Today is a premium book birthday day! AND my first day back in the building! May I request chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting with a side of a whole bunch of candles?
Here's what I've been waiting to celebrate today. Some I've read. Some I haven't. All are worth adding to your TBR list and your next book order.
Before the EverAfter by Jacqueline Woodson
I read this back in June and I am still thinking about it and not just because I listen to football podcasts with my son. In my mind, Jacqueline Woodson's verse can do no wrong and this book is no exception. It's 1999-2000 and ZJs dad, a tight end for an unnamed football team (I think the Giants) is not his hero but his "every single thing."When his dad's head is just "not right anymore" ZJ's world as he knows it comes to an end. I really haven't read a book like this before. The topic is unique and so important. It's easily accessible and will spark many conversations among the young and not so young. My husband always says that football will not look the same in our 14 year old Giants fan lifetime. This book will get us all talking while Earth, Wind and Fire's "September" plays in the background and Sugar Hill Gang is queued up next.
I am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes and Gordon C. James
I have been waiting for this book for months! I would check back on Netgalley and Edelweiss impatiently refreshing hoping the arc would be loaded up in the time I hit the curved arrow but alas it never happened. Today is my day! I look forward to cozying up and escaping into this graphic young adult novel memoir asap.
Millionaires for a Month by Stacy McAnulty
Even though Stacy lives in North Carolina now, I still consider her a local girl having grown up in a zip code only a few miles from Castleton. She likes her numbers and writing about math. I'm excited for this one and to attend this crowdcast event this evening. Stacy has already agreed to be a part of our #AuthorFanFaceOff on her book, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl. Yay!
Punching the Air by Ibi Zboi and Yusef Salaam
This book almost makes me want to teach high school. The discussions we could have. The documentaries we could watch. The poems we could write. The artwork and artists we could analyze. The difference we could make. Read. Share. Talk. Check out Salaam's website. Ken Burns's documentary. Ava Duvernay's miniseries. (Check out my friend Alicia's blog post about the book here.) As an aside, it was definitely cool to read about Picasso's Guernica after just seeing it in person while I was in Madrid.
Plus a new one by David Wiesner (Robobaby) and one I'm excited to share with my music teacher, Wild Symphony by Dan Brown.
So, yeah, worth getting the candles out for sure. I'll be having my cake (and cake and cake) and eating (and eating and eating) it, too. It's a book birthday bonanza! 🎂
Happiest of book birthdays today to Ruth Behar's Letters from Cuba.
My Fountains of Silence trip to Madrid was still on the forefront of my mind when I read this book back in early, pre-Covid March. I was all set to plan my next international trip. Little did I know how much the world would change in a matter of days.
And here we are 5 1/2 months later celebrating the book birthday of the story of Esther, a Polish immigrant in Cuba. It's 1938 and Esther joins her Papa in Cuba, leaving behind her sister, Malka, three brothers, her mother and Bubbe. Together Esther and Papa work hard to save money to bring them all to Cuba. This is their story as Esther's letters to Malka.
I loved this book. Thought it was even better than Ruth's Pura Belpre winner Lucky Broken Girl, which says a ton coming from another Briarwood PS 117 girl. It teachers us so much about hope, perseverance, acceptance, diversity, coping with prejudice. Read it with Emma Otheguy and Beatriz Vidal's Marti's Song for Freedom, Margarita Engle and Mike Curato's All the Way to Havana and another new middle grade novel about immigrants and food, A Place at the Table by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan. Yes, I love when food shows up prominently in my books and this one is no exception. To begin with you will be yearning for challah, sour cherry tea, latkes and bananas.
Need to take a trip without getting on a plane or even in a car? This book is perfect then. Find Letters from Cuba today, cozy up in your favorite reading spot and bon voyage.
Tomorrow we'll be celebrating our third book birthday for the Unicorn Rescue Society. Yeah, we're fans. I love these kids and their "twitchy" Professor Fauna. It's like Magic Tree House and Miss Frizzle conquer the Koch Brothers. I hope that sounds like a super fun read to you because it most definitely is!
In this "episode" Uchenna and Elliot are in Havana to find the mysterious Madre de Auguas of Cuba, the "Mother of Waters." Could this magical creature responsible for the drought on the island? Hmmm....or could it be related to something else?
The Unicorn Rescue Society regulars fly to Havana in the Phoenix (oh my!) picking up their new friend, Yoenis, on the way in Miami. A little Cuban history and literature (Jose Marti) are sprinkled throughout as well as environmental and capitalism messages, with bouts of humor, making this enjoyable for kids and adults alike and opportunities for many kinds of conversations.
While reading I thought of other books about Cuba and Havana that I have loved:
Margarita Engle and Mike Curato's, All the Way to Havana:
(The RIF website is helpful again! Here's a word search to pair with the book.)
