Trees are so much a part of our daily lives, whether we take them for granted or find ourselves fighting for their survival: so it is perhaps unsurprising that there are many stories from all over the world that feature trees, woods or forests as a central theme or ‘character’… … Continue reading ...
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By: rgarcia406,
on 10/28/2014
Today is Mix It Up At Lunch Day, an annual day started by Teaching Tolerance over a decade ago to encourage kindness and reduce prejudice in schools by encouraging students to sit and have lunch with someone new, one day out of the year. Teaching Tolerance offers some great resources to help schools celebrate Mix It Up At Lunch Day, and we thought we’d add our own list of recommended books that encourage kindness, giving, bravery and open-mindedness!
instead decides to give his money to a homeless man.
Passage to Freedom written by Ken Mochizuki and illustrated by Dom Lee – Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese diplomat to Lithuania, helped thousands of Jewish people escape the Holocaust by giving them visas to Japan.
For more information about Mix It Up at Lunch Day and how to participate, click here!
By: keilinh,
on 9/28/2014
Amanda Boyarshinov is one of the creators of the blog, The Educators’ Spin On It, a site that makes everyday moments into teachable opportunities. She has a Master of Reading Education for grades K-12 and a B.A. in Elementary Education. Additionally, she has her English Speakers of Other Languages (E.S.O.L.) endorsement and has received her National Board Certification in Early Childhood Education. In this post, we’ve been given permission to share her steps on building a family theme Love Book Basket, as well as how to create an “I Love You” book.
HOW TO BUILD A FAMILY THEME LOVE BOOK BASKET
1. Choose a Book
Select themed literature that is appropriate for your child’s age. Younger children may enjoy shorter stories. Older children may like more detailed picture books. Consider both non-fiction and fiction text. Lee and Low Publishing Company sent me the 3 books to read with my children for this article. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.
How Far Do You Love Me?
How Far Do You Love Me? is a delightful tale of families all around the world and how much they love their children. Each page introduces a new place on the globe, with a sweet sentence about their love. Geared for 3-6 year olds Click here for the Teachers Guide
Grandfather Counts
Grandfather Counts (Reading Rainbow Books) is a picture book about making connections with your family, no matter what the language may be. Author Andrea Cheng draws upon her own family and friends experiences to weave this tale of love and family. Geared for 6-8 year olds It is a Reading Rainbow selection Click here for the Teachers Guide
Honoring Our Ancestors
Honoring Our Ancestors: Stories and Paintings by Fourteen Artists is a non-fiction picture book highlighting some AMAZING artists: Carl Angel, Enrique Chagoya, George Crespo, Mark Dukes, Maya Gonzalez, Caryl Henry, Nancy Hom, Hung Liu, Judith Lowery, Stephen Von Mason, Mira Reisberg, JoeSam, Patssi Valdez, and Helen Zughaib. Each short story and accompanying artwork gives the reader a snapshot into the importance of family to that artist. Geared for 8-10 year olds.
2. Gather the Supplies for the Selected Activity.
In this activity, children make an “I Love You,” book for a family member. This can be done with art materials around the house. Directions for each page below.
3. Arrange and Display.
Arrange the materials and books in a pleasing manor in a basket, bag or container. Then, leave it on a table or desk area as an invitation to explore. Snuggle in and read. Then make the activity!
You can find directions (and pictures) on how to make an “I Love You” book on The Educators’ Spin On It website.
Make your #LOVEdiverseBooks Basket today!
Stay TUNED!!!!
Next week, The Educators’ Spin On It will be highlighting author Andrea Cheng, author of Grandfather Counts. Here is a sneak peek…
Filed under: Activities and Events, Art and Book Design, Educator Resources, Guest Blogger Post, Lee & Low Likes, Musings & Ponderings Tagged: activity basket, Andrea Cheng, arts and crafts, Children's Book Press, educator activities, Educators, educators' spin on it, family activities, family basket, grandfather counts, honoring our ancestors, How Far Do You Love Me, i love you book, kid activities, Lulu Delacre 
By: keilinh,
on 6/6/2014
We pride ourselves on publishing diverse children’s books that feature characters and cultures from around the world. In 2012, we expanded when we acquired Children’s Book Press, an award-winning multicultural publisher based out of the Bay Area. Our new CBP imprint is a great place to find high-quality bilingual English/Spanish picture books and many more books by talented authors and illustrators of color.
