Books celebrate family and they also help us understand. No family is free from problems. Some families are torn apart because of them. For the older reader, STAR IN THE FOREST by Laura Resau is a contemporary novel that catches your heart in the first chapter. One day Papa is pulled over for speeding. Mama… Read more »
November 2010
Welcome, Joseph Bruchac!
ReaderKidZ is pleased to welcome Joseph Bruchac to November’s Beyond Boundaries! ReaderKidZ: Why do you write? Where do your stories come from? Joseph Bruchac: I write because it brings me satisfaction on so many levels. For one, a part of me is so connected to the act of writing that it is a much a… Read more »
National American Indian Heritage Month
As Thanksgiving draws near, what better time to rethink the books you share with children about the history of our country and the role of Native Americans in it. You can encourage critical thinking skills as you discuss the history of Native Americans, a history that began long before Columbus arrived on our shore. Why… Read more »
A LONG WALK TO WATER, by Linda Sue Park
Bring the following passages from Park’s A Long Walk to Water to life by making a few hand-on projects. “Salva was amazed by what he saw in the fishing community. It was the first place in their weeks of walking that there was an abundance of food. The villagers ate a lot of fish, of… Read more »
Linda Sue Park and Water for Sudan: Drilling Wells, Transforming Lives
A LONG WALK TO WATER by Linda Sue Park is based on the true story of Salva Dut, who, as a 11-year old child fled Southern Sudan to Ethiopia, and later led 1500 “Lost Boys” to a refugee camp in Kenya. At the age of 22, Salva was relocated to the United States. Park’s story… Read more »
Families and Traditions
BUFFALO SONG by Joseph Bruchac and illustrated by Bill Farnsworth tells the story of the efforts of Samuel Walking Coyote, Whista Shinchilapi, to save the buffalo, an animal sacred to Native Americans. The vast herds of buffalo that once roamed across North America had been decimated. Rescuing one animal and then another, Walking Coyote and… Read more »
Dia’s Story Cloth by Dia Cha, Chue and Nhia Thao Cha
“For centuries needlework has been part of Hmong culture. But is has only been within the last two decades that “story cloths” emerged as a way for Hmong to keep their stories alive. “For the Hmong people, story cloths are a bridge between past and present. For all Americans. Dia’s Story Cloth is a universal… Read more »
