Literacy Now

On Valentine’s Day we pause to think about love. Well, there are many kinds of love, and only some of them romantic.

Every day in cyberspace, I post a love letter to a book and author on the Children’s Book-a-Day Almanac. Some I found decades ago (old love). Some I’ve only know for a short time (new or young love).

For this season of love, I wanted to offer up some of my most recent discoveries. They can be shared on Valentine’s Day—or any other day of the year!—to help spark a love of books and reading in children.

Picture Books

UNSPOKEN: A STORY FROM THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD (Scholastic, 2012) by Henry Cole
“In UNSPOKEN, Cole decided he wanted to tell a different kind of Civil War story than the ones he had heard about battles—one about the quiet courage of individuals. So he developed the saga of a girl and a runaway slave who never speak but show amazing bravery.”

HOMER (Greenwillow, 2012) by Elisha Cooper
“It is rare to find a successful picture book where the protagonist observes rather than participates in activity. Yet in the watercolor and pencil art, Homer looms as the focal point of each piece…. He reminds us to take pleasure in the simple things of life, such as an old dog’s enjoyment of each day.”

BOY + BOT (Knopf, 2012), written by Ame Dyckman and illustrated by Dan Yaccarino
“Everything in this book, from the front cover to the final ISBN notice on the back cover (seconding as a battery for the robot), has been carefully constructed to make an enjoyable reading experience. This is one of those wonderful books where all three elements—design, text, and art—combine to make a whole greater than any of the parts.”

THE TREE HOUSE (Boyds Mills, 2010) by Marije Tolman and Ronald Tolman
“This wordless picture book, which won the BolognaRagazzi Award for the most beautiful picture book in the world in 2010, brings readers into a magical world created by the Tolmans. In a large, oversized format, the artists use the space to create a world that begs to be entered....The intensity of the color, the animation of the animals, and the bold graphic composition of each page distinguish this book.”

Novels

CHICKADEE (HarperCollins, 2012) by Louise Erdrich
“This saga, which explains a great deal about the [Chippewa} communities and trading patterns around the St. Paul, Minnesota area in 1866, reads like a survival story. Chickadee proves that, indeed, small things have great power; he uses his understanding of the woods to stay alive. And in this slim volume of under two hundred pages, he keeps readers turning the pages to find out if he and his family will be reunited.”

STARRY RIVER OF THE SKY (Little, Brown, 2012) by Grace Lin
“Lin’s text can stand alone as a read aloud. But the physical beauty of the book merits special attention. The author’s sketches in different colors of ink and her glorious full-color paintings have been skillfully incorporated into the book…. Writing, art, and design combine to make the reading experience one to be savored and enjoyed.”

ROAD TRIP (Wendy Lamb Books, 2013) by Gary Paulsen and Jim Paulsen
“Few authors write as well for this age group as Paulsen, whether he is telling survival stories like HATCHET or urban adventures like LAWN BOY. Because the chapters are short and punchy, ROAD TRIP would make an excellent choice for a read-aloud.”

A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT (Sandpiper, 2009) by Linda Urban
“Urban’s first novel, published in 2007, provides easy reading for ten-year-olds on up. In it she has gathered one of the most eccentric casts of characters to grace a recent novel.”

Nonfiction

THE LINCOLNS: A SCRAPBOOK LOOK AT ABRAHAM AND MARY (Schwartz & Wade, 2008) by Candace Fleming
“As Fleming moves with grace from Lincoln’s log cabin birth to the final days of his widow Mary Todd Lincoln, she not only reveals fascinating details of his life but illustrates them as well. Hence this book can be browsed and read in small sections.”

LITTLE WHITE DUCK: A CHILDHOOD IN CHINA (Graphic Universe, 2012) by Na Liu
“Both exotic and daring, the book takes readers to another place, time, and culture radically different from our own, and yet one presented with dignity and respect. Because the story appears as a graphic novel, it seems much less a polemic than it would if it were presented as a straight text.”

