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The A.W.E. Project: Reinventing Education, Reinventing the Human by Matthew Fox

Published on October 25, 2017 | In Blog, Recommended Books | 0 Comment

Publishers blurb, 2006: "Matthew Fox has done it again. As one of the most prophetic voices of our time, he has created a unique new project that speaks the concerns and hopes of all of us who care about creating lives of meaning – for ourselves, our communities, our children and our children’s children… The A.W.E. Project reminds us that awe is the appropriate response to the unfathomable wonder that is creation – from the magnificence of galaxies, to the complex and brilliant process of cell-differentiation, and the miracle of the humanhand (product of 14 billion years of evolution). Imagine how much richer learning will be for all ages when we intentionally cultivate a sense of appreciation and wonder. A.W.E. is also the acronym for Fox’s proposed style of learning – an approach to balance the three R’s. This approach to learning, eldering, and mentoring is intelligent enough to honor the teachings of the Ancestors, to nurture Wisdom in addition to imparting knowledge, and to Educate through Fox’s 10 C’s. The 10 C’s are the core of the A.W.E. philosophy and process of education, and include: compassion, contemplation, and creativity. The A.W.E. Project does for the vast subject of “learning” what Fox’s Reinvention of Work did for vocation and Original Blessing did for theology. With passion and conviction, Fox turns conventional “education” upside down, shakes out what is no longer working, and offers visions of what can be."

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Visit Children’s Book Review

Published on August 22, 2017 | In Blog, Recommended Books | 0 Comment

The Children’s Book Review, named one of the ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children) Great Web Sites for Kids, is a resource devoted to children’s literature and literacy. They publish reviews and book lists of the best books for kids of all ages. They also produce author and illustrator interviews and share literacy based articles that help parents, grandparents, teachers and librarians to grow readers.

If you have ever had the pleasure of watching the amazement and enthusiasm of a child who has just learned something new, then you will appreciate these precious words from Dr. Seuss:

The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.

Please join us on our quest for literacy … remembering old favorites and searching for new ones.

Meet The Children’s Book Review’s Team of Contributors

Bianca Schulze

Bianca Schulze is the founder of The Children’s Book Review and the bestselling author of 101 Books to Read Before You Grow Up (Walter Foster Jr. 2016), an Amazon “Best Book of the Month” in October 2016. She is a reader, reviewer, mother and children’s book lover. She also has a decade’s worth of experience working with children in the great outdoors. Combined with her love of books and experience as a children’s specialist bookseller, the goal is to share her passion for children’s literature and help grow readers. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, she now lives with her husband and three children near Boulder, Colorado.

Favorite childhood books: Animalia by Graeme Base, The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton, Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl, The Twits by Roald Dahl, Where’s Waldo? by Martin Handford, Superfudge by Judy Blume, Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

Luisa LaFleur

Luisa LaFleur reviews bilingual books for The Children’s Book Review to help parents choose the best books for their budding linguists. She was born in Argentina, attended school in NYC and speaks three foreign languages—Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. Formerly an editor in NYC, Luisa is currently a stay-at-home mom to two little ones.

Favorite childhood books: The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss, The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen, Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren, Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary, Frecklejuice by Judy Blume, and Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great by Judy Blume.

Nicki Richesin

Nicki Richesin is the editor of four anthologies The May Queen, Because I Love Her, What I Would Tell Her, and Crush. She is a regular contributor to Huffington Post, Daily Candy, 7×7, Red Tricycle, and San Francisco Book Review. Nicki has been reading to her daughter every day since she was born. For more information, visit: www.nickirichesin.com.

Favorite childhood books: The Maggie B. by Irene Haas, Best Friends for Frances by Russell and Lillian Hoban, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s Magic by Betty MacDonald, East of the Sun, West of the Moon by Kay Nielsen, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, and The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

Nina Schuyler

Nina Schulyer‘s new novel, The Translator, has received starred reviews from Booklist and Shelf Awareness. Her fist novel, The Painting, was nominated for the Northern California Book Award and was named a ‘Best Book’ by the San Francisco Chronicle. She’s fiction editor for www.ablemuse.com and teaches creative writing at the University of San Francisco. For more information, visit her at www.ninaschuyler.com.

