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‘Señor Calavera still isn’t scary’

by Julia López-Robertson, Tiffany LaBrooy, Kirstin Wade & Jamie Yobs, University of South Carolina

Book jacket for Just a Minute by Yuyi MoralesThis week a group of students read Yuyi Morales’ beautiful stories, Just a Minute and Just in Case. Just a Minute is a witty tale of Grandma Beetle who gets a surprise visit by Señor Calavera, a skeleton who has come to inform her that it is “time to go.” Grandma Beetle says she will go in “just a minute” after she sweeps one house, boils two pots of tea, makes three pounds of corn into tortillas… and on and on until she gets to ten where she informs her grandchildren that Continue reading →

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The Spirit of Tío Fernando: A Day of the Dead Story

By Julia López-Robertson, Deanna Futrell & Shirley Geiger, University of South Carolina

Book jacket for The Spirit of Tío Fernando by Janice LevvyIn class we talk a lot about helping our students take a more global view of society; we want them to see beyond the borders of our city, state, and finally our country. One way that we can begin this process is by exposing them to quality children’s and young adult literature representing a variety of viewpoints, cultures, and people and then inviting them to examine and discuss these books. How can sharing children’s books (specifically about the Day of the Dead) help in raising awareness and developing an understanding of a culture different than one’s own? Continue reading →

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El Día de los Muertos/Day of the Dead: A Cultural Exploration

by Julia López-Robertson & Lillian Reeves, with Nicoleta Hodis, Lisa Stockdale, Ashlye Rumph-Geddis, Mary Jade Haney & Amy Bartholomew, University of South Carolina

A gift for Abuelita: Our entrée into El Día de los Muertos

Book jacket for a Gift for Abuelita by by Nancy Luenn El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) has its’ origins more than 3,000 years ago when the Aztec Indians, who inhabited Mexico, spent four months each year honoring the dead with ceremonies and rituals. With the arrival of the Conquistadores in the 16th century came the elimination of the already established Aztec traditions and their replacement with the Spanish beliefs and traditions which followed the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. Rather than completely accept the Spanish traditions, the indigenous peoples resolved to mesh “ancient traditions with those of the church” (Arquette, Zocchi &Vigil, 2008, p.8) and the result is el Día de los Muertos. Continue reading →

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Adolescents, Adolescent Novels, and Authors Writing the Edges

By Holly Johnson, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH

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“If you are not living on the edge,
you are taking up too much room.”

–Jayne Howard

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As I explained at the beginning of the month, I wanted to explore and share my thoughts about a number of books that 1) have characters on the edge of something 2) have their readers on the edge of something, or 3) have brought to the fore topics that reside on the edge of something.  The books I shared are excellent pieces of work that have the potential to shift the discourse with adolescents, but this may only be done if we recognize that—in reality—most of us are on the edge of something, and if we aren’t, well, maybe we should be. Actually, that’s probably the best thing about working and reading with adolescents.  They are venturing out and testing the edges and we can be there with them! But we often need some tools to facilitate young adults’ learning, and the books I have highlighted can be a great start. But if there is hesitation about some of the books I have already mentioned in the last three weeks, perhaps we start with the books that show just how many of us are on the edge. Continue reading →

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Adolescents & Adolescent Novels on the Edge: Survival

By Holly Johnson, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH

Book cover for Once

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Perhaps catastrophe is the natural human environment,
and even though we spend a good deal of energy trying to get away from it,
we are programmed for survival amid catastrophe.

–Germaine Greer

So, sometimes when we are standing on the edge of the next place, the next situation, the next move in our lives, we find ourselves pondering the concept of survival–survival of our ideologies and beliefs, our current relationships, or our lives as we know them. What might seem foreign to some readers is that many adolescents in the world are on the edge of survival in any or all of these ways. Continue reading →

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Adolescents, Adolescent Novels, and Authors Writing the Edges: Choices

By Holly Johnson, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH

Book Cover for Crossing the Tracks“I loved everyone who said yes to the world and
tried to make it better instead of worse,
because so much of the world was ugly—
and just about all the ugly parts were due to humans.”

