Parents and Caregivers: Use This Tool to Build a More Diverse Home Book Collection

June 16, 2021 Jalissa Leave a comment

We are so excited to announce that we have adapted our beloved Classroom Library Questionnaire into a tool for families and caregivers! Our newly launched Home Library Questionnaire is now available for free to download.

The Home Library Questionnaire will help you:

Reflect on your home library
Broaden the types of books you read with your children
Diversify your child’s independent reading and advocate for more inclusivity in school booklists
Choose books that are inclusive of all people, backgrounds, and cultures

Here are some additional tips about reading with your child and making the most out of your reading experience:

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Educator Resources

Watch the Webinar: Best Practices for English Learners in PreK

June 10, 2021 Jalissa Leave a comment

Thank you to everyone who joined us for last week’s webinar, “Best Practices for English Learners in Prekindergarten” with experts Dr. Patricia Garcia-Arena, Principal Researcher, and Dr. Rebecca Bergey, Senior Researcher, at the Center for English Learners at the American Institutes for Research. You can access the webinar below, or here on Youtube.

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Educator Resources, Guest Blogger Post

Diverse Texts Aren’t Just for Elementary School: Building Inclusive Curricula for Middle and High School

June 8, 2021 Jalissa Leave a comment

In this guest post, Paul Bambrick-Santoyo and Stephen Chiger, co-authors of Love and Literacy: A Practical Guide for Grades 5-12 to Finding the Magic in Literature, share different ways that high school educators can approach text selection and build inclusive curricula.

Here’s a thought experiment: Consider the two high school book lists below. Which one would you prefer for a child you love?

All of the texts above are powerful, and all could make for fruitful study. But readers of this blog won’t likely need to be convinced of the advantages of list 2. A great curriculum makes space for more than one voice; it invites students to see themselves and each other through new eyes.

Why, then, do so many middle and high schools still look more like reading list 1?

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Book Lists by Topic, Summer

2021 Diverse Summer Reading Books for Grades 6-8

June 7, 2021 Jalissa Leave a comment

Want to freshen up your Summer Reading list, but not sure where to begin? Kick off summer with our fun, colorful, and printable Diverse Summer Reading List that will get all kids engaged in reading! Our list includes both fiction and nonfiction, bilingual Spanish/English titles, and a diverse range of cultures—in other words, the right book for every reader!

In this blog post, we’ve rounded up books from our summer reading book list for grades 6-8. You can find more of our 2021 summer reading titles in our Diverse Summer Reading List and the corresponding book collection.

Keep reading for some of our favorite entertaining Lee & Low picks!

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Activities and Events, Book News, Diversity, New Releases

Free Upcoming Webinar: Lee & Low Books 2021 Showcase

June 1, 2021 Jalissa Leave a comment

Join Lee & Low Books editors for a showcase of our 2021 books! Whether you’re a parent, teacher, librarian, or bookseller, this webinar will help you discover great new books to diversify your shelves. Find newly released titles that you won’t want to miss, and get a sneak peek at our 2022 releases. This one-hour webinar will include picture books, middle grade, and young adult titles.

Date: Tuesday, June 15, 2021
Time: 4:00 PM ET/1:00 PM PT
How to Join: You can register here.

Registration is free, but space is limited so register today! Even if you can’t attend live, you can still register and we will send a recording of the webinar to all registrants after the webinar takes place.

We hope to see you there! If you have any questions or particular topics you would like to see covered, feel free to leave them in the comments.

Activities and Events, Educator Resources

Upcoming Webinar: Best Practices for English Learners in PreK

May 27, 2021 Jalissa Leave a comment

Join our upcoming webinar “Best Practices for English Learners in PreK” on Thursday, June 3rd at 3:00 PM ET.

In this conversation with two experts from the American Institutes of Research (AIR), we will explore best practices for English Learners in PreK as well as a preview of the new curriculum, COLLTS, from The Center for English Learners at AIR. Our expert panelists are Dr. Patricia García-Arena, Principal Researcher, and Rebecca Bergey, Senior Researcher.

Attendees will come away with ready-to-implement strategies for teaching our youngest students. Whether you are a teacher, administrator, professor of early childhood education, or parent, please join us for this incredibly timely and essential conversation!

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Book News, Educator Resources, ELL/ESL and Bilingual Books

Introducing COLLTS, a New PreK Dual Language Curriculum from the American Institutes for Research

May 26, 2021 Jalissa Leave a comment

The Center for English Learners at the American Institutes for Research (AIR) released its newest curriculum for Preschool learners!

Cultivating Oral Language and Literacy Talents in Students (COLLTS) is an early childhood curriculum available exclusively from Bebop Books, an imprint of Lee & Low Books. Through the use of interactive reading with outstanding children’s literature and nonfiction, this NEW PreK curriculum targets:

foundational and pre-reading skills
oral language proficiency
background and conceptual knowledge

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Book Lists by Topic, Summer

2021 Diverse Summer Reading Books for Grades 3-5

May 24, 2021 Jalissa 1 Comment

In this blog post, we’ve rounded up books from our summer reading book list for grades 3-5. You can find more of our 2021 summer reading titles in our Diverse Summer Reading List and the corresponding book collection.

Keep reading for some of our favorite entertaining Lee & Low picks!

Continue reading →

New Voices/New Visions Award

Submissions Now Open for Our New Voices and New Visions Award Writing Contests

May 20, 2021 Jalissa 1 Comment

Submissions for our twenty-second annual New Voices Award and our ninth annual New Visions Award are now open! Do you or someone you know write for young readers? Are you a writer of color or Indigenous/Native writer hoping to break in to the publishing industry for the first time? Don’t miss this terrific opportunity to have your work considered for publication by Lee & Low Books.

The New Voices Award and the New Visions Award encourage writers of color and Indigenous/Native writers to submit their work to Lee & Low Books, a publisher that takes pride in nurturing new talent. Winners of each award receive a $2,000 cash prize and a first time publishing contract with Lee & Low Books.

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Awards, New Voices/New Visions Award

Lee & Low Books Announces the 2021 New Visions Award Winner and Honor

May 19, 2021 Jalissa 1 Comment

New York, NY—Tu Books, an imprint of Lee & Low Books, is thrilled to announce the results of its eighth annual New Visions Award writing contest. Established to increase the number of authors of color writing for children and teens, the New Visions Award is given to a middle grade or young adult manuscript by a new author of color or Indigenous/Native author. Winners receive a cash prize and publishing contract with Lee & Low Books. This year, Tiffany Golden has won the New Visions Award for her manuscript, Rikki and Rai: The Everyday and Sometimes Epic Adventures of the Tucker Sisters. The honor goes to Ana Rodriguez Ellickson for Roman the Renegade. Continue reading →

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Exploring Children's Books Through the Lens of Diversity