How to use this Page

Add a Comment

here is my APPROVED sketch for the winter 2011/2012 cover for stories for children magazine www.storiesforchildrenmagazine.com. i am so excited to have been given this opportunity to have my work showcased on the cover of such a wonderful magazine for children. the art director, rosemarie www.rosemariegillen.com, has just been so amazing to me in the last few months, allowing me to do an illustration for each issue. i absolutely love contributing and i love the challenge that each new piece brings.
this piece has a special place in my heart. as everyone who knows me knows i am CRAZY about WINTER! seriously. i love it all...snow, ice, cold air, winter sports...all of the wonders of winter. and december is my favorite month of the year. i swear i could probably live in an igloo and be ecstatically happy (yeah, i love winter THAT much)!
i wanted to convey the playfulness of childhood in winter and what better way than to illustrate a group of cute little multi-cultural kids building a snowman...and a cute snowman at that;) teamwork at it's best!
thank you again to rosemarie for being so sweet to me and for giving me all of the opportunities she has in the last few months to work with her and her team at such a great publication!

Add a Comment

I just finished Padma Venkatraman's WONDERFUL Climbing the Stairs. I was sent this ARC Copy and asked to review this on my blog. As I thoroughly enjoy literature set in India - I was thrilled to do so! It was a book that I thoroughly enjoyed. I enjoyed seeing the culture of India through 15 year-old Vidya's eyes. Vidya is not at all trapped by her society's view of women - she wants to go to college and progress on her own terms! I like that about this fun protagonist - she is spunky and not afraid to "buck" a bit. Her life is not easy - but that is the beauty of this book! I was captured from page one and plan to tell my teens all about it! This one is NOT to be missed!

Add a Comment

I absolutely LOVE Global Wonders - their DVD's have been checking out like crazy at our library and my own daugther begs me often to bring another one home!! SO when they sent me their CD: Around the World Music - I was thrilled. It DOES NOT disappoint - the music is fun and gives a nice feel for music from other cultures. Don't miss this one! It is planned to be a series, and I am excited about that!

Here is what Global Wonders says:

Global Wonders™ Unveils ‘Around the World Music,’ Bringing Children and Families an Authentic Global Musical Experience Just in time for World Music Day

* * *

Available Exclusively Beginning May 19^th on iTunes and May 26^th on Amazon.com

Features Emmy Award Winning Composer and Culturally Authentic Musical Performances Creating a Fun and Educational Experience

Global Wonders: Around the World Music. Featuring authentic cultural styles, original compositions and fun sing-a-long songs, the album helps parents nurture cultural awareness in their children by exploring new rhythms and musical genres from around the world.

Global Wonders is an award-winning brand of children’s cross-cultural entertainment and education. The new album follows the successful launch of the Global Wonders DVD series and iTunes children’s video podcast, which shot to the top 10 in iTunes’ Kids & Family category.

Global Wonders: Around the World Music is produced and composed by Emmy Award winner Jim Latham, whose work includes original songs, themes and scores for a variety of children's programming (JoJo's Circus, Dragon Tales, and Disney Princess: A Christmas of Enchantment). For Global Wonders, Latham leveraged his broad musical experiences to meet the challenge of creating an album that was kid-friendly, culturally authentic and educational.

The first album in what will be an ongoing series , Around the World Music includes the Global Wonders Theme Song (A Great Big World) featuring a catchy sing-along chorus with layers of instruments from eight different countries, including an Indian Sitar, Australian Didgeridoo, Japanese Koto, a Ghana log drum and a Scottish Bagpipe. In Global Wonders Hello, children are introduced to words and phrases to say “Hello” in 10 different languages.

The album includes 19 songs covering cultures and musical styles from India, Italy, Greece, Mexico, Argentina, Japan, Ireland, Cuba and the United States (New Orleans Jazz, and Hawaiian Tiki). Highlights include a unique version of Vande Mataram, (India’s national song and the second most popular song in the world, per the BBC), incorporating a children’s choir into the chorus; Go Go Greece, a get-up-and-dance traditional Greek song; Banda Dance from Mexico; the Bollywood style India Celebrations; and America The Beautiful in a gospel vibe.

Global Wonders: Around the World Music will be available exclusively for download on iTunes beginning May 19, and for order at Amazon.com as of May 26; suggested retail price is $9.99. A music video, Global Wonders: Hello, also is available on iTunes .

