Contemporary History Lesson!

The Republican Convention Starts Today

Share the Story of How the Elephant Became the Republican Party Mascot with the Young People in Your Life

Did you know that the birth of the elephant as the Republican Party symbol was triggered from a phrase popular during the Civil War?  Do you know which political cartoonist is responsible for cementing the usage of the elephant as the Party mascot? 

You can read all about how the elephant and the donkey rose to iconic status in the OurWhiteHouse.org  exclusive article "The Donkey and the Elephant" written by NCBLA volunteer writer Helen Kampion.   We encourage you to share this article--and the accompanying discussion questions and activities--with all the young people in your life.

Here is an excerpt:

The earliest connection of the elephant to the Republican Party was an illustration in an 1864 Abraham Lincoln presidential campaign newspaper, Father Abraham. It showed an elephant holding a banner and celebrating Union victories. During the Civil War, “seeing the elephant” was slang for engaging in combat so the elephant was a logical choice to represent successful battles.

OurWhiteHouse.org, the NCBLA's companion educational website to the art and literature anthology Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out, features a treasure trove of exclusive articles, discussion questions, activities, and other resources to help young people connect with American history. Both the Our White House website and book are perfect partners for helping you get kids engaged in this year's presidential election!

To read the entire article detailing the history of the donkey and the elephant as mascots, click here. 

Helen Kampion received an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College. She is a volunteer staff writer for The National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance and, in addition to writing picture books and middle grade novels, runs book clubs and writing workshops for children.

Our White House is an outstanding collection of essays, personal accounts, historical fiction, and poetry that melds with an equally stunning array of original art to offer a look at America’s history through the prism of the White House. Starting with a 1792 call for designers and continuing through the present day, these highly engaging writings and illustrations, expressing varied viewpoints and interwoven with key historical events, are a vital resource for family and classroom sharing -- and a stirring reminder that the story of the White House is the story of every American.

To learn more about Our White House, click here.

For even MORE extensive resources to help engage young people in this year's campaigns and elections, check out our free and comprehensive Race to the Ballot: The Our White House Presidential Campaign and Election Kit for Kids!

Our White House is available
in both hardcover and paperback.

Ask for Our White House at a library or bookstore near you!

Portable Story Time!

Aesop's Fables Available as a Free Reading App from the Library of Congress on Read.Gov

Other Classic Books Also Online and Available to Read on Your Laptop!

From Aesop's Fables, "Two Travelers and a Bear," Milo Winter

The children's classic Aesop's Fables has been adapted and updated by the Library of Congress for reading on the Read.Gov website, as well as for downloading for usage on iPads, iPhones, and Android devices.  

The Aesop for Children interactive book is designed to be enjoyed by readers of any age. The book contains over 140 classic fables, accompanied by beautiful illustrations and interactive animations. Aesop's Fables—also called "the Aesopica"—are a collection of stories designed to teach moral lessons credited to Aesop, a Greek slave and story-teller thought to have lived between 620 and 560 BCE.

Aesop's fables are some of the most well known in the world and have been translated in multiple languages and become popular in dozens of cultures through the course of five centuries. They have been told and retold in a variety of media, from oral tradition to written storybooks to stage, film and animated cartoon versions—even in architecture.

The fables remain a popular choice for moral education of children today. Younger scholars will be able to trace the origin of aphorisms such as "sour grapes" and "a bird in the hand."

This interactive book is presented by the Library of Congress, adapted from the book The Aesop for Children: with Pictures by Milo Winter, published by Rand, McNally & Co in 1919. This work is considered to be in the public domain in the United States.

Milo Winter's pictures have been transformed for this interactive book, and now readers can interact with the charming illustrations to see and hear them move: a choosy heron eyes the fish swimming at his feet, a fox swishes his tail, a mouse chews a rope and frees a lion.

To read Aesop's Fables online, or to download the app, go to Read.Gov.

To check out the Library of Congress' complete collection of classic books formatted for online reading, click here. 

Attention Parents, Family Members, Teachers, Homeschoolers, Librarians, and Community Leaders!

NEW Presidential Campaign and Election Kit for Kids NOW AVAILABLE Free at OurWhiteHouse.org

Use This All-in-One Resource
to Engage and Excite Kids
in This Year's Presidential Election!

Just in time for the upcoming conventions and election! The National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance has created a free, online Presidential Campaign and Election Kit for all adults who live and work with young people to help engage and excite kids all across the country in this year's presidential election and to enrich kids' knowledge of all our presidents and our nation's history! 

