The Artist who Painted a Blue Horse / Eric Carle
Watch this Book Trailer on Carle’s latest title!
Or read an excerpt from the book from NPR

A Ball for Daisy / Chris Raschka

Balloons over Broadway: the True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade/ written and illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Check out this activity kit!

Bumble-ardy / Maurice Sendak

Dragons & Monsters / Matthew Reinhart and Robert Sabuda

The Haunted Hamburger and other Ghostly Stories / by David LaRochelle ; illustrated by Paul Meisel

Little White Rabbit / Kevin Henkes

Rrralph / Lois Ehlert

Trapped: How the World Rescued 33 Miners from 2,000 Feet Below the Chilean Desert / Marc Aronson

Tweak Tweak / by Eve Bunting ; illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier

Celebritrees: Historic & Famous Trees of the World / Margi Preus; illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon

Henry Aaron’s Dream / Matt Tavares

Jackie’s Gift / by Sharon Robinson; Illustrated by E.B. Lewis

Lost Boy, Lost Girl: Escaping Civil War in Sudan/ by John Bul Dau and Martha Arual Akech; with Michael S. Sweeney and K. M. Kostyal

Our Grandparents: a Global Album / Maya Ajmera, Sheila Kinkade, Cynthia Pon

Rain School / Written and Illustrated by James Rumford

Sonia Sotomayor: Supreme Court Justice / by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand ; illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez

Trains / written by Philip Steele

Zen Ghosts / by Jon J Muth

Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children / Thích Nhat Hanh, and the Plum Village Community, edited by Sister Jewel (Chan Chan Nghiem).

Gods & Heroes  / Matthew Reinhart and Robert Sabuda (see photos below)

Listen to Robert Sabuda & Mathew Reinhart talk about the craft of designing pop-art books!

Ransom Riggs’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children just seems odd and creepy. Check out this book trailer to get a feel for this unusual little book.

More recent additions (please note book trailers/ teasers when available):

Tempest by Julie Cross
Welcome to Bordertown: New Stories and Poems of the Borderlands / edited by Holly Black and Ellen Kushner (featuring a short story by Neil Gaiman)
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray (Listen to the author discuss this humorous & quirky book in this trailer)
She Loves You, She Loves You Not– : a Novel  by Julie Anne Peters
Bitter End by Jennifer Brown
Breaking Stalin’s Nose by Eugene Yelchin
Cheshire Cheese Cat: a Dickens of a Tale by Carmen Agra Deedy & Randall Wright/ Illustrated by Barry Moser
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor TRAILER PART I/ TRAILER PART II/ WHO IS LAINI TAYLOR? 
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos/ Book Trailer 

Demon’s Surrender by Sarah Rees Breenan
Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma/ Haunting Trailer!
Dreams of Significant Girls by Cristina Garcia
Bad Girls Don’t Die: From Bad to Cursed by Katie Alender
Game Over by James Patterson & Ned Rust
He’s So Not Worth It by Kieran Scott
How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr
I’ll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Jasper Jones: a Novel by Craig Silvey
Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson/ Book Trailer!
My Boyfriend Bites by Dan Jolly/ Illustrated by Alitha E. Martinez
Never Sit Down in a Hoopskirt and Other Things I Learned in Southern Belle Hell by Crickett Rumley
Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard
Queen of Hearts by Martha Brooks
Recovery Road by Blake Nelson
Sign Language: a Novel by Amy Ackley
Sleeping Angel by Greg Herren
Strings Attached by Judy Blundell (Book Trailer!)
Take Me to the River by Will Hobbs
This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel (Book Trailer!)
Time: a Jason Caldwell Mystery by Roger Reid
Trouble on the Tombigbee by Ted M. Dunagan (Alabama Author!)
Angel Burn by L. A. Weatherly (Official Book Trailer!)
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
Withering Tights by Louise Rennison- Watch the Book Trailer!

Children & Young Adult Books on the 5th Floor of the Houston Cole Library

Welcome to my Shelfari Virtual Library for book discussions & reviews on the latest additions to the Juvenile section!

CLICK HERE FOR EVENT FLYER  & Presentation References

• The Prevalence of Talking Animals in Children’s Books
• Animal Attraction: Why do Children Love Animal Characters?
• Talking Animals & the role they Serve in Children’s Books
• George Shannon’s Typology of Talking Animals
• The Historical Evolution of Talking Animals
  • Folklore & Anthropomorphism
  • Talking Animals & the Enlightenment
  • 19^th Century Childhoods & the Debate on “Animaltainment:” Wild vs. Domestic Animals
  • Roaring Animals & Imperialism
  • Kindness towards Animals & Animal Rights
• Animal Stereotypes in Children’s Literature: Heroes, Villains, & Victims
• Meet this Year’s New Cast of Talking Animal Stars!
  • Book Readings and Talks on the Latest & the Greatest in Children’s Books  Special Viewing of The Lion & The Mouse,  version of an Aesop’s Fable by Jerry Pinkney.  2010 Caldecott Medal Winner. Produced by Weston Woods Studio. 
•   For questions or more information, please contact: Laurie Charnigo, (256) 782-5245,  Education Librarian, Houston Cole
•  Library         

Meanwhile, thanks to Google Books & their partnership with institutions such as Harvard University, we have access to many nineteenth-century children’s books with talking animal characters. Most of the following books below have been completely digitized in fulltext. Enjoy!

