The International Reading Association has released it’s Choices Booklists for children, teachers and young adults. And the lists are quite diverse.

Here are a few titles from the Teacher’s list, that are either by or about African Americans:

Primary winners:
Ain’t Nobody a Stranger to Me by Ann Grifalconi, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, Hyperion, Jump at the Sun.

D Is for Drinking Gourd: An African American Alphabet by Nancy I. Sanders, illustrated by E.B. Lewis, Sleeping Bear.

Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, Scholastic, Scholastic Press.

Intermediate winners
A Friendship for Today, written by Patricia C. McKissack*; Scholastic, Scholastic Press.

A Song for Harlem, written by Patricia C. McKissack, Penguin, Viking.

Sweet Land of Liberty*, written by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Leonard Jenkins*, Ill. Peachtree.

Advanced winners:
Celeste’s Harlem Renaissance, written by Eleanora E. Tate*; Little, Brown.

On My Journey Now: Looking at African-American History Through the Spirituals, written by Nikki Giovanni, Candlewick.

See all the lists and download the bookmarks at the IRA website.
* Indicates a 28 Days Later author, illustrator or book

–Don

Have you joined The Brown Bookshelf Myspace forum yet?

We know, we know - you’re already a member of a million and one other forums, message boards and blog subscriptions. But one more won’t kill you.  Especially since, starting next month the forum will host some great guests for our Summer Chat Series.

June
Temperature Check - State of the Kiddie Lit industry. Need we say more?

July
Indies & The Author - It’s competitive out there. Even the big chains are having trouble. So how can authors and independent bookstores keep one another afloat? Come talk to reps from two indies that do it well.

August
Hype, Hype Hooray - Sure, authors, agents, publishers and librarians think we know what teen readers want…but do we really? Hear it right from the mouth of young readers.

Tentative Guests:

Jen Carlson of Dunow, Carlson, Lerner

Regina Brooks of Serendipity Literary Agency

Representative from Hue-Man Bookstore, Harlem, NY

Jenn Laughren of Books Inc and Not Your Mother’s Bookclub

But you have to join the Brown Bookshelf forum to get up close and personal with our guests.  And because we’re all book lovers, there will be a chance to win some.

Dates and times are still being nailed down, so it’s not too early to sign up and get your front-row seat for these great chats.

See you there!

“Moved by the lack of children’s books and literacy in his native Ethiopia, Yohannes Gebregeorgis established Ethiopia Reads, bringing free public libraries and literacy programs to thousands of Ethiopian children.” Meet this weeks CNN hero, here.

The release of new books is an exciting day for book lovers all over especially when it’s a book by an author that you love.  With the news that the number of books by African American authors was down in 2007 compared to 2008, it is with pleasure that I present to you a list of young adult titles published from March to May.

March 1
Keeping Secrets (Kimani TRU) by Kendra Lee
16 Isn’t Always Sweet (Kimani TRU) by Cassandra Carter

March 18
Diamond (The Divas) by Victoria Christopher Murray

 
March 25
Lady J (Drama High) by L. Divine

April 1
She Said, She Said (Kimani Tru) by Celeste O. Norfleet and Jennifer Norfleet
 
April 29
Just Be by Carla Sarratt

May 1
Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers
If I Were Your Boyfriend (Kimani TRU) by Earl Sewell
 

May 6
Sixteen Candles by Tia Williams
 

For a thorough list of YA titles and authors, please visit our Brown Bookshelf Library.  We’ll update it throughout the year as we keep everyone in the know about the books available for young adult readers.  Stay tuned!

How do you excite, influence, and stir the souls of our children to greatness? In other words, how do you inspire our children to read?

Create a sense of self-efficacy: I have never known anyone to do anything unless there was a feeling that they could accomplish the task at hand. Putting a book into a child’s hand is the first sign that you believe in their greatness. A book is symbolic of all that is possible for them in this world.

Carve Out Time For What You Believe Is Important: The time and attention that you give to the art of reading is what signifies to children its worth and value. If instead of a ball you give a book, our children could predetermine their own destiny. If instead of a concert, we took them to the bookstore our children would not only have a piece of the American pie, but would bake, distribute, and sell the pie.

Interest: Let children read what they enjoy reading. Before we can introduce them to the great pieces of literature, let them read about what interests them. Let them discover, inquire, and revel in the sheer delight of books for both information and pleasure.

Loving Space: When you really think about it, some of your most amazing memories were very simple ones. Mama cooking in the kitchen, conversations outside on the porch with Grandpa… Children find a great deal of pleasure in simply spending time with you. Creating a loving space for just you and your child to dream, believe, and read will be the moments they will talk about the most. These will be the real moments that matter.