Add a Comment

If you know anything about me - you know I am ALL about cultural awareness. Even long before we adopted our daughter, Chloe, from China, I tried to fill my boys' lives with awareness of other cultures. Being a librarian - we read books that build a sense of "culture" into our lives, I do what I can to stress that America isn't the only culture out there and that, even in America, we all live very differently. We make it a point to learn about where the missionaries our church supports live - we even email them periodically just to get a "feel" for their culture. We have done different reports on countries that we want to learn more about; and our favorite?? We celebrate holidays from other cultures. Since getting Chloe, we celebrate the New Moon Festival every fall AND Chinese New Year. We attend an FCC Chinese New Year event each year that our whole family looks forward to. We are BIG fans of Putumayo CD's - and bringing music from different cultures into our home as well. SO, when I saw an annoucenment for these DVD's on TwitterMoms - I was just thrilled. We need more awareness of how others live - and these DVD's look wonderful for helping us do just that. Global Wonders are a set of DVD's that are put out to encourage kids to celebrate and learn about other cultures. They are quality - they have catchy tunes and characters that keep kids excited and interested. There are 4 DVD's out now - Around the World, Mexico, India, and African-American - with more to be relased soon - China, Italy and America. Make sure and check out their accompanying CD's - what a great series!
I would love, if you read this, for you to leave me a comment telling us all what you do to encourage cultural awareness - let's share the ideas and ALL benefit!!

Display Comments Add a Comment

Kira Lynn, Kane/Miller's Publisher, was interviewed recently for Cynsations, the blog written by author, educator, speaker, and of course, kidlit blogger, Cynthia Leitich Smith.

The questions she was asked:

What kind of young reader were you?

What inspired you to make children's literature your career focus?

How about publishing specifically?

How did you prepare for this career?

How did you break into the business?

How did you get from day one to your current position?

What makes Kane/Miller special? How is it different from other houses?

Would you please describe the list?

How are your books acquired?

Why is international/multicultural publishing important to you? To young readers?

In what ways does the house work with and/or reach out to teachers and librarians?

What new directions should we know about?

What new books are you especially excited about in 2008?

How have you seen publishing change for the better since you began your career? What are the new challenges?

What do you do outside your editorial/publishing life?

Is there anything you would like to add?

Her answers can be found here...

Add a Comment

by Lisa Smith

We are all familiar with the US version of the Valentine’s Celebration – but how do other cultures celebrate the Holiday?

In the UK a character called 'Jack' Valentine knocks on the rear door of houses leaving sweets and presents for children.

In Wales many people celebrate St Dwynwen's Day on 25 January instead of, or as well as, St Valentine's Day. The day commemorates St Dwynwen, the patron saint of Welsh lovers.

In Finland, Valentine's Day is called Ystävänpäivä which translates into "Friend's day". As the name says, this day is more about remembering your friends than your loved ones.

In Slovenia, a proverb says that "St Valentine brings the keys of roots," so on February 14, plants and flowers start to grow. Another proverb says "Valentin - prvi spomladin" ("Valentine — first saint of spring"), as in some places, Saint Valentine marks the beginning of spring.

To put a unique spin on Valentine’s Day try incorporating some of the other special traditions practiced by cultures around the world.

• Leave a present for your child on the doorstep from Jack Valentine.

• Spend time with your friends and encourage your children to do the same. Focus on fellowship more than the feelings of love.

• Plant flowers, trees or bushes in celebration of the coming of Spring.
  

Valentine’s Day can be a fun and memorable day for children, families, parents and singles alike if we look at the Holiday through a different pair of eyes.

Add a Comment

MANTRA WINS TWO AWARDS AT THE EDUCATION SHOW
21-04-2006

The 2006 "Education Show" was held at the NEC in Birmingham,UK. Mantra Lingua's "Little Red Hen and the Grains of Wheat" won the WOW award given by the National Literacy Association (NLA).The book "caught the panel's attention because of its sumptuous illustrations with their determined and joyful appeal which give the familiar text a resonance. Witty, with a juggling cat and a duck on stilts, this will be a favourite in primary classrooms.There is a helpful list of keywords in translation in every edition, so you get a literacy resource for two languages, great for multilingual classroom.

Add a Comment