Pat Mora's Blog, page 59

Bridge to Understanding Award

The United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY) is seeking applicants for the Bridge to Understanding Award. This award formally acknowledges the work of adults who create programs that use children´s books to explore cultures around the world in order to promote international understanding among children. Programs that win the award are based in a broad understanding of culture as ways of living and being in the world, and go beyond the surface features of a culture, such as food,...

Reading Books is Fundamental

Pat wants to share this OP-ED piece from the New York Times, “Reading Books is Fundamental” by Charles M. Blow. Here’s an excerpt:

“As I raced past the children’s books, they stopped me. Books to me were things most special. Magical. Ideas eternalized.

Books were the things my brothers brought home from school before I was old enough to attend, the things that engrossed them late into the night as they did their homework. They were the things my mother brought home from her evening classes, whi...

Meet Día’s New Dynamo!

Merri Monks was born in New Mexico but has spent most of her life in Iowa. She became a librarian because, probably like all the Dynamos, she loves libraries. You can imagine my surprise when, after years of trying to interest people in the Día concept, this lovely woman came up to me and said, “I’m planning to promote Día throughout the state of Iowa.” We were in St. Louis at the IBBY/USBBY conference (2013). I almost fainted. True to her word, Merri has been busy planning and has recruited...

New Books

I was in Philadelphia for ALA Midwinter and look what I saw! Pat’s newest books, co-authored with her daughter Libby Martinez, were featured by her publishers, Groundwood and Knopf/Random. April can’t come soon enough!

The post New Books appeared first on Pat Mora.

Día Grants Available From Center for Multicultural Children’s Literature

Center for the Study of Multicultural Literature

Once again, the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature (CSMCL) is awarding a $500.00 grant in selected multicultural children’s books to a library that serves children and their families who are having a Día library program, El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day) with an African American Focus. The Día grant is funded by the CSMCL in partnership with Día founder Pat Mora and the Association of Lib...

Sabiduria: Poetry Edition

Pat joins Latino USA for the first installment of “Sabiduria: Poetry Edition” or words of wisdom by poets. You can also hear her reading three of her poem (“Immigrants,” “La Migra,” and “Ode to Names”) on the Latino USA website.

The post Sabiduria: Poetry Edition appeared first on Pat Mora.

Mini-grants for Día Family Book Clubs

Congratulations to the 15 libraries awarded mini-grants from the Association of Library Service to Children (ALSC) to start their own Día Family Book Club. Thanks to ALSC for its steady support of Día.

The winning libraries are: Baldwin Boettcher Branch – Harris County Public Library (Texas), Baraboo Public Library (Wis.), Beale Memorial Library- Kern County Library (Calif.), Blake Library – Martin County Library System (Fla.), City of Port Isabel Public Library (Texas), Henderson Libraries (...

Winter Bookjoy Celebration

The post Winter Bookjoy Celebration appeared first on Pat Mora.

Best Multicultural Books of 2013

I’m happy to share a helpful list of books that reflect our national diversity. Let’s share such books with all our children.

Best Multicultural Books of 2013 from the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature.

The post Best Multicultural Books of 2013 appeared first on Pat Mora.

The Beautiful Lady

Illustration by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher

A year ago today, THE BEAUTIFUL LADY: OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE was published in English and Spanish. How I love the illustrations by Steve Johnson & Lou Fancher that depict the grand Mexican landscape and the quiet faith of Juan Diego, and how grateful I am to Knopf for publishing this legend. I hope that when you share this book, you’ll enjoy a conversation about the wonderful tradition of family story-telling. Grandma Lupita illustrates the pleasure...