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Exploring the New Frontier of Uncharted Space Stories in Children's Nonfiction

5/10/2022

 

By Suzanne Costner

I headed to Houston in November 2018 to attend the NCTE Annual Convention and moderate a panel presentation for a group of children’s nonfiction writers. I was also looking forward to the Children’s Book Award Luncheon, never realizing that it would change my life. As the presentation of the year’s winners was winding down, an announcement was made encouraging attendees to apply for a place on one of the award committees. My sister nudged me and whispered, “You could do that.” Two months later, I was beginning my term on the Orbis Pictus committee and immersing myself in children’s nonfiction.

From January 2019 through December 2021, we read over 1,300 books on topics ranging from amoebas to world history. As we reviewed, debated, and voted, my favorite topics involved astronomy, aviation, and aerospace, although I enjoyed all of them. The titles that combine those topics with a picture book biography make wonderful entry points into the study of science and history. Even though my time with the Orbis Pictus has ended, I am still searching out those sorts of books to add to my school library collection. I would like to share two of those titles with you and suggest related areas your students might enjoy investigating.
Book cover: Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Gold Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer
Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Gold Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer by Cherokee author Traci Sorell and Métis illustrator Natasha Donovan is an excellent example of a biography that features a woman in a STEM career. The book shows Mary’s love of mathematics and traces her path from teaching, to becoming Lockheed’s first female engineer, and then a member of the Skunk Works division working on satellites and spacecraft. 

Extensive back matter includes a timeline, photos, an author’s note, an explanation of the Cherokee values mentioned in the text, source notes, and a bibliography. Illustrations showcase some of the aircraft Mary worked on such as the Lockheed A-12 and the Starfighter F-104C, as well as equations related to the projects.
To learn more about her amazing career, try the following:
  • Read the Smithsonian article “Mary Golda Ross: Aerospace Engineer, Educator, and Advocate.”
  • Read the Smithsonian article “Mary Golda Ross: She Reached for the Stars.”
  • Watch the Reading Rockets video: “Traci Sorell: Classified: Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer.” 
  • Access the author’s website for additional materials that explore the Cherokee values Mary personified.
  • There is also a Classified Teaching Guide which contains many activity ideas for experimenting with the forces of flight.
Blast Off! How Mary Sherman Morgan Fueled America into Space written by Suzanne Slade and illustrated by Sally Wern Comport is another of the untold stories of the space program. Working with two engineers as her assistants, Mary Sherman Morgan created the rocket fuel hydyne which powered the launch of the first American satellite into space. This biography explores Mary’s late start in school, her determination to pursue a career in chemistry, and her work at North American Aviation.  

This book also has plenty of back matter with photos, a timeline, a selected bibliography, and more details about Mary, the Juno 1 rocket and the Explorer 1 satellite. The author’s note includes an explanation of how difficult it was to find information. She states, “Mary Morgan’s history is not well-documented. Unfortunately, that is true of many women who have made meaningful contributions to science and other fields.” Thanks to the author’s persistence in reaching out to family members, people from Mary’s hometown, and aerospace experts, she was able to create this inspiring story.
Book Cover: Blast Off! How Mary Sherman Morgan Fueled America into Space
Students may find helpful information in the following:
  • The book trailer shows the important launch Mary was working toward with her rocket fuel. 
  • This NASA video tells more about Explorer 1 and its lasting legacy for space exploration. 
  • NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory has a web page on Explorer 1 with links to photos, videos, and other information.
  • In this short BBC video George Morgan talks about his mother and Rocket Girl, the book he wrote about her work developing rocket fuel.
  • To make experiments of their own about the perfect fuel ratio for a rocket launch, students might enjoy working with fizzy rockets and trying out different proportions of water to Alka-Seltzer tablets to power the launch. SciTech Labs has posted a how-to video.
  • There is also a lesson plan with instructions available from the Civil Air Patrol.
When I was a child visiting my school library, all the biographies were about famous presidents and other men. We still have a long way to go to balance the representation of women and other marginalized groups, but knowing there are authors and illustrators bringing these stories to life for today’s students is encouraging. Reading these stories of dreams achieved and challenges overcome may inspire young readers to pursue their own passions in life, or even introduce a topic to spark that passion. I hope everyone finds some nonfiction to engage their hearts and minds.
Suzanne Costner, School Library Media Specialist at Fairview Elementary School (Maryville, TN) member of NCTE, CLA, ALA, AASL, ILA, NAEYC, NSTA, ISTE, CAP, AFA, AIAA

#MeetSomeoneNewMonday: One Teacher’s Year-Long Celebration of Picturebook Biographies

5/3/2022

 

By Mary Ann Cappiello, Jennifer M. Graff and Melissa Quimby on behalf of The Biography Clearinghouse

The Biography Clearinghouse Logo
Over the last two years, we’ve enjoyed sharing excerpts from The Biography Clearinghouse website. We hope that our interviews with book creators and our teaching ideas focused on using biographies for a variety of classroom purposes has been helpful to the CLA membership and beyond. This month, we’re very excited to share something different - a voice directly from the classroom.  

Melissa Quimby, a 4th grade teacher in Massachusetts, has written the inaugural entry in our new feature “Stories from the Classroom.” Melissa is the genius behind #MeetSomeoneNewMonday, a weekly initiative that has spread from her classroom to her grade level team to an entirely different school in just three years. 

This initiative launched when Melissa decided to share her passion for picturebook biographies with her students through interactive read-alouds. They were hooked! As Melissa writes, “Over time, I molded this project in intentional ways, and it evolved into an adventure that focused on identity, centered marginalized and minoritized communities, and cultivated thoughtful, strategic middle grade readers.” What started as a way to share nonfiction picturebooks as an engaging and compelling art form developed into a more nuanced exploration of global changemakers–past and present. With their weekly reading of picturebook biographies, students grow as readers and thinkers and deepen their individual and collective sense of agency. 

In the following excerpts, Melissa describes how she reveals each week’s notable changemaker to her students and shares some of her picturebook biography selections.

Monday Read-Aloud Routines

Reveal Slide ExampleReveal Slide Example
On Monday mornings, we gather together as a reading community. In an effort to build excitement, our reveal slide is projected on the board as students arrive. Some weeks, copies of the backmatter wait on the rug, inviting students to preview the figure of the week. This could be the author’s note, a timeline, or a collection of real-life photographs. Once all readers are settled, we watch a video to learn a little bit about the person in the spotlight. 