Readability level: Make sure that children are reading at their level of comfort. Each page turned should encourage another… Children should have a sense of success when reading and be able to comprehend what they have read.

Talk about books and make it applicable to the real world: One of my favorite books is The Legend of the Valentine. Talk about the challenges and joys we confront as we go through this journey called life. Children love to talk, to share, and to learn. Read to and with your child(-ren). Ask for their opinion about the book. Would they have changed the title? Would they have reacted as the characters did in the book? Would they have written a different ending?

Let them see images that look like them: If you have or work with children of color, let the images they see in books reflect who they are. Let them be proud, hopeful, and secure in their own images. Let them know that the skin they live in is beautiful and adoring.

Have Fun: This is your five minutes of fame! Become the actress or actor you had only dreamed of becoming….Reading to and with your child should be fun. Change your voice as characters are introduced into the story. Sing the song on the page instead of reading it! When describing the place, invoke feelings of wonder, excitement, or doom and gloom if the pages call for it!

In the end, tell your children that reading is a revolutionary act. Tell them that reading defies prejudices and biases. Let your children know that reading is a change agent. Be consistent in your message about reading.

When you really think about it, reading is a constant reminder to our children that we birthed the world, inherited a legacy of great dynasties and great minds, and, every time we pick up a book, our children have an extraordinary opportunity to connect with the greatness that is rightfully theirs.

Thelma Morris-Lindsey is founding director of Earning by Learning of Dallas (EBL), a 13 year old nonprofit created to motivate children to read. EBL is in 64 Dallas ISD elementary schools and currently a part of a Harvard research study. For more information about Earning by Learning, log onto www.eblofdallas.org or www.americaninequalitylab.com or email tlindsey@eblofdallas.org

Earning by Learning • 2904 Floyd Street, Ste. A-1• Dallas, Texas 75241• Phone: 214-442-1620
********************
This is the first in a series, where we will pose the question to folks in the children’s literature/literacy community: How can you inspire children to read?

Now, I pose the question to you: How do you inspire children to read?

–Don

Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane
Written by Carole Boston Weatherford
Illustrated by Sean Qualls
Published by Henry Holt and Company, April 2008

Life can be a rat race, I know. We get so busy we never take the time to stop and listen, taking a chance on missing life’s blessings.

Young John Coltrane, however, didn’t miss his blessings. He listened. He listened to the sounds that ham bones made as they cooked in his Grandma’s pots. He listened to the hiss of steam engines, and to the warbling of birds. He listened to the hymns his mother played on the piano for the church choir. Before John Coltrane became a jazz giant, “he was all ears.”

Written by award-winning author, Carole Boston Weatherford, this picture book biography tunes along like a song. The text is kid-friendly with the young child in mind. It’s easy to read, rhythmic, repetitive. My 6-year-old son could read this book on his own, and fully grasp the story because there’s not a bunch of dates or milestones to remember, things he wouldn’t care about anyway.

Before John Was a Jazz Giant is illustrated by Sean Qualls. And same as his previous books, his artwork pleases. His color pallet and impromptu, painterly style croons. A perfect match for the subject matter.

An author’s note at the end fills in the details.

Other blogs about this book:

A Fuse #8 at School Library Journal

Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

*****************
I picked up this book last week at the Texas Library Association’s conference in Dallas, Texas. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of publishers who were familiar with The Brown Bookshelf and our 28 Days Later initiative. If you have a picture book that you’d like to submit for possible mention here, send me an email and I’ll return it with my mailing address (For the sake of full disclosure, I may donate books to schools or libraries, but I also reserve the right to keep them, since this is an unpaid, volunteer endeavor). Personally, I don’t like the term book review. There may be some formal protocol that I don’t know about, and so to keep things casual, I will post book reports. Anyone can write an informal book report, right?

What to send:
Picture books or very early chapter books, of particular interest to African American children (regardless of the race of the author). I’m looking for books with African American characters (however you choose to define that) or subject matter.

For other types of books — YA novels, middle grade chapters, graphic novels, contact Paula, Varian, Kelly or Carla (Although they, I’m sure, would welcome picture books too.)

– Don

Children’s librarian and author Vaunda Micheaux Nelson was exploring an exhibit of historic rag dolls at New Mexico’s International Museum of Folk Art when inspiration struck. As she perused the collection, which included a few dolls from Underground Railroad hideouts, she is quoted as thinking: “If only these dolls could talk.”

