Month: May 2016
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Can you name a single, lovable Middle Eastern character in a middle grade novel? Now you can!
Contributed by Firoozeh Dumas, Author
People often me ask why I waited so long to start writing. I always thought that in order to be a writer, one had to be English and dead. I started writing when I was thirty-six years old so I could tell my stories to my children. I wanted them to know what I have known since I was seven years old; that our commonalities far outweigh our differences. I learned this when my family moved from Abadan, Iran to Whittier, California. From a young age, I did not fear those who are different from me, and what an asset that has been in my life! As an adult, I discovered that many people never learn this simple truth. They live in fear of “the other”, and there are many “others.”
After my first book, Funny in Farsi, was published, I started giving lectures around the country. Readers in every nook and cranny that I visited said the same two things to me, “I never thought a writer from the Middle East could make me laugh out loud” and “Your family is just like my family!” I soon realized that most people learn about other cultures from the evening news. The problem is that only bad news is news. Most people never expect a female Iranian writer to be relatable; they expect me to be oppressed and sad. That is what they have seen on the news. I am neither.
When I visit schools, I always ask if it is anyone’s birthday. It always is, so I sing “Happy birthday” in Persian. A stunned silence descends upon the room. I can see from the looks on their faces that some of the students had never thought that children in the Middle East also celebrate birthdays and sing a special song. The only images of the Middle East that many students have seen are of war. Some cannot fathom any images of joy with the Middle East. I don’t blame them.
People often ask me why diversity in literature is important. The news does not teach us that there is a universality to the human experience. We don’t learn that in every culture, mothers worry about their children, that children love to play, and that we all have a weird uncle. Not everyone has a chance to travel to other cultures and to learn about our shared humanity, as I did. In the absence of travel, books are the next best thing. In fact, they’re even better since books allow us to time travel as well.
I regularly get emails from readers who tell me that whenever they see Iran on the evening news, they now think of my family. For them, Iran is no longer the face of bearded mullahs and angry men. It is the country where regular families, like mine, are from. My tween novel, It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel, features one of the few Iranian character for younger readers. I am thrilled that readers will laugh and cry with her, root for her, and most importantly, relate to her. There is no downside to learning about all kinds of people. Every time we read about a diverse character, we open a window into our hearts and minds. And who doesn’t want more windows?
Firoozeh Dumas was born in Abadan, Iran, and grew up in California and her birth country. She is the New York Times best-selling author of Funny in Farsi and Laughing Without an Accent. It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel is her first novel for young readers. Firoozeh lives in Munich, Germany with her husband and three children. Visit her website at www.firoozehdumas.com.
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#DrawingDiversity: ‘Double Trouble for Anna Hibiscus’ illustrated by Lauren Tobia
Double Trouble for Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke, illustrated by Lauren Tobia (Kane Miller, September 2015). All rights reserved.
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Hachette Book Group and KADOKAWA Form Joint Venture
New York, NY — Hachette Book Group and KADOKAWA Corporation announced today that they have entered into an agreement to create a new venture, joining HBG’s Yen Press imprint, a …
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Lion Forge Comics Announces Slate of Fan-Focused Events and Giveaways at BookExpo America
May 6, 2016 – Chicago, IL — When BookExpo America, North America’s largest publishing event, rolls into McCormick Place next week, bibliophiles won’t be the only fans with a long list …
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Gene Luen Yang to Publish Nonfiction Graphic Novel
Dragon Hoops will tell the true story of the 2015 Bishop O’Dowd High School boys’ basketball team and their journey to the California state championship. The book is scheduled for publication by …
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Duke Energy and Reading Is Fundamental Partner to Boost Childhood Reading Skills
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Duke Energy and Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), the nation’s 10largest children’s literacy organization, are partnering to minimize the summer slide and improve the reading proficiency of more than 3,000 …
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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Announces First Quarter 2016 Results
BOSTON, MA — Global learning company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (“HMH” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: HMHC) today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016. First Quarter …
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Ninth Annual Children’s Choice Book Awards Winners Announced During the 97th Annual Children’s Book Week
New York, NY — May 6, 2016 – The Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader today announced the winners of the ninth annual Children’s Choice Book Awards (CCBA). …
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The Rise of the Wordless Picture Book
Led by moderator Allyn Johnston, v-p and publisher of Beach Lane Books, author-illustrators Henry Cole, Raúl Colón, Marla Frazee, Stephen Savage, and David Wiesner discussed the liberation that comes with purely visual storytelling — …
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HarperCollins Publishers Reveal Details On Veronica Roth’s New Book
New York, NY — HarperCollins Publishers announced today details on Veronica Roth’s next book with HarperCollins. The first in a two-book deal by international bestselling author Veronica Roth, author of the …
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National Ambassador Gene Luen Yang’s Reading Without Walls Podcast: Episode 3 with Michael Chabon
Through his platform, “Reading Without Walls,” Yang hopes to inspire readers of all ages to pick up a book outside their comfort zone. In episode three of his podcast, Yang talks …
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Judy Blume and Her Husband Open a Bookstore in Florida
Both Blume and Cooper have been devoting a great deal of their time to Books & Books Key West. They have enjoyed taking a hands-on approach with the operations of …
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Most Diverse? Verse! 5 Easy Steps for Promoting Diversity with Poetry
Contributed by by Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell
Where do we find the most diversity in any genre in children’s literature? Poetry—but it might not always be easy to see, as much of the diversity is embedded in anthologies that aren’t necessarily categorized as diverse. In the 700+ poems that we have published so far in The Poetry Friday Anthology series, nearly a third reflect diverse experiences of culture, language, religion, and more, including poems that address underrepresented topics such as Diwali (by Uma Krishnaswami), Ramadan (by Ibtisam Barakat), Day of the Dead (by René Saldaña, Jr.), Dashain (by Margarita Engle), and Gay Pride Day (by Lesléa Newman).
