How to use this Page

Today’s blog post is part of our Stories For All Project series, focused on sharing the latest announcements and impact stories about our effort to put diverse, inclusive books into the hands of kids.

Last week, we announced our latest action in the Stories for All Project – we selected six outstanding titles that showcase characters and storylines often underrepresented in  children’s literature and are making 10,000 copies of each title available in affordable trade paperback format for the first time ever.

The first three titles are available now on the First Book Marketplace and in Target stores nationwide.

“Niño Wrestles the World”

Written and illustrated by Yuyi Morales, celebrates play and the power of the imagination through the unforgettable, underpants-wearing Niño. Pulling from Mexican folklore, Morales pits a series of silly, slightly spooky opponents against Niño. But no foe can stand up to the cunning competitor. He takes down his challengers with a Slish! Boop! Crunch! – playfully defeating each one. Winner of the Pura Belpre Illustrator Award for affirming Latino culture and experience, and the SCBWI Golden Kite Picture Book Illustration Honor.

“And Tango Makes Three”

Written by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell and illustrated by Henry Cole, follows two male penguins in the Central Park Zoo through their fruitless efforts to hatch a rock. One day a zookeeper gives the dedicated fathers-to-be an extra egg that needs to be cared for. From this egg comes Tango, the very first penguin in the zoo to have two daddies. Based on a true story, winner of the ASPCA Henry Bergh Award.

“Tiger in My Soup“

Written by Kashmira Sheth and illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbeler, features a young Indian-American boy determined to make his older sister read aloud his favorite story about a ferocious tiger. When she repeatedly puts him off, his imagination takes over and the tiger springs from his alphabet soup. An epic battle between boy and tiger commences, all behind the back of the distracted sister. While the hero eventually gets both his story and his reheated soup, he keeps a wary eye out for the tiger’s return.

“Boats for Papa”

Written and illustrated by new author/illustrator Jessixa Bagley, explores the healing love between a child and parent. Buckley the beaver loves to carve toy boats out of driftwood from the beach nearby. With Mama’s permission, he sends a boat out to sea for his father, whom he misses very much. Buckley believes that if the boat does not come back, it must have reached his Papa. He sends boat after boat to Papa, each one more beautiful that the last. Then one day

Buckley finds all of his boats carefully collected and kept by his Mama. Buckley sends one last boat – this time with a new message.

“Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah”

Written by first-time picture book author Laurie Ann Thompson and illustrated by Sean Qualls, is an inspiring true story about triumph over adversity. Born in Ghana with one disabled leg, Emmanuel was dismissed by most people, but taught by his mother to reach for his dreams. He hopped to school more than two miles each way, learned to play soccer, left home at age 13 to provide for his family, and eventually became a cyclist. In 2011, he rode an astonishing four hundred miles across Ghana spreading his powerful message: disability is not inability.

“Knock Knock: My Dad’s Dream for Me”

Written by Daniel Beaty and illustrated by Bryan Collier, is a heartbreaking and hopeful story about love and loss. Every morning, a boy and his father play a game. While the boy pretends to sleep, his father knocks on the door and approaches the bed to say, “I love you.” One day, there is no knock. This powerful and inspiring book shows the love that an absent parent can leave behind and the strength that children find in themselves as they grow up and follow their dreams. Winner of the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award.

The post Six Diverse Stories: Our 2015 Stories for All Project Selections appeared first on First Book Blog.

Add a Comment

Strange things keep turning up in the right hand side of the page. (If you're reading this on a feed, you might want to click over to http://journal.neilgaiman.com/ and refresh a few times. I'm just saying...)

Jodi

Because seven years ago, when it started, things like comments were unheard of, outside of a couple of the secret blogging laboratories on the Moon, and when, a few years back, Blogger introduced them, I was happy with the way things were - mostly because I knew the volume of stuff that comes in on the FAQ line, could only imagine the volume of comments we'd get, and knew how horribly interesting a good comment place can be. (Making Light is the best example, where the original post is the tip of an iceberg, and then things get really interesting or strange -- each comment thread can be a good day's reading, filled with interesting stuff.) Which meant, I suspected, that if I turned on the comments I'd ever get any actual work done again.


Tina @ ALA

Good to know. I think it's a great idea. (Also, I was pleased to hear that Fourth Street is returning.)

If the snow effect you're talking about is the same one I saw at 3000m in the Haute Savoie (which makes it sound more impressive than "on a skiing holiday"), then it's called diamond dust. Single ice crystals formed in very low air temperatures, like being inside a frozen cloud.

It takes something special to make a dozen lads on a booze/wintersports holiday all shut up and gawp, but that did it. On a sunny, blue-sky day too, the air just sparkled.

It sounds like a local version of that. Right now we've got an "arctic front" with 45 mph winds gusting the just-fallen snow around in blinding howls, and I'm not looking forward to dogwalking...

Hey Neil! Any chance of getting a direct link to the original post for what comes out of the oracle?


We talked about it a while ago, and then forgot. I'll ask Da Goblin. In the meantime you can always cut and paste it into the site search engine at http://neilgaiman.com/p/Search
and unless it's something unusual (I just tried it and it gave me a question mark) it should be easy to see where it came from.

Has the Oracle ever said anything other than "You have to actually shake it?"

I am starting to lose faith in its power.

You didn't read the instructions at http://www.neilgaiman.com/oracle, did you? I'd particularly refer you to the bit that says "don't just click on it. Shake it." If you click on it, it will say "You actually have to shake it". Only when shaken will the curtain between past and future be lifted, and only then will the oracle pronounce oracularly.

Mr. Gaiman,

First, thank you very much for your blog. It is a delight to read each day--particularly so when you describe just how much work you put into your writing.

I was wondering, though, about where you write. You have talked about your pens and paper and your ink, and I have seen many references to the small cabin in which you write, but I was wondering if your could (if you haven't already) describe the writing shack. I'm always curious about the conditions in which writing is produced, and the idea of a writing shack fascinates me. Do you always try to write in the same place? Before you had a writing shack, did you find similar places to write? Do you find that you grow attached to the place itself and that writing in other conditions (i.e. places, pens, papers) is difficult?

Thanks, again, for sharing all of this with us, and I apologize if my questions have been asked and answered elsewhere.

Cheers

Scott


While I was typing this the sun came out. I may take a few photos of the gazebo at the bottom of the garden, which is where I'm currently doing a lot of writing, mostly because it's the easiest place to write with a large white dog, and post them. The rest of the writing is occurring in the small hours of the morning on a sofa.

I can write pretty much anywhere, in truth, although I like going places I've not been before. I like travelling, in moderation, and I like being in new places, and I especially like being in new places to write.

Meanwhile, here's a ten-year-old-photograph of me in the Patagonian town they named after my kind...



...

The Mysterious Thing Post will go up tonight.

Add a Comment