Book Love by Tina Cho

I agree. I love books, especially children’s books. I declare February Book Love Month. And to show your love of books, I challenge you to write book reviews for your favorites, especially newly published books that don’t have a lot of reviews yet. More on that later in this post.

I fell in love with reading as a child because my mom read books to me, we went to the library, participated in summer reading challenges and school reading challenges. Some of my favorites that I still remember are:

Little Rabbit’s Loose Tooth by Lucy Bates

Owl at Home by Arnold Lobel **I even had the record to listen to the story! (Yes, that’s how old I am.)

Henry Huggins & Ramona Quimby by Beverly Clearly

Superfudge by Judy Blume

I fell in love with reading as a parent because there’s a bonding between child and parent that happens when you snuggle up with a book. I think my husband and I have the following books still memorized from all those re-readings.

My daughter’s favorite: Sandra Boyton’s Moo Baa La, La, La

My son’s favorite: Freight Train by Donald Crews

I fell in love with reading as a teacher because like parent and child, there’s a bonding between class and teacher. Some of my favorites over the years:

Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan Higgins

I fell in love with reading as an author because I can study the writing craft and appreciate a good story. Here are just some. I love too many.

Louder than Hunger by John Schu

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca

Lizzy and the Cloud by the Fan Brothers

Owl Moon by Jane Yolen

 

There are many little way to enlarge your child's world. Love of books is the best of all. --Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Readers, you can show some book love and author love this month, especially, by writing book reviews for your favorites. Sharing to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Good Reads and even on your social media helps a book and an author! You never know, who will see your review, especially on social media!

Here's a book review I just shared about a new picture book titled Soy Sauce, by Laura G. Lee. 

Soy Sauce by Laura G. Lee is a delightful, delicious story that shares the history of soy sauce as well as the variations among countries like Japan, Korea, and China in a fun, rhyming text. I love how the story shows the hard work that is put into making soy sauce as well as the fermentation process called koji. Charming pictures of Asian kids are accompanied by real soy sauce illustrations! Back matter includes more history about soy sauce and a visual dictionary. This is a fun book to introduce kids to a staple Asian ingredient. 

So I challenge you to write 4 book reviews, at least 1 review for each week in February. If you do, come back to this post by 2/28 evening, and let us know you shared 4 book reviews, and we’ll put your name in a drawing. One person will win author Christy Mihaly’s 3-book pack featuring Our Congress, The Supreme Court and Us, & Free For You and Me. Another person will win Tina Cho’s middle grade graphic novel, The Other Side of Tomorrow. And the third person will win former librarian and author, Kathy Halsey’s 30 min AMA (Ask Me Anything) about School Visits!

For more information about the authors, check their websites here:

Christy Mihaly

Tina Cho

Kathy Halsey

 

#februarybooklovemonth

 

 

Read Your World Day ~Christy Mihaly

(Early) Read Your World Day Greetings!

Read Your World Day (formerly Multicultural Children's Book Day) is coming Jan. 30. Now in its thirteenth year, this children's literacy initiative was founded by Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen, two diverse book-loving moms who saw a need to shine the spotlight on kids' multicultural books and authors while working to get those books into the hands of young readers and educators.

Read Your World’s mission is to raise awareness of the importance of including books celebrating diversity in homes and school bookshelves. Read about the Read Your World Mission and history HERE.

In celebration, GROG is joining bajillions of bloggers to post reviews of new and notable diverse books during January. I'm sharing three books here, all published in 2024. (I received complimentary copies and/or pdfs for review through the Read Your World program.) I love the wealth of different creative voices out there, and the vast range of book offerings for adults wanting to share the big wide world with their kiddos.

First up is There's a Robot in my Classroom, by Dr. Carlotta A. Berry, illustrated by Anak Bulu. Dr. Berry, a professor in electrical and computer engineering, is doing important work to diversify the engineering profession, and she is both a textbook author and the writer of a series of children's picture books about robots, of which this is one.

We're talking about real little robots that kids create and program. In There's a Robot in My Classroom, Miguel starts with a shoebox, adds sensors, lights, wheels, motors, and other parts, then writes the code to control his robot creation. This is a fun and empowering STEM story for robot fans and the robot-curious. 

The picture book Together is Better, written by Diane Costa and illustrated by Grace Tan, is a cheery romp through a diverse neighborhood. It centers on  the various neighbors that make up the community and describes how they help one another and enjoy shared activities. This book is a celebration of community and will make a great conversation starter.

The publisher, Language Lizard, specializes in multi-lingual books and translations and offers books in more than 60 languages. Together is Better is available in Dari, Haitian Creole, Pashto, Russian, Spanish and Ukrainian. Wow!

My Dreidel, written and illustrated by the talented Ann Diament Koffsky, is an adorable board book that introduces both dreidels and the process of trying and failing and trying again. It was published by Apples & Honey Press, an imprint of Berhman House. 

The puppy protagonist in this story wants to spin her dreidel. After initial failures, she succeeds with some help. The book includes a simple explanation of the Hebrew letters on each side of the dreidel and their meanings. This is a great choice for the littlest book lovers, at Hanukkah or any time.

So, why not read some new books this month? You might like to start with these three diverse choices. Leave a comment about your own favorites. 

