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Curating Your All-the-Feels Bookshelf: Children’s Picture Books with Big Emotions

1/14/2025

 

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

My mouth is a volcano cover
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

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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

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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Picture

The Worry Era

Ruby finds a worry
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

The Yellow Bus cover
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.
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.

Exploring Heart & Hope with Biographies: The 2024 CLA Expert Class

10/21/2024

 

By Mary Ann Cappiello, Sara K. Sterner, and Kathy Short

Saturday, November 23, 2024 from 5:45 PM - 7:00 PM EST  Room 102 A, Boston Convention & Exhibition Center
Official Session Link: Children’s Literature Assembly Expert Class: Exploring Heart & Hope with Biographies
The Biography Clearinghouse
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:

  • High-quality, well-written biographies are multidimensional and multi-layered. As students explore the ways in which the book operates, and the decisions the author and illustrator made, they also use the biographies as vehicles for learning about the world.
  • Because of the increasing diversity of subjects, biographies are one of our best tools for diversifying the curriculum K-8.
  • Biographies can infuse the language arts, science, social studies, math, and integrated arts curriculum with models of agency and perseverance.
 
To help facilitate this work in K-8 classrooms, the Clearinghouse created a three-part framework: Investigate, Explore, and Create.
Inverstigate, Explore, Create Framework
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.
 
  • Mary Ann is a Professor of Language & Literacy at Lesley University
  • Sara is an Associate Professor of Elementary Education at Cal-Poly Humboldt University and a CLA Board Member
  • Kathy is a Professor of Teaching, Learning & Sociocultural Studies at The University of Arizona and a CLA Board Member

Other CLA offerings during NCTE 2024

Notables
CLA Breakfast
Art Auction

Making Waves and Radiating Hope: Young Peoples’ Acts of Resistance in 2024 Award-Winners

1/27/2024

 

By Jennifer Slagus and Callie Hammond

There is something endlessly energizing about reading new things—whether it’s an anxiously-awaited release, a long-term tenant on your TBR-list, or the research of an emerging scholar (maybe we’re a little biased on that last one). Members of the CLA Student Committee are privileged to do just that: to read exciting books and write about all the exciting ways they can be used in classrooms to improve the lives and learning of our students. Much of our work as early career researchers highlights critical pieces of children’s literature that attend to the social, cultural, and political contexts of our real and literary worlds. We want to share a few recently published, award-winning books relevant to our doctoral research that highlight young peoples’ bravery and acts of resistance. All three are critical, impactful reads worth embedding in each of our classrooms in 2024.

Jennifer Slagus

I’m a huge fan of books by authors who share a lived reality with their characters. As a neurodivergent researcher, I strive to highlight middle grade novels that help to restory the perceptions of who neurodivergent people are (and who they’re allowed to be). There have been many fabulous authors in the past five years or so who have contributed books that do just that. But one author sticks out to me as an exceptional advocate for neurodivergent acceptance: Sally J. Pla. She’s an autistic middle grade author and the founder of A Novel Mind, a website that centers mental health and neurodiversity representation in children’s fiction. ANM has been a gold mine for my research. Not only does it feature a vibrant blog and a ton of educator resources, but it also has a database of over 1,150 children’s books featuring mental health and neurodiversity representation.
Cver of The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGuinn (2023)
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Sally’s most recent novel, The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGuinn (2023) was just awarded the 2024 Schneider Family Book Award for its fantastic neurodivergent representation set against the realistic difficulties many disabled people face (like infantilization, abuse, and resulting trauma). Despite all of Maudie’s hardships—living with an abusive stepdad and narrowly escaping a ravaging California wildfire—she finds strength in her own voice and is able to admit she needs help. Just before the book published, Sally and I talked about Maudie on Episode 4 of my podcast In the MIDst: A Kid's Lit Podcast.  She explained the novel is “about blooming after your world’s kind of been scorched in a way. But it’s a healing novel, it talks about some really deep issues of emotional abuse . . . and moving on afterwards and healing and growing and finding your voice and learning that you can tell, and you can talk, and it’s okay” (31:25-31:46).

Maudie’s ability to find her voice and self-advocate—her acts of resistance against the way she is continually mistreated—make this a critical read. And the accompanying discussion guide, created by an Education PhD, features questions and activities to facilitate classroom discussions that can help young readers better understand Maudie’s experiences, and support them as they analyze the conflict, and consider how to better empathize with and care for their neurodivergent friends, family, and community members.

Callie Hammond

As a middle school teacher for ten years, I often utilized picturebooks to engage my students and to teach discrete skills, usually about grammar, and to illustrate writing techniques. These lessons had varying success—sometimes the 7th graders would be open to reading a picturebook, other times they rolled their eyes and refused to participate.

The most successful picturebooks that I ever brought into my classroom though had nothing to do with grammar or writing, they had to do with Anne Frank. I taught her diary to 6th graders who, unless they were readers themselves and had already discovered World War II fiction, had no knowledge of the Holocaust or how Jews were treated in the years preceding the war. My Anne Frank picturebook collection featured many books about Anne (there are a lot of them out there), but also books that explained significant parts of the war: the night of broken glass, Jewish resistance, children in concentration camps, children who also hid during the war, and many others.

Now, as a doctoral student in English education, I have come full circle to analyze the stories of Jewish female protagonists in YA novels about World War II, and representations of the Holocaust in picturebooks. Two of these picturebooks were published in 2023 and feature stories and information that our students need and can learn from. Both books were also just named Notable Books for a Global Society Award for 2024. As is fitting for a book about a traumatic historical event, both are nonfiction and have extensive back matter to explain the stories.
Cover of Hidden Hope: How a Toy and a Hero Saved Lives During the Holocaust
In Hidden Hope: How a Toy and a Hero Saved Lives During the Holocaust, a young girl named Jacqueline resists the Nazis by hiding fake papers in a wooden yellow duck toy for those who needed to escape France after the Nazi invasion. Her story reveals a twist though: she is a Jewish girl masquerading in the open as a Christian. Her act of resistance and sheer bravery are an incredible learning opportunity for students to understand different types of resistance during the war.

Cover of Stars of the Night: The Courageous Children of the Czech Kinderstransport
Stars of the Night: The Courageous Children of the Czech Kinderstransport is about the Kindertransport (or child transportation) of Jewish children from Czechoslovakia to Great Britain. This picturebook does not shy away from the overwhelming confusion and sadness of the children who are leaving their parents, and of the parents whose children are leaving. Reading this book with middle school and high school students will provide an emotional connection to the hardships of the war without focusing on atrocity pictures.


Utilizing both of these picturebooks in the classroom with older students can prep them for the heavier history or readings a teacher might soon introduce. They also provide picture evidence of hardships and bravery without being too macabre.
Jennifer Slagus is a doctoral candidate at Brock University in Ontario, Canada and Coordinator of Research & Instruction at the University of South Florida Libraries. Jennifer’s doctoral research focuses on representations of neurodivergence in twenty-first century middle grade fiction.

