Commemorating the historic march to Selma

Because They Marched; the people's campaign for voting rights by Russell Freedman. Holiday House, 2014. $20.00. 

Recommended for ages 10 and up.

(Thanks to Ronna Mandel of Good Reads with Ronna for letting me review this book for her blog and keep the copy for my library).

Nearly fifty years ago, on March 21, 1965, three thousand people, black and white, Christian and Jew, young and old, began a five day march from Selma to Montgomery (Alabama) to secure voting rights for black people. Although this was not their first attempt, it was highly successful. A judge’s ruling that the march was constitutional and the presence of the Alabama National Guard,  paved the way and protected the marchers from police (and segregationists) brutality. By the time the marchers reached Montgomery, their numbers had swelled to 25,00. Nothing, not even Klan blockades, could squelch their courage and spirit.  

The impact of this march was immediate, Congress approved the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and, by the following summer, 9,000 blacks in Dallas county had registered to vote.

In a clear and compelling narrative,  Freedman places the march and preceding events  in the context of a society that lived under oppressive “Jim Crow” laws, which effectively legalized and enforced segregation. Accompanied by powerful and dramatic, black and white photos, young readers will easily grasp the challenges and the dangers black people faced in demonstrating for their democratic rights, especially the right to vote. The well-chosen photos further underscore the marcher’s courage and passion in the face of horrific violence and give readers a sense of immediacy, even fifty years after the event.

Highly recommended as a valuable resource in helping young readers understand the profound impact that the Civil Rights Movement had on our country’s political and cultural history. It is also recommended as a powerful and moving tribute to the courage and determination of a people, who sacrificed dearly to obtain for democratic rights-for all.

The book includes a timeline, source notes, and a selected bibliography.

Kirkus gave this a starred review and named it one of the “Best Books of 2014.”

Find an excerpt of this book at Holiday House along with excellent valuable CCSS and teaching resources.

Read more about the author at the  National Endowment for the Humanities and see a Library of Congress webcast featuring Russell Freedman.

Throwback Thursday: Share This Classic!

The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi and Roberto Innocenti. Creative Editions, 2005. Reviewed by parent Cynthia Willard.

Like most of us, I thought I knew the story of Pinocchio.  I was drawn into reading this version of the  original classic because I was familiar with the work of illustrator, Roberto Innocenti.  I quickly realized that my familiarity with the story came only through the exquisite but watered-down Disney film made in 1940.

The actual tale is both darker and stranger than the Disney version.  The original story was written in Florence in 1880 by Carlo Collodi, an Italian story teller.  The story is set in a small Italian village where a poor old wood carver, Geppetto, carves a puppet boy out of magical talking wood.  The puppet boy, named Pinocchio, is mischievous and impulsive. Geppetto soon comes to love the wooden puppet boy but expects him to  conform to certain values and behaviors: hard work, delayed gratification, and duty to one’s parents.  While Pinocchio loves Geppetto, he is selfish and unable to anticipate the consequences of his actions.  He misbehaves and falls afoul of a number of vivid and fantastic characters including  a talking cricket, a fairy with turquoise hair, a talking fox and cat, and a “mile high dogfish.”  He spends time traveling the Italian countryside where he visits strange places such as the Land of Toys and an ocean full of sea monsters.

Pinocchio comes to realize that he has a duty to Geppetto and that his actions have harmed him.  In a quest to rescue Geppetto after he is swallowed by a sea monster, Pinocchio suffers many abuses.  His feet are burned off, he is hung from a tree, and transformed into a donkey.  Eventually, Pinocchio, while not perfect, realizes that he loves Geppetto and rescues him.  The story ends when Pinocchio becomes a real boy.  Interestingly, Pinocchio’s redemption does not come as a result of conformity.  Pinocchio stays mischievous but learns to think of others and the consequences of his actions.  Geppetto loves Pinocchio as he is and embraces his spirited son.

The story is rich and intriguing.  However, the illustrations are the real draw.  Roberto Innocenti brings the story to vivid life with his exquisite, detailed paintings set in traditional 19th century Italy.  Check out the illustrator’s web site for biographical information, a list of books, and some stunning illustrations of his work. 

This book will make a fantastic read aloud for kids of all ages.  The large illustrated format may draw younger kids but the story will engage junior high kids as well.

Multicultural Children's Book Day 1/27/15

Just a short post ... Good Reads with Ronna is helping celebrate this event, read about it at her blog. You can help celebrate this event by reading (or having your child read) a multicultural book. Some new ones at our library include:

Wild Berries by Julie Flett. Bilingual Cree and English. 
Simply Read Books (PreS-3). 

Clarence and his grandmother spend the day picking berries and meet ant, spider, and fox in the beautiful ancestral woodlands of this Metis and Cree author and illustrator.

