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Connecting kids with stories they love, in whatever format they prefer-from fiction to nonfiction, chapter books to graphic novels, physical books to digital books-has been Scholastic's mission for nearly 100 years. And since my early days as a teacher, getting students to read more, and to read with understanding, has been a personal mission.

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"Why Am I Me?," written by Paige Britt and illustrated by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko, follows two children on their journeys home from school one day. The children don't know each other, but they share similar questions about themselves and the world around them. They wonder, as they ride a subway full of all kinds of people, why they are who they are. As the subway takes them through neighborhoods, they see people playing in parks, dancing at an outdoor concert or simply walking home from work. Their reflections on the world around them connect them to it, and to each other. The beautifully textured artwork by Qualls and Alko adroitly captures the mood and feel of a city in which diversity among people is such a natural occurrence, it doesn't need to be called out - it simply is.

In "Come With Me" by Holly M. McGhee ("Matylda, Bright and Tender"), with pictures by Pascal Lemaître ("Always"; "Who's Got Game?"), a little girl, saddened by the news on TV, asks her parents what she can do to make the world a better place. Her papa takes her on a walk through the city and greets everyone he sees with a kind smile and a tip of the hat. Her mother takes her to a market full of foods from around the world, and tells her to be unafraid "because one person doesn't represent a family or a race or the people of a land." The little girl is inspired by her parents' gentle regard for the world, and invites the boy next door to walk the dog with her. She comes to understand that the goodness of people, with their small acts of kindness and bravery, makes the world a better place. Lemaître's whimsical cartoons add some needed lightness to the earnest text. Together, the words and pictures work seamlessly to deliver a powerful message: What we do matters. Given that the epigraph of the book is a quote by Yvette Pierpaoli, the humanitarian who died while assisting refugees from Kosovo in 1999 (and who was Lemaître's mother-in-law), adults will understand that the most pressing context of the book is the need for tolerance toward displaced people around the world. That children won't get those larger implications is fine. All they need to hear is that they have a part to play, as "tiny" as it may be, in making the world a better place.

"No One Else Like You," written by Siska Goeminne and illustrated by Merel Eyckerman, doesn't follow a character, but approaches diversity from a distance. "In this world there are more than seven billion people," it begins, then explores the many things those people do. Some work, some drive around. Some have tattoos. Some people are happy and some people are sad. People believe all kinds of things and practice all forms of religion. Everyone is different. Those differences, however, are what ultimately unite us: We're all different, and that's what we all have in common. The illustrations do a nice job of conveying the great diversity of people in the world, but it might have been helpful to introduce a character or point of view to help bridge the distance between young readers and that large world around them. While readers might see a relatable character or two in one of the many beautiful representations of people around the globe, it's hard to inspire true empathy from a bird's-eye view. That said, one of my new all-time favorite literary quotes is from this picture book: "People are fragile. You shouldn't drop them, because they might fall to pieces."

There's a similar big-picture approach to diversity in "Most People," written by the first-time picture book author Michael Leannah and illustrated by Jennifer E. Morris ("May I Please Have a Cookie?"), but the art wisely introduces repeating characters that weave in and out to form a separate narrative that aligns beautifully with the text. "Most people," we are told, love to smile and laugh. Most people want to help other people. Most people love the sunshine. Most people are good. There are some people who aren't good, of course, but if you could line up all the good people and all the bad ones, the line of good people would be much, much longer. That simple reasoning is perfectly pitched for its young audience, who will enjoy piecing together the story-within-a-story of the two main characters as they illustrate the messages of the text within the context of their own lives. "Most People" works especially well because it doesn't just tell children to "be" good. It shows them how to "do" good.

"Lovely," a debut picture book written and illustrated by Jess Hong, is a lively ode to being different. "What is lovely?" the text asks. "Lovely is different." A girl with one blue eye and one brown eye looks directly at the viewer. Then comes a series of illustrative plays on words. The word "Black" is next to a white woman wearing black clothes. On the facing page, the word "white" accompanies a black woman with white hair. On other spreads, we see a tall woman walking a short dog ("tall") opposite a short man walking with a tall dog ("short"), and a red-haired girl with a "fluffy" cat opposite a straight-haired girl with a "sleek" snake. As with any successful picture book, the art in "Lovely" doesn't just illustrate the text, it expands it. This is why a spread like "Fancy. Sporty. Graceful. Stompy" works so well: Illustrated with four sets of legs - hairy legs wearing fancy red stilettos, prosthetic legs playing soccer, black legs in pink ballet slippers, and fishnet-stockinged legs in punk-rock platform boots - it shows the multifarious world in all its glory.

The common thread in all these picture books is difference - myriad ethnicities and differently abled people and all kinds of families living and working and playing side by side. For those of us who remember the 1960s and '70s, when "peace" and "harmony" were catchphrases, it's hard to imagine that children's books that show diversity are still so needed. And yet, here we are. As far as we've come, we still have a ways to go. Tolerance. Inclusion. Compassion. Kindness. Empathy. As the song says, teach your children well - or better yet, inspire them well.

Correction: August 28, 2017

Correction: August 28, 2017

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You Can't Teach Kids Empathy, but These Picture Books Inspire It

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"Why Am I Me?," written by Paige Britt and illustrated by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko, follows two children on their journeys home from school one day. The children don't know each other, but they share similar questions about themselves and the world around them.

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is almost here, and we can't wait to share what we have in store this year! Mark your calendars for February 7th, 2024, and get ready to join us for a full day of excitement as we celebrate the joy of reading aloud.

Let's make this year's World Read Aloud Day the best one yet!

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The recently-released first installment of the Scholastic shows that positive read-aloud habits are on-the-rise. This data is so powerful because it highlights ongoing opportunities for even more read-aloud moments among children and their familie s.

On Friday, February 1, World Read Aloud Day captured the attention of families around the globe. This annual celebration, created by and then scaled to millions more by Scholastic , galvanizes us all around the power of the read-aloud. I was inspired ten years ago to create this m oment when a young boy in a classroom I visited became entranced by a story I was reading and approached me afterward to say "we need a party for reading aloud so everyone can know how great it is!" I still think about him when I reflect on the importance of the read-aloud.

Reading aloud provides people of all ages the opportunity to claim the power of their voices, build a sense of community, and foster hope. This is so important, especially as children develop their reading identities, but even beyond, when they are comfortable with text, the experience is still valuable.

It is our role as educators to advocate for the importance of reading aloud so that students have abundant opportunities to experience the read-aloud at school and at home all year long. Let's commit to continuously celebrating the read-aloud while keeping these four benefits top-of-mind:

Children of all ages enjoy the read-aloud.

More parents are reading aloud to their young children, and families are also reading aloud more frequently. In the latest Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report , we see that 55% of children ages 0-5 are reading books aloud at home at least five days a week. But after the age of six, these percentages decrease drastically. This is the age when kids typically start kindergarten, so it is an opportunity for teachers to express to families how important it is to continue reading aloud with children of all ages. Consider sending notes home with tips for engaging family read-aloud experiences.

We know that overwhelmingly, kids and parents enjoy spending time reading aloud together, so this is a welcome idea. More than 80% of both kids and parents love or like read-aloud time.

Of course, we should also remember to make the read-aloud a priority in our classrooms across grade levels. Read-alouds should be embedded in curriculum, and there are tools available to support this. Let's set aside time to read aloud as often as possible during the school day, and encourage students to continue the practice with caregivers at home.

Reading aloud together is spending time together.

The read-aloud is a bonding mechanism and a shared experience with text. When reading aloud with children, we show them that we care and that they are valuable to us.

The latest Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report showed us with data what we feel to be true: the read-aloud is a partnership. Kids told us how much they enjoyed laughing and talking while reading aloud with their parents. Although there is not a clear causal relationship, we also discovered that kids ages 6-11 who actively participate in read-aloud time by asking questions or making funny noises and sound effects are more likely than other children to be frequent readers.

Let's remind families that reading aloud does not have to happen at designated times. Ninety-one percent of parents with children ages 0-8 to whom they read aloud say it is a spur-of-the-moment activity. In 70% of those occasions, the child asked to be read aloud to, so we should be receptive in those moments.

Read-alouds are learning moments.

Forty percent of parents told us they use the read-aloud to help with learning moments at home. Plus, research shows read-aloud frequency can help shape a young child into a frequent reader. Through the read-aloud, kids get exposure to different types of literary and informational text, vocabulary, grammatical structures, and story.