Favorite childhood books: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh, Silver Pennies by Blanche Jennings Thompson (I still have this book!), Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl, What Do People Do All Day by Richard Scarry, and Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.

Amanda Lynch

Amanda Lynch is a writer, editor, and blogger who grew up in Florida knowing she belonged somewhere else. She now lives in the DC Metro Area with her husband and three amazing little boys. She is the Eco-Friendly/Green Living Contributor over at the Prime Parents’ Club and strives to live earth friendly in a world of disposable diapers. When not writing about Anabel and Jared or chasing around a curly-haired boy, she cheers for the Gators (in all kinds of weather) and occasionally remembers to sleep. You can also find her on Facebook, or on Twitter as @thebookprincess.

Favorite childhood book: The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi, Just As Long As We’re Together by Judy Blume, Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss and The Stinky Cheese Man And Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka.

Denise Mealy

Denise Mealy is a former web content provider who stays at home to change diapers and write books. She likes to read, cook, dance, travel and forward pictures of spam sculptures to friends. If she could have dinner with any author, dead or alive, it would be a toss up between J.K. Rowling and Jane Austen. They would probably eat pasta. Yes, definitely pasta. Visit: http://dccmealy.com. You can also find her on Twitter: @dccmealy.

Gi Hallmark

Gi Hallmark, founder of The Children’s Blog, is a freelance writer and mother of two lovely girls. She currently resides in Charlotte, NC, where she enjoys reading and reporting about a variety of children’s topics. For more information, visit: www.thechildrensblog.com or follow @thechildrnsblog on Twitter.

Favorite childhood books: Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff, Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein, My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett, The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume, and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

David Teague

David Teague is the author of Franklin’s Big Dreams (Disney/Hyperion). He’s currently at work on his next picture book, Billy Hightower, forthcoming in 2013, and is collaborating with his wife, the novelist Marisa de los Santos, on a young adult novel, Margaret O’Malley. For more about David and his books, visit http://www.davidteague.net/ or http://www.facebook.com/FranklinDreams.

TCBR Advisor

Erik Schulze

Erik Schulze is TCBR’s acting advisor. He is a distinguished and agile resource who continually helps TCBR to innovate and grow. He’s our “idea guy” and continually pushes us to deliver an engaging resource for our readership. Schulze comes from a background in new media, consumer ecommerce, publishing and curation, finance and banking, software design, directory and social platforms, digital learning, and more. For more information, visit: http://www.linkedin.com

Favorite childhood books: The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, Put Me In the Zoo by Robert Lopshire, Call of the Wild by Jack London, James and The Giant Peach by Roald Dahl, Superfudge by Judy Blume, and Cross Country Cat by Mary Calhoun.

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Could an Indie Picture Book Win the Caldecott Award for best U.S. illustrated children’s book?

Published on June 22, 2017 | In Blog, Recommended Books | 1 Comments

The Good, the Bad, and the Self-Published

May 11, 2017, for The Horn Book, by Rachel G. Payne

Right about now, the 2018 Caldecott chair is likely receiving a steady trickle of self-published books in the mail. Yes, these books are completely eligible for the award! As long as their illustrators are American, that is. But is this an exercise in futility? Could a self-published picture book actually win? To my knowledge, one never has, but if it did, it would be game-changer.

When I served on the 2009 Caldecott committee, self-published authors and illustrators who wanted to submit something for award consideration had to send it to every committee member and also to ALSC. That adds up to a whopping 16 books, and lots of postage. And if they are submitting the book to several award committees, that can really add up. Thankfully for the indie crowd, this rule changed a few years ago, and now only chairs and the ALSC Office are required to get copies. As chair, I got several of these submissions each week, and I even had a few waiting for me on my desk at work after my committee had deliberated. The submissions often came with heartfelt letters and self-generated marketing materials attached. While I can’t share any specific titles with you, they did indeed run the whole gamut: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Here are a few patterns that emerged in the submissions I received.

The amateur hour: If you are professional who works with children’s books, I am sure someone has said to you, “I have a great idea for a picture book…” Many of the books I received were labors of love by the author, to bring these ideas to fruition. There was often the kernel of a good idea there, but many fell down in the art department. It looked as if the authors had invited family members, next-door-neighborhoods, or college friends to illustrate their books. Or the writers themselves pulled out an old set of watercolors to create the art. They were amateur artists, and it showed.

