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🗻 Kids Books Read Aloud: CROW BOY 🗾 by Taro Yashima | World English School Today

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Kids Book Read Aloud: Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett, Illustrated Jon Klassen

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Two girls, Clover and Annie, become friends in a small, segregated town.

Where it takes place:

In a small rural town-I didn't have a specific state in mind.

Where I wrote it:

Upstate in Olive, New York and at The Writer's Room in Manhattan

Why I wrote it:

I wanted to write about how powerful kids can be. Clover and Annie fight against segregation by becoming friends. They don't believe in the ideas adults have about things so they do what they can to change the world. We all have this power.

Awards

ALA Notable

Riverbank Review Children's Book of Distinction

Texas Blue Bonnet List

School Library Journal Best Book

Booklist Editor's Choice

New York Public Library's 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing

2001 Time of Wonder Award

IRA Teacher's Choices 2002 (featured on covers of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Booklist and The Baltimore Sun)

2004 Louisiana Young Reader's Choice Award (Honor)

2003-2004 Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Master List California Young Reader Medal Nominee

2003-2004 South Carolina Book Award Nominee

State lists

updated: 5 months ago

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Two girls, Clover and Annie, become friends in a small, segregated town. Where it takes place: In a small rural town-I didn't have a specific state in mind. Where I wrote it: Upstate in Olive, New York and at The Writer's Room in Manhattan Why I wrote it: I wanted to write about how powerful kids can be.

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each kindness read aloud by british people - Google Search

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The award winning illustrator and fine artist, E.B. Lewis has illustrated over seventy books for children, including:

· New York Times 2016 Best Illustrated Book Award, Kirkus 2016 Best Illustrated Book Award, and the 2016 Golden Kite Honor Award, Jabari Asim's Preaching to the Chicken's
· 2009 winner of the Orbis Picture Award for Hester Bass' The Secret World of Walter Anderson
· 2004 Caldecott Honor Award Winner, Jacqueline Woodson's Coming on Home Soon
· 2002 Notable Book for the Language Arts Award for Jacqueline Woodson's' The Other Side
· 1996 ALA Notable Children's Book Award for Alice Schertle's Down the Road
· Five time Coretta Scott King winner, which includes the Award winning Nikki Grimes', Talking About Bessie
· Plus numerous other awards

Inspired by two artist uncles, as early as the third grade, Lewis displayed artistic promise. Beginning in the sixth grade, he attended the Saturday Morning Art League and studied with Clarence Wood. Lewis attended the Temple University Tyler School of Art, where, he discovered his medium of preference was watercolor.

During his four years at Temple, Lewis majored in Graphic Design, Illustration and Art Education. After graduating, he taught art in public schools for twelve years. Presently, E.B. teaches at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He is also a member of The Society of Illustrators in New York City, and an artist member of Salamagundi Art Club of New York.

In 2003, the Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota purchased a collection of original watercolors from E.B.'s first fifty children's books. Today, his works are displayed in museums, owned by private collectors, and sold by art galleries throughout the United States and Europe.
TESTIMONIALS
"So many scholars noted you as one of their very top high points of the whole Academy...not surprisingly so!

It is so necessary, I think, to give our gifted students opportunities to learn from the best, and with the best...and with your contributions, we were able to do just that.

So, on behalf of the administration, faculty and scholars of the 2016 Missouri Scholars Academy, I want to send a sincere THANK YOU for your contributions to our community. YOU made a difference to us, and we are grateful!"

With gratitude,
-Brian Stuhlman, Missouri Scholars Academy
----------

"I had the opportunity to hear E.B. speak at the Missouri Scholars Academy yesterday. As I sat listening to him, I could only think that he needs to come deliver his message to our students at Crossroads College Preparatory School in St. Louis. We are a very diverse school in the city which is attempting to teach acceptance, community, and mutuality. We are college prep but also focused on the arts.

As a teacher, I thank E.B. for his message and hope that he will share it with our students and faculty."

Thanks!
-Gerry Lauber
----------

Hello Mr. Lewis

Today you visited Silverlake Elementary School in Middletown Delaware and I was touched by your message. I was one of the two African Americans teachers in the gym and the only African American male if that helps to make a connection. I am currently a student teacher completing my studies and I was amazed at the fact that your paintings are of hired kids. I instantly thought of a student who like you once was is an African American 3rd grader that is on the retention list for this year. Without a doubt being held back will crush him socially but that decision is out of my hands as we fight for special education assistance to help him. If you are still around the area and would like to meet this student I know it would do wonders for him, or even if you need a student for an upcoming illustration. He's a little tall for his age and has dreadlocks. Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this. Great message that I as an adult was able to draw from. As a school we appreciated your presence this morning." - Sidney Smith

--------

Just wanted to thank you for the great book signing...my two granddaughters couldn't stop talking about you...they said they never met an artist of a book before. Both were talking about taking it to school and letting the teacher read there book to the class. Both are avid readers but talked all about their time at the book signing all the way back to Atco. I have a degree in art therapy and have been oil painting for 30 years. I have tried to do watercolors but, I have not been successful...I can look at your illustration's and admire there beauty...just wanted to say thanks soooo much...all those children had a wonderful day...and ME too!

