Being Home is a contemporary story of a young Cherokee girl making the move from her current house in the city back to her ancestorial lands. Life in the city is chaotic and lacks the rhythm, family and natural surroundings of “home.” The young girl is ready to return home to the land of her people and Native culture. When moving day comes, the girl joyfully tells her old home good-bye and draws out her journey to her new home where she is greeted by relatives eager to help the family settle. When the move is done, the family gathers for a feast, the children play and explore their natural surroundings and the girl comes to “love the rhythm of being home.” Continue reading
Back to School: Essential Read Alouds for Human-to-Human Connection and Empathy
By Angelica Serrano, Tucson Unified School District, Tucson, AZ
The start of a new school year is a time of excitement, anticipation and a whirlwind of emotions—for both students and teachers. The classroom is organized, stocked with brand-new school supplies and decorated with care. A clean slate if you will.
But beyond the bulletin boards and labeled bins is the heart of it all: a brand-new community of learners. Each student walks through the door carrying their own story—shaped by culture, family, experiences, dreams and so much more.
As educators, one of the most important things we can do in these early days is to begin building authentic, meaningful relationships with all students. We know that before diving into routines, or curriculum, we must first create a space for connection. After all, we are first and foremost engaging with human beings. It’s in these early interactions—learning how to pronounce each name correctly, noticing who hangs back, who’s eager, who’s unsure—that we begin laying the groundwork for a year of learning, growing and connecting with each other. Continue reading
WOW Dozen: Picturebooks to Encourage Empathy and Helping
By Cherish Kisto (Gila River Indian Community), Tohono O’odham Community College, Haivana Nakya, AZ, with Rebecca Ballenger, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Our world is intrigued and distracted by the Internet and social media, which may desensitize children towards their peers. This list focuses on empathy because in the real world, plenty of us seem to lack, provide or teach it. Empathy here is expressed in multiple ways depending on the person and situation. Common topics that come up in this set are communication and play with people of varying abilities, community supporting one another using different helping methods and acknowledging and accommodating a character’s mental health. This booklist also includes stories of people working towards empathy through policy, societal change and inclusion of communities of people who have been historically oppressed. Additionally, this WOW Dozen allows readers to consider how empathy can be extended to the natural world and how we can protect it while enjoying its beauty. Children who engage with books that feature empathy may be better able to perceive real-life experiences and react to those with a more empathetic understanding of and helping attitude towards their peers. Continue reading
WOW Recommends: Jella Lepman and Her Library of Dreams
Jella Lepman and Her Library of Dreams: The Woman Who Rescued a Generation of Children and Founded the World’s Largest Children’s Library is by award winning author Katherine Paterson. This book is a biography of Lepman whose vision and dedicated efforts set up exhibits and later libraries for German children after World War II. Paterson starts with a short description of Lepman’s early years growing up in Germany with a Jewish family from her birth in 1891. Later, when Lepman was widowed with two young children, she found work as a journalist and then became the first woman editor of a liberal, German newspaper. When Hitler took power, promising to “make Germany great again,” she lost her job because she was Jewish. She was able escaped with her children to England where she eventually found work with the BBC, became an author and started a magazine. Continue reading
English to Korean, Korean to English: New Trends in Korean and English Children’s and YA Literature in the U.S.
By Yoo Kyung Sung, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
The U.S. children’s literature market remains one of the most conservative in embracing international titles, especially when compared to other countries. Many Asian nations publish significantly more translated books from Western countries than the U.S. does in reverse. Short (2018) highlights that while organizations such as the United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY) promote global literature through initiatives like the annual Outstanding International Books (OIB) list, translated works still make up only 3 to 4 percent of U.S. children’s book publications. Although this marks an improvement from earlier estimates of 1 to 2 percent, it remains a stark contrast to the 30 to 40 percent typical in many European nations. Even among the international books available in the U.S., English-language titles from countries like the UK, Canada, and Australia continue to dominate (Short, 2018). Continue reading
Introducing Intellectual Freedom to Elementary Library Patrons
By “Ms. Smith”, School Librarian, Southwestern U.S.
