Addressing Diversity

Lester, Julius. (2005). Let's Talk About Race. (1st ed.). Harper Collins. Amistad.

I had mentioned this book earlier on in my blog. I feel that when it comes to addressing diversity, this book would be my pick of the picture books that would represent this strong topic. In my opinion, this is one of the best books that children would easily understand. Julius Lester does an excellent job of breaking down diversity and the illustrations, while abstract, are very direct and to the point. This is a book that every elementary library media center should include in their collection and for these very reasons.





Masoff, Joy. (2006). We Are All Americans: Understanding diversity. Five Ponds Press. Waccabuc, NY.






This book, in my opinion, would be an excellent choice for a middle school and/or high school library media center. It discusses how we came to be true Americans through diversity. It discusses the various cultures including foods, music, games and holidays that became some of our favorites. I feel that this book is easy for students to read and understand. It also helps the reader to look at others in a different way by understanding the true roots of diversity in America.

Awards for Children's Books Published in Other Countries

The following are a few of the Children's Book Awards Published in Other Countries:

Children's Africana Book Awards in Africa.

BolognaRagazzi Award--various countries.

Governor General's Literature for Children Award for Writing--Canada.

Carnegie Medal--Great Britian.

Kate Greenaway Medal--Great Britian.

New Horizons--countries of Latin America, Asia and Africa.




The following books are available in the United States as well as other countries:

Alalou, A. & Alalou, E. (2008). The Butter Man. Charlesbridge Publishing. Watertown, MA.




This book is about a little girl named Nora who is hungry. She listens to her father, Baba tell her a story while he fixes a Moroccan dish of couscous, meat,and vegetables. As she waits and listens Baba knows what it really like to starve. This is a powerful book about famine and hunger and the Moroccan culture.



Mortenson, Greg. (2009). Listen to the Wind. 1st. ed. Dial. New York, NY.



This is a wonderful book and a children's version to the "Three Cups of Tea" written by the author. This story is about one man's plight to build a school for children in Pakistan who have no other options available. The illustrations are abolutely amazing and colorful. They tell a story in themselves. This is a book that I would highly recommend.

Nivola, Claire A. (2008). Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathia. Farra,Straus, and Giroux. New York, NY.




This picture books biography is based on one woman's achievements in environmental and human rights. She was awared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her efforts. In this book, she encourages the reader through the beautiful illustrations and her heartfelt love for the land to become more involved in their environment. Planting trees or some other act to help the earth is portrayed in her message to the reader.

The above images are available from amazon.com.

Differences between Caldecott and Newberry Awards

The Randolph Caldecott Medal is awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. The book must be published in English and in the United States. The Honor Books can also be named which are also distinguished.

The John Newbery Medal is awarded annually to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. These must also be published in English in the United States with Honor Books named as well. Basically, the main difference between Newbery and Caldecott is that Newbery books are based on literature such as chapter books for older children, whereas, Caldecott books are picture books for younger children. Both are well distinguished in their criteria.

Children's Books Made into Feature Films

Val Allsburg, Chris. (1985). "The Polar Express." Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston.

This is one of my most favorit children's books made into a movie. The book itself won the Caldecott Medal and tells a story of a boy believing in Christmas. Furthermore, he still believes, even in his old age, the magic of Christmas. The story takes place on a magical train ride to the North Pole.

The movie, on the other hand, exaggerates this story with added adventure that takes place on this roller coster of a train ride. The storyline, itself, is basically the same as the book with the exception that the boy questions the existence of Santa Claus. The 3D animation in the movie is unremarkable and the details of the setting brings this storybook to life. My 4 year old loves this books as well as the movie. In fact, this was the first movie that he actually sat through and watched at 18 months old. He loved it so much that he would watch it at least two times a day.

Image available from amazon.com







Evans, Richard P. (1993)."The Christmas Box." Simon & Schuster, New York, NY.

"The Christmas Box," is a wonderful story of love and inspiration. I found myself relating to the writer. Sometimes we are too involved in our lives and busy careers to really see what is most important. As I began reading the story, I couldn't put it down. I finished it that same day and found myself laughing and crying along with the story. I would highly recommend this book for anyone. The movie was good but not as good as the book. The movie stars Richard Thomas and is very heartwarming. This story was made into a Hallmark movie. I have always felt that a good book is much better than any movie could ever portray.

