This year marks a big milestone for the non-profit multicultural children’s magazine Skipping Stones. Founded in 1988 by educator Arun Toke, Skipping Stones is celebrating its 25th anniversary. The magazine offers articles for children from the elementary level and up,…
Category: Economic Justice/Poverty/Immigration
THE UPSIDE DOWN BOY
THE UPSIDE DOWN BOY is a picture book in verse – bilingual, Spanish and English – by California’s poet laureate, Juan Felipe Herrera and illustrated by Elizabeth Gomez. Juanito is bewildered by his new country, his new neighborhood, and…
ROGUE
ROGUE by Lyn Miller-Lachmann What do ROGUE, MUTANT, BMX and ASPERGER’S plus MR. INTERNET have in common? This book. ROGUE Written by Lyn Miller-Lachmann. She does not hold back any punches but with each chapter pushes the reader further along…
Once and Future New Orleans
“I wasn’t certain of anything anymore, except that New Orleans was a faithless friend and I wanted to leave her.” Out of the Easy, by Ruta Sepetys “Decisions, they shape our destiny.” Out of the Easy, by Ruta Sepetys “Some choices,…
Unplug & Read Week Special: A Review of Revenge of a Not-So-Pretty Girl
Unplug & Read Week is an annual event to encourage children and teenagers to back away from the “screens”—computers, tablets, smartphones, and television—and do something in the real world. This year’s event runs from April 29 to May 5, 2013.…
SWEETHEARTS OF RHYTHM, The Story of the Greatest All-Girl Swing Band in the World
SWEETHEARTS OF RHYTHM, The Story of the Greatest All-Girl Swing Band in the World, What a picture book – written in verse with toe-tapping words that sing across the page, by Marilyn Nelson, and illustrated with collage, colors and scraps…
Eleanor & Park
I’m a sucker for a great YA novel, so it’s no surprise that I fell in love with Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor & Park (St. Martins Griffin, 2013). The novel, set in 80’s Nebraska, focuses on the love story between Eleanor,…
Me and Momma and Big John
Me and Momma and Big John is an attractive and instructive picture book I found in the Austin Public Library while idly looking for titles to send (by way of retail delivery) to my new nephew. Speaking of infantile,…
Shades of Scaly Gray: Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz
I love books that explore those tough, someone-will-be hurt-no-matter-what-I-do decisions that life throws at us time and again. I especially love when they are books for adolescent readers that pull no punches and make all of the choices hard. Teeth,…
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
I have the feeling I am easily impressed by illustration in picture books, probably because I can’t draw a triangle, but this book has magnificent tones and colors, and dimensional shapes that make me keep feeling the page for texture. The…