We’re very excited to report that we’ve reprinted several Children’s Book Press titles already under our CBP imprint, and we have more on the way! We know some of you have been waiting quite a while to see your favorite CBP books back in print, so we’re happy to share our most recent reprints:
Animal Poems of the Iguazú/Animalario del Iguazú, by Francisco X. Alarcón, illustrated by Maya Christina Gonzalez
Bears Make Rock Soup, by Lise Erdrich, illustrated by Lisa Fifield
Birthday in the Barrio/Cumpleaños en el barrio, by Mayra L. Dole, illustrated by Tonel
Drum, Chavi, Drum!/¡Toca, Chavi, Toca!, by Mayra L. Dole, illustrated by Tonel
Featherless/Desplumado, by Juan Felipe Herrera, illustrated by Ernesto Cuevas, Jr.
From North to South/Del Norte al Sur, by René Colato Laínez, illustrated by Joe Cepeda
Home to Medicine Mountain, by Chiori Santiago, illustrated by Judith Lowry
Making Magic Windows, by Carmen Lomas Garza
A Man Called Raven, by Richard Van Camp, illustrated by George Littlechild
Moony Luna/Luna, Lunita Lunera, by Jorge Argueta, illustrated by Elizabeth Gómez
Nana’s Big Surprise/Nana, ¡Qué Sorpresa!, by Amada Irma Pérez, illustrated by Maya Christina Gonzalez
Prietita and the Ghost Woman/Prietita y la Llorona, by Gloria Anzaldúa, illustrated by Maya Christina Gonzalez
Quinito, Day and Night/Quinito, día y noche, by Ina Cumpiano, illustrated by José Ramírez
A Shelter in Our Car, by Monica Gunning, illustrated by Elaine Pedlar
Soledad Sigh-Sighs/Soledad Suspiros, by Rigoberto González, illustrated by Rosa Ibarra
What’s the Most Beautiful Thing You Know About Horses?, by Richard Van Camp, illustrated by George Littlechild
We’re looking forward to hearing your thoughts on these new reprints!
For a full list of Children’s Book Press titles that are currently available from Lee & Low Books or to place an order, contact our ordering department toll-free at 1-888-320-3190 x. 28. We also have a PDF of our latest catalog here.
By: keilinh,
on 3/20/2013
While it may not feel like it, today is the first day of spring! We’re very excited for our forthcoming spring titles, which you can check out here. To kick off the spring season, here’s an image and poem from Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems/Jitomates Risueños y otros poemas de primavera, written by Francisco X. Alarcón, and illustrated by Maya Christina Gonzalez, published by Children’s Book Press, an imprint of LEE & LOW.
Spring
the hills
are starting
to crack
a green smile
once again
Primavera
las colinas
comienzan
a sonreír
muy verdes
otra vez
By: Hannah,
on 6/19/2012
June is LGBT Pride Month, and throughout this month people everywhere (including President Obama) have been celebrating the positive impact that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people have had in the world. The fight for LGBT rights has always been a matter of civil rights and equality, as our publisher noted in a recent post, and it’s nice that we live in an era when that’s acknowledged by so many people.
As for us, we’re excited to continue expanding our definition of diversity to include LGBT diversity. Here are three titles with gay or lesbian main characters:
Antonio’s Card/ La tarjeta de Antonio, by Rigoberto González, illustrated by Cecilia Concepción Álvarez
Antonio’s Card was originally published by Children’s Book Press in 2006 and is now part of our new CBP imprint. It tells the story of Antonio as he struggles to find the words to express his love for his mother and her partner, Leslie, as Mother’s Day approaches.
Cat Girl’s Day Off, by Kimberly Pauley
In this YA novel, Nat’s Talent of talking to cats pulls her into a madcap adventure through Chicago with best friends Melly and Oscar (who is gay).
