Storying Studio: Drawing Stories, Writing Pictures

By Prisca Martens, PhD, Towson University

Picturebooks convey stories in both written text and pictorial text (art), with both texts being essential to telling the story (Kiefer, 1995; Sipe, 1998). The art has meanings or perspectives not offered in the written text just as the written text has meanings/perspectives not available in the art. When no written text is present, the story is told only through the art. Typically these books are referred to as wordless books. My co-researcher Ray Martens, an artist and art educator, however, calls them pictorial books to emphasize the importance of the art in telling the story rather than identify these books as lacking words. Continue reading →

When Wishes Go Awry

By T. Gail Pritchard, Ph.D., University of Arizona

What do you wish for — Love? Health? Happiness? Friendship? Sometimes the wishes are for yourself, your family, a specific person, or even the world. This week’s blog takes a look at wishes made and how those wishes go awry, from wanting a friend to make the basketball team to wanting to be liked. In each case, when the wishes go awry, the wisher is left wondering how to undo those wishes. In the process, we learn about each of the wishers — who they are, aspects of their character, and what they most value. Are they foolish? Are they greedy? Or do they just want to help better themselves and their family?

Continue reading →

WOW Recommends: The Smell of Other People’s Houses

Book of the Month, June 2016
The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

The interweaving of four teen’s lives in Fairbanks, Alaska in 1970 will both inspire and break readers’ hearts. How we touch one another and give each other hope –often unknowingly–are the wondrous and magical aspects of this remarkable and well-written story. -Recommended by Holly Johnson
Continue reading →

One Wish, Two Wishes, Three Wishes, More…

By T. Gail Pritchard, Ph.D., University of Arizona

Most of us have thought about what we would do if granted wishes and like Tanya in One Wish (Harrison, 2016). We are wish savvy — we know we must be careful about what we wish. However, not everyone makes their wishes carefully…

Continue reading →

“The Wish List” Explores Do-overs in Life (and Death)

By T. Gail Pritchard, Ph.D., University of Arizona

I bet most of us have considered “do overs,” what we would re-do in our life if given a chance. Maybe we would change a conversation, an action (or lack thereof), or a decision. In The Wish List by Eoin Colfer, Lowrie McCall’s list consists of four things he wished he had done in his life. Furthermore, the fate of Meg Finn’s soul depends on her success in helping him complete his wish list. School Library Journal describes their journey as “both humorous and poignant, as Lowrie confronts his regrets and Meg strives to attain salvation.”

Continue reading →

I Wish I May, I Wish I Might… Wishing in Michelle Harrison’s One Wish

By T. Gail Pritchard, Ph.D., University of Arizona

Think back to some of your earliest memories of wishing, perhaps when blowing out birthday candles, wishing upon a star — particularly a shooting star or the first star of the night, throwing a penny in a wishing well or fountain, getting the long end of the wishbone, blowing on a dandelion puff, or maybe writing a wish on a piece of paper and tying it to a tree or hiding it under a rock. Continue reading →

WOW Recommends: Salt to the Sea

Book of the Month, May 2016
Salt to the Sea by Ryta Sepetys

Four teens tell of their journey during World War II as the Russian Army pushed Germans troops and refugees away from Baltic countries to the shores of the Baltic Sea where they were herded aboard ships to take them to Germany. When Russian subs sunk their ships, 25,000 of those people were killed. The characters are courageous and become dear as we discover their stories and the result of their ordeal. -Recommended by Marilyn Carpenter Continue reading →

Diversity within Children’s and Young Adolescent Latino Literature: Afro-Latinos and Afro-Caribbean Communities

by Carmen M. Martinez-Roldan and Katherine Lorena del Carmen Keim-Riveros

Port-au-Prince

In our last blog of the month we focus on how the authors’ incorporation of non-English words in Afro-Latino and Afro-Caribbean literature can contribute to a better understanding and appreciation of the richness and complexities of Latino culture and the bilingualism of their communities. The books discussed through this month were all English-based texts, in which the authors purposefully incorporated the linguistic repertoire Continue reading →

Diversity within Children’s and Young Adolescent Latino Literature: Afro-Caribbean and Indigenous Communities

by Carmen M. Martínez-Roldán & Richelle Jurasek

This week we continue our focus on Afro-Caribbean influences in Latino children’s literature but also start addressing Indigenous perspectives. Silver People: Voices from the Panama Canal, another historical fiction novel by Cuban-American author Margarita Engle, offers a window into the experiences of Caribbean islander workers but also into the experiences of indigenous communities Continue reading →

Diversity within Children’s and Young Adolescent Latino Literature: Afro-Latinos and Afro-Caribbean communities, Part II

by Carmen M. Martínez-Roldán & Amy Olson

The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano, by Margarita Engle (2006)

Last week, we started featuring and commenting on literature that represents the experiences of Afro-Latinos and Afro-Caribbean communities Continue reading →

Worlds of Words

International Collection of Children’s and Adolescent Literature

Storying Studio: Drawing Stories, Writing Pictures

When Wishes Go Awry

WOW Recommends: The Smell of Other People’s Houses

One Wish, Two Wishes, Three Wishes, More…

“The Wish List” Explores Do-overs in Life (and Death)

I Wish I May, I Wish I Might… Wishing in Michelle Harrison’s One Wish

WOW Recommends: Salt to the Sea

Diversity within Children’s and Young Adolescent Latino Literature: Afro-Latinos and Afro-Caribbean Communities

Diversity within Children’s and Young Adolescent Latino Literature: Afro-Caribbean and Indigenous Communities

Diversity within Children’s and Young Adolescent Latino Literature: Afro-Latinos and Afro-Caribbean communities, Part II