Callie Hammond is a doctoral student at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. Callie’s doctoral research focuses on accessing historical knowledge when teaching literature that involves the Holocaust and using critical content analysis to analyze and understand representations of the Holocaust in children’s picturebooks.

CLA Student Committee Members
  • Jennifer Slagus - Brock University (Chair)
  • Nadine Bravo - University of Southern Maine
  • Kristen Foos - Ohio State University
  • Callie Hammond - NC State University
  • Ling Hao - University of South Carolina
  • Carrie Ann Thomas - Ohio State University

Enjoy Breakfast with Award-Winning Children's Author Traci Sorell

11/7/2023

 

By Andrea M. Page and Jackie Marshall Arnold

We invite you to the Children's Literature Assembly’s annual event at the 2023 NCTE Convention. Enjoy breakfast with our Keynote Speaker, award-winning author Traci Sorell. The breakfast is Sunday, November 19th, from 7:00am to 8:45am EST in Short North A of the Grand Columbus Convention Center. 
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This breakfast will be the highlight of your experience at NCTE. During the event, you will have time to engage with fellow Children’s Literature Assembly members. You can participate in a book raffle for an entire set of 2023 Notable Books. Or perhaps bid on and win a piece of art in our Children’s Literature Art Auction. Most importantly, you will hear children’s author Traci Sorell talk about her two new titles, Contenders and Mascot, and other highlights of her writing journey.

​You will need to purchase a ticket to attend the breakfast, so if you have already registered but would like to join us, call NCTE at (877) 369-6283 and they will help you add the ticket to your registration.  ​
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2022 Art Auction, Anaheim, CA (photo courtesy of Andrea Page)
Traci Sorell
Photo credit: Cody Hammer
Traci Sorell, our featured speaker, is an award-winning author of many books including We Are Grateful:  Otsaliheliga, At the Mountain’s Base, We’re Still Here, Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer, Powwow Day, Contenders: Two Native Baseball Players, One World Series, and Mascot. As an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, Traci is committed to her community. She is a storyteller who is dedicated to presenting Native Americans in their full humanity through her writing. Traci uses her writing gift to elevate and illuminate Native American contributions to our world. All her work reflects these themes. For some ideas on how to integrate Traci's books into your classroom, please see our previous post. 
Learn more about Traci and how her experiences shape her work during her keynote presentation. You will hear about her newest titles, Mascot and Contenders. Co-authored with Charles Waters, Mascot, a middle school novel-in-verse is told in multiple voices. The middle school characters wrestle with the reality that their school features a racist mascot. When their language arts teacher engages the class in a project debating the “Pros and Cons of Indigenous Peoples as Mascots” controversy ensues across the diverse group of students and the entire community. Mascot earned a starred Kirkus review stating, “a brilliant story not to be missed; deeply engaging from the first page.”
Book cover: Mascot
Book cover: Contenders
Traci will also discuss her new picture book, Contenders: Two Native Baseball Players, One World Series. Also receiving a starred review from Kirkus, Contenders highlights the lives of Charles Bender and John Meyers, two Native athletes who make history playing against each other in the 1911 World Series. Her books capture readers’ imaginations.

​
Every paid breakfast attendee will walk away with a copy of either Contenders or Mascot. Traci will sign books following the CLA Breakfast program.
If you are a veteran of our CLA Breakfast, you already know what an amazing experience it is! If you have not had the opportunity yet, we invite you to join us for Sunday’s breakfast with an incredible author. Find out what you’ve been missing. The CLA Breakfast is a wonderful opportunity to meet others who are passionate about children’s literature, engage in learning from Traci Sorell, and perhaps go home as a winner of a robust set of award-winning books or an original piece of beautiful art! We hope to see you there!

​
Andrea M. Page (Hunkpapa Lakota)  is a board member of the Children’s Literature Assembly and serves as the Co-Chair for the 2023 CLA Breakfast Committee. She is a children’s author, educator and speaker. She lives in Rochester, NY.

Jackie Marshall Arnold is a member of the Children’s Literature Assembly and serves as the Co-Chair for the 2023 CLA Breakfast Committee.  She is an associate professor at the University of Dayton in Dayton, OH. 

Everything We Need to Know We Learned from Dr. Kiefer: A Tribute

9/12/2023

 

Barbara Zulant Kiefer 
1944 - 2023

By Bettie Parsons Barger, Lisa Pinkerton, and Erin Reilly-Sanders

What a privilege to have studied with Dr. Barbara Kiefer, our teacher and friend. People know Barbara for her work on the Caldecott Award Committees, establishing the Huck Award, co-editing NCTE’s Language Arts journal, advocating for Children’s Literature Assembly and other professional organizations, and writing Charlotte Huck’s Children’s Literature. Moreover, she taught us so much about children’s literature, making it real, and important, and human. 

To honor her, we reached out to a few of her students, colleagues, and friends, asking for contributions to this post. Using Anita Silvey’s concept in Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Children’s Book: Notable Life Lessons from Notable People from All Walks of Life, contributors selected a children’s book and shared a lesson they learned with Barbara connected to that book. 

However, we know her impact far exceeds this curated collection of life lessons. We invite you to submit a comment with your own lessons learned from Dr. Kiefer. Tribute comments submitted will be compiled and added below this post at the end of October 2023. 
Children’s books can take you on a wonderful journey (and back again). 
Autumn Story / Cuento de otoño by Jill Barklem
​

​​Submitted by Andrés Montañés-Lleras
My first presentation for Barbara’s class was on the Brambly Hedge series. I had read the books before (in Spanish), but she encouraged me to look deeper: to put the child’s eye at the center; to see how color, and perspective, and composition convey meaning; how images and words combine to create this wonderful world for us to enter and explore as we read. We later went together on a study trip to Britain, and it was hard not to see glimpses of Brambly Hedge as we drove across the countryside and discussed fantasy books.

I traveled all the way from Colombia to study with Barbara, and she not only guided me along the way, but also made me feel right at home.
Book cover: Autumn Story
The best poetry for children captures the emotions and experiences of childhood.
Knock at a Star: A Child’s Introduction to Poetry by X. J. Kennedy and Dorothy M. Kennedy

Submitted by Lisa Pinkerton
​
As a doctoral student at The Ohio State University, I had the privilege of co-teaching the Poetry for Children course with Barbara. I gained a deep appreciation for children’s poetry. Each week, Barbara brought a stack of books to class featuring a wide range of poetry tones, topics, and themes, from serious to silly, sports to school, and seasons to science. We immersed ourselves in poetry. Barbara believed that poetry for children “should reflect the real emotions of childhood,” rather than being “coy, nostalgic, or sentimental.” (1) Many of the best children's poems feel joyful, sad, angry, or fanciful - all the emotions that real children experience. This semester, I’m teaching Poetry for Children and I’m so grateful that Barbara’s poetic sensibility has left its indelible mark on the course and on my teaching.
Book cover: Knock at a Star
(1) Kiefer, B. Z., Tyson, C. A., Barger, B. P., Patrick, L., & Reilly-Sanders, E. (2023). Charlotte Huck’s children’s literature: A brief guide (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill. p. 303
Picturebook.
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
​

​Submitted by Melissa Wilson
The Merriam Webster Dictionary’s changes the spelling to picture-book.

