Janelle Mathis

WOW Recommends: Book of the Month

WOW Recommends: Spirit Sleuths, How Magicians and Detectives Exposed the Ghost Hoaxes

A misty cemetery with a full moon in the background.For many people, October includes activities around spirits, ghosts and supernatural beings. On a related theme, although not to take away from the fantasy and fun of autumn, this month’s recommended book is Spirit Sleuths, How Magicians and Detectives Exposed the Ghost Hoaxes. Author Gail Jarrow invites readers to investigate the history behind particular supernatural activities.

This account begins in 1848 with two sisters in upstate New York who claimed that mysterious tappings in their house were communications from ghosts. As this story grew and traveled to nearby communities, the girls gained popularity, as did the séances they held. The author provides narrative detail that describes the experiences of their family. Jarrow continues her account to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when other people such as Ira and William Davenport, Henry Keller, and William Mumler claimed supernatural powers. The stories of their mystic experiences are documented in narrative form and include particular seemingly magical events, such as spirit cabinets, spirit photographs, planchette which led to the Ouija Boards, mind reading and fortune-telling. Each chapter ends with a section titled “How Did They Do It?”

These fraudulent spiritualists traveled nationally and internationally, holding meetings and giving false hope to grieving individuals that they could communicate with their dead loved ones. Eventually, suspicion of these experiences led to exposure of spiritual mediums and the fraudulent opportunities they provided emotional people. Continue reading →

WOW Dozen: Visual Storytelling with a “Pop” of Yellow

By Janelle Mathis, Professor Emeritus, University of North Texas

The color yellow has always offered opportunities to celebrate, and fittingly so given its association with positive emotions and energy such as happiness, hope, warmth, enlightenment, confidence and enthusiasm. As it is a personal favorite color, I am especially drawn to illustrations that use yellow as a pop of color against a black/white/gray background, also known as monochromatic with a color accent. Thus, when A Dog Wearing Shoes or The Yellow Butterfly became part of my personal and classroom connection, I began gathering titles that had similar approaches to telling their story through art and focusing on the impact of this pop of color in each title, as well as those with perhaps a second accent color when appropriate to the story. My exploration gathered numerous titles and extended as well to those books where yellow (or gold) is a key color although not necessarily on a neutral background, such as A Place Where Sunflowers Grow (Amy Lee-Tai and Felicia Hoshino, il., 2006), Typewriter (Yevgenia Nayberg, 2020), or The Golden Glow (Benjamin Flouw, 2018). It also led to exploring the origins of color in books such as Before Colors, Where Pigments and Dyes Come From (Annette Bay Pimentel and Madison Safer, il., 2023). Continue reading →

WOW Recommends: Book of the Month

WOW Recommends: The Girl Who Heard The Music

A young girl plays the piano, which shows the scene of Rapa Nui island at night.The Girl Who Heard the Music, How One pianist and 85, 000 Bottles and Cans Brought New Hope to an Island, is the true story of musician Mahani Teave and her island home, Rapa Nui. The authors, Marni Fogelson and Mahani Teave, weave together the themes of the love of music, environmental concerns, and life on a remote island, a thousand miles away from other populated areas. The story opens by describing the music of nature and the ancestral songs that surround Mahani as she grows up. Sometimes visitors to the island would bring musical instruments and give lessons. Once a retired music teacher came with her piano, the only one on the island, and Mahani was quickly able to learn how to play. Her talent was later recognized by a visiting Chilean pianist who convinced Mahani to leave home in order to study at conservatories. She became an accomplished pianist who now plays concerts around the world. However, she returns to her island home whenever she can. Continue reading →

WOW Dozen: Picturebook Biographies of Musicians

By Janelle Mathis, North Texas University

In a recent study that examined picturebook biographies of musicians, I was interested in what they offered young readers about the value of music in the lives of these individuals. Shared in a recently submitted article, I discovered over 40 biographies that spanned across historical eras, forms of music, ages of musicians and how music impacted individuals which often was the focus of the picturebook. Books were read and reread revealing themes of offering hope and comfort, creating identity, sharing tradition, giving voice to marginalized people and sharing examples of determination, persistence and strength. Below, are a dozen titles that reflect the challenges and successes of musicians in narratives that provide young readers with new insights to the significance of music in these lives and the potential influences in their own lives. Continue reading →

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Bookbird as a Resource for Contemporary Themes and Issues in Literature