Access to books is essential for living a hopeful and productive life. Being read to, reading for yourself, and discussing what you've read create an upward trend that leads to more reading, greater academic achievement, and personal fulfillment throughout life (Cunningham and Zilbulsky, 2014; Jacobs, 2014; Neuman and Celano, 2012)

Nothing is off-limits when it comes to reading aloud, and every book qualifies, including favorites such as the Harry Potter books. So we can read kids the books that are beyond their reading levels, as well as books that are familiar to them. Kids love to hear the same books, and it is a wonderful thing as they experience language and make meaning of the text.

The read-aloud fosters community.

Kids need people in their lives whom they can look to as reading role models. This includes caregivers, siblings, extended family members, friends and peers.

While more moms than dads read to children from birth to age 11 (93% compared to 79%), two-thirds of parents (66%) say the read-aloud experience includes more than just the reader and the child. Everyone plays an important role in the read-aloud, so let's encourage the male caregivers to be even more engaged in reading with their children.

At school, we can implement programs and classroom experiences that encourage students to read aloud to one another, and invite older students to partner with younger students in the read-aloud experience. Let's also invite caregivers and community members into the classroom to read aloud with our students, sharing with kids different types of family structures, cultures, and languages.

School-wide read-aloud events can also be held to generate excitement across grade levels. On World Read Aloud Day 2019, Scholastic hosted a virtual read-aloud event on Facebook featuring famous authors who read excerpts from their latest books. Schools from around the world tuned in to participate, and your school can access the event recording any time, .

The need for more read-aloud opportunities is essential. As educators, we play an important role in making the read-aloud a focus throughout the year, and in supporting children and their families as they engage in continuous read-aloud experiences. The Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report™: 7th Edition contains powerful evidence showing exactly why the read-aloud is worth promoting in school and at home. Let's come together with families to make reading aloud a priority and to help students become the empowered and voracious readers we know they can be.

Pam Allyn is Senior Vice President, Innovation and Development, Scholastic Education, and the founder of LitWorld. The Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report: The Rise of Read-Aloud is the first of three reports encompassing the 7th Edition's wide-breadth of data. Two additional installments will be released this spring focusing on the latest trends in children's reading habits, what kids and parents want in books, book access, as well as summer reading.

"The Standing Committee on Global Citizenship works to identify and address issues of broad concern to NCTE members interested in promoting global citizenship and connections across global contexts within the Council and within members' teaching contexts."

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Let's Commit to Celebrating the Read-Aloud Year-Round - NCTE

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The recently-released first installment of the Scholastic shows that positive read-aloud habits are on-the-rise. This data is so powerful because it highlights ongoing opportunities for even more read-aloud moments among children and their familie s. On Friday, February 1, World Read Aloud Day captured the attention of families around the globe.

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This statement was originally developed in 1981, revised April 2009 to adhere to NCTE's Policy on Involvement of People of Color, and revised again in September 2018. The Right to Read and the Teacher of English
Overview: The Students' Right to Read provides resources that can be used to help discuss and ensure students' free access to all texts. The genesis of the Students' Right to Read was an original Council statement, "Request for Reconsideration of a Work," prepared by the Committee on the Right to Read of the National Council of Teachers of English and revised by Ken Donelson. The current Students' Right to Read statement represents an updated second edition that builds on the work of Council members dedicated to ensuring students the freedom to choose to read any text and opposing "efforts of individuals or groups to limit the freedom of choice of others." Supported through references from text challenges and links to resources, this statement discusses the history and dangers of text censorship which highlight the breadth and significance of the Students' Right to Read. The statement then culminates in processes that can be followed with different stakeholders when students' reading rights are infringed.

For many years, American schools have been pressured to restrict or deny students access to texts deemed objectionable by some individual or group. These pressures have mounted in recent years, and English teachers have no reason to believe they will diminish. The fight against censorship is a continuing series of skirmishes, not a pitched battle leading to a final victory over censorship.

We can safely make two statements about censorship: first, any text is potentially open to attack by someone, somewhere, sometime, for some reason; second, censorship is often arbitrary and irrational. For example, classics traditionally used in English classrooms have been accused of containing obscene, heretical, or subversive elements such as the following:

Plato's Republic: "the book is un-Christian"

Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days: "very unfavorable to Mormons"

Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter: "a filthy book"

Shakespeare's Macbeth: "too violent for children today"

Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment: "a poor model for young people"

Herman Melville's Moby-Dick: "contains homosexuality"

Modern works, even more than the classics, are criticized with terms such as "filthy," "un-American," "overly realistic," and "anti-war." Some books have been attacked merely for being "controversial," suggesting that for some people the purpose of education is not the investigation of ideas but rather the indoctrination of a certain set of beliefs and standards. Referencing multiple years of research completed by the American Library Association (ALA), the following statements represent complaints typical of those made against modern works of literature:

D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye: "profanity, lurid passages about sex, and statements defamatory to minorities, God, women, and the disabled"

John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath: "uses the name of God and Jesus in a vain and profane manner"

Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson's And Tango Makes Three: "anti-ethnic, anti-family, homosexuality, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group"

Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird: "promotes racial hatred, racial division, racial separation, and promotes white supremacy"

Katherine Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia: "occult/Satanism, offensive language, violence"

Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye: "offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group"

Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings's I Am Jazz: "inaccurate, homosexuality, sex education, religious viewpoint, and unsuited for age group"

Some groups and individuals have also raised objections to literature written specifically for young people. As long as novels intended for young people stayed at the intellectual and emotional level of A Date for Marcy or A Touchdown for Thunderbird High, censors could forego criticism. But many contemporary novels for adolescents focus on the real world of young people-drugs, premarital sex, alcoholism, divorce, gangs, school dropouts, racism, violence, and sensuality. English teachers willing to defend classics and modern literature must be prepared to give equally spirited defense to serious and worthwhile children's and young adult novels.

Literature about minoritized ethnic or racial groups remains "controversial" or "objectionable" to many adults. As long as groups such as African Americans, Pacific Islanders, American Indians, Asian Americans, and Latinxs "kept their proper place"-awarded them by a White society-censors rarely raised their voices. But attacks have increased in frequency as minoritized groups have refused to observe their assigned "place." Though nominally, the criticisms of literature about minoritized racial or ethnic groups have usually been directed at "bad language," "suggestive situations," "questionable literary merit," or "ungrammatical English" (usually oblique complaints about the different dialect or culture of a group), the underlying motive for some attacks has unquestionably been discriminatory. Typical of censors' criticisms of ethnic works are the following comments:

Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: "homosexuality, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group"

Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima: "occult/Satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, violence"

Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner: "sexual violence, religious themes, 'may lead to terrorism'"

Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian: "anti-family, cultural insensitivity, drugs/alcohol/smoking, gambling, offensive language, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group, violence, depictions of bullying"

Books are not alone in being subject to censorship. Magazines or newspapers used, recommended, or referred to in English classes have increasingly drawn the censor's fire. Few libraries would regard their periodical collection as worthwhile or representative without some or all of the following publications, but all of them have been the target of censors on occasion:

National Geographic: "Nudity and sensationalism, especially in stories on barbaric foreign people."

Scholastic Magazine: "Doctrines opposing the beliefs of the majority, socialistic programs; promotes racial unrest and contains very detailed geography of foreign countries, especially those inhabited by dark people."

National Observer: "Right-wing trash with badly reported news."

New York Times: "That thing should be outlawed after printing the Pentagon Papers and helping our country's enemies."

The immediate results of demands to censor books or periodicals vary. At times, school boards and administrators have supported and defended their teachers, their use of materials under fire, and the student's right of access to the materials. At other times, however, special committees have been formed to cull out "objectionable works" or "modern trash" or "controversial literature." Some teachers have been summarily reprimanded for assigning certain works, even to mature students. Others have been able to retain their positions only after initiating court action.

Not as sensational, but perhaps more important, are the long range effects of censoring the rights of educators and students to self-select what they read and engage with. Schools have removed texts from libraries and classrooms and curricula have been changed when English teachers have avoided using or recommending works which might make some members of the community uncomfortable or angry. Over the course of their schooling, many students are consequently "educated" in a system that is hostile to critical inquiry and dialogue. And many teachers and other school staff learn to emphasize their own sense of comfort and safety rather than their students' needs.