Google puts a blue line under the word.

Word puts the dreaded red squiggle under it.

I’m not sure how Adobe Acrobat feels about its spelling. 

But I do know how Barb Kiefer felt. It was always one word—no space, no hyphen—just one word. When I asked her why she spelled the word that way, she was very clear. A picturebook has text and illustrations that amplify each other; they don’t stand alone. And then she would pull out a picturebook (my favorite example was Where the Wild Things Are) and show you how it worked. There was no space between the pictures and the book’s text.

Picturebook—now every time I get the red squiggle or blue line or spell checked, I smile and remember Barb!​
Book cover: Where the Wild Things Are
Never underestimate a picturebook - look closely and think deeply.
The Potential of Picturebooks: From Visual Literacy to Aesthetic Understanding by Barbara Z. Kiefer
​

​
Submitted by Trish Bandré
While studying at The Ohio State University, Janet Hickman, my adviser, recommended Barbara’s book. I had always been drawn to picturebooks and was compelled to learn the “why” as well as the “what” of this unique art form. This book opened my eyes in numerous ways and gave me the words to name and describe what I had loved about picturebooks but didn’t know how to express. A few years later, Dr. Kiefer joined the faculty at OSU, and I was fortunate enough to have her on my dissertation committee. I will always be grateful for her wisdom and insight.
Book cover: The Potential of Picturebooks
Picturebooks are a string of pearls--the pearls are the illustrations and the string is the printed text.
The Wall in the Middle of the Book by Jon Agee
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​Submitted by Kathy G. Short​
One of Barb’s major contributions to the field was her book on The Potential of Picturebooks: From Visual Literacy to Aesthetic Understanding (1995). She argued that a picturebook is a unique art object in which the images and words combine in a transformative way, so the reader comes away with more than the sum of the parts. Her own love of art and background in the field of art came together with her passion for children’s books to challenge the rest of us to explore the intersection of art and picturebooks in deeper ways. She enjoyed picturebooks that used the design of the book in meaning-making as occurs in The Wall in the Middle of the Book by Jon Agee, where the gutter is an essential element of the story.​
Book cover: The Wall in the Middle of the Book
Shapes, lines, and light in illustrations tell readers something.
Shapes, Lines, and Light: My Grandfather’s American Journey by Katie Yamasaki
​

​Submitted by Jongsun Wee
It’s no secret that Dr. Kiefer loved picturebooks. She had so much respect for illustrators. Dr. Kiefer emphasized the interdependence of text and pictures in our class at The Ohio State University. She guided us to pay attention to illustrations and think about why the illustrator made certain choices of colors, shapes, lines, and light. In class, we enjoyed finding information hidden in the illustrations. I am forever grateful to Dr. Kiefer for opening the door of the picturebook world to me. I will keep sharing her love of picturebooks with my students.
Book cover: Shapes, Lines, and Light
All I really need to know and see and appreciate about the art of the picturebook I learned from Barbara.
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
​

​
Submitted by Cynthia A. Tyson
The Potential of Picturebooks: From Visual Literacy to Aesthetic Understanding, was not wisdom at the top of the museums of art mountains, but in one of my children's literature courses, was Barbara, holding open the 1942 Caldecott winner Make Way for Ducklings so gently said, “Isn’t this just beautiful? We should always explore the potential of the picturebook as an art object.” And it is still true, no matter how many books I read—when I go out into the world of children’s literature, I always open my eyes and heart wide for the aesthetic appreciation of the picture book as a work of art.
​
Book cover: Make Way For Ducklings
Pay attention to the use of shape and white space to advance the story.
The Mountains of Tibet by Mordicai Gerstein

Submitted by Denise Dávila​
Prior to studying with Dr. Kiefer, I loved children’s literature. However, I was not attuned to engaging with picturebooks as aesthetic art objects in and of themselves. I remember one evening in which Barbara walked our class through each of Gerstein’s illustrations of The Mountains of Tibet, which School Library Journal describes as “a beautifully gentle look at one human being dealing with life’s choices and possibilities'' via the journey of a Tibetan woodcutter’s death and reincarnation. Because of Barbara, I came to love this book and to appreciate how illustrators’ use of shape and white space advance the story.
Book cover: The Mountains of Tibet
The picturebook is both an art form and a teaching tool.
Blue: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, illustrated by Daniel Minter 


Submitted by Mary Ann Cappiello​
Taking “The Art of the Picturebook” with Barbara at Teachers College deepened my understanding of the picturebook as both an art form and a teaching tool. Barbara taught me how the art in a nonfiction picturebook - the lines, shapes, and colors; the art historical references; the choice of medium - all work together to convey information to the reader and elicit an emotional response within the reader. In Blue, this year’s Orbis Pictus winner, illustrator Daniel Minter uses contrasts: close-ups and panoramas, warm colors and shades of blue, varying lines and shapes. These all deepen readers’ understanding of and emotional connections to the color blue across different cultural contexts, time periods, and technologies.   ​
Book cover: Blue
Nurture every child’s inner artist.
Yasmin the Painter by Saadi Faruqi, illustrated by Hatem Aly

​Submitted by Caitlin L. Ryan
One day while I was a graduate student, a conversation with Dr. Kiefer and others turned to nurturing children’s artistic abilities. Barb was frustrated that classrooms too often limited children’s art to basic materials like pencils and crayons on small pieces of paper. She said, passionately, “You’ve got to give them measles!” We were very confused…until we realized she’d said EASELS. Now that sounded like the Barb Kiefer we knew! The momentary misunderstanding was something we laughed about for years, and its message stuck with me. Barb saw every child as an artist. She knew children could see and create in ways that could express ideas about the world and teach us as adults in the process. She’s the reason the covers of Language Arts (2) featured children’s art from 2007-2010, the reason I teach about arts-based responses to literature in my courses, and the reason my son has an easel in his playroom now.
Book cover: Yasmin the Painter
(2) Specially in volumes 84-88
​Learn from excellence in children’s literature.
Language Arts by National Council of Teachers of English

​​Submitted by Laurie Katz

Barb and I came into the Department of Teaching & Learning at the same time – 2003. I remember being at a faculty meeting before I officially started where I learned that Barb was also coming to the department. Everyone was extremely excited to have someone of her caliber as the Charlotte Huck Chair. Before I started at OSU in Integrated Teaching & Learning, I really didn’t know much about the esteemed reputation of the children’s literature faculty at the university. It wasn’t until I became one of the Language Arts co-editors with Barbara that I learned about the field of children’s literature. Her love, passion, enthusiasm, and expertise permeated throughout the group of editors. One of her roles was being in charge of the 3rd issue of each volume, which was specially geared towards children’s literature. Many of the covers of these issues and others came from Barb’s network, including the two issues above. ​
Journal Covers: Language Arts
​Art and storytelling build relationships—don’t be afraid to be bold.
Hiroshima No Pika by Maruki Toshi