I was also reminded of a book that we'll be celebrating in August, Letters to Cuba by Ruth Behar. I loved this book filled with hope, perseverance, acceptance and diversity with quotes, like URS, from Jose Marti. I even wrote in my notes about it to pair with Emma Otheguy's beautiful Marti's Song for Freedom and the already mentioned Engle/Curato book. We'll all be Marti fans before the end of the summer, if we weren't already.
Remember the Pura Belpre honor winning book, The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya? Poetry and Jose Marti make an appearance in it, too, and delicious Cuban food! If this video doesn't get you hungry for food and parties, I don't know what will!
So let's PARTY!
See you tomorrow at 1:30 to celebrate it up with the URS kids, friends and antagonists.
I was driving around the other day and got excited when this came on NPR:
I completely agree that "2017 was a great year for Latino culture and the arts." I'm just disappointed that not one reference to poetry or prose by Latino writers or illustrators was mentioned.So here's my own personal addendum to the story.
Picture Books
I love anything that Carmen Agra Deedy writes and says. If you ever have the opportunity to hear her speak, drop everything and go. She will make you laugh and cry and laugh again. Then you will cry because it's over. I was fortunate enough to see her twice in 2017--once at the TLA conference in San Antonio in April and then in October at the Bank Street Book Festival in NYC. Both times wonderful. I love The Rooster Who Wouldn't be Quiet. It has a great message and is a fun read aloud. Mrs. Yager's third graders even performed it at our November assembly.
My fifth grade Reading Ambassadors loved The Chupacabra Ate the Candlelebra written by Marc Tyler Nobleman and illustrated by Ana Aranda. A fun story with vibrant illustrations that light up the page. We all love the funny and unpredictable ending. Everyone is talking (including me) about Margarita Engle's poetry anthology, Bravo! Poems about Amazing Hispanics, beautifully illustrated by Rafael Lopez. I referenced the book and shared the poem on Pura Belpre when teaching about the award named after her. I was introduced to author poet Emma Otheguy at the Bank Street Book Festival when I attended her Latinx literature book group. Her gorgeous English and Spanish biography in verse on Jose Marti, Marti's Song for Freedom, illustrated by Beatriz Vidal, is a must for all collections in all buildings. One of my second graders in my Mock Caldecott class pretty strongly shared that All the Way to Havana by Margarita Engle and illustrated by Mike Curato is his top pick for Caldecott so far. Enough said.
Middle Grade
Mr. Reischer and his book group
I absolutely LOVE The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Perez. Malu is full of the spunk that I wish I had when I was 12 and she is way cooler than I ever will be. I'm going to recommend this book to everyone beginning from strong readers in third grade through middle school. If it's up to me we'll all be singing Ramones alongside Lola Beltran. There hasn't been much buzz around My Brigadista Year, Katherine Paterson's latest, but I enjoyed it. It's the 1960s and brave young Lora leaves her family in Havana for a year to teach folks in the country how to read. Seems simple, but Lora learns so much from her year away from home.
If you read my blog, you already know that I love Ruth Behar and her middle grade debut, Lucky Broken Girl.
Grab your apron and your poetry pen before you begin reading The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya. Right after I read it I wrote in my notes, "Pick up this epically awesome MG novel about family, love and the courage to speak your mind."
Young Adult
In September I read Benjamin Alire Saenz's The Inexplicable Logic of My Life and fell hard for the characters and Saenz. I literally could not put it down. Brushed my teeth with it, listened to the audio everywhere, and read past midnight many nights. It's not a short book but I got it finished in only a few days and that's with being swamped at work. One of the last books I read this year was I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez. The first line has you hooked, "What surprised me most about seeing my sister dead is the lingering smirk on her face." It made me cry, laugh ("You think you're all grow up. You're only fifteen. You don't even know how to make a tortilla...", smile (boyfriend Connor), hold my breath...I don't know if it was because I am a parent of a fifteen year old myself, Jewish (there are so many similarities in cultures), a good story with a strong heroine or a combination but this was an all around winner in my book.
I also really loved Adam Silvera's They Both Die in the End. I kept hoping throughout the whole book that for once Death-Cast would be wrong. "Life isn't meant to be lived alone. Neither are End Days."
May your loved ones, friends, colleagues, students and beloved characters keep you from being alone in 2018. Happy New Year!
I am a Queens native and still very much have the Queens in me. I look at my pictures of my class from PS 117 and see how diverse and wonderful each student was and also think, "How did our teachers ever teach us with nearly 40 in a class?!" I love how FaceBook has connected me with my early friends now way over 30 years later.