MONSIEUR MARCEAU: ACTOR WITHOUT WORDS (Flash Point, 2012) by Leda Schubert
“There are so many reasons to love this book—the poetry of the language, the expressiveness of the art. For me MONSIEUR MARCEAU demonstrates what the perfect picture book can accomplish: words and text working together to provide a unique reading experience. Marceau and his performances come alive in this slim volume.”

BOMB: THE RACE TO BUILD—AND STEAL—THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS WEAPON (Flash Point, 2012) by Steve Sheinkin
“Just as he did in THE NOTORIOUS BENEDICT ARNOLD Sheinkin plays up the drama, develops characters, and takes readers to the heart of the action. In the process he makes the evolution of the atomic bomb seem like one of the most amazing stories every told.”

BALLOONS OVER BROADWAY: THE TRUE STORY OF THE PUPPETEER OF MACY'S PARADE (Houghton Mifflin, 2011) by Melissa Sweet
“In BALLOONS OVER BROADWAY, author and illustrator Melissa Sweet takes readers behind the scenes of the parade as she presents the story of Tony Frederick Sarg (1880–1942).”

With a unique career in children's books, Anita Silvey has served both as the editor of THE HORN BOOK MAGAZINE and publisher of a major children's book imprint. She is the author of several books, including HENRY KNOX: BOOKSELLER, SOLDIER, PATRIOT and I'LL PASS FOR YOUR COMRADE: WOMEN SOLDIERS IN THE CIVIL WAR. Her latest project, THE CHILDREN'S BOOK-A-DAY ALMANAC (Roaring Brook Press, 2012), began as an interactive website. The entries serve as a "daily love letter to a book or author," with each one offering a glimpse into the story behind the story.

This post originally appeared on the Engage/Teacher to Teacher blog in December 2011.


Your newest picture book, The Golem's Latkes, is based on a traditional folk story from Prague. How did you come across the tale of the Golem, and what gave you the idea to remix the story into a Hannukkah book?

First of all, despite what most people think, the classic golem story is hardly traditional.

The usual versions of the story, which show up every few centuries, are little more than brief statements: "Rabbi So-and-So replicated the act of Creation by making a man out of clay." Some versions mention keeping the golem around to do odd jobs. That's all.

The main episodes of the classic tale (The Creation of the Golem/The Golem as Sorcerer's Apprentice/The Golem Defends The Community/The Golem Runs Amok/The Golem is Returned to Clay) originate with a novella written in the 1920s by a Czech writer named Chaim Bloch. It owes as much to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the tale of The Sorcerer's Apprentice as it does to any Jewish source. Block crafted his tale using the romantic background of the Prague Ghetto and its most prominent figure, Rabbi Judah Leib ben Bezalel. Rabbi Judah Leib was a major scholar and kabbalist. However, nothing prior to Bloch’s book links him with any golem. Even more interesting, the creation of a golem is traditionally linked to another rabbi, Elijah of—of all places!—Chelm!

Can you imagine The Golem of Chelm? That has possibilities. Maybe I ought to think about it.

Bloch’s tale became a Jewish classic. It was made into a movie. It had become a very well-known story when I was growing up in the 1950s. Our Hebrew school library had an English version of Bloch’s novella. I came across it one day, checked it out, and read it in an evening. I must have been in the fifth grade at the time. I was a great reader. I loved the story from that moment because it was so wonderfully creepy. It literally is the Jewish Frankenstein.

The idea of retelling it as a Hanukkah story wasn’t my idea at all. My dear friend and editor, Margery Cuyler, suggested that I think about writing a golem story. I didn’t think that was a good idea. That story had been retold many times. I.B. Singer wrote a version. As far as I was concerned, the definitive golem is David Wisniewski’s. He nailed it with his text and amazing illustrations. What a genius! I couldn’t do better than that. So I told Margery, “Why bother?”

