Valarie Budayr's Blog, page 66
October 22, 2015
Classic Children’s Book “Caps for Sale” Turns 75 Years Old!
We need to take a little pause in celebration today for one of my all time favorite Classic Children’s Book, Caps for Sale. It was one of the first books I learned to read on my own. I loved those pesky monkeys and all the mischief they got into in Caps for Sale.
Even more interesting is the story behind Caps for Sale is the story of Author/Illustrator Esphyr Slobodkina. In 1940 she was a young abstract artist on the rise to fame in New York City. Born in 1908 in a Siberian town called Chelyabinsk, Slobodkina grew up in Manchuria China and studied art there as well as Russia before immigrating to the U.S. in 1928.
She studied at the National Academy of Design in New York City and became a founding member of the American Abstract Artists group, which was formed in 1938 to promote an understanding of abstract and non-objective art.
So how does an abstract artist end up writing and illustrating on of the most famous books of all time? Slobodkina met Margaret Wise Brown who is famous in her own right for penning Goodnight Moon. At the time Margaret Wise Brown worked as a publisher for W.R. Scott. After seeing Slobodkina’s avant-garde portfolio which included her picture book Mary and the Poodies, Brown offered Slobodkina a publishing contract to publish Mary and the Poodies plus illustrate a book that Brown had authored called The Little Fireman.
With the encouragement of Margaret Wise Brown, Slobodkina went onto write and illustrate her own books. Caps for Sale was published in 1940 by W.R. Scott. It was Slobodkina’s third book published. In 1947 Harper & Brothers reissued Caps for Sale where it has been a constant title on most people’s books shelves selling millions of copies in the U.S. alone and translated into 6 languages as well as winning many awards.
In all, Esphyr Slobodkina authored and illustrated 22 books. Her book Caps for Sale is a vivid memory from my childhood and still sits on the shelf with all of the other I Can Read books that my grandmother purchased for me. Now 75 years later we are still reading and laughing over the funny man with all the hats and the silly monkeys who tortured him with their antics.
Happy Birthday Caps for Sale! Wishing you many readers to turn your pages.
Something To Do
The wonderful thing about Caps for Sale is that it lends itself to many fun adventures and activities. Here are a few for you to enjoy.
One of my all time favorite play moments with Caps for Sale came from my friends over at WeeFolkArt. You and the kids will have hours of fun with this peg characters, felt hats, and Tree. It will bring this book to life over and over again. Just love this. You can find all the inspirational moments right here.
Have a look at the Caps for Sale Pinterest Page. This page is designed for First and Second Grade
Here are some adorable printables to play and learn with.
To learn more about author/illustrator Esphyr Slobodkina head over to the Slobodkina Foundation. I know you’ll have a very wonderful and enchanted time visiting her studio, her artworks, and her very diverse style of art and writing. She was an amazing woman and I hope you’ll be inspired to get to know her work a little bit better.
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Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2016 is COMING (1/27/16) and we have many things to be grateful for here at MCCBD headquarters. There are a ton of exciting things in the works right now!
Need to get a multicultural children’s book in front of readers? Participate in this national event as an Author Sponsor and get enjoy many unique ways to gain visibility for your books. Those who lock in their Author Sponsorship before October 31st will get a bonus; 2 guest posts on MCCBD blog, banner ad on the Author Sponsor Page, social media shares and book review opportunities by book bloggers. A great value for only $65. Go HERE for more details.
Would you rather review a new multicultural children’s book on your blog or website? Our Book Review Blogger Sign-Up for MCCBD 2016 just started as well! We’ll give you a FREE multicultural children’s book so you can post on your blog on January 27th and then join our huge Linky Party as well.
Connect with us!
– Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MulticulturalChildrensBookDay
– Twitter https://twitter.com/MCChildsBookDay
-Reminder: The hashtag for this event is #ReadYourWorld
The post Classic Children’s Book “Caps for Sale” Turns 75 Years Old! appeared first on Jump Into A Book.
October 20, 2015
The Latest Scoop on Multicultural Children’s Book Day Sponsorships!
We have many things to be grateful for here at Multicultural Children’s Book Day headquarters because there are a ton of exciting things in the works right now!
Join us as an Author Sponsor for MCCBD 2016 which includes 2 guest posts on MCCBD blog, banner ad on the Author Sponsor Page, social media shares, and reviews by bloggers.
Our Book Review Blogger Sign-Up for MCCBD 2016 just started as well! We’ll give you a FREE book so you can post on your blog on January 27th!