​Submitted by Hilary Brewster

When I was a doctoral student in the Literature for Children and Young Adults program at The Ohio State University, I was more on the YA side than the kid lit side, having previously taught high school English. However, our program luckily required us to take various children’s literature courses with Dr. Barbara Kiefer. In one of them, she shared with us the heartbreaking and exquisite picturebook Hiroshima No Pika, an account of the nuclear annihilation of the titular city. Not your “typical” children’s book, to be sure. With this lesson and others, Dr. Kiefer taught us that it is not only recommended, but necessary, to integrate potentially troubling literature into classrooms of all levels in order to have conversations about empathy, community, and, subsequently, vulnerability. I have shared this book with my upper-level college students who often cite it as one they, too, remember years later.
Book cover: Hiroshima No Pika
Nonfiction can be as compelling as fiction.
Adventurous Women: Eight True Stories About Women Who Made a Difference  by Penny Colman

Submitted by Evelyn Freeman

Barbara and I shared a commitment to increasing the awareness and appreciation of quality nonfiction for children. In February 2006, Barbara organized a symposium at OSU on nonfiction, which featured the author Penny Colman. Penny autographed this book for me at the symposium and wrote a long inscription that referred to my advocacy for nonfiction.  Barbara was so knowledgeable about all genres of children’s literature. I will miss her and our wonderful discussions about books.​
Book Cover: Adventurous Women
​There is power in connecting books with readers.
El Deafo by Cece Bell

Submitted by Sara Kersten-Parrish

Behind her ubiquitous rolling cart laden with books, I would frequently see Barb grab a title, thrust it at someone and say, “I know you’ll love this.” She took great value in knowing what her students would like to read. Barbara handed El Deafo to me, looked me in the eye, and said, “This book is important for you.” And, it was. When reading El Deafo, I felt seen for the very first time as someone who is deaf like the protagonist and author. Barbara saw me and saw the connection a book could bring.
Book cover: El Deafo
Book sharer.
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The Ask and the Answer from the Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness

Submitted by Michele D. Castleman
Dr. Kiefer was the queen of sharing books. When I first met her on a visit to OSU, I was amazed by how filled her office was with books. Throughout my time in the program, Dr. Kiefer hooked me on multiple authors and series, of which the Chaos Walking series stands out the most in my memory. When the second book came out in Great Britain, Dr. Kiefer ordered a copy from abroad so she could read The Ask and the Answer as soon as possible. She happily shared her beautiful, British hardcover with a long line of students one-by-one. As a teacher, I have worked to embody Dr. Kiefer’s spirit of creating excitement over young adult and children’s literature. My office is overrun with books. I joke with my colleagues that someday I will die happy under a pile of my fallen books. But, more importantly, I have followed her example and happily share personal copies of my own books with students.​
Book cover: The Ask and The Answer
Enjoy going to faraway places. 
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney

Submitted by Ann Neely
I first met Barbara Kiefer when we were both participating in a children’s literature conference in Glasgow, Scotland. Like Miss Rumphius on one of her many trips, I knew I had made a friend I’d never forget. We had lovely conversations over a glass of wine at the end of each day… some about children’s literature, of course, others about life as a professor and life in general. And, like Miss Rumphius, Barbara brought beauty to our world!
Book cover: Miss Rumphius
Pay attention to the roots of fantasy - they connect us.
The Grey King by Susan Cooper

Submitted by Bettie Parsons Barger
Prior to studying fantasy with Dr. Kiefer, I often overlooked the details that connected past to present. She taught me that the setting is actually a character in fantasy; the time spent developing the storyworld mattered immensely. I could feel the damp, cool air as I walked beside Will Stanton in the dense fog of the Welsh mountains, adding to my suspense. That was one of the biggest joys of learning from Barbara; she broadened my perspective and understanding. Her insights pushed me to think deeply about children's literature in new ways. She challenged me to explore genres and topics I normally avoided and to consider the types of readers who might enjoy them. Her love of this genre, of children’s literature, has deepened my love of the field too.
Book cover: The Grey King
Work hard to share books.
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The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

Submitted by Pat Scharer
Barbara’s work sharing books was truly a model for us all. She taught classes, worked with individual teachers, wrote books, conducted research and, most of all, shared her love of books. Her office overflowed with books, but if you’d ask her about one–chances are she could find it right away and discuss it with you. She didn’t have an easy road and overcame many challenges, but she knew it was worth it because the impact of books on lives is immense.
Book cover: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
Look closely: Share what you wonder and what you learn.
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Wonder Walkers by Micha Archer

Submitted by Erika Thulin Dawes
Deepening my passion for picturebooks, Barbara gave me new lenses for viewing them, prompting me to see and experience so much more. Curious at her core, Barbara brought a spirit of inquiry to each book. She modeled how to go beyond, connecting with authors and asking questions about their composing and illustrating processes. Barbara provided new perspectives on the potential of children’s books across the curriculum and insights on how to get to know a wide range of young readers to build engaged communities. Learning with Barbara meant Wonder Walking through the world of books. I’m so grateful for the journey.​
Book cover: Wonder Walkers
Children’s books are books that have the child’s eye at the center.
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Koala Lou by Mem Fox, illustrated by Pamela Lofts

Submitted by Erin Reilly-Sanders
One of the first activities I remember from a Barbara Kiefer-style children’s literature class compared Koala Lou by Mem Fox (illustrations by Pamela Lofts) with Love You Forever by Robert Munsch (illustrations by Sheila McGraw). The viewpoint of a small koala trying to win her mother’s love through athletic prowess starkly contrasted to a parent’s (occasionally creepy) expressions of love as their child grows up, demonstrating that not all books read or marketed to children are written through their perspective. Above all, Barbara stressed the importance of adults “getting” children’s literature and the perspective that will best speak to its intended audience. Today, her quick discernment echoes in my mind as I read and share great books that have the child’s eye at the center.

Barbara, we Do love you! We always have, and we always will.
Book cover: Koala Lou
Bettie Parsons Barger is an Associate Professor at Winthrop University and has been a CLA Member for 10+ years.

Lisa Pinkerton is an Associate Clinical Professor at The Ohio State University. Her current roles with CLA include serving as a Board Member and as an Expert Class Co-Chair.

Erin Reilly-Sanders is an architect at Schooley Caldwell Associates and an independent scholar with a doctorate in children's literature from The Ohio State University.

Additional Tribute Comments

Valerie Bang-Jensen
Barbara delighted in conversations about books beyond her classroom. She would send home copies of new books to my daughters for their opinions, created an “Advanced Seminar in Children’s Literature” specifically to continue discussions begun in our first seminar, and would sponsor “Books for Breakfast,” where we would all talk about favorite books while savoring foods they inspired. I remember how generous she was in considering our opinions about books. When she returned from chairing the deliberations of the Caldecott committee, she showed up in my office, displayed five books on my desk, and invited me to give my opinion about which was the winner, and which the Honor recipients. She cherished her experience on the committee and the discussions it engendered which led to an award for Joseph Had A Little Overcoat (Taback).