When I was in school in the 70s and 80s, we would take field trips frequently to the cultural mecca of "the city" which was and always will be "Manhattan." We went to The Met, MoMA, The Museum of Natural History,The Hayden Planetarium, NY Transit Museum (which I think was in Manhattan at the time), the Museum of the City of New York, and I'm sure more. With my Mom I went to the theatre often with any excuse in the book ("Oh, you got a 100 on a test, let's go to the theatre!" and with my Dad we celebrated every birthday by visiting a tourist attraction with my friends. But until last Monday, I had never been to The Society of Illustrators and had no idea what a treat I was in for!
The Society of Illustrators is at 128 East 63rd Street
There was a special event for librarians only but I was lucky enough to bring my art teacher, Suzanne, along because she and I have plans to open a "gallery" in my library in the spring in honor of an illustrator visiting us who just happens to be one of the silver medal winners of "The Original Art 2016" Show that we were there for! Hmmm....could Daniel Miyares be visiting Castleton Elementary School in May?
The Original Art show is amazing and a must see for any librarian, classroom teacher, art teacher, parent, really anyone interested in original illustration art. This year it is original artwork from 132 of the best books chosen by a panel of illustrators, authors, and art directors. Imagine this. You love a book so much. You have read it to yourself a dozen times and share it with students a dozen more. You have visited the illustrator's website. You have talked about the book with others. And now, you can see a piece of artwork from that special book up close and personal. Not only that, if you are able to attend a gallery talk like we did last week, you can even hear more about the details of the artwork. Pinch me. I felt like I was in librarian heaven.
AND on top of all that, at last week's event we got to listen to and meet three illustrators from the show: Sergio Ruzzier,Mike Curato and Nancy Carpenter. What a treat. They each talked about their process.
Sergio went first. Originally from Milan, he has been here since 1995. He shares a studio with some remarkable artists in Brooklyn (remember John Bemelmans Marciano and Sophie Blackall?). Interesting fact about Sergio: we found out that he never owned a sketch book. This is Not a Picture Book is on my Mock Geisel for this year. Stay tuned.
Next up was Nancy.
She showed us a picture of her studio and desk and pointed out a piece of her own artwork hanging up. "I put up my own artwork to remind myself that I can do this." I love that. She also shared that "the mistakes I make are where the magic is." I found the video that Nancy shared with us showing her process. Truly amazing:
We learned from Mike Curato's presentation that "mint is the answer to everything!" Be sure and check out where the mint pops out in Little Elliot, Big Fun.
Q and A with the artists
I cannot believe I am holding my book backwards!
I took a bunch of notes during our gallery talk (I was in Martha Rago's group and the quotes are hers). It was all so enlightening and inspiring. These are just some of the highlights of things I loved that were brought to my attention and I hope I bring to yours the next time you pick up one of these books:
Freedom in Congo Square by R. Gregory Christie
"...like an Alvin Ailey performance..."
Fearless Flyer: Ruth Law and Her Flying Machine by Heather Long and illustrated by Raul Colon
I particularly took note of this book because the character creates a "symphony of color" and wondered how I might be able to collaborate with my music teacher...
We love this book for our Mock Geisel project and it was lovely to see the artwork up close. Martha put it so well when she said it is,
"very accessible and understandable and that simplicity works."
Some Writer! The Story of E. B. White by Melissa Sweet
Omg. This was amazing. Melissa created dioramas for her artwork and then photographed them. You can't even describe it in words so you'll just have to go to the exhibit to see it in person. As Martha put it,
This book is on my Newbery list and will be on my Sibert list. We love Shana (and she also just happens to be Chris Grabenstein's editor--small world) and the illustrations are incredible. They are hand built 3-D sets that are created first and then photographed. Remarkable.
I have fallen hard for this book and shared it with many classes along with Emily Arrow's song.
Then to see the original artwork of the full page cat. Wow. Here's what Martha said,
"The story is about perception...he changes technique for each point of view."
I want you to know that ALL the artwork in the exhibit was incredible and it was so wonderful to see work by people I have met and some who even took a leap with me in the past (Brian Biggs*, Ashley Bryant, Sophie Blackall*, Lauren Castillo*, Matthew Cordell*, Jon Klassen, Steve Light, Zachariah OHora*, Greg Pizzoli, Sean Qualls,* Christian Robinson, Dan Santat*)
*They took the LEAP!
And speaking of Sophie Blackall (we were, right?) Suzanne and I walked by the MoMA Design Store so we could see Sophie's window. I was in awe. I'd love to know the process behind that. Then we went into the store and Sophie's work is inside as well. It's worth the trip to 53rd Street.
Then Sophie surprised us all and came to gallery! So exciting!
Sophie and Suzanne
Suzanne and I got home close to midnight but it was worth every tired minute the rest of the week. That's why it took me this long to post about the event. So the next time you are on the Upper East Side or anywhere near there or need an excuse to go to the city (do you really?), put the Society of Illustrators on your list. You will not regret it.