Bobby vs. the Girls (Accidently) by Lisa Yee 
Scholastic (Grades 3-6).

Robert Carver Ellis-Chan, a perfectly normal fourth-grader, gets into perfectly crazy situations! Like when he was running for class president and discovered his big sister's panties clinging to the back of his sweater. An hilarious early chapter book reader.







Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson . 
Penguin (Grades 5-8).  

In free verse poems, Woodson reflects on what it was like growing up as an African American during the rise of the Civil Rights Movement and how she found her voice with writing. 

The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds . 
Simon and Schuster (YA). 

Soon after his mother's death, Matt takes a job at a funeral home in his tough Brooklyn neighborhood and, while assisting with funerals, begins to accept her death and his responsibilities as a man.

A visit with YA author Amy Talkington

Award-winning screenwriter, director, YA author, and parent Amy Talkington met with the Junior High class in the library on Friday, January 9, to discuss her debut book, Liv, Forever (click here to see my review of the book).

Amy began by briefly her background and career as a screenwriter. She told the students that in high school she was "obsessed" with painting, writing, and music, elements we see in her main character, Liv. Amazingly, Amy actually worked up the idea of Liv, Forever as a movie first but  decided to write this story as a  novel first in order to:

Amy reads from Liv, Forever

“... explore Liv’s voice in a way that I couldn’t in a screenplay. Also, I wanted to create a deep mythology and history for the setting.”

Soho Press, the publisher, liked the idea and gave her 4 months to write the novel. The  new medium was "scary" for her but also "exhilarating.”Amy then shared the book trailer she wrote and directed. After summarizing the book, Amy read from the book to give the students insight into two of the major characters. 

Amy's discussion inspired many good questions from the students. Here’s how her responses to a few of the questions:

Where did the idea for the story came from?

Amy related that she had a long standing interest in writing a ghost story. She conceived of Liv as a young woman, “closed off and  afraid of opening up” and asked herself “ ...what if that person had to die to experience love?” While writing the novel, Amy noted that the Occupy Movement was active, which gave her the idea of the very wealthy and powerful willing to sacrifice anything to get what they want, which informs the mythology of the very elite school Liv attends.

Who inspired the characters?

Amy told the students that she was a lot like Liv as a teenager: closed off emotionally and focused on painting. Like Liv, she attended an East Coast boarding school. Liv’s friend Gabe (who can hear the ghosts at the school) is drawn from a beloved family member, who seems kind of crazy to those who don’t know him.

What is she working on now?

In addition to writing screenplays and other projects, Amy has a sequel to Liv, Forever in the works and there’s discussions of a movie based on the novel.

Amy concluded her visit with a series of slide referencing art works referred to in the book to demonstrate how Liv uses art to reference her feelings.  A reference list of art and a play list  of songs referred to in the book, as well as the book trailer can be found at her web site.

And finally, she offered a bit of advice to aspiring writers: “ Write every day. Give yourself deadlines. And read, of course, read everything.”

Excellent advise, and , of course, as a librarian, I love that last sentence!

Animalium: a unique way to visit the museum!

Animalium by Jenny Broom and illustrated by Katie Scott. Big Picture Press an imprint of Candlewick Press, 2014. Recommended for ages 7-12 (but will be enjoyed by all ages). 

Turn off the TV, power down the devices, and take the children to the museum ... simply by picking up this book.

With its oversize format, a bronze-colored admittance ticket, and a cover crawling with a display of colorful, intricately drawn animal life forms, this visually impressive book will instantly grab children's attention. Who wouldn't want to pour over this remarkable book designed to capture an awe-inspiring visit to a museum? 

Turn the pages and step into the "museum."  At the "Entrance," the "curators," Jenny Broom and Katie Scott, welcome children and invite them to "See for yourself how the tree of life evolved from the simple sea sponge into the diverse array of animals found on Earth today (p.1)." 

A breath-taking two page spread of the "Tree of Animal Life" follows. The curators explain that this unusual tree illustrates " ... how organisms that appear to be very different have ... evolved from one another over millions of years ... Children (and adults) will find it fascinating to follow the branches up from the stem (Invertabrates) to see the development of and interelationships between animal life forms.  For example, a lungfish and a cockatoo once shared the Vertabrate branch. The curators note that the further away from the stem a species is, the more the species has evolved in order to survive.

As children continue turning pages, they enter individual "galleries" (or book chapters) which are " ... arranged by shared characteristics and in evolutionary order to show how the animal kingdom... (p.1) " developed over eons of time into invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

Read my complete review-and see some fabulous images from the book- at Good Reads with Ronna. Thanks to Ronna Mandel for donating a copy of this book to our library.