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The CLA Blog

The CLA Research Award: Now Accepting Applications!

3/24/2025

 

By René M. Rodríguez-Astacio on Behalf of the CLA Research Award Committee

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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!

Want to learn more about the CLA Research Award?

Visit the CLA Research Award page on our website.

Are you considering applying for the CLA Research Award?

Access the application call, prepare your application and submit it by the July 1, 2025 deadline.

Want to learn more about the CLA Research Award?

Visit our Research Award Recipients page, were you can find short profiles of past award recipients and their funded projects.
CLA Members, you can find detailed reports on each funded project in the spring issues of the Journal of Children's Literature.

Do you know about CLA's other Grants and Awards?

Visit our Grants and Awards page to learn about:
  • the CLA Early Career Award
  • the Bonnie Campbell Hill Literacy Leader Award
  • the Vivian Yenika Agbaw Student Conference Grant
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.

Pursuing Our Commitment – An Update from the CLA DEI Committee

1/28/2025

 

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:
"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]).
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.

Attending NCTE 2024: Reflections from the Recipients of the Vivian Yenika-Agbaw Student Conference Grant

11/11/2024

 

By Amber Moore and Joshua Palange

EDITORIAL NOTE

Children's literature scholarship and teaching praxis are at the heart of the Children's Literature Assembly. Undergraduate and graduate students who engage with children's literature are vital contributors to conversations in the field and to our future as a disciplinary community. To facilitate student participation in the assembly, CLA offers discounted memberships to students and has established the CLA Student Committee. The committee is exclusively composed of CLA student members and contributes substantively to CLA programming and other work. Each year, the CLA student committee organizes webinars whose recordings are available in the members-only section of the CLA website, recommends student representatives to standing CLA committees, and contributes volunteers to CLA's activities at the annual NCTE Conference.

Recognizing the significance of attending and presenting at national conferences for our student members' careers and aware of the financial burden conference attendance can pose, CLA has created the Vivian Yenika Agbaw Student Conference Grant. Named after the late Vivian Yenika-Agbaw, notable children's literature scholar and editor of the Journal of Children's Literature, the grants help defray registration and travel costs for the NCTE conference. They are managed by the CLA student committee and are awarded yearly dependent on available funding.

This year's grant recipients are Amber Moore, Ph.D. student at North Carolina State University, and Josh Palange, Master's in Library Science student at the University of Southern Mississippi. Below you will find their reflective notes on their upcoming travel to Boston for the 2024 NCTE Conference.

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2024 Student Conference Grant Recipients: Amber Moore & Josh Palange

At the Intersection of Gratitude and Hope

Boston, Massachusetts, "The Walking City." When NCTE announced their conference location this year, my heart leaped. Walking has always been my meditation, my way of processing the world one step at a time. That was until October 17th, when a car struck me in a crosswalk while walking my dog. While he emerged unscathed , I found myself navigating an unexpected landscape of fear and, surprisingly, profound gratitude.
 
There's a particular kind of fear that settles into your bones after an accident – the kind that makes you flinch at passing headlights and hold your breath at every intersection or car honking. But there's also a particular kind of healing that happens when you're surrounded by a community of literature teachers, those who understand that every human story carries both shadow and light.
 
This isn't a story about toxic positivity or rushing past the hard parts. Instead, it's about the way words and people can hold us when we're broken, how literacy becomes a bridge back to ourselves and each other. It feels fitting that NCTE's theme this year is "Heart, Hope, and Humanity" – three things I've found in abundance in my academic family. And so, I’d like to use this word-count to express my thanks to those who have had a pivotal role in reigniting my excitement to attend the conference this year.
 
To Dr. Angela Wiseman: You've taught me that vulnerability isn't just about being seen – it's about creating spaces where others feel brave enough to be seen too. Your brilliance is matched only by your compassion, and you've shown me how to wear both with grace.
 
To Dr. Crystal Chen Lee: You embody what it means to create belonging. Your heart-centered approach to scholarship reminds me daily that academic work is, at its core, human work.
 
To Samantha Duke: In letting me step back, you've helped me step forward. You've shown me that control isn't always about holding on – sometimes it's about trusting enough to let go.
 
To Callie Hammond: In your understanding, I've found reflection. In your friendship, I've found refuge.
 