You might never look to the National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry, edited by J. Patrick Lewis (National Geographic, 2016), for diverse poems, yet it contains poems by 20 diverse poets. Poems to Learn by Heart, compiled by Caroline Kennedy (Disney, 2013), contains poems by at least 17 diverse poets. And more than a quarter of the poets are diverse in The Death of the Hat: A Brief History of Poetry in 50 Objects by Paul B. Janeczko (Candlewick, 2015).
No other genre, however, goes out of print more quickly than poetry. Our challenge: How can we make sure that diverse poetry books find their audience? Here are things we’ve been trying:
1. Give Poetry a Media Boost. Remind media outlets that many children’s poems take only 20 seconds to read; send frequent suggestions of poems that can be read at the beginning or end of a television or radio segment. Poetry also lends itself to social media sharing since you can tweet a line or create a graphic to convey a lot in a compact package.
2. Make Poetry Swag. Use diverse poems in short format cards and handy giveaways. It’s easy and inexpensive to make effective poetry swag that you can distribute at conferences such as ILA, NCTE, TLA, ALA, and also BEA. Encourage independent booksellers to give freebies to budding poetry fans. We encourage booksellers and educators to visit our Pinterest board where hundreds of poems are downloadable and free.
3. Promote Poetry as Read-Alikes. Pair poetry books with other works of fiction or nonfiction for “read-alike” suggestions connected by theme or topic (like family, food, animals, school) in promotional materials. Get inspired by “Hamilton” and create visuals that cast classic poems with diverse characters.
4. Cultivate Talent. Publish more anthologies of stories, essays, and poems by diverse authors. Be open to new poetic formats from various traditions. Editors: before sending a rejection letter to an author of color for a picture book, poetry collection, or novel that doesn’t fit the needs of your publishing house, consider whether you can use that author’s talents in a future anthology or even add that author to a current work-in-progress.
5. Highlight Diverse Poets. Suggest teams of diverse poets from a single anthology for “Featured Author” sessions at festivals, conferences, and promotional videos. In January of this year, Pomelo Books worked with children’s literature professor Jeana Hrepich at Antioch University (Seattle) to create programs for MultiCultural Children’s Book Day with a team of poets: Carmen T. Bernier-Grand, Julie Larios, Charles Waters, and Janet Wong.
Poetry is the ideal vehicle for promoting diversity in children’s literature.I It can be read in just a few minutes, but holds great depth, beautiful language, and much feeling. And with very little effort, we can make sure that diverse poems reach many more children and grow a few more poets for the future.
Sylvia Vardell (left) is Professor in the School of Library and Information Studies at Texas Woman¹s University and the 2014 recipient of the ALA Scholastic Library Publishing Award. Her current work focuses on poetry for children, including a regular blog, PoetryforChildren and the poetry column for ALA’s Book Links magazine.
Janet Wong (right) is a graduate of Yale Law School and former lawyer who switched careers and became a children¹s poet. Her dramatic career change has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN¹s Paula Zahn Show, and Radical Sabbatical.
Together, Vardell and Wong are the creative forces behind Pomelo Books and The Poetry Friday Anthology series, launched in 2012 and adopted by thousands of school districts nationwide.
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Annotated Map of Middle-Earth Acquired by Bodleian Library
The map was discovered only last year, inside a book belonging to the late illustrator Pauline Baynes. It will be featured alongside other materials related to Tolkein’s writing, including manuscripts of The …
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“What’s the Ambassador Reading?” with Gene Luen Yang
Yang’s series launches just in time for Children’s Book Week. In keeping with his platform, “Reading Without Walls,” Yang enjoys a diverse range of stories across multiple formats: a novel in verse …
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Winners of 30th Annual Ezra Jack Keats Bookmaking Competition Announced By Ezra Jack Keats Foundation and New York City Department of Education
City-wide Winners Receive $500 Cash Prize; Winning Books and Honorable Mentions on Special Exhibit May 2-27 at Brooklyn Public Library NEW YORK—April 28, 2016—The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation, in partnership …
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Scher Foord Named Vice President, Creative, for Scholastic.com
New York, NY – May 4, 2016 – Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL), the global children’s publishing, education and media company, today announced the appointment of Scher Foord as Vice President, Creative, …
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#DrawingDiversity: ‘Mama’s Nightingale’ illustrated by Leslie Straub
Mama’s Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation by Edwidge Danticat, illustrated by Leslie Straub (Dial Books/Penguin Young Readers Group, September 2015). All rights reserved
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Reading Rainbow Skybrary School
The Skybrary database currently features over 500 titles and virtual field trips suited for primary schoolers, with a diverse mix of fiction and nonfiction. The ease of use and visual …
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Día Founder Pat Mora Promotes Literacy for All
This year, Día celebrations took place in 38 states, including Alaska, with festivities held in 25 languages, and Mora shows no signs of slowing down. She is also committed to promoting a wider range …
