Books

Codeswitching: Translation and Linguistic Issues

By Richard Clift | Published: May 21, 2012

by Janine Schall, University of Texas-Pan American, Edinburg, TX I don’t mind reading books that deal with code-switching because this is the way that I speak and other people do as well. (Paula) Students talk this way and we hear it just the same [as if it were all in English]. Often, I don’t realize [...]

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Codeswitching: Why Do It?

By Richard Clift | Published: May 15, 2012

by Janine Schall, University of Texas-Pan American, Edinburg, TX Los gatos black with eyes of green, Cats slink and creep on Halloween. With ojos keen that squint and gleam— They yowl, they hiss…they sometimes scream. From Los Gatos Black on Halloween In last week’s post I shared responses from nine Latina teachers who explored several [...]

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English/Spanish Codeswitching in Children’s Literature

By Richard Clift | Published: May 7, 2012

by Janine Schall, University of Texas-Pan American, Edinburg, TX I spend los domingos with Abuelito y Abuelita. Abuelito y Abuelita are my mother’s parents. They are always happy to see me. I say: –¡Hola, Abuelito! ¡Hola, Abuelita!—as I get out of the car. And they say: –¡Hola, hijita! ¿Cómo estás? ¡Hola, mi corazón! I Love [...]

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Session Spotlight: Confronting Difficult Life Events through Story III

By Richard Clift | Published: April 30, 2012

  Young people understand more than we give them credit for. Reading books about difficult topics allows them to think about strife in their lives before they have to face it.– Jewell Parker Rhodes   Today’s blog concludes a discussion by authors Ruta Sepetys, Jim Deem, and Jewell Parker Rhodes at the 2012 Tucson Festival [...]

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Session Spotlight: Confronting Difficult Life Events through Story II

By Richard Clift | Published: April 23, 2012

by Ann Parker, Pima Community College, Tucson, Arizona   I realized that the lowlands were always given to the poor, so naturally the Ninth Ward would flood. “I’ll tell you what happened to me, but you have to promise never to use my name.” . . . Kristallnacht was a blink in time . . [...]

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Session Spotlight: Confronting Difficult Life Events through Story

By Richard Clift | Published: April 16, 2012

by Ann Parker, Pima Community College, Tucson, Arizona Today’s blog begins a discussion by authors Ruta Sepetys, Jim Deem, and Jewell Parker Rhodes at the 2012 Tucson Festival of Books in March entitled “Confronting Difficult Life Events through Story.” The discussion will continue in the next two blogs. All three authors have published books, both [...]

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Session Spotlight: Monica Brown

By Richard Clift | Published: April 9, 2012

by Ann Parker, Pima Community College, Tucson, Arizona   ” . . . the story also spoke to her because it contained the themes of finding your voice, of imagination and determination, of social justice and what we can do to spread literacy . . .“   I had the pleasure of interviewing author Monica [...]

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Session Spotlight: Karen Lynn Williams

By Richard Clift | Published: April 2, 2012

by Ann Parker, Pima Community College, Tucson, Arizona . . Books can be very powerful, and be careful what you give your children to read! Karen Lynn Williams . I attended a presentation at the 2012 Tucson Festival of Books entitled “Picture Books as Global Passports” with authors Karen Lynn Williams and Monica Brown in [...]

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The Hero’s Journey from Another Point of View: Here Lies Arthur

By Richard Clift | Published: March 26, 2012

By Judi Moreillon, Texas Woman’s University, Texas Ambassador for USBBY “Cei laughed off the slanders. ‘They’re only stories,’ he would say. ‘What do stories matter?’ But he wasn’t stupid. He knew as well as Myrddin that in the end stories are all that matter” (Reeve 204). British author Philip Reeve uses the well-known legends of [...]

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Healing Hearts with the Hero’s Journey: Heartsinger

By Richard Clift | Published: March 19, 2012

By Judi Moreillon, Texas Woman’s University, Texas Ambassador for USBBY In Heartsinger, author Karlijn Stoffels tells the story of two characters, Mee and Mitou, both born into difficult circumstances in relationship to their special storytelling gifts. As each one travels on a hero’s journey, readers grow more and more certain that their meeting is inevitable. [...]

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