Some weeks, interactive read aloud time happens on Monday morning immediately following the reveal. On some Mondays, it works best for us to huddle up in the afternoon. Occasionally, we steal pockets of time throughout our busy schedule to enjoy the biography of the week in smaller doses. When we read the text is not as important as how we read the text. The heart of this work truly lies in how we generate emotional investment within our students and how we help our students’ reactions and ideas blossom into new thinking about the world and ways that they can take action in their own lives for themselves and others. Sometimes, we simply read the biography to love it. In those moments, readers are silent with their eyes glued to the book, scanning the illustrations, wide-eyed when something surprising happens. Perhaps they whisper something to their neighbor, let out an audible gasp or share a comment aloud. Sometimes, we read to grow ideas. In these moments, readers are tracking trouble, considering how the figure responds to obstacles. They are ready to turn to their partner and reach for a precise trait word or theme and supporting evidence.

Meet Someone New Monday: A Sampling of Picture Book Biography Selections

Patricia's Vision Cover
Fauja Singh Keeps Going cover
The floating field cover
Between the Lines cover
The Crayon Man cover
The Oldest Student Cover
To read more about #MeetSomeoneNewMonday, including Melissa planning process with her grade level team and student responses, visit Stories from the Classroom on The Biography Clearinghouse website

You can also reach out to Melissa through her website (QUIMBYnotRamona) or Twitter (@QUIMBYnotRamona) to discuss how to implement #MeetSomeoneNew initiative in your classroom or school.

Inspired by Melissa’s picturebook biography initiative or done something similar? Share your ideas and stories with us via email: thebiographyclearinghouse@gmail.com. Or, chime in on Twitter (@teachwithbios), Facebook, or Instagram with your own #teachwithbios ideas and picturebook biography recommendations. 

Melissa Quimby teaches fourth grade in Massachusetts. She is passionate about helping young writers improve their craft, and her to-be-read list is always stacked with middle grade fiction. Melissa shares her love of children’s literature on Teachers Books Readers and shares about her literacy instruction with the Choice Literacy community. You can connect with her at her website, QUIMBYnotRamona, or follow her on Twitter @QUIMBYnotRamona.


Mary Ann Cappiello teaches courses in children’s literature and literacy methods at Lesley University, blogs about teaching with children’s literature at The Classroom Bookshelf. She is a former chair of NCTE’s Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction K-8.

Jennifer M. Graff is an Associate Professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia where her scholarship focuses on diverse children’s literature and early childhood literacy practices. She is a former committee member of NCTE’s Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction K-8, and has served in multiple leadership roles throughout her 16+ year CLA membership. 

Exploring Notable Poetry Books for Advocacy with Children

3/15/2022

 

By Ted Kesler

I have just completed my position as chairperson of the NCTE Poetry and Verse Novels for Children Committee. Our list of notable poetry and verse novels that were published in 2021 as well as other information about the award can be found on the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children page.

In this blog post, I discuss three notable poetry books from this list that promote advocacy and provide lesson plan ideas to do with children. 

Photo Ark ABC

Photo Ark ABC cover
​Photo Ark ABC: An Animal Alphabet in Poetry and Pictures, poetry by Debbie Levy and photos by Joel Sartore (National Geographic Kids, 2021).
​The diverse and playful poetry forms in Photo Ark ABC oscillate with vibrant pictures to create fascination with each animal that is represented. Here is one example:
Picture
“O is for Octopus” from Photo Ark ABC. ​
​The book is part of the Photo Ark Project, that aims to “document every species living in the world’s zoos and wildlife sanctuaries, inspire action through education, and help save wildlife by supporting on-the-ground conservation efforts” [Back Book Cover]. Therefore, the book provides wonderful online resources to use with children, which expand opportunities for classroom explorations. Here are some ideas:
  1. Visit the National Geographic Photo Ark Project online, and have students research and present about one of the animals they find fascinating or that is endangered.
  2. Locate each animal in the backmatter of Photo Ark ABC on a world map. Then, use the Google Earth feature that is connected with this Photo Ark project.  
  3. Study the poems as mentor texts, and have students write an original poem for the animal they studied.
  4. Students can then create their own full page spread of the photo and poem, along with an information text box. 
  5. Pursue other explorations using the Photo Ark resource: www.nationalgeographic.org/projects/photo-ark/education/

The Last Straw

The Last Straw Cover
​The Last Straw: Kids vs. Plastics, poetry by Susan Hood, illust. by Christiane Engel (HarperCollins, 2021). ​
​The Last Straw fits into the hybrid genre of poetic nonfiction (Kesler, 2012), as every page combines poetry with expository writing about a specific topic. Topics include microplastics, plastic bags and straws, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and other environmental issues. The poetry also has diverse forms, such as odes, concrete poems, limericks, elegy, and persona.

​The book also provides resources for each topic in the back matter. Here is one look inside:
Picture
“Be Straw Free” from The Last Straw.
​Ultimately, like Photo Ark ABC, The Last Straw promotes advocacy. Here are some instructional ideas for classrooms:
  1. School-Based Research Project:
  • Have students generate a list of all the disposable plastics that people use in the school as they go about their school day.
  • Problem-solve with children ideas to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
  • Research alternatives to one of the disposable plastics that is commonly used in the school (e.g., sporks). Develop a plan for change that includes interviews, cost analysis, speech writing, petitions, etc.
      2. Reading:
  • In small groups, students can find a page they love. Practice and then perform the poem.
  • Read the other sources of information on the page.
  • Then, read the information about that poetry page in the “Sources and More” section in the back matter.
  • Have groups present to each other how the sources of information on the page all fit together.
      3. Writing:
  • Provide laptops or other digital devices to each group to research the sites that are provided for their topic.
  • Make a group presentation to the class about what they discovered and one way to make a difference.

My Thoughts are Clouds

My thoughts are clouds cover
​My Thoughts Are Clouds: Poems for Mindfulness, poetry by Georgia Heard, illust. by Isabel Roxas (Roaring Brook Press, 2021). 
​As the title implies, My Thoughts Are Clouds guides children to quiet their minds, which, in the words of Georgia Heard, allows them “to feel calmer, more joyful, more focused, less anxious, and to find the space and peace to live in the present moment.” In “Mindful World,” Heard proclaims, “When I become calm on the inside, / the world becomes calm on the outside.” This book ultimately leads readers towards kindfulness.
​
While taking readers through the dimensions of mindfulness, many of the poems also instruct, calling out to try it, like a how-to manual, poems such as “Counting Breaths,” “Square Breathing,” “In and Out Breath,” “Nature Walk,” “Come Home to Your True Self,” “Butterfly Body Scan,” “The Music of the Moment,” “Three-Way Loving Kindness Meditation.” Here is one look inside:
Picture
​“Butterfly Body Scan” from My Thoughts Are Clouds.
​You might choose any of these poems for shared reading, or assign it to a small group to practice reading aloud beautifully, and then guide the class through the activity that the poem describes.

