Happy 40th Anniversary to The Coretta Scott King Book Award!

The celebration at ALA annual in Chicago in July was as it should be: both festive and thought-provoking. The awards breakfast featured eloquent remarks by Kadir Nelson, author winner for We Are the Ship, and Floyd Cooper, the illustrator winner for The Blacker the Berry. If you were not fortunate enough to be in the audience that morning, please be sure to read copies of their thoughtful and heartfelt speeches.

The creation of The Coretta Scott King Book Award Curriculum Resource Center was announced at the breakfast. It was created by TeachingBooks.net with the support of the Coretta Scott King Book Award 40th Anniversary Public Awareness Campaign Committee. It contains more than eight hours of originally produced audio with award-winning authors and illustrators, presented in accessible, two- to three-minute clips. In addition to free, online primary source materials (audio recordings and book readings), the collection features hundreds of lesson plans and original movies filmed in the studios of some of the award-winning authors and illustrators. Among the more than 250 recordings are Dr. Maya Angelou and George Ford—two of the first recipients of the award in the early 1970s—as well as Dr. Toni Morrison, Walter Dean Myers, Kadir Nelson, Faith Ringgold, and Jacqueline Woodson.

The Children's Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD) is pleased to announce that beginning mid-month subscribers will be able to link directly to the titles in The Coretta Scott King Book Award Curriculum Resource Center from the CLCD full display of an award winning title.

Our goal at CLCD is to provide quick and easy access to good and useful information about children's and young adult books and media. Providing links to The Coretta Scott King Book Award Curriculum Resource Center is one more reason that CLCD should be your "go to" resource all day, every day.

Quote of the Month

"I make sure Clemson keeps a subscription to CLCD, and I have recommended it to many other academic libraries as well. It's a staple for my work now."
Michelle Martin, Associate Professor of English
Clemson University

While it has always been possible to search for an award in CLCD, we have worked with Nick Glass at TeachingBooks.net to incorporate the links to the material he and his staff have pulled together as described above. You will find them under the heading Curriculum Tools and they are identified as Links to Coretta Scott King Curricula Resources at TeachingBooks.net.

Monthly Features

Our features present selected titles. For a more comprehensive and complete list of published titles with multiple reviews, use the CLCD.

With Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot approaching it is time to update our features about Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot, as well as books with a Jewish focus. Our reviewers say of New Year at the Pier: A Rosh Hashanah Story for ages 5 to 8 by April Halprin Wayland and illustrated by Stéphane Jorisch: "the humanity of the holiday's message and its psychology are clear."

National Grandparents Day, established in 1978 by President Carter, is celebrated the first Sunday after Labor Day. This year it is September 13. Be ready with some new books to share, such as Two for the Zoo by Danna Smith and illustrated by Valeria Petrone which features a young boy and his grandfather on a visit to the zoo.

Constitution Day is September 17. Help your teachers and students become knowledgeable about the U.S. Constitution with Unite or Die: How Thirteen States Became a Nation by Jacqueline Jules and other books in this new feature.

We are continuing our Space Feature updates. This month you will find books about Mars. and Women in Space. Among them are books with stunning photos, a simple science project, and a theoretical trip to the red planet. Very informative and fascinating is Cars on Mars: Roving the Red Planet by Alexandra Siy. Readers who are 10 and older will learn about the development of the rovers, the experiments they have performed and what we have learned to date about the planet. In Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream Tanya Lee Stone recounts the stories of these women and sets them in the context of the political and social history of the early days of the U.S. space program.

Author Features

Marilyn Courtot had the pleasure of interviewing Norbert Wu, famed underwater photographer and author and/or contributor to more than 17 books for children and young adults including Antarctic Ice, as he was recently returning from another expedition to Antarctica. You will learn about some of his current projects and how he keeps track of thousands of underwater photos that he will use in future books and articles.

Barbara Steiner, well known for her books such as Mystery of Chilkoot Pass and Ghost Cave, has recently added writing mysteries for the American Girls series to her repertoire. The Cry of the Loon: A Samantha Mystery is set in the Adirondack Mountains. In this profile you will learn about her childhood and what she is doing today to encourage new authors.

Jacqueline Dembar Greene, whose books show a keen interest in history is using her talent to bring to life the Jewish immigrant experience of the early twentieth century with her stories of Rebecca, the newest historical American Girl doll. Rebecca and the Movies introduces readers to the early days of cinema. In talking about her research and preparation for writing these books, Jacqueline provides a most interesting historical tour of New York City.

Children's Literature currently assists schools, museums, conferences and other organizations in identifying authors and illustrators for speaking engagements. Authors and illustrators provide valuable insight into their craft and connect their audience with the world of literature. In each issue we will highlight several of our booking service participants. To learn more about this service, please go to http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/bs-home.html

It's not often that punctuation gets to be the star of the show, but Moira Donohue has spent her career as a children's author seeking to showcase the hidden personalities of our wonderful punctuation marks. A self-described "grammar and punctuation geek," Moira began her career as a lawyer before returning to writing, her true passion, and has also written a number of plays. Her books Alfie the Apostrophe and Penny and the Punctuation Bee bring out the fun side of punctuation. Moira has a number of different presentations for preschoolers up to third graders. To learn more about this author/illustrator, please visit http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/donohue-moira.html

Priscilla Cummings is best known as the author of the tremendously popular Chadwick the Crab series. Her appreciation for the natural world was cultivated by growing up on a dairy farm in western Massachusetts. Influenced by her most treasured book, Charlotte's Web, Priscilla began writing stories based on farm life when she was just a girl. After working as a journalist for 10 years, Priscilla turned to writing children's literature full time. She visits libraries, youth groups, adult conferences and schools ranging from grades K-9. To get more information about this author/illustrator, please visit http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/cummings-priscilla.html

CLCD Newsletter Editor, Sharon Salluzzo serves as a library and education consultant to CLCD. In addition, Sharon is a book reviewer, a storyteller who often performs with The Genesee Storytellers, and a member of The Children's Book Guild of Washington, DC. Sharon earned her MLS at SUNY Geneseo.

About the Children's Literature Comprehensive Database

Our monthly newsletter is now available to everyone within an organization, not just the primary contact. A new feature at www.childrenslit.com will provide you with a form allowing you to sign up for just the electronic newsletter. The Children's Literature Comprehensive Database, updated mid-month, is your most complete source of information about children's books. Indeed, it is the next best thing to having the book in hand, and the best tool for leading you to the best books. All at a most affordable price. To subscribe to the CLCD or contact us, go to www.childrenslit.com.