Kidlit in Canada: Part Two

And then we went to Quebec and spent most of our time in Quebec City, the capital of the province.

And home of this lovely church-turned-library.

On the old city's main drag lay the sweetest little bookstore, Librarie Pantoute, where I was reminded that Francophones are the monarchs of graphica.  Seriously, a third of the store was filled with comics and graphic novels for all ages.  They had the Smurfs.  They had Asterix.  They even had Mafalda translated into French.

Unfortunately, they also had one of the more racist Tintin books.

What really caught my eye, though, was the series of graphic biographies about famous historical figures.  If I could actually read French, I'd be all over them.

I was also excited to see lots of Guy Delisle's work.  Although I knew he was a French speaker, I didn't realize that he's from Quebec City, so I saw his stuff all over town.  His books -- Shenzen, Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, Burma Chronicles, and Jerusalem, all already translated into English -- chronicle his worldwide travels as an animator and are more suited for older students and adults.  While I love his drawing style, he's been accused of being an Orientalist, so his work might be a great springboard for critical discussion in a high school or college classroom.

I wish I had more to say about the kidlit situation that I observed, but my lack of language skills prevented me from really exploring the content of the books I found.  So I'll leave you with a few photos of some beautiful picturebooks that grabbed my eye.  If you're a Francophone parent or teacher, maybe you'll enjoy one of these :)

Banned Book Week 2014 Quote Pull

Ahhh sweet, sweet debate.  In honor of acknowledging and evaluating multiple perspectives, here are some different points of view on Banned Books Week, an American Library Association campaign intended to draw attention to the challenging or banning of books deemed inappropriate/offensive.  (If you have time, go ahead and click the links so that you can read the quotes in context.)  Do you agree with Banned Books Week?  If not, what might be a better alternative?

"Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community -- librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types -- in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular." [American Library Association]

"At the same time the [American Library Association] is propagandizing about banned books, it itself is banning anything that does not promote its agenda." [Safe Libraries]

"Myth: Censorship is usually identified with conservative political or religious groups.  Reality: Examples include the Harry Potter series -- the principal reason, wizardry -- and Tango Makes Three -- the reason, supposed homosexuality of penguins. However, groups not usually identified as conservative also censor. A few years ago, the NAACP unsuccessfully sought to have the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary redefine the 'N' word and limit it to its offensive connotation. (The publisher refused to limit the definition since over time it has had many different meanings).  Concern has also been expressed regarding the depiction of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. Some Jewish organizations have challenged its inclusion in the Language Arts curriculum in high schools." [Banned Books Week]

"If library patrons ask for a book to be moved or removed from the children’s section, it’s 'censorship.' If librarians make sure a book never gets there in the first place through a deliberately rigged collection process, it’s 'selection.' Double standards prevail, making librarians look like hypocrites.  It’s a pity that a profession that so upholds intellectual freedom can’t come up with better strategies and arguments than to whine about 'censorship' while effectively doing the very thing they complain about." [The Annoyed Librarian]

"Since there is never anything too stupid if it allows certain government officials to get before a camera or send out a press release claiming they're 'protecting children' from the horrors of the world, you end up with school boards and administrators that give in to pressure. And since no one wants to be against protecting children, that leads to the other set of government officials: those too chicken sh** to speak up and oppose something they know is wrong." [Daily Kos]

"Self-righteous, dissembling librarians are seeking once again to foment 'book-banning' hysteria through their annual dishonest Banned Books Week campaign (Sept. 21-27) sponsored by the self-righteous, dissembling, and politically partisan American Library Association (ALA).  The ALA pursues its hysteria-fomenting goal chiefly by ridiculing parents who, for example, don’t want their six-year-olds seeing books about children or anthropomorphized animals being raised by parents in homoerotic relationships. (Scorn and woe to those parents who hold the now-censored belief that homoeroticism -- even homoeroticism presented in whitewashed, water-colored images -- doesn’t belong in the picture books section of public libraries.)" [Laurie Higgins, Illinois Family Institute]

"[Higgins’] point here is that libraries -- even children’s sections -- aren’t, can’t, and really shouldn’t be ideologically neutral grounds. This is what Higgins would have you believe is her modest, 'common sense' goal; but again, the absence of LGBTQ-affirming books would be, in itself, an ideological choice at this point. No, libraries cannot be neutral, but we should strive to be sure that they are as capacious as possible. I’d argue that there are enough shelves stuffed with the kind of pages Higgins likes already -- we could probably stand to have a few more dedicated to queer-friendly spines going forward." [J. Bryan Lowder, Slate]

Via SFCLibrary

Little Free Libraries & Diverse KidLit

While leaving Avid Bookshop here in Athens a few days ago, I noticed what looked like a large birdhouse covered in bottle caps sitting on a post behind the store.  When I looked at it more closely, I saw that it was filled with books and bore a sign that read "Little Free Library."