She persisted. I decided that if I was going to do the story, I’d have to come up with a different angle. A warm, fuzzy golem, perhaps? I began playing around with ideas. Maybe do it as a Hanukkah story? Thinking of The Sorcerer's Apprentice and especially of Tomie de Paola’s Strega Nona, I started mapping out a simple plot. The golem starts making latkes. Nobody’s around to supervise. The golem keeps making latkes until they flood the city. Then they have to eat them all to get rid of them.

Once I had that outline, the rest was easy. Rabbi Judah Leib actually was an associate of the Habsburg emperor, Rudolf. Basha, the maid, is a kewpie doll. She does not intend to work any harder than she absolutely has to. Aaron Jasinski’s golem looks like Gumby. He’s perfect. I love the way the book turned out. It was lots of fun to write.

In addition to Golem's Latkes, you’ve written several stories about Jewish holidays, including the Caldecott Honor Book Hershel and the Hannukah Goblins, Even Higher!: A Rosh Hashana Story, and the Story of Esther: A Purim Tale. You’ve even got The Mysterious Guest: A Sukkot Story, about the lesser-known Jewish harvest festival. What draws you to write about these celebrations and traditions?

I write about them because I love them. I went to a fine Hebrew school where we received a thorough grounding in Jewish traditions. Bible stories, legends, folktales were an important part of the curriculum. Also, the immigrant generation was still alive. My grandma lived with us. She could easily carry on a conversation in five languages. English, however, wasn’t one of them. I was bilingual as a child. I heard lots and lots of stories from my grandma in Yiddish. You might say I got them from the source.

Good stories are meant to be shared. Since I’m a writer, why not share the stories I love best? However, stories are never static. They intertwine. That’s what happens when I’m writing.

Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins owes as much to Dickens’ A Christmas Carol as it does to the Hershele Ostropolier stories.


I came up with The Mysterious Guests one night when I was stranded in a hotel room in Cherry Hill, PA. There was a power outage and all the lights went out. The elevators weren’t running. I had nothing to do but sit in the dark and look out the window. It was in the fall, shortly after the Sukkot holiday. I began with a famous story about two brothers who exceed each other in kindness and went from there. The two brothers in the story are actually me and my brother Jonathan. Total opposites. I’ll let you guess who was the model for the good brother. Jonny may disagree.

The Story of Esther is right out of the Bible. The idea of doing it came from my editor at Holiday House, Mary Cash. Mary was invited to a Purim party. Being a book person, she looked for a book to bring as a gift. She thought a picture book version of the story of Esther would be perfect. Unfortunately, she discovered that she couldn’t find one in print! There wasn’t one to be found in New York. Mary called me up immediately and suggested I write one. Fast!

I had always assumed that there were several versions around. I was as surprised as Mary was to find there were none available. I sat right down and got busy. I didn’t have to work out the story, so it didn’t take long to write. Maybe a day. It’s one of my favorite stories. It has everything: sex, violence, a damsel in distress, and a villain who gets just what he deserves—which, unfortunately, hardly ever happens in real life.

We have to ask: what is your favorite holiday book?

That’s easy. Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. I’ve loved it since I was seven years old and saw the Alastair Sim movie. I’ve read and reread it countless times. Dickens takes the trite and sentimental and makes it dark and creepy. It’s scarier than Twilight. “I wear the chains I forged in life!” Think about it.

Folk tales factor strongly in your work. Do you have any tips for teachers looking to incorporate traditional stories into their lessons?

The best advice I can give is to focus on the story. It’s a story, not a lesson. Stories are about characters who interact. How do they treat each other? How do they face difficulties? How do they solve problems? What do we learn from them that we can apply in our own lives? Let’s talk about that after we listen to the story.

I didn’t write Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins to teach children about Jewish customs and ceremonies. I wrote it because I want them to recognize that there is real evil in the world. How do we deal with it? How do you recognize it and respond to it when it shows up in your own life? Because I guarantee that sooner or later it will.