Daisy, the Autobiography of a Cat by  Miranda Eliot Swan (1900)

Reynard the Fox, an Early Apologue of Renown, Clad in English Dress/ John Storer Cobb, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Canton’s Illustrations) The “adult” Reynard. (1899)

Goody Two Shoes; or the History of Little Margery Meanwell: in Rhyme by  By Oliver Goldsmith, John Newbery (1825)

Fabulous Histories: The Histories of the Robbins by Sarah Trimmer (1848)

Evenings at Home or The Juvenile Budget by By John Aikin, Mrs. Barbauld (1799)

The Rational Brutes, or, Talking Animals by  Dorothy Kilner (1803)

The Life and Perambulations of a Mouse by Dorothy Kilner (2004- preview of reprinting)

The Confessions of a Lost Dog by Frances Power Cobb (1867)

The Adventures of a Donkey by Arabella Argus (pseud.) (1823)

The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne (Preview) (2009, from original 1928)

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (1915) 

Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling (1912)

The Two Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling (1895)

Tuppy or Autobiography of a Donkey (1861) by E. Burrows (?)

The Peacock at Home by Catherine Ann Dorset (1851)

The Adventures of Poor Puss by Elizabeth Sandham (1809)

The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant (a preview) by Jean de Brunhoff (originally published 1933)

The Dog Crusoe and His Master: A Story of Adventure in the Western Prairies by Robert Michael Ballantyne (1894?)

The Baby’s Own Aesop by Walter Crane (1887)

Jacksonville State Head Coach Jack Crowe- JSU Weekly Press Conference, September 12 2010

     I’ve worked at  JSU for over eight years and this has been one of the most exciting fall football seasons I’ve ever experienced. The season started off with JSU Gamecock’s magical victory over Ole Miss which propelled JSU into the ESPN spotlight for weeks. From the stadium dedication which brought in a record crowd to all the homecoming festivities, I thoroughly enjoyed going to the games and sharing some school spirit with students, faculty, alum, and Gamecock fans everywhere .

     Even more excitement spread throughout campus when Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Greater London, the Honorable Roger Bramble, invited our own Marching Southerners to lead the 2012 New Years Parade in London. As the 2010 fall football season comes to a close, I can definitely say that I am so proud of our student athletes, band members, and all the students who have come out to show their school spirit this year. Although, JSU’s football season has come to an end, luckily, there are plenty of other exciting JSU sports to keep us entertained throughout the winter, spring, and summer. Right now we are in Basketball Season. Go Gamecocks!

     In the meantime, for all you sports enthusiasts, new sports books are starting to arrive! I’ve arranged a list of some of our new titles by sport with links to Amazon reviews. 

ON YOUR MARK! GET SET! READ!

FOOTBALL
     As JSU Gamecocks consider their move to the FBS division, there are definitely some interesting debates which have been sparked for years about the fairness of the BCS. Read about the BCS and some of the viewpoints surrounding it’s controversial history in the following books.

• Death to the BCS: the Definitive Case against the Bowl Championship Series / Dan Wetzel, Josh Peter, and Jeff Passan
• Bowled Over: Big-time College Football from the Sixties to the BCS Era / Michael Oriard
• Bowls, Polls, and Tattered Souls: Tackling the Chaos and Controversy that Reign over College Football/ Stewart Mandell

MORE FOOTBALL TITLES
Football is an honest game. It’s true to life. It’s a game about sharing. Football is a team game. So is life.”
~-Joe Namath

• Scoreboard, Baby: a Story of College Football, Crime, and Complicity / Ken Armstrong & Nick Perry
• When Pride Still Mattered: Lombardi: the Classic that Inspired a Broadway Play / David Maraniss
• Blood, Sweat, and Chalk: the Ultimate Football Playbook: How the Great Coaches Built Today’s Game / Tim Layden
• The Games that Changed the Game the Evolution of the NFL in Seven Sundays / Ron Jaworski, with Greg Cosell and David Plaut
• Home Team: Coaching the Saints and New Orleans Back to Life / Sean Payton and Ellis Henican
• The Man who Built the National Football League: Joe F. Carr / Chris Willis
• One Step at a Time: a Young Marine’s Story of Courage, Hope, and a New Life in the NFL / Josh Bleill with Mark Tabb