So began Nelson’s journey to use a doll to give voice to the harsh realities of slavery. Her award-winning picture book, Almost to Freedom, beautifully illustrated by Colin Bootman (Carolrhoda, 2003), does this in a powerful way.

Sally, the doll of enslaved child Lindy, witnesses the hardships of the time — picking cotton in oppressive heat, feeling the pain of the lash, bearing the searing ache of loved ones being sold away. When Lindy and her mom escape for freedom along the Underground Railroad, Sally comes with them.  One night, the family — reunited with Lindy’s father – has to flee a safe house to escape slave catchers and Sally is accidentally left behind. The doll, lonely at first, brings the story full circle as she becomes the fabric of hope for another child.

Almost to Freedom is a rich story. Adapted into a play for St. Paul, Minnesota’s SteppingStone Theater, Nelson’s book continues to move children and adults. Author of several books for young readers, including Juneteenth (Millbrook Press, 2006), Possibles (Putnam, 1997), Beyond Mayfield (Putnam, 1999) and Mayfield Crossing (Putnam, 2002), Nelson’s latest offering is Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal (Carolrhoda), illustrated by Tyrone Geter. It debuts November 2008.

2004 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book

“A compelling story told from the point of view of an enslaved child’s beloved rag doll. Made for young Lindy by her mama, Miz Rachel, the hand-stitched toy is the girl’s most prized possession. She tells her, “Your name be Sally. We gonna be best friends.” When the child’s father is sold and Lindy is beaten for asking Massa’s son how to spell her name, the horrid conditions of the cotton plantation become intolerable. One night Miz Rachel wakes Lindy and they run for their lives. They are reunited with Mr. Henry and the fugitive family heads North to freedom. They are given shelter at a station on the Underground Railroad, but must flee from slave catchers in the middle of the night. In the frantic scramble, Sally is left behind. The doll is lonely for her friend and worries for the safety of Lindy and her folks. When another child and her mother are sheltered in the basement, the doll joins her new best friend on her trip to Freedom. This accessible story is told in language that is within the experience of a young child and makes its impact without frightening or overwhelming readers. It is ultimately a story of hope and resilience, love and friendship. The evocative oil paintings are expertly rendered and effectively convey the powerful emotions of the tale. A fine addition to most collections.”

– School Library Journal

“Lindy’s beloved rag doll, Sally, tells how Lindy’s family escapes on the Underground Railroad to find freedom “in a place called North.” The doll’s narrative and Bootman’s dark, dramatic paintings bring close the child’s daily experience: the cruel separation and physical punishment, and then the adventure of running away and hiding. At times it’s hard to distinguish Sally from Lindy–why not just let the child tell the story herself? But then there’s an anguished twist in the plot: the child and her doll are separated. Lindy gets away, but in the turmoil she leaves her doll behind. When another escaping child finds Sally and hugs her to herself, the story comes full circle. That’s a powerful way to express the sorrow of loving families torn apart, and Bootman’s stirring portraits, many of them set at night, in rich shades of purple and brown, show that the small rag doll bears witness to historical events of cruelty and courage.”

– Booklist

The number of African American Children’s Book authors published in 2007 has declined nearly 12% since 2006!

The Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) at the University of Wisconsin, Madison has tracked children’s books by and about people of color in the US since 1994. Its study of African American children’s book authors goes back further to 1985 (based on the books received by the CCBC). Recently the CCBC released the 2007 stats - an estimated 77 children’s books by African American authors were published in 2007 out of an estimated 5,000 children’s books published!

Seventy-seven Black Children’s Book Authors - only? Indeed all kid lit authors of color are the same or down in 2007, according to the CCBC:

• 42 Latino Children’s Book Authors in 2007, just as 2006
• 56 Asian American Children’s Book Authors in 2007, down from 72 in 2006
• 6 American Indian Children’s Book Authors in 2007, down from 14 in 2006

What’s happening? Is there anyone talking about this decline in publishing circles or on the Internet? Have you read these CCBC statistics in the news? Did the CCBC send out a press release on these stats? Are authors of color just producing less? Or, does it just not matter?

There are several self-published children’s book authors. Heck, I’m one! As part of the marketing of my book, Martha Ann’s Quilt for Queen Victoria, I donated a copy to the CCBC to ensure that I was counted… and to ensure that an organization that promotes and studies children’s literature has my book in its catalog for future readers. Ensuring that institutions that teach children’s literature have your book, especially books about kids of color, in their libraries is important.

Is there a sense that the number of African American children’s book authors published in 2008 will increase? What say you?