This little box made me smile -- anyone can take or leave a book and share their favorite stories with the community.  I assumed it was just one of Avid's special projects until I saw another one in front of a bank a couple of days later.

My curiosity now piqued, I went online and looked up Little Free Library, and it turns out that these sweet little boxes are all over the world!  In fact, there are 17 in Athens alone, several of which are sponsored by READ Athens.  I had no clue these things existed, so I thought I'd share this information in case y'all didn't know about them either.

You can use the website's interactive map to find boxes in your area, and you can even build or order your own, register it, and start sharing books in your community.

The best part is that these libraries are a great opportunity to share your favorite multicultural books and introduce great authors and illustrators to your friends and neighbors.  Sharing more wonderful books means more fans of diverse kidlit.  So go for it!

On an even nerdier note, I decided to celebrate the end of the semester (YAY SUMMER) by combining my love of books and Instagram, and I went and took pictures of every Little Free Library in Athens.  I hope you appreciate my skilled use of filters (ha).  Enjoy!

Little Free Libraries: A Highfalutin Photoessay

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#17 (artwork by local painter Jamie Calkin!)

Are You Ready for Día?

Update for 2015:

Día de los Niños / Día de los Libros is Thursday, April 30th this year.  Check here to see if your local library has any Día celebrations planned during the next few days!

Día began in 1996, when the marvelous children's author Pat Mora decided to bring El Día de los Niños -- Children's Day, a Mexican tradition -- to the US and add the element of "bookjoy," or love of the written word.  Now we observe Children's Day / Book Day every year on the last day of April with community festivities and lots of reading.

Pat Mora's Book Fiesta -- read it!

If you'd like to find a Día celebration near you, check out the American Library Association website and just enter your zip code.  I'm going to be celebrating with some kiddos I work with, so I'll be sure to post pictures of our event next week.

Because this tradition originated in Mexico, I want to let y'all know about two of my favorite Mexican picture books that I'll be bringing to our Día party.  The first is Girando la Vida, written by Fiona del Mar and illustrated by Claudia de Teresa, a colorful, dreamy book about the motion of life.

Then there's Domitila y el Mar, by Nina Basich and Teresa Martínez, about a woman who's always busybusybusy but finally succumbs to relaxation by the sea.

These books just make me feel good.  And they're great for kids who already speak Spanish or are learning Spanish!  If you'd like your own copies, you can purchase them (either straight from the publishers or possibly on Amazon) and keep them for yourself or donate them to your local school or library.

Publishers' Websites (in English)*:

• Girando la vida @ Ediciones El Naranjo

• Domitila y el mar @ CIDCLI

*Note: The prices are in pesos, so don't fear the large numbers.  The exchange rate is about 13 Mexican pesos per 1 US dollar.

Anyway, I wish you a wonderful Día -- find a local celebration and join the fun!

Related Posts:

Latinas for Latino Lit Día Blog Hop

International Children's Book Day 2014

A World of Books

National Library Week

Happy National Library Week!  I want to pay a tribute to all of the libraries that have made a difference in my life over the years, so here we go:

I'll start with my elementary school library, where Mrs. Rosencranz -- our wonderful librarian who did great read-alouds and wore lots of perfume -- encouraged my love of non-fiction.  It's also where I discovered my first Most Favoritest Book, Secrets of the Mummies by Joyce Milton -- I checked it out year after year after year, from Kindergarten all the way through fifth grade.

Complete with terrible black-and-white photographs

Next is Kendall Branch Library, part of the Houston Public Library system.  (They just built a gorgeous, light-filled new home, which is fantastic because the building I grew up with was pretty dang ugly.)  Anyway, this library saved me from boredom every summer and also provided me with great sources for school projects.

 

Old Kendall: gross.

New Kendall: yay!

