By: Aline Pereira,
on 7/6/2010
Esme Raji Codell, Monica Edinger and Pete Cowdin talk about summer reading for kids on NPR’s On Point show. You can see their book recommendations and listen to the broadcast here.
By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 3/29/2010
Congrats to our own JoAnn Early Macken on the fabulous review of Waiting Out The Storm in The Washington Post this weekend. (She might be too modest to mention it, but I am not! She also happens to be in excellent company.) If you'd like to win a copy of this terrific read-aloud for young kids, post a comment here by 11 pm Thursday, CST.
Thanks to Mary Roy for the following question:
By: Heidi Estrin,
on 12/11/2009
SHOW NOTES:
An impromptu discussion among Heidi Estrin, Mark Blevis of the Just One More Book podcast, author Richard Michelson and author/readiologist Esme Raji Codell during a party at the Planet Esme Book Room. Of seasonal interest: among other things, we discussed potential winners of the 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Award. We'll find out if we were right next month in January 2010!
AUDIO:
Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:
Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.
EMBED:
If you'd like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!
CREDITS:
Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel
Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries
Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
Facebook fan page: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
Twitter: @bookoflifepod
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By: Megan Germano,
on 10/29/2009
Look at this!!!! Look at all my friends! I am so excited for all of you who are listed. If you check out my sidebar, you will find MANY of these blogs listed as the Best 100 Book Blogs for Kids. I think it is WONDERFUL!
(I tried to tag all my cyber buds, but there were too many!)
By: Heidi Estrin,
on 7/10/2009
During the Association of Jewish Libraries convention in Chicago, IL, I had the chance to visit the Planet Esme Bookroom, otherwise known as "the Gingerbread Apartment" because of its whimsical architecture. The Bookroom is a real treat for kidlit fans, stuffed to the gills with books, toys, and reading-related decorations. Every detail has been lovingly thought out to make visitors smile, from the wolf and sheep puppets lying peacefully together atop the photocopier, to the cuckoo clock that sings out the time.
The Bookroom is the brainchild of Esme Raji Codell, author of Sydney Taylor Honor Book Vive la Paris, AJL Notable Book Hanukkah Shmanukkah, and the inspiring book for teachers, Educating Esme, among many others. It functions as a private salon where she hosts events that celebrate literature, like the wonderful pizza party she threw for lovers of Judaica during the AJL Convention.
To see an album of photos from the Planet Esme Pizza Party, visit The Book of Life's Facebook fan page at facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast. (You can view it even if you're not a Facebook member... but if you are a member, please do become a fan while you're there!)
I recorded several interviews during the party, so watch The Book of Life for upcoming conversations with Esme herself, along with Rich Michelson, Mark Blevis, Lisa Silverman, April Halprin Wayland, and Jenny Meyerhoff.
BONUS STUFF:
Listen to an audio tour of the Bookroom recorded at the 2007 Kidlit Bloggers conference by podcaster Mark Blevis of Just One More Book.
See more pictures and learn more about the Bookroom from the ALA librarians who followed in AJL's footsteps, visiting the Bookroom for a brunch later the same week. Fuse #8 blogged about ALA 2009, A Visit to Planet Esme's Bookroom.
By: Julie Fortenberry,
on 6/20/2008
By: Barbara Bietz,
on 11/12/2007
Esme Raji Codell is an author and certified readiologist. I first learned about Esme, a young urban teacher with big dreams in her acclaimed memoir, EDUCATING ESME. Years later, I began reading her children’s books, and was delighted when an advance reader copy of VIVE LE PARIS arrived in my mailbox for review. I was immediately pulled into the story, promptly took off my reviewer hat, curled up in a chair and savoured every page. When I learned the book was awarded the Sydney Taylor Honor Award for “outstanding contribution to Jewish Literature,” I was not surprised!
Esme is passionate about books, literacy, and children. I am thrilled beyond measure that she was willing to share her thoughts and insights on my blog.
VIVE LA PARIS is about the relationship of an urban African American girl, and her piano teacher, a holocaust survivor. What was the inspiration for writing a story about the connecting of diverse cultures?
When I was teaching the fifth grade in Chicago to an inner-city classroom of about thirty five kids, I read aloud a book called Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, about children and the Danish resistance during WWII. It was very indirect as to the particulars of the Nazi threat, and none of these children were Jewish or had any prior knowledge of the Holocaust. I was happy to skirt around the atrocities. When the book inspired more probing questions, I answered with the academic equivalent to “Go ask your father,” which is, “go to the library.”
Well, one day, I saw one of my students writing and crying so hard that tears were falling on the page. When I went to see, she was making a word search with words like NAZI AND CREMATORIUM. It turned out that she DID go to the library, and making this word search was her was of processing this information that she had found. I realized that I had chickened out, but I needed something to help me, as a teacher. I needed a book that spoke to all children, especially inner-city children who fight their own wars and injustices every day. I wanted a book that spoke to children now, who are so inundated with media, with images of Rwanda and 9/11 and the Asian tsunami and images from Katrina. So I wrote VIVE LA PARIS specifically from a diverse cultural point of view because I hoped it would be useful in reaching kids from all kinds of backgrounds as a springboard for a larger discussion: how do we deal with the bullies of the world? And, how does history repeat itself, in big ways and in small ways? These questions belong to all cultures. The book can be looked at in this context, but lots of kids also enjoy the straightforward tension of the plot; the idea of a fifth grade girl bullying an eighth grade boy is a big problem, and Paris, the boy’s sister, just gets madder and madder and madder. I think a lot of kids can relate to the idea of an escalating situation, and the desire to solve things peacefully...and just how hard that can be.
