Children's Literature
Papa's Latkes
Edwards, M. (2004). Papa’s Latkes. Illustrated by S. Schuett. Candlewick. (K-2)
This is the first Chanukah since Mama’s death, and as Selma and her younger sister ready themselves for the holiday, they can’t help but remember the fun the family had preparing in years gone by. Then Papa arrives home with latke ingredients: potatoes, oil, and onions enough "to keep you crying till Passover.” But can they make latkes without Mama? Schuett’s thickly painted, double-page illustrations hark back decades to a simpler time. Each blends beautifully with quiet, unsentimental words that express grief, unspoken sadness, and fear of the future as well as the love the characters share. This is a stirring, tender portrait of beloved children and a single father doing his best to help his daughters celebrate their mother’s memory by building new traditions atop fondly remembered old ones: "Happy Chanukah, Mama.”
For more information visit: http://www.multiculturalchildrenslit.com/jewishamericans.html
This is the first Chanukah since Mama’s death, and as Selma and her younger sister ready themselves for the holiday, they can’t help but remember the fun the family had preparing in years gone by. Then Papa arrives home with latke ingredients: potatoes, oil, and onions enough "to keep you crying till Passover.” But can they make latkes without Mama? Schuett’s thickly painted, double-page illustrations hark back decades to a simpler time. Each blends beautifully with quiet, unsentimental words that express grief, unspoken sadness, and fear of the future as well as the love the characters share. This is a stirring, tender portrait of beloved children and a single father doing his best to help his daughters celebrate their mother’s memory by building new traditions atop fondly remembered old ones: "Happy Chanukah, Mama.”
For more information visit: http://www.multiculturalchildrenslit.com/jewishamericans.html
Indian Shoes
Smith, C. L. (2002). Indian Shoes. Illustrated by J. Madsen. New York: HarperCollins. (3-5)
What do Indian shoes look like, anyway? Like beautiful beaded moccasins...or hightops with bright orange shoelaces? Ray Halfmoon prefers hightops, but he gladly trades them for a nice pair of moccasins for his Grampa. After all, it’s Grampa Halfmoon who’s always there to help Ray get in and out of scrapes -- like the time they are forced to get creative after a homemade haircut makes Ray’s head look like a lawn-mowing accident. This collection of interrelated stories is heartwarming and laugh-out-loud funny. Cynthia Leitich Smith writes with wit and candor about what it’s like to grow up as a Seminole-Cherokee boy who is just as happy pounding the pavement in windy Chicago as rowing on a lake in rural Oklahoma.
For more information visit: http://www.multiculturalchildrenslit.com/nativeamericans.html
What do Indian shoes look like, anyway? Like beautiful beaded moccasins...or hightops with bright orange shoelaces? Ray Halfmoon prefers hightops, but he gladly trades them for a nice pair of moccasins for his Grampa. After all, it’s Grampa Halfmoon who’s always there to help Ray get in and out of scrapes -- like the time they are forced to get creative after a homemade haircut makes Ray’s head look like a lawn-mowing accident. This collection of interrelated stories is heartwarming and laugh-out-loud funny. Cynthia Leitich Smith writes with wit and candor about what it’s like to grow up as a Seminole-Cherokee boy who is just as happy pounding the pavement in windy Chicago as rowing on a lake in rural Oklahoma.
For more information visit: http://www.multiculturalchildrenslit.com/nativeamericans.html
Grandfather Counts
Cheng, A. (2003). Grandfather Counts. Illustrated by A. Zhang. Lee & Low. (K-4)
When Helen”s grandfather, Gong Gong, comes from China to live with her family, he’s shocked to find that none of his grandchildren speak Chinese. How will he communicate with them? At first he keeps to himself. Then one day he joins Helen to watch the trains. He starts counting the train cars in Chinese, and she repeats the words. Then Helen says the numbers in English. They continue to teach each other, and Helen even learns her Chinese name, which means "flower.” In this luminously illustrated intergenerational story, the devotion between a young girl and her grandfather helps them overcome barriers of age and language.
For more information visit: http://www.multiculturalchildrenslit.com/chineseamericans.html
When Helen”s grandfather, Gong Gong, comes from China to live with her family, he’s shocked to find that none of his grandchildren speak Chinese. How will he communicate with them? At first he keeps to himself. Then one day he joins Helen to watch the trains. He starts counting the train cars in Chinese, and she repeats the words. Then Helen says the numbers in English. They continue to teach each other, and Helen even learns her Chinese name, which means "flower.” In this luminously illustrated intergenerational story, the devotion between a young girl and her grandfather helps them overcome barriers of age and language.
For more information visit: http://www.multiculturalchildrenslit.com/chineseamericans.html
Esperanza Rising
Ryan, P. M. (2002). Esperanza Rising. New York: Scholastic Paperbacks. (5-6)
After a fire destroys their home and belongings, Esperanza (Hope) and her mother must flee their native Mexico to the United States with the help of their housekeeper and her family. The formerly wealthy Ortega women are now “peasants” and must work to survive. Despite the difficulties of life at the camp, Esperanza learns to work, to care for others, and to give rather than take. When her mother becomes ill and is hospitalized, Esperanza is alone except for the companionship of her friend and former servant, Miguel, and his family. After a year, on the eve of Esperanza’s fourteenth birthday, her beloved grandmother arrives fromMexico, Mama is released from the hospital, and the little family is reunited. Now Esperanza is rising above circumstances, filled with dreams and possibilities.
For more information visit: http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/crc/webquest/Esperanza/PAGES/INDEX.HTM
After a fire destroys their home and belongings, Esperanza (Hope) and her mother must flee their native Mexico to the United States with the help of their housekeeper and her family. The formerly wealthy Ortega women are now “peasants” and must work to survive. Despite the difficulties of life at the camp, Esperanza learns to work, to care for others, and to give rather than take. When her mother becomes ill and is hospitalized, Esperanza is alone except for the companionship of her friend and former servant, Miguel, and his family. After a year, on the eve of Esperanza’s fourteenth birthday, her beloved grandmother arrives fromMexico, Mama is released from the hospital, and the little family is reunited. Now Esperanza is rising above circumstances, filled with dreams and possibilities.
For more information visit: http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/crc/webquest/Esperanza/PAGES/INDEX.HTM
Andy and His Yellow Frisbee
Thompson, M. (1996). Andy and His Yellow Frisbee. Bethesda, MD: Woodbine House
A heartwarming illustrated children's book about Andy, a boy with autism. Like many children with autism, Andy has a fascination with objects in motion. It's Andy's special talent for spinning his frisbee combined with a new classmate's curiosity about his behavior that sets this story in motion. Rosie, the watchful and protective sister, supplies background on Andy and autism, as well as a sibling's perspective.
For more information visit: http://www.woodbinehouse.com/main.asp_Q_product_id_E_0-933149-83-2_A_.asp
A heartwarming illustrated children's book about Andy, a boy with autism. Like many children with autism, Andy has a fascination with objects in motion. It's Andy's special talent for spinning his frisbee combined with a new classmate's curiosity about his behavior that sets this story in motion. Rosie, the watchful and protective sister, supplies background on Andy and autism, as well as a sibling's perspective.
For more information visit: http://www.woodbinehouse.com/main.asp_Q_product_id_E_0-933149-83-2_A_.asp