​Many poems also call out like writing notebook prompts, similar to the mindful prompts in Heard’s book, Writing Towards Home: Tales and Lessons to Find Your Way (Heinemann, 1995). Poems such as “My Thoughts Are Clouds,” “Consider a Raisin,” “Open Your Eyes,” “Cultivate Tenderness,” “Kindfulness” all would provide rich writing notebook explorations. For example, I imagine students copying the poem “My Thoughts Are Clouds” on the left-side of a full-page spread in their notebook, and then on the right-side, creating their own thought clouds. 
​Finally, I think “Empowerment Mantra Haiku” (see image below) would provide an outstanding activity. The entire class could compose their own affirmative heard-shaped messages for a class empowerment “take one, add one” bulletin board that each child can hold onto as a gift and a reminder to be good to themselves and others throughout the day. 
Picture
“Empowerment Mantra Haiku” from My Thoughts Are Clouds.
Ted Kesler, Ed.D. is an Associate Professor at Queens College, CUNY and has been a CLA Member since 2010. He served as chairperson of the NCTE Poetry and Verse Novels for Children Committee from 2019 to 2021.
www.tedsclassroom.com | @tedsclassroom | www.facebook.com/tedsclassroom) 

Exploring the Life of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer with "Classified"

10/5/2021

 

By Mary Ann Cappiello & Donna Sabis Burns, on behalf of the Biography Clearinghouse

Cover of
“Do the best you can and search out available knowledge and build on it,” said Mary Golda Ross in April 2008. This quote introduces and frames Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer, Cherokee author Traci Sorell’s and Métis illustrator Natasha Donovan’s 2021 picture book biography featured this month on The Biography Clearinghouse. 

Known as “Gold” to her family, Mary Golda Ross was a pioneer in multiple ways. A trained mathematician and educator-turned-engineer, she was the first female and the first Native American aerospace engineer in the United States. Mary’s intellect and penchant for problem-solving were invaluable as she helped research and design satellites, missiles, and rockets. Her work, much of which is still classified, was integral to the U.S. development of its aerospace program in the mid-20th century. Like many women entering traditionally male-dominated fields, Mary is considered a “Hidden Figure.” Fortified by her independence and tenacity, Mary carved out historical and professional space that had rarely—if ever—included women and minorities. And in doing so, Mary helped revolutionize our relationship with space.

Independent and tenacious, Mary was the great-great-grandaughter of John Ross, the Cherokee Chief who led his people during and after they were forced to abandon their ancestral lands in the Southeast. Their migration to what is now Oklahoma, is known as the Trail of Tears. 

Throughout her career, Mary relied on her Cherokee values for guidance, and she credited her professional success to those values. Sorell uses these values to “bookend” Mary’s story. On the first opening spread, a red box catches the reader’s attention. Within it, Sorell informs the reader that Cherokee values are not written down, but rather passed down through generations of family members. The core values that shaped Mary’s life were “gaining skills in all areas of life (both within and out of the classroom), working collaboratively with others, remaining humble when others recognize your talents, and helping ensure equal education and opportunity for all” (p.2). These values ground the reader and serve as a preview to Mary’s life. At the conclusion of the book, Sorell returns to those values, offering readers the four values in the Cherokee syllabary, a transliteration, pronunciation, and then finally, English translation. 

Illustrator Natasha Donovan visually moves the reader through Mary’s life with a series of shifting images digitally rendered, ranging from close-ups of Mary’s classrooms to a bird’s eye view of her travels, zooming out to the larger vistas within her mind as she imagined and designed, zooming in on the many hands around a table working collaboratively to bring these inventions into existence. The illustrations highlight the tensions and opportunities that Mary encounters, and the role she played in an emerging field. 

Mary’s unique circumstances prompted her to reach out and mentor many women in science and mathematics across her long career. She traveled to high schools to mentor college bound seniors and advocate education in engineering and mathematics, and also advocated for career opportunities for fellow Native American and Alaska Natives. Across her career, Mary worked closely with so many - from scientists working in secret on cutting edge technology to young adults just beginning to build their professional identities.

So far, 2021 has shown us the power and potential of science, from the COVID-19 vaccines that continue to be distributed across the globe to the ever-changing understanding of the virus’ variants. Scientists have modeled the ways in which their work is always collaborative. In contrast, 2021 has also shown us the power of the extremely wealthy to appropriate science and technology that has been developed for the benefit of the nation. The two richest men in the world, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, turned space travel into their personal pleasure. Was that part of Mary’s vision of interplanetary travel? Or was hers something more equitable, more in line with her Cherokee values of inclusivity and work for the common good?

Mary’s Cherokee values influenced the totality of her life and service. These values informed her work ethic, her ability to create and problem-solve in interdisciplinary ways, her commitment to educating herself and others, and her legacy of professional mentorship that underscored living a life of professional and personal purpose and fulfillment. Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer offers elementary readers the opportunity to think about how their values and their interests are intertwined, how one can live a life of purpose that is personally fulfilling but collaborative in nature, focused on expanding the boundaries of human knowledge and possibilities and the success of others. 

​​Using the Investigate, Explore, and Create Model of the Biography Clearinghouse, we offer a range of critical teaching and learning experiences to use with Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer on our site. Highlighted here are a few ideas inspired by the book.
Picture
Classified
  • Book Entry
  • Interview with Traci Sorell
  • Interview with Natasha Donovan

Exploring Values

From the first pages of the book to the last, author Traci Sorell affirms the significance of Cherokee values in Mary Golda Ross’s life. We discuss this in our interview with Traci and refer both to the red box that names Cherokee values on the verso page, as well as the information on Cherokee values in the backmatter. After reading Classified, ask students to share their understanding of what the word “values” means.  Then ask students to share their understanding of the Cherokee values that are represented in the book. How do they define them in their own words? Next, ask students to make a list of the values that are important to them. Provide them with an opportunity to talk to one another in pairs or small groups about their values. How are their values similar and different from one another? How are the words they use to describe their values similar and different from one another? After they’ve had a chance to do this, allow them time to consider where their values come from. Are they influenced by the grown-ups in their lives? Their community? Their religion? Are their values influenced by their family cultural heritage(s), race, or ethnicity(ies)? How do their education influence their values, and how do their values influence their education? Finally, ask students to look again at the four Cherokee values discussed in the back matter. What connections do students see between the values discussed in their group and the Cherokee values that guided Mary’s life? 