As I prepare to walk the streets of Boston (more cautiously now, but still determined), I'm reminded of why we teach literature in the first place. We teach it because stories help us make sense of our wounds and our wonders. We teach it because every student carries within them a universe of potential, waiting to be recognized and realized.

When we dream about change, we're really dreaming about connection – the kind I've found in this community of literacy teachers and readers of the world who rallied around me. They remind me that education at its best is an act of hope, a belief that through words and understanding, we can build something better than what we inherited.

So thank you to these women, these scholars, these keepers of stories and hope. Through you, I've learned that our strongest moments often come not in our independence, but in the gentle acceptance of our interconnectedness. I cannot wait to walk the streets of Boston with you!

Amber Moore

NCTE Scheduled Sessions:
  • Current Conversations about Young Adult Literature in the Classroom- "Turning Pages, Nurturing Hearts: YA Literature as Shepherds through Grief, Loss and Mourning." with Dr. Angela Wiseman | Nov. 22, 9:30-10:45
  • "Preserving Dignity through Memory and Critical Literacy with Honor to the Japanese American Experience during WWII-Era Incarceration" with Dr. Crystal Chen Lee, Dr. Cathlin Goulding of the Yuri Education Project, and author, Emily Inouye Huey | Nov. 24 10:30-11:45

A Note of Thanks

Going to NCTE this year is really special. I've just recently transitioned careers toward librarianship, (I graduate with my MLIS in December!) after working as a children's writer and an English educator for several years, so I'm excited to look at the conference from a different perspective and lens. It's also special to have the opportunity to hear Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson speak at the conference, among other social justice activists. We live in a trying time, and staying organized and always striving for equity in our stewardship is important.

I'm thankful for The Vivian Yenika-Agbaw Student Conference Grant which is giving me the opportunity to attend, I can't wait to explore the conference and the great city of Boston.

Josh Palange


CLA @ NCTECLA @NCTE

2024 Notables Session
Expert Class session
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Cards and Tote bags celebrating CLA's 50th will be availabe at NCTE 2024

Reflections from our CLA Early Career Award Recipients

4/23/2024

 

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 Recipient

JOSH COLEMAN

Assistant Professor of English Education 
Department of Teaching and Learning 
The University of Iowa
Twitter: @Josheducating 
Scholarly Website: https://uiowa.academia.edu/JamesJoshuaColeman 
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Picture of myself apple picking with Dr. Saba Vlach, also a Children’s Literature expert.
My current project, entitled “Banned Childhoods,” chronicles how English Language Arts (ELA) teachers resist book-banning legislation in their local contexts—namely their classrooms, schools, and communities. This work has been funded graciously by the Children’s Literature Assembly (CLA) of NCTE, the National Academy of Education, the Spencer Foundation, and the University of Iowa. Based on this study, I have one forthcoming article intended to support educators teaching in restrictive legislative contexts to resist education policy that removes children’s literature from classrooms and libraries. Co-written with University of Iowa doctoral student Petra Lange, “A Two-Year Timeline to Anti-LGBTQ+ Book Bans in America’s Heartland” will be published this year in English Journal, and it provides actional strategies for recognizing impending book bans and resisting them through local activism. Responding to the immediate need, this article is grounded in practitioners’ lived experiences and strives for classrooms and libraries in which every young person can see themself represented in children’s literature.
 
On-going, data collection for the “Banned Childhoods” study will conclude in May of 2024, and I am currently preparing a book proposal that will expand upon the English Journal article. This book will support ELA teachers to combat draconian legislation targeting children’s literature featuring Black, Indigenous, and other children of Color as well as LGBTQ+ young people. My sincere hope is that this work will provide teachers with actionable strategies for challenging book bans and censorship in their local contexts. 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.