Where’s the story?: There were a few books that had exceptional art, often by an art student or practicing artist, but the story was an afterthought. It seemed as if someone had told the artist they could and should create a picture book out of their portfolio. These submissions proved the point that a picture book is more than a collection of pretty pictures.

The slush pile: Whoever coined this phrase was a genius, because many of the books I received left me cold. A few were disturbingly racist and sexist. Others were extremely odd, and you have to wonder how anyone could think a children’s picture book on this topic was a good idea. Some everyday objects should not be anthropomorphized!

Diamonds in the rough: There were a few books that had interesting art and compelling stories to tell. They were also handsomely printed and bound. When I had enough of these stand-outs, which were few and far between, I would pack them up and send them off to my fellow committee members for a second opinion in what we called the “indie box.”

How far did any of these self-published books get in the award process? That I can’t share, but I think it is telling that a self-published book has never, to my knowledge, won the award. And, I’m sad to say, it is unlikely to happen. While the tools and services available to authors and illustrators to make their self-published books look their best are getting more sophisticated every year, indie authors don’t have the talents of professional editors, art directors, and book designers to draw on. They don’t have the funds to pay for high-quality paper, full-color endpapers, or even dust jackets; all of the things that make picture books beautiful physical objects that make children (not to mention committee members) want to touch, open, and pore over. When it comes to awards, publishing is not an even playing field.

A word of warning to authors or illustrators who may be submitting their self-published work for award consideration (and some major publishing houses could use a reminder, too): read award submission guidelines carefully. If your book is not eligible for an award, no matter how wonderful it is, don’t submit it. It is a waste of your time and money. Also. Committee chairs can’t return your book to you, and they don’t have the time to acknowledge that it has been received (get a tracking number from your courier). And no, the Caldecott chair cannot pass your work along to the Newbery chair.

While it may be difficult or even impossible for a self-published book to win a Caldecott, I hope independent writers and artists keep at it. In my career as a librarian, I have sometimes turned to indie books on topics that major houses were not addressing. Recently, to support one her students, a kindergarten teacher asked me for a simple picture book about a child who wears hearing aids. El Deafo was too long, and other titles were about getting cochlear implants, not this boy’s experience. The best book I found was Maxi’s Super Ears, written and illustrated by Maggie Klein and published by Maggie Klein. While it did not win a Caldecott, it is no less important or necessary to its readers.

So what’s your take? Could a self-published picture book ever win?

About Rachel G. Payne

Rachel G. Payne is coordinator of early childhood services at Brooklyn Public Library. She has written for School Library Journal, Library Trends, and Kirkus and was a contributor to Reading with Babies, Toddlers and Twos (2013) and Library Services from Birth to Five: Delivering the Best Start (2015). Rachel served as chair of the 2016 Caldecott committee and as a member of the 2009 committee.

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Notes From the Horn Book, news about good books for children & young adults

Published on June 22, 2017 | In Blog, For Parents and Teachers, Recommended Books | 0 Comment

The Horn Book Magazine, founded in Boston in 1924, is the oldest of the U.S. magazines dedicated to reviewing children's literature.

Horn Book's free e-newsletters are perfect for teachers, librarians, parents, and anyone else who is looking for new good books for children and teenagers. Each issue is written and published by Horn Book editors, the most trusted authorities in the field. When you sign up for Notes from the Horn Book, you’ll automatically receive Nonfiction Notes from the Horn Book, The Horn Book Herald, and Talks with Roger. Subscribe today — it’s free.

Published monthly, Notes features the best in newly released children’s books for every age. Distributed six times a year, this nonfiction-only newsletter features themed topics and book reviews. The Herald, published six times a year with JLG, brings up-to-date information on award winners, holiday books, & more. An occasional — and lively! — sponsored newsletter in which editor in chief Roger Sutton interviews an author or illustrator.

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Books for Children who Read at an Advanced Level, a new list from CBC

Published on June 14, 2017 | In Blog, Recommended Books | 0 Comment

The Children’s Book Council has announced the inaugural Reading Beyond book list, an annotated bibliography for parents, caregivers, teachers, librarians, and others seeking book recommendations for children who read at an advanced level. The list will be updated biennially.