ON WATCHING FOOTBALL
We are inclined to think that if we watch a football game or a baseball game, we have taken part in it. ~John F. Kennedy

     After Thad Burton’s controversial article “Locker Room not a Place for Women” appeared in the October 7, 2010 issue of JSU’s Chanticleer (student newspaper) , a concerned patron donated the following books. These books are for those who want to to learn how to watch football like a man (beats chest like a wild beast).  Actually, I’m not a guy but I love the game of football. If fact, if Mr. Burton is going to stereotype women, it would seem that most women should love this game. It’s full of passion, drama, emotion (highs and lows), heartbreaks, ecstatic moments of pure joy, and lots of gossip. Listening to the Paul Finebaum Show is like tuning in to a daily soap opera.

     But back to the books. Holly Robinson Peete and Howie Long, while targeting these books to women and “dummies,” have actually written two thoughtful books for beginner fans and even those who follow football regularly. They go beyond the basics and delve into more challenging aspects of the game. I’ve quizzed several of my guy pals who are football experts on some of the rules, strategies, and history I’ve learned from these books often to find these die-hard fans suprisingly clueless! After reading the books, I was pleased to find myself guessing penalties before the broadcasters and referees called them and getting them correct. What I’ve learned most is that the more you learn about this game, the more fun it is to watch. I’ve read both of these books and highly recommend them.  Holly Robinson Peete is married to Rodney Peete, former Pro football QB for the Philadelphia Eagles and Howie Long played as defensive lineman for the Oakland Raiders and is an NFL broadcaster.  

     So next time you’re at Burgess -Snow Field rooting on the Gamecocks, make sure you brush up on your knowledge of the games. There’s nothing more annoying than fans screaming with excitement about a pass that’s obviously not going to be caught. By the way, I challenge Mr. Burton to a mock football game broadcast…

• Get Your Own Damn Beer, I’m Watching the Game! A Woman’s Guide to Loving Pro Football/ Holly Robinson Peete with Daniel Paisner; forward by Ronnie Lott
• Football for Dummies/ Howie Long/ John Czarnecki

SPORTS & RELIGION
     Auburn Coach, Gene Chizik, sparked off a debate on football and religion early on in the 2010 season, when he described Auburn’s win over Clemson as “a God thing.” After the SEC Championship, Chizik and Auburn QB, Cameron Newton, repeatedly mentioned “God’s blessing.” Cameron Newton also stated “a wise man said if God is on your side, who can be against you?” Who knows? They are going on to play in the BCS National Championship.  Over the last year, several books have addressed the intersection of religion and football, particularly in the South. Interestingly, one of the most fascinating books on this topic was written by Chad Gibbs, a die-hard Auburn fan. Go figure. Check out his blog, Chad Gibbs,  to learn more the author of this recently-published book.

• Good Game: Christianity and the Culture of Sports / Shirl James Hoffman
• Onward Christian Athletes: Turning Ballparks into Pulpits and Players into Preachers / Tom Krattenmaker
• Remember Why you Play: Faith, Football, and a Season to Believe / David Thomas

BASEBALL
     Before moving to Alabama, I was a huge baseball fan. I like to boast that I was in Atlanta Fulton County Stadium in 1995 at the  winning game when the Atlanta Braves clinched  the World Series against the Cleveland Indians. I used to spend summers sitting out on my porch in Buckhead, GA, listening to Skip Caray broadcast the Braves games. Years 1991 and 1992 were the most memorable. I remember having very heated debates with folks at the University of Alabama, where I was attending classes, about which sport, baseball or football, is the “True American Pastime.” I thought there was something so unwholesome about all these Alabamian’s claims that football was the real American pastime. I even wrote my first English 101 paper on the 1991 Atlanta Braves victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

     Strangely, it wasn’t until I left UA to come to Jacksonville State University that I started to get into college football (Gene Stallings had just resigned in 1996 when I started my college career at UA until I left in 2002 so I didn’t miss much). Now I root for our JSU Gamecocks and have added “Roll Tide” to my daily vocabulary. It’s nice to have two football teams to root for in Alabama. However, for me, this past season was all about our Gamecocks. That being said,  I still think there’s nothing better than sitting in the bleachers on a beautiful summer day watching a baseball game. Looking forward to watching some JSU baseball next season!