Image available from www.amazon.com





White, E.B. (1952). Harper Collins, New York, NY.

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This is a story of a little girl named Fern who loved a pig named Wilbur. Wilbur was a special pig who soon makes friends with Charlotte the spider who lives in the barn with Wilbur. This is a magical story of childhood on the farm. The book is a wonderful story made into a great movie as well. The movie with Dakota Fannin is probably my favorite of these movies.

Image available from google.com at google images

Coretta Scott King Award

Giovanni, Nikki. (2005). Rosa. (1st. ed.). Henry Holt and Co. New York, N.Y.

Rosa, also a Caldecott Honor book, is a short biography of one of the bravest civil rights activist who ever lived. I loved Rosa. This book left me wanting to find out more about Mrs. Rosa Parks. I've read several stories about the civil rights movement. Yet, this book helped me to relate to how it feels to do a hard day's work and how I would feel if this had happened to me. I learned things about Mrs. Parks that I did not know before.

This book is full of history and information. The illustrations were rich and powerful. The flat geometric shapes helped to push the three dimensional figures and objects foward and emphasize their importance within the story.

Image retreived from www.amazon.com on October 2, 2009.

Author, Yoshiko Uchida

Uchida, Yoshiko. (1975). The Birthday Visitor. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, N.Y.



When I first began to read this book, I wasn't sure that I would like it. I tried to imagine myself as a child reading this book and how I could relate to the story. The story revolves around a little girl and her birthday and how she doesn't want the visitor to spoil it. What I like about the story is that it helps young readers to understand that we shouldn't stereotype people as we sometimes do. Emi had the minister stereotyped as boring and dull when, in fact, he was just the opposite. Upon his arrival is when this story actually starts to become interesting.



Uchida has written similar stories with her character, "Sumi" who is a little girl in Japan. Uchida was also very interested in the problems of the Japanese-American and some of her books, Journey to Topaz and Samurai of Gold Hill reflect this concern.

Author, Laurence Yep

Yep, Laurence. (1995). Hiroshima. Scholastic. New York, N.Y.

Dedicated to the memory of Yoshiko Uchida, this heartwrenching story is one that will put chills up and down your spine. It tells the story of the children that witnessed this horrific event in history. A child, Sachi, who is terribly burnt loses not only her sister but also her father. The sufferings that these poor people had to endure is like a horrid nightmare. This is a wonderful book and well worth the time to read.

Image available at www.amazon.com. Retreived on October 1, 2009.

Other books by Yep include: The Ghost Fox, selected as a Children's Book of the Year by Child Study Children's Book Committee, and two Newbery Honor Books, Dragon's Gate and Dragon Wings.

Jumpstart

Jumpstart

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Author, Julius Lester

Lester, Julius. (2005). Let's Talk About Race. (1st ed.). Harper Collins. Amistad.

We've all heard that we are all the same underneath no matter what color our skin is. Yet, Julius Lester creates a version of this that is like no other. In this book, Lester helps the reader to actually see that we are all the same. The colorful illustrations, yet abstract, brings his story to life. I loved this book and I will include this as a part of my African American unit that I do each year with my students. It is one that I would recommend that every teacher include in their unit of studies. His story is so clever and unique that I would definitely read other books from this author.

Image retreived from www.amazon.com on September 25, 2009.

Other books that Lester has written include: And all our wounds forgiven, From slave ship to freedom road, Guardian, John Henry, and Long journey home: Stories from Black history are just a few of his many books.

Jerry Pinkney--Author and Illustrator

Pinkney, Gloria J. (1992). Back Home. (1st. ed.) Dial Books. New York, NY.

This book written by Gloria Jean Pinkney was illustrated by husband, Jerry Pinkney. Jerry's illustrations are remarkable. Each page is an artwork in itself. His use of watercolors and other media brings his books to life. As I read through the pages of this book, I found myself looking in detail at each illustration. Being an artist and teacher, illustrations are as just important as the words of the story.

Image found at http://www.amazon.com/. Retreived on September 25, 2009.

Other books that Jerry Pinkney has illustrated include:

The Little Red Hen, More Tales of Uncle Renus, retold by Julius Lester, Noah's Ark which was also written by Pinkney and mentioned in this blog, The Talking Eggs by Rober San Souci, and The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoay to mention a few.