The problem of censorship does not derive solely from the small anti-intellectual, ultra-moral, or ultra-patriotic groups which will typically function in a society that guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of the press. The present concern is rather with the frequency and force of attacks by others, often people of good will and the best intentions, some from within the teaching profession. The National Council of Teachers of English, the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and the American Library Association, as well as the publishing industry and writers themselves agree: pressures for censorship are great throughout our society.

The material that follows is divided into two sections. The first on "The Right to Read" is addressed to parents and the community at large. The other section, "A Program of Action," lists Council recommendations for establishing professional committees in every school to set up procedures for book selection, to work for community support, and to review complaints against texts. Where suspicion fills the air and holds scholars in line for fear of their jobs, there can be no exercise of the free intellect. . . . A problem can no longer be pursued with impunity to its edges. Fear stalks the classroom. The teacher is no longer a stimulant to adventurous thinking; she [sic] becomes instead a pipe line for safe and sound information. A deadening dogma takes the place of free inquiry. Instruction tends to become sterile; pursuit of knowledge is discouraged; discussion often leaves off where it should begin.
The Right to Read
-Justice William O. Douglas, United States Supreme Court: Adler v. Board of Education, 1951

An open letter to our country from the National Council of Teachers of English:

The right to read, like all rights guaranteed or implied within our constitutional tradition, can be used wisely or foolishly. In many ways, education is an effort to improve the quality of choices open to all students. But to deny the freedom of choice in fear that it may be unwisely used is to destroy the freedom itself. For this reason, we respect the right of individuals to be selective in their own reading. But for the same reason, we oppose efforts of individuals or groups to limit the freedom of choice of others or to impose their own standards or tastes upon the community at large.

One of the foundations of a democratic society is the individual's right to read, and also the individual's right to freely choose what they would like to read. This right is based on an assumption that the educated possess judgment and understanding and can be trusted with the determination of their own actions. In effect, the reader is freed from the bonds of chance. The reader is not limited by birth, geographic location, or time, since reading allows meeting people, debating philosophies, and experiencing events far beyond the narrow confines of an individual's own existence.

In selecting texts to read by young people, English teachers consider the contribution each work may make to the education of the reader, its aesthetic value, its honesty, its readability for a particular group of students, and its appeal to young children and adolescents. English teachers, however, may use different texts for different purposes. The criteria for choosing a text to be read by an entire class are somewhat different from the criteria for choosing texts to be read by small groups.

For example, a teacher might select John Knowles's A Separate Peace for reading by an entire class, partly because the book has received wide critical recognition, partly because it is relatively short and will keep the attention of many slower readers, and partly because it has proved popular with many students of widely differing skill sets. The same teacher, faced with the responsibility of choosing or recommending books for several small groups of students, might select or recommend books as different as Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Alexander Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch, Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, Malcolm X's The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Charles Dickens's Great Expectations, Carlos Bulosan's America Is in the Heart, or Paul Zindel's The Pigman, depending upon the skills and interests of the students in each group.

And the criteria for suggesting books to individuals or for recommending something worth reading for a student who casually stops by after class are different from selecting material for a class or group. As opposed to censoring, the teacher selects texts, and also helps guide students to self-select them. Selection implies that one is free to choose a text, depending upon the purpose to be achieved and the students or class in question, but a book selected this year may be ignored next year, and the reverse. Censorship implies that certain works are not open to selection, this year or any year.

Wallace Stevens once wrote, "Literature is the better part of life. To this it seems inevitably necessary to add / provided life is the better part of literature" (1957). Students and parents have the right to demand that education today keep students in touch with the reality of the world outside the classroom. Many of our best literary works ask questions as valid and significant today as when the literature first appeared, questions like "What is the nature of humanity?" "Why do people praise individuality and practice conformity?" "What do people need for a good life?" and "What is the nature of a good person?" English teachers must be free to employ books, classic or contemporary, which do not hide, or lie to the young, about the perilous but wondrous times we live in, books which talk of the fears, hopes, joys, and frustrations people experience, books about people not only as they are but as they can be. English teachers forced through the pressures of censorship to use only safe or antiseptic works are placed in the morally and intellectually untenable position of lying to their students about the nature and condition of humanity.
The Threat to Education
The teacher must exercise care to select or recommend works for class reading and group discussion. One of the most important responsibilities of the English teacher is developing rapport and respect among students. Respect for the uniqueness and potential of the individual, an important facet of the study of literature, should be emphasized in the English class. One way rapport and respect can be developed is through encouraging the students themselves to explore and engage with texts of their own selection. Also, English classes should reflect the cultural contributions of minoritized groups in the United States, just as they should acquaint students with diverse contributions by the many peoples of the world. Finally, the teacher should be prepared to support and defend their classroom and students' process in selecting and engaging with diverse texts against potential censorship and controversy.

Censorship leaves students with an inadequate and distorted picture of the ideals, values, and problems of their culture. Writers may often represent their culture, or they may stand to the side and describe and evaluate that culture. Yet partly because of censorship or the fear of censorship, many writers are ignored or inadequately represented in the public schools, and many are represented in anthologies not by their best work but by their "safest" or "least offensive" work.

The censorship pressures receiving the greatest publicity are those of small groups who protest the use of a limited number of books with some "objectionable" realistic elements, such as Brave New World, Lord of the Flies, George, The Joy Luck Club, Catch-22, Their Eyes Were Watching God, or A Day No Pigs Would Die. The most obvious and immediate victims are often found among our best and most creative English teachers, those who have ventured outside the narrow boundaries of conventional texts. Ultimately, however, the real victims are the students, denied the freedom to explore ideas and pursue truth wherever and however they wish.
The Community's Responsibility
Great damage may be done by book committees appointed by national or local organizations to pore over anthologies, texts, library books, and paperbacks to find passages which advocate, or seem to advocate, causes or concepts or practices these organizations condemn. As a result, some publishers, sensitive to possible objections, carefully exclude sentences or selections that might conceivably offend some group, somehow, sometime, somewhere.

Individuals who care about the improvement of education are urged to join students, teachers, librarians, administrators, boards of education, and professional and scholarly organizations in support of the students' right to read. Widespread and informed support in and across communities can assure that
A Program of Action

enough residents are interested in the development and maintenance of a rigorous school system to guarantee its achievement;

malicious gossip, ignorant rumors, internet posts, and deceptive letters to the editor will not be circulated without challenge and correction;

news media will observe that the public sincerely desires objective reporting about education, free from slanting or editorial comment which destroys confidence in and support for schools;

the community will not permit its resources and energies to be dissipated in conflicts created by special interest groups striving to advance their ideologies or biases; and

faith in democratic processes will be promoted and maintained.

Censorship in schools is a widespread problem. Teachers of English, librarians, and school administrators can best serve students, literature, and the profession today if they prepare now to face pressures sensibly, demonstrating on the one hand a willingness to consider the merits of any complaint and on the other the courage to defend their literacy program with intelligence and vigor. The Council therefore recommends that schools undertake the following two-step program to protect the students' right to read:
Procedures for Text Selection

establish a diverse committee that is representative of the local school community to consider book selection procedures and to screen complaints; and

promote a community atmosphere in which local residents may be enlisted to support the freedom to read.

Although one may defend the freedom to read without reservation as one of the hallmarks of a free society, there is no substitute for informed, professional, and qualified book selection. English teachers are typically better qualified to choose and recommend texts for their classes than persons not prepared in the field. Nevertheless, administrators have certain legal and professional responsibilities. For these reasons and as a matter of professional courtesy, they should be kept informed about the criteria and the procedures used by English teachers in selecting books and the titles of the texts used.

In each school, the English department should develop its own statement explaining why literature is taught and how books are chosen for each class. This statement should be on file with the administration before any complaints are received. The statement should also support the teacher's right to choose supplementary materials, to build a diverse classroom library, and to discuss controversial issues insofar as they are relevant. In addition, students should be allowed the right to self-select books to read from classroom and school library shelves.

Operating within such a policy, the English department should take the following steps:

1. Establish a committee to support English teachers in finding exciting and challenging texts of potential value to students at a specific school. Schools without departments or small schools with a few English teachers should organize a permanent committee charged with the responsibility of alerting other teachers to new texts just published, or old texts now forgotten which might prove valuable in the literacy program. Students should be encouraged to participate in the greatest degree that their development and skill sets allow.