     In general, there seem to be more books published about baseball than any other sport. The Houston Cole Library’s collection on baseball history is spectacular. In part, this has been due to the efforts of Mr. Harry Nuttall, one of our reference librarians, who is a baseball history buff. Take a look at the latest treasures in our sports collection on baseball:

• Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu: John Updike on Ted Williams / [John Updike]
• Chasing Baseball: Our Obsession with its History, Numbers, People and Places / Dorothy Seymour Mills; foreword by Richard C. Crepeau
• Big Hair and Plastic Grass: a Funky Ride through Baseball and America in the Swinging ’70s / Dan Epstein
• The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-clearing Brawls: the Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime / Jason Turbow with Michael Duca
• Cardboard Gods : an all-American Tale Told through Baseball Cards / Josh Wilker
• Curveball: the Remarkable Story of Toni Stone the First Woman to Play Professional Baseball in the Negro League / Martha Ackmann
• Dixie Walker of the Dodgers: the People’s Choice / Maury Allen with Susan Walker
• High Heat: the Secret History of the Fastball and the Improbable Search for the Fastest Pitcher of All Time / Tim Wendel
• Joy in Mudville: Essays on Baseball and American Life / edited by John B. Wiseman ; with a foreword by Benjamin G. Rader
• The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood / Jane Leavy

     I love all sports. Since I love running as a hobby, I tend to love be partial to track and field. Check out more new sports which we are in the process of adding to our library collection.

BASKETBALL
     Also, don’t forget, it’s basketball season right now at JSU!  Be sure to take a look at our men & women’s Basketball schedule and come out to support the Gamecocks.

• Play their Hearts Out: a Coach, His Star Recruit, and the Youth Basketball Machine / George Dohrmann
• King of the Court: Bill Russell and the Basketball Revolution / Aram Goudsouzian ; with a foreword by Harry Edwards
• American Hoops: U.S. Men’s Olympic Basketball from Berlin to Beijing / Carson Cunningham
• The Book of Basketball: the NBA According to the Sports Guy / Bill Simmons

BOXING

• Joe Louis: Hard Times Man/ Randy Roberts

SOCCER

• The ESPN World Cup Companion: Everything you Need to Know about the Planet’s Biggest Sports Event/ David Hirshey and Roger Bennet; Foreword  by Steve Nash
• More than Just a Game: Soccer vs. Apartheid: the Most Important Soccer Story Ever Told / Chuck Korr with Marvin Close
• Carlo Ancelotti: the Beautiful Games of an Ordinary Genius / Carlo Ancelotti with Alessandro Alciato; foreword by Paolo Maldini
• Chasing the Game: America and the Quest for the World Cup / Filip Bondy

CAR RACING

• NASCAR Nation: a History of Stock Car Racing in the United States / Scott Beekman
• Real NASCAR: White Lightning, Red Clay, and Big Bill France / Daniel S. Pierce
• Driving with the Devils: Southern Moonshine, Detroit Wheels, and the Birth of NASCAR/ Neal Thompson (new acquisition but published in 2007)

RACE HORSES

• Secretariat’s Meadow: the Land, the Family, the Legend / Kate Chenery Tweedy, Leeanne Ladin, Wayne Dementi ; [foreword by Penny Chenery].

GOLF

• The Best Putting Instruction Book Ever! / edited by David DeNunzio
• Golf Anatomy / Craig Davies, Vince DiSaia
• To Win and Die in Dixie: The Birth of the Modern Golf Swingand the Mysterious Death of its Creator/ Steve Eubanks

TENNIS

• Tennis and Philosophy: What the Racket is All About / edited by David Baggett

RUNNING

• The Long Run: a New York City Firefighter’s Triumphant Comeback from Crash Victim to Elite Athlete / Matt Long with Charles Butler
• The Coolest Race on Earth: Mud, Madmen, Glaciers, and Grannies at the Antarctica Marathon / John Hanc

SURFING

• The Surf Guru: Stories / Doug Dorst

DANCE

• Movable Pillars: Organizing Dance, 1956-1978 / Katja Kolcio
• Apollo’s Angels: a History of Ballet / Jennifer Homans

YOGA

•  Yoga Body: the Origins of Modern Posture
• / Mark Singleton

 HOCKEY

• The Official Illustrated NHL history: the Official Story of the Coolest Game on Earth / Arthur Pincus with David Rosner, Len Hochberg and Chris Malcolm

SCIENCE & SPORTS

• The Perfection Point: Sport Science Predicts the Fastest Man, the Highest Jump, and the Limits of Athletic Performance/   John Brenkus
• Gold Medal Physics: the Science of Sports / John Eric Goff

SPORTS & CULTURE

• Sport, Power, and Society: Institutions and Practices: a Reader
• The Gay Games: a History / Caroline Symons
• The Entertainment Industry: an Introduction / edited by Stuart Moss
• Branded: Branding in Sport Business / edited by Jason W. Lee
• The Paralympic Games Explained / Ian Brittain.
• The Sporting Life: Victorian Sports and Games / Nancy Fix Anderson