John Newbery Awards

Perkins, Lynne R. (2005). Criss Cross. Harper Collins. New York, N.Y.

This Newberry Medal book takes me back to those carefree but yet painful teenage years. I remember how awkward these years were and Perkins reminds us of those little things that we as teenagers thought were the end of the world. Searching for love, the meaning of life, and who they are, brings these friends in the book together. This is an excellent book for preteen and teen girls.

Schlitz, Laura Amy (2007). Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Tales from a medieval village. Candlewick

Press. Cambridge, Ma.

This was a very interesting book. I wasn't sure that I would like it because of the timeperiod. Needless to say, I was reluctant to check it out. Yet, I was glad that I did. I found this book to be one of the best reading materials in this blog. It was written by a school librarian for one of her classes that was studying the Middle Ages. It contains 22 skits/stories from children of that time and place. These short stories were very informative as well as interesting. To imagine things from a child's perspective during this time period was sad and harsh. They faced many hardships and were forced to grow up at an early age. To say the least, they had no childhood. Yet, the author writes their stories in somewhat humorous tones like the story of Mariot and Maud. Some of the stories of the children are directly related to each other like Mogg and Jack. One of my personal favorites is Alice the Shepherdess. This brought back childhood memories of when my cat was giving birth and was unable to continuing with her labor and I had to help her with the delivery.

Image available from http://www.amazon.com/. Retreived on September 25, 2009.

Caldecott Awards

This Caldecott Honor book is an interesting book that is clever and funny. This book was very different. As I began to read it, I found myself laughing along with my four year old son. We both fell in love with this funny pigeon who was alway trying to drive the bus.




Williams, M. (2003). Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Hyperion Books for Children. New York, NY.

Image from http://www.amazon.com/. Retreived on September 25, 2009







This is a very colorfully illustrated picture book that illustrates a similar story of the very first hot air balloon ride. This Caldecott Honor book gives factual information that I never knew about. This story uses farm animals such as the rooster, the duck, and the sheep for this tale that young readers everywhere can enjoy.


Priceman, Marjorie. (2005). Hot Air: the (mostly) true story of the first hot-air balloon ride. Simon & Schuster, New York, NY.



Image retreived from http://www.amazon.com/ September 25, 2009.




This Caldecott Honor book was written and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. This illustrations are very beautifuly and detailed as is the story of "Noah's Ark." Even if there were no words, the pictures themselves could tell us the story. The story, itself, was simple, yet, informative. I never actually thought about what it would have looked like under the water, but Pinkney illustrates what the world below might have looked like under the ark. The retelling of this story and his illustrations combined helps to give this age old story new life.


Pinkney, Jerry. Noah's Ark. SeaStar Books, New York, NY.


Image from http://www.amazon.com/. Retreived on September 25, 2009.





This is a Caldecott Honor book that is a very fun and imaginative story about a giant panda bear who tells stories that are aimed at helping us to reexamine ourselves. The title, "Zen Shorts" is actually short meditations. The short stories witht he book come from Zen Buddhist literature. Full of excitement and laced with culture, "Zen Shorts" offers a different view on the lessons and concepts we try to learn from everyday. When I first chose this book, I wasn't sure that I would like it. However, after discovering what it was about, I found myself enjoying the stories very much. It was different and very informative.

Muth, Jon J. (2005). Zen Shorts. Scholastic Press. New York, NY.


Image retreived from http://www.amazon.com/ on September 24, 2009.








This is a very fun story about a kitten's struggle to get a bowl of milk. It was interesting and funny to read about this poor kitten's adventure. In addition, the black and white illustrations created a nice contrast. My young son loves this book and is now one of his favorite books that we often check out at our local library.




Image found at http://www.amazon.com/. Retreived on September 24, 2009.


Henkes, Kevin. (2004). Kitten's First Full Moon. (1st. ed.) Greenwillow Books.





This is a wonderful children's picture book. It is simple, easy to read book that takes me back to my own childhood. It is fun and imaginative. The black and white illustrations created with a scratching technique gives notice to the warm, yellow objects discussed in the story. I read this to my four year old son and he loved it. This is definitely a book that we will read again and again.

















Swanson, Susan M. (2008). The House in the Night. HoughtonMifflin Co., Boston.

Image from http://www.amazon.com/ retreived on September 24, 2009.