2. Devote time at each department or grade-level meeting to reviews and comments by the above committee or plan special meetings for this purpose. Free and open discussions on texts of potential value to students would seem both reasonable and normal for any English department. Teachers should be encouraged to challenge any texts recommended or to suggest titles hitherto ignored. Require that each English teacher give a rationale for any text to be read by an entire class. Written rationales for all texts read by an entire class would serve the department well if censorship should strike. A file of rationales should serve as impressive evidence to the administration and the community that English teachers have not chosen their texts lightly or haphazardly.

3. Report to the administration the texts that will be used for class reading by each English teacher.

The Legal Problem
A procedure such as this gives each teacher the right to expect support from fellow teachers and administrators whenever someone objects to a text.

Apart from the professional and moral issues involved in censorship, there are legal matters about which NCTE cannot give advice. The Council is not a legal authority. Across the nation, moreover, conditions vary so much that no one general principle applies. In some states, for example, textbooks are purchased from public funds and supplied free to students; in others, students must rent or buy their own texts.

The legal status of textbook adoption lists also varies. Some lists include only those books which must be taught and allow teachers and sometimes students the freedom to select additional titles; other lists are restrictive, containing the only books which may be required for all students.
Preparing the Community
As a part of sensible preparations for handling attacks on books, each school should ascertain what laws apply to it.

To respond to complaints about texts, every school should have a committee of teachers (and possibly students, parents, and other representatives from the local community) organized to
Defending the Texts

1. inform the community about text selection procedures;

2. enlist the support of residents, possibly by explaining the place of literacy and relevant texts in the educational process or by discussing at meetings of parents and other community groups the texts used at that school; and

3. consider any complaints against any work. No community is so small that it lacks concerned people who care about their children and the educational program of the schools, and will support English teachers in defending books when complaints are received. Unfortunately, English teachers too often are unaware or do not seek out these people and cultivate their goodwill and support before censorship strikes.

Despite the care taken to select worthwhile texts for student reading and the qualifications of teachers selecting and recommending books, occasional objections to a work will undoubtedly be made. All texts are potentially open to criticism in one or more general areas: the treatment of ideologies, of minorities, of gender identities, of love and sex; the use of language not acceptable to some people; the type of illustrations; the private life or political affiliations of the author or the illustrator.

Some attacks are made by groups or individuals frankly hostile to free inquiry and open discussion; others are made by misinformed or misguided people who, acting on emotion or rumor, simply do not understand how the texts are to be used. Others are also made by well-intentioned and conscientious people who fear that harm will come to some segment of the community if a particular text is read or recommended.

What should be done upon receipt of a complaint?

If the complainant telephones, listen courteously and refer them to the teacher involved. That teacher should be the first person to discuss the text with the person objecting to its use.

If the complainant is not satisfied, invite them to file the complaint in writing, but make no commitments, admissions of guilt, or threats.

If the complainant writes, contact the teacher involved and have the teacher call the complainant.

For any of the situations above, the teacher is advised to be aware of local contractual and policy stipulations regarding such situations, and keep a written record of what transpired during the complaint process.

Request for Reconsideration of a Text
An additional option is to contact the NCTE Intellectual Freedom Center to report incidents and seek further resources ( http://www2.ncte.org/resources/ncte-intellectual-freedom-center/).

Author ____________________________________________

Paperback_____ Hardcover _____ Online _____

Title ______________________________________________

Publisher (if known) __________________________________

Website URL (if applicable) ___________________________

Request initiated by __________________________________

Telephone _________________________________________

Address ___________________________________________

City / State / Zip _______________________________________________

Complainant represents
____ (Name of individual) ___________________________
____ (Name of organization) ___________________________

1. Have you been able to discuss this work with the teacher or librarian who ordered it or who used it?
____ Yes ____ No

2. What do you understand to be the general purpose for using this work?

Provide support for a unit in the curriculum?
___ Yes ___ No

Provide a learning experience for the reader in one kind of literature?
___ Yes ___ No

Provide opportunities for students self-selected reading experiences?

___ Yes ___ No

Did the general purpose for the use of the work, as described by the teacher or librarian, seem a suitable one to you?
____Yes ____ No

1. What do you think is the author's general purpose for this book?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

2. In what ways do you think a work of this nature is not suitable for the use the teacher or librarian wishes to carry out?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

3. What have been students' responses to this work?
____ Yes ____ No

If yes, what responses did the students make?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

Have you been able to learn what qualified reviewers or other students have written about this work?
____ Yes ____ No

If yes, what are those responses?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

1. Would you like the teacher or librarian to give you a written summary of what qualified reviewers and other students have written about this book or film?
____ Yes ____ No

2. Do you have negative reviews of the book?
____ Yes ____ No

3. Where were they published?
__________________________________________________________

4. Would you be willing to provide summaries of their views you have collected?
____ Yes ____ No

5. How would you like your library/school to respond to this request for reconsideration?
____ Do not assign/lend it to my child.
____ Return it to the staff selection committee/department for reevaluation.
____ Other-Please explain
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

6. In its place, what work would you recommend that would convey as valuable a perspective as presented in the challenged text?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

Signature __________________________________________

Date______________________________________________

At first, the English teacher should politely acknowledge the complaint and explain the established procedures. The success of much censorship depends upon frightening an unprepared school or English department into some precipitous action. A standardized procedure will take the sting from the first outburst of criticism and place the burden of proof on the objector. When the reasonable objector learns that they will be given a fair hearing through following the proper channels, they are more likely to be satisfied. The idle censor, on the other hand, may well be discouraged from taking further action. A number of advantages will be provided by the form, which will

formalize the complaint,

indicate specifically the work in question,

identify the complainant,

suggest how many others support the complaint,

require the complainant to think through objections in order to make an intelligent statement on the text and complaint (1, 2, and 3),

cause the complainant to evaluate the work for other groups than merely the one they first had in mind (4),

establish the familiarity of the complainant with the work (5),

give the complainant an opportunity to consider the criticism about the work and the teacher's purpose in using the work (6, 7, and 8), and

give the complainant an opportunity to suggest alternative actions to be taken on the work (9 and 10).

The committee reviewing complaints should be available on short notice to consider the completed "Request for Reconsideration of a Work" and to call in the complainant and the teacher involved for a conference. Members of the committee should have reevaluated the work in advance of the meeting, and the group should be prepared to explain its findings. Membership of the committee should ordinarily include an administrator, the English department chair, and at least two classroom teachers of English. But the department might consider the advisability of including members from the community and the local or state NCTE affiliate. As a matter of course, recommendations from the committee would be forwarded to the superintendent, who would in turn submit them to the board of education, the legally constituted authority in the school.

Teachers and administrators should recognize that the responsibility for selecting texts for class study lies with classroom teachers and students, and that the responsibility for reevaluating any text begins with the review committee. Both teachers and administrators should refrain from discussing the objection with the complainant, the press, or community groups. Once the complaint has been filed, the authority for handling the situation must ultimately rest with the administration and school board.
References
Freedom of inquiry is essential to education in a democracy. To establish conditions essential for freedom, teachers and administrators need to follow procedures similar to those recommended here. Where schools resist unreasonable pressures, the cases are seldom publicized and students continue to read works as they wish. The community that entrusts students to the care of an English teacher should also trust that teacher to exercise professional judgment in selecting or recommending texts. The English teacher can be free to teach literacy, and students can be free to read whatever they wish only if informed and vigilant groups, within the profession and without, unite in resisting unfair pressures.

Stevens, W. (1957, April). Adagia Part One. Poetry, 41-44.

American Library Association. (2018). Top Ten Most Challenged Books Lists. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10#Before%201990 (Accessed July 15, 2018)

American Library Association. (2018). Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2017: Resources & Graphics. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/NLW-Top10 (Accessed July 15, 2018)

American Library Association (2013, March). Banned & Challenged Classics. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/classics (Accessed June 15, 2018).

