My blog is a small book with chapters (the categories). Choose the category you want in the index above. The chapters are in development. Updates soon.
World Stories Here I bring together reviews, reading lists, and author interviews of books from around the world and about the home countries of new Americans. Kirsten Cappy, Director of the Welcoming Library, quotes research on reading stories about cultures that are not our own. “Research shows there is comfort in connecting [with people] across culture after reading across culture.” And the books are exquisite.
School and Library Visits Here are stories about some of the programs and workshops I’ve presented. Each one is memorable. I always remember the stories children or adults write or tell because the stories become the fabric of what we are creating together.
Community Reading and Writing Projects I’ve organized various community writing projects, including The Bhutanese Folktale Project with ESL classes in Laconia, a New Hampshire Humanities project. These might give you ideas for a literacy project you’d like to do.
Writing for Children. Here I’m collecting essays and articles about writing for children, a distinct kind of writing, what Maria Popova describes as “stories that tackle with elegant simplicity such complexities as uncertainty,loneliness, loss, and the cycle of life.” Some of my posts are general, some are specific craft skills, such as writing a novel in verse.
This week, Sept. 12-20 is Welcoming Week, established by Welcoming America to celebrate new families who have come to the U.S. from around the world and recognize the contributions they bring. It happens that my story about Concord, NH artist Mawouko “Moe” Aboussa is published today at InDepthNH. I want to share the story of his journey with you. FreeMoe, the Rise of Artist Mawouko Aboussa.
Joseph wants just one thing, to ride a bike! After you hear the story, do you think Joseph gets something more than a ride on a bike? Joseph’s Big Ride is illustrated by Ken Daley and published by Annick Press.
Hi Friends, I’m reading here from one of my first books. It’s about a cat. And an old man – who loved her but not so’s you’d notice. This was very offensive to the cat and, as you know, cats generally get what they want. The Cat Who Liked Potato Soup is illustrated by Barry Root and published by Candlewick Press.
LUIS PAINTS THE WORLD is the story of Luis and his big brother Nico. When Nico is deployed with his Army unit, Luis has to figure out what it means to be deployed. But how can he wait for his brother’s return? With help from his whole neighborhood – with paint brushes in hand – they wait together.
Illustrator Oliver Dominguez and I adapted our picture book into a script for readers’ theater or a play for you to read or perform. Here’s a PDF of the play as well as resources and classroom extensions. We also include many suggestions for ways to present on Zoom or other electronic platforms.
I was creating Classroom Connections for one of my books, and my editor suggested I include information about SEL- which is Social and Emotional Learning. Understanding our emotions, becoming aware of others, and finding relevant books to help us understand ourselves and others are included within Social and Emotional Learning. My illustrator partner for Luis Paints the World, Oliver Dominguez, has a new book out, Nacho’s Nachos. I’ve included it on a list of these new picture books by Latinx authors and illustrators. They all have characters with changing emotions and one thing reading surly offers kids is a path to understanding others’ emotional and social worlds and steps to make sense of their own.
All Around Us by Xelena Gonzalez, illustrated by Adriana M. Garcia (Cinco Puntos Press)
A grandfather and granddaughter have an adventure together, seeing everything in the shape of circles, the natural world, each other’s eyes, and the circle of life.
Alma and How She Got Her Nameby Juana Martinez-Neal (Candlewick Press)
Alma has a very long name. “Too long, if you asked her.” But when her father describes all the wonderful people she’s named for, she likes her name just fine.
Here Comes Ocean by Meg Fleming, illustrated by Paola Zakimi (Beach Lane Books)
Paola Zakimi, who is from Patagonia, Argentina, brings a stunning artistic perspective to a young boy who’s in awe of the seashore. Illustrations of a startled big-eyed horseshoe crab, sandpipers, sand dollars ,and Meg Fleming’s poetic lines are pure joy.
Mango Moon by Diane de Anda, illustrated by Sue Cornelison (Albert Whitman)
A realistic story about a U.S. child who’s father has been deported to a country she has never seen. The mango moon represents a memory she has of the last time she saw her father. Through the moon, she holds on to a feeling of connection to him. A young reader could study these illustrations and read the emotion in the characters’ faces.
My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero, illustrated by Zeke Peña (Random House)
A mad cap ride on a motorcycle, a love story between a little girl and her carpenter dad, and an ode to a city, the author’s Corona, California, this story is huge fun to read aloud. The child captures her home town in flux as her dad shows her the new homes they are building in the citrus groves,
Nacho’s Nachos, the Story Behind the World’s Favorite Snack by Sandra Nickel, illustrated by Oliver Dominguez (Lee and Low)
Ignacio “Nacho” Anaya really did create the first nachos. Illustrator Oliver Dominguez said, “Creating this book always made me hungry, and I loved it. I had to indulge my creativity and make my own nacho plate and use it as inspiration and reference.”
Swashby and the Sea by Beth Ferry, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal (Houghton Mifflin)
Swashby is having no part of the little girl and her granny who move into the cottage next door to his quiet cabin by the sea. Martinez-Neal and Ferry create an irrepressible child who sings to him and draws him into her play. Can you guess who has a moment with new emotions?