2019 CLA Early Career Award Recipient

NOREEN NASEEM RODRIGUEZ

Assistant Professor of Elementary Education and Educational Justice
College of Education
Michigan State University
Instagram and X/Twitter: @NaseemRdz
Professional website: https://naseemrdz.com/
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"Something that matters to me" is learning about local histories from community members and scholar friends. This photo is from November 2023, when I was able to take a tour of Harlem with Akemi Kochiyama, whose grandmother Yuri Kochiyama is a famous Asian American activist and friend of Malcolm X. In the background is the mural painted in their honor, around the corner from her former apartment.
I am thrilled to have been part of the team behind the "Research in children’s literature" in Fisher & Lapp's recently published The Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts. My work related to children's literature tends to highlight how teachers use specific texts or focuses on critical content analyses. This was a nice shift that allowed me to look more broadly at current research and it was an honor working alongside my dear mentor Angie Zapata as well as Monica Kleekamp and Thomas Crisp, who are all brilliant. Another recent publication I am really proud of is my new book Teaching Asian America in Elementary Classrooms.  My favorite chapter is the one on identity and stereotypes which features a wide array of recommendations to support class discussions of Asian names, food, and stereotypes like the model minority and South Asians as terrorist threats. 
 
For my Asian American-focused work, I want readers to know that what Viet Thanh Nguyen called "narrative plenitude" is so important - reading multiple Asian American stories is vital to disrupting notions that Asian Americans are a monolith, especially within cultures. For my elementary social studies work, a clear action step is pairing picturebooks about historical events and figures with primary sources that add nuance and complexity to the textual narrative. I call this going "beyond the book" to ensure that young learners engage with meaningful and contextualized social studies content.
 
I have a big announcement coming soon about a longitudinal project that examines how efforts to mandate the teaching of Asian American histories and/or Asian American studies are being implemented. I am really excited to spend time with students and teachers in classrooms again! I am also working on a second edition of my book Social Studies for a Better World  and am beginning a book tour in support of Teaching Asian America in Elementary Classrooms. The next few years will be busy, but I am thrilled to be able to do this work in ways that impact more teachers and students.


2017 CLA Early Career Award Recipient

ANGIE ZAPATA

Associate Professor of Language and Literacies Education
College of Education
University of Missouri
Scholarly website: https://education.missouri.edu/person/angie-zapata
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This is a photo of the incredible early childhood teacher partners I have the honor of learning from as part of the Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grant of which I serve as PI for the early literacies strand. These are PK and K teachers who choose to work in some of the most demanding areas of our state. They show up every day alongside the beautiful children and their families to do the work. With every interaction we have, I am inspired and energized by their commitments and excellence in the classroom under the most extraordinary schooling conditions and political climate. It is not easy to be a teacher right now, but these teachers make it happen!
I’m so pleased to share that I have recently published a book entitled Deepening Student Engagement with Diverse Picturebooks: Powerful Classroom Practices for Elementary Teachers  as part of the Principled in Practice imprint of National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Drawing on a year-long multi-site collaborative research project with classroom teachers, I braid together theories of literature response, grammar of visual design, bi/multilingual and multimodal literacies to offer what I call a Critical Literature Response Framework as a pathway for sharing books with diverse racial, linguistic, and cultural representation. This framework is guided by the ethical work of integrating diverse children’s picturebooks in the classroom, a desire to cultivate a critical literature classroom landscape that resists stereotypical representations of racialized, linguistically diverse communities in literature, and a commitment to recentering critical and aesthetic engagement of picturebooks with diverse representation.

As a way to unpack the Critical Literature Response Framework, the book features practical literature approaches and guiding principles that can be tailored to their individual contexts with a focus on the classroom commitments, conditions, practices, and collaborations needed to deepen students’ engagements with picturebooks that offer diverse racial, linguistic, and broader cultural representation. I wrote this book to contribute well theorized examples of how to launch aesthetic and critical response in classrooms through literature explorations of diverse picturebook collections. I hope readers find the book to be a foundational part of their toolkit as they develop and rethink their literature beliefs and practices. For example, I hope readers will utilize the reflection invitations to ponder their critical social educator journey as curators of children’s literature or consider the ways visual thinking strategies can support children’s critical reading of illustrations, and so much more. The book offers multiple entry points for both the beginning and most experienced teacher to make their own.