The Committee on the Right to Read of the National Council of Teachers of English:
Statement Authors

Edward R. Gordon, Yale University, New Jersey, Chair

Martin Steinmann, University of Minnesota, Associate Chair

Harold B. Allen, University of Minnesota

Frank A. Doggett, D. U. Fletcher High School, Jacksonville Beach, Florida

Jack Fields, Great Neck South High School, New York

Graham S. Frear, St. Olaf College, Minnesota

Robert Gard, Camelback High School, Phoenix, Arizona

Frank Ross, Detroit Public Schools, Michigan

Warren Taylor, Oberlin College, Ohio

This document was revised by an NCTE working committee comprising the following:

Benjamin "Benji" Chang, Education University of Hong Kong, Chair

Anna Lavergne, Houston Independent School District, Texas

Kim Pinkerton, Texas A&M University, Commerce

Pernille Ripp, Oregon School District, Oregon, Wisconsin

Gabe Silveri, Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District, Houston, Texas

Permission is granted to reproduce in whole or in part the material in this publication, with proper credit to the National Council of Teachers of English. Some schools may wish to modify the statements and arrange separately for printing or duplication. In such cases, of course, it should be made clear that revised statements appear under the authorization and sponsorship of the local school or association, not NCTE.

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This statement was originally developed in 1981, revised April 2009 to adhere to NCTE's Policy on Involvement of People of Color , and revised again in September 2018. The Right to Read and the Teacher of English Overview: The Students' Right to Read provides resources that can be used to help discuss and ensure students' free access to all texts.

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Author and friend Matt de la Pena on Finding Truths in Fiction: 

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Author and friend Matt de la Pena on Finding Truths in Fiction: 

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Time Essay 1/18

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'Why We Shouldn't Shield Children From Darkness'

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Maybe instead of anxiously trying to protect our children from every little hurt, our job is to simply support them through such experiences

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New MIT research finds that for children's brain development, parents don't just need to talk to their kids - it's important to talk with them, in back-and-forth exchanges.

"What we found is, the more often parents engaged in back-and-forth conversation with their child, the stronger was the brain response in the front of the brain to language," said cognitive neuroscience professor John Gabrieli.

That stronger brain response, measured as children ages 4 to 6 lay in a scanner listening to simple stories, reflects a deeper, more intimate engagement with language, said graduate student Rachel Romeo.

On average, a child from a better-off, more-educated family is likely to hear 30 million more words in the first three years of life than a child from a less-well-off family.

That finding from 1995 helped explain some school achievement gaps. Now, the MIT researchers have illuminated how more talking actually changes a child's brain - and it's not just about the number of words a child hears, Romeo said. It's about interaction, the number of conversational "turns" that parents and preschool-aged children took while wearing recorders that taped their every word over two days.

And the effect didn't depend on parents' income or education, she noted, so it's not as if lower-income children are "doomed" to weaker verbal abilities.

"It seems to suggest, instead, that if they're provided with a rich verbal environment early in life, that that can predict great language and cognitive outcomes," Romeo said.

The finding is an important addition to work over the last 20-plus years on language development, said Dr. Marilyn Augustyn, a behavioral pediatrician at Boston Medical Center who was not involved in the study. She praised its use of brain scanners and recording devices to move the research forward.

A previous study turned up similar MRI findings on children who were read to by their parents, she said, "But what's really revolutionary about this study - and why I think it's really important - is it did both: It looked at the conversations, the words that children heard, and then also looked at the brain activation."

It strengthens a two-part message, she added. "One, we need to talk to our children from the moment they're born, and probably in utero. And two, that language needs to come out of a relationship - and that's what this study really cements. It isn't about streaming tape to a child through the course of a day with thousands and thousands of words, because those become meaningless. It's really about the relationship."

The next step in the research, Romeo said, will be to study an early intervention that gives toddlers more back-and-forth conversations.

"Obviously a two-year-old is not going to debate philosophy with you, but just a back and forth with them, whatever their capabilities are, is really valuable," she said.

The study found a broad range in how many conversational "turns" parents and child took in the course of an hour, from just 90 to as many as 400, Romeo said.

Families under more stress - say, with parents holding down more jobs - may have a harder time changing their conversational interactions with children, Gabrieli acknowledged. "But it is a thing - a very specific thing - that any of us could do with the right encouragement and support," he said.

Passively watched screens clearly do not bring the same sort of interaction as real conversation. But could a smart speaker use artificial intelligence to develop a child's brain much as a conversational parent would?

That question will require more study, the researchers said. Some initial research suggests that if devices can really respond to what a child says, they may offer added benefits, Romeo said.

But Dr. Augustyn is skeptical. Children can become very connected to technology, she said, but even if they develop some sort of relationship with a smart speaker, ultimately, "Alexa doesn't have a lap."

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MIT Brain Study: Back-And-Forth Talk Key To Developing Kids' Verbal Skills

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New MIT research finds that for children's brain development, parents don't just need to talk to their kids - it's important to talk with them, in back-and-forth exchanges. "What we found is, the more often parents engaged in back-and-forth conversation with their child, the stronger was the brain response in the front of the brain to language," said cognitive neuroscience professor John Gabrieli.

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Get a daily email featuring the latest talk, plus a quick mix of trending content.

By subscribing, you understand and agree that we will store, process and manage your personal information according to our Privacy Policy

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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story

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Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

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Power of Talking about Books Home-School Connections

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Power of Talking about Books Home-School Connections

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Attention exhausted parents: The next time your toddler starts making strange noises or babbling about Paw Patrol, try to strike up a conversation - it could make a big difference later, researchers say.

A study published this week in Pediatrics found that toddlers with parents who spend lots of time listening and chatting with them are more likely to have better language skills and higher IQs a decade later than youngsters left hanging in silence.

"If you knew that children who were fed a certain nutritional diet at age two were not only far healthier as toddlers, but much more likely to be in a healthy weight range at age 12, you'd want to pursue those findings, wouldn't you?" said study author Jill Gilkerson, senior director of research and evaluation at the LENA Foundation, a non-profit charity in Boulder, Col.

"Conversational turns are that diet, that nutrition, for the brain."

Researchers analyzed more than 9,000 hours of transcribed day-long recordings from 146 Denver-area children ages two months to four years old, and their parents. The children had followup tests of their language skills and cognitive abilities, such as working memory and reasoning, between ages nine and 14.

Conversation nourishes the brain

The families were asked to provide day-long audio recordings for six months. The parent would place the recording device in a vest the young child wears. The software was programmed to automatically count the child's vocalizations and verbal stimulation from their mother or father.

The researchers measured conversational turn-taking, such as if a parent says something and the child responds with a word, babble or coo within five seconds, or a vocalization from the child that the parent responds to within five seconds.

Gilkerson said they found greater conversational turns are more important for developing brains than simply being exposed to words.

The study also says frequent chatting with toddlers accounted for up to 27 per cent of their higher performance in verbal comprehension a decade later, after taking socioeconomic factors into account.

'Can't help but be astounded'

"We were expecting to see correlations based on the previous research with younger children, but can't help but be astounded that automated language measures collected at 18 months can predict anything 10 years later," Gilkerson said. "It is nothing short of remarkable, in my opinion."

The 18- to 24-month period is often called a time of "language explosion."

That's why doctors in the U.S. and Canada promote early literacy to families with children under five. Previous studies suggest there's a huge payoff for a child's brain development.

For instance, the Reach Out and Read program originated in the U.S. and has since spread to some communities in the Greater Toronto Area.

At checkups, participating family doctors or pediatricians might watch a child turn the pages of a book to assess motor skills and to check how the child's eyes are tracking. Then the doctor might read aloud to the child to model how the back-and-forth conversations can work: "Feel the dog's tail. It's so soft ... Point to the red truck."

Doctors help build a home library

Before families enter the exam room, a clerk will hand out books in the waiting room. And a nurse will talk to parents about resources and experts nearby to support literacy, such as providing a map of local libraries.

"Talking to your child, in a reciprocal, conversational way from an early age may improve both their language development and cognitive abilities," said Dr. Laurie Green, a family physician at St. Michael's Hospital who helped introduce the program in Toronto.

"It is important for doctors, who see this age group regularly for ... checkups and immunizations, to support this in their practices, including providing resource information to families for early years opportunities, counselling advice and providing books to build a home library."

Green cautioned that the study included a low number of diverse families and those with low socioeconomic status, which limits the ability to generalize the finding.

Provide tools for families

Other factors tied to a child's language outcomes, such as their family's socioeconomic status, aren't so easily changed. But the new findings suggest that helping parents and caregivers to understand the importance of conversations and giving them the tools to make it part of their daily routines with children is possible and could have important long-term benefits, Gilkerson said.

A previous review of international studies featuring families from a variety of backgrounds also showed children in reading programs had better social and emotional skills and behaviour, as well as higher literacy skills than children who were randomly assigned to control groups.

About four out of 10 Canadian adults have inadequate literacy skills to be fully competent in the modern economy, according to the Conference Board of Canada.

