Welcome to this week's Nonfiction Monday Round-Up. If you'd like to join in, please leave your name, your link, and a description of your post in the comment section below. I'll add links throughout the day, beginning at 6 am on the West Coast.
Today, an interview with award-winning author Erica Silverman, whose picture book biography, Liberty's Voice: The Story of Emma Lazarus (illustrated by Stacey Schuett) was published this spring.
Why did you choose to write a biography of Emma Lazarus? What drew you, personally, to her story?
There is so much about her that intrigues me and that I admire.
Her passion for poetry from an early age was something I identified with. I was impressed by her strong need to learn and grow as a writer. She was a strong, independent woman, a successful writer in the late nineteenth century – a time when women had little voice in the public sphere and were decades away from winning the vote. And then, despite coming from a life of comfort and privilege, she became a strong voice for social justice. She became an active advocate for immigrants at a time when anti-immigrant sentiment was on the rise. And she was courageous, confronting anti-Semitism head-on in her writing, despite the fact that she traveled in mostly non-Jewish circles and was no doubt aware of the anti-Semitic attitudes among her own friends. She described herself as not being religious and yet had a strong Jewish identity and a strong feeling for Jewish history. She was in so many ways an independent thinker.
How do you think children might relate to Emma?
I hope they see her as a role model, are inspired by the fact that she followed her dream, listened to her “voice within”, and wasn’t afraid to speak out for her beliefs. I hope her willingness to stand up for immigrants' rights empowers them to speak up for their beliefs. I also hope they will see how poetry, which we don’t take very seriously as a culture, can actually be powerful and important. Lazarus’ poem, The New Colossus, quite literally defined the Statue of Liberty as our most well-known and loved nation
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By: Michelle Markel,
on 4/18/2011
Blog: The Cat and the Fiddle (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Nonfiction Monday Erica Silverman on Liberty's Voice: The Emma Lazarus story; Picture Book Biographi, Add a tag
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By: Michelle Markel,
on 4/18/2011
Blog: The Cat and the Fiddle (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Nonfiction Monday Erica Silverman on Liberty's Voice: The Emma Lazarus story; Picture Book Biographi, Add a tag
16 Comments on Erica Silverman on Liberty's Voice: The Story of Emma Lazarus, last added: 4/18/2011
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Wild About Nature blog is giving away a copy of Flowers Bloom! by Mary Dodson Wade.
http://wildaboutnaturewriters.blogspot.com/2011/04/nonfiction-monday-flowers-bloom.html
Thanks for hosting this week!
Thanks for hosting! I love picture book biographies, so I enjoyed your interview.
This week I posted a booktalk/review of Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot at http://booksdogsandfrogs.wordpress.com/2011/04/18/kakapo-rescue-saving-the-worlds-strangest-parrot/
Sarah
Ha, I have a book about cats! Perfect! http://jeanlittlelibrary.blogspot.com/2011/04/nonfiction-monday-maine-coons-super-big.html
Just in time for spring! Check out Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Julie Paschkis: http://bookmuse.wordpress.com/2011/04/18/summer-birds/
Enjoy!
Thanks for hosting! I've got an interview with illustrator Zachary Pullen and lots of art from Richard Michelson's picture book biography of Lipman Pike: http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=2119.
Thank you for hosting. Today at SimplyScience I have At the Sea Floor Cafe by Lesley Bulion as part of the Peachtree Publishers blog tour.
http://simplyscience.wordpress.com/2011/04/12/at-the-sea-floor-cafe/
Shirley
Thanks for hosting! I wrote about The Thinking Girl's Treasury of Real Princeses today-- http://charlotteslibrary.blogspot.com/2011/04/thinking-girls-treasury-of-real.html
I really enjoyed your interview. Another great book about Emma Lazarus is Emma's Poem, a Sydney Taylor honor award recipient.
Today at Lori Calabrese Writes, I review
National Geographic's Deadliest Animals
Thanks for hosting!
Nonfiction Book Blast has Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith for this week.
http://nonfictionbookblast.wordpress.com/2011/04/18/charles-and-emma-the-darwins-leap-of-faith/
Thank you.
Thanks for hosting! Loved the interview. I definitely want to check out the book, especially since my daughter is named Emma Lazarus, and, spooky coincidence, was born on November 19, the day Emma Lazarus the poet died!
This week I have a review of Who Scoops Elephant Poo? It's at:
http://thecathinthehat.blogspot.com/2011/04/who-scoops-elephant-poo.html
As with Sarah, picture book biograhies are my favorite too. I really enjoyed the interview. Thanks for hosting nonfiction Monday! True Tales & A Cherry on Top features THE BROTHERS KENNEDY * JOHN * ROBERt * EEDWARD by Kathleen Krull, and an appreciative nod to The Peace Corps
http://jeannewalkerharvey.blogspot.com/2011/04/brothers-kennedy.html
Today I have a review of Patrick McDonnell's adorable picture book about Jane Goodall, Me...Jane.
Here's the link:
http://fourthmusketeer.blogspot.com/2011/04/nonfiction-monday-book-review-mejane-by.html
Bookends Blog is soaring today with two Amelia Earhart books at http://bookends.booklistonline.com/2011/04/18/amelia-lost-by-candace-fleming/
Thanks for hosting!
Thanks for hosting.
My selection is "Piano Starts Here: the young Art Tatum" written and illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker. Drop by and listen to this Jazz great at his best.
Thanks so much for hosting! Very interesting interview.
Over at Great Kid Books, I've shared Ask Me Everything, a new DK book that my students have loved! They love the visuals, the facts and the way it's all organized by questions they can ask themselves and each other.
http://greatkidbooks.blogspot.com/2011/04/look-now-world-in-facts-stats-and.html
Mary Ann
http://shelf-employed.blogspot.com/2011/04/time-for-bath-time-to-eat.html
A late add from me, sorry. I was at a baseball game. :)