When Karen Van Drie, the enthusiastic and dedicated Executive Director of Global Literature in Libraries Initiative, invited me to be the guest editor for the GLLI blog during World Kid Lit Month this year and to feature Dutch kid lit all month long, I was happy to do so because it would mean that I … Continue reading #WorldKidLitMonth September 2021 – Spotlight #DutchKidLit
August 6, 1945, is a date forever etched into the memories of those who live in Hiroshima. Today, it is marked by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony, where thousands of lanterns are set afloat along the Motoyasu River in memory of those who died in the devastating bombing of the city. Soul Lanterns, a historical … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Soul Lanterns
Today is the last day of September, and with it, the end of this #WorldKidLit Month. It has been an honor to present to the global reading public children's and Young Adult books, written by Puerto Ricans, with Puerto Rican themes, from both the island and the diaspora. I hope that from wherever in the … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Month 2020: Puerto Rican Kid Lit from Here to the World
In addition to previously-unbeknownst-to-me books, my research for #WorldKidLit Month led me to the discovery of a marvelous new effort to grow the profile of children's and young adult literature in Puerto Rico. Historical Photograph: Bookmobile in front of Dr. María Cadilla High School in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, 1961. Courtesy of Puerto Rico Historic Building … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Month 2020: Incubating Children’s Literature in Puerto Rico
If you've been reading this blog during #WorldKidLit Month, you may have already learned a bit about the coquí. A small species of tree frog onomatopoeically named for its vociferous song, the coquí has long been a symbol of Puerto Rico. The Taíno, for example, carved what are believed representations of the coquí on rock … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Month 2020: The Legend of Kiki Kokí
As part of my research in preparation for serving as guest editor of the GLLI blog for #WorldKidLit Month, I made it a point to look online for books published on the island of Puerto Rico proper. I knew there were books out there that I didn't have immediate knowledge of, as I am located … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Month 2020: Ellas: Histories of Puerto Rican Women
As I mentioned in another blog post during this #WorldKidLit Month, Puerto Rico owes much of its cultural inheritance to its population of African descent. Although they were kidnapped, brought as captives to the Western Hemisphere, and forced to labor under the sadistic conditions established by European colonial powers, African peoples endured, survived, and created … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Month 2020: When Julia Danced Bomba
Arturo Alfonso Schomburg In yesterday's post, we learned about trailblazing librarian and storyteller Pura Belpre. Today I want to present another monumental figure of the Puerto Rican diaspora, noted book collector, historian, researcher, writer, and activist Arturo Alfonso Schomburg. Often recognized as one of the fathers of Black history, his enormous book collection formed the … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Month 2020: Afro Puerto Rican Bibliophile Arturo Alfonso Schomburg
Photograph of Pura Belpré Avid picture book readers, close followers of the children's publishing industry, and librarians may very well be familiar with the Pura Belpré Medal, given annually to Latinx illustrators and writers whose book "best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience." However, how much do we about the trailblazing librarian and storyteller … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Month 2020: Trailblazing Puerto Rican Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré
What a wonderful concept! This series of pocket-sized picture books, originally published in Latvian, pairs a classic or modern poem with artwork commissioned from a contemporary illustrator. I originally highlighted the Bicki-Books (Set 2) in my recommended list of reads for infants and preschoolers, but a two-line mention does not do them justice. These six … Continue reading #WorldKidLitWednesday: Bicki-Books (Set 2)
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 