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'Nothing short of remarkable': Study finds parents' chats with their toddlers pay off 10 years later | CBC News

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Attention exhausted parents: The next time your toddler starts making strange noises or babbling about Paw Patrol, try to strike up a conversation - it could make a big difference later, researchers say.

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Picture Books = My Coteachers

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This resource guide was created in direct response to the multiple requests made by educators, parents and students. Like Marley Dias, so many of you have asked for books with black girls as the main characters. And because of you, we have received thousands of books. Here we are sharing with you the first 700 book titles. We have not yet catalogued all the books. As a small organization with only two full-time staff, our resources are limited. Beginning in April, each month we will provide you with updates of new book titles.

This resource includes words of welcome from Marley Dias, Creator of the #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign. It also includes comments from Dr. Lauren Wells, Chief Education Officer, City of Newark who offers us tips on how we can foster and promote reading and literacy among our children.

As the President and Co-Founder of GrassROOTS Community Foundation, I have added a few words and call to action to the guide. My charge to parents and caregivers is a simple one: listen to your children, encourage them as well as promote their reading and literacy skills. Reading is a pathway to freedom and liberty. As caregivers it is our responsibility to develop the imagination of children so that they can dream, create and structure opportunities for freedom and equity.

We have reviewed the titles and descriptions of books to ensure that they fit the criterion of having a black girl as the main characters. We have also catalogued the books by reading level. This time-consuming task would not be possible without your financial donation to hire some interim part-time staff. We could not do it without all of you who donated, our volunteers and the librarians from West Orange Public Library.

Each month we will update the list and continue to serve as an information repository for Black Girl Books.

If you know of a black girl book, not listed here, please send us a copy so we can add it to our collection. We would like to see this list grow. Our address is:

GrassROOTS Community Foundation
59 Main Street
Suite 323
West Orange, NJ 07052

Financial donations are always welcomed. All donations are tax-deductible.

Thank you.

Welcome to the #1000blackgirlbooks Resource Guide. I started this campaign because I wanted to read more books where black girls are the main characters. With your help we have collected over 11,000 books; many of them are have the same title, but we do have lots of unique ones as well. This guide includes 1000 of those books and more is coming.

Love,

Marley Dias
Founder
#1000BlackGirlBooks

Sadly, in today's society we often lack the imagination to deal with some of the most deeply rooted social issues. Family and work obligations as well as our biases can stunt our imaginations; however, as adults it is our charge to foster the imagination of our youth. Marley Dias has an active sociological imagination. She imagined a world where black girls are the main, not minor, characters in children's books. She thought she was dealing with a personal matter, but she quickly learned from the outpouring response from the public that her personal problem is in fact an engrained social issue. Children's literature in the United States and abroad is homogeneous and exclusionary. Black girls are underrepresented and in many cases missing. Girls of color are almost completely absent relative to the majority culture.

As caregivers of children we must nurture our children's imaginations and equip them with the resources so they can be emboldened to act. The GrassROOTS Community Foundation through Super Camp enhances girls' sociological imagination and teaches them confidence grounded in the knowledge of history and self-hood so that they feel confident enough to feel like they can create change in their communities. Each year GrassROOTS encourages girls to develop a social action project. We choose the words social and action carefully. We want our children to understand themselves as social actors, connected to the world. In addition, we teach our girls that to achieve justice they must ACT. The #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign is Marley's 2015 social action project. As Marley's mom and the President of GrassROOTS Community Foundation, I have learned first hand what can happen when we foster and promote children's love of reading, educate them about their community, and their desire to create social change as well as fan the flames of their sociological imaginations.

Dr. Janice Johnson Dias
President & Co-Founder
GrassROOTS Community Foundation
#investingirls

A love of reading is the most important legacy we can offer to our children and our students. Reading opens windows to new ideas, peoples, places, and experiences. Reading also provides mirrors for students to see themselves and their lives reflected in the characters they meet in books. Reading builds vocabulary and background knowledge, empowering children with the tools needed to express themselves and think about the world around them. Nurturing joyful reading in children primes their brains for lifelong learning and develops important social emotional skills like stamina, reflection, and empathy. As we build readers, we must make reading pleasurable and help children understand that reading is a skill that builds over time.

Here are a few tips for parents and educators to create environments that invite children to confidently embrace and fall in love with stories and books.

Tips for parents:

Model reading. Read, read, read to your child, with your child, or in front your child every day.

Immerse your child in books. Transform your entire home into a reading zone by placing books in every room.

Affirm your child's culture, language, and race by choosing books and stories with characters, places, and experiences that reflect their background.

Awaken your child to new ideas, places, people, or experiences in books and stories by asking them questions and always answering the question they have.

Empower your child by allowing them to choose books to read, whether based on what interests them or on book covers and titles.

Arm your child by always leaving home with books. When your child gets older ask them if they have a book before leaving for school, the doctor, or a long ride.

Cultivate your child's use of language and words. Talk with your child about what is happening in their lives and the world around them.

Build your child's ability to make connections. When you watch television or movies, make connections to characters or ideas in books you have read together.

Expand your child's reading beyond fiction. Children have great curiosity about events taking place in the world, plants, animals, and people. It's never too early to expose them to historical fiction or non-fiction books.

Advocate for curricula, partnerships, books, and resources for classrooms and schools that are culturally relevant and responsive.

Tips for educators:

Model reading. Read, read, read to your students, with your students, or in front your students every day.

Immerse school culture in talk about books. Book talks over the intercom, book clubs, social media chats, and school-wide read alouds are a few ways to do this.

Affirm your students' culture, language, and race by integrating books and stories with characters, places, and experiences that reflect their backgrounds into the curriculum.

Awaken students as participants in their own learning by having them create reading goals for themselves, for example, minutes of reading, chapters read, and reading new genres.

Empower students by allowing them to choose books based on what interests them or on book covers and titles.

Arm your students with the power of their own language and stories by providing them with multiple ways to make personal connections to the texts they read.

Cultivate independent reading by creating comfortable reading spaces throughout schools. Classrooms, cafeterias, libraries, and cozy nooks in hallways are all fair game.

Build classroom libraries of interesting, appropriate, and relevant fiction and non-fiction texts.

Expand your reading beyond fiction. Students have great curiosity about events taking place in the world, plants, animals, and people. Use historical fiction or non-fiction books as tools to capture this interest.

Advocate for curricula, partnerships, books, and resources for classrooms and schools that are culturally relevant and responsive.

Dr. Lauren Wells
Chief Education Officer
City of Newark

Donations are the heart of the campaign. Because we value reciprocity, we donate the books we receive to schools and community members who need them. Children deserve to have windows and mirrors to the world. Please complete the form below.

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This resource guide was created in direct response to the multiple requests made by educators, parents and students. Like Marley Dias, so many of you have asked for books with black girls as the main characters. And because of you, we have received thousands of books.

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Sorry about the interruption, but we just need to do a quick check to make sure that you’re a human being. To do so, simply fill out the CAPTCHA below and you’ll be on our website in no time!

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Mirrors, Windows & Sliding Glass Doors

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Mirrors, Windows and Sliding Glass Doors

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Lorito Books is dedicated to helping libraries and schools develop and strengthen their Spanish language collections. If you are looking to fill a gap in your collection or simply to freshen it up, please let us know. We would be happy to create a list of recommendations based on your students' and community's needs.

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Lorito Books is dedicated to helping libraries and schools develop and strengthen their Spanish language collections. If you are looking to fill a gap in your collection or simply to freshen it up, please let us know. We would be happy to create a list of recommendations based on your students' and community's needs.

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A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, WNDB aims to create a world where every reader can find themselves in the pages of a book. To reach this goal, we've created programs to mentor diverse writers and illustrators, support diverse publishing professionals, and provide books to classrooms nationwide.

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About Us

Lee & Low Books is the largest multicultural children's book publisher in the country. We are also one of the few minority-owned publishing companies in the United States.

Founded in 1991, we have always been family-owned and independent, which means we publish what we want and aren't afraid to take risks. Our books have won major awards including the Coretta Scott King Award, the Pura Belpré Award, the NAACP Image Award, and many more.

Lee & Low Books is committed to publishing diverse books that are about everyone, for everyone. We are dedicated to cultural authenticity, and we make a special effort to work with new authors and illustrators of color.

