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The Tucson Festival of Books is making a comeback – again.After the 2020 festival was canceled at the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic, it returned last year in an all-virtual format. But this year marks the festival’s return to an in-person format for the first time in three years. The event will take over the University of Arizona Mall and surrounding buildings March 12-13.

“Worlds of Words: Center of Global Literacies and Literatures (WOW), the University of Arizona’s global collection of children’s literature, is currently showing an exhibit titled Around the World in 70 Maps: Three Centuries of Cartographic Treasures from Children’s Literature. I had the opportunity to speak with one of WOW’s directors, Rebecca Ballenger, and look around this amazing exhibit.”

“Eight Westminster College secondary education preservice teachers spent the fall semester exploring ways to elevate the voices of underrepresented writers, scientists, mathematicians and historical figures, while also weaving those ‘hidden stories’ into their teaching strategies. The work of the preservice teachers is featured in January edition of the international teacher website Worlds of Words.”

“In a city as diverse as Tucson, multilingual education is a necessity for perpetuating the preservation and mingling of cultures. New Zealand Fulbright scholar Nicola Daly recently led a workshop at the University of Arizona that proposed using dual-language picture books as a resource for early multilingual education.” “Dual-language picture books are powerful resources, they can support linguistic diversity,” Daly said. “They recognize linguistic diversity.”

“A center at the University of Arizona College of Education is offering an opportunity for high school students to get involved in college. Worlds of Words: Center of Global Literacies and Literatures builds bridges across global cultures through children’s and adolescent literature. … Worlds of Words offers a Teen Reading Ambassador program for students to get a college experience within UArizona that focuses on books for teens. Ambassadors learn about young adult literature under the direction of faculty and staff with expertise in children’s literature, education, library science and marketing.”

This weekend, a library at the University of Arizona is selling discounted children’s books. Worlds of Words: Center for Global Literacies and Literatures is the largest global collection of children’s and young adult books in the United States. So that means you can expect some good stuff at this sale.

We survived our first live tour! Big thanks to the COE's Danielle Hargett for inviting us to the party. If you didn't catch the Facebook live feed, you can catch up on it here. Watch our live tour!

Just because everyone is headed back to school, doesn't mean all learning has to happen there. Tucson has a treasure trove of opportunities for extracurricular education, whether you want to expose your kids to other cultures or teach them about the world. Bonus: A lot of this stuff is fun for everybody. Win win. Here are three Tucson places to expand your child's horizons.

On the fourth floor of the University of Arizona’s College of Education, 40,000 books tell the stories of children and teens from around the world. Sunlight streams through windows showcasing views of the Catalina Mountains, and window benches beckon, welcoming students studying or children curling up with a picture book. The Worlds of Words: Center for Global Literacies and Literatures is the largest global collection of children’s and young adult books in the United States.

“[Rebecca Ballenger] not only inspires the children who visit Worlds of Words, she also finds ways to bring together College of Education staff and faculty members for fun workshops,” Hargett said. … “She inspires the same level of creativity and provides opportunities for them to learn, grow and gain confidence in preparation for their professional careers.”

Nestled on the campus of the University of Arizona (UofA) in the Sonoran Desert, Worlds of Words (WOW) holds the largest collection of global children’s books in the United States. WOW serves the university as well as the greater Tucson community. “Worlds of Words builds bridges across global cultures through children’s and adolescent literature” (wowlit.org).

The gray plastic crate in front of me just arrived in Tucson from Basel, Switzerland. Inside there are dozens of picture books from around the world. Kathy G. Short pulls out one with an orange and yellow cover. It’s from Egypt and there’s an image of a sun tucked into the Arabic title.