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LEE & LOW BOOKS celebrates its 25^th anniversary this year and to recognize how far the company has come, we are featuring one title a week to see how it is being used in classrooms today!

Today we’re featuring DeShawn Days by Tony Medina and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, released in 2003 by LEE & LOW BOOKS:

About the Book: DeShawn Days introduces us to ten-year-old DeShawn’s world, where we meet his family, friends, and learn about his hopes and dreams. Author Tony Medina draws from his own experiences growing up in the projects to create this dynamic character. From neighborhood barbecues to building snowmen in the winter to experiencing the loss of DeShawn’s grandmother, readers from all backgrounds will be charmed by this upbeat, compassionate, and creative young boy.

Awards and Honors:

• Starred review, School Library Journal
• Children’s Literature Choice List, Children’s Literature
• Choices, Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC)
• Parents’ Guide to Children’s Media Award, Parents’ Choice Foundation
• Paterson Prize for Books for Young People, The Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College

Resources for Teaching With DeShawn Days:

• Our extensive Teacher’s Guide offers a wide range of teaching ideas.
• Watch author Tony Medina read to a third grade class in Dorchester, MA.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Teacher Tip:
Tell students that poets often use what is called “poetic license.” Poets may write in dialect or nonstandard English to achieve a certain effect as Medina does in poems such as “My Cousin Tiffany.” Sometimes poets do not use capital letters or standard punctuation. Point out that Medina’s poems are not punctuated, except for the occasional exclamation point.

Other Books by Tony Medina: 

• Christmas Makes Me Think
• Love to Langston
• I and I Bob Marley

Purchase DeShawn Days here.

Other Recommended Picture Books That Celebrate Community:

Bein’ With You This Way by W. Nikola-Lisa, illus. by Michael Bryant

Quinito’s Neighborhood/El vecindario de Quinito by Ina Cumpiano, illus. by José Ramírez

Saturday at the New You by Barbara E. Barber, illus. by Anna Rich

Have you used DeShawn Days? Let us know!

Celebrate with us! Check out our 25 Years Anniversary Collection.

April is National Poetry Month! All month long we’ll be celebrating by posting some of our favorite poems for Poetry Friday. For our third Poetry Friday post, we chose Song in my Heart by Tony Medina, illustrated by Jesse Joshua Jackson from I and I Bob Marley.

Song in My Heart

I am the boy

From Nine Miles

The one sing

Like three little birds

In a reggae style

The one blessed

By Jah

To travel miles

Across the world

With my island girl

Guitar in hand

And my dreads

A twirl

With music

In my belly

And songs

In my heart

Healing the world

With my reggae art

Keeping you always

Like a song

In my heart

 Let us know what poems you’re reading in the comments section!

Our guest blogger today is author Tony Medina, whose book “DeShawn Days”, from Lee & Low Books, is part of First Book’s Stories For All Project.

“As a child in the Throgs Neck Housing Projects in the Bronx, I did not grow up with books. The only person I saw reading was my grandmother, who occasionally read mass-market paperback fiction and her Bible that was as big as a phone book. If the Bible fell from the top of the dresser where she kept it, it could take your kneecap off and crush your foot in the process! The only time I recall being exposed to children’s books was at school when the teacher took us to the school library and the librarian allowed us to take out Curious George books.

It was as an adult that I really began to appreciate children’s books. I remember being fascinated by the marriage of art and text. The stories and poems were depicted so beautifully and richly that it seemed as if they blended together seamlessly, creating a world by which even adults would be captivated. I knew right then that I wanted to be part of that magic. I thought, if I as a grownup can be taken with the majesty of these portable art galleries and museums, children must truly love them.

Soon after, I began buying children’s books and taking some out from the library. I not only found myself interested in the wonderful stories and poems, I wanted to teach myself how to write them—by reading them. The more I browsed through shelves in bookstores and libraries, the more I noticed that many of the books I came across did not speak to or from the point of view of a kid like me from the projects. I yearned to read about what a child from the ’hood had to say about his life and his world. I remember reading an interview with the African American novelist and Noble Prize-winner Toni Morrison, She said she wrote the books she wanted to read. That nugget of wisdom stayed with me as I made my way to fulfilling my dream of becoming a writer.