We publish multicultural children's books for every age, including leveled books for beginning readers, picture books, early chapter books, middle grade, and young adult books. We also publish a wide selection of bilingual and Spanish language books.

Visit our testimonials page to see some of the people and organizations who support our work!

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Lee & Low Books is the largest multicultural children's book publisher in the United States. We are your diversity source.

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"Once upon a time" may be better read on paper than on a screen.

A new study suggests that toddlers interact more with their parents when they read print books compared to electronic versions. The results of the study were published Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

E-books sell well. The number of Americans who read e-books rose from 17 percent to 28 percent of Americans from 2011 to 2014, according to the Pew Research Center. Compared to print books, they tend to be cheaper and save shelf space.

But it's just not the same when it comes to small children, said the lead author of the study.

"The print book is really the gold standard in eliciting positive interactions between parents and their children," Dr. Tiffany Munzer told ABC News. She is a fellow in development behavioral pediatrics at the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. "Our goal with some of the kinds of findings in the study is not to make things harder for parents, but to help them focus on activities that spark interactions with their children where they feel that back-and-forth is really easy."

She estimates that 30 percent of children read e-books at least once a week.

Dr. Munzer and her colleagues studied 37 pairs of parents and their toddlers. Each pair was videotaped in a lab reading three different stories from the Little Critter series back-to-back. For each story, parents had a 5-minute reading time limit, so results couldn't be pegged to how long it took them to present the story. There were three book formats in total: an electronic tablet with enhanced visual and sound effects, an electronic tablet without enhanced effects, and a print book with illustrations. The number and types of interactions the families shared -- things like parents asking toddlers questions, telling them what they're seeing on the page, and encouraging them to point out objects during the storytelling, were then tallied.

Parents had the most engagement with their toddlers in storytelling when they read print books. They also were able to get through more of the story in the five minutes if it was read aloud from a print book. Toddlers, too, made more statements with print books, and non-verbal signs of bonding were greater when print books were read.

When the parents read e-books, they made more statements about how to use the tablet; for instance, how to swipe to the next page or where to push a button.

Why do print books work better for toddlers than e-books?

Dr. Munzer feels the answer lies in the distractions built into e-books, like buttons to press, and its automated replacement of the variety of sounds and explanations that parents would otherwise provide themselves.

"The print book is a really beautiful object in that each parent and child interacts differently over a print book," said Dr. Munzer. "Parents know their children well and have to make it come alive for their child to create that magic."
Dr. Leila Haghighat is an internal medicine resident from Yale New Haven Hospital who also works with the ABC News Medical Unit.

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Toddlers engage more with print books than tablets: Study

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"Once upon a time" may be better read on paper than on a screen. A new study suggests that toddlers interact more with their parents when they read print books compared to electronic versions. The results of the study were published Monday in the journal Pediatrics. E-books sell well.

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Children's joy at seeing dolls like them

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A former social worker noticed that some children could not buy dolls that look like them. So she fixed that.

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Scholastic's Kids and Family Reading Report

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Scholastic's Kids and Family Reading Report

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Connecting kids with stories they love, in whatever format they prefer-from fiction to nonfiction, chapter books to graphic novels, physical books to digital books-has been Scholastic's mission for nearly 100 years. And since my early days as a teacher, getting students to read more, and to read with understanding, has been a personal mission.

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Can A Children's Book Change the World? | Linda Sue Park | TEDxBeaconStreet

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Dad Suggests | Fatherly Thoughts on Kids Books and Board Games

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A teacher of mine once told me a story about a small child shopping with their mother in a grocery store. The child picks up an avocado and brings it to their mother and asks, "what's this, Mom?" There are two types of parents, my teacher said. Some moms might respond - "that's called an avocado. It's green on the inside. You can mash it up into guacamole. Inside you'll find the biggest seed you ever saw." However, just as often you might hear a simple - "put that back!"

This was during a class about teaching children how to read. The point was that lots of children grow up with significantly less exposure to words compared to others, and that it can make a big difference for their future reading ability.

I walked away from this story about the grocery store desperate to be parent #1, but not for the reasons you might think. As a father, this story made a big impression on me for a different reason. The kid whose Mom just snaps at him isn't just missing out on a vocabulary lesson. He's also missing out on a lesson in empathy, showing someone that you care, and showing someone that you are listening.

I think it's fair to say that my kids are growing up in a very different world than I grew up in. I don't think it's a groundbreaking statement to suggest that technology is changing the ways our children's social skills develop. Children have always needed to develop their executive functions and their listening skills and their ability to pay attention and control their impulses - but I don't think it's a stretch to say that it's more of an uphill battle in today's world than it used to be. And part of the problem is that many of their role models have their noses in phones just as much as they do.

So how do we teach kids to pay attention and listen? Well, being a good role model certainly has to be a part of it. And, assuming we take care of setting a good example first, I've always found stories to be one of the very best teachers of life lessons. If your kids are anything like my son, they often want to know the "why" of a lesson - as in, "why do I need to listen?". A well-crafted work of art that appeals to their heart not only answer their questions, but it can cause them to reflect on their lives and leave a lasting impression as well. Quiet Please, Owen McPhee! is the work of art for this life lesson.

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Quiet Please, Owen McPhee!: Teaching Kids How to Listen | Dad Suggests

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Quiet Please, Owen McPhee! is a picture book about listening. Trudy Ludwig has once again proven herself to be the queen of empathy. Ludwig and Patrice Barton have teamed up again to bring us another incredible story that will lead to our kids reflecting on how their actions might affect others.

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Let's face it: too much talking and not enough listening has a dangerous polarizing effect, as currently evidenced in the U.S. and around the world. We're experiencing intense civil discourse because we've lost the ability to really listen and understand what our citizens' needs are and why they aren't being met. Collaboration and problem resolution cannot take place if we're all just yelling / tweeting / posting hateful and hurtful messages at one another. All this endless vitriol simply falls on empathy-fatigued, apathetic ears.

Suffice it to say that there's a lot of horrible adult role-modeling going on these days for our children. Ever the optimist, I'm hopeful that our youth can do better and be better than us.

And, in my work with countless school communities, this hope is nourished by the many Kindness Warriors I've encountered, recruited, and engaged with over the years as a children's advocate and author of books that promote kindness, compassion, inclusion, and acceptance. These Kindness Warriors come in different sizes, colors, genders, and ages. What do they have in common? They are active, compassionate listeners; they may not be able to get rid of all the hurt in our world, but they can help us get through it. And because Kindness Warriors really listen to what others have to say, they're much more proactive in making positive change happen.

"The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them." ― Ralph G. Nichols

So how can we help kids of all ages understand that too much talking can get in the way of listening, and, in turn, connecting, collaborating, and problem solving with those around them? Here are some helpful tips:

Plan what you want to say before speaking. Avoid rambling by learning to "speak in headlines."

Use a respectful, positive inside voice when sharing. Shouting shuts down listening.

Don't interrupt others. Let talkers finish their own sentences.

Take turns listening and talking, so everyone gets a chance to share their perspective.

Ask questions (e.g., "What do you think?" "What do you want to do?" or "Do you have any ideas or suggestions?") to generate thoughtful two-way conversations.

Give your full attention to the person talking. Look them in the eye. Be open and respectful.

Repeat what you heard to make sure you understand what the talker said.

Are you talking too much? Pay attention to the listener's body language and facial expressions. If they don't look at you and seem distracted, bored, or upset, stop talking.

The benefits of being a good listener are bountiful-the most prominent being that while talking may prove a point, listening can open your heart.

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Let's face it: too much talking and not enough listening has a dangerous polarizing effect, as currently evidenced in the U.S. and around the world. We're experiencing intense civil discourse because we've lost the ability to really listen and understand what our citizens' needs are and why they aren't being met.

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Empathy: The catalyst for positive connections & change - ConnectSafely

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By Trudy Ludwig Let’s face it. We’ve got big problems in our country that are rooted in greed, abuse of power, ignorance, fear, and denial. Take, for

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Growing up in a small town in Iowa, books were my window to a larger world. I would curl up in our overstuffed floral chair and be transported to a new world-from the 1930s Dust Bowl in Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse to the castle in Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. Books taught me about people who had different life experiences and grew up in different places than the Midwest.

The author, David Foster Wallace, accurately summarizes the importance of reading fiction and how fiction can help us better understand others, saying, "Fiction is about what it means to be human."