The World Keeps Turning

3/28/2023

 

By Kathryn Will, Michelle Ladd, and Calli Leach

Our lives are full of many days, weeks, months, and seasons as the years stack up one after the other. Books can support children making connections to these patterns in their lives and developing connections to their families and the natural world around them. We have created a text set capturing the cyclical nature of time throughout our lives that invites children to lean into rich vocabulary, and the use of literary elements such as personification and metaphorical thinking as they develop their understanding of change over time. Teachers can easily deepen and extend the texts in various ways and we have gathered a few to get you started.  
All From A Walnut
Written by Ammi-Joan Paquette
Illustrated by Felicita Sala 
Published by Abrams Books for Young Readers an imprint of ABRAMS
Book cover: All From A Walnut
This story examines the ties connecting us to our ancestors as it explores the relationship of a grandfather with his granddaughter, Emilia. One morning she finds a walnut on her nightstand,  and it is the beginning of learning about the roots of her family’s story as time cycles through seasons and years. Grandpa teaches Emilia how to plant and nurture the seed as it grows, connecting her to those before her. Through this process Emilia discovers how the cycle of life is similar for nature and humans, and how the smallest of seeds can grow into a strong, healthy tree. Although her grandfather dies in the text, she is comforted by her connection to him and her ancestors through the burgeoning life of her own walnut tree.

Felicita Sala’s illustrations are warm and inviting and capture the powerful emotions in the book. You may explore more about her work and illustrative process on her website. 

This video is another resource that allows children to watch a time-lapsed growth of a walnut: 
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The Red Canoe
Written and illustrated by Anne Yvonne Gilbert
Published by Creative Editions, an imprint of The Creative Company
Book cover: The Red Canoe
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Told through the canoe’s perspective, the rich, beautiful, and descriptive language of this text takes the reader on a journey over a lifetime and beyond. First, throughout the life of a young boy who grows in skill and body through adventures outdoors in the canoe. He carefully wraps the canoe up for storage when he leaves to serve in the war, but does not return. After many years of storage (with plenty of wildland visitors over the years), the canoe hears the boathouse door creak open and the book ends with a young boy and his dad beginning the restoration process. Throughout the book, the reader experiences change over time of both people and their belongings as they grow older. Children will see how someone’s forgotten possessions can become another’s treasure. 

After reading the book, children might consider family heirlooms they have in their house, the people who had them before, and what was happening during the historical periods of the life of the object. This will allow them to make connections between the book and their lives as they ponder item representation and the values that they may hold.

An interview with Anne Yvonne Gilbert is another resource that can give children additional information about her writing and illustrating processes.
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Mother Winter 
Written and illustrated by James Christopher Carroll 
Published by Creative Additions an imprint of The Creative Company
Book cover: Mother Winter
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“Children are swept away on Mother Winter's long coattails” and are taken on a magical journey as they explore the wonders of the winter season. Throughout the book, Carroll incorporates metaphorical language in the rich poetic text. Readers are invited to explore the qualities of life winter brings while imagining a walk in the outdoors. 

If you are interested in learning about how James Christopher Carroll created the book, check out the video below.

After reading the book, reread the text, pulling out the rich descriptions of winter as a class.  Then, with consideration of the current season, go out for a walk, asking students to collect observations and noticings. Share these, thinking about the ways you might add descriptors and specificity to the collection.  Use this rich word back to write a seasonal poem or a class book.


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The 2023 Notable Children’s Books in Language Arts Committee (NCBLA), read, reviewed, and discussed 651 books of various genres written for K-8 children in the past year. These works of poetry and prose were analyzed using the charge of the committee that asked us to consider the following when choosing the top 30 texts for grades K-8:
        1. Appealing format,
        2. Enduring quality,
        3. Exemplary quality for their genre, and
        4. Meeting one or more of the following:
                a. Use of language: play on words, word origins, history of language
                b. Uniqueness in use of language or style
                c. Invitation of child response or engagement

We are really excited about the 2023 NCBLA list and hope you are too!



Committee members:
Kathryn Will, Chair, University of Maine Farmington
Patrick Andrus, Eden Prairie School District, Minnesota
Dorian Harrison, Ohio State University at Newark
Joyce Herbeck, Montana State University
Laura Hudock, Framingham State University, Massachusetts
Lynette Smith, Walden University, Pennsylvania
Fran Wilson, Madeira Elementary School, Ohio
Kathryn Will is an Associate Professor of Literacy at the University of Maine Farmington (@KWsLitCrew). She is passionate about sharing the power of children's literature with her students, including the two listed below who assisted in the creation of this post and supported her work as the Chair of the 2023 NCBLA committee.

Michelle Ladd is a preservice teacher at the University of Maine at Farmington. She is a nontraditional student and a mother to three young children. She hopes to one day inspire creativity and foster individuality in a PreK-3rd grade classroom.  

Calli Leach is a preservice teacher at the University of Maine at Farmington. She is passionate about helping her future students develop a love for reading and writing, as well as being a 4-H volunteer for the state of Maine.

2022 CLA Master Class: "Books as Lighthouses: Using Children’s Literature to Illuminate and Provide Hope in the Darkness of Sexual Abuse"

11/15/2022

 

By Lisa Pinkerton, S. Adam Crawley, and Sara K. Sterner

Starting in 1994, the Children's Literature Assembly (CLA) has sponsored a Master Class at the annual NCTE Convention. This session provides K-12 teachers and teacher educators, as well as other members of the organization, the opportunity to gain insight into effective pedagogies for fostering a love of literature across diverse classroom and academic contexts.
         
The 29th annual Master Class is titled "Books as Lighthouses: Using Children’s Literature to Illuminate and Provide Hope in the Darkness of Sexual Abuse."  This year’s session will take place on Saturday, November 19th from 6:00-7:15 p.m. (Pacific) in Anaheim, CA.

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The 2022 Master Class is organized around a moderated panel, followed by a discussant led Q&A with the following esteemed authors, illustrator, translator, and editor of children’s literature:
2022 CLA Master Class Contributors
PANELISTS

Paula Chase-Hyman is the author of nine middle grade and young adult books. So Done, her critically acclaimed middle grade debut, was named a 2018 Kirkus Reviews Best Book and was followed by two more books in the series: Dough Boys and Turning Point. She is also the author of the young adult series, Del Rio Bay Clique. Co-founder of the award-winning blog, The Brown Bookshelf, Paula is a longtime “advocate for diversifying the type of fiction featuring Black characters that’s highlighted among educators, librarians and parents” (author website).
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An Interview with Author, Paula Chase from Daymaker Giving on Vimeo.