- Dorene Szeker

--------

It is a great privilege to introduce to you this evening, artist, educator, and children's book illustrator, E.B. Lewis. A graduate of Temple University's Tyler School of Art, E.B. Lewis is a fine artist, whose considerable talents are a gift to the world of children's books. Among his many recognitions, Lewis has been honored with the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, the Caldecott Honor Medal, and the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children. His work has been described by reviewers as: extraordinarily accomplished, authentic, luminous, unforgettable, eye-catching, evocative, and exquisite.

Bringing his experiences as an educator to his work in illustration, Mr. Lewis respects and understands his child audience. Well known for illustrating books that explore the complexity of our social histories, E.B. Lewis is thorough with his research and meticulous with his process. His ability to interpret the human experience allows his illustrations to work fluidly across different periods in history, depicting them with poignancy and depth for young readers.

Many of the books Mr. Lewis has illustrated offer a narrative of the African American experience. Titles such as Margot Theis Raven's The Circle Unbroken: The Story of a Basket and its People, Hester Bass's Seeds of Freedom: The Peaceful Integration of Huntsville Alabama, and most recently, Susan E. Goodman's The First Step: How One Girl Put Segregation on Trial make a vital contribution to the body of children's literature, telling the stories not found in history textbooks.

But what truly distinguishes E.B. Lewis's work is his ability to use the medium of watercolor to evoke emotional response across picture book genres. In Coming on Home Soon, a work of historical fiction, written by Jacqueline Woodson and set during World War II, readers instantly relate to the constancy of longing while missing an absent loved one. In Each Kindness, a contemporary realistic fiction title, also by Jacqueline Woodson, readers experience a different kind of longing, the regret a young girl feels, as she reflects on compassion unoffered to a now absent classmate. In Trouper, a book written by Meg Kearney in the first person voice of a rescue dog, E.B. Lewis allows the reader to experience the pure exuberant joy that even a three legged Labrador Retriever finds in the chase and the embrace of his boy companion. In Hester Bass's The Secret World of Walter Anderson, an award winning nonfiction picture book, Mr. Lewis explores the quiet joy of solitude and concentrated focus experienced by an artist who paints the natural world. In diverse settings, through diverse characters, and embedded in diverse experiences, E.B. Lewis offers us his lens on the landscape of human emotions. As we, as a society, work toward greater inclusivity and connection, this perspective on our common humanity is truly a powerful offering. - Erika Thulin Dawes, Ed.D. Associate Professor of Language and Literacy, Lesley University

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The award winning illustrator and fine artist, E.B. Lewis has illustrated over seventy books for children, including: · New York Times 2016 Best Illustrated Book Award, Kirkus 2016 Best Illustrated Book Award, and the 2016 Golden Kite Honor Award, Jabari Asim's Preaching to the Chicken's · 2009 winner of the Orbis Picture Award for Hester ...

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A new girl comes to school and tries to make friends. When Chloe, the narrator, is unkind, the girl keeps trying. And then the girl is gone and Chloe is left only with the memory of her unkindness.

Where it takes place:

This story could take place anywhere.

Where I wrote it:

In Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Why I wrote it:

At some point in our lives, we are all unkind. At some point, we are all treated unkindly. I wanted to understand this more. I think too often we believe we'll have a second chance at kindness - and sometimes we don't. I do believe, as Chloe's teacher, Ms. Albert, says, that everything we do goes out, like a ripple into the world. I wrote this because I believe in kindness.

Awards:

Bank Street Best Book

Best Book of 2012 - School Library Journal

Charlotte Zolotow Award

Coretta Scott King Honor Book

2013 Jane Addams Peace Award

2013 Charlotte Zolotow Award

Jane Addams Children's Book Award (from the Jane Addams Peace Association)

Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2013

State Lists

The Magnolia Book Awards Master List 2015 (Mississippi)

Illinois Monarch Award Master List 2015

Grand Canyon Reader Award nominee list (AZ)

Kansas (nominee)

2014 Kentucky Bluegrass Award nominee

Maryland (nominee)

Show Me Readers Award nominee (Missouri Association of School Librarians Awards)

Nebraska Golden Sower Awards (nominee)

North Carolina (nominee)

Flicker Tail (ND) Children's Book Award (nominee)

Keystone (PA) to Reading Book Award (nominee)

Buckaroo Book Award nominee (Wyoming Library Association Book Awards)

updated: 7 months ago

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A new girl comes to school and tries to make friends. When Chloe, the narrator, is unkind, the girl keeps trying. And then the girl is gone and Chloe is left only with the memory of her unkindness. Where it takes place: This story could take place anywhere.

