During 15-plus years of researching nonfiction for young readers I’ve learned that every project includes at least one pinch-me-is-this-really-happening moment. Such was the case as I researched the Memphis sanitation workers’ strike of 1968 for Marching to the Mountaintop: How Poverty, Labor Fights, and Civil Rights Set the Stage for Martin Luther King, Jr’s Final Hours (National Geographic, 2012).Guest Blogger: Ann Bausum
During 15-plus years of researching nonfiction for young readers I’ve learned that every project includes at least one pinch-me-is-this-really-happening moment. Such was the case as I researched the Memphis sanitation workers’ strike of 1968 for Marching to the Mountaintop: How Poverty, Labor Fights, and Civil Rights Set the Stage for Martin Luther King, Jr’s Final Hours (National Geographic, 2012).
With No Name-Calling Week occurring January 23-27, 2012, this is a perfect time of year to integrate multimedia resources into your anti-bullying curriculum.
Kids are forever asking me where I get my ideas. Usually I say, “I steal them.” This is true but incomplete, and today—right here, right now—I’m going to give the genuine answer. The eighth book in the “Ivy and Bean” series, Ivy and Bean: No News Is Good News (Chronicle Books, 2011), is about money and cheese. And wax. And journalism. Also, ethical business practices, the right to privacy, value, the economics of scarcity, and did I mention cheese? How do all these things end up in a book together? Where did they come from and how did I turn them into an “Ivy and Bean” story? Let me tell you ...
The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) standards guide the lessons we create to help our students become successful 21st-century learners. These criteria—reaffirmed this fall at the biennial AASL conference in Minneapolis—underscore the vital role that school librarians play in assisting students as they acquire, apply, and share information in the digital age.
I’ve been writing and illustrating children's books for over a decade now. Wow, how time flies! But people are often surprised to hear that I came to this profession unexpectedly. Just like Scaredy Squirrel (Kids Can, 2006), who jumps out of his nut tree into the unknown, I leapt into the world of children’s books. It all started with an art project and a teacher who sent my Leon the Chameleon (Kids Can, 2001) mock-up to a publisher.
In an effort to build awareness about the remarkable books written for children and teens across the globe,every two years the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) selects one author and one illustrator as the winners of the Hans Christian Andersen Award. This recognition is considered by many to be the world’s most prestigious in children’s publishing. Maurice Sendak, for example, is the only illustrator from the United States to ever win this award.
No Ordinary Day (Groundwood, 2011) is an uplifting, even joyful story—something you might not expect from a book about leprosy, an age-old disease that has disfigured millions and terrified billions.
An interactive whiteboard is a fabulous classroom tool that brings multimedia to the forefront of literacy and library lessons. By shifting the instructional focus from a teacher presentation to classroom-wide engagement, a whiteboard encourages participation and discussion while supporting kinesthetic learners.
I'm a writer because I never had the Creative Writing Class. You know the one I mean, the one that exhorts, "Write what you know. Write from your own experience." If I'd been limited to writing what I know, I'd have produced in these past forty years one unpublishable haiku.
September 24th begins Banned Books Week—an annual celebration of the freedom to read organized by the American Library Association (ALA). In this month’s column, TeachingBooks.net presents multimedia resources on the 10 most frequently challenged books of the past year.
It has been both fun and challenging to tell the Spaceheadz story across media. Print is a controlled, linear form of storytelling. As the author, I control the pace of the story by its position on the page. In contrast, digital storytelling is a whole different form; different parts of the story can be accessed at different times and in different ways.