"Fourth-grader Wade Thompson is having trouble adjusting to Kennedy, the new school where he has been transferred to a class for the gifted and talented. . . . With fast-moving dialogue, humor and sympathy, Cohen weaves a story of developing friendships and self-knowledge and once again demonstrates how well she understands a child's need for acceptance".--The Horn Book.
This book of matrices with Black boys as the main character is designed to help gifted and talented education teachers leverage Black boys’ identities to inform and shape how they plan and deliver curriculum and instruction and manage the multicultural, democratic, and culturally responsive classroom. Ford and colleagues (2005) spoke to the notion of and need for ‘self-reflective instruction.’ We argue that all teachers must want to and learn how to legitimize the “everyday” experiences that are learned and cultivated in the homes and communities of Black boys, and how these experiences shape their self-identities and contribute to agency (Wright, Counsell, & Tate 2015). We, therefore, advocate for the rethinking of literacies by repositioning White-centered texts that often reflect and represent power and privilege toward centering the brilliance of Black identities of Black children in general, Black boys in particular. Black boys (of all ages) want to and need to physically see positive images of themselves in books reflected at them. This representation, we argue, has the potential to become an example of a compelling counter-narrative to the history of the “all-White world” (Larrick, 1965) of children’s books that only presented Black characters as “objects of ridicule and generally inferior beings” (Sims Bishop 2012, p. 6). When Black boys see themselves portrayed visually, textually, and realistically in children’s books, vital messages of recognition, value, affirmation, and validation are conveyed. Recognition of the sociocultural contexts in which they live is celebrated. Books for and about Black boys must be rigorous, authentic, multicultural, and developmentally appropriate to allow them to synthesize what they have read, heard, and seen during literacy instruction in authentic and meaningful ways. Multicultural books must introduce children to information about the values of justice, fairness, and equity. Developmentally appropriate books should vary with and adapt to the age, experience, and interests of gifted and talented Black boys to allow them the opportunity to demonstrate critical thinking, textual analysis skills and convey conceptual knowledge. These stories must expose Black boys to culturally relevant counter stories -- stories that counteract the dominant discourse that has primarily depicted Black boys as “at risk” versus placed at risk; “without hope” versus hopeful; or “out of control and dangerous” (Tatum, 2005, p. 28) versus developing self-control like all other children (Wright et al., 2018).
The Ten Million Year Biscuit was forged in the Earth's core by the masters of space and time using flour borrowed from Jeppy, the Human Cannonball. Thought to be the perfect biscuit, many adventurers sought the Ten Million Year Biscuit for generations. All of them failed spectacularly. Will Nigel Turnbottom, adventurer extraordinaire, be able to adventure harder than he's ever adventured before and find the meaning of friendship? This book was made for the ten year anniversary of www.jollybiscuit.com and features all the best comic strips and stories posted over the years. If you're looking for goofs, gags, gaffs, waggery, yuks, quips, nutty zingers, whacky hijinks, thigh-slappers, riffs, and/or capers. Then your ten million year search has come to an end!
Black Authors and Illustrators of Books for Children and Young Adults is a biographical dictionary that provides comprehensive coverage of all major authors and illustrators – past and present. As the only reference volume of its kind available, this book is a valuable research tool that provides quick access for anyone studying black children’s literature – whether one is a student, a librarian charged with maintaining a children’s literature collection, or a scholar of children’s literature. The Fourth Edition of this renowned reference work illuminates African American contributions to children’s literature and books for young adults. The new edition contains updated and new information for existing author/illustrator entries, the addition of approximately 50 new profiles, and a new section listing online resources of interest to the authors and readers of black children’s literature.
There has never been, Nunberg writes, an age as wary as ours of the tricks words can play, obscuring distinctions and smoothing over the corrugations of the actual world.... Yet as advertisers and marketers know, our mistrust of words doesn't ...
Cory is turning seven, and his best friend convinces him to "investigate" the birthday present his mother has hidden away. But when they open it and it doesn't work they're afraid they've broken it! As if that isn't bad enough, the class bully tries to ruin Cory's birthday party at the skating rink. It looks as if second grade is off to a bad start for Cory Coleman.