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The award winning illustrator and fine artist, E.B. Lewis has illustrated over seventy books for children, including:

· New York Times 2016 Best Illustrated Book Award, Kirkus 2016 Best Illustrated Book Award, and the 2016 Golden Kite Honor Award, Jabari Asim's Preaching to the Chicken's
· 2009 winner of the Orbis Picture Award for Hester Bass' The Secret World of Walter Anderson
· 2004 Caldecott Honor Award Winner, Jacqueline Woodson's Coming on Home Soon
· 2002 Notable Book for the Language Arts Award for Jacqueline Woodson's' The Other Side
· 1996 ALA Notable Children's Book Award for Alice Schertle's Down the Road
· Five time Coretta Scott King winner, which includes the Award winning Nikki Grimes', Talking About Bessie
· Plus numerous other awards

Inspired by two artist uncles, as early as the third grade, Lewis displayed artistic promise. Beginning in the sixth grade, he attended the Saturday Morning Art League and studied with Clarence Wood. Lewis attended the Temple University Tyler School of Art, where, he discovered his medium of preference was watercolor.

During his four years at Temple, Lewis majored in Graphic Design, Illustration and Art Education. After graduating, he taught art in public schools for twelve years. Presently, E.B. teaches at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He is also a member of The Society of Illustrators in New York City, and an artist member of Salamagundi Art Club of New York.

In 2003, the Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota purchased a collection of original watercolors from E.B.'s first fifty children's books. Today, his works are displayed in museums, owned by private collectors, and sold by art galleries throughout the United States and Europe.
TESTIMONIALS
"So many scholars noted you as one of their very top high points of the whole Academy...not surprisingly so!

It is so necessary, I think, to give our gifted students opportunities to learn from the best, and with the best...and with your contributions, we were able to do just that.

So, on behalf of the administration, faculty and scholars of the 2016 Missouri Scholars Academy, I want to send a sincere THANK YOU for your contributions to our community. YOU made a difference to us, and we are grateful!"

With gratitude,
-Brian Stuhlman, Missouri Scholars Academy
----------

"I had the opportunity to hear E.B. speak at the Missouri Scholars Academy yesterday. As I sat listening to him, I could only think that he needs to come deliver his message to our students at Crossroads College Preparatory School in St. Louis. We are a very diverse school in the city which is attempting to teach acceptance, community, and mutuality. We are college prep but also focused on the arts.

As a teacher, I thank E.B. for his message and hope that he will share it with our students and faculty."

Thanks!
-Gerry Lauber
----------

Hello Mr. Lewis

Today you visited Silverlake Elementary School in Middletown Delaware and I was touched by your message. I was one of the two African Americans teachers in the gym and the only African American male if that helps to make a connection. I am currently a student teacher completing my studies and I was amazed at the fact that your paintings are of hired kids. I instantly thought of a student who like you once was is an African American 3rd grader that is on the retention list for this year. Without a doubt being held back will crush him socially but that decision is out of my hands as we fight for special education assistance to help him. If you are still around the area and would like to meet this student I know it would do wonders for him, or even if you need a student for an upcoming illustration. He's a little tall for his age and has dreadlocks. Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this. Great message that I as an adult was able to draw from. As a school we appreciated your presence this morning." - Sidney Smith

--------

Just wanted to thank you for the great book signing...my two granddaughters couldn't stop talking about you...they said they never met an artist of a book before. Both were talking about taking it to school and letting the teacher read there book to the class. Both are avid readers but talked all about their time at the book signing all the way back to Atco. I have a degree in art therapy and have been oil painting for 30 years. I have tried to do watercolors but, I have not been successful...I can look at your illustration's and admire there beauty...just wanted to say thanks soooo much...all those children had a wonderful day...and ME too!

- Dorene Szeker

--------

It is a great privilege to introduce to you this evening, artist, educator, and children's book illustrator, E.B. Lewis. A graduate of Temple University's Tyler School of Art, E.B. Lewis is a fine artist, whose considerable talents are a gift to the world of children's books. Among his many recognitions, Lewis has been honored with the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, the Caldecott Honor Medal, and the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children. His work has been described by reviewers as: extraordinarily accomplished, authentic, luminous, unforgettable, eye-catching, evocative, and exquisite.

Bringing his experiences as an educator to his work in illustration, Mr. Lewis respects and understands his child audience. Well known for illustrating books that explore the complexity of our social histories, E.B. Lewis is thorough with his research and meticulous with his process. His ability to interpret the human experience allows his illustrations to work fluidly across different periods in history, depicting them with poignancy and depth for young readers.

Many of the books Mr. Lewis has illustrated offer a narrative of the African American experience. Titles such as Margot Theis Raven's The Circle Unbroken: The Story of a Basket and its People, Hester Bass's Seeds of Freedom: The Peaceful Integration of Huntsville Alabama, and most recently, Susan E. Goodman's The First Step: How One Girl Put Segregation on Trial make a vital contribution to the body of children's literature, telling the stories not found in history textbooks.