• Annexed / Sharon Dogar
• Beautiful Malice : a Novel / Rebecca James
• Butterfly / Sonya Hartnett
• The Crowfield Curse / Pat Walsh
• Dark Water / Laura McNeal
• Diamond Ruby : a Novel / Joseph Wallace
• Fat Vampire : a Never-coming-of-age Story / Adam Rex
• The Ghosts of Ashbury High / Jaclyn Moriarty
• I know Here / Laurel Croza ; pictures by Matt James
• Lockdown / Walter Dean Myers
• A Love Story Starring my Dead Best Friend : a Novel / by Emily Horner
• Mockingbird / Kathryn Erskine
• One Crazy Summer / by Rita Williams-Garcia
• Out of my Mind / Sharon M. Draper
• Secret of the Satilfa : a Novel / by Ted M. Dunagan
• The Shadows / by Jacqueline West ; illustrated by Poly Bernatene
• Ship Breaker / by Paolo Bacigalupi
• Touch Blue / by Cynthia Lord.
• What Happened on Fox Street / Tricia Springstubb
• When the Parkway Came / Anne Mitchell Whisnant & David E. Whisnant
• White Cat / Holly Black
• The White Horse Trick / Kate Thompson
• Wicked girls : a Novel of the Salem Witch Trials / Stephanie Hemphill
• The Winds of Heaven / Judith Clarke
• Boy on the Lion Throne : the Childhood of the 14th Dalai Lama / by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel ; with a foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
• Newsgirl / Liza Ketchum
• Extra Credit / Andrew Clements ; illustrations by Mark Elliott
• Shine, Coconut Moon / Neesha Meminger
• Marcelo in the Real World / Francisco X. Stork

My Favorite Picks from Our Latest Acquisitions

• It’s a Book / Lane Smith
• A Bedtime for Bear / Bonny Becker ; illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton
• Diary of a Baby Wombat / by Jackie French ; illustrated by Bruce Whatley
• Dog Loves Books / Louise Yates
• The Firehouse Light / by Janet Nolan ; illustrated by Marie Lafrance
• Guyku : a Year of Haiku for Boys / written by Bob Raczka ; art by Peter H. Reynolds
• Kakapo Rescue : Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot / text by Sy Montgomery ; photographs by Nic Bishop
• Knuffle Bunny Free : an Unexpected Diversion / by Mo Willems
• My Garden / Kevin Henkes
• A Pebble for Your Pocket : Mindful Stories for Children and Grown-ups / Thich Nhat Hanh
• Tell the truth, B.B. Wolf / written by Judy Sierra ; illustrated by J.otto Seibold
• Herb, the Vegetarian Dragon / written by Jules Bass ; illustrated by Debbie Harter
• My Daddy is a Pretzel : Yoga for Parents and Kids / Baron Baptiste ; with illustrations by Sophie Fatus

Alphabet Adventures

• AlphaOops! : H is for Halloween / Alethea Kontis ; illustrated by Bob Kolar
• AlphaOops: The Day Z Went First / Alethea Kontis ; illustrated by Bob Kolar
• The Dangerous Alphabet / Neil Gaiman ; illustrated by Gris Grimly

Go West, Young People!

• The Cowgirl Way : Hats off to America’s Women of the West / by Holly George-Warren
• Dust Devil / by Anne Isaacs ; illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
• Home on the Range : John A. Lomax and his Cowboy Songs / by Deborah Hopkinson

Informational & Biographies

• Ballet for Martha : Making Appalachian Spring
• Bones : Skeletons and How they Work / Steve Jenkins
• The Chiru of High Tibet: a True Story / written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
• Dave the Potter : Artist, Poet, Slave / by Laban Carrick Hill ; illustrated by Bryan Collier
• I Want your Moo : a Story for Children about Self-esteem / by Marcella Bakur
• Liberty or Death : the Surprising Story of Runaway Slaves who Sided with the British during the American Revolution / by Margaret Whitman Blair
• Autism and Me : Sibling Stories / Ouisie Shapiro ; photographs by Steven Vote
• If America were a Village : a Book about the People of the United States / written by David J. Smith ; illustrated by Shelagh Armstrong
• Long Walk to Freedom / Nelson Mandela ; abridged by Chris van Wyk ; illustrated by Paddy Bouma
• Michelle / by Deborah Hopkinson ; Illustrated by A.G. Ford
• Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker : the Unlikely Friendship of Elizabeth Keckley & Mary Todd Lincoln
• Follow that Map! : a First Look at Mapping Skills / [written and illustrated by] Scot Ritchie
• Heroes of the Environment : True Stories of People who are Helping to Protect our Planet / by Harriet Rohmer
• Trains / Lynn Curlee
• If I Had a Hammer : Stories of Building Homes and Hope with Habitat for Humanity / David Rubel
• That’s Like Me! : Stories about Amazing People with Learning Differences / Jill Lauren
• Tricking the Tallyman / by Jacqueline Davies ; illustrated by S.D. Schindler
• We are the Weather Makers : the History of Climate Change / Tim Flannery

• Boy on the Lion Throne : the Childhood of the 14th Dalai Lama / by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

