Books by Celebs

It seems that every week, someone finds another outrageous book by some celebrity. To me, it seems most of these books only got published because the author was famous in one way or another. This got me to thinking that not all books by celebs can be bad and there has to be some good literature out there. In my search, I was surprised to find several books written by Maria Shriver that all got raving reviews. There were three book that I found with topics that some people might find helpful for their final project topic. "What's wrong with Timmy?"- helps guide a response when children notice that someone looks different. "What's heaven?- which gives families a staring point to discuss the difficult subject of death. And "What's happening to Grandpa?"- which touches on the subject of Alzheimer's Disease. All three books seemed to have great reviews (but I am unsure as to how reliable these reviewers are). It's good to know that will all the "no-so-good" literature out there by celebs, there is some good out there as well.

Article reflection

While I truly enjoyed the book, the articles from this week really got thinking about some things. Simi Linton's article on "Claiming Disability" was incredibly powerful. I knew that there are a lot of terms to refer to people with disabilities, but I never realized how many different connotations these words had. It made me realize that some words that I thought were more politically correct were actually slightly offensive. After reading the article, however, I was left slightly confused. I don't really know what terms are appropriate and I am now more self-conscious on the terms that I do use. According to the text, it seemed like all terms were slightly offensive in one way or another and now I really do not know what is ok and what is not.
The article on Children's Literature Collection also gave some great tips on books to use in the classroom. Rolling Along with Goldilocks and the Three Bears seems like it would be a great book to have in a lower elementary classroom. Since it is a story that the students would already be familiar with, I feel that they would be more receptive to the story and it might be able to grab their attention.

The Pura Belpre Award

When & Why it was Established:
It was established in 1996. It was established to give recognition to a Latino/Latina author/illustrator who excelled in the portrayed the Latin culture in a children’s book.
The Selection Criteria:
What books: books written about Latin culture
What authors: Latino/Latina authors
What illustrators are eligible? Latino/Latina authors

Who Sponsors this award:
This award is co-sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children and the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking

Who is on the selection committee:
The selection committee is a group of six individuals throughout the country. Some of the selection committee was simply librarians from different states. One of the women was actually the Latino Children's Literature Consultant in California.

Examples of who has won:
• Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
o Gave an accurate portrayal of the Latin culture without using any stereotypes or bias to her culture. It was enjoyable and gave an insight to the Latin world, without throwing too much culture in your face
• Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida by Victor Martinez
o This book meets the criteria as it is written by a Latin author and gives an exciting and accurate portrayal of the culture. This book not only includes issues that only affect the Latin community, it covers problems that children/young adults of all cultures would face.
• First Day of Grapes by L. King Perez. Illustrated by Robert Casilla
o This book’s portrays the lifestyle and home life of a typical Latin family and the struggles of a young boy in his new town. This book describes the life of a migrant family and gives an accurate portrayal of the culture and its people.