Kate Messner is a New York Times bestselling author who is “passionately curious and writes books for kids who wonder, too” (author website). She has written numerous award-winning picture books and novels, including The Brilliant Deep: Rebuilding the World’s Coral Reefs (illustrated by Matthew Forsythe), named a CLA 2019 Notable Children’s Book in the Language Arts. She is also the author of numerous fiction and nonfiction series including Ranger in Time and History Smashers. Kate’s middle grade novel, Chirp, was a 2020 New England Book Award finalist. In her blog Countdown to CHIRP, Kate shares all about the writing process behind her novel, Chirp, including actual charts that played an integral role in her revision process.
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Mary Kate Castellani is Publishing Director at Bloomsbury Children’s Books and the editor of Chirp (Messner, 2020). In a recent interview about the book and depictions of #MeToo trauma in middle grade literature, Mary Kate emphasized the dedication that she and Kate Messner share in: “addressing these relevant topics in a way that is appropriate for each age level, meeting kids where they are, and ideally preparing them for how to cope with such events” (Maughan, 2020, para. 22). Further, she spoke to the relevance of such books: “Many adults don’t like to think that kids are aware of such challenging subjects, but they are, and we need to equip them with the right knowledge to protect themselves and each other” (para. 22).
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Valérie Fontaine is the author of The Big Bad Wolf in My House, her first book to be translated into English. A Quebec writer and French-language author, Valérie has published more than thirty-five books for young people. She frequently visits schools to share her books with children and teachers. Each week, she can be found reading stories to children live on Facebook. Valérie shares that she “loves writing books as much as she loves reading and talking about them” (https://houseofanansi.com).
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Nathalie Dion is the illustrator of The Big Bad Wolf in My House. An award-winning freelance illustrator based in Montreal, she studied Design Arts at Concordia University. Nathalie exhibits her work in art galleries and museums, and she works on commissioned assignments in both editorial and children’s book illustration. Her favorite artistic tools are her Cintiq tablet and her numeric paintbrushes.
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Shelley Tanaka is the translator of The Big Bad Wolf in My House. She is a Canadian award-winning author, translator, and editor. She has written and translated more than thirty books for children and young adults. Among the many awards that Shelley has won are the Orbis Pictus Award, the Mr. Christie’s Book Award, and the Science in Society Book Award. Shelley teaches at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in the MFA Program in Writing for Children and Young Adults.
​MODERATOR AND DISCUSSANT
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Betsy Bird, the panel moderator, is a children’s author, librarian, podcaster, blogger, and reviewer. She is the Collection Development Manager of Evanston Public Library and the former Youth Materials Specialist of New York Public Library. Betsy is a frequent blogger at the School Library Journal site: A Fuse #8 Production, where she has reviewed a number of children’s books that address the topic of this master class. She also reviews books for Kirkus and The New York Times and hosts Fuse 8 n’ Kate, a podcast with her sister about classic children’s books.
Dr. Dorian Harrison, the panel discussant, is an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University at Newark. With over 15 years of experience in education, she teaches foundational and licensure courses in literacy at the undergraduate and graduate level. Dr. Dorian Harrison’s research explores how equity in literacy education is enacted, paying particular attention to the ways communities of learners are challenging deficit views and practices. Her research is aimed at not only improving classroom practice but also restructuring how institutions prepare future educators to engage with diverse populations of students and communities.
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The 2022 Master Class
The 29th annual CLA Master Class seeks to examine a particular shift in the landscape of children's literature, one that reflects the zeitgeist of the #MeToo movement, which has prompted an increase in the number of middle grade books that address issues of sexual violence (de León, 2020; Maughan, 2020; Robillard et al., 2021). The session will explore how books can nurture healing and hope in readers who have experienced such trauma, as well as provide information and support to protect readers. A panel of book creators (e.g., authors, illustrator, translator, editor) will share how their honest and sensitive stories illuminate the topic of sexual violence.

The following overriding questions will guide the session: How might books with dark subject matter foster hope in readers? And, how might teachers and teacher educators facilitate reader engagement with these vital books? We hope that attendees will leave the session with a more nuanced understanding of the shifting landscape of children's literature relative to the #MeToo movement, along with a deeper level of comfort using these books in classrooms, especially in light of the turbulent times that teachers and teacher educators inhabit relative to censorship.      
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References
de León, C. (2020, June 17). Why more children's books are tackling sexual harassment and abuse. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/17/books/childrens-books-middle-grade-metoo-sexual-abuse.html

Maughan, S. (2020, April 13). Eye on middle grade: Editors discuss some of the latest developments in the category. Publishers Weekly, 23-21. Retrieved from https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/83006-eye-on-middle-grade-spring-2020.html

Robillard, C. M., Choate, L., Bach, J., & Cantey, C. (2021). Crossing the line: Representations of sexual violence in middle-grade novels. The ALAN Review, 49(1), 33-47.

Resources
Paula Chase-Hyman’s Interview with Reading Middle Grade Blog.

Kate Messner’s Interview with BookPage 

Valérie Fontaine’s Interview with Foreword Reviews

Nathalie Dion’s Feature in Canadian Children’s Book News 

Shelley Tanaka’s Interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith at Cynsations
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Lisa Pinkerton (she/her) is the Marie Clay Endowed Chair in Reading Recovery and Early Literacy at The Ohio State University. Her current roles with CLA include serving as a Board Member and Master Class Co-Chair. In addition, she served on NCTE’s Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children committee from 2016-2019.

S. Adam Crawley (he/him) is an Assistant Teaching Professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder. His current roles with CLA include serving as a Board Member and Master Class Co-Chair. In addition, he is the treasurer of NCTE’s Genders and Sexualities Equalities Alliance (GSEA).

Sara K. Sterner (she/her) is an Assistant Professor at Cal Poly Humboldt and the Leader of the Liberal Studies Elementary Education Program in the School of Education. Her current roles with CLA include serving as a Board Member and Master Class Co-Chair.

Children’s Literature Assembly Art Auction at the 2022 NCTE Conference

10/18/2022

 

by Peggy Rice and Ally Hauptman representing the Ways and Means Committee

Each year at the NCTE Conference, the Children’s Literature Assembly hosts a breakfast. It is one of our favorite events of the conference because we get to listen to an author speak about their work and we get to see the gorgeous artwork available in the silent auction. This year our speaker is Jerry Craft, Newbery winner and author of New Kid and Class Act. Jerry is also contributing a piece of art to the auction! 

The Ways and Means Committee spends a better part of the year communicating with children’s picture book authors/illustrators about donating artwork to support the major goals of our organization. CLA is committed to promoting high quality children’s books in classrooms and supporting research focused on the importance of children’s literature. 

Ways and Means Committee

Raven Cromwell
Michelle Hasty
Ally Hauptman
Mary Lee Hahn
Rachelle Kuehl
Marion Rocco
Peggy Rice
We are excited to share with you some of the artwork we have received and will be available for purchase through the auction this year. There are more pieces coming, so there will be a second blog coming soon! Without further ado, we invite you to view these beautiful contributions by Kevin Henkes, Grant Snider, Juliet Menéndez, Ellen Heck, Bonnie Lui, Alaina Chau, Amanda Calatzis, Brandon James Scott, Dan Yaccarino, and Elizabeth Erazo Baez. As an added bonus this year, each piece of art will be auctioned off with the book in which it appears!

Elizabeth Erazo Baez

Elizabeth Erazo Baez, talented artist, illustrator, curator and art teacher, is  of Puerto Rican heritage.  Impacted by her experiences growing up in Puerto Rico, she uses bright Caribbean colors and creates lush, tropical views, depicting the cultural lifestyle.
Art for Auction: Elizabeth has contributed three, expressive 11 x 14 pieces, with matting, from Alicia and the Hurricane: A Story of Puerto Rico,  a bilingual picture book written by Leslea Newman (2022). Each illustration includes an image of the coqui, a tree frog that is native to the island and beloved by the main character, Alicia. 


