SPEAK UP! Out of the Mouths of Kids!

Clarion Books, 2020

When SPEAK UP first released last fall, I purchased it immediately. 

I loved it from the first reading  and have appreciated even more about it on each reread. What was evident from that initial reading (and in each return to it) was the timeliness AND timelessness of its language, message, and appeal.

SPEAK UP is written in flawless, flowing rhymed text by the talented and prolific Miranda Paul. The comparably talented Ebony Glenn illustrated a visual narrative of a "day in the life" classroom of diverse and enaged kids whose interactions demonstrate the direct and wise text with natural flair and convincing results. The scenes and text involve using their voices for friendship, gratitude, ally-ship, kindness, self-advocacy, rallying support for a project or cause, and more.The two-page back matter begins with an anecdote about the author's son who spoke up about a potentially dangerous situation, and her own practice of preparing her voice to speak strongly and clearly when addressing a group.

That is followed by six short paragraphs that depict real-life kids who used their voices to improve their lives and the lives of others. The page concludes with two brief lists of ideas about WHEN SHOULD YOU SPEAK UP and WAYS TO SPEAK UP WITHOUT SAYING A WORD. 

Ebony Glenn is a young and enormously talented illustrator who merits our attention for this and future works. Her characters in this book are comfortably age-and-grade non-specific but wonderfully expressive and individualized, allowing readers across many ages and grades to see themselves on the page. With bright colors, an effective mix of edges and lines, and universally simple shapes, her figures convey movement, relationships, and attitudes clearly, while allowing young audiences to imagine themselves capable of creating similar work of their own. 

Miranda Paul's work speaks for itself, and that includes past publications and upcoming  releases. She has a valuable guest post in a series called "nonfiction fest", for writers. If you are a writer, or caregiver, or teacher, or librarian, or KID, this is worthy reading, and fun reading, too..

As the title of this post says, out of the mouths of kids...

Last week our United States Senate spent time hearing and viewing the evidence that a former president had incited a mob to insurgency and undermined the free, fair, and repeatedly authenticated presidential election in November, 2020. I've always had more faith in the potential and authenticity of kids than in adults. Kids are open and eager to learn, grow, improve. 

Adults, not so much. 

Not  enough of them, anyway. 

That was evident last week, when the needed two-thirds majority of the Senate failed to find that former president was responsible and should be barred from future federal elected office or other civil roles. Some Senators who voted "not guilty" followed their vote with scathing remarks that condemned and confirmed the charges lodged, but used technicalities or fear to justify a Not Guilty vote. 

My hope for the future rests with kids. So many young people followed that process, and are growing up with books like these. The premise of this book is that SPEAKING UP is the right thing to do when it protects others, seeks justice, and defends identities. Kids "get it" that this is NOT the same as tattling, whining, or throwing a tantrum or a fist. Or beating someone with a flag staff. Or otherwise attacking our democracy with violence.

In case you missed my post on Valentine's Day, please check it out HERE. That's the day the CYBILS AWARDS for 2020 were announced, including the category for fiction picture books, on which I served as a Round One Panelist. You really need to check this winner out.

Trauma and Racism: Picture Books Open Hard Conversations

My intended audience for this blog is adults, although nothing in it would be off-limits to younger readers. I wish I could say the same for the non-stop coverage of current events on mainstream and social media. 

Many adults I know find themselves overwhelmed by the events and by the graphic coverage and commentary. Just imagine the impact of this exposure on young people, and that includes teens and preteens, not just preschool and elementary age kids.

Images of trauma, threats, hate speech, and stereotyping surround us all. It's clear that even adults often lack the filters and analytic skills to sort and process fact from opinion, truth from exaggeration, partial truth from more complex realities. 
Young people need to pass through developmental stages to separate reality from fantasy in normal times. In the current social and political climate they are particularly in need of support and direct, guided discussions with trusted adults. The Washington Post  has this article entitled: HOW SHOULD PARENTS AND TEACHERS TALK TO KIDS ABOUT POLICE VIOLENCE. The frequent tragedies portrayed in the news float atop the political language we witnessed so far during this election year. It's frightening but likely that this may only be a prelude to what's to come in the fall, but effects are already evident. (THE TRUMP EFFECT IN SCHOOLS). 

