By Ally Hauptman on behalf of CLA's Ways and Means Committee As the NCTE Conference approaches, we want to give you every detail about the CLA Art Auction, so you are ready to bid and acquire an amazing piece of art! Every year we work with publishers and illustrators to collect original pieces of artwork from children’s books or rare prints for purchase through the auction. The auction is important because CLA uses the funds raised to support the major goals of the organization:
This auction spans starts Friday, November 22 at 10 AM EST and concludes on Sunday, November 24 at 8:45 AM EST at the end of the 2024 CLA Breakfast. These beautiful pieces will be on display at the CLA Booth (Booth #235) and then at the CLA Breakfast on Sunday morning. 2024 CLA Art Auction Preview
Visit our Art Auction page for a better view of the stunning pieces of artwork that could be yours and to read their individual descriptions!
Each year, the CLA Auction is made possible thanks to the generous support of publishers, book creators, and other children's literature people who donate art for the auction.
Thank You!
* Listed alphabetically. Ally Hauptman is Assistant Dean for Teacher Education and the lead faculty for Instructional Practice at Lipscomb University. She is a member of CLA's Ways and Means committee and serves of the award committee for CLA's Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts. CLA at NCTE 2024
Patrick Andrus on behalf of the Notables Committee The lazy days of summer are behind us, and the excitement of a new school year in September has come and gone. Teachers, students, and readers have settled in with their favorite new books over the course of October. As November approaches, so does the anticipation of the annual NCTE Convention, and this year, attendees will head to the literary city of Boston. The NCBLA (Notable Children’s Books in Language Arts) Committee is eagerly preparing for our presentation during the convention. The seven-member committee, along with several award-winning authors, will present the top thirty titles chosen for the 2024 Notables list in the genres of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. On the afternoon of Saturday, November 23rd, in room 157C of the convention center, committee members and authors will share the best of the best, hoping that teachers, educators, authors, and readers of all kinds will leave the presentation with a list of thirty titles they can use and share in their classrooms on the Monday after the convention. Here are the authors who will be presenting alongside the committee:
During the seventy-five-minute presentation, titles from the NCBLA 2024 list will be shared. Each book will be presented by a committee member and/or the author. Short summaries will be provided, along with ideas on how the books can be used with young readers. The presenting authors will share their relationship with the selected title, as well as insights into their writing craft and how the stories were constructed. There will also be time for audience questions for the panel of authors. A highlight of the presentation will be the raffle at the end of the session. All attendees will have a chance to win one of the thirty titles being presented. The excitement of the winners is always palpable and makes for an excellent way to close the session. About the Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts Award
The seven-member national committee's charge is to select 30 books that best exemplify the criteria established for the Notables Award. Books considered for this annual list are works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry written for children in grades K-8. The selected books must:
A Special Preview Treat: Here are some special book highlights from two authors that are unable to share their award winning books at the conference.
If you're interested in applying for the next award season, please contact Patrick Andrus, the current Chair, at [email protected]. New committee members will be selected in March 2025. The committee members and authors are excited to share these incredible, strong, and important stories with young readers. See you in Boston! Patrick Andrus is a fourth-grade teacher in the district of Eden Prairie, Minnesota. He is currently in his thirty-fourth year of teaching. He is the current chair of the Notables Children Books in Language Arts committee (NCBLA). Patrick also served three years on the Charlotte Huck Book Award Committee.
