MINH LÊ: WRITING FOR CHILDREN AND ABOUT CHILDREN'S BOOKS
Minh Lê is the author of Let Me Finish! (an NPR Best Book of 2016), illustrated by Isabel Roxas, and Drawn Together, illustrated by Caldecott medalist and New York Times bestselling artist Dan Santat. Both books are published by Disney-Hyperion. Lê also recently signed with DC Comics to write Green Lantern: Legacy, a graphic novel for their new middle grade imprint, DC Zoom.
If he is not spending time with his beautiful wife and sons, Lê's favorite place to be is in the middle of a good book. He still has a day job, however, as an early childhood policy expert and has worked in education at the national, state and local level. He received his bachelor's degree in psychology from Dartmouth College and a master's in education policy from Harvard University.
Lê started out writing about picture books at Bottom Shelf Books (his blog) and as a member of the Niblings, a children's literature consortium. Over the years, he has written for a number of national outlets, including the New York Times, the Horn Book, HuffPost and NPR. Currently he is serving as a judge for the 2018 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards. You can visit him online at minhlebooks.com or on Twitter @bottomshelfbks.
Date: Thursday, June 14
1025 Fifth Street NW (at K Street)
Menu: All choices $25 ($26 when paid online via PayPal)
Menu: All choices $25 ($26 when paid online via PayPal)
:: CHOICE OF SANDWICH (served with a salad of baby greens and house-made kettle chips) ::
• Falafel sandwich (vegetarian/vegan) with house-made hummus, cucumbers, lettuce, tomato and onion on whole-wheat pita, served with tahini sauce (vegan without tahini sauce)
• Honey-roasted turkey sandwich with Havarti cheese, Dijonnaise, lettuce, tomato and onion on wheat bread
• Grilled-chicken panini with chipotle mayo, caramelized onions, pepper jack, lettuce and tomato on ciabatta
• Avocado panini with roasted red peppers and melted cheese on multi-grain bread
PLEASE TRY TO ARRIVE ON TIME OR A LITTLE EARLY, AS THE FORMAL PART OF OUR MEETING WILL BEGIN PROMPTLY AT NOON TO ACCOMMODATE MINH LÊ'S SCHEDULE.
PLEASE TRY TO ARRIVE ON TIME OR A LITTLE EARLY, AS THE FORMAL PART OF OUR MEETING WILL BEGIN PROMPTLY AT NOON TO ACCOMMODATE MINH LÊ'S SCHEDULE.
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. The 2018 Children's Africana Book Awards
2. Member Nomination: Eileen Hanning
3. Emily Arnold McCully at the May Meeting
4. Member News
5. Plummer Elementary School Thanks the Guild
6. Opportunities to Serve the Guild
7. Membership Dues Reminder
2. Member Nomination: Eileen Hanning
3. Emily Arnold McCully at the May Meeting
4. Member News
5. Plummer Elementary School Thanks the Guild
6. Opportunities to Serve the Guild
7. Membership Dues Reminder
Best Books for Young Children
Baby Goes to Market. Atinuke and Angela Brooksbank (illustrator). Candlewick, 2017.
Mama Africa, How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with Her Song. Kathryn Erskine and Charly Palmer (illustrator). Farrar Straus Giroux, 2017.
Grandma’s List. Portia Dery and Toby Newsome (illustrator). African Bureau Stories, 2017.
Honor Books for Young Children
The Wooden Camel. Wanuri Kahiu and Manuela Adreani (illustrator). Lantarna, 2017.
Sleep Well, Siba & Saba. Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahi and Sandra Van Doom. Lantana, 2017.
Best Book for Older Readers
When Morning Comes. Arushi Raina. Tradewinds, 2017.
Honor Books for Older Readers
Solo. Kwame Alexander with Mary Rand Hess. Blink, 2017.
Akata Warrior. Nnedi Okorafor. Viking, 2017.
Notable Books for Older Readers
One Shadow on the Wall. Leah Henderson. Simon and Schuster, 2017.
Soldier Boy. Keely Hutton. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2017.
Best New Adult Book
Behold the Dreamers. Imbolo Mbue. Random House, 2017.
MEMBERSHIP NOMINATION: EILEEN HANNING
Mary Quattlebaum nominates Eileen Hanning for membership in
the Children’s Book Guild as a children’s literature specialist. Jacqueline
Jules seconds the nomination.
Eileen Hanning, a longtime member of the Children’s Book
Guild as a representative of The Reading Connection, would like to remain a
part of the Guild. Eileen earned her master's degree in curriculum and
instruction from Trinity University in Washington, DC, where she focused on
literacy education. At the Reading Connection, Eileen’s final title was
director of curriculum and evaluation, although over her 23 years there she
held lots of titles: education specialist, program director, assistant program
director and volunteer. She worked with volunteers, parents and partner
agencies; she designed programming (and evaluation for that programming) for
the kids and training for the grownups.