For anyone interested in Sponsorship opportunities, our Early Bird Sponsorship Sale ends OCTOBER 31, 2015.
We are thrilled to have two powerhouse multicultural children’s book publishers is joining us as Platinum Sponsors for 2016!
Capstone Young Readers and Lee and Low are two of our Silver Sponsors.
We have just 1 Platinum spot left!
Why 2016 will be AMAZING
26 social media shares last year! Wow! Thank you everyone!
Our 2015 event was wildly successful and thanks to 9 co-hosts and 2 co-founders, over a dozen sponsors and a 200+ of review bloggers, the event generated 26 million social media shares over a span of 7 days during the Multicultural Children’s Book Day celebration.
In 2016, we expect a broader social media reach … and here’s why:
We are adding more Co-Hosts who will bring with them a significantly enhanced social media reach.
Susan Raab of Raab Associates will be handling our public relations!
We’ve created a Classroom Reading Challenge so teachers can earn a FREE diversity book for their classroom libraries!
The Junior Library Guild is donating the books! Up to 200 books for classrooms and teachers!
The Classroom Reading Challenge is a new project for us but it is a way for teachers to sign up, read up to four multicultural books in their classroom and earn a free multicultural book from us. Having Junior Library Guild on board assures that the free book that classrooms earn from MCCBD is a pre-screened, library-quality book that maps to Common Core. This is a HUGE and exciting benefit for this project. (More details to come on the MCCBD Classroom Reading Challenge)
Curious about the available Sponsorship spots, benefits and details? Go HERE to review the options and the Early Bird Pricing. Looking forward to working with you!
– Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MulticulturalChildrensBookDay
– Twitter https://twitter.com/MCChildsBookDay
-Reminder: The hashtag for this event is #ReadYourWorld
Thank you so much for your support!
Valarie, Mia and Becky
The post The Latest Scoop on Multicultural Children’s Book Day Sponsorships! appeared first on Jump Into A Book.
October 18, 2015
Weekend Links: Fantastical Reading Finds
My word of the week is “fantastical”… 
Not sure why….maybe because it sounds like a Willy Wonka-type word! The official definition of “fantastic” is: conceived or appearing as if conceived by an unrestrained imagination. That exactly how I feel about my Weekend Links picks this week. Enjoy!
Minds in Bloom: 6 Ways to Teach Kids about the World -a guest post from the wonderful Becky Morales of KidWorldCitizen.
The Children Shall Lead Us: Top 7 Children’s Books on Leadership for Social Justice
via @blackvoices
4 Early Chapter Book Giveaway! #ScholasticBranches via @PragmaticMom
Excellent Nonfiction Books To Get Kids Reading via @imagination soup
13 Children’s Books that Encourage Kids to Love Black Hair via @ForHarriet
Fantastical News
There are so many exciting things in the works right now. If you missed it, we recently did a special post on becoming an Author Sponsor for MCCBD 2016 AND we announced the opening of our Review Blogger Sign-up for MCCBD 2016 as well. Pass the word on both please!
But another thing we are tickled about is the fact that we have two powerhouse multicultural children’s book publishers joining us as Platinum Sponsors for 2016. Wisdom Tales Press is joining us for a 3rd year and newcomer Story Quest Books will be a crowd pleaser too.
Capstone Young Readers and Lee and Low and have stepped forward and filled out two of our Silver Sponsorship spots and we have quite a few awesome Author Sponsors as well so please take a peek. There are many Sponsorship opportunities still available (one Platinum left along with Gold, Silver and Bronze) so if you know of an author or publisher who would like to be part of the growing event, have them check out our Sponsorship Level page ASAP. The Early Bird Sale on the top three levels of Sponsorship ends 10/31/15.
Final Fantastical Thoughts: Here are a few of my “Fantastic” blog posts from the past!
The Fantastic Adventures of Krishna by Demi: In this elegant read, we ventured into the world and land of India, the God Krishna, and Hinduism in the book The Fantastic Adventures of Krishna by author/illustrator Demi.
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore harkens back to the days of silent films with the grander of those first technicolor movie classics such as the Wizard of Oz. Each page as a hidden piece of magic embedded to be discovered by those who journey through this soon to be classic. Something may look familiar to you during your time with this app and that is because of the brilliant work done by William Joyce.