“Why do you love banned books?” – 3rd grade students
During library classes, the most common questions I receive at my circulation desk are in reference to my “I ♥ Banned Books” plaque. I always respond with some variation of “I believe everyone should be able to read whatever they want,” or “Banned books are great books!” This draws puzzled looks and sometimes the reply “But they are BANNED!” As a service provider for an elementary library, these questions were the impetus behind my passive library display for Banned Book Week (October 5-11th, 2024). The response the display garnered was both more basic and more in-depth than I had planned for and will guide my displays going forward in the coming years. Continue reading
WOW Recommends: A Wolf Called Fire
Warm is the smallest pup in the litter, but he is also the most observant. He watches. He watches his stronger and faster litter mates vie for a place in the pack while he is content to stay with the delta wolves who teach and care for the youngsters. Warm learns to listen and to smell while observing the happenings around him. Warm eventually becomes the encourager and the heart of the pack even as his siblings seem to outgrow him. But Warm is content not to be the next alpha male and starts to care for the newest litter once those pups arrive. And it is when the pack is attacked by the more aggressive “ice wolf” pack that Warm proves his loyalty to his family by heeding his mother’s directive and leading the newest litter away from the fray. Once safe from the conflict, however, Warm is confronted with not only the loss of his wolf family, but also the responsibility of taking care of and teaching the newest members of his pack. A Wolf Called Fire is the story of Warm and his rise to leadership. Based on one of the wolves in Yellowstone, readers will be captivated by the life of Warm and how he earns the name Fire. Continue reading
WOW Dozen: Books About Hair
By Janine M. Schall, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
What kind of hair do you have? How do you take care of it? Do you like to try new hair styles or colors? Do you wear your hair in a certain way to express your personality or connect to your culture? What our hair looks like and how we wear it is one of the most obvious, easily noticeable things about us. For this reason, many people spend a lot of thought, time and care on ensuring that their hair is exactly the way they want it to be.
The way that we wear our hair can be an expression of our personality or a way to be fashionable. However, hair is also profoundly connected to culture, history, and power, embodying societal norms and values. The way we style our hair and the rituals we have surrounding hair care convey powerful messages about our identity to others. In some cultures, new hairstyles are even required to mark a change in maturity or status. At the same time, people make inferences and judgements about a person’s group identities, religious beliefs, and even morality based on their hairstyle. Continue reading
Author’s Corner: Terry LaBan
By Abby Ballas, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
“If you have to be a cartoonist, you’ll be a cartoonist,” as was the case for Terry LaBan, who discovered his calling in grade school as “the kid who could draw.” Since then, LaBan has led a successful cartooning career, starting with his work at Ann Arbor News where he composed political cartoons. He has also published works with notable comics publishers such as Fantagraphics, Dark Horse and DC Vertigo, but his longest position was with Egmont, with whom he wrote Donald Duck comics for 14 years for Europe’s substantial Donald Duck fanbase. LaBan spent an even longer period working with his wife, Patty LaBan, on Edge City, a comic centered around a Jewish family modeled after the LaBans. Terry LaBan’s most recent work, Mendel the Mess-Up, reflects his intrigue with historical societies while paying homage to his Jewish ancestry. Mendel the Mess-Up is a wholesome and humorous middle-grade graphic novel featuring a 12-year-old Jewish boy prone to accidentally wreaking havoc within his shtetl (a little Jewish village located in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust). Continue reading
Holding Space for Story, Reflection and Voice
By Junko Sakoi, Tucson Unified School District, Multicultural Curriculum Integration Coordinator
Censorship remains a significant issue affecting schools across the United States, with ongoing debates over educational content, children’s rights and academic freedom. In 2024, the American Library Association (ALA) documented 821 attempts to censor library materials and services, involving 2,452 titles. While this represents a decrease from 2023’s record of 1,247 challenges and 4,240 titles, the numbers remain significantly elevated compared to pre-2020 levels, which averaged 270 titles challenged annually between 2001 and 2020.
The ALA attributes the 2024 decline to factors such as underreporting, often linked to concerns about retaliation and controversy. In addition, evolving state legislation has influenced the availability of books featuring LGBTQIA+ characters, characters of color and themes related to race and racism. Continue reading