_____________________

Kyra Hicks is the author of Martha Ann’s Quilt for Queen Victoria. For more information pertaining to literature of particular interest to Black children, see her blog.

I just discovered an amazing website, an invaluable education tool: Maaping the African American Past (MAAP). This valuable resource was produced by the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning (CCNMTL) in partnership with Columbia University’s Teachers College and Creative Curriculum Initiatives (CCI), to enhance the appreciation and study of significant sites and moments in the history of African Americans in New York from the early 17th-century through the recent past.

MAAP is not only a great tool for teachers and librarians, but for authors and illustrators in search of primary sources for their works. I will certainly use this site myself!

MAAP also offers lesson plans geared towards 8th through 12th grade students. African American history is a required component of the New York State social studies curriculum in 4th, 8th, and 11th grades. MAAP lessons, developed at Teachers College, Columbia University, help teachers at all levels engage content on this website through stories about building community, resisting slavery, and contributing to New York City’s development.

If maps and lesson plans aren’t cool enough, MAAP also offers podcasts of all locations on the website. Listen to a Professor of English at Columbia University discuss Duke Ellington. An architect who designed the African Burial Ground Memorial discusses the feelings he hoped to invoke in those who visit the memorial.

Go check it out, there’s so much more. Only thing is, we need a site like this for every major city!

By the way, I learned about MAPP through Amy Bowllan’s blog, another valuable resource at the School Library Journal site. While I enjoy reading Elizabeth Bird (Fuse #8), Marc Aronson, and others, sometimes I’ve overlooked the god-mother who started it all over there. If you didn’t know, Amy Bowllan pioneered the SLJ blog back in 2005, and for a couple of years, ran the show by herself.

Amy is currently the Director of Communications and Educational Technology at The Hewitt School in Manhattan, where she teaches Broadcast Journalism, and Technology, to students and teachers.

Go check her out, too!

Inspired by the author’s childhood, this tale of a girl longing for a book to call her own warms hearts with its vivid language and beautiful acrylic portraits. In The Hard-Times Jar (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2003), written by Ethel Footman Smothers and illustrated by John Holyfield, Emma, the daughter of migrant farm workers, makes up stories and records them on brown paper-bag pages. She hopes to one day save enough from picking applies to purchase a store-bought book. Plans change when she’s sent to school for the first time where she’s introduced to literary wonders — and temptations. The sweet resolution shows Emma that rules must be followed, but sometimes, through a mother’s special understanding, dreams can come true.

Smothers is also the author of picture book, Auntee Edna (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2001), and middle-grade novels,  Down in the Piney Woods (Knopf, 1992) and Moriah’s Pond (Knopf, 1994).

The Buzz on The Hard-Times Jar:

 2003 Chapman Award for Best Classroom Read-Alouds

IRA Notable Books for a Global Society

NCSS-CBC Notable Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies

“Smothers’s tale movingly attests to the rewards of hard work, honesty and of having dreams.”

- Starred Review, Publishers Weekly

 ”When Emma’s migrant family moves from Florida to Pennsylvania for apple picking, she finds herself the only “chocolate-brown” child in her new third-grade classroom. Her initial discomfort is mitigated by the kindness of her teacher and the pleasure of reading books in the classroom library. After Emma owns up to breaking a rule, she receives an unexpected reward. Longer than most picture-book texts, the story provides a convincing portrayal of Emma’s firm grounding within a loving family as well as her powerful affinity for books and stories. In his first picture book, Holyfield contributes an excellent series of graceful, full-page illustrations. With strong composition and sensitive body language, the paintings will draw viewers right into Emma’s world. An inviting picture book with read-aloud potential.”

– Booklist

“Based on the author’s childhood, this inspirational story stands as a tribute to a strong family facing hard times. Emma and her family are migrant workers who follow the crops to make a living. Passionate about books, the girl longs for a store-bought volume, but knows that the few coins her mother saves in a jar are for no-money days. Arriving in Pennsylvania, Emma, her parents, and younger siblings pick apples together, but then Mama tells her that she is to attend school now that she is eight. Nervous because she is the only “chocolate-brown” child in the class, which could not have happened in her still-segregated Florida home, Emma soon discovers the riches of the school library. Desperate to read, she takes two volumes home for the weekend, against the rules. A kind teacher and a firm but understanding mother lead to a happy ending. Filled with descriptive language, the text flows smoothly and it clearly describes Emma’s enthusiasm and fears. The richly textured browns, yellows, and greens of the paintings evoke a warm, orderly, and nonthreatening environment, reinforced by the mother’s long arms reaching out and embracing her children.”

– School Library Journal