Gandhi’s Grandson Appearing at Brattleboro Literary Festival
Peace Begins with Me: Channeling Anger & Being the Change Brattleboro Literary Festival Saturday, October 15 5:15 PM – 6:30 PM Centre Congregational Church Brattleboro, Vermont PRINT & SHARE the Event Poster How do we live our lives as light? How do we be the change we wish to see in the world? As a young man, Arun Gandhi explored these very questions with his grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi. Those philosophical and political explorations are now featured in the illustrated books for all ages, Grandfather Gandhi and Be the Change: A Grandfather Gandhi Story. Creators,...
Read MoreThere MIGHT Be Giants (In KidLit)
There was a time when there MIGHT have been giants. The existence of giant, ill-tempered men could explain thunderstorms, volcanoes, mountain ranges and people that disappeared in the night. But as the world was explored and explained, giants fell into myth. But all things that have sifted into myth live on in children’s stories. Giants may stand in for that childhood feeling that other humans and the world are awfully BIG and sometimes awfully mean. Like Jack, children may want to outwit these big people by sheer bravado. But then there are the friendly giants that spare us from...
Read MoreKeep Calm & Read On: WWII KidLit Novels
Operation Pied Piper relocated more than 3.5 million people from London and the coast on England during WWII. The evacuation has inspired many a novel for children. Children sent away to places unknown while leaving their parents in peril is, of course, the perfect set-up for adventure. C. S. Lewis’s 1950 classic novel, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe opens with the Pevensie children’s evacuation from London. First stop, English country estate. Second stop, Narnia. Few remember that the warring children in William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies (1954) were boys...
Read MoreAn Unhappy Birthday for the President
President’s Day falls this year, as always, in the midst of Black History Month. With educators, parents and citizens across race striving to make African American history and culture much, much more than a 28 Day celebration, what role does black history have in the study of our founding fathers? A recent controversy in the children’s literature world shows that George Washington, a slaveholder, can no longer escape our scrutiny. In January, Scholastic Press canceled the publication of A Birthday Cake for George Washington by Ramin Ganeshram and illustrated...
Read MoreAnd the Winner Is…
Curious City explores the two big picture book winners at the mighty 2015 American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards in a podcast chatter with Green Mountain Morning! Explore all the children’s literature award winners here! Last Stop on Market Street By Matt de la Pena Illustrated by Christian Robinson Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group Age Range: 4 – Adult Find at Your Local Bookstore 2016 Newbery Medal Winner 2016 Caldecott Medal Honor Book 2016 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Honor Book A New York Times Book Review Notable...
Read MoreCurious City Besties ’15
What book will be a child’s “bestie”? What 2015 book will be your child’s favorite companion? Best Children’s Books of 2015 Everyone in the book review press is lining up to declare the best of 2015. They are, indeed, astounding reads all. See the latest lists at the bottom of this post. Buying Books for Children? If you are buying books for children, though, the best route is to approach a bookseller or librarian and describe your young reader by personality and (if you know) by their favorite books. Those booksellers and librarians are magic at making...
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