CLCD Newsletter | Volume 8, Issue 2

Monthly Features

This month we celebrate two important bicentennial birthdays. Coincidentally, one of the authors featured this month shares that same birthday.

Charles Darwin, British naturalist, geologist, "observer of nature" who became famous for his book called, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (1859), was born on February 12, 1809. Our feature includes a link to a variety of interesting materials about Darwin and his times. There are books for elementary, middle school and high school students that look at his life, his colleagues, and his research and conclusions. In Adaptation by Alvin Silverstein, Virginia Silverstein, and Laura Silverstein Nunn they begin with an explanation of evolution and then present how different types of animals came to live in different places.

The bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln occurs on February 12 as well. If you think there is nothing new to learn about Lincoln, or you think you cannot justify purchasing another book about him, you definitely need to look at our feature. It can help you select the best books to recommend to your readers, from picture book format to nonfiction for high school students. Our reviewer says of Abe's Honest Words: the Life of Abraham Lincoln by Doreen Rappaport and illustrated by Gary Kelley "the author is able to reduce the complexities of the times and the issues of slavery and civil war to the sparse prose of a picture book and the powerful and arresting illustrations further illuminate Lincoln's life." It is a book that can be used as an introduction to Lincoln for young students, and as a discussion starter for middle grades and high school.

Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902 and spent most of his youth in Lawrence, Kansas. Learn how he became an important African-American writer in this feature. Langston Hughes: The Harlem Renaissance by Maurice Wallace gives biographical information as well as an introduction to many of his literary works and is one of the titles listed here.

Cheer up the winter blahs with books in our Valentine's Day feature. We sometimes think that a gift needs to be perfect, but we are reminded that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" with books such as Valentine Surprise by Corinne Demas and illustrated by R. W. Alley.

Author Features

Craig Hatkoff, co-author of Owen and Mzee, discusses the origins of his newest co-authored book which is Looking for Miza : the True Story of an Orphaned Baby Gorilla. His co-authors are Juliana Hatkoff, Isabella Hatkoff, and Paula Kahumbu and photographs are by Peter Greste. The story of this lost baby becomes even more fascinating when Miza's rescuer is her father, a silver-back gorilla. Hatkoff talks about the political situation which complicates the protection of the highly endangered mountain gorillas and presents a tidbit gem about nose prints that will be a great lead-in for a booktalk.

Juanita Havill talks about Grow, her novel in verse. Her first version of this story was in picture book format. Discover how that changed into a novel, and what incident planted the seed for this story of a community garden.

James L. Swanson shares his birthday with Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln - but not the year. He has taken the information he gathered for his adult nonfiction Manhunt: The 12-day Chase for Lincoln's Killer (2006) and created a book for young people entitled, Chasing Lincoln's Killer. He answers questions about the challenges of taking information for an adult book and paring it down for children (it is not as easy as you would think!). He mentions some of the original sources he used, and without which he would not have been able to tell this story. What does he think children ought to know about Lincoln (but probably don't)? You will find the answer in this feature.