Poetry

• Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night / written by Joyce Sidman; illus. by Rick Allen
• Time You Let Me In : 25 Poets Under 25 / selected by Naomi Shihab Nye
• Guyku : a Year of Haiku for Boys / written by Bob Raczka; art by Peter H. Reynolds

Graphic Novel…ish

• Adventures in Cartooning / James Sturm, Andrew Arnold, Alexis Frederick-Frost
• Yummy : the Last Days of a Southside Shorty / by G. Neri ; illustrated by Randy DuBurke
• There’s a Princess in the Palace / [retold] by Zoë B. Alley ; pictures by R.W. Alley
• Meanwhile / Jason Shiga

Multicultural

• Tibetan Tales from the Top of the World / Naomi C. Rose ; translated into Tibetan by Tenzin Palsang
• The Boy in the Garden / written and illustrated by Allen Say
• The Tooth Fairy meets El Ratón Pérez / by René Colato Laínez ; illustrated by Tom Lintern
• 14 Cows for America / Carmen Agra Deedy
• Hamzat’s Journey : a Refugee Diary / Anthony Robinson ; series editor Annemarie Young ; illustrated by June Allan
• El Barrio / Debbi Chocolate ; illustrated by David Diaz
• January’s Sparrow / Patricia Polacco
• Lin Yi’s Lantern : a Moon Festival Tale / written by Brenda Williams ; illustrated by Benjamin Lacombe
• My Name is Sangoel / written by Karen Lynn Williams and Khadra Mohammed
• The Story of Divaali / retold by Jatinder Verma ; illustrated by Nilesh Mistry
• Up and Down the Andes : a Peruvian Festival Tale / Laurie Krebs, Aurélia Fronty
• A Calendar of Festivals : Celebrations from Around the World / retold by Cherry Gilchrist
• Motherbridge of Love / text provided by Mother Bridge of Love ; illustrated by Josée Masse
• Catch that Goat! : a market day in Nigeria / Polly Alakija
• Duck for Turkey Day / Jacqueline Jules ; illustrated by Kathyrn Mitter
• Little Leap Forward : a Boy in Beijing / by Guo Yue and Clare Farrow
• The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales / retold by Dawn Casey ; illustrated by Anne Wilson
• Babushka / retold by Sandra Ann Horn ; illustrated by Sophie Fatus
• Tales from Celtic Lands / retold by Caitlín Matthews ; illustrated by Olwyn Whelan
• Fireside stories : Tales for a Winter’s Eve / retold by Caitlin Matthews ; illustrated by Helen Cann
• Indian Tales / written by Shenaaz Nanji ; illustrated by Christopher Corr
• We all Went on Safari : a Counting Journey through Tanzania / written by Laurie Krebs ; illustrated by Julia Cairns
• Mama Panya’s Pancakes : a Village Tale from Kenya / written by Mary and Rich Chamberlin
• Elephant Dance : Memories of India / written by Theresa Heine ; illustrated by Sheila Moxley
• The Miracle of the First Poinsettia : a Mexican Christmas Story / written by Joanne Oppenheim

New Arrivals

• Aggie the Brave / Lori Ries ; illustrated by Frank W. Dormer
• April and Esme, Tooth Fairies / Bob Graham
• Art & Max / David Wiesner
• Elsie’s Bird / Jane Yolen ; illustrated by David Small
• Hallowilloween: Nefarious Silliness from Calef Brown / [by Calef Brown].
• Kate, the Ghost Dog: Coping with the Death of a Pet / by Wayne L. Wilson
• Ling & Ting : Not Exactly the Same! / by Grace Lin
• Monsters Eat Whiny Children / Bruce Eric Kaplan
• A Pirate’s Guide to First Grade / by James Preller ; illustrated by Greg Ruth
• Roslyn Rutabaga and the Biggest Hole on Earth / by Marie-Louise Gay
• Thomas and the Dragon Queen / story by Shutta Crum ; pictures by Lee Wildish
• No! / David McPhail
• If You’re a Monster and You Know It / by Rebecca Emberley and Ed Emberley

To read reviews of books on the (NCSS) list, simply look up the book in Amazon.

  2009 & 2010 Notable Social Studies Trade Books       for Young People Lists:

2010

2009

Will be posting new library resources soon~

This year’s annual ‘Popcorn n’ Picture Books” event focused on multicultural children’s picture books.  El día de los niños/El día de los libros, Children’s Day/Book Day, a  Latino celebration of multicultural children’s books and reading,  served as the perfect theme for our event. This special day, established by children’s author, Pat Mora, is celebrated in libraries throughout the United States on April 30^th.

We started off the party with a “bilingual orchestra” to the words of Pat Mora’s Book Fiesta, a book specifically about El día de los niños/El día de los libros, illustrated by Rafael López’. Book Fiesta won the 2010 Pura Belpré medal award for illustration.

