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In her post at the beginning of the month, Aline talked about books which help young people gain some insight into what it means to be a refugee, in light of World Refugee Day on the 20th June – and in fact we decided to bring her post up to the top on Friday to keep the day at the forefront of our minds.

She mentioned Four Feet, Two Sandals by Karen Williams and Khadra Mohammed (Eerdman, US 2008) and this really is a particularly special book for giving an idea of what life is like for children in a refugee camp.

Two other books for younger children which also highlight some of the difficulties faced by refugees but also, crucially, that in essence children are children the world over, are:

A True Person By Gabiann Marin, illustrated by Jacqui Grantford (New Frontier Publishing, 2007), in which a young girl, Zallah, is living with her mother in an Australian immigration detention centre, while they wait to hear if they will be allowed to stay in Australia - see our full review here; and…

One Green Apple by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Ted Lewin (Clarion Books, 2006), which tells the story of Farah, who has recently arrived in the US from the Middle East. She is not finding it easy to cope with a new culture and language – but on this, her second day of school, she is going on a field trip to an apple orchard and it is a chance for Farah and her classmates to make the first steps towards friendship and learn that there are ways to get over any barrier of language. Tone of voice, gestures, smiles – all these help to make Farah begin to feel welcome and recognise that some things can and will be just like they were at home.

Perhaps what makes the story so powerful is that Farah herself is the narrator – through the picture-book medium, Eve Bunting has given a clear voice to all those young people who arrive in a new place feeling vulnerable and unable to communicate. It is a story but it reflects certain aspects of reality – not everyone is nice and there are references to intolerance and impatience: but the overriding message for children in Farah’s situation is that it is possible to feel whole again; and it serves as a compelling reminder to children generally how to make a newcomer feel welcome and reassured.

Lewin’s stunning illustrations also deserve a special mention – they enhance the insight offered by the story through their perfectly attuned observation of body language as much as verbal communication; his children’s faces are perfect, whatever their expression. And the word luminosity comes to my mind every time I look at them, they are so enfused with dappled sunlight.

These are all well-written and beautifully presented books, which will make young children ponder, and probably ask lots of questions. Certainly they are best read aloud the first time they are introduced. Can anyone else recommend books for reading aloud to children which touch on the experiences of young refugees?

I am creating a list of writing partnerships for my students’ Literary Essay Unit of Study based on the texts they’ve selected to examine, from the packet of 11 texts I gave them, for their literary essay. Would you believe that only five of the six texts are represented from the packet?!!? I’m [...]

During our common planning time today, my colleagues and I brainstormed a list of texts we’re going to have students select from for their literary essays. Many people think that kids should pick whatever book they’re reading, I’ve come to believe that having children select from a pre-selected set of short texts is better. [...]

"We regret, too, the no-children rule. Some of us feel that Children bring nothing but Joy to all occasions; others feel differently, and this is a discussion we’ve agreed to table until a later time. (Not too much later! Tick tick tick . . .) If it’s any consolation, you’ll be sparing your Little Loved Ones many painful inoculations, and then there’s the whole child-slavery thing."

That's an excerpt from Larry Doyle's insane faux-wedding evite in The New Yorker--the first hyperlinked funny story in that magazine, as far as I know.

Besides writing humor pieces for My Favorite Magazine, Doyle has written scripts for The Simpsons and HBO. He's visiting The Publishing Spot this week to talk about his debut novel, I Love You, Beth Cooper. We'll explore that book later this week. Today, Doyle discusses how he built his web community.

Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web publishing.

Jason Boog:
You have a website, a blog, and a collection of yearbook pictures to support your new book. How did you build online community and resources for your book?  How do you communicate with readers? Any advice for a first-time novelist build an online community?

Larry Doyle:
Everything I did was by brute force. Continue reading...