Celebrate This Week - May 3, 2014


This year, I am trying to increase my awareness of the many good things that happen, which are frequently overlooked by me.  To help me, I am joining Ruth Ayres' Celebrate This Week.

Here's what I am thankful for this week...

This week has been a strange week.  I feel like I have rushed through one day to the next and moving from one meeting or event to the next meeting.  As a result, the week feels like a blur.  However, I do have some things to celebrate.

1.  Surviving April - This year, we had our spring break in March, which meant that April was the long month without any days off.  It was also very, very busy and every weekend too was packed. My mantra was "May is coming."  So, I am celebrating that I survived April.

2.  #WeNeedDiverseBooks - I am so excited that this is trending and that authors, teachers, librarians, students, bloggers and well just about everyone is bringing this need to everyone's attention.  I loved seeing the post on the LA Times website about the campaign going viral.


3. Special Edition Literacy Café -  This week Barbara Brauner and James Mattson came to Roosevelt School and did a literacy café with a group of fourth and fifth graders.  I was thankful for my connection with Scholastic Book Fairs, which helped me be able to provide every student with a copy of The Glitter Trap.



4.  Pasadena Teen Book Fest - I have been waiting to grab some photos from friends in order to do a wrap-up on this event that happened last Saturday, but I haven't had any time this week to search for them or ask friends. Last week, I celebrated that we were having it, and today, I am celebrating that it went well.  I promise better pictures to follow at some point.




5. First Graders - I am really, really enjoying my time in classrooms.  This week, we continued to work on a writing project for Open House (basically taking what we have been learning and applying it in a fun way). I had to take photos of the students for the project. I have enjoyed editing the photos because I am reminded of each of their personalities.

Why #weneeddiversebooks

On April 22nd, I posted this thought to Facebook:
Today I was asked about cultural diversity in books and what recommendations I had for MG and YA books for a book club. In the amount of time that it would normally take me to come up with 150-200 authors, I could only think of about 25 authors. I am sure that there are several that I have forgotten (though I didn't forget 150), but seriously, we need to find ways to encourage and support more authentic cultural diversity in books.
On April 29th, author Kate Messner wrote a blog post entitled, More Than Words: A Challenge for Everyone Who's Been Asking for More Diversity in Kids' Books.

Then came #weneeddiversebooks tumblr page with a Social Media Challenge. 


All day Thursday, people posted pictures to Twitter and Facebook and other sites indicating why they believe we need diverse books.

Here are two of my reasons:


Jax (age 13) #WeNeedDiverseBooks because in life no one's as similar as they imply it in books.  Yes, she came up with this one on her own.  As a bi-racial child in Southern California, Jax is surrounded by an incredible amount of diversity, including many other children who are also bi-racial.  Yet, as a huge reader, how often does she get to see herself represented in a book?
 

Of course, the little one got involved too.  Her sign says, "We need diverse books because if we didn't the books would be the same!"  Though I am not certain how fully she understands the concept, I want to know that as she grows into her identity as a reader that she will be able to find others like her.

One of my biggest reason for wanting to see more diversity in kid lit is that many of the classrooms that I go into on a daily basis are nearly 100% children of color. For years, I have been troubled that they do not get to hear their stories being read aloud in a classroom.  And for students with disabilities, there is even less representation in children's and young adult literature. We need to demand and expect that more authentic diverse stories be written.  We need to support the buying of books with greater diversity within the pages, and we need to support the authors who write these stories.   

My first TED Talk that I discovered is and probably will continue to be my favorite Ted Talk.  It is called The Danger of a Single Story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.  Even if you have listened to it before, please listen to it again in celebration of why #weneeddiversebooks.



For additional resources check out the following Links & Blogs:

Rich in Color 

Diversity in YA 

Disabilities in Kid Lit 

SLJ: The Diversity Issue 

NYT's post by Walter Dean Myers

Special Edition Literacy Café: Barbara Brauner & James Mattson

Today Roosevelt School hosted their first author visit.  When the librarian at the school approached me about inviting in an author, I immediately thought of authors, Barbara Brauner and James Mattson who have written two books in the Oh My Godmother series - The Glitter Trap and The Magic Mistake.


Barbara and James had never done a solo school event before, but I promised that I would make sure that both they and the students had a great time.


When Barbara and Jim arrived at the school, they were greeted by a sign outside and inside....


Previously, I had arranged for the school to receive 25 copies of The Glitter Trap.  The librarian, Ms. Cristina, held a book club and the students who attended the book club were invited to attend the author visit.