The Race to the Ballot: Our White House Presidential Campaign and Election Kit for Kids is available on OurWhiteHouse.org. An easy-to-print version is also available for free download on the document-sharing website Scribd.com. 

 

Included in the Kit are the following resources:

• Exclusive articles regarding such topics as presidential job requirements, the history of presidential campaigns, the development of voting rights, and the evolution of the ballot. Be sure to check out "Persuading the People: Campaigning for President,"  "The Second Shall Be First: The 1948 Presidential Election--Truman V. Dewey" by Renee Critcher Lyons, "From Peas to Paper to IPads: The Evolution of the Ballot in America" by Heather Lang, and "The Donkey and the Elephant" by Helen Kampion.
• Activities to use with young people in the classroom or at home, including "Watch a Presidential Stump Speech...and Invite Kids to Write Their Own," "Separate Fact from Fiction: Analyze the Campaign Rhetoric," AND "Host Your Own Mock Election!"
• Discussion questions you can share during class, around the dinner table, and at a Scout or club meeting.
• So much more!

Some of the ideas and activities provided in the Kit coordinate with the content and illustrations in the NCBLA's award-winning anthology Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out (Candlewick Press), but most of the activities can be used independently of the book. We invite you to print and adapt content from the Kit as needed or to browse the pages using your smart phone, tablet computer, or laptop while on the go.

Click here to check out the complete Race to the Ballot: Our White House Presidential Campaign and Election Kit for Kids!

About Our White House and OurWhiteHouse.org

Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out was created by the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance as a collaborative effort by over one hundred award-winning authors and illustrators. Our White House is an incomparable collection of essays, personal accounts, historical fiction, poetry, and a stunning array of original art, offering a multifaceted look at America’s history through the prism of the White House.  Our White House is available in both hardcover and paperback from Candlewick Press.

The Our White House anthology is supported by a companion educational website, OurWhiteHouse.org, which expands the book content with additional stories, primary sources, articles, activities, and discussion questions related to book topics. The Race to the Ballot: Our White House Presidential Campaign and Election Kit for Kids is the most recent addition to this site, which has been named a Great Web Site for Kids by the American Library Association! Both Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out and OurWhiteHouse.org are projects created by the NCBLA to not only promote literacy, but to also excite people of all ages about our nation’s rich history. Learn more about how parents, teachers, and librarians can inspire young people using the Our White House resources in the online article "For Educators: Using Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out and OurWhiteHouse.org in the Classroom."

 

Ask for Our White House at a library or bookstore near you!

About The National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance

The NCBLA is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization founded by award-winning young people’s authors and illustrators. Acting as an independent creative agent or in partnership with interested parties, the NCBLA develops original projects, programs, and educational outreach that advocate for and educate about literacy, literature, libraries, and the arts.

We believe that literacy is essential to the development of responsible citizens in a democracy. And we believe that citizens, both young and old, must have equal access to stimulating books and information sources that invite them to dream and give them the tools to achieve their dreams. As writers and illustrators, teachers and mentors, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles—as citizens and neighbors—our ultimate question is always how can we best serve all of our nation’s children?

For more information about the NCBLA, please visit our website at www.thencbla.org.

Back to School! Tips for Easing the Transition

Excellent Resources Available
to Help Parents and Guardians
Get Kids Back to School
with Less Stress

As teachers prepare their curricula and classrooms for the first day of school, the NCBLA would like to share some authoritative resources to help parents and guardians everywhere ease the transition from summer to school as smoothly as possible.

Offering excellent tips for families with kids of all ages is "Back to School: Reducing the Stress!" in the NCBLA's Parent and Guardian Handbook, written by Mary Brigid Barrett. This informative article provides a series of tips helping your family prepare for and begin a successful school year. Mary Brigid Barrett is the president and executive director of The National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance. She is the author of the recently released children’s picture book Shoebox Sam (HarperCollins: Zonderkidz), and is the editor of, and contributor to, the NCBLA’s award-winning publication Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out (Candlewick Press).

 

Other resources of interest to parents and guardians in the NCBLA's free Parent and Guardian Handbook include: "I Will Read to My Kids--If I Ever Find the Time!," "Helping Your First Grader Learn to Read," and "Homework: A Parent's Guide."

Resources Mined from the Internet!

Other excellent resources to help your kids begin a successful school year include:

* "Back-to-School Resources for Parents and Educators" on ReadingRockets.org.