Amanda Calatzis

Amanda Calatzis, talented author-illustrator, incorporates light into her illustrations to convey warmth.
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Art for Auction: This 17 x 11 inch, uplifting illustration is from Mr. Roger’s Gift of Music by Donna Cangelosi (2022), a picture book biography, that celebrates the power of music in his life. It depicts Mr. Rogers and the flow of music in his home.


Alina Chau

Alina Chau, a talented animator, author-illustrator  grew up in Hong Kong in an Indonesian-Chinese family. Her work is inspired by her unique Southeast Asian heritage. In 2018, a book she illustrated, The Nian Monster by Andrea Wang, received a Picture Book Honor by the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA)

Art for Auction:  This 14 x 10 inch watercolor illustration is from Bonnie’s Rocket by Emmeline Lee (2022), a historical fiction picture book inspired by the experiences of the author’s grandfather with the Apollo 11 space mission. It depicts Bonnie, whose father is an engineer for the Apollo 11 space mission, conceptualizing a rocket that she designs, builds and tests.

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Ellen Heck

Ellen Heck, is a talented printmaker who explores identity in her work.

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Art for Auction:  This 10 x 8 inch piece includes eye-catching black and white scratchboard images from A is for Bee: An Alphabet Book in Translation (2022), her lavishly illustrated debut multilingual alphabet picture book that was inspired by reading Lithuanian alphabet books to her son. Throughout the book, she has included hidden letter forms to create a seek and find element for readers.


Kevin Henkes

Kevin Henkes, is an award-winning, prolific author-illustrator of picture books and novels.  He received the 2020 Children’s Literature Legacy Award for his significant and lasting contributions as an American author-illustrator, publishing books in the United States.  His award-winning works include Kitten’s Full Moon, winner of the 2005 Caldecott and The Year of Billy Miller, the 2014 recipient of a Newbery Honor.
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Art for Auction:  This  9.5 x 4 inch illustration of pastel colored, expressive elephants is from A Parade of Elephants (2018), which is an ALA Notable Book. This delightful book for preschoolers focuses on a day-long march of five elephants and includes opportunities for counting, as well as exploration of opposites.


Bonnie Lui

Bonnie Lui, is a talented illustrator of picture books for children who is also a background painter for Dreamworks and WB. In 2021, she published her first children’s book that she authored and illustrated, “ABC of Feelings.”

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Art for Auction:  This 4 x 6 inch otherworldly illustration from So Not Ghoul by Karen Yin (2022), depicts the main character, Mimi, who is a Chinese-American ghost girl haunting a new American school.  In this playful ghost story, Mimi embraces her bicultural identity.    


Juliet Menéndez

Juliet Menéndez, a talented Guatemalan American author-illustrator, is a former bilingual teacher in New York City. While teaching, she noticed a need for children’s books depicting Latinas.
Art for Auction: This  framed 18 x 23 inch gorgeous illustration is from Juliet’s first children’s book, Latinitas: Celebrating 40 Big Dreamers (2021), a collected biography of influential Latinas who followed their dreams. It depicts Rigoberta Menchu Tum, the 1992 winner of the Nobel Peace prize, in recognition of her work as an advocate of Indian Rights and ethno-cultural reconciliation. Other Latinas included in the collection include Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Evelyn Miralles, NASA’s first virtual reality engineer.
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Brandon James Scott

Brandon James Scott, is a critically acclaimed Canadian, creative director working in animation and an author-illustrator of children’s books. He  created the award-winning animated series, Justin Time.

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Art for Auction: This 20 x 20 inch humorous illustration from A Bear, A Bee, and a Honey Tree by Daniel Bernstrom (2022) captures the high energy of the hungry bear and the angry bee. Brandon’s expressive illustrations delight young readers while inspiring them to write poetry

Grant Snider

Grant Snider, is a talented author-illustrator of children’s picture books and creator of comics that have appeared in publications such as The New Yorker and The New York Times Book Review.

Art for Auction: This  14 x 11 inch brightly colored illustration from One Boy Watching  (2022) depicts the boy on his daily bus ride.  Grant’s use of color invites young readers to engage with the outside world through observation.
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Dan Yaccarino

Dan Yaccarino, is an acclaimed author-illustrator of children’s books and creator of animated series based on his books, such as Doug Unplugs (AppleTV) and Oswald (Nickelodeon).

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Art for Auction: This 20 x 20 inch graphic style illustration is from City Under the City  (2022). It depicts Bix and her rat friend heading home from the City Under the City with books that they have discovered on their adventure. The charming illustrations and Bix’s appreciation for books inspire young readers to move away from a screen and read a book.

Peggy Rice is an associate professor in the Department of Elementary Education at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. She is a member of the Ways and Means Committee for CLA.

Ally Hauptman is an associate professor at Lipscomb University. She is the chair of the Ways and Means Committee for CLA and a serving CLA board member.

To be able to participate in this year's CLA Art Auction, don't forget to prepurchase your tickets for the 2022 Children's Literature Assembly Breakfast featuring Jerry Craft. Tickets are available through the registration portal for NCTE2022.
CLA invites you to its 2022 Breakfast featuring Jerry Craft. Purchase tickets at https://convention.ncte.org/registration/

Building a Book Garden: Children’s Picture Books that Feature Gardening and Nature

10/4/2022

 

By Katie Caprino

The leaves are falling. You’re drinking your pumpkin-spice (a new word, according to Merriam-Webster!). And you may be beginning to think about what you want to plant for your spring garden. Well, even if you’re not that ahead (and it’s certainly okay if you’re not!), I  want to put your mind in spring mode today by sharing three  new children’s picture books that feature gardening and nature. 

When I think about the reasons why so many picture books about gardens and nature  have sprouted in 2022, I have to think it had something to do with so many of us looking for outlets during times of remote learning and working and a desire to appreciate the beauty of the natural world that comes from the areas of mindfulness and self-care. 

But it is important to acknowledge that children’s picture books about gardening and nature are certainly not brand new. Browsing a bookstore recently, I happened upon The Gardener, a 1988 Caldecott Honor Book written by Sarah Stewart and illustrated by David Small. Set in the Depression era, The Gardener tells the story of Lydia Grace, a little girl who goes to live with her uncle for a time. Leaving her grandma and parents behind, Lydia Grace takes seeds to the city, which she uses to grow beautiful planters and rooftop gardens. 