But what truly distinguishes E.B. Lewis's work is his ability to use the medium of watercolor to evoke emotional response across picture book genres. In Coming on Home Soon, a work of historical fiction, written by Jacqueline Woodson and set during World War II, readers instantly relate to the constancy of longing while missing an absent loved one. In Each Kindness, a contemporary realistic fiction title, also by Jacqueline Woodson, readers experience a different kind of longing, the regret a young girl feels, as she reflects on compassion unoffered to a now absent classmate. In Trouper, a book written by Meg Kearney in the first person voice of a rescue dog, E.B. Lewis allows the reader to experience the pure exuberant joy that even a three legged Labrador Retriever finds in the chase and the embrace of his boy companion. In Hester Bass's The Secret World of Walter Anderson, an award winning nonfiction picture book, Mr. Lewis explores the quiet joy of solitude and concentrated focus experienced by an artist who paints the natural world. In diverse settings, through diverse characters, and embedded in diverse experiences, E.B. Lewis offers us his lens on the landscape of human emotions. As we, as a society, work toward greater inclusivity and connection, this perspective on our common humanity is truly a powerful offering. - Erika Thulin Dawes, Ed.D. Associate Professor of Language and Literacy, Lesley University

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The award winning illustrator and fine artist, E.B. Lewis has illustrated over seventy books for children, including: · New York Times 2016 Best Illustrated Book Award, Kirkus 2016 Best Illustrated Book Award, and the 2016 Golden Kite Honor Award, Jabari Asim's Preaching to the Chicken's · 2009 winner of the Orbis Picture Award for Hester ...

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Storytime Online for Kids: Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson Read Aloud

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8:34
🐟 A Different Pond—Kids Book Read Aloud

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Extra Yarn (on Mac Barnett's website)

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Illustrated by Jon Klassen

It looks like an ordinary box of ordinary yarn.
But it turns out it isn't.

Winner of the Caldecott Honor
One of TIME Magazine's 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award
Winner of the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award
Winner the Zena Sutherland Award
A New York Times Best Seller
Kirkus Reviews Best of 2012
Booklist Best Picture Book of 2012
School Library Journal's Best of 2012
A Horn Book Fanfare Selection
An IndieBound Top 10 Kids Next List Pick
A Junior Library Guild Selection

★ "Quirky and wonderful, this story quietly celebrates a child's ingenuity and her ability to change the world around her."
-Booklist, Starred Review

★ "Understated illustrations and prose seamlessly construct an enchanting and mysterious tale."
-Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

★ "Klassen's deadpan, stylized illustrations impeccably complement Barnett's quirky droll writing."
-School Library Journal, Starred Review

★ "Klassen's pacing...is impeccable. The final spread, all light and yarn-covered tree limbs, brings Barnett's clever, quiet yarn full circle, to a little girl and a town, now colorful and happy."
-The Horn Book Magazine, Starred Review

"Possesses the qualities of the old-fashioned magical realism that you find in the most enduring nursery books."
-The Wall Street Journal

"[An] eloquent modern fable"
-The Guardian

"Like the very best picture books, this is a simple tale where text and pictures are brilliantly combined."
-School Librarian

"An understated and enchanting picture book that captures the imagination."
-Rogha Leahbhar

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Illustrated by Jon Klassen It looks like an ordinary box of ordinary yarn. But it turns out it isn't. ★ BUY ★ Winner of the Caldecott Honor One of TIME Magazine's 100 Best Children's Books of All Time Winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Winner of the E.B.

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🐟 A Different Pond—Kids Book Read Aloud

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Welcome to the official website of

Jesse Joshua Watson

Glad you found me. Have a look around.

Welcome!

Jesse Joshua Watson is an illustrator and fine artist living in the Pacific Northwest. His passions are reflected in his artwork, dwelling often on the areas of social justice, diversity and humanity as well as environmental beauty and conservation. Here you will find just a small selection of the work Jesse has created. If you are interested in archives of past work, feel free to email and you will be sent a link. Shop for prints, cards and original artwork on Jesse's store, but if you see an image you like, inquire via email as it may be available as a print if the original has sold.

Thank you for visiting! Have a beautiful day.

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Jesse Joshua Watson is an illustrator and fine artist living in the Pacific Northwest. His passions are reflected in his artwork, dwelling often on the areas of social justice, diversity and humanity as well as environmental beauty and conservation. Here you will find just a small selection of the work Jesse has created.

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Each Kindness | Read Aloud Book for Kids

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A two-time Minnesota Grand Slam champion and a National Poetry Slam finalist, Bao Phi has appeared on HBO Presents Russell Simmons Def Poetry, featured in the live performances and taping of the blockbuster diasporic Vietnamese variety show Paris By Night 114: Tôi Là Người Việt Nam, and a poem of his appeared in the 2006 Best American Poetry anthology. His poems and essays are widely published in numerous publications including Screaming Monkeys and Spoken Word Revolution Redux. He has also released several CDs of his poetry, such as Refugeography and The Nguyens EP. A short story of his, Revolution Shuffle, appeared in the anthology Octavia's Brood: Stories from Social Justice Movements, AK Press, 2015, and an essay of his was included in the anthology A Good Time for the Truth, edited by Sun Yung Shin, Minnesota Historical Society Press.