Diverse Energies, edited by Joe Monti and Tobias S. Buckell
Coming this fall, Diverse Energies is a dystopian anthology with a focus on diversity – all types of diversity, including racial diversity, LGBT diversity, and of course, some very diverse visions of both the future and the past. Contributing authors include Ursula K. LeGuin, Paolo Bacigalupi, Malinda Lo, Cindy Pon, and more. Stay tuned on the blog for more information.
We hope to add more titles to this list soon. Adding more books with LGBT diversity is a natural extension of our mission to meet the need for stories that all children can identify with and enjoy.
What are your favorite LGBT books? Share ‘em in the comments!
0 Comments on Happy LGBT Pride Month! as of 1/1/1900
By: Aline Pereira,
on 2/20/2012
By: Rene Colato Lainez,
on 2/8/2012
By: Aline Pereira,
on 7/29/2011
To kick off the Merced County Arts Council’s Demand the Arts campaign author Francisco X. Alarcón will host a book reading on Saturday, July 30th from 11am – noon. The event will take place at the Merced Multicultural Arts Center 645 W. Main Street, Merced, CA, USA. Mr. Alarcón will read from his bilingual book for children Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems / Jitomates risueños y otros poemas de primavera. Publisher Children’s Book Press’ overview of Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems reads:
From the imagination of poet Francisco X. Alarcón comes this playful and moving collection of twenty
poems about spring in English and Spanish. Tomatoes laugh, chiles explode, and tortillas applaud the sun! With joy and tenderness, delight and sadness, Francisco’s poems honor the wonders of life and nature: welcoming the morning sun, remembering his grandmother’s songs, paying tribute to children working in the fields, and sharing his dream of a world filled with gardens. Artist Maya Christina Gonzalez invites us to experience the poems with her lively cast of characters—including a spirited grandmother, four vivacious children, and playful pets who tease and delight. Follow them from page to page as they bring the spring season to colorful life.
Alarcón is an award-winning poet, educator and author of 12 volumes of poetry. Raised in Mexico and California, he refers to himself as a “bi-national, bicultural, bilingual poet” and writes for children and adults in English and Spanish. His children’s books vividly paint pictures of Latino culture, family, fun, and flavor and have won such prestigious awards as the American Library Association’s Pura Belpré Honor Award and the Américas Award Commended Title. Alarcón was a featured speaker at Talleres de Poesia’s inaugural Children’s Poetry Festival held last November in El Salvador
Merced Arts Council Executive Director Staci Santa encourages children and their families to come down and enjoy the event. She says “Francisco seamlessly weaves language, art and diversity in an accessible and joyful way that makes everyone who meets him happier. The arts council is excited to bring Mr. Alarcón to Merced to share the beautiful languages and images in his children’s books to kids young and young at heart.”
To download the event poster click here.
*****
This week’s Poetry Friday is hosted at Book Aunt – head on over.
By: Rene Colato Lainez,
on 2/23/2011
ABOUT THE AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR
ABOUT CHILDREN’S BOOK PRESS
By: Rene Colato Lainez,
on 9/29/2010
Author René Colato Laínez has organized a two-week virtual book tour for his book, From North to South / Del Norte al Sur. The book tour was launched on Monday with the premier of a video book trailer. Yesterday an interview with Executive Editor, Dana Goldberg was featured. We have lots of other exciting things planned, including a FREE give-away of the book to three lucky winners to be announced at the end of the book tour on Oct. 11th. Just leave your comments on the blogs everyday and you'll be entered to win. Where exactly is this blog tour happening, you ask? Read on to find out!