2024 Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts Selection Committee Members Fran Wilson, Chair, Madeira Elementary School, Ohio Patrick Andrus, Eden Prairie School District, Minnesota Dorian Harrison, Ohio State University at Newark Ally Hauptman, Lipscomb University, Tennessee Joyce Herbeck, Montana State University Laura Hudock, Framingham State University, Massachusetts Lynette Smith, Walden University, Pennsylvania Other CLA Events @NCTE2024
By Mary Ann Cappiello, Sara K. Sterner, and Kathy Short Official Session Link: Children’s Literature Assembly Expert Class: Exploring Heart & Hope with Biographies The Children’s Literature Assembly (CLA) has sponsored a Master Class at the annual NCTE Convention since 1994. This guaranteed session provides K-12 teachers and teacher educators with the opportunity to gain insight about the use of children’s literature through interactions with leading scholars, authors, and illustrators in the field. In 2023 at our 30th Annual session, we debuted our new name: the Expert Class. In collaboration with The Biography Clearinghouse, an affiliated project of The Children’s Literature Assembly, the 31st annual Expert Class, “Exploring Heart & Hope with Biographies,” showcases the many ways in which picturebook biographies can be used across the curriculum for a range of purposes. This is an exciting opportunity to expand engagement with biographies as well as increase participants' biography related repertoire in their classrooms. The concept of “a biography clearinghouse” began at the 2018 NCTE convention in Houston, when author Barb Rosenstock asked what could be done to go beyond genre study and elevate the role of biography in classrooms across the curriculum. Ideas began to percolate amongst Barb, former members of NCTE’s Orbis Pictus Committee, and fellow author Tonya Bolden, and while sheltering at home at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the team created “The Biography Clearinghouse.” Readers of the CLA blog may already be familiar with the work that appeared here 2020-2023. The Biography Clearinghouse believes that:
To help facilitate this work in K-8 classrooms, the Clearinghouse created a three-part framework: Investigate, Explore, and Create. This year’s class provides a unique opportunity for rich discussions about and experiences with picturebook biographies. After an initial introduction to the Investigate-Explore-Create framework, participants will rotate between four roundtables to experience activities and conversations rooted in each component. At one table, Barb Rosenstock and Scott Riley will focus on “Investigate,” and engage in conversation about the process of researching and writing biographies. Participants will “Explore” content and disciplinary thinking with Amina Chaudhri at one table and socio-emotional learning with Jenn Graff at another. At the fourth roundtable, Erika Thulin Dawes will engage attendees in the final part of the framework, “Create.” We’ll conclude the session by sharing a Library Thing database of over 350 picturebook biographies (with tags)! This process will allow attendees to engage in dialogue about the power of biography and consider new ways to conceptualize how to bring the genre into their classes with more heart and hope. Everyone will leave the 2024 Expert Class filled with the wonder of biographies and ideas for new opportunities to bring biographies into the lives of children and tweens. We are excited to share this biography party with you! While building connections and learning together, we’ll share some vegan and gluten-free snacks (it’s late afternoon, and everyone might be a bit peckish). The Expert Class will close with the awarding of biography-based door prizes to bring home along with your new ideas and expertise. Mary Ann Cappiello, Sara K. Sterner, and Kathy Short serve as the 2024 CLA Expert Class Committee.
Other CLA offerings during NCTE 2024
by Jeanne Gilliam Fain & Susan Polos (2024 CLA Breakfast Co-Chairs)Every year, the Children's Literature Assembly hosts the CLA Breakfast during the annual NCTE Conference. This year, we are delighted to feature as keynote speakers award-winning author Lesa-Cline Ransome and award-winning illustrator James Ransome. Lesa Cline-Ransome and James Ransome are significant and prolific figures in the world of children’s literature. Lesa has written over 25 picture books, five middle grade or YA novels, biographies, a collective biography, and she has contributed to several anthologies. James Ransome has illustrated over 70 picture books, often, but not always, partnering with Lesa. James Ransome was named the winner of the 2023 Children’s Literature Legacy Award; he has previously won the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award and the Illustrator Honors Award. Lesa has won Coretta Scott King Author Honor Awards, the Scott O’Dell Award, and other honors. James and Lesa’s most recent collaborations include Fighting with Love: the Legacy of John Lewis (2024) and They Call Me Teach: Lessons in Freedom (2024). Fighting with Love is a nonfiction picture book chronicling the life of civil rights hero John Lewis, from his childhood through his work in government and in resistance. They Call Me Teach: Lessons in Freedom captures an important historical truth: the risks taken by enslaved people to teach each other to read and write. Lesa Cline-Ransome’s most recent chapter book is One Big Open Sky (2024), a verse novel told in three intergenerational perspectives telling of the Black homesteader movement, another aspect of history seldom shared in textbooks. Lesa and James value the stories that we need to know from history. They often ask each other the questions, “Have you heard this?” or “Did you know this?” and these questions often lead them to write about stories and “the humanity of people whose stories have never been told.” You won’t want to miss Lesa and James as they provide us with incredible insights into their work during the 2024 CLA Breakfast on Sunday, November 24th, starting at 7 am ET (Room 210A, Convention Center, Level 2). Here’s an excerpt from our interview with them: Lesa: Our newest, the book that came out this month, is John Lewis: Fighting With Love. I said to James after he finished the illustrations, and I never say this because I have to live with James, so what I don’t want is for James to get a head so big he can’t come into the house, “This book is outstanding.” He’ll tell you, I very rarely say that. I say, “James, it’s beautiful. Good job,” but rarely, “outstanding.” Every time I look at this book I find something else to love. It is a balance of writing and illustration and the way they seamlessly came together. It is the story of Congressman John Lewis, who James and I have both loved and admired. James pitched this to our editor several years ago. Was I involved? Nope. Because sometimes James just pitches a project to an editor and the next thing that I know I am writing with him. James: Well, I always discuss them with you. Well except the time with Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams. I’d been asking, begging Lesa, I think after she wrote Satchel Paige, that was the book I asked her to write…
Jeanne Gilliam Fain is a professor in the College of Education at Lipscomb University and she is the Director of MLL/ELL program. Her scholarship agenda includes a focus on Literacy, Literature, and Language Study in K-12 classrooms. She served as chair of the Notable in Children’s Language Arts Award and she currently serves as current chair of the Notable Books for a Global Society. She is 2024 co-chair of the CLA Breakfast Committee. Susan Polos is the middle school librarian at Greenwich Country Day School (Greenwich, CT). She has served on the Coretta Scott King, Newbery, and Pura Belpré book award juries. Currently, she serves Assistant Chair of the Outstanding International Books Committee for the United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY), is a co-chair of the Breakfast Committee for the Children's Literature Assembly, and is a member of the Archives and History Committee of the Coretta Scott King Book Award Community. CLA at NCTE 2024 For further details about the breakfast and other CLA sessions and activities during NCTE 2024, visit our CLA@NCTE page.
