to browse the commemorative fundraising items we have created for CLA’s fiftieth. Also, save spots on your conference schedules for the CLA-sponsored events: the Notables Session during which members of the Notables Committee and book creators will talk about books on the 2024 Notables list; the CLA Expert Class, which will explore biographies and their rich potential in the classroom; and the CLA Breakfast, which will feature Lesa Cline-Ransome and James Ransome as keynote speakers.
In February, join us for the inaugural installment of the Children’s Literature Assembly Online Research Conference CLA is cosponsoring with the Mary Frances Early College of Education at the University of Georgia. The conference, which aims to be a forum for researchers of children’s literature to share their work and exchange ideas, is supported by the CLA Endowment Fund. Save the date for Friday, February 21, 2025, and visit the CLA website for conference information and updates.
In concluding my fourth and last President’s Letter for the Journal of Children’s Literature, I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude to all who have been part of CLA’s journey along, and before, its fifty years of existence. CLA has remained a thriving organization because of the passion and dedication of everyone who has been a member, everyone who has contributed to our programming in any way, everyone who has read and learned from JCL, and everyone who has attended our events and returned to their classrooms, libraries, and homes and made sure that great books made it into the
hands of children.
In gratitude,
Xenia Hadjioannou
CLA President
In February, join us for the inaugural installment of the Children’s Literature Assembly Online Research Conference CLA is cosponsoring with the Mary Frances Early College of Education at the University of Georgia. The conference, which aims to be a forum for researchers of children’s literature to share their work and exchange ideas, is supported by the CLA Endowment Fund. Save the date for Friday, February 21, 2025, and visit the CLA website for conference information and updates.
In concluding my fourth and last President’s Letter for the Journal of Children’s Literature, I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude to all who have been part of CLA’s journey along, and before, its fifty years of existence. CLA has remained a thriving organization because of the passion and dedication of everyone who has been a member, everyone who has contributed to our programming in any way, everyone who has read and learned from JCL, and everyone who has attended our events and returned to their classrooms, libraries, and homes and made sure that great books made it into the
hands of children.
In gratitude,
Xenia Hadjioannou
CLA President
References
Gleason, G. (1975, March). Reprise. CLA Newsletter, 1(1), 1–4.
McClure, A. (2015). The Children’s Literature Assembly: 40 years of passionate commitment to children and their books. Journal of Children’s Literature, 41(2), 69–76.
Gleason, G. (1975, March). Reprise. CLA Newsletter, 1(1), 1–4.
McClure, A. (2015). The Children’s Literature Assembly: 40 years of passionate commitment to children and their books. Journal of Children’s Literature, 41(2), 69–76.
Xenia Hadjioannou is associate professor of language and literacy education at the Berks campus of Penn State University. She is president of the Children’s Literature Assembly of NCTE and NCTE representative to the USBBY Board.
CLA @NCTE 2024
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Authors:
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Supporting PreK-12 and university teachers as they share children’s literature with their students in all classroom contexts.
Disclaimer
The opinions and ideas posted in the individual entries are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of CLA or the Blog Editors.
The opinions and ideas posted in the individual entries are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of CLA or the Blog Editors.
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Instructions to Authors
If you are a current CLA member and you would like to contribute a post to the CLA Blog, please read the Instructions to Authors and email co-editor Liz Thackeray Nelson with your idea.
If you are a current CLA member and you would like to contribute a post to the CLA Blog, please read the Instructions to Authors and email co-editor Liz Thackeray Nelson with your idea.
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