It has been exciting to reflect and see how my research has evolved over time and how past learning has directed me to next steps in my research. As an early career children’s literature researcher over a decade ago, my research inquiries began with deep explorations of bi/multilingual children’s translingual picturebook making processes. Over time, my analytic gaze shifted towards the classroom conditions and pedagogies that produced racialized children and youth responses to diverse picturebooks and the emerging text and text making processes that resulted. I am partnering more and more with teachers as a model of professional learning and my analytic gaze homes in on the ways teachers develop their beliefs and practices when sharing children’s picturebooks that feature better representation. The arc of my research life thus far and my learning from those inquiries now lead me towards continued teacher/researcher collaborative inquiries with a close eye on the ways educators come to understand and enact a Critical Literature Framework in their classrooms. I look forward to sharing our Young Scholars Program  grant funded work from Foundation of Child Development as an example of this shift through an upcoming publication with Bank Street Occasional Paper  in May 2024 and more examples of our children’s picturebook learning together in the year to come. I believe as picturebooks with diverse representation slowly find their way into our classrooms and libraries, building coalitions of solidarity through teacher/researcher partnership will be essential to not only ensuring that these picturebooks are taught well and enjoyed by children, but also a necessary way to support and advocate with/for teachers during these challenging times in education.
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.

Announcing the 2024 CLA Research Award Call for Applications

4/8/2024

 

By Grace Enriquez

How 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 Applications

3/18/2024

 

Mary Ellen Oslick on behalf for the 2024 Bonnie Campbell Hill National Literacy Leader Award Committee

2024 Bonnie Campbell Hill National Literacy Leader Award - Applications due 8/10/2024
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?
  1. Prestige and Recognition: The award not only highlights the individual teacher's commitment but also bestows prestige and national recognition. It is a testament to one's dedication to providing a high-quality education, emphasizing literacy learning.
  2. Inspiration for Peers: By applying for and receiving the Bonnie Campbell Hill National Literacy Leader Award, educators become beacons of inspiration for their colleagues. The ripple effect of showcasing innovative teaching methods and successful practices contributes to a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration.
  3. Impact on Students: The award is an opportunity for educators to magnify their positive influence on students. By showcasing effective strategies in literacy education, recipients contribute to a nationwide movement toward improved literacy skills among the younger generation.
  4. Diversity and Inclusion: The award's commitment to diversity ensures that educators from all backgrounds are recognized. This inclusivity promotes a richer and more diverse educational landscape, enhancing the learning experiences of students from various cultural and socio-economic backgrounds.
  5. Networking and Professional Development: Being part of the Bonnie Campbell Hill National Literacy Leader Award community provides educators with valuable networking opportunities and access to a community of like-minded professionals. This network fosters ongoing professional development and collaboration, ensuring that the impact of the award extends beyond the individual classroom.

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.


Questions?
Where to submit?
When is the deadline?
Feel free to contact Mary Ellen Oslick at [email protected]
Send your proposal to Mary Ellen Oslick at [email protected].
Applications are due by August 10th, 2024.
Mary Ellen Oslick is the chair of the Bonnie Campbell Hill National Literacy Award Committee and associate professor at Stetson University.

CLA Board Elections & CLA Awards

11/23/2021

 

BY XENIA HADJIOANNOU, LAUREN LIANG & LIZ THACKERAY NELSON

Thank you to the Outgoing CLA Board Members

Term: January 1, 2020 - December 31, 2021

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Cynthia Alaniz
School Librarian at Cottonwood Creek Elementary in Coppell, TX
Most recently, Cynthia served as chair of the Children’s Literature Assembly Early Career Award Committee.
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April Bedford
Dean of the School of Education at Brooklyn College
Most recently, April served as chair of the Children’s Literature Assembly Research Award Committee.
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Miriam Martinez
Professor of Literacy Education at the University of Texas at San Antonio
Miriam is chair of CLA's Endowment Committee. 

Congratulations to the Newly Elected CLA Board Members

Term: January 1, 2022 - December 31, 2024

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Mary Lee Hahn
Retired 4th/5th Grade Teacher, Poet, and Community Volunteer
Mary Lee brings to CLA a classroom teacher’s career-long passion for the importance of children’s literature in the curriculum. She has been active in CLA since 2008, when Monica Edinger encouraged her to apply to be on the Notable Children's Literature in the Language Arts committee. She went on to serve as the committee chair in 2010. Mary Lee also served on NCTE's Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children 2017-2019. Mary Lee has served CLA by helping set up for the breakfast, establishing a website and social media presence, and currently, by promoting CLA on its Facebook page.