He has performed in venues and schools across the country, from the Nuyorican Poets Café to the University of California, Berkeley. He was featured in the award-winning documentary feature film The Listening Project as an American listener who traveled the world to talk to every day people about global issues and politics. He also returned to acting in 2008 with a feature role in Theatre Mu's production of Q & A. He was on poetry faculty at the Kundiman retreat at Fordham University in New York in 2015.

In addition to his creative work, he was nominated for a Facing Race Ambassador award in recognition for his community work, and has published essays in topics from Asians in hip hop to Asian representation in video games. He has been a guest speaker at numerous events and for various entities, such as Giant Steps and Bushconnect. Currently he continues to perform across the country, remains active as an Asian American community organizer, and is the Program Director of Events and Awards at the Loft. He was the Coordinating Chair of the National APIA Spoken Word Poetry Summit, 2011. He has been an official blogger for the Star Tribune and contributed to essays to Nerds of Color.

The spoken word series he created at the Loft Literary Center, Equilibrium, won the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits Anti-Racism Initiative Award.

His first collection of poetry, Sông I Sing, published by Coffee House Press, was met with strong sales, is taught in classrooms across the United States, and enjoyed rave reviews, including the New York Times which stated "In this song of his very American self, every poem Mr. Phi writes rhymes with the truth." In 2012, the Star Tribune's inaugural Best of Minnesota issue named Bao Phi as Best Spoken Word Artist.

(photo courtesy of Anna Min, from the Loft Literary Center's Equilibrium at AWP event)

He has been an Urban Griots artist of the year and event producer of the year, and been named Artist of the Year by City Pages in multiple years.

His second collection of poems, Thousand Star Hotel, was published by Coffee House Press on July 5, 2017, of which the Chicago Review of Books wrote "this is a different kind of poetry, a volume written by an experienced orator who understands how to tell a story. These poems don't happen, they elapse. They add on to a story that isn't yet over." It was nominated for a Minnesota Book Award, named by NPR as one of the Best Books of 2017, and was named the best poetry book of 2017 by San Francisco State's Poetry Center.

His first children's book, A Different Pond, illustrated by Thi Bui, was published by Capstone Press in August of 2017. A Different Pond earned six starred reviews, a Caldecott Honor, as well as the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer and New Illustrator Honors, The Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, Booklist Editor's Choice, a Hornbook Fanfare book, and was named among the best books of the year by Kirkus, Washington Post, Huffington Post, The Boston Globe, School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, and many others. A Different Pond also received the Charlotte Zolotow Award for Excellence in picture book writing. It has been adapted for the stage by Stages Theater with Mu Performing Arts, Fall of 2022.

His second children's book, My Footprints, illustrated by Basia Tran, was also published by Capstone, in 2019. In a starred review, the School Library Journal called it "a timeless and important book that deals with the fallout of bullying and the power of a child's imagination to overcome with the strength and support of a loving family". His thid children's book, Hello Mandarin Duck!, illustrated by Dion MBD, was also published by Capstone in 2021.

He was named by Minneapolis Monthly as Best Author 2016, and an Artist of the Year and Author of the Year by City Pages, 2017 and 2018.

He was a Visiting Critic in the English Department of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York during the 2021-2022 school year.

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A two-time Minnesota Grand Slam champion and a National Poetry Slam finalist, Bao Phi has appeared on HBO Presents Russell Simmons Def Poetry, featured in the live performances and taping of the blockbuster diasporic Vietnamese variety show Paris By Night 114: Tôi Là Người Việt Nam, and a poem of his appeared in the 2006 Best American Poetry anthology.

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Reviewed by Sam Bloom

A boy and his dad go fishing early one morning, but this trip isn't just about father-son bonding time:

"'[W]hy do we still have to fish for food?' I ask.
'Everything in America costs a lot of money,' [Dad] explains."

This particular morning they fish in relative quiet; the boy and his father don't see the Hmong man "who speaks English like my dad and likes to tell funny jokes," or the African American man with his colorful collections of fishing lures. Dad tells the boy, "I used to fish by a pond like this one when I was a boy in Vietnam." It's not something Dad talks about often, his time in Vietnam, and we soon find out why: "He and his brother fought side by side [in the Vietnam War]. One day, his brother didn't come home."

We also see how much the boy idolizes his father through the interplay between Phi's text and Bui's art. When he starts the fire going "with just one match," the boy earns a nod of approval from Dad - a close-up (in its own panel) shows the boy's proud smile. And when Dad relays this story of triumph to Mom, the boy stands in profile, smiling warmly in the foreground while helping in the kitchen. Continue reading.