Your Fantastic Elastic Brain is more than just an ebook for children, parents and educators…The app goes above and beyond the concept of a children’s book in digital format. Embedded lesson plans offer activities designed to build an understanding of neuroanatomy, the brain’s primary functions, and how to stretch and shape the brain to its full potential. I have a sneaking suspicion we could all use a refresher course in brain function, so parents and teachers might find this feature interesting as well… Go forth, young parents, and download.” ~ Leslie Rasimas, Appy Awards
Have a Fantastic week!
The post Weekend Links: Fantastical Reading Finds appeared first on Jump Into A Book.
October 13, 2015
The Multicultural Children’s Book Day Review Blogger Sign-up is OPEN!
Review Bloggers! We Need YOU! MCCBD 2016 Review Blogger Sign-up is OPEN!
Our 2015 event was wildly successful and thanks to 9 co-hosts and 2 Co-founders, the event generated 26 million social media shares over a span of 7 days during the Multicultural Children’s Book Day celebration. In 2016, we expect far more of a reach, response and success… and here’s why:
• For MCCBD 2016, we have a very special Classroom Reading Challenge planned that will target and engaged 200 classrooms in reading diverse books. (more details to come!)
• We are adding more Co-Hosts who will bring with them a significantly enhanced social media reach.
• We have hired Susan Raab of Raab Associates to do our PR for six weeks leading up to January 27th, Multicultural Children’s Book Day
With the 2015 event, we had 175+ blogs participating and each blogger was matched with an author or publisher. These bloggers received a multicultural children’s book to review on their blog. They day of the event (1/27/2015) everyone linked up their blog post on a Linky on the MCCBD site to create a giant reading resource for parents, teachers and librarians.
We expect the number of participating review bloggers to grow this year. We can’t predict and exact number, but we won’t be surprised if we get 300 to 400 bloggers this year! Not sure how it all works? Go HERE and get the scoop.
Please note-Our Author Sponsorships are a very affordable $65 and sign-up is as simple as going HERE and choosing the Author Sponsor option. Again, it’s a very effective way for author’s to get recognition and raise awareness for their diverse children’s books.
Please direct questions and inquires to Project Manager Becky Flansburg at Becky@AudreyPress.com
That being said, we are excited to announce that the sign-up for review bloggers for MCCBD 2016 is OPEN!
***Review Bloggers-Sign up below! (Sign-up is open until December 31, 2015. There are no guarantees everyone will be matched with a book donator)
Our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MulticulturalChildrensBookDay
-Our Twitter https://twitter.com/MCChildsBookDay
-Our hashtag #ReadYourWorld.
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The post The Multicultural Children’s Book Day Review Blogger Sign-up is OPEN! appeared first on Jump Into A Book.
The Otter, the Spotted Frog and the Great Flood Book Review & Extension Activity
Over the years my family has enjoyed reading a variety of “great flood” tales from our local Blount County Library. This month found us enjoying the Creek Indian version called, The Otter, the Spotted Frog and the Great Flood by Gerald Hausman and beautifully illustrated by Ramon Shiloh.
In this version, spotted frog announces to the world that a great flood is coming which will destroy all of their homes. All of the animals ignore spotted frog’s warning, except an otter named Listener.
Ridiculed by all the other animals, Listener heeds spotted Frog’s warnings and begins to build a raft to try and survive the coming flood.
As the story progresses and Listener survives the flood, he learns via a mosquito and a fish about his future wife who becomes “First Woman”.
Listener the Otter, and First Woman the mosquito turned fish, both become the first two-legged beings to walk on earth.
From that time on, the earth was good to them and they always listened to Spotted Frog, who everyone knew was the frog who saved the world by singing.
Our family and friends alike have greatly loved this book. First because the story is told brilliantly by Gerald Hausman. It uses simple and concise language while sharing the story in a simple manner. Also part of this storytelling adventure are the exquisite paintings and illustrations of Ramon Shiloh. There is a nice even flow between story and text forming a single cohesive unit of storytelling magic.
This beautiful book is one we will come to again and again.
Something To Do
Discover the Creek Indians
Knowing very little about the Creek Indians we decided to spend some time on the internet to learn more about them. The Creek Indian Nation is named after the Ocmulgee Creek in Georgia. They originally called themselves Isti or Istichata, but began to identify themselves as Muskogee soon after Europeans arrived.
The Creeks live in the Georgia, Alabama and Florida and are part of the Seminole people. To learn more about them and their culture have a look at these websites.
Native American Facts for Kids
Want to know more Creek Stories and Myths have a look here.
Just like Otter we thought building a raft was a really good idea. We got our inspiration here.
