April 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 Marilyn 
Singer (A Full Moon is Rising) shares:
One of my favorite poems is by the late Karla Kuskin: “Write About a Radish…,” which begins:
In light of our recent grant from First Book we decided to ask our authors to reflect on the idea of receiving one’s very first book. Guest blogger, author Joseph Bruchac talks about the influence books have had on his life and the continued importance of books in the lives of children today.
What does a book mean to a child? A book all his or her own? I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have books. I was raised by my grandparents in a house full of books that belonged to my grandmother. I loved to pull the books off the shelves and look through them, even when I didn’t understand most of the words.
But what meant the most to me was having my own books. It wasn’t easy to get books when I was a child. This was long before Borders, Barnes & Noble, and ordering books online. We lived in a small rural town, far from the nearest bookstore. One of the most exciting things for me was when my grandmother drove me to Glens Falls, twenty miles away, where there was a bookstore with a small children’s section. For the two dollars saved from my monthly allowance, I could buy a book—usually about nature—such as one of those in the Old Mother West Wind series by Thornton W. Burgess. All the way home I’d sit in the back of our old blue Plymouth, clutching that new book, eager to open its pages and be lost in the world it created for me.
Jaclyn 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. This is the fourth in a series of posts on thematic text sets.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been sharing some examples of thematic text sets, or groups of books that cover one topic and span multiple genres and multiple reading levels. Many of the coaches and administrators I’ve met with have been really excited by the prospect of planning this way, but have been (understandably) a bit overwhelmed, too.
April 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 anthologist Lee Bennett Hopkins shares:
A favorite poem of mine to read aloud is “Amazing Face” by Rebecca Kai Dotlich, the opening verse of my collection, Amazing Faces. I love this poem because it brings self-esteem to newborn children, to youth, to people of all ages. In short, this poem is ‘amazing’!
[from the press release]
New York, NY—April 11, 2013—Tu Books, the science fiction, fantasy, and mystery imprint of respected multicultural children’s publisher LEE & LOW BOOKS, is thrilled to announce that author Valynne Maetani has won its first annual New Visions Award for her young adult mystery novel, Remnants of the Rising Sun.
The New Visions writing contest was established to encourage new talent and to offer authors of color a chance to break into a tough and predominantly white market. The award honors a fantasy, science fiction, or mystery novel for young readers by an author of color who has not previously published a novel for that age group.
Seems like spring is finally here and what better way to celebrate the warm weather than with new spring releases?
Today is the release day of two new novels from our science fiction and fantasy imprint, Tu Books: Awakening, the highly anticipated second book in Karen Sandler’s Tankborn series, and Hammer of Witches, a historical fantasy adventure featuring magic, monsters, and Columbus’s journey to the New World.
Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day and, as Marcia Vaughan noted in her guest post last week, books can be a good way to introduce young students to a very difficult topic. Today, with permission, we’re cross-posting educator Keith Schoch’s excellent annotated list of recommended picture books about the Holocaust, originally posted on March 3, 2013 at Teach With Picture Books:
[scribd id=134679037 key=key-miro6gaud4jopvjdmfc mode=scroll]
Picture books included in the above annotated book list:
Happy National Poetry Month! Today we’re celebrating by looking at one of my favorite forms: haiku. Just a few lines, less than 20 syllables, haiku often appear easy because they’re so short. But, as anyone who has tried to write a picture book can tell you, often the shortest forms are the most difficult!
Haiku (the plural of which is also haiku) originated in Japan. They are short poems that are traditionally 17 syllables, often in three lines. In his afterward to Cool Melons- Turn to Frogs!, Lee & Low’s picture book biography of Japanese haiku master Issa, author Matthew Gollub explains more about what makes a haiku a haiku:
Japanese poets [wrote] haiku for centuries. Traditional haiku describe a single moment in nature, something that the poet observes or discovers. As such, a haiku can refresh or enlighten us by calling to mind life’s passing details.
Holocaust Remembrance Day is next Monday, so we’ve asked Marcia Vaughan, author of Irena’s Jars of Secrets, to share her thoughts on talking to children about the Holocaust:
I first learned of Irena Sendler while watching the Today Show one morning several years ago. I was amazed by how many children she and her network of co-conspirators rescued from the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII. I knew young readers would be also be amazed at the ingenious ways the children were smuggled to safety.
As a child I only knew one person, my father’s good friend, Earl Mamlock, who spent time in a
Jaclyn 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. This is the third in a series of posts on thematic text sets.
One aspect of the Common Core that I get asked questions about all the time is thematic text sets. What are they? How do you know which books to use? What types of texts should you be pairing together?
Fear not! I’ve compiled some examples of text sets that cover one topic and span multiple genres and reading levels. Some of the titles you may already have in your classroom library, and others I think you’ll enjoy discovering. In my last two posts, I compiled books about the moon and books about Kenya. Today we look at books about immigration:
