Monica Edinger's Blog, page 50
February 28, 2014
SLJ’s Battle of the Kids’ Books at the Nerdy Book Club Today
For those wanting a good overview of SLJ’s Battle of the Kids’ Books, I’ve a post on it up at the Nerdy Book Club today.
February 27, 2014
February 26, 2014
Africa is My Home: Interview
Recently, Debbie Glad at Smart Books for Smart Kids interviewed Robert Byrd and me about Africa is My Home and you can now read ithere. I enjoyed doing it immensely. Thanks, Debbie.
February 25, 2014
Markus Zusak on The Book Thief Movie
The biggest hurdle for the film-makers was what to do with Death. In the book, and it makes me so grateful to be a writer of books, you make it all happen on the page and it costs nothing. In the film the hardest decision was whether to have someone on screen or not. Effectively, in a book 99% of the book is voiceover with dialogue in between. You just can’t do that in a film. So the first thing they had to do was pare back Death and try to achieve that effect in different way, such as quite...
February 23, 2014
In the Classroom: Rum is for Funerals
As part of a year-long exploration of immigration, I’m currently teaching a unit on African Immigration at the time of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. And thanks to Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos’s Sugar Changed the World, I’m much more informed about sugar’s place in all of this, notably in the West Indies, today better known as the Caribbean. Thus, my wary interest in “On the Caribbean Rum Trail” in today’s Travel Section of the New York Times. At first there seemed to be next to nothing abo...
February 21, 2014
Learning About Africa: Volunteerism
Before you sign up for a volunteer trip anywhere in the world this summer, consider whether you possess the skill set necessary for that trip to be successful. If yes, awesome. If not, it might be a good idea to reconsider your trip. Sadly, taking part in international aid where you aren’t particularly helpful is not benign. It’s detrimental. It slows down positive growth and perpetuates the “white savior” complex that, for hundreds of years, has haunted both the countries we are trying to ‘s...
February 20, 2014
Housing Works’ New Book Group for Middle Grade Kids
Housing Works,a terrific NYC organization that”provides housing, medical, prevention, support services” does all sorts of out-of-the-box things. One of their latest is “Face-to-Face: A Middle Readers Book Group.” Here’s the scoop:
When we read together, we connect. Together, we see the world. Together, we see one another.” –Kate DiCamillo
Face-to-Face: A Middle Readers Book Group
HousingWorksBookstore Cafe is proud to offer our newest book group, and our first one for young readers! Face-to-Face...
February 17, 2014
Patrick Ness’s Hogwarth’s Story
I am not sure who started #MyHogwarthStory, but Patrick Ness ran with iton Twitter yesterday. Here’s a taste:
@Patrick_NessI’d have been a relentless, nauseating suck-up to MacGonagall. She’d have reluctantly written me a college recommendation #MyHogwartsStory
@Patrick_NessI’d have gone to that winter ball thing, platonically, with a socially-awkward centaur. We’d have left early to read. #MyHogwartsStory
@Patrick_NessAfter graduating, I’d have emigrated, probably to Canada, and humblebragged...
February 14, 2014
Edgar Eager, Yes!
From this week’s NYT’sBy the Book with Laura Lippman:
Sell us on your favorite overlooked or underappreciated writer.
Edward Eager wrote a series of children’s books that are in danger of being forgotten. But they’re divine, stories about ordinary kids who stumble on magical things — a coin, a lake, a book, a thyme garden, a well. The magic changes them, they try to change the magic, the magic moves on. Great female characters, too — strong, smart, capable, not killjoys. “Half Magic” is his mas...
February 12, 2014
In the Classroom: Not Mine This Time, but Lolly’s
There is a terrific new blog out there,Lolly’s Classroom. Here’s how the blog creator, Lolly Robinson, of the Horn Book who also teaches a course in children’s and adolescent literature at Harvard’s School of Education, describes it:
Lolly’s Classroomwill look at books and reading from a teacher’s perspective — but we’re hoping to get plenty of non-teacher readers as well. There’s no question that book discussions become richer when the people discussing them come from a variety of backgrounds...