–Cat, from Shine (p. 290)

In the last few months I have read a number of books that would fall under the category of “social issues realism,” and so often that sub-genre is about the ugly parts of the world. What is so timely about these texts for adolescents is their ability to present young adults, who may just be emerging into the world with their own opinions about the reality they encounter on the news, at the dinner table, or in all the other spoken but not examined arenas of their lives. In essence, many young people have few opportunities to test their theories, hypotheses, and values. Adolescents are on the edge of discovery about the world, its politics, and both the world’s and their own potential. They have so many thoughts, so many questions, and so many opportunities to make a difference, yet they don’t know how much that difference can mean. Continue reading →

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Adolescents, Adolescent Novels, and Authors Writing the Edges

By Holly Johnson, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH

A penny for my thoughts, oh no, I’ll sell them for a dollar They’re worth so much more after I’m a goner And maybe then you’ll hear the words I been singin’ Funny when you’re dead how people start listenin’

Kimberly Perry, The Band Perry

I don’t feel I am in a dark place, but writing about adolescents and novels “on the edge,” well, you have to wonder. Continue reading →

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Inspirations for Children’s Books in Saudi Arabia: Part 5: In our children’s Hands!

by Nojood ALsudairi, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Happy Eid after a long fasting month!

In our previous four blog posts, we shared some of the children’s books that our students at King Abdulaziz University wrote, illustrated and designed. While working on their books, they were influenced by a variety of children’s books from Arabic countries and chose several to write about in each blog. Their books are going to be published by KAU’s publishing house. In this post we focus on other books that we published during the past three years.

Our first book that was published is Alifon Laisat fi Baqarah Bal fi Insan (A is Not Found in Cow, but in Human), written and illustrated by a group of 45 students. The idea began with the owner of a small publishing house suggesting collaboration between the Childhood Studies Department and Kadi w Ramadi publishing house. Thuraya Batarji, the young owner of Kadi w Ramadi, showed us a book she bought from Hong Kong called ABC Hong Kong’s Biggest Alphabet Book (ISBN9789889932626). This book was created by “lots and lots of good people supporting the child development center.” Continue reading →

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Inspirations for Children’s Books in Saudi Arabia: Part 4: A Part of a Whole

by Nojood ALsudairi, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

The plot of our fourth book, Rammula (Little Grain of Sand), started with an idea of a child looking at a part and judging the whole according to his/her own perception of the part. After many discussions the idea changed to a focus on how the small details that we usually ignore can cause major events. For example, a small nail is the reason for studying a large art work hanging on a wall. The group decided to read some more picture books to develop their idea.

Book Cover for The Black DotAnnuqtatu Assawdaa (The Black Dot) by Waleed Tahir (Egyptian), (2009, Dar Ashorooq, Egeptian) is about a big black dot appearing suddenly on the playground of a neighborhood to disturb children’s play. The children first accept its presence, but then they decide to demolish it with hard work and patience. The group liked the way the writer presented his idea in a simple way. The ending of this particular book inspired them to write about a little piece of grit. They liked the simplicity of the illustrations as well. (See review of this book). Continue reading →

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Inspirations for Children’s Books in Saudi Arabia: Part 3, Thobe Recycling

by Nojood ALsudairi, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

University students meet in small groups to write and illustrate picture books in my children’s literature class in Saudi Arabia. The best of those books are published and distributed through the publishing house of KAU (King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah). Each week, this blog focuses on one of the group’s experiences of producing a picture book and shares the books that inspired the group.

The idea of the book by Effat Basudan, Arwa Alghamdi, Reham Alotaibi, Shuroog Alshehri, and Nisreen Basalim was originally to focus on the feelings of objects. They decided on a t-shirt to be the main character of their book. They discussed many plots such as the feelings of t-shirts when getting dirty, washed, and worn many times. The group agreed that a t-shirt does not reflect the Saudi culture so they changed the character to a thobe (Saudi men’s white dress) and the ideas they discussed eventually led them to write about recycling. Continue reading →