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Andrea M. Page
(Hunkpapa Lakota) Children's Author and Educator
Currently a retired educator, Andrea writes books for children. While she was a middle school teacher, she worked to have a print-rich classroom which allowed children to recognize themselves in books, to be inspired by positive role models, and to study writing techniques of authors. As a reader and author, Andrea continues to be a lifelong learner and is committed to advocating for Native literature. As a CLA Board Member, Andrea aspires to bring awareness of Native perspectives and help teachers/librarians select books that are a natural fit for their students. 
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Sara K. Sterner
Assistant Professor, Humboldt State University
Sara's work as a teacher educator concentrates on antiracist pedagogical practices, elementary literacy and social studies education, and the promotion of inclusive children’s and adolescent literature. Guiding preservice elementary teachers to understand how dominant reading experiences shape their literacy practices to more fully embrace inclusive texts that are beneficial to all readers is a central theme of Sara's scholarship and teaching. These commitments are born out of her fourteen years as a K-6 teacher, a closely held reader identity, and a lifelong passion for children’s literature. Sara has previously served on the CLA Student Committee and been a recipient of the CLA Research Award.

Congratulations to the 2021 CLA Award & Grant Recipients

Eun Young Yeom, 2021 CLA Research Award Winner
Jon Wargo, 2021 CLA Early Career Award Winner
Steven Layne, 2021 Bonnie Campbell Hill Literacy Leader Award Recipient
2021 CLA Student Conference Grant Recipients: Bethany Lewis & Courtney Samuelson

A Bonnie Campbell Hill Literacy Leader Award Update (Part I)

4/20/2021

 

Planting Seeds for Professional Involvement with Bonnie Campbell Hill

BY KATHRYN WILL

Author and two students2018 NCTE Annual Convention, Houston
Winning the 2018 Bonnie Campbell Hill National Literacy Leader Award for my clinical work with preservice teachers in our local schools allowed me to support the attendance of two university students, Emily and Allicia, at the 2018 NCTE conference in Houston. They were astounded by the warm welcome they received at the CLA breakfast that year, the sessions they attended, and of course the free books signed by authors. To say they were gobsmacked would be accurate. Upon our return from the conference, they shared their experience in a student gathering on campus with others where it was well received and created a buzz in the teacher education program for quite a time afterwards. They graduated in the Spring of 2019, accepting their first teaching positions in nearby schools. Because of the positive experience they had at the 2018 conference, they attended NCTE 2019 in Baltimore as seasoned conference attendees, focusing in on their current classroom needs and of course gathering books for their classroom libraries. 

After starting a YA book club in the summer of 2019, we continued to meet together virtually throughout the pandemic--sometimes for our book club that grew out of the initial NCTE experience, and other times to navigate classroom or learner challenges. When we met a few weeks ago, I asked them about the initial experience of attending NCTE with me. Emily commented that the experience opened her eyes to the importance of making connections within the profession at a national level. Allicia added that she never would have considered going to something like NCTE if she had not gone with me. It made her dream bigger as a teacher and as a person. They both agreed they will attend again. I am so grateful that winning this award allowed me to plant and nurture the seeds of professional involvement for these teachers in the early stages of their careers. I hope there are opportunities for me to continue this in the future with other preservice teachers.

Author and two students
2019 NCTE Annual Convention, Baltimore
Author and two students
2020-2021 Zoom gatherings for book club and talks about teaching and learning

Catching Up with Quintin: A Bonnie Campbell Hill Literacy Leader Award Update

BY QUINTIN BOSTIC

PictureKathryn Will (left) & Quintin Bostic (right)
When he won the award in 2018, Quintin was preparing to teach his first course in elementary writing instruction for undergraduate preservice teachers. Although his time in the Ph.D. program is coming to an end, the doors to opportunities are just beginning to open. Shortly after receiving the Bonnie Campbell Hill Literacy Leader Award, Quintin began to implement his PLC series. The 3-day series supported teacher trainers and teachers in using various strategies to have critical conversations with students through picture books in their classrooms. The professional development program addressed topics like #BlackLivesMatter, LGBTQIA+ families, multilingualism, varying abilities, and more. Attendees of the professional development supported students from preschool to third grade in an inner-city school district in Atlanta, Georgia. A major highlight from the project was that because it was so well received, the project was further funded through a local agency for the continued support of teachers in the local area. Through the Bonnie Campbell Hill Literacy Leader Award, not only was Quintin able to implement the PLC series, but he was also able to attend the annual convention of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) in Houston, Texas in 2018, attend the Children’s Literature Assembly’s breakfast, and attend the all-attendee event that featured author Sharon Draper. Because of the award, Quintin has gained a platform that has helped him to continue to advance in his academic career.