By: Aline Pereira,
on 9/16/2010
As Aline mentioned in her post below, “Claiming Face” on Hispanic Heritage Month, Children’s Book Press will be celebrating their 35th Anniversary this fall. The anniversary celebrations will kick-off on September 26th with a free family-oriented public event at the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library (100 Larkin St. @ Grove, San Francisco, CA, USA) between 2:00 to 4:00 pm. There, Children’s Book Press will celebrate its dynamic community authors, artists, supporters, partners, and the many friends who have been part of a long and nationally renowned publishing history. With music provided by the 14-piece youth salsa band, Futuro Picante, this event will also highlight two new books published this year, with readings by René Colato Laínez, author of From North to South / Del Norte al Sur and Angela Domínguez, illustrator of Let Me Help! /¡Quiero ayudar! Light refreshments will be served. RSVP on Facebook or email publicity(at)childrensbookpress(dot)org
On October 7 at 7:00pm, Children’s Book Press will be holding No Small Matter: A Fundraiser for Children’s Book Press
at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (701 Mission St., San Francisco). This event will honor Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. for his work exploring the American identity, and Children’s Book Press founder Harriet Rohmer for her vision and legacy. Attendees will enjoy they dynamic artistry of Gregangelo & Velocity Circus, featuring whirling dervishes, contortionists and images taken from Children’s Book Press’ anthology, On My Block. The event will close with the swirling colors and pounding rhythms of Non Stop Bhangra, a dance troupe that combines traditional Punjabi folk music with hip hop, reggae, and electronica. Former California State Senator Art Torres will serve as Master of Ceremonies. Tickets are $70/person and can be purchased here.
By: Rene Colato Lainez,
on 8/31/2010
By: Rene Colato Lainez,
on 8/4/2010
By: Aline Pereira,
on 7/12/2010
A few weeks ago, I attended a reading by First Nations authors at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission session held in Winnipeg (which I also posted about recently) and was introduced to the stories of the engaging and entertaining First Nations writer, Richard Van Camp. I immediately sought out his books at the library and came home with What’s the Most Beautiful Thing You Know About Horses, illustrated by George Littlechild (Children’s Book Press, 1998) and A Man Called Raven (Children’s Book Press, 1997).
As soon as I got these books, I read them to my daughter and she was completely taken in by
them. She was struck especially by the lesson conveyed in A Man Called Raven wherein a mysterious man teaches some boys not to be cruel to ravens. She also thought the books were very colorful and indeed, George Littlechild’s illustrations are very vibrant. A week after we read the books together (and we’d been to the zoo and seen a crane which I pointed out to my daughter was the bird in the famous Japanese folktale, the Crane Wife), my daughter kept asking me for the ‘crane’ book. What crane book? I wondered. The one we read before, she said. I was puzzled until I finally clued in that she was referring to A Man Called Raven, except that she’d mixed up the birds! That was a funny moment in mixing up symbols! However culturally disparate, both stories do feature shape shifting birds. I’ll not tell you anymore though; you can seek out the stories yourselves!
For more about Richard Van Camp, you can check the PaperTigers website here in Personal Views and here for an interview with Richard.
By: Aline Pereira,
on 2/16/2010
Founded in 1975, Children’s Book Press is a nonprofit independent publisher of multicultural and bilingual literature by and about people from the Latino, African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Native American communities. Their stories promote “lived and shared experiences of cultures who have been historically under-represented or misrepresented in children’s literature while also focusing on promoting inter-cultural and cross-cultural awareness for children of all backgrounds.”
Children’s Book Press is the publisher of The Storyteller’s Candle, one of the seven books selected for inclusion in our Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set Donation Project. Dana Goldberg, Executive Editor, answered my questions about the book and other topics related to multicultural children’s literature:
AP: How did The Storyteller’s Candle come about as a project for Children’s Book Press?
DG: Our former Executive Director approached Lucía Gonzalez at a conference, and they got to talking about Pura Belpré. The idea to do a book with Lucía about Pura came from that meeting.
AP: When you acquired Lucia’s manuscript, did you expect the book to be as successful as it’s turned out to be?
DG: We did have high expectations for the book. The manuscript was just perfect — Lucía is a master storyteller, so we knew the book would be reviewed favorably in that respect. We knew there would be significant interest on the part of librarians everywhere, and from the Latino community in general. Pura was so influential to so many people, to so many generations of children. From the very beginning we had an inkling we had a hit on our hands.
AP: Did you consider other illustrators for the book, or was Lulu Delacre the most natural choice? What can you tell us about the pairing up of Lucia’s work with Lulu’s art?
DG: It was Lucía’s idea to approach Lulu, since the two of them had worked together before on the The Bossy Gallito and Senor Cat’s Romance and Other Favorite Stories from Latin America. It seemed very natural to bring those two amazingly talented women together again for this particular book. Pura Belpré was the first Puerto Rican librarian in New York, and Lucía felt very connected to her because she too is a librarian and a storyteller, and Lulu had the connection of being from Puerto Rico and having the firsthand cultural knowledge that goes along with the story.
