World Read Aloud Day March 9

An interest and the ability to read starts with hearing others read.  According to the organizers of World Read Aloud Day, "Nearly 1 billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their name."  Last year, the organizers of World Read Aloud Day had people reading aloud in 35 countries.  Events are scheduled throughout the world.

Many books created for children are great for reading aloud so if you need a particular day to encourage yourself to reading to a child, to a teen or an adult, consider World Read Aloud Day a good reason.  This might be a time to find again a favorite poem, a passage from a chapter book or a picture book.  Or, it might be an impetus to volunteer in classrooms and after school programs that could benefit from an adult reading to children.

March certainly has many days emphasizing reading as well as Women's History Month, Youth Art Month, Mardi Gras, Lent, St. Patrick's Day, ComicCon in Chicago, the Ides of March, and, of course, the hopefulness of the beginning of spring.

Read Across America Day

Yesterday was Dr. Seuss's birthday and the official Read Across America Day.  It's become a day when kids walk around with silly paper hats like the Cat in the Hat wears and occasionally officials come to schools or libraries to read.  At least it's one day, when instead of villifying teachers we take the time to recognize the importance of teaching kids to read.  Begun to the National Education Association, Read Across America encourages children, along with their parents and caregivers, to read throughout the year. Here's a link to the NEA's colorful reading calendar to encourage kids to read throughout the year.  There's also a Top 100 List of books for children compiled by teachers.  And another Top 100 Kids Books list.  You can find several more book lists here. Here are links from the Reading Rockets website that include Lane Smith and Jack Prelutsky talking about Dr. Seuss, class room ideas for using Dr. Seuss books, and even incorporating service learning and Dr. Seuss books with older readers.

Even if you didn't wear a silly hat yesterday, today is as good a time as ever to read to kids and encourage the habit.  In our house, the popular series middle school literature has been The Hunger Games, so guess I'm going to have to read it, too.

Target's 26-foot Read sign in front of the New York Public Library

Little Black Sambo controversy in Japan

The controversy over Helen Bannerman's Little Black Sambo continues.  This time the problems are surfacing again in Japan, which has a long history of misinterpreting images that are considered in racist in the U.S. but are sometimes seen as 'cute' in that country. Just learned that I am a source in an April 13, 2010, article in Japan Times: " 'Sambo' racism row reignites over kids' play: The 1899 book still making waves in 21st-century Japan."  Writer Matthew Chozick has a quotation from my essay “Reviving or Revising Helen Bannerman’s The Story of Little Black Sambo: Postcolonial Hero or Signifying Monkey?”  in Voices of the Other: Children’s Literature and the Postcolonial Context edited by Roderick McGillis  (Garland, 1999: 223-52).

The Sambo book is complicated as the story, in and of itself, appeals to many children and was never Little Black Sambo reinterpreted with positive African-American images by Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkneyintended by Bannerman to be racist.  Unfortunately, the images most associated with the children's book are also connected with negative stereotype images of African-Americans.  Bannerman did not set the story in the United States; it grew out of her experiences living in India.  Still, it is important to respect that some African-Americans see some of the Sambo illustrations as racist.  On the other hand, Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney have re-interpreted the story to incorporate positive illustrations of African-Americans: Sam and the Tigers: A Retelling of 'Little Black Sambo' (Puffin: 2000).

Twilight vs. Harry Potter

Here's a different take on the Twilight phenomenon "Do Twilight Fans Get Flak Because They're (mostly) Girls?"  The question is that if it was less of a romantic book, and more of an adventure book, similar to the Harry Potter series, then maybe the book wouldn't be so bedeviled by critics.

However, Harry Potter hasn't been as loved by critics as this blog seems to suggest.

Here's an article on all the book banning of Harry Potter. More details about the Potter censorship battles. Here's The New York Times' children's book editor, Laura Miller's take on how long a book takes to become a classic, and why Harry Potter is yet to be one. She also writes about the children's literature publishing world in that article for Salon. Christian bookstores and some Christians haven't been very enamored with the Potter series, either.

The list is endless, but Harry Potter is not particularly beloved among everyone and has taken his hits and arrows. Twilight is paying the price for popularity as well.