by Jeanne Gilliam Fain & Susan Polos (2024 CLA Breakfast Co-Chairs) We invite you to join us for our annual Children’s Literature Assembly Breakfast at the 2024 NCTE Convention, featuring the award-winning author Lesa Cline-Ransome and the award-winning illustrator James Ransome. Our breakfast is on Sunday, November 24th, starting at 7 am (ET) and takes place in Convention Center, Level 2 in Room 210A. The CLA breakfast is an event that you will not want to miss. We will present awards, have an art auction and book raffle, and then Lesa Cline-Ransome and James Ransome will speak and sign books afterwards! You need a ticket to attend the CLA breakfast. If you have already registered for the NCTE Conference but would like to purchase a ticket, the easiest way to do this is to call NCTE directly at (877) 369-6283. Lesa Cline-Ransome and James Ransome are significant and prolific figures in the world of children’s literature. Lesa has written over 25 picture books, five middle grade or YA novels, biographies, a collective biography, and she has contributed to several anthologies. James Ransome has illustrated over 70 picture books, often, but not always, partnering with Lesa. James Ransome was named the winner of the 2023 Children’s Literature Legacy Award; he has previously won the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award and the Illustrator Honors Award. Lesa has won Coretta Scott King Author Honor Awards, the Scott O’Dell Award, and other honors. Lesa and James value the stories that we need to know from history. They both often ask the questions, “Have you heard this?” or “Did you know this?” and these questions often lead them to write about, as Lesa states, “the humanity of people whose stories have never been told.” They will enlighten and inspire you with the powerful stories behind their work. If you regularly attend the CLA Breakfasts at NCTE, you know what a wonderful experience they are! But if you haven’t, we welcome you to join us! It’s a positive opportunity to meet other people who are passionate about children’s literature, hear about an amazing author and an illustrator, purchase raffle tickets for wonderful books, and, if you are so inclined, bid on art from children’s illustrators! We hope to see you there! Jeanne Gilliam Fain is a professor in the College of Education at Lipscomb University and she is the Director of MLL/ELL program. Her scholarship agenda includes a focus on Literacy, Literature, and Language Study in K-12 classrooms. She served as chair of the Notable in Children’s Language Arts Award and she currently serves as current chair of the Notable Books for a Global Society. She is 2024 co-chair of the CLA Breakfast Committee. Susan Polos is the middle school librarian at Greenwich Country Day School (Greenwich, CT). She has served on the Coretta Scott King, Newbery, and Pura Belpré book award juries. Currently, she serves Assistant Chair of the Outstanding International Books Committee for the United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY), is a co-chair of the Breakfast Committee for the Children's Literature Assembly, and is a member of the Archives and History Committee of the Coretta Scott King Book Award Community.
