Month: February 2016
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Simon and Schuster Launches YA Fan Site
Using the tagline “YA fiction is our addiction,” Riveted provides a forum for readers to come together and discover new content. The aim of the site is to engage fans with …
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#DrawingDiversity: ‘Bird and Diz’ by Gary Golio, illustrated by Ed Young
Bird and Diz by Gary Golio, illustrated by Ed Young (Candlewick, February 2015). All rights reserved.
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Curious World Launches First-Ever Original Video Series
NEW YORK, NY — Global learning company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), announced today the launch of 58 original video productions for Curious World™, the interactive content service that offers an …
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Library Programming for Tweens
Librarians who specialize in this demographic have found that creating a space just for tweens and developing interactive programs — from crafts to book clubs — can help foster a sense …
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First Book Completes Successful Pilot Project in Rural India, Providing 700,000 New Books to Children in Need
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In collaboration with Books for Asia, Pratham, Manodharma, and other recognized partners, the nonprofit social enterprise First Book completed its first-ever, large-scale distribution of books to schools and …
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Matt de la Peña on Diverse Books and His Newbery Win
Last Stop on Market Street reflects de la Peña’s commitment to representing children of non-majority backgrounds. He is optimistic that the win will bring much needed attention to the diversity movement. …
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Students Still Prefer Physical Books
The survey was conducted by American University linguistics professor Naomi Baron. Reasons for teens’ preference include the satisfaction of gauging one’s physical progress in a book, and the pride of …
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Bank Street College Honors Three Top Children’s Books
New York, NY – February 8, 2016 – The Bank Street Children’s Book Committee will present awards to its choices for the best children’s books of the year in fiction, …
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#DrawingDiversity: ‘Voice of Freedom’ illustrated by Ekua Holmes
Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hammer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Ekua Holmes (Candlewick, August 2015). All rights reserved.
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Reading Rainbow’s LeVar Burton Launches Online Reading Service
Skybrary School will feature 800 interactive Reading Rainbow titles, teacher-crafted lesson plans, and other supplemental materials. The project was funded through Reading Rainbow’s impressive Kickstarter campaign, which raised over $6 million dollars …
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National Book Foundation Launches Book Club for LGBTQ Teens
The BookUp LGBTQ program — run in collaboration with Lambda Literary — will incorporate a special reading list, field trips, and other activities. I believe that this opportunity will empower our readers …
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‘Little Robot’ Receives Gryphon Award
Champaign, IL — Little Robot, written and illustrated by Ben Hatke, and published by First Second Books, is the winner of the 2016 Gryphon Award for Children’s Literature. The Gryphon Award, …
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First Book Pairs Books with Food for Kids in Need
School librarian Theresa Mai of Colorado knows how important it is for students to have adequate nourishment, and has even incorporated food into her lessons. I am often in awe by …
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Hometown Teachers Across the Country Selected by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as First-Ever HMH Curious Classroom Winners
BOSTON, MA – Global learning company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) today announced three winners of the HMH Curious Classroom contest, an online competition for teachers designed to spotlight effective and original …
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2016 Ezra Jack Keats Book Award Winners Announced
Ezra Jack Keats Foundation and de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection at The University of Southern Mississippi to Present Awards at Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival on April 7th NEW …
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The Value of Independent Reading for Kids
One way to foster a love of reading is by granting kids the freedom to choose the books that interest them. Kids learn best when they are actively engaged with …
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#DrawingDiversity: ‘The Wheels on the Tuk Tuk’ illustrated by Jess Golden
The Wheels on the Tuk Tuk by Kabir Sehgal and Surishtha Sehgal, illustrated by Jess Golden (Beach Lane Books/Simon & Schuster, January 2016). All rights reserved. @simonkidsuk
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Give a Child a Book of Hope
By Darcy Pattison, Author
I appreciate that the CBC Diversity Bookshelf addresses all sorts of diversity, from ethnic to family situations and beyond. If you glance down their list of 67 topics on the Goodreads Bookshelf, there’s likely a topic that tugs at your heart.
In sixth grade my parents divorced and my mother remarried, this time to a man who was an alcoholic. Several years later, she divorced him and soon remarried — again to an alcoholic.
Despite being an avid reader, I certainly never saw my situation reflected in children’s books! Yet 11 million children live with alcoholic parents (http://www.alcoholism-statistics.com/family-statistics/). Add in those who live with parents who abuse other substances, and it’s a huge demographic that faces overwhelming situations. Often it leads to messy divorces, single-parent families, and other special needs.
Why aren’t these situations represented more in children’s books? Partly because difficult family situations aren’t entertainment.
So, do we write children’s books to entertain, to teach, or to stand on a soapbox? The answers are complex. I wrote my contemporary retelling of the Hansel and Gretel story, Saucy and Bubba, because I wanted my experiences to help children facing caregivers who are substance abusers. I wanted those kids to know it’s okay to want to be safe. It’s okay to need help and to ask an adult for help. It’s okay to want your Daddy to love you and to expect that he will take care of you.
Near the story’s climax, Saucy is hiding under a truck and her father is searching for her. At one point, he leans against the truck, not knowing that Saucy is close enough to touch him. She yearns for Daddy to find her, but she holds back because of the alcoholic stepmother, Krissy. When Daddy goes back inside the house with Krissy, Saucy makes the difficult decision to live with her aunt until things are better.
Scenes like this one bring a certain darkness to a story, even if the events carry the weight of truth. It’s in the tradition of Dicey’s Song by Cynthia Voigt, and The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson. Both of these award-winning books tell of painful truths, but they manage to do so with respect for the child reader. I especially like Paterson’s statement that she always ends her stories with a note of hope. Fortunately, Saucy’s story also ends with hope that the family will work things out and come back together.
In the end, I write to tell a truthful story that will touch someone deeply; I write with the reader — the troubled child — in mind. And children need many things from the pages of a book: entertainment, escape, sympathy, or a deep identification with a character. And most especially, children need hope.
Darcy Pattison has three novels on the CBC Diversity Bookshelves. Saucy and Bubba (sample chapter) is a contemporary retelling of the Hansel and Gretel story with characters who live with substance abuse caregivers; Longing for Normal is the story of two foster kids who are fighting for a place to call home—using just a simple bread recipe; Vagabonds is an American animal fantasy that is a metaphor for the immigrant experience. Translated into nine languages, Darcy’s book, The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman was an Irma Black Honor Award winner and her other books have received starred reviews in Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus, and BCCB.
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Library of Congress Now Accepting Applications for the 2016 Literacy Awards
Washington D.C. — Applications are now being accepted for the 2016 Library of Congress Literacy Awards, which are made possible through the generosity of David M. Rubenstein, co-founder and co-CEO of …
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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s New York Times Best Seller A Long Walk to Water Reaches One Million Copies Sold
BOSTON, MA – Global learning company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) is marking an important milestone for New York Times Best Seller A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park …