Here’s another way to look at it. A young man in the marching band just died in a hazing incident at Florida A&M. Bullying is finally being recognized as a real problem among school age children. Nobody can haze you or bully you unless you and others cooperate by going along with it; by not taking measures to stop it; and by looking the other way when you see it happening. When you confront the goblins and refuse to play their game, their power disappears. The only power they ever had was the power our own fear gave them.

What just happened in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and now Syria are similar examples. One by one, within a span of months, we’ve seen entrenched dictatorships totally collapse once people stopped being afraid and began using the power they always had.

Was the king of the goblins really that terrifying? Or did he just pretend that he was? Maybe he had no more power than the little goblin who shows up at the beginning. He just made a bigger noise.

Dig deep. A good story will always give you plenty to talk about.

You have to love the story. That’s the key. Which stories should you share? The ones you love. It’s your love of the tale that makes it come alive for the children. If you don’t know where to begin, start with the old favorites: Cinderella, Snow White, Puss in Boots. Don’t assume that children know them. They don’t, or if they do, they only know them through movie or cartoon versions. Disney’s Pooh is not Milne’s Pooh. The recent film Puss in Boots, as much fun as it is, is not Perrault’s Le Chat Botte. Don’t believe me? Read the real Milne or the real Grimm or the real Perrault and we’ll talk.

There’s a “Hear a Story” section on your website, where kids can look at the illustrations of your books while you read them aloud. What are the most important elements in crafting a good read aloud?

It’s all in the language. A book has to read well. Words have music. A well-written book sings. The best compliments I’ve ever received about my writing comes from teachers who tell me that they enjoy reading my books “because they sound so good!” If you’re not sure what I mean, read a few stories aloud. You’ll hear the difference. Good writing has grace, elegance, wit, style. Bad writing lies flat on the page. You might as well be reading a tax form.

Good books are those you want to read again. Good stories are those you want to hear again.

It’s that simple.

During the recent Olympics, many observers commented on the incredible display of American girl power at the events. Over the years children’s books have supplied a lot of portraits of strong girls and women. In honor of Women’s Equality Day on August 26, here is a list of books that showcase “girl power” from The Children’s Book-a-Day Almanac.

Picture Books

INDEPENDENT DAMES by Laurie Halse Anderson

“This short text lends itself to all kinds of activities or acts simply as a supplement for more traditional texts. Anderson’s research is thorough and her understanding of young readers, as always, is profound. When I conducted an informal poll of school librarians and teachers, INDEPENDENT DAMES emerged as their favorite book for Women’s History Month. Writing with passion and humor, Laurie Halse Anderson is on a mission to set the record straight. And she does!”

THE DARING NELLIE BLY by Bonnie Christensen

“In THE DARING NELLIE BLY: AMERICA’S STAR REPORTER, Bonnie Christensen creates an exciting portrait of the journalist who at the age of twenty-five captured the world’s fancy.”

YOU FORGOT YOUR SKIRT, AMELIA BLOOMER! by Shana Corey

“The picture book, YOU FORGOT YOUR SKIRT, AMELIA BLOOMER! by Shana Corey, focuses on Amelia’s rebellious nature… When she spied Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s cousin Libby wearing a costume that was not a dress—but pantaloons with a skirt over them—Amelia…used the power of the press to advocate for what became known as the ‘bloomer.’”

IMOGENE’S LAST STAND by Candace Fleming

“As Imogene says of her own adventure—‘That was totally fun!’ Celebrate local history by sharing this great read-aloud book with budding historians. After you do, you will probably agree with the words of an eight-year-old boy who loved the book—‘Wouldn’t it be great if everyone had at least a little Imogene in them?’”

ME…JANE by Patrick McDonnell

“September 1 has been set aside to celebrate International Primate Day. I can think of no better way to mark this day than look at the life of Jane Goodall, who has devoted herself to the study and the conservation of chimpanzees.... This message that your childhood dreams can, and do, come true will be welcomed by both parents and children.”

Novels

LITTLE WOMEN by Louisa May Alcott

“Jo March may have inspired more women over the years—including Hilary Clinton and French philosopher Simone de Beauvior—than any other character in a children’s book. As actress Julianne Moore says in EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED FROM A CHILDREN’S BOOK, ‘From Jo I learned that a woman could choose…[and] that she has a choice about her career.’”

