By Angeline P. Hoffman, White Mountain Apache
One way children can make a connection between history and their own lives is through storytelling that emphasizes self-image and the foundations of self-knowledge of one’s own people. The stories of indigenous people, past and present, are important because one must understand the larger context of life to gain perspective on personal experiences.
By Angeline P. Hoffman, White Mountain Apache
Children today, all children, need to be given the opportunity to understand history, even the parts that illustrate one people’s inhumanity to another people. For this understanding to occur, children need to be able to make a connection between the history being taught and their own lives. Dehumanizing Indian peoples in text and picture, justifying the atrocities committed in the name of “civilization,” presenting Carlisle founder Richard Henry Pratt’s disingenuous propaganda as fact, further adds to the vast body of disinformation being taught about Indian people.
Book of the Month, August 2016
Worm Loves Worm by J.J. Austrian with illustrations by Mike Curato
Worm Loves Worm is a delightful romp of a picture book that explores traditional gender roles in the marriage ceremony. The story demonstrates the silliness of requiring traditional cultural observances for any wedding. The humor in the text doesn’t make fun, but it demonstrates how a wedding can be a celebration that matches the needs and desires of the couple uniting in love. -Recommended by Marilyn Carpenter
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By Seemi Aziz, University of Arizona
Baddawi by Leila Abdelrazaq follows Ahmad, a struggling young boy raised in a refugee camp called “Baddawi” in North Lebanon. He tries to find himself and his identity while growing up in a place he cannot call home. His story represents one of the many thousands of refugee children born in Palestine who fled or were forced to leave their homeland after the war in 1948 and the establishment of the state of Israel.
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By Seemi Aziz, University of Arizona
Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan is a poignant story about the journey of a magical mouth harp (harmonica) through time and space. The masterful enmeshing of timeless fairytale and historical reality binds this powerful text into a strong narrative that highlights world events, prejudice, and social class distinctions. It all begins with Otto, who gets lost in a jungle where three sisters, bound by a witch’s curse, find him. Otto promises to break the curse by taking the harmonica out to the world. The harmonica, through its magical music, tangibly joins three children separated by place, which lifts the curse, freeing the three sisters. Continue reading
By Seemi Aziz, University of Arizona
The well-executed plot of No Safe Place by Deborah Ellis follows the journey to freedom of three undocumented immigrant children. While the children struggle to reach the shores of England, a British orphan, released from the bonds of an oppressive uncle, joins them. These children, Abdul from Baghdad, Cheslav from Russia, Jonah from England, and the only female, Rosalia, a Romani, develop throughout the story. Ellis depicts a rich cultural background of the countries with distinct circumstances for each character. This story begins in France and culminates in England, providing a fine description of the traumatic lives many immigrants lead in France.
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By Seemi Aziz, University of Arizona
World populations relocated to varied geographical areas throughout history and time. Such movement contributed to the United States of America and its place of power in the world. The recent significant global impact of large bodies of refugee populations relocating and of forced movements of Mexicans and Muslims to the U.S., Europe and other Western nations present themselves at the forefront of national and international news and politics. One cannot turn on the TV or visit an internet or social media site and not find a reference to these emigrating populations.
By Rebecca Ballenger, Coordinator, Outreach and Collections
In a collection already bursting with important works by children’s book illustrators, Worlds of Words added one more. The untitled piece from In the Land of Milk and Honey by award-winning illustrator, Floyd Cooper, recently went on display where visitors can see his unique oil wash on board technique.
Book of the Month, July 2016
What Elephants Know by Eric Dinerstein
Twelve-year-old Nanda Singh (Nandu) is raised on an elephant stable in the southern-most part of Nepal. After he stops the king from killing a tigress, the Palace Wildlife Committee threatens to close the stable and Nandu must rely on fate to ensure that this does not happen. This incredible book offers a rare glimpse into the lives of the Nepalese people and endangered animals who co-exist in the Borderlands jungle. -Recommended by Desiree Cueto
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By Prisca Martens, Ph.D., Towson University
STORY in Storying Studio stands as a verb as well as a noun. In addition to being a narrative, story/storying as verbs mean to compose by weaving together meanings in writing and art as in picturebooks. Children don’t write and illustrate; rather, they story. Story as a verb refers to the multimodal process of composing meaning in writing and art.
