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The University of Arizona, in partnership with several community groups, will present a series of public literary events focused on two award-winning books by Indigenous authors. At least 1,000 free copies of the books will be given out. Big Read Tucson will be directed by Sandra Soto, associate professor in the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, and Carol Brochin and Leah Durán, both associate professors in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Sociocultural Studies. Professor Kathy G. Short, director of the College of Education’s Worlds of Words: Center for Global Literacies and Literatures, will also collaborate on the programming, which will include public readings, workshops, children’s events and more.

On the morning of the 2nd of last month (local time), a psychology class was being held at Worlds of Words, a children’s book library installed at the University of Arizona in the United States. Under the guidance of the librarian, the college students began looking at the bookshelves of children’s books divided according to various cultural identities such as ‘Indian’, ‘European’, ‘Asian/East Asian’, and ‘Latin’. Emma McWilliams took a close look at the Asian/East Asian bookshelves. “My mother is from Myanmar,” so she naturally wondered if there was a book about Myanmar’s culture.

“On Oct. 27, the Worlds of Words Center hosted a reception for artist Wilson Ong, the illustrator of “Paper Son: Lee’s Journey to America.” Set in 1926, this dynamic children’s book tells the story of 12-year-old Fu Lee who immigrates to America under a false name as a “paper son.” During the reception at the WOW center, Ong discussed how the inspiration for his work came from his own life.”

Mythological and folklore tales of Black mermaids date back hundreds of years in Africa, the Caribbean, and some gulf communities in the US. Literary education and sociocultural scholars Dr. Desiree Cueto and Dr. Dorea Kleker at the University of Arizona recently wrote a historical overview of Black mermaids for the web literary journal Worlds of Words. On the site, the educators recommend 12 fiction young adult and children’s books about Black mermaids. According to their feature in World of Words, the mermaid is a prominent figure in stories told across different African nations. The half human/half fish water spirit is referred to by other names depending on the specific African nation and unique cultures.

“There are good reasons the Worlds of Words Center at the University of Arizona is popularly known as “WOW,” and the acronym is only one of them. Last week, students from Paulo Freire Freedom School visited the center as part of an eighth-grade field trip. While there, they explored an exhibit featuring “paper sons” — a generation of Chinese immigrants who came to the U.S. with false identifies. Many of those young men were of middle-school age, themselves, and upon hearing of their harrowing experience one young Tucsonan could think of only one thing to say: “Wow!””

The "Children Draw Themselves" exhibit is on display and includes the self-portraits of children as they depict themselves at the beginning of the pandemic. The exhibit is inside of the Worlds of Words: Center of Global Literacies and Literatures library at the University of Arizona College of Education building, Rm 453. The exhibit was donated by the International Youth Library in Munich, Germany and features self-portraits submitted by children aged from 3 to 18 from all around the world. The IYL invited children to submit their art work and received over 800 self-portraits from 42 countries.

“It’s been more than two years since the COVID-19 virus started wreaking havoc around the world, leading to millions of deaths, businesses shutdowns, social distancing, mask wearing and other issues. During the the isolation and confusion of 2020, a program by the International Youth Library in Munich, Germany sought drawings or paintings of self-portraits from children around the world. The library received hundreds of images and some of those it acquired are now part of a traveling exhibition which is on display at the University of Arizona.”

“Worlds of Words, housed in the University of Arizona College of Education, in partnership with the Southern Arizona Writing Project, announces the awarding of a grant through the National Writing Project’s “Building a More Perfect Union”, a grant program for humanities organizations across the United States to assist in recovering from interruptions to operations due to the coronavirus pandemic. As part of the American Rescue Plan: Humanities Grantmaking for Organizations at the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Building a More Perfect Union program funds organizations to develop programming in anticipation of the upcoming 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.”

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.”