AP: How do you think the public’s attitude toward multicultural and bilingual books for children has changed since CBP was founded, in 1975?
DG: There’s a much greater acceptance of multicultural and bilingual books among parents, teachers, and librarians. But you still find a lot of resistance (or ignorance) among some booksellers who don’t know what to do with those books, or how to categorize them or where to display them in their stores. For example, instead of putting our books in the children’s section, some stores put them in the foreign language section. And in some academic circles there is debate over whether bilingual books help or hinder children learning English as a second language. But we’ve heard very positive things from teachers who work with ESL/ELL populations; they love our books because it’s like getting two books in one. I al
By: Rene Colato Lainez,
on 2/3/2010
On Monday, Febrary 1st my picture book MY SHOES AND I was released! Look for it on line or in your favorite bookstore.
When I was fourteen years old, my father and I crossed the Mexican/ USA border. I still remember those new shoes that my mother sent me from the United Stated. My shoes traveled with me all the way from El Salvador. At the end of the long and tiring journey my shoes had holes everywhere. In MY SHOES AND I, I am telling my story and the stories of thousands of children who need to cross borders in order to accomplish their dreams. Fabricio Vanden Broeck illustrated the book using the retablo's style. My Shoes and I was published by Boyds Mills.
Here is the text of the first scene:
For Christmas, Mamá sent me a new pair of shoes from the United States.
I love my new shoes. They walk everywhere I walk. They jump every time I jump. They run as fast as me. We always cross the finish line at the same time.
“Mario, these are very good shoes for the trip,” Papá says.
Papá tells me that it is a very long trip. We need to cross three countries. But no matter how long the trip will be, I will get there. My shoes will take me anywhere.
Rene Colato Lainez is the Salvadoran award-winning author of many children’s books. In 1985, René, his shoes, and his father left El Salvador to come to the United States. Now, René lives in Los Angeles, California, where he is a teacher.
Fabricio Vanden Broeck has illustrated a number of books for children. He teaches at the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana in Mexico City, where he lives.
By: Rene Colato Lainez,
on 6/24/2009
By: Rene Colato Lainez,
on 2/18/2009
A message from Lorraine Garcia-Nakata
Publisher & Executive Director
Children's Book Press
Dear Friends and New Friends:
I need your help.
Children's Book Press continues to receive national recognition and awards....and with that comes increased demand for our books. Our challenge is having the cash flow needed to reprint the books in order to meet that demand. It is an interesting position and why I am asking for your help in order to make sure we continue to produce first voice children's books that reflect experiences of African-American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Latino, and Indigenous communities.
Here is how you can help.
*Make a gift of $1, $5, $10 or more to our Children's Book Press Measure of Success Campaign supporting a book printing and production fund. I'm serious, no gift is too small. This campaign can really take hold when you make your gift and send this message onto your friends and colleagues asking them to do the same. Yes, ask them to pass it onto their contacts and that's how we will meet our much-needed goal of $400,000 by May 2009. Children, teachers, and families all over the country are counting on our books.
Click here to give online: http://www.childrensbookpress.org/support.html
By mail: (If check, make out to Children's Book Press), memo notation: Measure of Success Campaign.
Mail to:
MOS Campaign, Children's Book Press
965 Mission St., Ste. 425
San Francisco, CA 94103
Our 33 year-old-non-profit independent Press has been side swiped by the tough economic storm that we are all experiencing. It is serious, but I am not one to freeze in the road. Instead, in the spirit of our new national leadership, I am asking for your help so that we can make sure our work will continue on behalf of kids and families here and abroad.
You can make that difference!
My warmest thanks,
Lorraine Garcia-Nakata
Publisher & Executive Director
Children's Book Press
965 Mission Street, Suite 425
San Francisco, CA 94103
[email protected]
www.childrensbookpress.org
Reblogged this on Poetry by Pamela.
As a special educator I have appreciated, benefited, and learned from Teaching Tolerance over the years. However, this list of books has a glaring omission – disability awareness. If we are going to mix it up, we need to mix up the special ed table too.