Mentoring Others 

Mary Golda Ross was known for the mentoring work she did, supporting younger women and indigenous women entering the field of STEM. What kind of mentoring exists in your school? In the lives of your students and their families? In your community? 

If you have 1-2 hours…
If you have 1-2 days…
If you have 1-2 weeks...
Have you ever had a mentor, someone you rely on to give you advice and guidance?

Ask your students to think about the mentors in their own lives. Who has helped them learn new things? Who has supported them as they tried to learn something new? Students might list coaches, dance teachers, karate teachers, librarians, older book buddies, and religious leaders. But they also are likely to mention their friends and classmates, siblings, and neighbors.

Allow students time to ask the older siblings, peers or adults in their lives about their mentors while growing up. Support students by brainstorming together the kinds of questions they can ask, rather than handing them set questions, helping students to ask questions that identify their grown-ups’ mentors in childhood and adult years, personally and professionally.

Have students share those anecdotes in class. What are the similarities and differences between their grown-ups’ responses?

Finally, ask students to consider who they could mentor in your school community, and in what ways. Support them as they design and carry out their mentoring plan.

The Space Race as Collaboration

As an aerospace engineer, Mary Golda Ross worked on the top-secret Skunk Works Project of Lockheed Martin. As Sorell writes in Classified, Skunk Works research contributed to the Apollo space missions and the eventual moon walk by U.S. astronauts in 1969. You can show students an example of her work: Planetary Flight Handbook, No. 9, NASA. What other women were involved in Space Race research? After reading Classified, provide time for students to explore these other books about the Space Race.

Picture Books: 

  • Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13 written by Helaine Becker, illustrated by Dow Phumiruck 
  • Counting the Stars written by Lisa Cline-Ransome, illustrated by Raul Colón
  • A Computer Called Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Helped Put America On the Moon, written by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Veronica Miller Jamison 
  • Margaret and the Moon: How Margaret Hamilton Saved the First Lunar Landing written Dean Robbins, illustrated by Lucy Knisley

Chapter Books: 

  • How We Got to the Moon: The People, Technology, and Daring Feats of Science Behind Humanity’s Greatest Adventure, written by John Rocco 
  • Reaching for the Moon: The Autobiography of NASA Mathematician Katherine Johnson, written by Katherine Johnson 
  • Countdown: 2979 Days to the Moon, written by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez 
  • Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone, featured on the Biography Clearinghouse

In Classified, Sorrell notes that “whenever Mary received awards, she always thanked her colleagues because she knew no one person deserved credit for what everyone had done together.”  As students explore whichever permutation of texts you select, ask them to consider the ways in which teamwork is represented. In what ways are individuals featured? In what ways is their collective and collaborative work represented? Use this conversation as an opportunity to discuss the process of “doing science” as collaborative rather than singular work. This can also serve as a springboard to critical considerations regarding the ways inventions and scientific breakthroughs are often attributed to specific individuals instead of to the team as a whole, changing our understanding of what makes change possible. Change happens when groups of people work together over time. 

To see more classroom possibilities and helpful resources connected to Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer, visit The Biography Clearinghouse.  Additionally, we’d love to hear how the interview and these ideas inspired you. Email us at thebiographyclearinghouse@gmail.com with your connections, creations, and questions.

Mary Ann Cappiello teaches courses in children’s literature and literacy methods at Lesley University, blogs about teaching with children’s literature at The Classroom Bookshelf, a School Library Journal blog, and is a former chair of NCTE’s Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction K-8. 

Donna Sabis-Burns, Ph.D., an enrolled citizen of the Upper Mohawk-Turtle Clan, is a Group Leader in the Office of Indian Education at the U.S. Department of Education* in Washington, D.C. She is a Board Member (2020-2022) with the Children's Literature Assembly, Co-Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity Committee, and Co-Chair of the 2021 CLA Breakfast meeting (NCTE).
*The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the U.S. Department of Education. No official endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education of any product, commodity, service, or enterprise mentioned herein is intended or should be inferred.

FOR CLA MEMBERS

CLA Board of Directors Elections

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It's time for CLA members to vote for three members of the CLA Board of Directors. Board terms are for three years, beginning January 1, 2022.

Candidate statements and a link to the election ballot can be found in our Election Page.  To access the ballot and submit your vote, you will be prompted to log in to your CLA account. Voting begins on Tuesday, October 5th at 9 am EST.

Please submit your ballot by Friday October 22nd at 5 pm EST

Listening to Voices from the Four Directions:  Indigenous Storytellers for Your Classrooms

9/28/2021

 

By Donna Sabis-Burns, Rachel Skrlac Lo, and Casey O'Donnell on behalf of the CLA Breakfast Committee

Book cover: I Sang You Down from the Stars
Looking out the window we begin to see the slight change in color of the fall foliage, a brisker feel to the air, and school busses carrying students to their not-so-new-normal classrooms.  Apples, pumpkins, and “Indian” corn are appearing in the grocery store aisles.  The gift of autumn is here. One highlight of this time of year is the NCTE Annual Conference held in November. Under “normal” circumstances, the Children’s Literature Assembly Breakfast is held in person as part of that gathering. While we will not be able to meet in person this year, the CLA Breakfast will be offered as a live event during the conference. In anticipation of our session, we are sharing about some of the most prolific, wonderful Indigenous multiple award-winning storytellers from across the Four Directions.
​

Cynthia Leitich-Smith (Muscogee Creek), Traci Sorell (Cherokee Nation), Michaela Goade (Tlingit), Carole Lindstrom (Metis), and Kevin Maillard (Seminole Nation) will make up this year’s Breakfast speaker panel. They will offer insight into their creative writing process, share their newest work, and offer some candid thoughts on how being Indigenous has strengthened their entire literature experience.

These storytellers celebrate #OwnVoices in the here and now. They offer counter stories to highlight the dynamism of Native American and Alaska Native communities for all ages. During a conversation with them in February 2021, we discussed the joys of reading and storytelling and reflected on the importance of celebrating the rich legacy of Native experiences that influence contemporary society. Native American, American Indian, or Indigenous peoples (terms used interchangeably) make up the 575+ federally recognized tribes and 200+ state-recognized tribes, much diversity exists across this Indigenous landscape in the United States. To celebrate this diversity, in this post, we will share with you the newest works from these amazing storytellers, including samples of teacher guides, links to audio-books, artwork, and other storytelling materials to share both in and outside of the classroom.