This notion that reading can better help us connect to the broader human experience is more than a simple observation, it has been supported by extensive research. Studies show that reading can help kids build developmental skills of emotional intelligence and empathy, enabling our young readers to better connect with other perspectives and human experiences.

Fiction can increase emotional intelligence

The ability to learn about diversity through reading has been studied extensively, as researchers try to tap into what lifelong readers know as the magic of reading.

According to an article in the Scientific American , researchers at the New School in New York City "found evidence that literary fiction improves a reader's capacity to understand what others are thinking and feeling." The article further argues that literary fiction can "support and teach us values about social behavior, such as the importance of understanding those who are different from ourselves."

The results of this study suggest that readers have greater emotional intelligence and empathy, meaning they can better put themselves in someone else's shoes.

An important concept for parents, volunteers, mentors, and teachers to keep mind during classroom time and one-on-one sessions with kids. By supporting kids' literacy development and a love of reading, you will in turn foster their emotional growth as you read and discuss fiction with them.

Stories and human connection

The notion that reading is a valuable skill for building social awareness and empathy is echoed by many authors who know and love this magical, important part of reading.

In an interview with Lit Hub, author Sunil Yapa says, "Empathy is a radical act, particularly when you use it to connect with people who are very different from you. Loving others is wonderful, but caring for others is profound...Empathy is a profound act of imagination and human connection. In fiction, we imagine ourselves into other people's experiences. Of course, another word for that is 'reading.'"

In this quotation, Yapa captures the essence of the connection between empathy and reading. He highlights how stories can be used as points of access for understanding other people's lives.

Whether fiction or nonfiction, reading offers a unique experience to become engrossed in the stories and life experiences of the characters in the book. Providing readers with the opportunity to connect with other worldviews.

Applying this research in practice

At Reading Partners, we have the chance to read and discuss amazing children's fiction with the students we work with. Giving children an array of diverse choices of fiction will not only help them become better readers, but will encourage them to be more empathetic people.

Books can be a window into different worlds for our students, just like they were for me growing up. Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena and are two of my recent favorite children's books that inspire empathy.

Here are some tips to incorporate this research in your next tutoring session:

1. Pick a literature book for read aloud time that discusses different types of life events and/or cultures.

2. Ask comprehension questions related to characters' responses to the events in the book.

3. Encourage your student to think about how they might have responded to the events a character is experiencing in the book.

The opportunity to strengthen each student's empathy through reading is an exciting prospect. Stories matter, and understanding others matters. I'm grateful for all the time I spent reading growing up and believe reading has made me a more empathetic person.

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Research Shows Reading Improves Kids Emotional Intelligence | Reading Partners

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Growing up in a small town in Iowa, books were my window to a larger world. I would curl up in our overstuffed floral chair and be transported to a new world-from the 1930s Dust Bowl in Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse to the castle in Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine.

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Art and Social Justice | PBS LearningMedia

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Many artists create work that intersects with political activism and social justice causes. Throughout history, art has been used as an accessible tool for communication, raising awareness about social issues and affecting positive change.

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New MIT research finds that for children's brain development, parents don't just need to talk to their kids - it's important to talk with them, in back-and-forth exchanges.

"What we found is, the more often parents engaged in back-and-forth conversation with their child, the stronger was the brain response in the front of the brain to language," said cognitive neuroscience professor John Gabrieli.

That stronger brain response, measured as children ages 4 to 6 lay in a scanner listening to simple stories, reflects a deeper, more intimate engagement with language, said graduate student Rachel Romeo.

On average, a child from a better-off, more-educated family is likely to hear 30 million more words in the first three years of life than a child from a less-well-off family.

That finding from 1995 helped explain some school achievement gaps. Now, the MIT researchers have illuminated how more talking actually changes a child's brain - and it's not just about the number of words a child hears, Romeo said. It's about interaction, the number of conversational "turns" that parents and preschool-aged children took while wearing recorders that taped their every word over two days.

And the effect didn't depend on parents' income or education, she noted, so it's not as if lower-income children are "doomed" to weaker verbal abilities.

"It seems to suggest, instead, that if they're provided with a rich verbal environment early in life, that that can predict great language and cognitive outcomes," Romeo said.

The finding is an important addition to work over the last 20-plus years on language development, said Dr. Marilyn Augustyn, a behavioral pediatrician at Boston Medical Center who was not involved in the study. She praised its use of brain scanners and recording devices to move the research forward.

A previous study turned up similar MRI findings on children who were read to by their parents, she said, "But what's really revolutionary about this study - and why I think it's really important - is it did both: It looked at the conversations, the words that children heard, and then also looked at the brain activation."

It strengthens a two-part message, she added. "One, we need to talk to our children from the moment they're born, and probably in utero. And two, that language needs to come out of a relationship - and that's what this study really cements. It isn't about streaming tape to a child through the course of a day with thousands and thousands of words, because those become meaningless. It's really about the relationship."

The next step in the research, Romeo said, will be to study an early intervention that gives toddlers more back-and-forth conversations.

"Obviously a two-year-old is not going to debate philosophy with you, but just a back and forth with them, whatever their capabilities are, is really valuable," she said.

The study found a broad range in how many conversational "turns" parents and child took in the course of an hour, from just 90 to as many as 400, Romeo said.

Families under more stress - say, with parents holding down more jobs - may have a harder time changing their conversational interactions with children, Gabrieli acknowledged. "But it is a thing - a very specific thing - that any of us could do with the right encouragement and support," he said.

Passively watched screens clearly do not bring the same sort of interaction as real conversation. But could a smart speaker use artificial intelligence to develop a child's brain much as a conversational parent would?

That question will require more study, the researchers said. Some initial research suggests that if devices can really respond to what a child says, they may offer added benefits, Romeo said.

But Dr. Augustyn is skeptical. Children can become very connected to technology, she said, but even if they develop some sort of relationship with a smart speaker, ultimately, "Alexa doesn't have a lap."

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MIT Brain Study: Back-And-Forth Talk Key To Developing Kids' Verbal Skills

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New MIT research finds that for children's brain development, parents don't just need to talk to their kids - it's important to talk with them, in back-and-forth exchanges. "What we found is, the more often parents engaged in back-and-forth conversation with their child, the stronger was the brain response in the front of the brain to language," said cognitive neuroscience professor John Gabrieli.

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JoEllen McCarthy is a TheEdCollab Book Ambassador, focusing on K-5 readers (meet our 6-12 Ambassador, Julia, here). JoEllen is an expert in children's reading development and rigorous elementary literacy instruction.

JoEllen McCarthy, an educator for 20+ years, is a lifelong learner and literacy specialist who spends her days teaching and learning alongside students, teachers and administrators to support literacy instruction, as well as student-centered collaborative coaching cycles. As The Educator Collaborative's Book Ambassador, she spreads her enthusiasm for literature through an exploration of mentor texts that emphasize reading and writing connections through conversations about practices that contribute to caring, responsive, classroom communities.

A frequent presenter at regional and national conferences, JoEllen works hands-on in schools and districts to impact professional literacy communities with research and standards-aligned best practices that recognize students as our most important aspect of the curriculum. She is passionate about the heart work of teaching and works to emphasize reading and writing connections, character education, responsive classrooms, and culturally responsive teaching, while championing the power of read alouds and choice to affect independent readers, writers and thinkers. JoEllen facilitates pedagogy with differentiation within the workshop model as a method and mindset for reaching all learners.

JoEllen holds degrees from Loyola, Maryland, NYU, and an administrative degree specializing in staff development from Hofstra. She currently serves as a classroom teacher, literacy specialist, and consultant for the organization she founded, Always Learning . JoEllen is an expert in children's reading development and rigorous elementary literacy instruction, and the author of Layers of Learning h er most recent work on the power of read alouds to connect hearts and minds, available from Stenhouse.

A true believer in the power of collaborating and sharing, JoEllen is proud to be a connected educator, using Twitter as her online "literacy lounge" to share "literacy snapshots" and "#PDlove" to grow ideas and celebrate literacy and learning in action. A proud member of the NerdyBookClub , she can be found tweeting daily about reading, writing, and learning together at @JoEllenMcCarthy .
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JoEllen McCarthy - The Educator Collaborative

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The Educator Collaborative, LLC, is a think tank and professional development organization, innovating the ways educators learn together. We provide literacy and technology professional development for K-12 educators, both onsite and online. Our internationally recognized network of consultants are popular educators, authors, speakers and thought leaders.