* "Ensuring Successful Student Transitions from the Middle Grades to High School" by Kathy Christie and Kyle Zinth on AdLit.org.

* "Get Ready to Go Back to School" on ReadWriteThink.org.

Save the Dates!

The Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards and
Horn Book at Simmons Colloquium

Scheduled for September 28-29

Celebrate the best in children’s and young adult literature! Register today for the Horn Book at Simmons Colloquium and automatically be admitted to the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards ceremony the preceding evening!

Attendees to the two events will be immersed in the world of children’s literature, and hear directly from the authors and illustrators of this year’s winning books! Plus, learn about the awards selection process from the judges, join fellow children’s literature lovers and industry experts to take a closer look at books for young people, get an inside look at the Picture Book Proclamation and have your books signed during the autographing sessions!

Colloquium speakers will include:

• Erin E. Stead, illustrator of And Then It's Spring
• Mal Peet, author of Life: An Exploded Diagram
• Elizabeth Wein, author of Code Name Verify
• Thom Barthelmess, Lecturer and Curator, Butler Children’s
  Literature Center, Dominican University
• Julie Fogliano, author of And Then It's Spring
• Elizabeth Bicknell, Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Candlewick Press

To register, click here. 

Reading Rockets Needs Your Input

Take the START WITH A BOOK Survey

Get a Chance to Win Books for Your Kids!

Reading Rockets developed Start with a Book to help parents and summer youth programs keep kids reading, exploring, and learning all summer long. On the Start with a Book website (www.startwithabook.org), there are 24 kid-friendly themes and lots of resources to build literacy skills and a love of reading.

Help make Start with a Book even better! Tell Reading Rockets what you think about the Start with a Book resources and how they can improve the content and usability of the site. The survey takes only about 10 minutes to complete. For taking the time to help, you can enter a drawing to win a basket of children's books (age-leveled for your child) and a Green Eggs and Ham reading adventure pack.

Your feedback is so important. Your every word will be read and your best ideas put into action to ensure that Reading Rockets continues to help launch confident young readers. Thank you!

Take the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YNLR9GL

Engage Kids in the Upcoming Republican and Democratic Conventions!

Share the History of the Donkey and the Elephant as Political Mascots with the Young People in Your Life

Exclusive New Article Now Available on OurWhiteHouse.org

OurWhiteHouse.org, the NCBLA's companion educational website to the art and literature anthology Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out, features a treasure trove of exclusive articles, discussion questions, activities, and other resources to help young people connect with American history. Both the Our White House website and book are perfect partners for helping you get kids engaged in this year's presidential election!

JUST ADDED to OurWhiteHouse.org is a new web exclusive "The Donkey and the Elephant" by NCBLA volunteer writer Helen Kampion. 

Parents, teachers, and librarians--did you know that two of America's most famous political icons owe their existence to a campaign insult and a phrase popular during the Civil War?  Do you know which political cartoonist is responsible for cementing the usage of the donkey and the elephant as the Democratic and Republican Party mascots? You can read all about how the donkey and the elephant rose to iconic status in Kampion's exclusive article. We encourage you to share this article--and the accompanying discussion questions and activities--with all the young people in your life.

Here is an excerpt:

The earliest connection of the elephant to the Republican Party was an illustration in an 1864 Abraham Lincoln presidential campaign newspaper, Father Abraham. It showed an elephant holding a banner and celebrating Union victories. During the Civil War, “seeing the elephant” was slang for engaging in combat so the elephant was a logical choice to represent successful battles.

To read the entire article detailing the history of donkey and the elephant as mascots, click here. 

Helen Kampion received an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College. She is a volunteer staff writer for The National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance and, in addition to writing picture books and middle grade novels, runs book clubs and writing workshops for children.

Our White House is an outstanding collection of essays, personal accounts, historical fiction, and poetry that melds with an equally stunning array of original art to offer a look at America’s history through the prism of the White House. Starting with a 1792 call for designers and continuing through the present day, these highly engaging writings and illustrations, expressing varied viewpoints and interwoven with key historical events, are a vital resource for family and classroom sharing -- and a stirring reminder that the story of the White House is the story of every American.

To learn more about Our White House, click here.

For more articles and resources related to presidential elections, check out the OurWhiteHouse.org Civic Education page AND our other NEW exclusives:

•  "The Second Shall Be First: The 1948 Presidential Election--Truman V. Dewey" by Renee Critcher Lyons 
• "From Peas to Paper to IPads: The Evolution of the Ballot in America" by Heather Lang.
  

