Culture and tradition are part and parcel of every person’s identity and yet many of us—perhaps especially in the United States—tend to see the identities of those around us as flattened into tropes. Instead of ignoring the nuances that encompass unforced and forced migrations, developments in social and political surroundings, and even availability of food […]
Explore Diversity in Jewish Identity with Picture Books Read More »
Picture book illustrators use so many different media to create engaging—and often revealing—elements for the pages children examine during read-aloud times. Sometimes the illustrator makes use of a tool other than a brush, a pencil, pen, or cut paper. Sometimes, we see picture books—in a range of age interests from board books to informational books
Photo Perfect Picture Books Read More »
One of the developmental steps in reading proficiency is learning how to predict while suspending certainty sufficiently to discover what actually occurs in the text. If the author had only one path to take and we could predict it with total accuracy, reading as recreation—which is how we get enough practice to make reading a
One, Two, Three, Plot Twist! Read More »
Summertime brings with it many wonderful things. In most places you get longer days, warmer weather, and no matter if you like them or not…more bugs! Outside our doors there is an entire society of fantastic critters going about their day in a miniature world that could easily go unnoticed to the untrained eye. This
Perfect Pair: Un-Bee-Lievable Bug Books Read More »
If you’ve never met a rescue animal—and a rescue dog in particular—then you might not know that they are the four-legged definitions of gratitude and resilience. Some rescue dogs may come from previous loving homes where life circumstances forced their humans to re-home them. But just as many—and, sadly, probably many, many more—come from pasts
Canine Companions: Rescue Dogs and Beyond Read More »
As we get ready to celebrate Earth Day, I think about how I can instill in my child a deep appreciation for the planet and its delicate ecosystems. As a children’s librarian I know one of the most effective ways to cultivate this awareness is through the power of children’s literature. Children’s books have the
Fifty Plus Years of Celebrating Earth Day Read More »
As the old year makes way for the new, let’s take a look through some fresh retellings of old stories. Some of these stories are rooted in folklore; others have been recrafted from literary works of bygone centuries. All offer new ways of seeing and understanding the roots from which they grow, just as insights
Old Tales Told Afresh Read More »
We’ve been collecting all the kids’ book lists we can find and highlighting the titles mentioned that come from our US-based publishers. (For listed titles from our many international publishing friends, just look here.) Like many of our beyond-the-US-borders publishers, our American kids’ book publishers provide titles from abroad in translation, as well as books
O, Come All Ye Book Lists! Read More »
The International Day of Peace, celebrated each year on September 21, is a United Nations initiative. This year also marks the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (in December) and also the United Nations members’ ratification of their obligations under the Genocide Convention. While all of these may sound
Growing Peace Awareness Read More »