Publisher's synopsis: Acclaimed poet Bao Phi delivers a powerful, honest glimpse into a relationship between father and son - and between cultures, old and new. A Different Pond is an unforgettable story about a simple event - a long-ago fishing trip. As a young boy, Bao Phi awoke early, hours before his father's long workday began, to fish on the shores of a small pond in Minneapolis. Unlike many other anglers, Bao and his father fished for food, not recreation. A successful catch meant a fed family. Between hope-filled casts, Bao's father told him about a different pond in their homeland of Vietnam. The New York Times has said that Bao Phi's poetry "rhymes with the truth." Kirkus Reviews calls A Different Pond "a must-read for our times". Thi Bui's striking, evocative art paired with Phi's expertly crafted prose has earned this powerful picture books six starred reviews.

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Reviewed by Sam Bloom Review Source: Reading While White Book Author: A boy and his dad go fishing early one morning, but this trip isn't just about father-son bonding time: "'[W]hy do we still have to fish for food?' I ask. 'Everything in America costs a lot of money,' [Dad] explains."

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A boy and his dad go fishing early one morning, but this trip isn't just about father-son bonding time:

" '[W]hy do we still have to fish for food?' I ask.

'Everything in America costs a lot of money,' [Dad] explains."

This particular morning they fish in relative quiet; the boy and his father don't see the Hmong man "who speaks English like my dad and likes to tell funny jokes," or the African American man with his colorful collections of fishing lures. Dad tells the boy, "I used to fish by a pond like this one when I was a boy in Vietnam." It's not something Dad talks about often, his time in Vietnam, and we soon find out why: "He and his brother fought side by side [in the Vietnam War]. One day, his brother didn't come home."

We also see how much the boy idolizes his father through the interplay between Phi's text and Bui's art. When he starts the fire going "with just one match," the boy earns a nod of approval from Dad - a close-up (in its own panel) shows the boy's proud smile. And when Dad relays this story of triumph to Mom, the boy stands in profile, smiling warmly in the foreground while helping in the kitchen.

I get the same feeling from Bao Phi's writing in A Different Pond that I do when I read Matt de la Peña's Newbery Medal-winning text for Last Stop on Market Street. I don't make this comparison lightly. There are many distinguished picture book texts published each year, but this one is special in the way it conveys so much emotional depth with such understated grace.

"A kid at my school said my dad's English sounds like a thick, dirty river. But to me his English sounds like gentle rain."

"I rub my hands together, yawn, and look up to see faint stars like freckles."

Phi's attention to detail establishes a real sense of place within the text while presenting an authentically loving father-son relationship.

"Dad hands me a sandwich... 'Careful of the spicy stuff,' he says.

There's half a peppercorn, like a moon split in two, studded into the meat."

And then there's Thi Bui's accompanying artwork. (Before we get to that, let me just put in a plug for Bui's graphic memoir, The Best We Could Do; it's probably my single favorite book of 2017. If you haven't seen it yet, find a copy post-haste and read it. You'll thank me later!) Bui's meticulous use of color and shadow establish the moody, EARLY morning setting. As the boy and his dad drive to the pond, blues and grays of the pre-dawn street contrast with the golden leaves of the trees. The spread showing their arrival at the pond shows the wild, scrubby slope down to the water in a surreal range of bluish-greens (it also shows clearly the "No Trespassing" sign along the fence). And on their way home, as the rising sun shines through the car windows in "just a faint tint, blue and gray instead of gold," Bui expertly uses those blues and grays (with a healthy dose of black shadow) to create a moody light quality that feels just right for that moment of the day.

The best picture books have a feeling to them that can be hard to pinpoint; the word "lasting" comes to mind. For me, A Different Pond has a lasting quality to it that few other books have. Buy it, gift it, and read it to the children in your life.

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Spotlight on #OwnVoices: A Different Pond

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A Different Pond by Bao Phi, illustrated by Thi Bui. Capstone Young Readers, 2017. 32 pages. ISBN 978-1623708030. Click here to purchase. ...

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🐟 A Different Pond—Kids Book Asian American Heritage Short Read Aloud Story

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The Wikipedia page for Extra Yarn.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Extra Yarn is a 2012 picture book written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen. The book tells the story of a girl named Annabelle who knits for everyone in her town with a supply of yarn, until an archduke wants the yarn for himself. The book was a recipient of the 2013 Caldecott Honor for its illustrations. It received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.

In 2014, Weston Woods adapted this book to an animated film, narrated by Nicola Barber, and directed by Soup2Nuts. The film won the ALA Notable Video award by the ALSC.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Extra Yarn is a 2012 picture book written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen. The book tells the story of a girl named Annabelle who knits for everyone in her town with a supply of yarn, until an archduke wants the yarn for himself.

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Matt de la Peña: How language worked in my household

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One remarkable Japanese American story is that of the epic and tragic partnership of Taro and Mitsu Yashima, an extraordinary couple of artists and freedom fighters. Together they survived years of hardship-imprisonment, exile, poverty, and illness-and made a name for themselves as authors and illustrators. Eventually they reached a point where Mitsu was unable to continue with her husband.

Taro Yashima was born Jun Atsushi Iwamatsu on September 21, 1908, the son of a doctor and art collector in the seaside town of Nejime (now part of Minami Ōsumi-cho), in Kagoshima prefecture. Yashima later recalled that his childhood was happy. "My parents' house was full of patients," he recalled, remembering his father's medical practice. "When the people were cured, they were happy toward my father."