PictureQuintin Bostic
Quintin is currently wrapping up his Ph.D. in Early Childhood and Elementary Education at Georgia State University. His research focuses on how race, racism, and power are communicated through the text and visual imagery in children’s picturebooks. Additionally, in 2020, Quintin was named co-chair of the National Association for Professional Development Schools (NAPDS) Anti-Racism Committee. The association – which provides professional development, advocacy, and support for school-university partnerships – first established the Anti-Racism Committee in response to racial violence in 2020. As co-chair, Bostic will work to foster a culture of equity and inclusion within the association, and in the communities it supports; create and implement anti-racist policies, practices, and systems; and recommend and implement tools and approaches for continued reflection and progress. “Our goal is to address racism by providing teachers and community partners with the necessary resources to do so,” Bostic said. “These resources vary, ranging from trainings to resources, that can help challenge and overcome racist ideologies that are embedded throughout society.” He also just started a new career with Teaching Lab, in which is serves as a Partnerships Manager.

Quintin is beyond thankful to Bonnie Campbell Hill, her family, the Children’s Literature Assembly, and everyone who makes this award possible. “There are so many people, like me, who would have never had the opportunity to have so many experiences without the support, love and care of people like the Bonnie Campbell Hill Award family. I am so appreciative, and I look forward to seeing what amazing things will come out of this award in the future.”

Kathryn Will is an Assistant Professor of Literacy at the University of Maine Farmington (@KWsLitCrew). She is passionate about sharing the power of children's literature with her students. She is one of the 2018 Bonnie Campbell Hill Award recipients, a member of the 2019 Notables Committee, and current chair of the Notables Committee.
Quintin Bostic is a Ph.D. Candidate at Georgia State University. He is also Partnerships Manager at Teaching Lab and co-Chair of the NAPDS Antiracism Committee. His personal website is https://drquintinbostic.com.
Editorial Note:
Check out our April 6 Post about the Bonnie Campbell Hill Literacy Leader award and look out for another award recipient update post next week. If you are interested in applying for this year's award, visit the Bonnie Campbell Hill Literacy Leader Award page for the application details.

Bonnie Campbell Hill National Literacy Leader Award for 2021

4/6/2021

 

​BY NANCY J. JOHNSON

Once again, CLA is excited to invite our member-leaders who are
Classroom Teachers
or
Literacy Coaches
or
Teacher Educators
to apply for the Bonnie Campbell Hill National Literacy Leader Award.
Whether face-to-face, virtual, or hybrid, there is no doubt this past year has tested your teaching in ways that defy imagination. We salute your knowledge, creativity, innovative pedagogy, and re-imagining of resources as you've keep literacy learning at the heart of your students' lives. And now it's time to channel your hopes and dreams as a teacher of readers and writers by applying for the 2021 Bonnie Campbell Hill National Literacy Leader Award.

Who is Bonnie Campbell Hill and what is this award?

Picture
Bonnie Campbell Hill was teacher, literacy leader, reader and writer, and a good friend of CLA. She was also an internationally known educational consultant specializing in literacy instruction and assessment. Bonnie worked extensively with individual schools and school districts, mentoring teachers around the world, and collaborating with them at state, national, and international conferences. Her teaching and writing (including nine books and numerous articles) centered around literature circles, writing instruction, classroom-based assessment, developmental continuums, portfolios, and student-led conferences. Following a cancer diagnosis in 2010, Bonnie dreamed of opportunities to continue her commitment and fierce advocacy for teachers as literacy leaders. That fall, she gathered family, friends, and colleagues to help launch Bonnie's Big Idea, a project that has continued to maintain her literacy legacy. The Bonnie Campbell Hill National Literacy Leader Award is a direct outgrowth of Bonnie's Big Idea. It recognizes two literacy leaders each year, and is generously funded by Dr. Hill's family. Over the past ten years, CLA has been grateful to serve as the home for this award.

What does this award mean for you?