By the time I decided to write my own children’s books, a child’s voice began to present itself in my mind. It belonged to a kid named DeShawn Williams, and he was talking about his life growing up in the projects. Not surprisingly, his words seemed to mirror my experiences as a child. Poems in DeShawn’s voice began to take hold of me and I began to write them down. Before I knew it, DeShawn was telling me about the people he loved and lived with: his mother, who was in college; his grandmother, who helped raise him; his uncle, who stood-in for his absent father; his cousin Tiffany, who was like his sister, even though they fought like crazy; and his best friend from school, Johnny Tse, who taught him Karate, which he assumed was from China, but finds out was from Japan. Thus, DeShawn Days, my first book for children, was born.

There was no greater feeling than to see the publication of DeShawn Days, which was initially embraced in manuscript form by my editor and subsequently published by multicultural children’s book publisher, Lee & Low Books. At that time, no books like DeShawn Days were around. The only thing that topped seeing DeShawn Days out in the world was sharing it with children, particularly children who came from a world similar to DeShawn’s. I remember encountering a youngster who had the same name—DeShawn—who was also being raised by his grandmother. This boy exclaimed about me, the author, “How does he know about my life?”

This experience made me realize in a real way, outside of my own literary aspirations, the power of books: how they can matter and make a profound difference in a child’s life, especially when they speak to and from the child’s own experiences and validate his or her life.”

To learn more about our awesome Stories For All Project partner, Lee & Low Books, check out their blog.

The post The Stories for All Project: African American Author Tony Medina on Connecting Multicultural Books with Children of Color appeared first on First Book Blog.

While great reviews from Publishers Weekly or Kirkus are nice, there’s nothing better than feedback from the source – actual young readers!

A third grade writing class from Newark, New Jersey was assigned to compare/contrast themselves with DeShawn from DeShawn Days by Tony Medina and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. They agreed to share parts of their answers with us!

Rogenia: “DeShawn and I are the same because we both think the news is scary.  We don’t like to hear about people dying from wars.  We also love rapping!  It’s so much fun!  It would be cool if we could rap together.”

Malikah: “DeShawn and I are different. He loves his block because he has friends. I hate living in the hood because there’s too much shooting and too much fighting. DeShawn hates the news because it’s scary.  I love the news because it teaches you about the world.”

Troy: “If DeShawn was real, I think we would be friends.  He seems like he’d be a very nice friend.  We could teach each other things and talk about what we have in common.  Plus it’s always fun to meet new people! I think DeShawn Days is the best book I ever read!”

Kevin: “I have a connection with DeShawn. When my uncle died I cried and cried just like DeShawn did when his grandma passed away. It was heartbreaking to see him in the casket. I will never forget the day my uncle died. I’m sure DeShawn will never forget when his grandma passed either. If we were friends, maybe we could talk about what we felt.”

Keidy: “Me and DeShawn are the same because our mother lives in the same house as us. We are both 10 years old. We both don’t just hear music, we hear sirens in our neighborhoods too. . . . I wouldn’t like to just be his friend, I’d like to be his sister!”

Nasir: “In many ways DeShawn and I are very similar.  For example, we both have a large family (by the way mine is bigger).  If I knew DeShawn in real life we would definitely be friends.”

Quadir: “DeShawn and I. . . . both watch cartoons.  We don’t like the news. My mom lives in the house with me just like his does.  I always invite my friends over.  We are both ten years old. I would absolutely want to be DeShawn’s friend if he was a real person. . . . I wish I could meet someone just like him!”

Tierrah: “DeShawn and I are different because he likes his block and I don’t like mine.  I don’t like it because there’s too much drugs, people getting shot, and crying (just like on the news). A connection I have with DeShawn is that my grandma passed away too.  She passed away this past Saturday morning.  DeShawn was sad for a long time.  I’m sure I will be too.”

Justin: “DeShawn and I are the same because we both watch cartoons.  We love our families.  I have friends at school just like he does.  We hate graffiti because it ruins the walls.  I love rap like he does as well.  I love to hear people rhyme.  I like my block just like he does.  There’s no fighting where I live.”

What character from a book do you wish you could be friends with in real life? Post your responses below! We’d love to hear from you!