School Library Journal recently posted this list of recommended titles for young adults and mature middle grade readers. (Here) I've read every one of these titles and I urge adults to read them, share them, discuss them. Several are particularly valuable in their use of distinctly different voices and points of view regarding a single news event.

When I saw that post I knew I'd want to share a list of picture books for younger readers. Not that I haven't featured important titles on these topics in the past, including this post on non-fiction titles from 2013. Check it out for stories of Jackie Robinson's courage in breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball and  Satchell Paige's demonstration of quiet confidence and superior skills despite his exclusion. 

Several valuable concepts can be developed and discussions launched with these and the other titles I'll suggest in this post.

Racism and unequal treatment aren't new, but progress has been made. Keeping in mind that these two anecdotal/biographic profiles document the reality of the 1930s and 1940s in this country, compare that to the reality of our  eight-year-olds who have never NOT known a black president of the United States.
We are changing, and so are the books available to kids. I'll turn to my readings of fiction picture books for the Cybils Awards for some recent releases. Each is worthy for any purpose, but are ideal for discussions surrounding current events. 

Chronicle Books, 2015

Trauma and destruction can be spawned by Mother Nature as readily as by human nature. One book that incorporates the power of individual effort (AND ATTITUDE) through good times and bad is award-winning MARVELOUS CORNELIUS: HURRICANE KARINA AND THE SPIRIT OF NEW ORLEANS, by Phil Bilder. (Check out the awards here)
Of all the books I read and considered in the past year, this one stays with me for many reasons. For an extensive review and comments, check my post from earlier in the year, here. This is just one paragraph from my Goodreads review:

"This book bounces, sings, captures a city and culture as if it is character itself, and shifts scenes throughout, from the earliest pages where the grittiness is transformed by the touch (and hard work) of Cornelius to sparkling and appealing. Eventually, the overwhelming destruction of nature's force is countered by the binding and building of a community, inspired by the spirit of Cornelius." 

If you haven't seen it yet, a short video clip made by the mother of triplets suggests that this kind of day-to-day personal interaction, appreciation of service, and celebration of daily work continues to build (and rebuild) communities. It only takes a few minutes, so please watch it here.

Kids Can Books, 2015

One question I ask kids (of any age) and now ask my friends when hard conversations are involved is this: Whatever you FEEL, or KNOW, or BELIEVE, or FEAR about what you've seen, in person or on media, try this thought experiment:

1. Do a real or mental "rewind" of the event. 
2. Find someone in the event you are certain you could NOT EVER imagine yourself to be, someone too "different" to understand.
3. Now picture yourself as the sister-brother-mother-child-cousin-best-friend of that "other".  
4. Take a moment and allow yourself to feel how well you do know them, love them, want the best for them.
5. Then replay the event, mentally or via media, and focus on that "other", feeling and reacting as you would if you cared. Loved.

MY FAMILY TREE AND ME, written and illustrated by Dusan Petricic, is a quirky and touchingly comic approach to exploring and sharing a diverse, wide-ranging family who have the most important thing of all in common-- they love each other.

Here's some of what I said about it in my review on Goodreads: 

"This is a valuable option for anyone working on family tree projects, as well as viewing diversity within extended and immediate family members. The centering of the full family tree with father's side and mother's side extending to the left and right pages is an original and strongly conceptual design. There are numerous visual subplots woven into each illustration, and the individuals are both realistic and caricatures in ways that make this family both "specific" and universal."  Of the many titles I might have shared this one came to mind based on that exercise I described above. Perhaps real and full acceptance of "others" will only come when each and every one of us can see ourselves as somewhere on such a diverse and quirky family tree. We live in a time of finding "leaves" on our ancestry trees and having DNA tests reveal our world-spanning genetic natures. In truth, we are ALL members of a quirky, diverse extended family, if we can just extend our imaginations and hearts wide enough to feel it. These suggestions barely scratch the surface, so I welcome others in the comments.