By Janelle B. Mathis, University of North Texas, Denton, TX

Girl and her dog in an airplaneJune’s earlier post in WOW Currents focused on the wealth of international authors and their works that can be explored by investing time in the nominees, finalists and winners of the Hans Christian Andersen 2022 award. A source to begin this exploration is through Bookbird, A Journal of International Children’s Literature, where an issue each year is focused on these outstanding authors and illustrators of children’s literature. Given the challenge that we all face — identifying global literature to use with students and in research — I wish to continue thinking about Bookbird as a resource by focusing on recently published issues and the themes therein. Continue reading →

Bookbird as Resource: Exploring the Hans Christian Andersen Award Nominees

By Janelle B. Mathis, University of North Texas, Denton, TX

As a co-editor of Bookbird, A Journal of International Children’s Literature, the journal of IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People), I am currently involved in putting together the Hans Christian Andersen Winners and Finalists issue. Readers here may be quite familiar with Bookbird and the many scholarly insights around international children’s and young adult literature that it offers readers. Books to explore, creators of literature, activities centered around children’s literature, exploration of themes, ideologies, theoretical perspectives and cultural insights make Bookbird a wealth of global information. Continue reading →

WOW Recommends: Book of the Month

WOW Recommends: Child of the Flower-Song People: Luz Jiménez, Daughter of the Nahua

A young girl with braids holds a basket full of fruit on her head. She stands in front of a field of pink flowers, and two mountains in the background frame the cover.As a reader and educator who is drawn to the artistry of Duncan Tonatiuh as well as stories of indigenous people, I immediately welcomed Child of the Flower-Song People: Luz Jiménez, Daughter of the Nahua into my library. Both the author and subject were new to me, and after many close readings I am still finding multiple reasons to appreciate the poetic text and research of Gloria Amescua, the uniquely created illustrations of Tonatiuh, and the biography of a woman, Luz Jiménez, whose life is both a historical monument and an example of being true to one’s cultural identity. Continue reading →

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Chapter Books on the Loss of a Family Member

Janelle Mathis, University of North Texas, Denton, TX

In thinking about particular trends and themes in books explored during 2020 while serving on ALA’s Notable Children’s Books Committee, I want to share some of my heroes and heroines found within the pages of novels, especially in light of issues of family loss through death and separation. As is a common trait of fiction for adolescent readers, the protagonist is faced with a situation or problem around which the plot develops and the character evolves. The situation is one that is believable and invites the reader into the lives, actions and decisions of characters who experience identity shaping events. While the stories can be emotionally charged and often mirror the increasing complexity of a young person’s life, at times without a definitive conclusion, they do end with hope. So, I was not surprised to find the characters in books I read and discussed in 2020 to be in complicated situations; however, interesting was that most experienced the loss of a family member who played an important role in their life. The loss was through death, separation, or the ability of the person to function in the supportive way that they did prior to a change in health, mental abilities, or other life changes. In spite of and because of their loss, characters became resilient, self-reliant, and self-aware. Readers become immersed in their stories and lives, with the potential of learning more about themselves. A few of the books that continue to resonate in my thoughts follow. Continue reading →

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Picturebooks That Focus on Black Children and Their Families

Janelle Mathis, University of North Texas, Denton, TX

Cover of Tiara's Hat Parade depicting a young black girl smiling with a blue hat on her head as her mother smiles down at her while making a green hat.

As I continue sharing topics or theme that seemed to be predominant in the many books read by our Notable Children’s Books (ALA) committee, in this WOW currents I will share picturebooks focused on Black children and their families. While this is not a new topic within the books published each year, children’s literature advocates are quick to note that among our diverse populations, the demographics, as continuously recorded by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center regarding populations does not align proportionately with the books published that reflect diverse children. Books sharing the stories of Black / African American children have been continuously increasing in terms of rich tapestries of historical events, previously untold stories of significant individuals, and general narratives of childhood across genre. However, this past year I found interesting, important, and pleasing, the continuous and abundant submission of realistic fiction picturebooks to our committee that specifically focused on the contemporary Black child and family relationships. Among these many books from 2020, I noted culturally specific stories, universal narratives around Black families, and books that celebrate and affirm identity for a child within these families. The seven titles shared here are merely a sampling of these books that stood out for me over 2020 but ones that uphold the potential of children’s literature to serve as mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors (Rudine Sims Bishop, 1990) for children across the globe. Continue reading →