This award recognizes your role as a literacy leader and provides funding ($2,500 plus $125 in professional materials published by Heinemann) to support your own big literacy-related ideas. We recognize the unprecedented challenges you've faced as a literacy leader, whether in your classroom (virtual and in-person), your school, or even your greater educational community. Now it's time to dream about -- and create -- opportunities that turn your challenges, your questions, your professional needs, even your hopes and dreams into reality. You can do that through a Bonnie Campbell Hill National Literacy Leader Award.

What goes into your application? How do you apply?

Start with your own big ideas about literacy learning/teaching and professional development. If you were granted $2,500, how could you use that money to support your work as a literacy leader for grades K-8? Your application must include a proposed plan, a budget, your resume or vita, and a letter of support from a supervisor. A professional development proposal could focus on attending a workshop, class, or conference on your own or with colleagues. You might even take advantage of online classes, conferences, and events. Without having to budget for travel, you could create a dynamic proposal with enough funds to support an entire team of colleagues learning together! Perhaps you've always wanted to sponsor a professional book study or you've dreamed of doing some mentoring in your school or community. Now is the time to pursue those plans. Don't worry if your proposal includes events that eventually get cancelled (i.e. attendance at an in-person conference). Go ahead and propose plans as if they will happen. Then, if the event is cancelled, you can use the funds for the following year, or even apply them to a virtual event. In light of ongoing pandemic-related unknowns, we're offering some flexibility in how (and when) you use the award monies. Be creative as you dream up your proposal, but be sure to use the award requirements to prepare your application. These include: membership in both NCTE and CLA and submission of all application materials no later than August 15, 2021. The BCH National Literacy Leader Award application is available here (with further information on the CLA website).

If you're unsure whether you and your ideas are award-worthy, you might find it valuable to "meet" some of the prior BCH Award recipients and learn about their proposals. In addition, keep your eyes open for blog post from past recipients in the coming weeks. 

Feel free to send questions (and eventually your proposal) to Nancy Johnson at njjohnson0303@gmail. Remember, applications are due by August 15th.

Nancy J. Johnson is a Professor Emeritus of Children's/Young Adult Literature and English Education at Western Washington University. She is the Bonnie Campbell Hill Award Committee Chair for CLA. 

CLA Awards

3/1/2021

 

BY CYNTHIA ALANIZ AND APRIL BEDFORD, AWARDS COMMITTEE CHAIRS

As we begin the month of March, we wanted to share a reminder about two of the fabulous opportunities available for children’s literature scholars and teachers to apply.

Children’s Literature Assembly Research Award

First, applications for the Children’s Literature Assembly Research Award are open to any current CLA members (excluding elected board members and officers). Projects using any type of research methodology will be considered just as long as the focus of the project is related to the field of children’s literature. This award provides grants of $1,000 for original research projects addressing significant questions to the field of children’s literature, and up to two grants may be awarded annually if funds are available.

So if you have a great idea for a research project, and you could use some financial assistance to bring that idea to fruition, please consider applying for the CLA Research Award. You may find more information and the application on the CLA Research Award page. Also on the website, check out the projects of previous award recipients. If you have any further questions, please email the award committee chair, April Bedford, at [email protected]. Completed applications are due no later than July 1, 2021.

Children’s Literature Assembly Early Career Award

This year, we will also be selecting a recipient for the Children’s Literature Assembly Early Career Award, awarded every other year to an early career individual who shows extraordinary promise as a researcher and leader in the field of children’s literature. Nominees must have been CLA members for at least one year and must have completed a doctoral degree no more than seven years prior to the nomination date. Applicants may self-nominate or be nominated by another CLA member.

Additional details about the award, including the nomination and application materials may be found on the CLA Early Career Award page,  where you may also learn more about the 2017 and 2019 CLA Early Career Award recipients. For more information, please contact the award committee chair, Cynthia Alaniz, at [email protected]. Completed applications for this award are also due no later than July 1, 2021. Please consider nominating yourself or a colleague with great potential to make important contributions to our field.
CLA Research Award
CLA Early Career Award
Cynthia Alaniz is a School Librarian at Cottonwood Creek Elementary in Coppell, TX and a CLA board member.
April Bedford
is is the Dean of the School of Education at Brooklyn College and a CLA board member. She has been involved in CLA for over two decades and considers it her professional home.

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