Each year, the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) along with Biblioboard, honor the best self-published EBooks in fiction and poetry by an African American author in the U.S. BCALA has hosted this award for the last five years. Here are some titles to diversify your EBook collections. Past Fiction Winners (2016) Song … Continue reading #BlackIsBeautiful: And the “E”-ward Goes to…..
Articles
#BlackIsBeautiful: Genesis Begins Again
Our Blackness is beautiful and diverse, our skin representing a variety of shades and hues, from light to dark and dark to light, a blending of ethnicities and cultures. And yet there are conflicting ideals of beauty, as society pressures communities of color to conform to their expectations. It’s taken us awhile to get to … Continue reading #BlackIsBeautiful: Genesis Begins Again
#WorldKidLitWednesday: The Moose of Ewenki
Picture books can be a wonderful source of stories and information about life in far-off places. The Moose of Ewenki is set in the mountains of Inner Mongolia, one of the few regions* in Northern Asia inhabited by the Indigenous Ewenki people. There, they lead a semi-nomadic way of life, raising reindeer and hunting in … Continue reading #WorldKidLitWednesday: The Moose of Ewenki
#BlackIsBeautiful: Books that Boost Blackness to Children
To be Black is to embody diversity in lived experiences, culture, skin tones and hair textures. Blackness is an awareness of differences in treatment based on beauty standards that have historically ignored the range of shades and coils of Black people. The following U.S. titles celebrate and honor Black people and teach young children (ages … Continue reading #BlackIsBeautiful: Books that Boost Blackness to Children
#BlackIsBeautiful: Lets Celebrate the Beauty of Blackness with the Black Caucus of the American Library Association
Have you heard of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA)? This 50 year old organization is the oldest ethnic affiliate of the American Library Association (ALA). Established in 1970, BCALA, was formed to serve as an advocate for the development, promotion, and improvement of library services and resources to the nation’s African … Continue reading #BlackIsBeautiful: Lets Celebrate the Beauty of Blackness with the Black Caucus of the American Library Association
Silent books
Any children's librarian will tell you that as children are read picturebooks they are not usually silent participants. So this category of the picturebook is a little puzzling until you realise that the books are silent because there are no words on the page. The story is carried by the illustrations and the reader who … Continue reading Silent books
South African Womxn Writers – The Wrap Up!
Wow! That's a wrap. This month has absolutely flown by and I hope that you have each found (at least) a few new books and authors that you'd like to keep track of and support. The South African book publishing industry remains quite small - a book is a bestseller with just a couple thousand … Continue reading South African Womxn Writers – The Wrap Up!
South African Writing – Day 20: An interview with two South African librarians
South African public libraries are a vital resource for South Africa's readers. They are incredible spaces of creation and learning and connection. I interviewed two local librarians to find out more about their work. Elzana Dlomo Elzana Dlomo is the senior librarian at Central Library in Cape Town. Central Library is located in the CBD … Continue reading South African Writing – Day 20: An interview with two South African librarians
South African Womxn Writers – Day 20: The Playwrights
Since I'm by no means an expert in plays or playwrights, I reached out to some writer friends for tips on SA womxn playwrights to look out for. Here are a few suggestions. Koleka Putuma - No Easter Sunday for Queers NO EASTER SUNDAY FOR QUEERS follows the hate crime murderlove story of Napo and Mimi. The lovers, … Continue reading South African Womxn Writers – Day 20: The Playwrights
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: Stars and Poppy Seeds
When I was a kid, I loved to count all sorts of things, as so many children do. Because numbers are fascinating! Even the names are cool: long before there was Google, there were googols and googolplexes. In Stars and Poppy Seeds, a picture book for ages 3-7, Flora is the child of mathematicians. And … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Stars and Poppy Seeds
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 