The Gift of Hope: Guadalupe Garcia McCall on first books

ggm-signingguest bloggerOur recent grant from First Book inspired us to ask our authors about the crucial role multicultural books play in children’s lives. Guest blogger, author/poet Guadalupe Garcia McCall, reveals how the mission of First Book, to get low-income children their very first book, is a reality that many children face, including herself when she was growing up. 

First Book’s mission to make books accessible to low-income families is very close to my heart. It fills me with joy to hear that such an organization exists. Books are more than important, they fill a basic need in low-income communities—the need to connect to the world. Books for children of poverty represent hope.

As a young girl, I loved books. Books were my friends. They took me places I knew I would never be able to visit because we were poor. After my mother passed away, my father couldn’t leave town to work anymore, so he had to settle for working in Eagle Pass. He did odd jobs, put in a toilet for a friend and got a few bucks. Sometimes he got lucky and someone needed him to take out the flooring on their mobile home and put in a new one; then he had enough money to pay the bills for the month and buy a few groceries. We didn’t have money for anything other than food and bills.

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Shana Mlawski’s Blog Tour: Being a writer/reviewer, writing about rape, & more

To celebrate the release of her book Hammer of Witches, author Shana Mlawski is doing a blog tour from today until May 16!

Hammer of Witches cover

For all you Shana groupies out there, her schedule is below. Whether or not you’ve picked up Hammer of Witches yet, stop by the following blogs for some thoughtful conversation:

Tuesday, May 7: The Reading Zone – Shana on Being a Reviewer and Being Reviewed – Read her guest post here.

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Unpacking the Common Core Standards, Part 2: Thinking Horizontally

Jaclyn DeForgeJaclyn DeForge, our Resident Literacy Expert, began her career teaching first and second grade in the South Bronx, and went on to become a literacy coach and earn her Masters of Science in Teaching. In her column she offers teaching and literacy tips for educators.  

Last week, I talked about the importance of looking at the standards horizontally as well as vertically, and over the next few weeks, I’m going to do just that as I walk you through what effective close reading questioning can look like, unpacking one strand at a time using texts of varying complexities.  Next up:

Reading Standards for Literature K-3, Craft and Structure, Strand 6

Unpacking the Common Core Standards

In Kindergarten, the strand reads:  With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.

Example text:  Elizabeti’s Doll by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen and illustrated by Christy Hale

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8 Helpful Links for Aspiring Picture Book Authors

National Picture Book Writing Week

Happy Friday, friends! Perhaps some of you have seen that this week (May 1-7) began NaPiBoWriWee, or National Picture Book Writing Week. Author Paula Yoo started NaPiBoWriWee back in 2009 to celebrate the release of her picture book Shining Star:

I thought it would be fun to challenge myself to write 7 picture books in 7 days. I had been procrastinating writing another new picture book draft for the longest time. So I thought, “What if I force myself to try and write 7 different picture book manuscripts in one week?” Sure, the drafts would be sloppy rough drafts. But at least I’d have 7 FINISHED drafts to choose from when it came to serious revisions and possible submission to my book agent.

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Book-Hungry Hands: A guest post by Pat Mora

Pat MoraOur recent grant from First Book prompted us to ask our authors to reflect on why diverse books are important. Guest blogger, Guest bloggerauthor/poet Pat Mora, talks about witnessing the special connection Spanish-speaking children make with books that include their culture and language.

“Once upon a time . . .” A magic phrase that can change our breathing. As far as we know, humans are the world’s story-telling creatures. Let’s think about the unique period in the lives of children when they begin to savor that phrase, when in fresh ways little ones are experiencing their surroundings and deciding where they fit.

For many youngsters, media is their main source of information and entertainment. Children lucky enough to become readers discover that they can read those once-upon-a-time words to themselves—and others. They discover the pleasure and power of words. Since words and books are powerful, how can we doubt that the images of children, families, and cultures in their books have a subtle and significant impact on young readers and their families? Who merits having their stories shared and who doesn’t? How does it feel not to see people like you between the covers of beautiful books? Are all our books created and valued equally?I wish you could see the smiles of Spanish-speaking children when, in reading one of my books to them, I say a word in Spanish.

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Books for children with autism: Jay and Ben

Katharine Swanson photoGuest bloggerIn this guest post by special education teacher and Jay and Ben co-author Katharine Swanson, she explains how the book can be used as a tool when reading with children with autism.

During Autism Awareness Month (and all year round), teachers and parents alike think about the importance of educating their child with autism in the most effective way.  The most effective method of instruction varies from student to student and is as wide as the spectrum itself.  However, one universal method revolves around written words being broken down into picture symbols to represent words and sentences.

In my experience in the classroom, students benefit from texts and questions being broken down into pictures to make them more visual and concrete.  People with autism tend to think in visual, concrete ways.  The added visual element enhances their comprehension of the material being presented to them. Therein lies the main benefit of a book like Jay and Ben.  The story is simple and already broken down into manipulative picture symbols to help students of all levels comprehend.  The picture symbols with the book are removable and can be manipulated as needed for different students.

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Unpacking the Common Core Standards, Part 1: Thinking Horizontally

Jaclyn DeForgeJaclyn DeForge, our Resident Literacy Expert, began her career teaching first and second grade in the South Bronx, and went on to become a literacy coach and earn her Masters of Science in Teaching. In her column she offers teaching and literacy tips for educators.  

For many educators across the country, this has been our first full year of adapting our instruction to meet the rigor of the new Common Core standards.  One of the best pieces of advice I’ve received lately regarding planning under the new standards is a simple concept that can be a bit challenging to apply:  think horizontally.

It’s so easy to become fixated on the standards *only* for the grade we’re teaching, but thinking horizontally through the strands allows for so much room for "It's so easy to become fixated on the standards only for the grade we're teaching, but thinking horizontally through the strands allows for so much room for differentiation."differentiation.  Most students have only had the benefit of one year of instruction under the new standards, and may not have yet mastered the skills that the Common Core envisions as prerequisites.  For example, the Common Core is written as if this year’s third grader has been receiving Common Core-level instruction since Kindergarten and has mastered all the standards leading up to third grade.  Chances are, this hypothetical third grader probably hasn’t, and may need further instruction around some of the skills and strategies found in the standards. An effective way to fill in the gaps is to work horizontally through the standards using increasingly complex text.

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Poetry Friday: Tony Medina on Pablo Neruda’s “To Wash a Child”

Tony MedinaApril is National Poetry Month, and we’re celebrating by asking some of our own Lee & Low poets to share their favorite poems with us. Today, poet and Guest BloggerHoward University Professor Tony Medina (I and I Bob Marley, Love to Langston, DeShawn Days) shares:

A poem I keep going back to—and one I frequently share with my students—is Pablo Neruda’s “To Wash a Child.” It is the ultimate ode to what Neruda refers to as “the oldest love on the earth.” The poem is rich in nuance and specificity, bringing the seemingly mundane, daily task of bathing a child to such a heightened act of beauty, frustration and mischief.

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Children’s Book Press Titles Back In Print

Children's Book Press logoMany of you were fans of Children’s Book Press (CBP), an award-winning multicultural children’s publisher, long before it was acquired last year by Lee & Low Books. If you’ve been wondering which of your favorite titles have made it back to print under our new CBP imprint, I present you with our shiny new 2013 Children’s Book Press catalog:

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