And read on for more information about Read Your World Day 2025 sponsors, educational resources, and activities -- including the cool virtual party -- with prizes!

Read Your World is honored to be supported by these generous donors:

FOUNDER’S CIRCLE: Mia Wenjen (Pragmaticmom) and Valarie Budayr (Audreypress.com)

🏅 Super Platinum Sponsor: Author Deedee Cummings and Make A Way Media

🏅 Platinum Sponsors: Publisher Spotlight and  Language Lizard Bilingual Books in 60 Languages 

🏅 Gold Sponsors:  Third State Books 

🏅 Silver Sponsors: Red Comet Press and Lerner Books 

🏅 Silver Corporate Sponsor:  Scholastic Books 

🏅 Bronze Sponsors:  Lee and Low 

🏅 Corporate Sponsor: Crayola Education

Read Your World is honored to be supported by these Author Sponsors!

Authors: Stephanie M. Wildman, Martha Seif Simpson, Anna Jennings, Gwen Jackson, Afsaneh Moradian, Josh Funk, Nancy Tupper Ling, Kathleen Burkinshaw, Gea Meijering, Eugenia Chu, Dorktales Story Time, Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett, Authors J.C. Kato and J.C.², Cynthia Levinson, Diana Huang, Rochelle Melander,  Lisa Chong, Lisa Stringfellow,  Brunella Costaglioga, Lindsey Rowe Parker, Rachel C. Katz, Tonya Duncan Ellis, Shifa Safadi, Lisa Rogers, Sylvia Liu, Eva Clarke

Read Your World is honored to be supported by our CoHosts and Global CoHosts and by our Partner Organizations! 

Check out RYW’s Multicultural Books for Kids Pinterest Board!

📌 FREE RESOURCES from Read Your World Day

• RYW2025 Poster

• Mental Health Support for Stressful Times Classroom Kit

• Diversity Book Lists & Activities for Teachers and Parents

• Homeschool Diverse Kidlit Booklist & Activity Kit

• FREE Teacher Classroom Activism and Activists Kit

• FREE Teacher Classroom Empathy Kit

• FREE Teacher Classroom Kindness Kit

• FREE Teacher Classroom Physical and Developmental Challenges Kit

• FREE Teacher Classroom Poverty Kit

• Gallery of Our Free Posters

• FREE Diversity Book for Classrooms Program

The Read Your World folks invite you to join the virtual party on Thursday, January 30, 2025, at 9 pm EST celebrating 13 years of  Read Your World Day! This epically fun and fast-paced hour includes multicultural book discussions, addressing timely issues, diverse book recommendations, & reading ideas. Plus, a 10-Book Bundle GIVE-AWAY during the virtual party plus Bonus Prizes as well! *** US and Global participants are welcome. ***

Follow the hashtag #ReadYourWorld to join the conversation, and connect with like-minded parts, authors, publishers, educators, organizations, and librarians.

Introducing the GROG’s Greatest HIts: Happy 10th Year Anniversary! by Kathy Halsey

2014 to 2024!  Happy 10th year anniversary to the Grog. Woohoo! Let the celebration begin.  

Throughout this year the GROG team will be featuring a “blast to the past" with our most popular posts through the years. 

Look for these gems and other surprises to be revealed as we celebrate 2024.

• How about a book giveaway?
• An AMA (Ask Me Anything) chat?
• A critique?

Stay tuned every Wednesday for our weekly posts! Let's dance through 2024 in writer style!

Not Gangnam style or Tiktok style, but writer style!

A GROG Greatest Hit: Nonfiction vs. Informational Fiction: A Former School Librarian's View with NF Maven Melissa Stewart

Waaaay back in 2020 before we all added N-95 face masks to our fashion ensembles, there were burning questions about nonfiction: 

• What is nonfiction? 
• What is creative nonfiction? 
• What is informational fiction? 
• Are these terms interchangeable? 

Melissa Stewart and I got together and had a confab about it. Can you believe we are still discussing the intricacies of nonfiction in 2024? And like Back to the Future, we mentioned NF Fest in that post and it's coming back in February 2024, too! 

NFFEST begins February 1. NFFEST.COM

In our 2020, post Melissa and I gave pointers on how to tell if a book is fiction or nonfiction by reviewing how librarians catalog books as well as sharing examples and an exercise useful for writers, teachers, and students on classifying a book as informational fiction or nonfiction. Check that post out here.

Fast forward to 2024, and Melissa Stewart and Marlene Correia’s 2021 book 5 KInds of Nonfiction we mentioned then is becoming the preferred way for nonfiction writers and school librarians to categorize nonfiction.

Drum roll, please. . .and the 5 categories are Active, Browseable, Traditional, Expository Literature and Narrative nonfiction. Informational fiction still has “made-up parts" and creative nonfiction is synonymous with unique ways of crafting all types of nonfiction.

I'm using this book now to decide what type of NF my WIP should be.

A Look Back and a Look Forward 

        Then: NESCBWI               Now: NCTE Columbus OH

To win a prize of an Ask Me Anything 20 minute Zoom chat or Ask Infowoman: A Library Consult from Kathy, share your look back to 2020 or 2014 and look forward to 2024 with us in the comments. They don't have to be fancy, either. (I did mine in Canva.) If you haven't done so yet, please subscribe to our blog in the blue box at the top right side of this site! Thank you!