Diane Frankenstein

To read is to ponder, reflect, and contemplate.

I swim in a sea of print, not only children’s books, but articles and books on subjects that relate to children’s well being and the life of the mind of the adults in their lives. These ‘musings’ serve to point our attention to issues revolving around early childhood education and literacy development, providing food for thought so that we might enrich the life of families to best support their child’s intellectual and emotional development.

I just had the pleasure of working in Cleveland Ohio and I met the extraordinary idea of radical hospitality, a term used to describe the welcome policy of Trinity Cathedral, The Episcopal Church in downtown Cleveland.

I attended an evening program and had the pleasure of studying with some members of the church community along with their clergy. I am a book person and as I marinated on their welcome policy, I realized radical hospitality is what good readers practice. Readers, like travelers meet new characters and go new places and Good Readers have to be open-minded. A story encourages you to step inside the shoes of another person, commonly referred to as empathy. Books allow us to reach outside our own world. I suggest you begin to evaluate the books you are reading by asking yourself, “How far did you go in your thinking?” Nobody wants to live in an acorn!

All my life I lived in a coconut.
It was cramped and dark,
especially in the morning when I had to shave.
But what pained me most was that I had no way
to get in touch with the outside world.
If no one out there happened to find the coconut,
If no one cracked it, then I was doomed
to live all my life in the nut, and maybe even die there…
A person who chooses to live in a coconut!
Such a person is one in a million!
But I have a brother-in-law who
lives in an
acorn.
Ingemar Leckius

Black History Month originated in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson as Negro History Week. The month of February was selected in deference to Frederick Douglass (1818) and Abraham Lincoln who were both born in the month. Red Tails: An Epic Story of the Tuskegee Airmen, a movie by George Lucas, is a fictional tale inspired by the true story of America’s fist all black aerial combat unit. The word epic is on point!

Whether you meet this piece of history in a movie or book, this riveting story merits telling and is worth talking about. There are books on the Tuskegee Airmen for children and adults—and however you choose to meet the story, it will bring the conversation of courage, daring, hope and tenacity to life. Children today have not lived racism and segregation. It is imperative they meet stories that bring those topics to life.

Race relations is a work in progress and we all have a stake in furthering good relations. Knowing someone as an individual is a different experience from knowing people as a group. Each of these airmen had their own unique story to tell and collectively they made a difference in the world. Lucky for us —we have the opportunity to get to know them through their stories.

In the spirit of Black History Month which happens in February, lets celebrate an achievement which we could easily take for granted today.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Erza Jack Keat’s Caldecott winner The Snowy Day, the first full-color picture book to feature an African-American protagonist. The story captures Peter’s wonderment of a boy encountering his first snowfall. There is a universality to the story and for sure will become a favorite. It begs the question: “What captured your wonderment, either as an adult or child?” Wonderment brings to mind, dazzling, astonishment, marvel and awe—all fantastic words to contemplate.
Keats has a regular banquet of story books to choose from: Whistle for Willie, Peter’s Chair, A Letter to Amy, Pet Show, and Louie. Lucky for us— the list goes on and on.

Postscript: Many people are surprised to learn that Keats was not African American. He was born in 1916, Jacob Ezra Katz, the son of poor immigrant Eastern European Jews. The poverty of his childhood and experiences with anti-Semitism are widely acknowledge as significant influences on his world outlook and the subject of his books.

Chris Raschka’s A Ball for Daisy, a wordless picture book, wins the 2012 Caldecott Award,
In Raschka’s own words: “I was thinking how about how loss comes into young lives, and how we try to deal with that somehow.” This book is Mr. Raschka’s first wordless picture book, something he wanted to try “so that a child could read the book without knowing how to read.”
HOW do you read a wordless or nearly wordless picture book? Without words, the shapes, lines, and colors tell the story. One of the great things about wordless picture books is that children at any age can read them by telling the story they see in each picture. Share with your child the story you see in the pictures. Where did the story take you and where did the story take your child? Without words the story unfolds for each reader in its own unique way. Don’t miss the opportunity of knowing these delightful reads simply because you didn’t know what to do with them. All you have to do—is enjoy them!
For a complete list of the awards see http://www.ala.org/ala/awardsgrants/index.cfm

Reading encourages us to be creative, innovative, ingenious, imaginative, & curious, qualities we need in abundance if we want to lead interesting lives. I agree with Elearnor Roosevelt who said: I think at a child’s birth, if a mother could ask a fairy god mother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift would be curiosity.
I think reading is one of the most creative acts; you cannot read without being creative. Those 26 black marks, the meaning of the words, the implications of those meanings, these are all the products of the readers’ imagination. Reading requires a child to make something new, to take a leap. Books give children something that is provided by nothing else. That something, simply put, is the unknown. The imagination flows toward that which is not known. The familiar does not inspire it, but it surges spontaneously at the slightest opportunity for mystery and adventure. The imagination is a hunter who loves the challenge and the chase.

Alice had an active imagination and she was very good at believing in six impossible things before breakfast. And what were those six impossible things? “One, there are drinks that make you shrink. Two, there are foods that make you grow. Three, animals can talk. Four, cats can disappear. Five, there is a place called Underland. Six, I can slay the Jabberwocky.”

Celebrate the Year of the Dragon by reading some of my favorite stories which feature unlikely dragons—the best kind of dragons in “my book” and other stories that take you inside the Chinese Culture. The recommendations are terrific read aloud to children of various ages. As Walter Dean Myers, our current national ambassador for young people’s literature said: “You can make a difference in your child’s life, just by reading to him for 30 minutes a day.” What he might have forgotten to say: Reading to your children is one of the best parts of being a parent!

Elvira, Margaret Shannon (Pre-school +)
Ignis, Gina Wilson (Pre-school +)
My Father’s Dragon, Ruth Stiles Gannett (K+)
The Dragons are Singing Tonight, Jack Prelutsky (Poetry ALL ages)
The Dragonling, Jackie French Koller (2nd grade+)

Stories that allow you to experience Chinese culture.
The Lost Horse, Ed Young (Pre-school +)
The Year of the Dog, Grace Lin (4th grade+)
The Magic Paintbrush, Lawrence Yep (3rd grade+)