We are VERY proud to announce that, for the 3rd year, Wisdom Tales Press is a Platinum Sponsor for the upcoming Multicultural Children’s Book Day!! We are incredibly honored to have them (and our other sponsors-more details to come!) on board to help us spread the word on the importance of getting multicultural books into the hands of young readers. More details on MCCBD 2016 sponsorship can be found HERE.
***Some of these links are affiliate links. I was given a copy of this book for review. The opinions expressed are purely my own.
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Do your young readers love nature and all of nature’s critters? Experience the magical story of a family of foxes that took up residence right in the front yard of the author and publisher, Valarie Budayr. The Fox Diaries: The Year the Foxes Came to our Garden offers an enthusiastically educational opportunity to observe this fox family grow and learn together.
From digging and hunting to playing and resting, this diary shares a rare glimpse into the private lives of Momma Rennie and her babies. Come watch as they navigate this wildly dangerous but still wonderful world. Great to share with your children or students, The Fox Diaries speaks to the importance of growing and learning both individually and as a family unit. It is a perfect book for story time or family sharing. Not only can you read about the daily rituals of this marvelous fox family, there is an information-packed resource section at the end of the book that includes lots of facts and even a few “fox movies” that you can enjoy with your family. Grab your copy of this beautiful and inspiring book HERE.
The post The Otter, the Spotted Frog and the Great Flood Book Review & Extension Activity appeared first on Jump Into A Book.
October 11, 2015
Weekend Links- A Recap of An Already Kidlit-Filled October
I love the months of autumn! The changing of the leaves and the cooling of the weather is like welcoming an old familiar friend. From a literary standpoint there is so much going on in October as well. This Weekend Links I’d like to take a quick look at all of the “book-ish” moments of an already busy month.
Banned Books Week finished up 10/3. Did you see my Banned Books Booklist that features some of the most banned YA books in the US?
Columbus Day is October 12 and I really love this blog post from Multicultural Children’s Book Day Silver Sponsor, Lee and Low- Rethinking Columbus Day
Did you Celebrate #NationalPoetryDay on 10/8? Here are some great mentions of this lesser known literary holiday.
National Poetry Day with Kids – Favorite Activities and Books from The Good Long Road
National Poetry Day- How Are You Celebrating? With Author Max Oliver
October is National Bullying Prevention Month
Join the movement! The End of Bullying Begins with Me: that’s the message during PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Month in October. It’s a time when communities can unite nationwide to raise awareness of bullying prevention through events, activities, outreach, and education. Resources from PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center make it easy to take action. Check out my Ban Bullying Booklists for all grades and ages.
Day of the Dead Facts in English and Spanish-via @Multicultural Kids
Let’s not forget Halloween is coming! 10 Spooky Books for Kids @NYMediaWorks and KidlitTV!
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Are you a multicultural children’s book author looking for a unique and effective way to get your work in front of parents, bloggers, teachers and librarians? Our Author Sponsorship for the upcoming Multicultural Children’s Book Day (1-27-16) is a very affordable way for authors to gain visibility before and after this growing event and also get their books into the hands of review bloggers.
To learn more about why this is a valuable opportunity for diverse book authors, and to see how easy it is to get involved, go HERE for the full scoop on Author Sponsorships and other levels of Sponsorship as well. Want to see the other authors who have already joined the party? Go here. Your book, illustrator and author could be listed here as well!
The post Weekend Links- A Recap of An Already Kidlit-Filled October appeared first on Jump Into A Book.
October 8, 2015
National Bullying Prevention Month Booklists and Links
Join the movement! The End of Bullying Begins with Me: that’s the message during PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Month in October. It’s a time when communities can unite nationwide to raise awareness of bullying prevention through events, activities, outreach, and education. Resources from PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center make it easy to take action.
PACER created the campaign in 2006 with a one-week event which has now evolved into a month-long effort that encourages everyone to take an active role in the bullying prevention movement. PACER offers a variety of resources to use during October — and throughout the year — to inspire, educate and involve others to join the movement and prevent bullying where you live. Check out all of the different events and activities and make plans to get involved.
Learn about bullying and bullying prevention through books:
“With all my might, you’ll all take flight… If I could but wish for better things, you’d all disperse and grow your wings. ” Benjamin Brewster, Dandelion
Rarely do I feel captivated and drawn into an imaginary app world, but this app had me with the first screen and the first note of the it’s beautiful soundtrack. From there, we entered into a world of hope and possibilities. Even more surprising is the topic matter of e-book app, which is bullying.
