Category: General

“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. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/9hM1rU-Wr18&hl=en]

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 [ Read the full article… ]

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 [ Read the full article… ]

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 [ Read the full article… ]

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 [ Read the full article… ]

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 [ Read the full article… ]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/fkmt02VhKdA&hl=en] 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 [ Read the full article… ]

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. [ Read the full article… ]