Kathy G. Short, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Books about World War II continue to trend in global literature for children and adolescents. The 2020 global reading lists contain many books for middle grade and young adult readers that reflect on-going interest in this time period. The majority are historical fiction and focus on World War II events in Europe, but a new trend is historical fiction that focuses on events in Asia. Continue reading
Kathy G. Short, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
For many years, fantasy primarily originated in English-speaking countries and featured European traditions and White protagonists. The popularity of Harry Potter and the Hunger Games and the many books based in Greek and Roman mythology reflect this trend. In The Dark Fantastic, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas (2019) argues that fantasy offers readers portals into real and imagined worlds but bars the doors for people of color or subjects them to marginalization and violence. Thomas sees this gap as both a lack of representation and a lack of imagination. Continue reading
Kathy G. Short, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
A long-term issue in global literature is the lack of books showing contemporary experiences, leading to misconceptions that other cultures are set back in time in comparison to the U.S. The global novels for middle grade and young adult readers identified on the 2020 Global Reading Lists are primarily historical fiction or fantasy with the exception of refugee books, a continuation of that problematic trend. In contrast, picturebooks for younger readers include many contemporary depictions of everyday life in a range of global cultures, including Nigeria, Kenya, Pakistan, Japan, China, Korea, India, Tibet, Iran, Syria and Indigenous Canada. Continue reading
Kathy G. Short, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Refugee experiences continue to dominate global children’s and YA literature in books published between June 2019 and 2020. As in previous years, many contain heart-wrenching stories of refugees experiencing displacement due to violence and war and their journeys of hardship and loss. A smaller number focus on life in refugee camps and detention centers, a sense of belonging in a new place, and home as two places in one’s heart. Continue reading
by Kathy G. Short, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
This month, WOW Currents highlights the trends in global books published in the U.S. between Summer 2019 and 2020. Each summer, I work on an update for the K-12 global reading lists, fiction and nonfiction, to post on the Worlds of Words website. Exploring possible book titles, reading reviews and analyzing themes provides insights into patterns across this annual collection of global books. This post overviews these trends and the subsequent weekly posts each examine one trend in more depth with examples of books. Continue reading
By Alexandria Hulslander, Worlds of Words Intern
Ronald Himler is an award–winning illustrator with a passion for the process of creating art. A new acquisition of Himler’s work features original watercolor and gouache panels from The Caged Birds of Phnom Penh. The entire set of illustrations for the book is on display through December 20 at Worlds of Words in the University of Arizona College of Education.
Worlds of Words in the University of Arizona College of Education launches “Visual Narratives: Connecting Across Languages and Cultures”, an exhibit of global picturebooks that tell stories primarily through visual images. The exhibit is inspired by the “Silent Books, from the World to Lampedusa and Back,” a traveling exhibit of global books from the International Board on Books for Young People. The exhibit is on display now through December 2019 with an open reception from 3 to 4:30 p.m. on July 25.
Second and third graders from UofA’s Fusion Camp engage with books from around the world that are part of the “Silent Books” exhibit from the International Board on Books for Young People, now on display in Worlds of Words as part of their Visual Narratives exhibit.
By Kathy Short, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
The American Library Association held its highly anticipated annual press conference on January 28, 2019, to announce the major youth awards, including the Caldecott, Newbery, Pura Belpré and Coretta Scott King awards. The award committees worked behind closed doors for 3 days to make final decisions, submitting their award-winners in great secrecy to ALA staff so they could prepare for the press conference and subsequent news releases. This year, I had the honor of serving on the Mildred L. Batchelder Award committee. Continue reading
CERCLL offers a professional development opportunity in the form of a 3-day summer institute, Reading Globally: Critical Issues in Global Literature for Children and Adolescents.
Participants will explore current trends in global literature for children and adolescents, examine critical issues and approaches to analyzing these books, and experience strategies for critically engaging with global literature. We will use the Worlds of Words collection to immerse ourselves in a wealth of global literature as well as to delve deeply into key books to develop our own critical understandings and to consider how to invite students into a critical reading of the word and the world. An additional component will be interactions that pair classic, well-known texts often used in elementary and secondary classrooms with global children’s and adolescent literature to expand the curriculum and include global perspectives.
The institute will be interactive and include presentations by experts in global literature and authors of global books along with time for browsing and reading books, engaging in literature circles, and discussing classroom connections. There will also be breakout sessions where participants share their work with global literature with each other.
Mitali Perkins will join us on Monday, June 25, and Duncan Tonatiuh will join us on Tuesday, June 26, to interact throughout the day and present on global issues related to their books. Mitali Perkins writes middle grade novels that cross global cultures, including You Bring the Distant Near, Rickshaw Girl, Bamboo People and Tiger Boy. She was born in Kolkata, India, lived in many places around the world, and currently resides in San Francisco. Duncan Tonatiuh is an author/illustrator who is both Mexican and American, growing up in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. His artwork is inspired by Pre-Columbian art, particularly that of the Mixtec codex. His picturebooks include Danza, The Princess and the Warrior, Funny Bones, Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote, Diego Rivera and Salsa.
Continuing Education Certificates are provided for the institute for a total of 18 hours.
Registration Information:
Registration is limited to 60 people. Until May 31, the fee for the institute is only $100 and includes lunch. (The registration fee increases to $140 on June 1st.) You may register as an individual or for a group.
For more information, visit: http://cercll.arizona.edu/2018/03/19/2018-summer-institute/
By Kathy Short, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Although the classics serve as the foundation of most secondary literature classrooms, their domination is challenged by the call for cultural perspectives that reflect the diversity of our global society. The classics are critiqued for their basis in Western mainstream perspectives, biases against women and people of color, and inclusion of dated language and confusing writing styles, such as obscure expressions and unfamiliar sentence constructions. In addition, few classics have teens as main characters, having been written for adult audiences, and so teens struggle to connect. Given that these canonical texts are usually mandated reading, one way that teachers can increase relevancy and globalize reading is to pair the required classics with young adult global literature. These pairings can bring more diverse literature into the curriculum and, at the same time, create a context for understanding the classic work and its relevance for middle and high school students.