By Ruth Lowery, Chair of CLA's Nominating CommitteeChildren's literature remains an important vehicle to introduce young children to the diverse world around them. Young readers get excited as they explore their lived world through exposure to works like The Snowy Day (Keats, 1962), Goodnight Moon (Brown, 1947), Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (Martin & Archambault, 1989), and Thank You, Omu! (Mora, 2018). They learn the nuances of storytelling, sounds and word recognition, and simply how to live in the moment as they discover the beauty of listening, then discovering their universe. The Children’s Literature Assembly (CLA) continues to champion the value of literature for young readers. The CLA advocates for a “teacher's privilege and responsibility to help students discover the joy of reading, while they also teach students how to internalize the skills and strategies of fluent reading." Literature advocates want children to be critical citizens of the world, so we advocate for sharing high quality, culturally diverse books with them. Although some groups want to limit children’s access to books based on their content, working to remove diverse books from library shelves, we concur with the International Literacy Association (ILA) that children have the “basic human right to read." So, as we embark on the 2024 election season for the next three board members who will be selected to serve the CLA for a three-years term, we are excited to share with you the slate of nominees. These nominees are book lovers and reading advocates, eager and willing to take the mantle and continue this work of sharing wonderful books with young readers, librarians, teachers, teacher educators, authors and illustrators, and all stakeholders interested in reading and sharing quality children’s literature. Meet the CandidatesWe invite you to visit CLA's Elections Page to learn more about these candidates. Also, we encourage CLA members to watch their email inboxes for a link to vote. Voting will be September 30 - October 10, 2024, and accessing the ballot will require logging in to CLA. The newly elected Board members will be announced during the CLA Breakfast at the 2024 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Convention in November. Ruth Lowery is Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Faculty Affairs in the College of Education of the University of North Texas. She is immediate past president of CLA and chair of the Nominating Committee. By the CLA Blog Editors: Lauren Liang, Xenia Hadjioannou, and Liz Thackeray Nelson The CLA Blog is taking its annual summer hiatus. We look forward to welcoming you back in late August for another fantastic year of ideas and support for sharing children’s literature with your students! We know all of you will be finding time for reading across the summer—but where? Try out the 2024 CLA Summer Reading Bingo Board below, and send us photos to enter the CLA Summer Reading 2024 Raffle. Several winners will receive a selection of books created by our 2024 CLA Breakfast keynote speakers, Lesa Cline-Ransome and James Ransome! To have your name entered in the raffle, select any five bingo squares and document yourself reading in those locations. Reading any kind of book, including audiobooks, counts! Then, send an email to [email protected] by August 31st, 2024 with the subject, "2024 CLA Summer Reading Bingo Challenge" in which you:
Download a digital and printable Bingo Card below:
Submitted by Mary Napoli and Angela M. Wiseman, Co-chairs, Early Career Award Committee In our rapidly evolving professional landscape, we continue to advance our collective body of research through the connections forged through CLA. It is this dynamic cycle of research combined with our networking opportunities that informs new directions and possibilities. With this in mind, we want to celebrate the contributions of our CLA Early Career Award Recipients from 2017 to the present. As you will read, they have continued to impact the field with their innovative and timely scholarship. In this blog post, we share their responses to open-ended questions that highlight their recent contributions to children’s literature and future projects on the horizon. They were also invited to reflect on how readers and educators will leverage their research in actionable and transformative ways. Finally, everyone was asked to share a photo of something that matters to them. 2023 CLA Early Career Award RecipientJOSH COLEMAN
2019 CLA Early Career Award RecipientNOREEN NASEEM RODRIGUEZ
2017 CLA Early Career Award Recipient
ANGIE ZAPATA
Mary Napoli is the former co-chair of the 2023 Early Career Award Committee. She is an associate professor of education and reading at Penn State Harrisburg. Angela Wiseman is a former CLA Board Member and co-chair of the 2023 Early Career Award Committee. She is an associate professor of literacy education at North Carolina State University. By Grace EnriquezHow might you help to advance the field of children’s literature? The Children’s Literature Assembly Research Award can support your projects and inquiries by providing a grant of $1,000 for original research addressing significant questions related to the field of children's literature. No longer is the power of a children’s book relegated to the realms of libraries, classrooms, and home. The field of children’s and young literature has burgeoned over the past few decades, with everyone from celebrities and professional athletes to politicians and corporations weighing in on the creation and use of children’s and young adult books. Additionally, the field has recognized the importance of all children seeing their lives, experiences, languages, and communities reflected and celebrated in books. These shifts have ushered in new considerations and challenges, as much as it has strengthened the field’s capacity to inspire hope, creativity, and human connection. To illustrate how the award can support our work with children’s literature, I gathered reflections from some past CLA Award recipients. Supporting Inquiry Award recipients have used