by T. Gail Pritchard, Ph.D., The University of Arizona
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There must be something in books, something we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing. (Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451).
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I started reminiscing about books I’ve read featuring book burnings, book challenges, and book bannings. Two immediately came to mind: Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Le Guin’s Voices.
by T. Gail Pritchard, Ph.D., The University of Arizona
As we wind up Banned Books Week (September 30-October 6, 2012), I found myself wondering about children’s books banned and/or challenged in other countries, and thus began searching for titles. I knew Journey to Jo’burg had been banned in South Africa, so I decide Beverly Naidoo and her first novel would be my first step in investigating banned/challenged children’s literature world-wide.
By T. Gail Pritchard, Ph.D., University of Arizona
Given that it is Banned Books Week (September 30-October 6, 2012), I decided that in this first blog of October I would revisit a very public encounter I had with banned books, my “banned books story.” As an assistant professor at a small state college in western Kansas, I happily taught undergraduate and graduate children’s literature courses and various methods courses. I began my children’s literature courses with “Wandering and Wondering”: I would have about fifty books spread across the tables and students would spend about 30 minutes browsing through these books, knowing they would be sharing their discoveries. Continue reading
by Monique Storie, University of Guam, Latte Heights, GU
Colorful covers,
Worlds of words yet unseen brings
the chance for new friends
On a small island, the prospect for finding new books is limited to the local small bookstore chain (about the size of the average Circle K), online, and sometimes the local Kmart. This summer, we had the luxury of going to the mainland. Going stateside brings the excitement of visiting family, playing tourist, and shopping. In our family, shopping means looking for clothes, technological gadgets, gizmos, AND BOOKS! Continue reading
Monique Storie, University of Guam, Latte Heights, GU
. . . I am beginning to understand what our teachers were trying to get us to appreciate when we doing literary analyses in high school. . . Why did their efforts make it seem like a reader could only enjoy the story by examining its literary elements?
This summer, I had the luxury of engaging in literature explorations with others who are enthusiastic about children’s literature. One of the novels we shared, Between Shades of Gray (Sepetys, 2012), shocked me Continue reading
Monique Storie, University of Guam, Latte Heights, GU
. . . I unconsciously considered them the literary equivalent of going to an action-packed movie, e.g. lots of action but not much story.
At the same time that Ethan was immersing himself in all things Hunger Games, my husband, who was half a world away, saw firsthand how these same books were creating a whirlwind of excitement among his non-reader friends. Not being able to read the book himself (the libraries and bookstores were all out and we have not progressed to e-readers yet), he watched with fascination as one book created such fervor and caused so many guys to drop their computer games and read. He described it like a wildfire that jumped from one location to another and could not be contained.
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Monique Storie, University of Guam, Latte Heights, GU
“Why would I want to read fiction when there are so many fascinating things on this earth to learn about?!”
We are avid readers in my house but we run the gamut in our reading preferences. My husband and I prefer fiction (I gravitate towards realistic fiction while Brett prefers modern fantasy and alternate history) but our son is a true non-fiction aficionado. As a preschooler, Ethan loved when his teacher read current events to him and would even remind her to read the newspaper in the morning when she forgot. As he grew, Ethan found facts, events, and tidbits about our lives more interesting than stories. My father, a non-fiction aficionado himself, summed up Ethan’s fascination with non-fiction by saying “Why would I want to read fiction when there are so many fascinating things on this earth to learn about?!”
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by Charlene Klassen Endrizzi, Westminster College, New Wilmington, PA
“I can’t wait to get back to a country where they speak English,” announced my exhausted eleven year old son, while we stood in line at El Al, the Israeli national airline, preparing to board our plane back home from Tel Aviv. This natural human desire to remain within familiar territory is an emotion I frequently experience along with Bryce. Spending days eating none of his favorite foods, navigating multiple hotels and historical sites, missing baseball tournaments… could cause angst for any pre-teen. Nonetheless his statement urges me to continue exploring the learning potential from our family vacation for years to come.
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by Charlene Klassen Endrizzi, Westminster College, New Wilmington, PA
“I do not want Israelis to be remembered simply for the Holocaust. I want others to understand the richness of our unique 5,000 year old Jewish culture.”
Sima, mother of a recently commissioned nineteen year old Israeli soldier, shared these thoughts as we surveyed a Holocaust exhibit at my college last year. Over time her statement enabled me to re-conceptualize my images of Israel, no longer focused on the World War II genocide but instead aimed toward a more holistic representation.
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by Charlene Klassen Endrizzi, Westminster College, New Wilmington, PA
“Mothers and fathers have equal duties to read to their children. My daughter-in-law is a lawyer so she comes home from work very tired. My son, who currently stays at home with the children, reads every day at bedtime to his children. He is very close to them through reading.” –Hadass, a trilingual native of Jerusalem, offered these insights into Israeli parent-child reading habits during our bus ride from Tel Aviv to her hometown.
Across generations and cultures, families create these intimate yet equally intellectual literacy moments with children. The PJ Library, http://www.pjlibrary.org/, is a North American Jewish Family Engagement program designed to perpetuate the parent-child reading tradition. The parallel Israeli version, Sifriyat Pijama, emphasizes the same dual goals of supporting literacy and reaffirming Jewish values. Preschool teachers enrolled in the program receive Jewish literature and music to share with their three to five year old students’ families. One parent must speak Hebrew since all of the books and the Parent Reading Guides at the beginning of each text are written in the official language of Israel.
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