Then comes the Davidson College Library, home of avocado green carpet and orange pleather chairs -- we were convinced that those colors helped us concentrate better.  In this library, I discovered the wonders of interlibrary loan and researched and wrote a paper on The Canterbury Tales in twelve hours the day before it was due (got an A, boo ya).  While studying for finals there one semester, a friend and I fell into giggle fits after considering prank-calling our philosophy professor and pretending to be the ghost of René Descartes.  Also of note: random, mysterious trails of gummy bears.  See, libraries are fun!

Then they ripped up our beloved puke green carpet (seen here in patches) and put down "tasteful" blue carpet :(

Can't forget Evans Library at Texas A&M University, where I did my masters, and our Curriculum Materials Library (a.k.a. the CML, which houses our children's literature collection) here at UGA -- they've saved my butt so many times.

And finally, there's the Athens Regional Library System.  Our main library is a cheerful place that draws people from all over the community, and they ALWAYS have what I need.  Most recently, I checked out Sherman Alexie's Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and I'm so grateful that I finally read it.  

Does your local library have a giant metal sculpture?

So that's my hopefully-not-too-boring account of the libraries that have made my world brighter.  

What are some of your favorite library memories?  Go visit your favorite biblioteca this week and hug a librarian!  Also, consider volunteering or making a donation -- libraries do so much good for so many people, so let's give them our support!

Celebrating Cuentos: Lessons from the National Latino Children's Literature Conference

Well, I'm back from the National Latin@ Children's Literature Conference at the University of Alabama, and HOLY COW IT WAS GREAT.  I was dazzled by the campus, the Gorgas Library (where the conference was held), and -- most of all -- the connections I made with talented, gracious authors, illustrators, librarians, publishers, teachers, and scholars.

Not bad.

Really not bad.

Unfortunately, I had to miss the first day of the conference, but I was there alllll daaaay yesterday, and I have plenty to share!  In this post, though, I'm going to stick to the highlights, and I'll discuss other issues in more detail later.  Get ready for a bulleted list:

• During her keynote address, author Margarita Engle introduced her new book, Silver People: Voices from the Panama Canal, and talked about her difficulties getting her works translated into Spanish (although they've been published in Korean and Japanese -- go figure).  Can you imagine being a bilingual/bicultural author wanting to share stories of Cuba and the Caribbean and having a publisher limit you to one language?  Margarita described her two languages and cultures as two wings that bring her balance and allow her to fly, so only being allowed to express herself in one language must be so stifling.

• Lila Quintero Weaver discussed Darkroom (go read it now!) and described growing up as a child of Argentinian immigrants in Alabama when the Latin@ population was "the minute minority."  Hearing her story of losing Spanish made me ache, but I appreciated her humor.  ("I barely speak English now," she admitted.  "I speak Southern.")  I also treasure her book because it provides us with a different perspective about the Civil Rights Movement.  Over the years, we've heard stories from African Americans, whites, Southerners, Northerners, Civil Rights leaders, segregationists, and ordinary Americans; but I've never encountered the perspective of a young immigrant girl, an "outsider" who arrived in Alabama at age five and recoiled from the foreign practice of segregation.  Darkroom is honest, refreshing, and wonderfully different.

• During her talk, publisher Teresa Mlawer brought up the statistic that only 3% of children's books reviewed were by or about Latin@s, which prompted author Meg Medina asked a great question: What can we do to change that statistic?  Teresa suggested that we -- authors, scholars, readers -- write more reviews of Latin@ children's books so that librarians and teachers are more aware of their presence.  (Additionally, she admitted that publishers need to do more to publicize these books and promote Latin@ authors.)  Meg then responded that librarians could create attractive displays for award-winning books so that library patrons can see winners of multicultural awards (like the Pura Belpré and Coretta Scott King honors) side-by-side with better-known awards like the Caldecott and Newbery; and another conference attendee mentioned that we can attend conferences in other education disciplines -- science, social studies, foreign language, etc. -- and spread the word about Latin@ books by discussing how teachers in all subject areas can incorporate children's literature into their lessons.  Some great, practical ideas!

(Meg also has some blog posts about taking steps toward greater diversity in children's lit, so go take a look.  I'm super miffed that I wasn't able to attend her keynote on Thursday.)

So there you have (some of) it -- more later!  I would highly recommend attending next year if you can, and I'll leave you with a picture of Neil, my random little alpaca mascot, showing off books by some of the authors & illustrators I met.

And a gratuitous picture of Vilano Beach near St. Augustine, FL (because I did that last week too).

This Texas girl was happy to see an attractive beach for once :)