CLICK TO TWEET “Bullying is for people with no imagination.” -Benjamin Brewster, (from the book app Dandelion) #bullying
When author Galvin Scott Davis’ son came home from school sharing that he was being bullied, Galvin having few answers decided to offer his son a solution by way of using his imagination and creativity. Lucky for us, we too have been let in to the world of his imagination to discover solutions to this difficult problem by providing solutions for the main character of the story.
Dandelion is a story about a little boy named Benjamin Brewster who is bullied each day at “The School for the Misguided.” One day, when all seems lost, a patch of magical Dandelions appear which allow him to conjure a new world from his imagination.
Galvin Scott Davis along with the award-winning app developers at Protein have created something truly magical as they encourage kids to discuss bullying through their interaction with the Dandelion app.
One of my personal favorites:
What books are your favorites?
The post National Bullying Prevention Month Booklists and Links appeared first on Jump Into A Book.
October 6, 2015
The Scoop on Multicultural Children’s Book Day Author Sponsorships!
Can you believe it’s less than 120 days until Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2016!
As time continues to speed forward, the MCCBD planning team continues to create amazing opportunities to get multicultural children’s books into the hands of teachers, librarians, parents and young readers. We are also continuing our quest of shining the spotlight on the many diverse book authors out there as well.
Our 2015 event was wildly successful and thanks to 9 co-hosts and 2 Co-founders, many sponsor and a ton of review bloggers, the event generated 26 million social media shares over a span of 7 days during the Multicultural Children’s Book Day celebration. In 2016, we expect far more of a reach, response and success… and here’s why:
For MCCBD 2016, we have a very special Classroom Reading Challenge planned that will target and engaged 200 classrooms in reading diverse books. (More details to come!)
We are adding more Co-Hosts who will bring with them a significantly enhanced social media reach.
We have hired Susan Raab of Raab Associates to do our PR for six weeks leading up to January 27th, Multicultural Children’s Book Day
With the 2015 event, we had 150+ blogs participating in and each blogger was matched with an author or publishers. These bloggers received a multicultural children’s book to review on their blog. They day of the event (1/17/2015) everyone linked up their blog post on a Linky on the MCCBD site to create a giant reading resource for parents, teachers and librarians. We expect the number of participating review bloggers to grow this year.
As you can imagine this creates a very special opportunity for authors of multicultural children’s books to get their books in front of their target audience; parents, teachers and librarians. Our Author Sponsorship option is a very affordable way for authors to gain visibility before and after this growing event and also get their books into the hands of review bloggers.
Benefits for our Author Sponsors include:
A 300x 300 image of your book cover, book description in the form of a 300 word blog post, and links to your site from our special Authors/Illustrators BlogRoll Page.
2 Tweets and one Facebook update directing readers to the blog post on the MCCBD blog that is highlighting your book(s) and information.
The opportunity to supply 2-10 books to review bloggers to review for MCCBD 2016.
But wait! We thought we would throw in an extra perk for those authors wishing to lock in an Author Sponsorship before November 30th!
Any author who purchases an Author Sponsorship between now and 11/30/15 has the option of submitting TWO guest posts on the MCCBD blog! One post will be published before 1/27/16 and the second will be published on a pre-determined date after the MCCBD 2106 celebration is over. All guest posts must follow our guest post guidelines, but it is an excellent way to continue receiving visibility for their published works.
Our Author Sponsorships are a very affordable $65 and sign-up is as simple as going HERE and choosing the Author Sponsor option. Again, it’s a very effective way for author’s to get recognition and raise awareness for their diverse children’s books.
We’d love to have all multicultural children’s books author participate (all genres!) and together we will continue to be the voice championing diversity in children’s books!
Please direct questions and inquires to Project Manager Becky Flansburg at Becky@AudreyPress.com
The post The Scoop on Multicultural Children’s Book Day Author Sponsorships! appeared first on Jump Into A Book.
October 4, 2015
Weekend Links: Great books for Banned Books Week
It may have started in late September, but Banned Books Week is already providing this busy readers with all sorts of new children’s book ideas!
Banned Books Week is the national book community’s annual celebration of the freedom to read. Hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events. The 2015 celebration will be held September 27-October 3.
Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. More than 11,300 books have been challenged since 1982 according to the American Library Association. Read more about Banned Books Week HERE.
I shared my own “banned book” experience on Thursday when I talked about the one and only time I “banned ” a book from my family’s bookshelf, and how I used the opportunity as a learning experience for everyone as well. I also whipped up my own Banned Books Week Booklist for everyone to enjoy as well.