During the presentation, we discussed the development and history of multicultural picture books, the importance of these books, collection development and selection issues, as well as activities to promote them. A “Journey through Cultures” included discussions about history, selection issues, literary pioneers, and readings from new award-winning books pertinent to specific ethnic groups in the United States, religious minorities, disabilities/ challenges, family compositions, same-sex parent families, sexual orientation, global awareness & peacemaking, and the universal nature of folklore.

The event was a success thanks to several guest speakers/ readers. Sterling Friering and Temperance Pearson Storm did a special presentation on children’s picture books depicting same-sex parent families and sexual orientation which opened up a lively debate among the teachers in the crowd.  HCL’s Linda was an excellent guest reader.

From "The Rope Sandal: A Peace-Loving, Tree Hugging, Hippie Cinderella Story"

The event ended with a special reading from a local storyteller (yea right!), Jacksonville’s own “Lookout” Mountain Girl. Adding her own unique version to over 5,000 Cinderella stories which have been documented worldwide, Lookout amused, bored, or tortured the audience with “Sugar Magnolia and the Rope Sandal: a  Peace Loving, Tree Hugging, Hippie Cinderella Story.”

I created the following resource guide on multicultural children’s literature which includes specialized bibliographies, multicultural award Web sites, journal articles and books on multiculturalism, tools for selection criteria, and more! Let me know if you know of other great resources to add to this list.  Equally ever Afteresources2

A special thanks to Dr. Engley, Dr. Hilber, and Dr. Staubs for their support and interest.

Books featured during this year’s program:

Book Fiesta by Pat Mora, Illustrated by Rafael Lopez
This bilingual picture book is a celebration, in beautifully illustrated vibrant colors, of El Día de los niños/El Día de los libros, Children’s Day/Book Day held on April 30^th. Notes by the author, at the end of the book, suggest ways families, librarians, and schools can celebrate this day of “book joy.” For our program, we put on a “bilingual orchestra” of the book. See Pat Mora’s Web site for more information on El Día de los niños/El Día de los libros, Children’s Day/Book Day. This book won a Pura Belpre Medal for its illustrations.

Ashley Bryan: Words to My Life’s Song by Ashley Bryan, Photographs by Bill McGuinness
Award-winning children’s author and illustrator Ashley Byran is an amazing artist. His joy for telling stories and getting young children interested in art is what really stands out in this book. Listen to Ashley Bryan talk about the inspiration for the book in the this video.

Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves: Deputy US Marshall by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
Vaunda Micheaux was always interested in the wild, wild, west when she was young. However, African Americans never starred in western movies. To her delight, the author discovered the true story of Bass Reeves, a black man, who was elected Deputy U.S. Marshall.  Born into slavery, Reeves was a remarkable marksman. He was so remarkable that the slave master would take him hunting. After a fight with the slave master, Reeves ran away and escaped slavery. He lived with an Indian tribe in Arkansas, moved out west, and became a  highly-feared and respected marshall, bringing justice to the wild west. This book won a Coretta Scott King Medal.

The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes (Author), Illustrated by E. B. Lewis
Langston Hughes, literary talent of the Harlem Renaissance, was also an essential pioneer in the shaping of children’s literature for African Americans. In the 1920s he contributed poems and essays to W.E.B. DuBois’ The Brownies Book, one of the first magazines written specifically for African American Children. It is appropriate that two adaptations of Langston Hughes poems, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” and “My People” for children both won Coretta Scott King Awards this year. E.B. Lewis interprets this famous Langston Hughes poem with breathtaking watercolor illustrations. In this video, listen to Langston Hughes discuss the origin of this poem and read it, in his own voice, while you turn the pages of this beautiful book.

My People by Langston Hughes, Photographs by Charles R. Smith Jr. Winner of a 2010 Coretta Scott King honor award, My People, is another artistic adaptation of a Langston Hughes poem. Charles R. Smith Jr. uses photography to capture the images of “My People.”  Through photography, Smith sought to depict the wide range of images that depict the African American race; women and men, young and old, dark-skinned and fairer-skinned and all colors in between. This is a beautiful book that brings to real life the spirit of this beloved Langston Hughes poem.

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip M Hoose
Have you heard of Claudette Colvin? I had never heard of this almost-forgotten Civil Rights leader until I read this book. Thankfully, Phillip Hoose heard her about her, did some research, and brought this remarkable story to light. Before Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat, Claudette Colvin, a teenager from Montgomery,  had the courage to do it first. She was arrested and later testified in Browder vs. Gayle (1956) with Rosa Parks and several other women. Amid violent threats, hatred, and hostility, Colvin bravely testified in this case which ruled that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. During that course of time, Ms. Colvin became a single mother. The Civil Rights leaders did not seem to think she would make a good spokesperson given the hostile environment of the time and, although she had risked her life and was the first to take a stand in the Montgomery Bus Boycotts, she was not well- known. This is an amazing book filled with primary documents, interviews with Claudette Colvin, photographs, and illustrations. In this video, listen to Claudette Colvin talk about the book and her life. This book is a winner of the National Book Award.