It was important that students have a chance to meet and interact with Barbara and Jim.  So, I met with them over lunch to discuss ideas.  They had made "glitter traps" before and thought that would be a fun activity to do with the students.  Barbara is a masterful shopper and must have a secret stash of glitter glue because she came prepared.


James led groups of students as they designed their own glitter traps on paper.
 

In another area of the room, Barbara had students working on a creative writing activity where they wrote about finding a magical moped and where it would take them. We provided each student with a blank journal which they used for the writing activity and also to redesign the cover of the book.


Another talent of Barbara that results from her resourceful shopping is amazing swag bags with magic wands, and frogs and bookmarks.  Since we always have a snack or food at a Literacy Café, I provided popcorn.  If you've read the first book, you'll understand the reference.


After the group work, students gathered around with their snacks and asked Jim and Barbara questions.  I loved when they asked if it was hard to deal with the paparazzi.  Yes, authors really are rock stars to kids.



After the question and answer time, we put Jim and Barbara to work signing all of the books.


Students also asked for their journals to be signed by the awesome writing partners. And of course, more questions were asked while in line.



All of the students had an amazing time visiting with our special guests.  And if anyone was wondering, yes, there were actually quite a few boys who participated in the book club and author visit.  They were just as excited about the book and the characters in the story and in meeting Jim and Barbara.



Thank you Barbara and Jim for such a fantastic visit and all of your wonderful goodies.  You are magical.

For more information about Barbara Brauner and James Mattson and their books check out their website: http://braunermattson.com/

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday - Chasing Cheetahs

Text by Sy Montgomery  Photographs by Nic Bishop
HMH Books for Young Readers (April 1, 2014)

Description from GoodReads:
Since the year 1900, cheetah footprints quickly dwindled in African dirt as the species plummeted from more than 100,000 to fewer than 10,000. At the Cheetah Conservation Fund's (CCF) African headquarters in Namibia, Laurie Marker and her team save these stunning, swift, and slender creatures from extinction. Since the organization's start in 1990, they've rescued more than 900 cheetahs, most of whom have been returned to the wild.
 
But this arduous challenge continues. For most African livestock farmers, cheetahs are the last thing they want to see on their properties. In the 1980s, as many as 19 cheetahs per farmer died each year. Cheetahs were considered vermin--but, in learning more about this magnificent species, we know this is far from true.
 
Today, CCF acts as a liaison between the farmers and the cheetahs, in order to promote cohabitation in an ecosystem that cannot thrive without the existence of the precious and predatory cheetah. On a wild ride through the African wilderness--sometimes sniffing out scents left in the dirt--Sy Montgomery and Nic Bishop join CCF in studying the cheetah's ecological, genetic, and behavioral patterns in order to chase down the fastest animal on land and save the species--before it is too late.

A Message from Dr. Laurie Marker and the Cheetah Conservation Fund:



Introduction to the Cheetah Conservation Fund 2013:



About Scientists in the Field: Where Science Adventure Meets -
The Scientists in the Field series shows people immersed in the unpredictable and dynamic natural world, making science more accessible, relevant, and exciting to young readers. Far from the research laboratory, these books show firsthand adventures in the great outdoors—adventures with a purpose. From climbing into a snake den with thousands of slithering snakes to tracking wolves, swimming with hammerhead sharks, and collecting bugs, readers experience the thrill of discovering the unknown.

The Scientists in the Field series has been deemed consistently excellent, imaginative, engaging, and informative. The series provides a broad range of curricular opportunities that will both teach and entertain children.

Follow them on: Twitter | Facebook

My thoughts on the book:
Sy Montgomery and Nic Bishop have collaborated on a number of books about wild animals for The Scientist in the Field Series.  Each book is a bit different depending on the animal, and the location.  In Chasing Cheetahs, the focus in on Dr. Marker's work with the Cheetah Conservation Fund and how she is working to save cheetahs.  What I love about this series is the focus not only on the individual animals being highlighted but also on the scientists that study them and the way the animal is part of a larger ecosystem and why different animals/creatures are crucial to the health of the ecosystem.

Beautiful photographs, and engaging dialogue invite readers into the story and the lives of Dr. Marker and her amazing wild cats.  Delving into the story, readers learn about the cheetahs that she has rescued but also her attempt to reintroduce cheetahs to the wild.  Additionally, Dr. Marker has focused on creating successful ways to reduce farmers' tendency to kill cheetahs whom they believe are killing their stock by providing them with special dogs who help to care and protect their livestock.

If you are looking for a great read aloud for younger students or a nonfiction text for upper elementary age students, Chasing Cheetahs is an excellent option.

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews: