Jen Bryant

WOW Dozen: Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight

By Michele Ebersole and Avis Masuda, University of Hawaii at Hilo

A proverb, or a noteworthy saying, is often used to teach important lessons and can help children connect to human experiences in simple, yet profound ways. This WOW Dozen is centered around the Japanese proverb, “Fall down seven times, get up eight”, another way to convey the message “never give up”. This theme of hard work, perseverance or persistence is reflected through different means – whether overcoming small challenges, dealing with human relationships, standing up for oneself to make a significant change in laws to fight for the rights of others, inventing something new that builds confidence or creating an innovation that makes a big impact in the world. This blog post introduces biographies of meaningful people who have overcome big challenges as well as fictional stories that are fun and whimsical. Reading aloud these books may inspire children to see themselves as capable and resilient beings in the world. Continue reading →

WOW Dozen: Language Learning and Communication

By Janine Schall, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, TX

Over half the world’s population speaks more than one language. While many people naturally become multilingual by growing up in multilingual communities, others deliberately learn a second or third language later in life. People learn new languages for many reasons, including to maintain connections to heritage and family, in order to navigate a new country, and to communicate with new friends and communities. Sometimes people even invent their own ways to communicate! In this collection of picturebooks, we find a dozen different examples of people learning a new language or finding a way to communicate. Continue reading →

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Literary Arts Biographies for Young Readers and Writers

Celeste Trimble, St. Martin’s University, Lacey, WA

Cover of Sounds and Silences, depicting two trees, one drawn realistically and one drawn abstractly.When I was fourteen, I loved poetry. I always loved it, having grown up on a steady diet of recited nursery rhymes and children’s poetry like A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. But something happened in junior high school: The anthology, Sounds and Silences: Poetry for Now, edited by Richard Peck. I loved that it included song lyrics by Woody Guthrie, Leonard Cohen and The Beatles–verses I recognized. What I really loved about this book was that it was my introduction to writers who shaped and continue to shape how I think about the world, my life and the lives around me. “The Rebel” by Mari E. Evans was practically an anthem for the duration of my adolescence. Langston Hughes, e e cummings, Dylan Thomas, this book was my introduction to modern poetry. But, most importantly, it was my introduction to Gwendolyn Brooks. Continue reading →

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MTYT: Six Dots

For our last My Take/Your Take discussion of Schneider Family Award winning picture books, Mary, Christopher and Leslie share their takes on Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille written by Jen Bryant and illustrated by Boris Kulikov. “Too small. He won’t survive!” cluck visitors looking into Louis’s bassinette. Readers follow along with Louis as he grows from a small baby into a healthy, curious toddler. Tragically, Louis’s curiosity leads to an accident that eventually results in him being blind.

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MTYT: A Splash of Red

This post continues February’s My Take/Your Take conversation on books that have won the Schneider Family Award for their portrayal of the disability experience. The conversation started with The Deaf Musicians and continues this week with A Splash of Red.

My Take Your Take, global perspectives, A Splash of Red Continue reading →