By Rebecca Ballenger, The University of Arizona

With help from Longview Foundation, Worlds of Words spent a year improving our website. Much of this work won’t be noticeable to the average visitor, who is likely less concerned that we reduced the size of our website by a third without losing any content than they are accessing the content. This month, we take a look at some of the noticeable changes, including updating our book lists and resources, re-launching our Advance Search function and partnering with UArizona Libraries for digital archiving and preservation of our on-line journals.

WOW creates strong, responsive content that helps teachers, teacher educators, librarians, students and families. Our Booklists page includes thematic, award, multicultural, and WOW Language and Culture Kit book lists and resources. Updating these lists to ensure quality, recently-published, authentic recommendations is a process that requires multiple children’s literature experts who are also educators versed in the focus of that particular book list. Additionally, where possible, we link each book title internally and externally so that visitors can find additional information.

A few lists to note include Anti-Racist Book Lists and Resources, an Epidemic and Pandemic Book List and our Globalizing K-12 Reading Lists.

Just for fun, today we share with you a bonus book list. The WOW Executive Board held our annual meeting on International Children’s Book Day (April 2). At the end of that meeting, all who were present shared a global book for young people that we recently read. Here’s that considerably less focused and ordered list:

• Wishes by Muon Thi Van, illus. Victo Ngai, 2020. Orchard Books.
• Caravan to the North / Caravana al norte by Jorge Argueta, illustrated by Manuel Monroy. 2019. Groundwood Books.
• Good Night, Earth by Linda Bondestam. 2021. Yonder.
• The Snail with the Right Heart: A True Story by Maria Popova and Ping Zhu. 2021. Enchanted Lion Press.
• Like the Moon loves the Sky by Hena Khan. 2020. Chronicle Books.
• Bird House by Blanca Gomez. 2021. Abrams Books for Young Readers.
• Forthcoming: Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna by Alda Dobbs. 2021. Sourcebooks Young Readers.
• Up Down Inside Out by JooHee Yoon (book of Aphorisms) published first in China, 2019. Enchanted Lion Press.
• The Sea-Ringed World: Sacred Stories of the Americas by María Garcia Esperón, Illustrated by Amanda Mijangos, Translated by David Bowles. 2021. Levine Querido.
• The World’s Poorest President Speaks Out illustrated by Gaku Nakagawa, Translated by Andrew Wong. 2020. Enchanted Lion Press.
• The Refuge by Sandra le Guen, illustrated by Stephane Nicolet, translated by Daniel Hahn. 2020. Amazon Crossing Kids.
• Along the Tapajos by Fernando Viela, translated by Daniel Hahn. 2019. Amazon Crossing Kids.
• Flood City: the Battle for Earth Begins by Daniel Jose Older. 2021. Scholastic.
• Brother’s Keeper by Julie Lee. 2020. Holiday House.
• Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo. 2021. Dutton Books for Young Readers.
• The Dark and the Light by Kerstin Has and Julie Volk. 2019. NorthSouth Books.
• Watercress by Andrea Lang, illus. Jason Chin. 2021. Neal Porter Books.

Please rejoin us next week to take a look at our re-launched Advance Search.

Journey through Worlds of Words during our open reading hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. To view our complete offerings of WOW Currents, please visit its archival stream.

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• Themes: Longview Foundation, Rebecca Ballenger, UArizona Libraries
• Descriptors: Books & Resources, WOW Currents