The 75 books featured on the 2017 Reading Beyond list were selected by the ALA-CBC Joint Committee from more than 600 books submitted by publishers and librarians. Titles were evaluated with an eye toward challenging yet age-appropriate content for young readers.

The list represents a variety of genres and formats, and is divided into three categories, with 25 books each: for kindergarten and first graders reading at a third grade level; for second and third graders reading at a fifth grade level; and for fourth and fifth graders reading at a seventh grade level.

To read the article, click here: CNC Launches Reading Beyond Book List by Emma Kantor, Jun 13, 2017

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Raising Sensitive Children to be Future Leaders; The Highly Sensitive Child

Published on June 11, 2017 | In Blog, For Parents and Teachers, Recommended Books | 0 Comment

By Amy Monticello for The Quiet Revolution blog

My 3-year-old daughter, Benna, and I sit on the floor of her bedroom, having a tea party. Like much of our play, this party has rules. Conventionally, we use Benna’s pink play tea kettle and invite a rotating selection of her extensive stuffed animal menagerie, but unconventionally, we only drink “tea” from a large plastic bucket in the shape of a pumpkin that Benna used this year for trick-or-treating. The reason? Benna doesn’t want to spill any “tea” on the floor. She understands that a larger vessel is a better safeguard against spillage.

But as Daniel Tiger teaches, accidents happen. “Have some more tea, Mama,” Benna says, tipping the kettle that makes actual pouring sounds towards the bucket. And then: “Oh no! I spilled some tea!” We grab a dishtowel and clean up the invisible wetness from the rug. “All fixed,” she says, satisfied and ready to party on.

I’ve come to understand these fictitious spills as a form of safe play for my daughter, whose reaction to real spills—messes or disarray of any kind—mirrors mine. Activity grinds to a halt so that the incongruity can be rectified: the errant crayon mark erased, the drop of milk wiped from the table. My husband compares this to when, mid-sentence, I’ll get up to collect a dust bunny I spy across the room. Or straighten a lampshade. Or even out the mini-blinds. My daughter and I share this compulsive response to our environment just as we share the same underlying personality structure of which this behavior is but one small incarnation: high sensitivity.

In her seminal tome, The Highly Sensitive Child, Dr. Elaine Aron outlines the four main identifiers of high sensitivity: engaging in deep reflection, becoming easily excited or overwhelmed, having high emotional responsiveness and empathy, and noticing elusive or understated detail. In the updated 2014 author’s note, she further explores earlier research about the correlation between high sensitivity and unhappiness. “I suspected this had something to do with a person’s history, with sensitive persons being especially affected by stress when young, and that is what we found,” Aron says. “However, with a good enough childhood, they were as happy as others and perhaps even more so than others.”

When I was a child, my family gave me the nickname Sarah Bernhardt, after the Victorian-era actress whose melodramatic performances earned her equal parts admiration and scorn. Sensitive was a word frequently used to describe what my family thought were my over-the-top responses to commonplace things like the sound of bumblebees, the grit in the dentist’s toothpaste, and the texture of rare roast beef.

As a teen, I was tormented by any shift in the dynamics of my relationships, more often perceived than outright stated. Able to detect when a friend was pulling away, I’d become needy and clingy, obsessed with ferreting out my status. Even now, my mother accuses me of hearing slights that aren’t there, of making too much of a passing comment from a family member. I’ve lost countless hours of sleep to turning over such comments in my head, fixating on the hint of sarcasm, disdain, or judgment that I swore I heard in their words, however banal.

I had a happy childhood. I grew up knowing I was loved, and my sensitivity was a gateway to deep and meaningful relationships more than it was a liability in them. But I did develop a sense of myself as thin-skinned, weak-willed, and dramatic. And I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety throughout my adult life. I’ve coped in healthy ways with writing and exercise, but my coping methods have also included alcohol, marijuana, and prescription medication. One of my biggest fears is that my daughter will rely on these latter methods too.