Our White House is available
in both hardcover and paperback.

Ask for Our White House at a library or bookstore near you!

Fall Book Festivals

Literature and Literacy Events Spark
Imaginations of All Ages

 

Princeton Children's Book Festival,
September 8

The Princeton Children's Book Festival is an annual event each September at the Princeton Public Library and the Albert E. Hinds Memorial Plaza, scheduled this year from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

The Princeton Children's Book Festival is a celebration of of the love of libraries and books. This well-attended event continues to grow yearly and promises something for everyone. Here, you may meet your favorite author or illustrator, listen to them discuss their work, have a book autographed, or just have the opportunity to talk to them about their inspirations.

This is a free, rain-or-shine event that offers many additional fun activities throughout the afternoon. To learn more, click here.

National Book Festival, September 22-23

The 12th annual Library of Congress National Book Festival will be held September 22-23, 2012 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama are honorary chairs for the event.

 

The festival is free and open to the public.

This year's festival will feature authors, poets and illustrators in several pavilions, including two Sunday-only pavilions: Science Fiction, Fantasy & Graphic Novels and Special Presentations. Festival-goers can meet and hear firsthand from their favorite poets and authors, get books signed, hear special entertainment, have photos taken with storybook characters and participate in a variety of activities.

Discover more information about this year's National Book Festival at LOC.GOV/bookfest.

Children's Literature Festival at Keene State College, October 27

Join other children's literature enthusiasts at this year's Keene State College Children's Literature Festival on Saturday, October 27 at Keene State College in Keene, New Hampshire. Scheduled speakers at this year's festival will each give a one-hour presentation: Jane Dyer, Will Hillenbrand, Boris Kulikov, Kathleen Krull, and Jim Murphy. The authors' and illustrators' books will also be on sale throughout the day of the festival. Learn more at the Festival website.  

Activist Alert!

Support Children's Literacy Funding in FY13

Ask Your Congressional Reps to Support Continued Funding for Literacy

The House and Senate Appropriations committees have begun considering their funding bills for 2013. But only the Senate version contains funding for the Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL) program,  which supports high-quality programs designed to develop and improve literacy skills for children and students from birth through 12th grade within the attendance boundaries of high-need local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools.  The U.S. Department of Education and other agencies, such as Reading Is Fundamental, use these funds to support innovative programs that promote early literacy for young children, motivate older children to read, and increase student achievement by using school libraries, distributing free books to children and their families, and offering high-quality literacy activities.

Many schools and districts across the Nation do not have school libraries that deliver high-quality literacy programming to children and their families.  Additionally, many schools do not have qualified library media specialists and library facilities.  Where facilities do exist, they are often under-resourced and lack adequate books and other materials.  In many communities, high-need children and students have limited access to appropriate age- and grade-level reading material in their homes.   The IAL program supports the implementation of high-quality plans for childhood literacy activities and book distribution efforts that are supported by at least one study that meets the definition of scientifically valid research.

As Congress is now at work drafting the 2013 budget, it’s critical that this investment in children’s literacy remains. Unfortunately, the House spending measure eliminates funding for the IAL program. 

Please call your Congressional Representative today at the capitol switchboard (202.224.3121) and ask him or her to support the IAL program! To find direct contact information for members of Congress, click here.

For more information about how you can support literacy and libraries, visit the NCBLA's "Become an Activist" page.

In Case You Missed It!

Education Week Article Proclaims Benefits of Teaching Kids to Think Like Historians

Photo by Ramin Rahimian for Education Week

In the article titled "History Lessons Blend Content Knowledge, Literacy"  and published in Education Week, assistant editor Catherine Gewertz explains how implementation of the Common Core State Standards are prompting teachers to adopt new, innovative strategies for teaching history. 

Here is an excerpt:

For years, bands of educators have been trying to free history instruction from the mire of memorization and propel it instead with the kinds of inquiry that drive historians themselves. Now, the common-core standards may offer more impetus for districts and schools to adopt that brand of instruction.

A study of one such approach suggests that it can yield a triple academic benefit: It can deepen students’ content knowledge, help them think like historians, and also build their reading comprehension.

The Reading Like a Historian program, a set of 75 free secondary school lessons in U.S. history, is getting a new wave of attention as teachers adapt to the Common Core State Standards in English/language arts. Those guidelines, adopted by all but four states, demand that teachers of all subjects help students learn to master challenging nonfiction and build strong arguments based on evidence.

To read the entire article, click here.