​Teachers strive to create an environment for children that is all-embracing because they know that when children feel accepted, they will be happy, healthy, and confident members of society. This spirit of inclusiveness should permeate not only the social dynamic of the classroom, but the teaching materials as well. Children’s books that are endowed with social justice themes and multicultural issues provide a much richer reading experience than texts with homogeneous characters and unchallenging stories. The stories shared by these authors and illustrator offer many ways to enlighten students of all ages to the diverse books, cultural nuances, and traditions that Indigenous people bring to the table. Check out these teacher resources for a glimpse into the rich world of native storytelling.

Activity Kits and Teacher Guides

Book cover: Indian No More
A Teacher's Guide to Indian No More (Lee & Low)
Book cover: We Are Water Protectors
A Teacher's Guide to We Are Water Protectors (MacMillan)
Book cover: Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross
Discussion Guide for Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer (Lerner)
Book cover: Ancestor Approved
A Teacher's Guide to Native Literature (including Ancestor Approved) produced by Heartdrum, an imprint of HarperCollins
Book cover: Sisters of the Neversea
A Teacher's Guide to Native Literature (including Sisters of the Neversea) produced by Heartdrum, an imprint of HarperCollins
Book cover: Fry Bread
A Teacher's Guide to Fry Bread (Read Across America)
Book cover: Encounter
When students encounter texts that feature characters with whom they can connect, they can see how others are like them and how literature can play a role in their lives. If students can feel connected to books, not only will they be more apt to obtain the intrinsic motivation to increase the amount of reading they do, but they will also begin to feel more accepted as strong and unique members of society and to become less vulnerable to negative stereotyping and feelings of oppression. It is the hope of our storytellers that these resources be shared with all students, to demonstrate not only resiliency and determination, but also joy and grace within the texts and illustrations to take them to places they have never seen or heard of before. Below are are some video and audio resources related to some of the works of our storytellers.

Video & Audio Resources

Traci Sorell on the writing process of 
Indian No More


Traci Sorell on The Children's Book Podcast

Book Chat with Illustrator Michaela Goade

I Sang You Down from the Stars Video Introduction from the Author & Illustrator

Kevin Maillard reads Fry Bread Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian
We are obligated to educate our youth with a clear lens and to teach the richness of realistic, authentic, and contemporary literature for children and young adults. We need to promote books where Indigenous characters are up front and visible, not hidden or pushed aside. We want to highlight in a bold, distinguishable manner characters and stories that unveil and promote the beauty of diverse literature written/illustrated by and for Native Nations (also called Indigenous people and used interchangeably here when the specific Nation is not known), and all other marginalized groups. The storytellers highlighted here, and across the land, provide a glimpse of the wonderment and beauty that present-day and historical Indigenous culture and traditions bring to the literature landscape.
Five Voices from the Four Directions. 2021 CLA Breakfast on November 21 @ the NCTE Convention
Come celebrate with us at 9 am (EST) on November 21, 2021 at the CLA Breakfast at NCTE! There will be great conversation and book giveaways!
Donna Sabis-Burns, Ph.D., an enrolled citizen of the Upper Mohawk-Turtle Clan, is a Group Leader in the Office of Indian Education at the U.S. Department of Education* in Washington, D.C. She is a Board Member (2020-2022) with the Children's Literature Assembly, Co-Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity Committee, and Co-Chair of the 2021 CLA Breakfast meeting (NCTE).

Rachel Skrlac Lo is an Assistant Professor at Villanova University. She is a Board Member (2020-2022) with the Children's Literature Assembly, Co-Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity Committee, and Co-Chair of the 2021 CLA Breakfast meeting (NCTE).

Casey O'Donnell is
 a graduate student in the Masters Plus Teacher Certification Program at Villanova University.
*The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the U.S. Department of Education. No official endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education of any product, commodity, service, or enterprise mentioned herein is intended or should be inferred.

2021 Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts Award Books

3/30/2021

 

BY JEANNE GILLIAM FAIN ON BEHALF OF THE NCBLA 2021 COMMITTEE

The NCBLA 2021 committee has the following charge as a committee: 

The charge of the seven-member national committee is to select 30 books that best exemplify the criteria established for the Notables Award. Books considered for this annual list are works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry written for children, grades K-8. The books selected for the list must meet the following criteria:

1. be published the year preceding the award year (i.e. books published in 2021 are considered for the 2020 list);

2. have an appealing format;

3. be of enduring quality;

4. meet generally accepted criteria of quality for the genre in which they are written; 

5. meet one or more of the following criteria:
  • ​deal explicitly with language, such as plays on words, word origins, or the history of language
  • demonstrate uniqueness in the use of language or style; and/or
  • invite child response or participation
Books transport us into new places and sometimes take us out of the craziness of the world. This was one of those years where we experienced unexpected challenges. I led this committee as we navigated some of the real challenges of the pandemic. To be perfectly honest, in September when we didn’t have the normal number of books, I panicked. 

I am truly thankful for this thoughtful committee that continually encouraged me to keep going as I contacted publishers in hopes of obtaining more physical copies of books. Many publishers returned from turbulent times and physical copies of books were difficult to obtain. However, as a committee member, it’s just easier to dig deeper with a text when you have a physical copy in front of you. Thankfully, publishers started returning to sending physical copies of books at the end of January and in February. We continue to be so thankful for the support many publishers extended to us as they worked diligently to send our committee books. However, that meant, that we had to read on a rigorous schedule and we often had to meet more than twice a month in order to have critical conversations around the literature. 


Here’s a figure that highlights our process as a committee:​
Picture

Recurrent Themes from the 2021 NCBLA List

Recurrent themes from the 2021 NCBLA list
This year, we talked about the importance of story and our criteria. We felt that students in K-8 classrooms needed joyful and hopeful stories. We also came to consensus that sad stories are important also. We felt that the readers needed to see themselves in the pages of picture books and novels. We see the strengths of each book and the themes that stand out across books. 

These themes capture the outstanding books on our 2021 NCBLA list. We are still working with publishers to collect all of the books' covers. But here are a few book covers that highlight some of the incredible books from our list.

Some of the 2021 NCBLA Books

Book cover: When You Trap a Tiger
Book cover: The Day Saida Arrived
Book cover: Your Name is a Song
Book cover: The Oldest Student
Book cover: Fighting Words
Book cover: Before the Ever After
Book cover: On Account of the Gum
Book cover: I Am Every Good Thing
Book cover: Black Brother, Black Brother
Book cover: What I like most
Book cover: Swish
Book cover: When Stars are Scattered

We invite you to see the power of literature across our 2021 NCBLA Book List!

