Fiction

March 28, 2022 by Grace Enriquez

Retelling Fairy Tales for Contemporary Times: Beauty Woke

The remarkable power of words to hurt and to heal is echoed throughout Beauty Woke, the vibrant and uplifting picture book by author NoNieqa Ramos and illustrator Paola Escobar.

March 7, 2022 by Denise Davila

The Crisis in Ukraine: How War Changed Rondo

How War Changed RondoWritten by Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy LesivTranslated by Oksana LushchevskaPublished in 2021 by Enchanted Lion BooksISBN 978-1592703678 At The Classroom Bookshelf, we have been thinking about the ways in which we talk about the war in Ukraine with our students. We imagine that you, too, are thinking about how you can talk […]

February 22, 2022 by Grace Enriquez

2022 Newbery and Pura Belpré Award winner: The Last Cuentista

Donna Barba Higuera’s Newbery Award and Pura Belpré Award winning novel nimbly mixes Spanish and English and draws from various storytelling genres to do what speculative fiction does best - imagine the latent possibilities in a given society, challenge readers to contemplate the promises and risks, and invite us to form new understandings about the world we live in now.

More Recent Posts

Life’s Simple Problems Are Solved with the Help of Steadfast Friends in Amos McGee Misses the Bus: Teaching Ideas for this Much-Awaited Sequel

January 18, 2022 by Katie Cunningham

After over a decade, the much-awaited sequel to the Caldecott-winning A Sick Day for Amos McGee has arrived–and at just the right time. The return of fastidious zookeeper Amos and the beloved animals he cares for feels like coming home to an old friend.

Exploring Language, Leadership, Love, and More: Teaching Ideas for The Beatryce Prophecy

January 11, 2022 by Mary Ann Cappiello

This hopeful story of language, leadership, and love has so much to offer readers as an independent read, a whole class read aloud, or a book club exploration. Our weary, virus-laden world needs the goodness and joy this book conjures. “What does, then, change the world?....Love, and also stories” (p. 247).

Not One, But Two, Whimsical Picturebooks Where Things Mysteriously Fall From the Sky

December 6, 2021 by Katie Cunningham

This entry features two picturebooks by acclaimed picturebook creators who have crafted stories where things fall from the sky, events occur, and for some characters, lessons are learned.

Exploring the Past and Imagining the Future with Once Upon a Time There Was and Will Be So Much More

November 15, 2021 by Mary Ann Cappiello

Rare is the book that has the potential to prompt so much thinking in so few pages for such a wide audience. Originally published in Sweden in 2020, Johanna Schaible’s Once Upon a Time There Was and Will Be So Much More is a picture book for humans of all ages, from young children with an emerging concept of time to adults pondering their own life experiences in the past, present, and future.

Caribbean Creatures Sure to Spook and Delight Young Readers in Looking for a Jumbie

October 25, 2021 by Katie Cunningham

Looking for a Jumbie is Baptiste’s debut picturebook that brings the folklore of jumbies to young readers expanding the audience for these folkloric stories to bring children stories outside of European roots.

Centering Food and Family: Tomatoes for Neela

October 19, 2021 by Denise Davila

Tomatoes for NeelaWritten by Padma LakshmiIllustrated by Juana Martinez-NealPublished by Viking, 2021ISBN # 978-0593202708Grades PreK – 3 Book ReviewThis book is a celebration of sun-ripened tomatoes and the joy they offer year-round. Vividly illustrated by award-wining artist Juana Martinez-Neal and written by celebrity chef Padma Lakshmi, this delicious picturebook is set during tomato season when […]

Honoring Indigenous People’s Day with Teaching Ideas for Ancestor Approved

October 11, 2021 by Mary Ann Cappiello

For Native and non-Native readers alike, Ancestor Approved centers the diverse lives of contemporary Native tweens and teens, and invites all of us to delight in the community, connection, and celebration of the powwow.

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