The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
Pinkney’s rendition of this famous Aesop’s Fable  is beautifully illustrated and inspired by the wilderness of  Africa’s Serengeti and Tanzania. Except for animal sounds, such as a screech owl, a mouse, a lion’s mighty roar, the book is, otherwise, wordless. The talent of Pinkney is that he is able to fully convey the lesson of, not only the meek overcoming the mighty, but the mutual respect that can be shared by both powers, through his sweet and moving illustrations alone. Who needs text to win a Caldecott Medal (the highest honor for children’s book illustration) anyway?

Other books featured in the program, include the following (click on the titles to view book covers and information about the titles):

My Diary from Here to There /Mi diario de aqui hasta allá by Amada Irma Perez , Illustrated by Maya Christina Gonzalez
Pura Belpré Honor Award Winner

Diego: Bigger than Life by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand, Illustrated by David Diaz
Pura Belpré Honor Award Winner
Explore Diego’s “big” art at CCSF’s Diego Rivera Mural Project

The Storyteller’s Candle/ La velita de los cuentos by Lucia Gonzalez & Lulu Delacre
Pura Belpré Honor Award Winner

Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship & Freedom by Tim Tingle, Illustrated by Jeanne Rorex Bridges
American Indian Youth Literature Award Winner

The Littlest Sled Dog by Michael Kusugak, Illustrated by Vladyana Krykorka
Listen to Inuit children’s storyteller, Kusugak, discuss the inspiration for his work.

Meet Christopher: an Osage Indian Boy from Oklahoma by Genevieve Simermeyer
American Indian Youth Literature Award Winner

A Coyote Solstice Tale by Thomas King, Illustrated by Gary Clement
American Indian Youth Literature Award Winner

Alego by Ningeokuluk Teevee
View an exhibit of Inuit artist, Ningeokuluk Teevee’s work at the Spirit Wrestler Gallery in Vancouver, Canada.

The Wakame Gatherers by Holly Thompson, Illustrated by Kazumi Wilds
Notable Social Studies Trade Book

What Shall I Make? by Nandini Nayar, Illustrated by Proiti Roy

Cora Cooks Pancit by Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore, Illustrated by Kristi Valiant
American Pacific Librarians Association Picture Book Winner

Monsoon Afternoon by Kashmira Sheth, Illustrated by Yoshiko Jaeggi
Notable Social Studies Trade Book

As Good as Anybody: Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Joshua Heschel by Richard Michelson, Illustrated  Raul Colon
Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner (Association of Jewish Libraries)
Watch a short video of Heschel’s daughter discussing her father’s relationship with Martin Luther King Jr.

The Grand Mosque of Paris: A Story of How Muslims Rescued Jews During the Holocaust by Karen Gray Ruelle , Illustrated by Deborah Durland Desaix
Middle East Book Award Winner

The Librarian of Basra: a True Story from Iraq by Jeanette Winter

Anh’s Anger by Gail Silver, Illustrated by Christiane Kromer
Watch a video on mindfulness in education.

Understanding Sam and Asperger Syndrome by Clarabelle van Niekerk & Liezl Venter, MA CCC-SLP
Dolly Gray Children’s Literature Award Winner

Django: World’s Greatest Jazz Guitarist by Bonnie Christensen
Schneider Family Book Award Winner
Listen to 5 Django Reinhardt Solo’s. Fun fact: Did you know that Jimi Hendrix named his “Band of Gypsys” after Gypsy jazz guitarist, Django Reinhardt?

All Families are Special by Norma Simon & Teresa Flavin

King & King by Linda de Haan & Stern Nijland
LAMBDA Literary Award Winner

In Our Mothers’ House by Patricia Polacco

Daddy, Papa, and Me by Lesléa Newman , Illustrated by Carol Thompson

Wangari’s Trees of Peace: a True Story from Africa by Jeanette Winter
Notable Social Studies Trade Book
Watch the PBS trailer “Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai”

Listen to the Wind: the Story of Dr. Greg & Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, Illustrated by Susan Roth

On a Road in Africa by Kim Doner
Notable Social Studie Trade Book

Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival by Kirby Larson & Mary Nethery, Illustrated byJean Cassels
Henry Bergh Children’s Book Award Winner (ASPCA)
Watch a short trailer on this book.

Grandfather’s Story Cloth by Linda Gerdner & Sarah Langford, Edited by Emily Jiang, Illustrated by Stuart Loughridge
Notable Social Studies Trade Book

All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, Illustrated by Marla Frazee
Click on this video to view the book trailer.
ALA Notable Children’s Book
I practiced singing this book’s verse to the tune of The Beatle’s “Across the Universe” which seems to flow really well with the words.