From his boyhood, Yashima demonstrated a passion for art. At age 13, he published satirical manga in the Kagoshima Shimbun newspaper(later known as Minami Nihon Shimbun.) At age 19, he entered the Tokyo Academy of Fine Arts in Ueno (now the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music). However, as a pacifist, he refused to participate in the military training course required in all Japanese schools, and was expelled from art school for insubordination. Instead of changing schools, he became active in anti-fascist activities, and joined the Japanese Proletarian Artists' League, where he taught drawing and became involved with his future wife.

Born Tomoe Sasako in Innoshima in 1908, Mitsu Yashima was the daughter of a shipbuilding engineer. Despite her father's managerial position, she early developed sympathy for the shipyard workers who went on strike to protest company cutbacks. She attended Kobe College, a Christian girls' school, then enrolled at the Tokyo women's college Bunka Gakuin. Attracted by the student arm of Japan's Communist Party, which led resistance to Japan's ruling military clique, she joined the "research institute" of the Art Students League.

The two artists married in 1930, and began working together in political organizing. They painted farmers and laborers and arranged exhibitions of art that critiqued military expansion and the growing repression of dissent. Taro, in particular, was arrested nine times for anti-government activities over the next three years. The official harassment climaxed in 1933 when both partners were incarcerated, each in a six-foot square cell with 5 to 15 other prisoners. As Taro later recounted, both were tortured while in prison. Mitsu, who had lost her first-born son and was now again pregnant, feared losing the baby. Ultimately they were released, but only after signing "confessions" in which they disavowed their political activities. Two months later, in December 1933, Mitsu gave birth to their son Makoto, known as Mako.

In the following years, they lived comfortably with Mitsu's family in Kobe. While they reduced their more visible political activism, Taro produced numerous cartoons in the political-economic monthly Keizo and other publications satirizing the militarists. Eventually they decided to leave Japan, which was dominated by the militarists and moving toward war. In 1939, they received visas to travel to the United States, on the pretext of visiting the San Francisco World's Fair and writing about life in America. Leaving Mako behind with his grandparents, they left Japan and went into exile in New York.

The Iwamatsus settled in Manhattan, where both enrolled at the Art Students League. They faced dire poverty, living in a cold-water flat in East Harlem (sleeping on the floor for weeks until they could secure a single mattress) and working to scratch out a living. Mitsu did art piecework, painting soap dispensers and other accessories for department stores. Taro scrounged through wastepaper baskets for art materials. In desperation, he attempted to organize a Koen-kai (organization of sponsors) within the city's Japanese community. However, due to his pro-democratic reports from North America in Keizo, he was opposed by the pro-Tokyo community leadership. His efforts to enlist help from the Consul-General, Commercial Attaché, and the head of the Japan Institute met with unanimous refusal. However, both spouses were offered patronage by editor Shigetsu Sasaki, who commissioned artwork (including fashion sketches of hats) for the New York Shimpo and the Japanese American Review and solicited support from others.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the couple were hired as free-lancers for the new Office of War Information. They took the pseudonyms Taro and Mitsu Yashima in order to shield their families in Japan from reprisals. Taro Yashima also joined the antifascist organization Japanese American Committee for Democracy and organized a JACD blood drive. In 1943 he published his first book, The New Sun, a graphic memoir of his imprisonment in Japan that detailed his and his wife's mistreatment by Japanese secret police. Yet he also hoped to convey in the book what he considered his message to Americans at the time: that all Japanese were not "wild monkeys." While The New Sun was widely and positively reviewed, and even taken up by the Office of War Information as a tool in the war against Japan, it sold poorly. In 1944, together with fellow artists Miné Okubo and Yasuo Kuniyoshi, he contributed drawings for Fortune magazine's special issue on Japan. The issue was so successful that the government organized an exhibition tour of the artworks.

Soon after, the Yashimas were hired by the Office of Strategic Services, believing, Mitsu wrote, "we could study the best way to stop the war." Under OSS auspices, Mitsu was sent to San Francisco, becoming possibly the first Japanese alien permitted to settle in California during World War II. At first, she experienced overt racism, and had difficulty securing housing. During her stay, she produced and narrated radio broadcasts urging the women of Japan to commit sabotage and do what they could to stop Japan's military machine. While Mitsu worked as "America's Tokyo Rose" (as she was later termed), Taro was sent to India on intelligence missions. Upon his return, he wrote and illustrated handbills in Japanese for dropping over battlefields, bearing the phrases "Don't Die!" and "Papa, Stay Alive." Later he would be attacked in Japan as a traitor, to which he responded that his sole aim was to save Japanese lives. "At the time it was easy to say I was one who was against his own country," he explained. "That's the most terrible thing, because my feeling was, I'm doing it because I love my country."

