A
national panel of children’s literature experts, including
Boise State University’s Stan Steiner, has designated 25 new
books as “Notable Books for a Global Society” for 2003 as
part of a program of the International Reading Association.
The books, geared for children
from kindergarten through eighth grade, offer readers insights
into many cultures, histories and perspectives, said Steiner,
a professor of literacy in Boise State’s College of
Education. The books were selected from about 300 reviewed by
panel members from universities in New York, North Carolina,
California, Ohio and other states.
The books range from a
fictional tale set in Taliban-era Afghanistan to a picture
book about a young Somalia immigrant to the United States to
stories from Guatemala, Korea, and Africa.
“These books provide a
wonderful opportunity to learn about the cultures of others.
We can’t always travel to these places physically, but we
can in books,” Steiner said. “They help us develop empathy
towards other peoples and places.”
A link to the complete list of
the book titles, along with information on many other children’s
books, can be found on Steiner’s Web page by clicking
here. Here is a sampling of the “Notable
Books for a Global Society ” selected by the IRA panel:
— Mississippi Trial, 1955 by
Chris Crowe (Phyllis Folgelman/Penguin Putnam). The lynching
of Emmett Till, a black teen-ager from Chicago who reputedly
made “ugly remarks” to a white woman and whose murderers
were acquitted in a 1955 trial, is the setting for this
sensitive and compelling piece of historical fiction. For ages
12 and older.
— When My Name Was Keoko:
A Novel of Korea in World War II
by Linda Sue Park (Clarion/Houghton Mifflin). Inspired by her
own family’s stories of living in South Korea during the
Japanese occupation in the years preceding World War II,
Newberry-winning author Park chronicles the compelling story
of two siblings, 10 year-old Sun-hee and 13-year-old Tae-yul,
and their battle to maintain their identity and dignity during
one of Korea’s most difficult and turbulent times. For ages
10 to 13.
— Red Midnight by
Ben Mikaelson (HarperCollins) When soldiers burn his
Guatemalan village and kill his family, 12-year-old Santiago
and his young sister undertake a terrifying journey north and
across the Gulf of Mexico to Florida. The siblings face many
challenges but manage to stay alive. For ages 10 and older.
— Parvana’s Journey
by Deborah Ellis (Groundwood). This sequel to The
Breadwinner follows a 13-year-old girl who, disguised as a
boy, sets off from Kabul in search of her missing mother and
siblings in Taliban-era Afghanistan. When war breaks out, she
bands together with other displaced children.
— A Life Like Mine: How
Children Live Around the World,
Dorling Kindersley in association with UNICEF United Nations
Children’s Fund (Dorling Kindersley). A thought provoking
comparison of the lives and experiences of 14 children from
around the world. Guided by the promise of the U.N. Convention
on the Rights of the Child, the book has been divided into
universal themes covering food, water, shelter, education,
family and health. All ages.
— I Love Saturdays y domingos
by Alma Flor Ada, illustrated by Elivia Savadier (Atheneum/Simon
Schuster). Straddling two worlds is a blessing rather than a
hardship for a bilingual girl who spends Saturdays with her
paternal grandparents, with whom she speaks English, and
Sundays (los domingos) with her Mexican American grandparents
with whom she speaks Spanish. At the book’s end, both sets
of grandparents plan a cooperative gift for the girl’s
birthday. Ages 4-8.
— Apple Pie Fourth of July
by Janet Wong,
illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine (Harcourt). A
first-generation ChinesemAmerican girl worries that the
Chinese food her parents are preparing in their market is not
suitable for the Fourth of July. But the evening brings a
steady stream of customers and the holiday concludes with the
family watching fireworks (invented by the Chinese) and eating
apple pie. Ages 3-7.
— The Color of Home
by Mary Hoffman, illustrated by Karin Littlewood (Penguin
Putnam). Hassan, a recent immigrant from Somalia, is homesick
on his first day of school in America, but finds a way to
communicate when he is given art supplies. Readers gain a
realistic child’s perspective on what it is like to be
forced to emigrate from a war-torn country. Ages 4-8.
— 19 Varieties of Gazelle:
Poems of the Middle East
by Naomi Shihab Nye
(HarperCollins). In response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist
attacks, Nye has gathered four dozen of her poems about the
Middle East and about being an Arab American living in the
Unites States. She writes of Palestinians, both living and
dead, of war and of peace. Ages 9 to adult.
— The Red Rose Box
by Brenda Woods (Penguin Putnam). A 10-year-old girl raised in
the heavily segregated Louisiana of the early 1950s glimpses a
very different life when her estranged aunt sends her a
traveling case covered with red roses, containing treasures
the likes of which the girl has never seen. She later travels
to Los Angeles to meet the aunt; when her parents perish in
hurricane, she and her siblings move to the aunt’s home.
Ages 10 and up.
— The Pot that Juan Built
by Nancy
Andrews-Goebel, illustrated by David Diaz. (Lee and Low).
Noted Mexican potter Juan Quezada is the subject of an
inventive and engrossing biography. Ages 6 and up.
— Saladin: Noble Prince of
Islam by
Diane Stanley (HarperCollins). An intriguing look at the
12th-century ruler known as “the Muslim Saint-King” who
was praised even by his enemies during the Crusades as “the
marvel of his time.” Ages 8-12.
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Contact
Stan Steiner
Education
208 426-3962
Media contact
Janelle Brown
communications and marketing
426-1790