Here is the scoop on what Eileen has been doing since the
Reading Connection folded:
“I started my own consulting business in October 2017: Read
Learn Reach (https://readlearnreach.com/). I design curriculum, evaluation and training, and implement
evaluation and training for educational programs. I research and write white
papers for organizations to use in marketing and fundraising. I curate and
annotate themed lists of children's books for organizations, and help
organizations coordinate and conduct events.
“I have a lot of interesting projects, including one I just
completed with Reading Is Fundamental and Google Earth, in which I curated
lists of folktales, fairytales and myths and legends, chose appropriate sites
through Google Earth and wrote the text for the website pages. The folktales
section is live already; the fairytales and myths and legends are in production
now.
“I'm also currently working on a project with WETA's summer reading
program, Start with a Book. I'm conducting outreach and training, and I am
working with Rachael Walker [of WETA's Reading Rockets] to develop a five-day curriculum on rivers and
water that will be available online starting at the end of May.
“I'm just starting on a white paper for Girls on the Run of
Northern Virginia, examining how out-of-school programming like theirs supports
healthy outcomes for at-risk kids.
“And I just finished the second of two fascinating projects
with the Girl Scouts, writing STEM curriculum and supporting materials for the
girls to use when working on their mechanical engineering badges.”
Regarding membership in the Guild, Eileen says, “I don't
even remember when I first joined the Guild through the Reading Connection, and
I would feel adrift without a membership.”
EMILY ARNOLD MCCULLY SHINES A SPOTLIGHT ON OUTSTANDING WOMEN
by Kitson Jazynka
Author-illustrator Emily Arnold McCully spoke to the Guild in May about the short film that premiered this spring at the Tribeca Film Festival based on her 1993 Caldecott-Medal winning picture book, Mirette on the High Wire, and shared a video of the trailer for the movie. If you see the movie, watch out for a cameo by McCully! The focus of her presentation to Guild members was on the work involved with writing her latest book, She Did It! 21 Women Who Changed the Way We Think.
This latest title, a nonfiction book for middle grade readers, is to be published in November by Disney Press. Working in collaboration with AARP, the organization that initiated the project, and Hyperion, McCully first faced the challenge of creating a list of women to profile. The final list included women with incredible and often little-known stories, such as Ida Tarbell, an American teacher who is credited with inventing investigative journalism; Dr. Gladys Tantaquidgeon, an American Indian and anthropologist; Madam C. J. Walker, one of the first American women to become a self-made millionaire; Billy Jean King, the legendary tennis player; and Ethel Percy Andrus, the founder of AARP. A self-described feminist, McCully enjoyed exploring the women’s lives and sharing their stories in about 2,500 words each. “Women have demanded equality over and over again for 250 years,” she said at the lunch. “We’re not there yet.”
Guild members had plenty of questions. McCully shared details of what it was like to collaborate with AARP, how she narrowed an impossible list of profile candidates down to 21 women, the process involved in creating the watercolors that accompanied each profile and her insistence that the book end with a group image of all the women in a visual “sisterhood.” Her passion for sharing these moving stories with child readers was obvious. “It’s important for kids to realize that history is not made by heroics,” she said. “These women had very different lives but they all had a similar purpose when it came to helping others, be it helping individuals or changing society as a whole.”
MEMBER NEWS
SUSAN STOCKDALE is pleased that Fantastic Flowers was selected as a 2018 Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Book of the Year.
SUSAN STOCKDALE, MARY QUATTLEBAUM, LEZLIE EVANS, TERRY CATASUS JENNINGS, LAURA KRAUSS MELMED and COURTNEY PIPPIN-MATHUR will participate in the Chesapeake Children's Book Festival on June 16, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Talbot County Free Library, Waterfowl Festival Building, 40 Harrison Street, Easton, MD: http://www.chesapeakechildrensbookfestival.com/index.html.
MARTY RHODES FIGLEY will attend the Western Writers of America conference in late June to celebrate her book The True Story of Jim the Wonder Dog being named a Spur finalist for juvenile nonfiction.
MICHELLE Y. GREEN has given up other activities to concentrate on being a full-time writer. She now has a blog titled "Laughter Is Medicine" and a new website, www.michelleygreen.com.
ANGELA SMITH reports that this spring students at Sidwell Friends Lower School enjoyed author visits from FRED BOWEN and Alexandra Boiger. Adam Gidwitz is coming in early June!
JEAN GRALLEY is happy to report that the Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota has asked to house her original illustrations for two books: her own Hogula: Dread Pig of Night and Jane Yolen's And Twelve Chinese Acrobats.
Jean notes: "I'm especially happy that they will also house a correspondence I kept for many years with the legendary Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator (and first art director at Cricket magazine) Trina Schart Hyman. It spans the years when I was a student and she gave me my first jobs, through her giving me her job at Cricket, and her death in 2004. She was generous with illustration advice, with gossip, with praise. (I carefully kept all the little stars and faux awards that cascaded out of her envelopes for jobs she considered well-done.) The correspondence is run through with Trina's infamous irreverence, as well.
