Teaching Ideas | Teaching Stories Reviewed by Deborah Menkart Review Source: Rethinking Schools Book Author: Milo’s Museum by Zetta Elliott is a beautifully illustrated, empowering story of a young girl (Milo) who is excited to go on a school field trip to a museum. Her grandfather explains, “Museums hold all the things that people feel are […]
My Heart Fills with Happiness
Reviewed by Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: I’ve read My Heart Fills With Happiness by Monique Gray Smith, illustrated by Julie Flett, many times. I can’t decide—and don’t need to, really—which page is my favorite! For now—for this moment—I just got off the phone with my daughter, Liz. She’s […]
The Knife and the Butterfly
Reviewed by Lynn Miller Lachman Book Author: Ashley Hope Perez Review Source: The Pirate Tree Last October I spoke on a panel with four other authors, including fellow Pirate Tree-huggers J.L. Powers and Nancy Bo Flood, on the topic of children’s literature and war. My part on children as combatants included G. Neri and Randy DuBurke’s […]
Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty
Reviewed by Lyn Miller Lachman Review Source: The Pirate Tree Book Author: We think of war as happening to children in other places. In doing so, we fail to think about young people in the United States whose everyday lives mirror the lives of young people in the world’s combat zones. For children who experience […]
Drum Dream Girl
Review by Sujei Lugo Review Source: Latinx in Kid Lit Book Author: Girls cannot be drummers. Long ago on an island filled with music and rhythm, no one questioned that rule — until the drum dream girl. She longed to play tall congas and small bongós and silvery, moon-bright timbales. She had to practice in secret. […]
Rooster Joe and the Bully / El Gallo Joe y el Abusón
Review by Lyn Miller Lachman Review Source: Pirate Tree Book Author: Joe López, a seventh grader who loves to draw, is tired of seeing eighth grade bully Martín Corona push smaller kids around and steal their lunch money. When he disrupts the shakedown of Luis, one of the smaller sixth graders, Martín demands that Joe give […]