VIVE LA PARIS is a companion novel for another book I wrote, SAHARA SPECIAL. Characters appear in both books, so kids who enjoyed SAHARA can see their old friends again, but I was very careful to make sure each book stands on its own. You don’t have to read one to enjoy the other.
Paris, the main character in the book, had no previous knowledge of the Holocaust. Do you think today’s children are lacking exposure to the struggles of previous generations?
I think there’s a fine line between teaching kids the struggles of past generations and discouraging them with the incredible inhumane episodes that recur again and again in the world invented by grown-ups. But in answer to your question, yes, I think generally children could afford to know more about what previous generations have contributed to the present, but then again, I think everyone could afford to know more. I hope history would be approached with a sense of gratitude for what has been sacrificed and endured to arrive at this moment, and with some optimism about the future. Since most history is traditionally taught within a contextual timeline of war, this requires some conscientious effort.
Did you do a lot of research or is VIVE LA PARIS based on personal knowledge and experiences?
I was already well versed in the events of the Holocaust, though lots of facts were checked and re-checked. I did read up a lot on the entertainer Josephine Baker who is referenced in the novel. She really did lead an incredible life, working for the Resistance and dedicating so much of her personal life to the celebration of diversity. But most of VIVE LA PARIS is inspired by my own family, neighbors, children I have taught. There’s no fiction that isn’t born out of a seed of truth.
In HANUKKAH SHMANUKKAH! (Hyperion, 2005), a Jewish version A Christmas Carol, you explore a different historical aspect of the Jewish experience, including the use of humor and Yiddish words. Like Vive La Paris, this story also seems to bridge gaps between generations and communities. Do you see this an a significant theme in your writing?
Gosh, good questions, Barbara! I guess everything about me goes into my books. I grew up in a diverse multicultural neighborhood, and a lot of colloquial Yiddish was used in my home. I had a strong identification as an American, and felt like all American history was my history, including African-American history, which I learned a lot about at home and at school. I was surprised as an adult with the idea that history could belong to one group and not another. Since all the cultures in America, in my mind, should come together in a sense of belonging here, I suppose that shows through in my work.
You began your career as a teacher. Did you always want to write books?
I wanted to be a baseball umpire growing up, and then I wanted to be a scientist, but through it all I always wrote books, diaries. Short stories, articles, poems...sometimes to publish, sometimes not. I have been writing since I was able. It has always been part of who I am, not who I ever wanted to become. I always remind children that being a writer means writing, whether or not you get published, and whatever age you are.
Did your experiences as a teacher inspire your stories?
Oh, yes. Absolutely. Virtually all of my books have something to do with school, and all of my books start with something I want to share with children. I am always conscious of how my book might be used in a classroom, and I always try to write things that are fun to read aloud, since that is the most beneficial classroom approach.
I think I’m obsessed with school because it’s such an ephemeral time. Every school story is also a ghost story, because children change out of their former selves into adults. When I teach, I feel so lucky, I get to experience people during this precious, fleeting time, to know them so early in their own experience of living...and here they are, in this strange place, together: a school. It’s the stuff of great literature!
You have written many books in a variety of genres. Do you have a favorite genre?
I like writing non-fiction best, because I like observing better than having make things up. Inventing a whole fictional universe is exhausting, and requires more choices than a Libra like me can handle. Though I do try.
What are you working on now?
I have three picture books from Greenwillow on the horizon. I am also planning on launching a podcast soon that celebrates the joys of reading and the wonderful work of other authors and illustrators.
What do you like to read?
I like to read children’s books, because they are fast-paced and usually funnier than literature for adults. Realistic fiction and picture books are my favorite genre, though I’ll give anything a go for a few chapters. When I was a child, comic books were my favorite thing to read.
What is your favorite holiday?
Halloween, Johnny Appleseed’s birthday (September 26th) and my son’s birthday.
Do you have hobbies besides writing?
Well, my husband says eating is not a hobby, but I do love everything to do with food: cooking, reading food magazines, trying new restaurants. I love to spend my time listening to music, dancing and singing (usually in the privacy of my own apartment). I am also a rabid collector (I like robots, old Fisher Price toys, anything to do with fairy tales, Halloween collectibles and of course, children’s books and videos), a sloppy but bountiful urban gardener, and I like to plan parties, make puppet shows, blog about my favorite books at www.planetesme.blogspot.com and read aloud. My very favorite thing to do is spend time with friends and family, and make sure they know I love them.
Do you have any pets?
We have two sugar gliders named Amelia and Philippe. They are very old and fat marsupials with a lot of personality. Definitely part of the family.
Can you share a few fun facts about you?
One of my first things I ever had published was a movie review in a newspaper when I was seven years old.
When I was a teenager, I had 200 penpals and often skipped school to write letters to them.
I worked as a doughnut finisher for Dunkin’ Doughnuts. I like their French Cruller and Strawberry Frosted best.
I secretly would like to run a museum, or have a radio show.
Esme, it had been a delight! Thanks for stopping by!
To learn more about Esme, check out her web site at www.PlanetEsme.com
Be a part of the PlanetEsme Plan! www.planetesme.blogpot.com
By: Julie Fortenberry,
on 6/21/2007
Character Design & Illustration:
We love to draw critters but we would never neglect non-critters (aka humans, robots and monsters!) Peruse our portfolio to view our numerous projects. Pixel, vector, handdrawn and more. Our illustrations have been applied for numerous uses from online games to advertising campaigns.
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Jeanne Marie,
You've offered Mary some great advice. And thanks for the reminder to put our friends' books face-out when we find them on sale in a bookstore. I LOVE doing that!
Carmela
This is really great advice!
Thank you, Jeanne Marie! I'll post more about the publication process on Friday.
I love your recommendations! "Write, revise, repeat" is good advice for any writer.
xox,
JA