THE MIDWIFE’S APPRENTICE by Karen Cushman

“THE MIDWIFE’S APPRENTICE is filled with the sights, sounds, and smells of a medieval village. Beetle, who has a single companion, a cat named Purr, makes a great protagonist. She has the liveliness, the spirit, and the determination to make a better place for herself. Ideal for fourth and fifth graders, the book has frequently been taught in classrooms and naturally leads to discussions of medieval villages and life—their fairs and inns and customs.”

THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE by Jacqueline Kelly

“Living in Fentress, Texas, in 1899, eleven-year-old Callie Vee doesn’t excel in sewing or cooking, but she has a passion for science. Not really an acceptable calling for a girl in the nineteenth century, but her penchant truly makes her crotchety grandfather happy.”

PIPPI LONGSTOCKING by Astrid Lindgren

“Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim’s Daughter Longstocking, or Pippi for short, lives without parents. Pippi dictates her own rules and nags herself about going to bed at night. With endless money, time, and freedom, she certainly fulfills the fantasy of most children who often think about what life would be like if they had no one to boss them around.”

CLEMENTINE by Sara Pennypacker

“The daughter of an artist, Clementine is a true independent spirit. She cuts off all her best friend’s hair—and then destroys her own as well. A cyclone, she spends more time in the principal’s office than in her classroom. Everyone keeps telling her to ‘pay attention’ and she does—to all the things occurring outside the classroom window. But if you need someone with an out-of-the box idea, Clementine will come to the rescue.”

Narrative Nonfiction

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT by Russell Freedman

“As Eleanor Roosevelt began to find the causes of her life—the plight of minorities, the poverty of the disadvantaged—she turned from a shy person into a firebrand, the conscience of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Russell captures this complex marriage—its betrayals and its strength. He shows the final years of Eleanor Roosevelt as she worked in the United Nations and became, as President Harry Truman called her, ‘the First Lady of the World.’”

A BALLET FOR MARTHA by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan

“Of all art forms, dance, which depends on movement, remains the hardest to convey in a book—particularly a book for children. Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan took on this task in BALLET FOR MARTHA: MAKING APPALACHIAN SPRING and succeeded brilliantly.”

CLAUDETTE COLVIN: TWICE TOWARD JUSTICE by Phillip Hoose

“In CLAUDETTE COLVIN: TWICE TOWARD JUSTICE, winner of the National Book Award, author Phillip Hoose presents the life story of this unsung heroine of the Civil Rights Movement. In his fascinating account, told mainly in Claudette’s own words, readers get to see the events of 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, from a different perspective—as they were experienced by a young girl.”

ALMOST ASTRONAUTS: 13 WOMEN WHO DARED TO DREAM by Tanya Lee Stone

“With extensive research into the period and interviews with the Mercury 13 women— who thought they might actually get to travel into space during a time when only men were considered fit to do so—Stone explores little-known events of the NASA space program. In ALMOST ASTRONAUTS she brings to life the 1960s, a time when women had to think and act outside the box if they wanted to do something other than be a housewife.”

Looking for ways to use these books in your classroom? Check out the ReadWriteThink lesson plans Females in the Spotlight: Strong Characters in Picture Books and Girls Read: Online Literature Circles.

With a unique career in children's books, Anita Silvey has served both as the editor of The Horn Book Magazine and publisher of a major children's book imprint. She is the author of several books, including HENRY KNOX: BOOKSELLER, SOLDIER, PATRIOT, I'LL PASS FOR YOUR COMRADE: WOMEN SOLDIERS IN THE CIVIL WAR, and, most recently, THE PLANT HUNTERS (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2012). In October, the print version of The Children's Book-a-Day Almanac will be published by Roaring Brook. Anita continues to add entries to the Almanac's interactive website, which she describes as a "daily love letter to a book or author."