the award grant to investigate these possibilities. Dr. Josh Coleman (2023 CLA Award recipient) is chronicling how ELA teachers are resisting book-banning legislation in their local contexts—namely their classrooms, schools, and communities. Dr. Emmaline Eliis (2022 CLA Award recipient) received the award as a doctoral student studying how print salience impacts classroom discussion. Dr. Christian M. Hines (2022 CLA Award recipient) and Dr. Eun Young Yeum (2021 CLA Award recipient) were also doctoral students when they received their respective awards, with each exploring the use of book clubs and graphic texts in different student and learning contexts. Ten years ago, the award enabled me (2013 CLA Award recipient) to study how teachers negotiated their use of children's literature and social justice teaching amid the multi-state adoption of the Common Core State Standards. Supporting the Knowledge-Building and Information-Sharing With the support of the award, recipients have also extended the findings of their projects to share with broader audiences. Dr. Ellis stated, “The CLA Research Award was a crucial support for the completion of my doctoral dissertation study. As a doctoral student, the award committee's belief in my research was very meaningful to me." Dr. Coleman collaborated with doctoral student Petra Lange to write a forthcoming article intended to support educators teaching in restrictive legislative contexts to resist education policy that removes children’s literature from classrooms and libraries. He is also completing a book proposal that expands upon that article. “My sincere hope is that this work will provide teachers with actionable strategies for challenging book bans and censorship in their local contexts,” Dr. Coleman reflected. Supporting Communities Perhaps most importantly, the award has also provided recipients with opportunities to support the communities with whom they work. “With the funds provided by the award, I was able to purchase high-quality picturebooks for the preschool teachers participating in my study, all of whom worked in economically disadvantaged schools,” explained Dr. Ellis. Likewise, Dr. Hines shared, “I am exceptionally grateful for the CLA Research Award. Funding from this award made it possible for my students to have access to books and resources to enhance their learning experience. This award allowed me the opportunity to co-create a space with students where they could engage in discussion and activities centered on learning with comics and developing their critical literacies." Dr. Caitlin Ryan (2020 CLA Award recipient) reflected, “Receiving the CLA Research Award was so helpful to the ongoing work Drs. Jill Hermann-Wilmarth, Craig Young, Mikkaka Overstreet and I were doing with our Reading the K-8 Rainbow Book Club project. It funded LGBTQ-inclusive books for our participants who had given us so much of their time and effort. We felt supported, they felt supported, and their students got new books! Having these materials, in turn, helped give us more to talk about and learn from during our Book Club sessions.” Dr. Coleman echoed these sentiments as they pertain to his research: “I am so grateful to the CLA for their support, and with it, I will champion intellectual freedom for teachers and students in every classroom and library across the United States.” So, what lines of inquiry and projects might you want to pursue to explore the power of children’s literature in our schools and communities? Up to two grants may be awarded if funding is available, and projects may engage using any research method or approach. For the application and more information, see the Children’s Literature Assembly Award page on the CLA Website. Grace Enriquez is a professor of Language and Literature at Lesley University, past chair of the CLA Research Committee, and a 2013 recipient of the CLA Research Award. Announcing the 2024 Bonnie Campbell Hill National Literacy Leader Award Call for Applications3/18/2024
Mary Ellen Oslick on behalf for the 2024 Bonnie Campbell Hill National Literacy Leader Award Committee We're excited to invite our NCTE member-leaders who are Classroom Teachers or Literacy Coaches or Teacher Educators to apply for the 2024 Bonnie Campbell Hill National Literacy Leader Award, with funding of $2,500, plus a $150 Heinemann grant. In the realm of literacy education, there are champions who go beyond the ordinary, imparting knowledge and igniting a love for learning. The Bonnie Campbell Hill National Literacy Leader Award celebrates excellence in literacy education as it makes a lasting impact on students' lives and the professional development of other educators, while honoring and maintaining the literacy legacy of Dr. Bonnie Campbell Hill. It recognizes two literacy leaders annually and is generously funded by Dr. Hill's family. Why Apply for the Bonnie Campbell Hill National Teacher Award?
Your proposed plan could focus on attending a workshop, class, or conference with colleagues (e.g., NCTE). As part of your work as a literacy leader, you could design classes, workshops, or literacy-focused events. Your team of colleagues might appreciate a professional book study. Be creative as you plan your proposal but please be mindful of the award requirements as you prepare your application. The professional development plan should address key elements that are listed in the rubric, outlining why you would be a strong candidate for these monies and your vision for how this support would allow you to improve and enhance teaching and learning for students and/or teachers. Submission of all application materials is required no later than August 10, 2024. The award application is available at the Bonnie Campbell Hill Literacy Leader Award page on the CLA Website. If you're unsure whether you and your ideas are award-worthy, please see the prior BCH Award recipients and learn about their proposals.
Mary Ellen Oslick is the chair of the Bonnie Campbell Hill National Literacy Award Committee and associate professor at Stetson University. |
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