This week, we have a moving documentary about the distinction made based on skin color, even within a single culture or ethnic group. It’s long, but it’s worth watching the whole thing, from the interview with a four-year-old girl to the academic perspectives of professors.
A Deep-Fried Holiday
I, among many, am celebrating Chanukkah this week. It’s a good holiday: candles, chocolate coins, and deep fried foods, especially latkes.
Forever Leaf
The odd and the beautiful are photos taken from the streets of New York City, our commutes, and our travels. Sometimes humorous, often times unusual, they offer a taste of life in the big city and beyond.
For the Holidays, Give Books
What else can you buy that gives hours of fun, kick starts your imagination, requires no batteries, and is powered simply by words? I’ve read so many fantastic books this year that have transformed my combined 90-minute commute into time I look forward to. And it continues most nights—when I read to my sons who are genuinely excited for story time. Without exaggerating, if a hidden camera were to capture us reading together, beaming our image into every household across the country, audiences would think this is staged, but it’s real. You can’t make this stuff up.
Top 5: Getting in the winter spirit
One of the many reasons why I love Thanksgiving is that, in my mind, it’s really the start of winter coziness. Despite the fact that I’m always grumbling by February, I really do love this season.
But we’ve had a weirdly warm fall thus far here in NYC, which has forced me to turn to books to get myself in the winter spirit. Here are my top 5 books that get me in the mood for the snow and slush ahead— and of course, all of them are best enjoyed in pajamas, with a warm cup of hot chocolate in hand:
You’re Invited: Book Launch and Signing with Janet Costa Bates!
For anyone who will be in or around Southeastern Massachusetts tomorrow, stop by Baker Books in Dartmouth, MA around 2 pm for the Seaside Dream book launch and a signing with Janet Costa Bates!
This Week in Diversity: Looking At History and Faces
Another Friday is here, and we have another round of links to articles we think you’ll appreciate. Enjoy, and feel free to come back and comment on what you thought.
Our first reading suggestion comes from the New York Times. This year is the 150th anniversary of the start of the civil war, and the Times has a new column, disunion, that follows the war’s developments, day by day but a century and a half later. You can start at the beginning, or you may be particularly interested in Jim Crow on West Broadway, about a young African American man who refused to get off a whites-only streetcar, a hundred years before Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks.
Video Thursday: The Domino Effect
Via Laughing Squid, our video of the week celebrates a playful love of books:
Booksgiving!
Turkey Day. Autumn Pie Day. American Gluttony Day.
Thanksgiving.
It’s coming. Are you ready?
Have you picked out a book to get your kids in a spirit of thanks and appreciation for the natural world?
This Week in Diversity: Prizes and Veterans
There’s been a lot of chatter about prizes lately!
The ALA has added another children’s book award—and more diversity. The new Stonewall Award for Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award will be recognizing books for young readers relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender experience.