Yashima was in India with OSS on V-J Day. Soon after, he went on an OSS mission to Japan, which he had not visited since 1939, with the U.S. strategic bombing survey team. According to his later account, Yashima had seen films of bombing raids on Kobe, during which he saw his studio - where his son and parents were living - riddled by bullets from a fighter plane. For years he was unaware whether his family was alive or dead. Although the house was indeed ruined, Yashima located his 12-year old son, who was in good health.

Following Yashima's release from government service, both partners' legal status in the United States remained uncertain. With sponsorship from their superiors in OWI and OSS, a special bill was enacted in Congress in 1948 to permit both spouses permanent residence in the United States, as a reward for their wartime work. They were also granted permission to bring Mako to the United States. He arrived in 1949, shortly after the birth of the Yashimas' daughter Momo. Soon after, Mako joined the U.S. Army, and was thereby able to gain citizenship. After his discharge, Mako became a celebrated stage and screen actor, and was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in the 1966 film The Sand Pebbles.

Once the war ended, both Yashimas threw themselves into writing and art. Both began working for the Chicago Shimpo, edited by progressive Issei Ryochi Fujii. Mitsu contributed an essay on "Women in Japan," while Taro produced a regular Japanese-language column, "Taro's Miscellany," which discussed art, literature, and democracy. He also wrote a play based on the Momotaro legend. Both helped found an art group, the Japanese-American Art studio, which held an exhibition of their joint work. During these years, the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C. bought three of Taro's paintings. The couple spent summer 1950 at the artists' colony Yaddo. That fall, Taro had his first postwar solo exhibition, showing 30 paintings at the 65 th Avenue gallery.

Meanwhile, the Yashimas produced their most significant joint production, Horizon is Calling, a sequel to The New Sun. Although Mitsu was not credited as an author, her contribution is tangible in the descriptions of her family, as well as the narrator's sensual, loving description of playing with baby Mako and his beautiful nude form.

Ironically, once the long trauma that the Yashimas had undergone ended and the family was reunited, the emotional time bomb within Taro finally exploded. "I held everything inside," he later recalled. "When it was all over, I couldn't keep it any longer." He developed a crippling ulcer and was largely unable to work. Stuck at home, he grew close to his daughter Momo, who provided him needed companionship and joy during his lengthy recovery. The stories that he recounted to her inspired him to pursue children's book writing and illustration as a career. His first picture book, The Village Tree (1953), was followed by Crow Boy (1955), Umbrella (1958), and Seashore Story (1967), among others. Mitsu and Taro co-authored Plenty to Watch (1954) and Momo's Kitten (1961)-the timing of the joint productions suggests that Mitsu may have been an uncredited collaborator on the others. Taro ultimately won three Caldecott Honor Book Awards and received a 1974 prize from University of Southern Mississippi for outstanding contribution to children's literature.

In 1954, the Yashimas moved to Los Angeles, settling in the Boyle Heights district. They established the Yashima Art Institute, where both initially taught. However, due to differences in their personalities and teaching styles, Mitsu again turned to art piecework to support the family, painting bath accessories that Mako would deliver to stores such as Robinson's and the May Company. By the 1960s, after Momo graduated high school and left the house, the couple separated. Taro's physical abuse of his wife, which had persisted for many years, had grown intolerable for Mitsu, who left him and moved to San Francisco. In the following years, Taro continued producing children's books and worked as artist and educator. He was commissioned to paint a mural for a Southern California public library. In 1965, he did scene and costume design for a production of the Japanese classic Rashomon that Mako produced for the new Asian American theater company East/West Players.Taro Yashima suffered a stroke in 1977 and died in Los Angeles in 1994.

Once in San Francisco, Mitsu devoted herself to art and community work. She established herself as a lecturer at UC Berkeley, on "People's Art in Japan." During the 1970s she taught art, creative writing and swimming at Kimochi, a Japanese American senior center. Mitsu - having never forsaken her activism - joined the Women Strike for Peace movement against nuclear weapons and the Vietnam War. She also attended the Vancouver Indo-Chinese Women's Conference in 1971 as a member of the Asian American delegation. She made her screen debut in the 1976 TV-movie Farewell to Manzanar, acting opposite her son and daughter. She illustrated the children's book Tobei: A Japanese Folktale (1974).

Part of Mitsu's legacy was her involvement in the San Francisco Japan Town Art Movement; she became an influential leader in the Japantown Art & Media Workshop, inspiring younger activists. She said, "Art should make people feel good, sometimes it should make them angry." Her portraits of friends, neighbors, and Vietnamese caught up in the war reflect this belief. In 1980, the Japanese American Citizens League held a solo exhibition of her art at their national headquarters. In later years, her health declined. At the urging of her children she moved back to Los Angeles in 1983 and lived with Momo until her death in 1988.

© 2018 Greg Robinson; Valerie J. Matsumoto

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The Epic Lives of Taro and Mitsu Yashima

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One remarkable Japanese American story is that of the epic and tragic partnership of Taro and Mitsu Yashima, an extraordinary couple of artists and freedom fighters. Together they survived years of hardship-imprisonment, exile, poverty, and illness-and made a name for themselves as authors and illustrators.