Aron’s research offers me comfort that sensitivity need not be a lifetime sentence to mental illness, especially since my husband and I have access to emerging research that can guide our parenting. We know that yelling is not only ineffective in discipline with all kids but also likely to escalate our own sensitive child’s distress. We know to avoid peak hours at shopping malls and restaurants. When we host playdates, we know that Benna will spend the first hour or so alone in her bedroom, acclimating to the noise and activity of other children in our home. Most importantly, we know how to recognize all the gifts of Benna’s sensitivity: her ability to name and discuss abstract feelings, her unusual proclivity for sharing, her razor-sharp memory, her love and need of quiet time, her orderliness and cleanliness, her unrestricted affection for those she trusts.

But our culture’s perception of weakness in high sensitivity, and the monikers that arise from it (like calling people special snowflakes), have found new reinforcement in a growing cultural trend characterized by an overt backlash against political correctness and asylum. Particularly on social media, we see a relished mockery of any reference to safety or the protection of others’ feelings through choices in language and tone. Many Americans seem bent on building a collective thicker skin through a combination of intimidation, bullying, and gaslighting.

I am grateful that Benna is still young and that for now her parents’ influence remains the governing force of her self-perception. Research shows that peer expectations begin to supplant parental expectations when a child enters full-time schooling. In The Nurture Assumption, psychologist Judith Rich Harris stresses the importance of children’s ability to navigate their culture at large, outside the home, and thus the enormity of that culture’s impact on personality development.

With a trend towards emotional toughness, attacks on perceived sensitivity seem likely to increase, with potentially serious effects on those with high sensitivity. And yet, other repercussions of callousness might best be remedied in part by people like my daughter. In “The empathic civilization“, a TED Talk that connects human empathy to the urgency of environmental conservation, Jeremy Rifkin says that, “Empathy is the invisible hand. Empathy is what allows us to stretch our sensibility with another so that we can cohere into larger social units.” In other words, empathy, a hallmark characteristic of those with high sensitivity, could be an antidote to an increasingly fractious world that values insularity.

Not only do I want Benna to reject the notion of sensitivity as a character flaw, I want her to see it as a source of joy. Sociologist Brené Brown says that vulnerability—in her definition, a willingness to be seen—is essential to living a “wholehearted” life, and highly sensitive people often have no choice in being vulnerable. “Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage,” Brown says. “Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness.”

There’s another game we play with Benna’s stuffed animals that I privately call The Feelings Game. Benna will hold up Hedwig the Snowy Owl, or Beulah the Elephant, or her dearest friend Big Bear, and tell me what they’re feeling. “Beulah’s excited!” she’ll say, or “Big Bear is very tired.” She also tells me when they’re angry or upset. “Hedwig is sad,” she’ll say. Sometimes we give Hedwig a hug or fix her dinner, but most of the time, I just say I’m sorry that Hedwig is sad. We start with acceptance—that necessary precursor to honor, to value.

And every time, Benna will then say, “Hedwig’s happy again!”

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Buzzworthy Books About Bees

Published on May 31, 2017 | In Blog, Recommended Books | 0 Comment

by Natasha Gilmore, May 31, 2017

for Publishers Weekly Children's Book News

Just last year, bees made it onto the endangered species list for the first time. This is a major cause for alarm among ecologists, as the insects are integral to the human food supply and to many ecosystems. Furthermore, while urban beekeeping has become a new trend, it was recently reported that one-third of U.S. honeybees died last year. With an arising need for educating kids about the importance of bees in the global ecosystem, and with an aim toward conservation, publishers have a hive full of new fiction and nonfiction titles for young readers of all ages aimed at demonstrating the import of this essential insect.

Bee: A Peek-Through Picture Book

By Britta Teckentrup (Doubleday, Jan. 31, hardcover, $14.99, ISBN 978-1-5247-1526-7)

This picture book makes use of die cuts to draw readers through the world of bees.

To see more titles, read rest of article .

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Publishers Weekly KidsCast

Published on May 2, 2017 | In Blog, For Parents and Teachers, Recommended Books | 0 Comment

Publishers Weekly PW KidsCast

Interviews with children's and YA authors conducted by Publishers Weekly children's reviews editor John A. Sellers. Jerry Spinelli, Marcus Pfister, Kwame Alexander, Maggie Stiefvater, A.S. King, David Shannon, Matthew Reinhart, Jewell Parker Rhodes, Kenny Loggins – listen to these and other top writers and artists discuss their new books for children and teens in the PW KidsCast podcast.