It's Children's Book Week!

According to their website, 

Established in 1919, Children's Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. Every year, commemorative events are held nationwide at schools, libraries, bookstores, homes -- wherever young readers and books connect! 

Children's Book Week is administered by Every Child A Reader, a 501(c)(3) literacy organization dedicated to instilling a lifelong love of reading in children. The Children's Book Council, the national non-profit trade association for children's book publishers, is an anchor sponsor.

I'm celebrating this fabulous week by listing my top ten 

children's books.

1. Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon: This book is the first one that comes to mind when I think "favorite picture book."  It has everything a great story needs; a fabulous heroine, a big challenge to overcome, a kind and loving mentor and a great twist to provide a satisfying ending.  Moreover, it's a story about a seemingly powerless person triumphing over a bully.

2. The Recess Queen: This story is about bullying too but it's done in rhyme and includes a dash of madness in the illustrations and interactions between characters.  It invites a bit more joy into a topic often fraught with anything but fun.

3. Knuffle Bunny: Mo Willems used to be a stand up comic and, if you look at the mastery in punch lines throughout his work, it shows.  This book resonated with children and parents because it hit a perfect balance between the exhaustion of parenting and the longing children feel when separated from their favorite object of love.

4. This is Just to Say: I loved this one so much that I ended up adapting it for the stage!  What is beautiful about this book, aside from the lovely poetry, are the stories of apology and forgiveness.

5. How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight: Everything by Jane Yolen is wonderful but this one is particularly good.  Pairing clever rhyme with gorgeous illustration, the reader takes a romp towards bedtime with a series of lovable, relatable dinosaur kids.

6. Sam's Sister: This is total self promotion but why shouldn't one of my favorite picture books be one that I wrote?  The book is about the pain and beauty of open adoption.

7. The Wednesday Surprise: This book is such a lovely gift in children's stories.  It shows a powerful bond between child and adult and gives the reader the ultimate, satisfying ending.

8. When Mama Comes Home Tonight: When my first child was born, I had to go back to work full time and the separation was hard on both of us.  This book was a comfort during a difficult life transition.  It still brings tears to my eyes!

9. Seven Silly Eaters: Another rhyming book, this one joyfully celebrates a mother who tries to cater to every one of her children's picky preferences for eating. 

10. Sheep in a Jeep: Huh, I really like rhyming books... You always hear that editors hate them but they are such a pleasure to read aloud to kids!  This one is a quick and funny bedtime romp.

What are your favorite children's books?

A-Z Challenge

For the A-Z challenge, we decided to post a new and original poem every day (yipes!)  Today, inspired by a Jane Yolen poem, Juliet tackles the letter "G."

The Grimm

In a moss-covered room,

She sweeps the grime from the Grimm.

When the men come home,

they track in wet sludge, stiffened crisps of fallen leaves, 

black ash from the mines.

She sweeps the grime from the Grimm.

After she eats the poison,

Their stumpy old hands will trap her in a clear box,

to admire.

Marriage will be her only escape.

So that is what she dreams of.

When it finally comes,

it wears tight pants and plants kisses on her,
disenchanted lips.

But in the end,

The palace walls draw as close as any crystal box.

There is more than one way to get stuck,

sweeping the grime from the Grimm.

©2013 Juliet Bond all rights reserved

Making History

At the beginning of every semester, I give each of my new students a small card with the picture of a woman on the front.  I ask them to look at the picture and tell me if the woman appears familiar.

Out of twenty-five cards, normally only one or two of the women are recognizable.  Then I allow them to read the name on the back of the card and a short description of the woman.  These women include famous writers like Charlotte Perkins Gillman, politicians like Victoria Woodhall and famous firsts like the first American female doctor, Elizabeth Blackwell.  They include women like one of my favorite local heroes, Francis Willard who, when she died, had 40,000 people walk past her bier in one day.  One day.

I ask them if they learned about these women in school.

No.

I ask if they have ever heard about these women in the media.

No.

Did their parents ever buy them a book about a famous woman in order to supplement the lack of women represented in their curricula?

No.

In fact, watch this clip of Edie Mayo, the Curator Emeritus at the National Museum of History, Smithsonian Institute, as she discusses her granddaughter’s history project.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PDTby-g43wo

No, out of twenty-five assigned historical figures, only two are women.  And one of them is Brittany Spears. 

Yes, they’ve disappeared.  Despite the fact that, during their lifetime, important women were as well known as Oprah Winfrey, they have not made the pages of our history books.  And here is where writing about these women is so important.  Without books to tell their stories, it’s as though they were never here at all.

So today, I wanted to share a list of books about important women.  I am making sure my daughter and sons read these books.  Because that is the second most important part of making sure these women don’t disappear – their stories have to be read.

Tanya Lee Stone has some great books about historical figures including Elizabeth Blackwell and Ella Fitzgerald.

The fabulous Laurie Lawlor recently published a book about Rachel Carson.

My friends Judy and her late husband Dennis Fradin, have also written some wonderful books about historical women.

Illinois author Natalie Ziarnik recently published a book about the sculptor Camille Claudelle.

And, for older girls, there are some fantastic anthologies including the new “Bad Girls” By Jane Yolen and her daughter Heidi.  (Move over Jesse James.  Who says that women were never notorious?")

There is also an effort underway to build a women’s history museum in Washington D.C.  Currently, it’s housed on the internet and has resources like this page which lists thirty young girls and women who had a positive impacton the United States throughout history; including athletes, inventors, artists, adventurers, guides and revolutionaries. The common thread is that they are all strong positive role models for today's young girls and tweens.

Visit, read and share - and maybe one day, women's stories will be told for more than one month a year.