In my weekly travels, I have also discovered even more book ideas, resources and booklists. Enjoy!
13 Banned and Challenged Books For Kids from No Time for Flashcards
Even Children’s Books are Banned- Banned Book Week from Alohamora
Free printable Banned Books Bookmarks from Classroom Freebies!
What book is your favorite banned book?
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The Waldorf Homeschool Handbook is a simple step-by-step guide to creating and understanding a Waldorf inspired homeschool plan. Within the pages of this comprehensive homeschooling guide, parents will find information, lesson plans, curriculum, helpful hints, behind the scenes reasons why, rhythm, rituals, helping you fit homeschooling into your life. Discover The Waldorf Homeschool Handbook: The Simple Step-by-Step guide to creating a Waldorf-inspired homeschool.
Grab your copy HERE: The Waldorf Homeschool Handbook: The Simple Step-by-Step guide to creating a Waldorf-inspired homeschool. http://amzn.to/1OhTfoT
The post Weekend Links: Great books for Banned Books Week appeared first on Jump Into A Book.
October 1, 2015
I Can’t Believe I Banned A Book: Banned Books Week Booklist
Yes it’s true, there was once a book series that I banned from my then 12 year old. What’s that you say? The Magic Book Lady banning books from her literate prone household? Happy Banned Books Week everyone.
I’ve never been one who agrees with banning books. I believe in providing age appropriate reading materials for my children but not banning books. That worked until a little book called Hunger Games was discovered by my 12-year old. At this point the Hunger Games had been out a long time and had read it and it completely chilled me to the bone. The idea of putting up 12 children who all must die except 1 to save humanity just hit a little too close to home for some reason. The Hunger Game series is a well written and well conceived book series which still chills me to the bone whether in book or movie form.
I didn’t think another thing about it until we were at the library many months later and wonder son comes up with a stack of books in his arms, the top one being The Hunger Games. “Oh no, not that book,” I thought. And then I heard that very phrase coming out of my mouth. I said something very parental like, “It’s not age-appropriate for you and it deals with very difficult ideas that I don’t think you’re ready for.” End of story I thought.
Nope………
It had developed a cult following since I had read it plus two more books had come out in the series and well there you have it , a must read book.
One day I walked into the attic room known as the cubby at our house and there was Wonder Son sitting on the bed reading a book hidden by a folder and that’s when I discovered he was secretly reading The Hunger Games.
So what to do? I could punish him, but really. Punish him for reading a book? I don’t think so. The road I took was that of opportunity. Instead of trying to protect him I decided to use The Hunger Games as a dialog tool. I told him he could read the book but that I wanted to have a conversation about it when he was finished. He came out of the cubby, could read freely and we had the greatest conversations over the entire book series. My opinion remains the same, but I also learned why he was attracted to the book and why it didn’t seem as scary to him as it did to me.
We read the other two books in the series at the same time talking all the way through them. It allowed my voice and concerns to be heard. It allowed his points of views and concerns to be heard and at times we even agreed to disagree. I think that skill in itself is a very powerful and capable tool for both of us to have in our tool belts.
Since the Hunger Games, controversial and intense book discussions have continued with my wonder son as he is now a junior in high school. Just this year we had a very deep and meaningful conversation over The Scarlet Letter.
OK, so where do I stand with the Hunger Games? Go read it. Suzanne Collins is a brilliant writer to be able to elicit such strong responses. For us, her book series was a game changer and has opened the door to many incredible conversations.
Though Hunger Games is the only book I’ve ever banned, there have been many in the past. This week is Banned Books Week and this year’s theme is having to do specifically with YA (Young Adult) Titles. Here is a list of the most commonly banned YA books in the US. Have you read any of these ? What do you think?
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (Pantheon Books/Knopf Doubleday)
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston)
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Bloomsbury Publishing)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (MTV Books/Simon & Schuster)
Drama by Raina Telgemeier (Graphix/Scholastic)
Chinese Handcuffs by Chris Crutcher (Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins)
The Giver by Lois Lowry (HMH Books for Young Readers)
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (Vintage/Knopf Doubleday)
Looking for Alaska by John Green (Dutton Books/Penguin Random House)
For more information about Banned Books Week have a look here and be sure and join the Virtual Read-Out.
***Some of these links are affiliate links.
The post I Can’t Believe I Banned A Book: Banned Books Week Booklist appeared first on Jump Into A Book.