Nevertheless, I’m hopeful this blog will help you with your green thumb and, most importantly, give you some teaching ideas for your book garden.
Author Zoë Tucker and illustrator Julianna Swaney team up for the 2022 The Garden We Share, a beautiful book about the seasons of a garden - and the seasons of life. A little girl enjoys gardening with an older woman until one day the older woman is no longer there to garden with her. This is a poignant tale that exists on many levels. Whereas some readers will see the story as a story of a garden changing through the season, others will understand the story as a story of the human life cycle. A beautiful story about resilience of the plants to get through the winter and humans to get through the darker times in our lives, The Garden We Share should be on your library shelf. The oversized faces of Swaney’s characters really emphasize the message of connectedness - between people and plants and between people and people - that exists in our world. Use this book in your classroom to inspire students as part of your life cycle units and to encourage students to help others in their community.
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​If you’re in look of an inspirational tale of citizen scientists, then author Barb Rosenstock and illustrator Erika Meza’s 2022 The Mystery of the Monarchs: How Kids, Teachers, and Butterfly Fans Helped Fred and Norah Urquhart Track the Great Monarch Migration is the book for you! Fred Urquhart grew up a wonderer. His lifelong question was Where do the monarchs go?  This question ended up being his life’s work - and with the help of his wife, other scientists and enthusiasts, and classes of students, he figured out his answer! Not only does this book teach readers about where the monarchs go - but it also serves as an inspirational tale for citizen scientists. If you and your students would like to engage in citizen science, you can go to National Geographic’s Citizen Science Projects page!
Authors Phyllis Root and Gary D. Schmidt  and illustrator Melissa Sweet created a most spectacular title Celia Planted a Garden: The Story of Celia Thaxter and Her Island Garden. Celia Thaxter grows up on White Island and Appledore, islands off the New England coast, planting beautiful gardens. Even when she moves to the mainland after she is married, Thaxter returns to Appledore to plant flowers and engage with the wildlife. She also becomes known as a writer who shares her passion for the beauty of gardening. Invite your students to write about the beauty in the world around them after reading this absolutely stunning text.
Each of these 2022 children’s picture books inspire readers to think about gardens and nature in myriad ways - whether it be to think deeply about the life cycle, engage in wonderings about the world around us, or beautifying the world and writing about it. May you to continue to grow your book garden - and please write and tell me all about it!
Kathryn Caprino is a CLA member and is an Assistant Professor of PK-12 New Literacies at Elizabethtown College. She blogs frequently at Katie Reviews Books and can be followed on Twitter @KCapLiteracy.
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The Healing Power of Liminal Spaces in African American Children’s Literature

9/20/2022

 

​By Mark I. West

I recently taught a seminar on urban children’s literature, and I included several books set in Harlem, including Faith Ringgold’s Tar Beach, Virginia Hamilton’s The Planet of Junior Brown, and David Barclay Moore’s The Stars Beneath Our Feet. The central characters in these books spend time in protected spaces where they temporarily escape from reality. 

I started the discussion of Tar Beach by reading aloud the story of eight-year-old Cassie and her love of spending time on the roof of the building where she lives with her family.  The story reminded me of the Motown song “Up on the Roof,” and to my students’ horror, I started singing it. “Up on the Roof” is about escaping the “hustling crowd” by climbing “up to the top of the stairs” and spending time in the “trouble proof” space “up on the roof.” This summary equally applies to Tar Beach, but Ringgold’s story goes beyond the theme of escape.
Book cover: Tar Beach
Cassie loves being with her family and neighbors on the “tiny rooftop” that she calls her “Tar Beach.”  Her parents put a mattress on the roof for Cassie to sleep on while the adults are visiting. For Cassie, “Sleeping on Tar Beach was magical. Lying on the roof in the night, with stars and skyscraper buildings all around me, made me feel rich, like I owned all that I could see.” Cassie fantasizes that she can fly. The illustrations depict her soaring above New York City.

Ringgold portrays the rooftop as a liminal space where reality and fantasy merge. In her fantasy flights, Cassie helps her father overcome the racial discrimination that he faces. Within the context of her fantasies, she feels good about herself because she can make life better for her family. Her fantasies correspond to a point that Bruno Bettelheim makes in The Uses of Enchantment about the healing power of fantasy. “While the fantasy is unreal,” Bettelheim writes,” the good feelings it gives us about ourselves and our future are real, and these real good feelings are what we need to sustain us.”
Book cover: The Planet of Junior Brown
Virginia Hamilton’s The Planet of Junior Brown grew out of an experience Hamilton had while sitting on a park bench in Harlem. She noticed a homeless boy and wondered about his situation. She imagined that he might have a friend and perhaps a caring adult in his life. Drawing on this experience, she created the novel’s three central characters: Buddy, a homeless boy; Junior Brown, an overweight boy who has a low sense of self-esteem; and Mr. Pool, a former teacher who works as a school janitor. These characters come together in a school basement room that includes a working model of the solar system. Mr. Pool presides over this space and makes it available to the boys. 

The mechanical solar system in the center of the room takes on special significance when Mr. Pool declares that this version of the solar system includes “a fantastic ​
planet known as Junior Brown.” Junior Brown likes the idea of having a planet named after him, and he enjoys creating stories about his planet.  For Junior Brown, this experience helps him gain a better sense of self-worth. For Buddy, this room provides him with the sense of security that helps him move beyond being one of the “tough, black children of city streets.” In the process, he begins to imagine a new future for himself.

Like Hamilton, David Barclay Moore spent time in Harlem, and he drew on this experience when writing The Stars Beneath Our Feet. Lolly, the central character, is a twelve-year-old boy who lives in contemporary Harlem.  His life is upended when his older brother is killed in a gang-related incident. Lolly also faces changes in his family situation.  Before the novel’s opening, his parents separated, and his mother’s girlfriend moved into the apartment. Lolly reacts to these events by withdrawing. His depression causes him to lose interest in everything except building with his Legos blocks, an activity he used to do with his brother. 
Lolly comes to the attention of Mr. Ali, a school counselor.  Mr. Ali encourages Lolly to talk about his feelings, but Lolly resists.  Mr. Ali, however, realizes that Lolly’s passion for Legos might provide Lolly with the key to unlocking his repressed emotions.  Mr. Ali repurposes a storage room in the school with the goal of providing Lolly with a place where he can build his Legos creations.  One day after school, Mr. Ali leads Lolly to the door of the storage room and tells Lolly, “Your world awaits!”
 

For the first time since his brother’s death, Lolly feels that he has a place where he is in control.  He initially uses this space to build his “fantasy fortress,” but he soon starts adding other buildings. For each building, he comes up with an accompanying story.  In his words, “I was creating my own new world.” While in this room, Lolly is not just building a community out of Legos blocks; he is rebuilding his sense of self and slowly coming to terms with his emotions related to his brother’s death.
Book cover: The Stars Beneath Our Feet
The protagonists in these books all spend time in liminal spaces where the boundaries between reality and fantasy blur.  For my students, these books brought back childhood memories of special places where they, too, felt that reality and fantasy merged.  For one, it was a treehouse that she and her brother built, taking their inspiration from the Magic Tree House series.  For another, it was a walk-in closet where she set up her dollhouse.  When I started the class, I had no idea that these books would spark such lively discussions, but I now realize that these books tap into an aspect of childhood that resonates with students from various backgrounds.  They might not be familiar with the term “liminal space,” but they all can relate to the quasi-magical experience of being in a liminal space.
Mark I. West is a Professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte ​and a member of CLA. 
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