"It was Trina who made sure a fellowship to the Kerlan Collection fell into my hands when I was a young illustrator. I'm dazed by the great good luck that a circle’s been completed, that some of my work and this precious connection with her will have a home at the Kerlan."
JACQUELINE JULES is tickled to announce the publication of Pluto Is Peeved, illustrated by Dave Roman and published by The Quarto Group.
Pluto is peeved. And who can blame him? He was once considered one of the Solar System's nine planets but was unceremoniously demoted. Why do scientists think it is all right to change things? Pluto roams the science museum in search of answers. Pluto Is Peeved!, a comic-book-style picture book, takes readers on a scientific journey side-by-side with Pluto, who speaks with other museum inhabitants such as a dinosaur, a germ and the earth and learns what exactly scientists are interested in. The answer is: everything, including him!
LULU DELACRE writes: "I’m thrilled that Turning Pages and Pasando Páginas, by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, will be released September 4 in simultaneous English and Spanish hardcover versions. The galleys arrived recently, and the printing is fantastic! This is the kind of compliment I hardly ever bestow on any publisher as I am very particular with the reproduction of my art. Every texture and collage I created is faithfully reproduced in hues almost identical to my oil washes. It’s been quite a ride, since for me this is the first time I have created art for such a nationally known and admired figure. Managing the contract without an agent or personal lawyer was interesting to say the least!
Pluto is peeved. And who can blame him? He was once considered one of the Solar System's nine planets but was unceremoniously demoted. Why do scientists think it is all right to change things? Pluto roams the science museum in search of answers. Pluto Is Peeved!, a comic-book-style picture book, takes readers on a scientific journey side-by-side with Pluto, who speaks with other museum inhabitants such as a dinosaur, a germ and the earth and learns what exactly scientists are interested in. The answer is: everything, including him!
"The book release will coincide with an exhibit of all its art (to include 'process' work) held at the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University, in New Jersey. The specifics of the show are developing, but I’ll say that the possibility of having every second grader in New Brunswick visit the show is pretty exciting. More on the show soon.
"Also, gracias to all the Guild members, both individual and institutional, who in one way or another have been helping the Centro Educativo Joaquina de Vedruna (CEJV). This is the after school program serving children and families from the projects in Puerto Rico. After hurricane María I reached out through Facebook and Twitter, and it’s been wonderful to witness how these platforms can serve such good purposes. I heard from the Center’s director, and the library is full steam ahead! They have a part-time librarian, and they are cataloging and classifying the books Guild members sent and those purchased with a grant from First Book (super big thanks to Roxana Barrillas and the organization!). For the next school year the CEJV will be creating a specific indoor reading area for children; they will be stressing reading for pleasure in the classroom, and they are planning to build a free library for the community at large. All this news makes me feel blessed. If you have any books in Spanish to add to this effort, contact me."
PLUMMER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: THANK YOU, CHILDREN'S BOOK GUILD!
The Guild donated baskets of members' books to two DC public schools on April 7, the day of the Nonfiction Award celebration. One overflowing basket went to Plummer Elementary School, in Southeast DC. The second went to the middle school at Leckie Education Campus, in Southwest DC. Plummer principal Terri Fuller and media specialist Renée Goods attended the luncheon. Goods explained that the books were given to children who come to school for breakfast. Each child selected a book to take home and keep.
GUILD MEMBERS: GET INVOLVED!
Service to the Guild is a hallmark of membership and enables us to put our goals into action. Moreover, working together on mutually valued Guild projects is personally and professionally satisfying! Still open are Board positions involving publicity, social media, hospitality and service on important committees, such as the 2019 Nonfiction Award Luncheon Committee and the committee to explore publishing and other ways to celebrate the Guild’s 75th Anniversary in 2020. Members eager and willing to serve in minor or major roles on the Guild’s 2018-19 Board are welcome to drop a note to incoming President Rhoda Trooboff at rtrooboff@gmail.com.
MEMBERSHIP DUES
Many thanks to the Guild members who have paid their membership dues promptly. Dues can be paid online at https://childrensbookguild.
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NOTE ABOUT THE CHILDREN'S BOOK GUILD NEWS: Would you rather print your newsletter than read it online? Current and past issues are now available for printing on the Guild's website at http://www.childrensbookguild.org/guild-newsletters. Look for the "Newsletter" tab on the left side of the Guild website. There is also a "Printer Friendly Version" link on the top left-hand side of this blog.
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LITERARY EVENTS SPONSORED BY POLITICS AND PROSE: The literary calendar at Politics and Prose lists many upcoming programs that may be of interest to Children's Book Guild members: http://www.politics-prose.com/events. June's speakers include JUANA MEDINA.
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