CSK Author Award Acceptance Speech by Rita Williams-Garcia from The Horn Book. Peek:
“…upon occasion, our histories are bound by peace and wonder as people of the planet Earth, looking up as we did on one night in the summer of 1969.
“In spite of some current rhetoric,
Continue Reading Author Rita Williams-Garcia & The Surely Do Dancers »
Scholastic Book Club will soon be offering my debut tween novel, Rain Is Not My Indian Name, as a diversity selection through book clubs.
Rain Is Not My Indian Name (HarperCollins and Listening Library, 2001)(ages 10-up). Available as an unabridged audio download.
Continue Reading Scholastic Book Club to Offer Rain Is Not My Indian Name by Cynthia Leitich Smith »
“Barefoot Books was founded in 1992 by two young moms working from home with the dream of creating beautiful books that celebrate diversity, spark curiosity and capture children’s imaginations.”
There’s been an ongoing conversation about diversity in children’s literature. What are your thoughts on the subject?
Continue Reading Publisher Interview: CEO Nancy Traversy of Barefoot Books »
Boston Globe-Hornbook Awards for Excellence in Children’s Literature: “Winners are selected in three categories: Picture Book, Fiction and Poetry, and Nonfiction. Two Honor Books may be named in each category.”
The National Book Awards Longlist: Young People’s Literature from The New Yorker. Peek: “…a novel in verse about a twelve-year-old soccer nut,
As an aspiring writer for children, one of the many dividends of marrying my beautiful and gifted wife Melissa Iwai…
(am I right or am I right?)
was finding someone to collaborate with on picture books.
Seeing as I knew she was an extraordinary illustrator,
Continue Reading Guest Post: Denis Markell on Once You’ve Found Your Story, How Do You Tell It? »
How “Girl Books” Could Save the World (Or at Least Help Out) by Jen Malone
from Nerdy Book Club. Peek: “Guess who’s not being exposed to these main characters? Boys. That’s a problem, because their female counterparts are only too happy to read books featuring male central characters,
Continue Reading Summer Girls & Women in Children’s-YA Lit Roundup »
Writing LGBTQ Picture Book Lit in 1989 Versus Now (AKA Heather Has Two Mommies and Morris Has a Dress) by Mark Joseph Stern from Slate. Peek: “Some schools want it to be more of a broad anti-bullying story. Rather than Morris being himself and the dress being a part of him—which is the message I’m hoping people get from it—they want the book to be about how Morris just likes to dress up for fun.”
Continue Reading Summer LGBTQIA in Children’s-YA Lit Roundup »
Over the summer, the children’s-YA book community has continued discussing diversity, decolonization, authenticity and representation both throughout the body of literature and the industry. Here are highlights; look for more in quickly upcoming, additional update posts.
Mirrors? Windows? How about Prisms? from Uma Krishnaswami. Peek: “…cultural content in children’s books needs to be woven into the story so the authors intention is not stamped all over it.”
Continue Reading Summer Children’s-YA Lit Diversity Conversations »
Enter to win one of two author-signed copies of Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie, illustrated by Yuyi Morales (Little Brown, 2016). Obtained from BookPeople. Cynsations sponsored. Eligibility: North America. From the promotional copy:
Thunder Boy Jr.
Continue Reading Giveaway: Signed Copy of Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie & Yuyi Morales »
By Carole Boston Weatherford
& Jeffrey Boston Weatherford
From Carole
Set during World War II, You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen (Atheneum, 2016) follows the training, trials and triumphs of the U.S. military’s first African American pilots.
The book pairs my poems with scratchboard illustrations by my son,