Jeanne Gilliam Fain is s a professor at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee and Chair of the 2021 Notables Committee.
2021 Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts Selection Committee Members
Vera Ahiyya (Brooklyn Arbor Elementary, New York)
Elizabeth Bemiss (University of West Florida)
Janine Schall (The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley)
Jennifer Summerlin (University of Alabama-Birmingham)
Kathryn Will (University of Maine, Farmington)
​Fran Wilson (Madeira Elementary, Ohio)

An Inquiry of the Outdoors: Contemporary Children’s Picture Books that Feature the Outdoors

3/25/2021

 

BY KATHRYN CAPRINO

How are humans and the outdoors connected? This inquiry question has been answered more acutely for some during COVID. Whereas I am grateful that I could spend time outside daily during quarantine, taking walks with my little boy and rekindling my passion for running, I know many others - for a myriad reasons - were trapped indoors. 

In this post, I share three contemporary children’s picture books that will help young readers answer the inquiry question: How are humans and the outdoors connected?

After sharing brief summaries of each text, I provide a few lesson ideas.
​
Book cover: Outside In
I was drawn immediately to the cover of Outside In, written by Deborah Underwood and illustrated by Cindy Derby. There was something about the girl and the brightness of Derby’s lines on the cover of this 2021 Caldecott Honor Book that resonated with me. What is revealed within its covers is a powerful story about how humans are often trapped inside. One poignant line even suggests that sometimes we are outside but really we are inside. But the outdoors does not give up on us. It sends little signals - the snail on the kale, the sounds on our windows - to remind us. And, ultimately, the outdoors wins. And we go there.

Watch Underwood and Derby share their ideas about the text in the video below.  

Similar to the power of the outdoors shown in Outside In, the sea in Swashby and the Sea, written by Beth Ferry and illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal, does not relent. In this stunning book about friendship, the sea ensures Captain Swashby and the little girl who has moved into the house next door become friends - despite all of Swashby’s efforts. Just as the outside in Outside In sends constant reminders about its presence, the sea in Swashby rewrites the messages Swashby leaves in the sand. As in Outside In, the outside wins, allowing for a wonderful friendship between an old man and his lively young neighbor. 
Book cover: Swashby and the Sea
Book cover: Outside, Inside
The connections between people seen in Swashby and the Sea are echoed, albeit differently, in LeUyen Pham’s Outside, Inside, a book that is about the time of COVID but also about the hope of the outdoors.
Publisher's Book Trailer
Whereas COVID is not mentioned explicitly, the narrator reveals that there was a time when most people went inside. Sharing that humans made the best of their challenging months inside, the text leaves readers with hope of reconnecting with others outside - but not before emphasizing that even though we are all different on the outside, we are all the same on the inside. Echoes of the idea that humans need to be outside seen in Outside In are also seen in Outside, Inside, and this idea that we are all united by something much greater than ourselves links with Swashby and the Sea.

Sharing the Books with Students

Before sharing these three texts with students, pose the inquiry question How are humans and the outdoors connected? Invite them to share the ways in which they feel connected to the outdoors via discussions, written responses, or pictures. 

Next, read the texts to students, providing opportunities for during-text discussions and post-text answering of the inquiry question. Ask students to reveal how each text confirms or alters their previous responses. 

After reading all three texts, ask students to draw, write, or discuss their response to the inquiry question, using their personal experiences and what they thought about as a result of the three picture books. 

Finally, have students engage in an activity that helps them engage with the inquiry question How are humans and the outdoors connected? in personal ways. They may want to create a project that helps keep the outdoors a hospitable place for humans. They might write to the town mayor to share some ideas on roadside trash collection, for example. Other students may pursue a more personal project, such as a drawn or written memoir or children’s picture book about their experiences with being inside and outside throughout the past year. 

Perhaps the best lesson idea I have, however, is to let these texts inspire you and your students to go outside. Take an awe walk to find inspiring objects and return to the classroom to discuss or write about them. Set up an observation log in your classroom so students can track what they noticed about the outdoors. Let students draw or paint the outdoors. Or even better yet, truly be outside with them - not outside but really inside as Outside In warns - and play with them. 


It is my hope that these three contemporary books that provide the opportunity for us to engage in an inquiry of the outdoors inspire us all to move and think and be outside just a bit more.
Kathryn Caprino is a CLA member, on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Children’s Literature, a blogger at katiereviewsbooks.wordpress.com, and an Assistant Professor of PK-12 New Literacies at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. You can follow her on Twitter @KCapLiteracy.

Midwinter Book Awards Beyond Newbery and Caldecott- Part I: Children's Books

2/9/2021

 

BY WENDY STEPHENS

Editorial Note:
This post is the first in a 2-part series by Wendy Stephens discussing the rich landscape of book awards announced over the winter months. In this first post, Wendy focuses on ALSC awards and awards by ALA affiliates recognizing books for children or books for a wide spectrum of age groups. The second post, which will be published next week, will present awards for YA literature administered by YALSA, as well as several other notable awards.
When we talk about budgeting for materials, I always advise my school librarian candidates to be sure to save some funding for January. No matter how good their ongoing collection development has been throughout the year, there are always some surprises when the American Library Association's Youth Media Awards (YMAs) roll around, and they'll want to be able to share the latest and best in children's literature with their readers. These are the books that will keep their collections up-to-date and relevant. 

From our own childhoods, we always remember the "books with the medals" -- particularly the John Newbery for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature and the Randolph Caldecott for the most distinguished American picture book for children. These books become must-buys and remain touchstones for young readers. In 2021, Newbery is celebrating its one hundredth year. Some past winners and honor books are very much a product of their time, and many of those once held in high esteem lack appeal today. 

For those of us working with children and with children's literature, the new books honored at Midwinter offer opportunities to revisit curriculum, update mentor texts, and build Lesesneian "reading ladders." Each award committee has its own particular award criteria and guidelines for eligibility, and its own process and confidentiality norms.

Every year, the YMAs seems to be peppered with small surprises. Does New Kid winning the Newbery means graphic novels are finally canonical? Is Neil Gaiman an American? What about all the 2015 Caldecott honors, including the controversial That One Summer? Did the Newbery designation of The Last Stop on Market Street mean you can validate using picture books with older students? How does Cozbi A. Cabrera's much-honored art work resonate at this historical moment?

​
In Horn Book and School Library Journal, Newbery, Caldecott and Printz contenders are tracked throughout the year in blogs like Someday My Printz Will Come, Heavy Medal, and Calling Caldecott. Other independent sites like Guessing Geisel, founded by Amy Seto Forrester are equally devoted to award prediction. Among librarians and readers, there are lots of armchair quarterbacks, and conducting mock Newbery and Caldecotts, either among groups of professionals or with children, have become almost a cottage industry. There are numerous how-tos on that subject, from reputable sources like The Nerdy Book Club and BookPage
. But there are numerous other awards announced at ALA Midwinter almost simultaneously that deserve your attention, too.

