Suzy Lee

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Is Reading Aloud Common Ground for WOW and LETRS?

by Mary L. Fahrenbruck, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico

Author’s Note: The thoughts and opinions expressed in this blog post are my own and do not represent the Worlds of Words Center. The content is based on my professional experiences in WOW and in the LETRS professional development training sessions.

My response to the question posed in the title above is that reading aloud has the potential to become common ground between Worlds of Words (WOW) and Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) (Lexia, 2024). Despite their different focuses – Worlds of Words on global literacies and literatures for all readers and LETRS on professional development training for prek-3 educators and administrators – this common ground exists. This blog post is my attempt to reconcile my theoretical groundings in constructivism, socio-psycholinguistics and Reader Response theory with the LETRS training permeating school districts in New Mexico (NM) where I reside. Continue reading →

WOW Dozen: Korean Books Translated Into English

By HeeYoung Kim, West Texas A&M University, Canyon, Texas

Welcome abroad! This month’s WOW dozen takes readers on a journey to Korea. Each picturebook and novel in this column were originally published in Korea and later translated into English. These titles are written by Korean authors who speak Korean and live in Korea. Rudine Sims Bishop’s metaphor of mirrors and windows for multicultural children’s literature is an an invaluable tenet when reading global children’s literature too. Each book on this list introduces readers to the Korean culture as well as themes around imagination, love, loss and hope. 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 →