Once upon at time books with black children at their center were seldom published.

In the spirit of Black History Month which happens in February, lets celebrate an achievement which we could easily take for granted today. This year marks the 50^th anniversary of Erza Jack Keat’s Caldecott winner The Snowy Day, the first full-color picture book to feature an African-American protagonist. The story captures Peter’s wonderment of a boy encountering his first snowfall. There is a universality to the story and for sure will become a favorite. It begs the question: “What captured your wonderment, either as an adult or child?” Wonderment brings to mind, dazzling, astonishment, marvel and awe—all fantastic words to contemplate. Keats has a regular banquet of story books to choose from: Whistle for Willie, Peter’s Chair, A Letter to Amy, Pet Show, and Louie.  Lucky for us— the list goes on and on. 

Accolades to the authors of the 2012 Newbery and Caldecott award winners.

Chris Raschka’s A Ball for Daisy, a wordless picture book, wins the 2012 Caldecott Award. In Raschka’s own words: “I was thinking how about how loss comes into young lives, and how we try to deal with that somehow.”  This book is Mr. Raschka’s first wordless picture book, something he wanted to try “so that a child could read the book without knowing how to read.”

HOW do you read a wordless or nearly wordless picture book? Without words, the shapes, lines, and colors tell the story. One of the great things about wordless picture books is that children at any age can read them by telling the story they see in each picture. Share with your child the story you see in the pictures. Where did the story take you and where did the story take your child? Without words the story unfolds for each reader in its own unique way. Don’t miss the opportunity of knowing these delightful reads simply because you didn’t know what to do with them. All you have to do—is enjoy them!

For a complete list of the awards see http://www.ala.org/ala/awardsgrants/index.cfm

Commemorate Lewis Carroll’s Birthday and do as he suggests: “I try to believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

Reading encourages us to be creative, innovative, ingenious, imaginative, & curious, qualities we need in abundance if we want to lead interesting lives.  I agree with Elearnor Roosevelt who said: I think at a child’s birth, if a mother could ask a fairy god mother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift would be curiosity.

I think reading is one of the most creative acts; you cannot read without being creative. Those 26 black marks, the meaning of the words, the implications of those meanings, these are all the products of the readers' imagination. Reading requires a child to make something new, to take a leap. Books give children something that is provided by nothing else. That something, simply put, is the unknown. The imagination flows toward that which is not known.  The familiar does not inspire it, but it surges spontaneously at the slightest opportunity for mystery and adventure. The imagination is a hunter who loves the challenge and the chase.  Alice had an active imagination and she was very good at believing in six impossible things before breakfast. And what were those six impossible things?  “One, there are drinks that make you shrink. Two, there are foods that make you grow. Three, animals can talk. Four, cats can disappear. Five, there is a place called Underland. Six, I can slay the Jabberwocky.”  

Diane offers a 3 part Literary Series devoted to Adult Literature.

Beginning February 2012, Diane is doing a 3 part literary series devoted to adult literature in San Francisco CA and St. Helena, CA.
For more information:  http://www.bookshopwestportal.com/literary-series-diane-frankenstein

Diane will be in Cleveland, Tuesday January 31, 2012

Literacy, Learning & Living Through Jewish Early Childhood Education