Among the Association for Library Services for Children (ALSC) awards are: the Robert F. Sibert Medal, the Mildred L. Batchelder Award, the Geisel Award, the Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Award,  and the Children's Literature Legacy Award.

​Robert F. Sibert Medal
The Robert F. Sibert Medal for the most distinguished informational book for children, ALSC's version of the Orbis Pictus, offers great books to support a wide variety of content areas.
Book Cover: Honeybee
2021 Sibert Medal Winner

Mildred L. Batchelder Award
The Mildred L. Batchelder Award  is given to the most outstanding children’s book originating in a language other than English in a country other than the United States and subsequently translated into English for publication in the United States, supporting publishers who bring an international perspective to U.S. readers.
Book Cover: Telephone Tales
2021 Batchelder Award Winner

Geisel Award
The Geisel Award recognizes an exceptional text for beginning readers.
Book Cover: See the Cat
2021 Geisel Award Winner

Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Award
The Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Award recognizes noteworthy apps, DVDs and streaming media. This year, it went to a podcast. 
The Imagine Neighborhood Podcast Logo
2021 EELDM Award Winner

Children's Literature Legacy Award
The Children's Literature Legacy Award, formerly the Wilder Award, honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made a substantial and lasting contribution to children's literature through books that demonstrate integrity and respect for all children's lives and experiences. 
Mildred D. Taylor
2021 Children's Literacy Legacy Award Winner: Mildred D. Taylor

​
Aside from the award winners, each year annual ALSC Children's Notable Lists are produced in categories for Notable Children's Recordings, Notable Children's Digital Media, and Notable Children's Books. If you want to see the machinations behind the designation, those discussions are open to the public this year via virtual meeting links.

Outside of ALSC, many of ALA’s affiliates have their own honors for children's literature. These include the Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT) which sponsors the Coretta Scott King Book Awards; the Association of Jewish Libraries which sponsors the Sydney Taylor Book Awards; and REFORMA: The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking which sponsors the Pura Belpré awards. In addition to these affiliates, others such as the Asian/Pacific American Librarian Association and the American Indian Library Association also present awards. 

The awards are always evolving to reflect the abundance of literature available for young people. Like the Association of Jewish Libraries and the Asian/Pacific American Librarian Association awards, the American Indian Youth Literature Awards were first added to the televised YMA event in 2018. And this year was the first year for inclusion for a new Young Adult category for the Pura Belpré. 


Two awards of particular significance are the Stonewall Book Award – Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children’s and Young Adult Literature Awards are given annually to English-language works found to be of exceptional merit for children or teens relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience, and the Schneider Family Book Awards, honoring authors or illustrators for the artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences, with recipients in three categories: younger children, middle grades, and teens.
Coretta Scott King Awards
The Coretta Scott King Books Awards honor African American authors and illustrators of outstanding books for children and young adults as well as professionals who support that valuable work. Of particular note is the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent.
Book Cover: Legendborn
2021 John Steptoe New Talent Award Winner: Tracy Deonn

Sydney Taylor Book Awards
The Sydney Taylor Book Awards, ​named in memory the classic All-of-a-Kind Family series author. The award recognizes materials for children and teens that exemplify high literary standards while authentically portraying the Jewish experience, designating Gold and Silver medalists and Notable Books of Jewish Content in categories including Picture Books, Middle Grade, and Young Adults.
Book Cover: Telephone Tales
2021 Sydney Taylor Gold Medal for the Middle Grades Category

Pura Belpré Awards
The Pura Belpré Awards honor Latinx authors and illustrators whose work portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience. ​
Book Cover: Furia
2021 Pura Belpré Young Adult Award Winner

Asian/Pacific American Librarian Association Awards
The Asian/Pacific Librarian Association's Awards for Literature designates award and honor titles in Young Adult, Children's and Picture Book categories for authors and illustrators whose books promote Asian/Pacific American culture and heritage.

Book Cover: When You Trap a Tiger
2021 APALA Children's Winner

American Indian Librarian Association Awards
One award we didn't see this year: American Indian Youth Literature Awards. Awarded biennially, this award identifies and honors writing and illustrations by Native Americans and Indigenous peoples of North America.
Book Cover: Bowwow Powwow
202o AILA Picturebook Winner

Stonewall Book Award
The Stonewall Book Award - Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children's and Young Adult Literature Awards are given annually to English-language works found to be of exceptional merit for children or teens relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience.
Book Cover: We Are Little Feminists: Families
2021 Stonewall Book Award Winner

Schneider Family Book Awards
The Schneider Family Book Awards, honoring authors or illustrators for the artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences, honor recipients in three categories: younger children, middle grades, and teens.
Book Cover: I Talk Like A River
 2021 Schneider Family Younger Children Award Winner 

Odyssey Award
This is an award that considers materials for a wide spectrum age groups in their decision-making. The best audiobook production for children and/or young adults are chosen for the Odyssey Award. The Odyssey alternates administration between ALSC and YALSA.
Kent State audiobook CD
2021 Odyssey Award Audiobook
Wendy Stephens is an Assistant Professor and the Library Media Program Chair at Jacksonville State University. 

From the 2020 Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts: Moving From Small to Large Through Play and Imagination

12/8/2020

 

By Kathryn Will, Meghan Goodwin, and Sophie Hendrix

​​The Notable Children’s Books in Language Arts Committee (NCBLA), reads, reviews, and discusses over 400 books of various genres written for K-8 children each year. These works of poetry and prose are analyzed using the charge of the committee that asks in making the selection of the top thirty texts the seven committee members consider:
        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
This post focuses on two of the texts from the 2020 Notables List that might be seen through the lens of a progression from small to large. Although The Magic of Letters (2019) and Small World (2019) are very different books, they can be used to invite readers to imagine, play, and wonder.

