Two authors of children’s books passed away recently, one on the American side of the equation and one across the sea in Britain. For the Yanks, Bill Wallace has been on our shelves for any number of years. You can read a lovely SLJ obituary for him here. As for the other person, that would be Mr. Samuel Youd. That name, I suspect, raises few flags but if I were to tell you his pen name, John Christopher, that might be a different story. Practically Paradise offers a great encapsulation of tributes to the man behind the tripod series (periodically we receive announcements that it will be a major motion picture, and then nothing ever occurs). There is also a nice remembrance in Timothy Kreider’s Artist’s Statement (more than halfway down) where he puts Christopher’s writing in context, highlighting its real strengths.
- Great great, great great great great piece from Marjorie Ingall on the sticky tricky territory of teaching your kids about the Holocaust through books. The advice offered from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. in the second to last paragraph of the piece should be printed out, laminated, and handed out to every parent there is. Re: the recommended reading list in the final paragraph, ditto.
- New Blog Alert: In other news the CBC (Children’s Book Council) recently celebrated their Diversity Committee “dedicated to increasing the diversity of voices and experiences contributing to children’s literature.” The members of this committee are from children’s book publishers across the board. Some great posts currently exist on the committee’s blog, all of which I recommend. The piece on Felita is particularly noteworthy since the sheer lack of middle grade novels starring Hispanic American children gnaws at my entrails every year.
- There was a recent article in the most recent American Libraries that got the juices flowing in my gray matter this week. In O Sister Library, Where Art Thou? author April Ritchie asks what it would be like if big public libraries with lots of funds paired with little libraries that need a leg up. “A new model for enhancing library services in these more vulnerable areas is emerging in Kentucky, a state with libraries at both ends of the economic spectrum.” Awesome piece and an even better idea. Go check that out.
I’m sure I’m not telling you anything new when I inform you that The Brown Bookshelf has again started its yearly initiative 28 Days Later, a celebration of African American authors and illustrators. It is THE #
7 Comments on Fusenews: In which I cram in a whole mess of resources just for the heck of it, last added: 2/11/2012Display Comments Add a Comment
Many great links here–thank you! The children’s books award in Iran is very interesting–love hearing about awards given in other countries. And the Lucy website is a great find, especially the adoption bibliography.
Is this the Marjorie Ingalls article? http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/89630/fear-factor-2/
I need to reread it again–I’m just catching up on my blogs before our Baby Steps program–I will share this with our youth services reference team. One of the best Holocaust books for young children that I have read is Hana’s Suitcase.
What a wealth of resources in this post! Thanks for taking the time to give us such great detail and information. And *LOVE* the bookshelf. Thanks for all you do to spread the amazing gift of children’s literature.
You’re not the only one – that game sounds exceptionally creepy. I guess they’re not actually in the Games, is the only saving grace.
Nice tights, kid.
I want those tights! Thanks for using the photo and for the blog plug!
Oh doggone it. Totally forgot to include the Ingall link, didn’t I? Uno momento . . .
Good information for sure…thank you! We are in the process of developing value-driven lesson plans for elementary/preschool teachers surrounding our new children’s literature and music as well, and are continually reading up on ways to incorporate various children’s lit. into the classroom.