The Magic of Letters
Written by Tony Johnston
Illustrated by Wendell Minor
Penguin Random House, unpaged, ISBN
 978-0823441594
Imagine an invitation to play with language through the revelation of letters as building blocks to words, and words to meaning. Through rich images of simple, but colorful line drawings, and collage, readers are encouraged to consider the magical nature of literacy as the pathway to building new ideas. The interplay of the text and illustrations immerse the reader in the playful progress as the rabbit leads the journey from letters, to words, to sentences. Interesting and rigorous vocabulary such as flibbertigibbet, clunk, limber, and enchantment invite readers to strive for complex use of language.
The Magic of Letters cover

Small World
Written by Ishta Mercurio

Illustrated by Jen Corace
Abrams Books for Young Readers, unpaged, ISBN 
978-1419734076
Small World cover

From the beginning of her time on the Earth as a baby in her mother’s arms to her travels to the moon as an astronaut, we journey with Nanda in her ever-expanding world. As Nanda grows, her participatory experiences with her expanding world grow more scientifically complex. Beautiful vocabulary such as fractals, symphony, and spooled, complement the rich illustrations vividly layered with color and images. Lyrical language invites the reader to travel along the journey with comfort. Woven throughout the story as the perspectives change, a thread of circularity brings comfort within the expansive boundaries or growing up--first in her mother’s arms and finally in the sphere of the Earth as she looks at her home from afar. The illustrations of gouache, ink, and pencil provide the depth of realism with warm inviting scenes that allow the reader to imagine the existence of this journey.​
Ishta Mercurio offers craft ideas related to things Nanda does in Small World.

​​Teaching Tips

Both of these books invite readers to engage in exploration and discussion through multiple reads due to their rich vocabulary and use of language. Teachers can easily deepen and extend the texts through a variety of activities.

Using the illustrative style of The Magic of Letters, children could repurpose magazines and catalogues to cut out letters and words as sources for creating new words and sentences. As they pore over the texts, they could look for familiar and known letters and words, providing opportunities for practice in letter and word recognition before assembling them in a collage. Children could use crayon resist to create magic letters of their very own, or even play roll and write to create sentences from familiar and new words. These activities reflect the rich and playful nature of the text.

Small World is a text that envelopes the reader in the world of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math). The rich vocabulary begs teachers to consider connections to geometry, snow science, and roller coasters. With consideration of Nanda’s career as an astronaut, students might watch this video about women astronauts, or think about materials they might need for a trip to the moon. This book also holds opportunities for rich discussion with questions such as:
  • In what ways is the world large? In what ways is it small?
  • What do the pictures in this book tell you? (without reading the book first to focus on inferencing)
  • How has your perception of the world changed as you have grown up?
  • In what ways did Nanda’s world change as she grew up? How does she see the world differently towards the end of the book as compared to the beginning?
  • Why do you think Nanda’s perception of the world changed throughout the book? Can you relate to this?
Children might write or draw with consideration of the ways in which their world has expanded outward from their welcome into the world, to their current context, and even the possibilities of where they might like to be 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, including the two listed below who assisted in the creation of the teaching tips shared. She is a member of the 2019 Notables Committee, and will be chairing the committee in the upcoming year.
Meghan Goodwin, Preservice teacher, University of Maine Farmington (@Ms_G_Teaches)
Sophie Hendrix, Preservice teacher, University of Maine Farmington

From the 2020 Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts Using Poetic Picturebooks as Mentor Texts

10/27/2020

 

BY ELIZABETH M. BEMISS

Each year, the Notable Children’s Books in Language Arts Committee (NCBLA) reads and discusses works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry written for K-8 readers. Committee members, seven dedicated children’s literature enthusiasts, with experience ranging from elementary school teaching, to school librarians, and finally, university faculty with expertise in children’s and young adult literature, consider the requisite qualities for narrowing down the winners to a list of 30 titles.  

In this post, I will feature two poetic picture books included in the 2020 Notables list, Lion of the Sky: Haiku for All Seasons (2019), and Room on Our Rock (2019). ​

Lion of the Sky: Haiku for All Seasons 
Written by Laura Purdie Salas  
Illustrated by Mercé López
Millbrook, 2019, unpaged, ISBN 978-1-5124-9809-7


In this unique collection of poetry, Laura Purdie Salas intrigues readers with “riddle-ku” poems. The 24 three-line poems, centered around the four seasons, are narrated by something nonhuman, making it a mask poem for readers to guess each narrator. Coupled with Mercé López’s  stunning rendered acrylic illustrations that capture the nature of each object being described, the poetic words and artwork render objects associated with the seasons: 

A kite flying in spring 

“I am a wind bird,
sky skipper, diamond dipper,
DANCING on your string” 

Dandelions of summer 

“my fluffy seeds DRIFT
tiny puffs lift in the breeze
and land...who knows where?” 

Falling snow in the winter
 
“I’m cold confetti
falling from a crystal sky,
blanketing the town”  
Book cover: Lion of the Sky
Book cover: Room on Our Rock
Room on Our Rock 
Written by Kate and Jol Temple
Illustrated by Terri Rose Baynton
Kane Miller, 2019, unpaged, ISBN 978-1-61067-902-2

This clever book presents readers with a story that reads forward and backward, revealing narratives about sharing and compassion. Upon the first reading, a trio of seals announce “There’s no room on our rock” to a seal and pup approaching their rock from the sea. As the seals shoo away the approaching pair, readers are told “No room on this rock? Can it be true? Read back to front for another point of view.” Readers then find a seal and pup escaping dangerous seas who are welcomed by the seals: “You’re welcome here / You’ll never hear us say / Shoo! Go away!” Gray and blue watercolor illustrations of a landscape in the sea compliment this story sure to warm hearts and encourage compassion among readers. 

Teaching Tips for Using the Books as Mentor Texts

Utilized as mentor texts, these poetic picture books provide readers with delightful opportunities to craft their own written responses inspired from the texts.

The whimsical collection of “riddle-ku” poems in Lion of the Sky invites readers to enjoy a play on language and is an inspiring way to help young writers craft unique poetry of their own. Students can create their own “riddle-ku” poems and invite peers and family members to guess the answer to their “riddle-kus.” To scaffold young writers, teachers can draw from this brainstorming resource from Millbrook Press where students can craft a “Zoo-ku,” or a “riddle-ku” about an animal. Additionally, students can publish their “riddle-ku” on a Padlet Page created by the author, Laura Purdie Salas. Another way students can craft their poems is through Read Write Think’s Interactive Haiku Generator, which guides students through brainstorming, drafting, and publishing, where individual background images can be added to the published “riddle-ku.”  

The poetic forward and backward reading of Room on Our Rock can foster rich conversations between readers about the varying messages from the book when read forward versus backward as well as discussions surrounding point of view. Teachers can guide students to reflect on the kind of tone and voice needed to read the book forward and how it changed to read the book backward. Teachers could also have students think about how the artwork on each page was used to create the tone of the book from two perspectives. After engaging in deep conversation around the book, students can partner up to write a review of the book and then share their reviews via free audio or video sharing applications. Students can post links to the reviews on a class page such as note.ly or Padlet.



Elizabeth M. Bemiss, an Assistant Professor at the University of West Florida, teaches courses in children’s and young adult literature and literacy methods. Elizabeth is a member of the 2019-2021 Notables Committee.
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