Youth Matters

By Jennifer Burek Pierce
American Libraries Columnist

Assistant professor of library and information science, University of Iowa, Iowa City
youthmatters@ala.org

August 2008

New releases complement old favorites at ALA Exhibits 

A number of titles for young readers echoed that mightily penned young man’s belief that freedom of speech and literacy trump violence. One was the forthcoming We Are All Born Free: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Pictures (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, 2008). This collaborative book brings together significant children’s illustrators to depict basic human rights themes, with proceeds donated to support Amnesty International.

Other showcased books that promote cross-cultural understanding included Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan, written by Mary Williams and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. “Kids need to understand this, and they need to understand it on their level,” Louise May of Lee and Low said. (As we talked, three librarians from New York Public Library chatted with Christie and posed for a photo together with his earlier Richard Wright and the Library Card.) The Storyteller’s Candle/La Velita de los Cuentos by Lucia Gonzalez, illustrated by Lulu Delacre and published this spring, tells the story of the Puerto Rican librarian for whom ALA’s Pura Belpré award is named. “We’ve been looking at hidden histories of color in this country,” Dana Goldberg, executive editor of Children’s Book Press told me. “This is a prime example.”

A forthcoming graphic novel with a related aim is Pitch Black (Cinco Puntos Press). Written by Youme Landowne (known for 2005 ALA Notable Sélavi: That Is Life: A Haitian Story of Hope) and illustrated by Anthony Horton, Pitch Black explores how the two artists met and came to understand each other’s situations and talents. Young adult readers will encounter in it a sensitive, direct perspective on mental illness, substance abuse, and homelessness, as well as considerations of the nature of artistry.

The importance of understanding other cultures and languages was approached by a variety of vendors. Oxford University Press touted its new line of bilingual children’s books; Oxford First Word series titles will begin appearing in September. Intended to introduce English speakers to foreign languages, the picture books feature “Where’s Waldo”–style illustrations, OUP’s Matt Fisher said. “The idea is to generate a conversation between parents and the kid.” The initial works focus on French, German, and Spanish, and Chinese and Arabic volumes will become available in 2009. Bilingual editions of the recently revised Oxford Picture Dictionary will include Thai and Urdu.

World Book enhanced its resources for English-language learners. Noting that school-aged children and adolescents sometimes serve as translators for their less-fluent parents, Sarah Bright, head of digital product development, explained that the newly launched World Book Discover website includes life skills information and multiple-language translation features. One interesting application is audio for the entries, played by activating a tool bar and clicking on the text (listening to the entry for “India” demonstrated a couple of quirks of pronunciation, such as rendering “the 1900s” as “the one thousand nine hundreds” and “Himalayas” with an alternative pronunciation).

The themes of U.S. history and national politics also loomed large. Among the notable works in this vein is the marvelously creative and informative Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out (Candlewick, 2008). A collaboration among many prominent authors such as Walter Dean Myers and M. T. Anderson, Meg Cabot, and Virginia Euwer Wolff, together with what can only be called a wealth of lively illustrations and photographs, the project is designed to facilitate young people’s civic literacy and involvement. Its proceeds will support the National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance.

Also to be released this fall is Nathaniel Philbrick’s The Mayflower and the Pilgrims’ New World (Putnam), an engaging adaptation of his celebrated Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War (Viking, 2006) for young adult readers. Biographies of presidential candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain are due soon from Simon and Schuster.

Wii, oui

Surveying the Stacks is never complete until one encounters something outside one’s usual experience. For me, it was Wii. Dior Brown and Brent Smith of Nintendo of America coached me through games such as Big Brain Academy. Although Brown explained that the Visualize game I explored was intended for players ages 4 and up, controlling the remote pointer never became natural to me. Then there were the yoga poses I struck using the recently released Wii Fit (I left Wii Sports to more intrepid players).

The Wii yoga experience was much more intuitive, with an on-screen trainer modeling actions and electronic feedback encouraging me to modify my stretches and positioning. Key to the value of the activity was the Wii Balance Board, which evaluated how my weight was distributed in each pose, thereby giving me a new perspective on the optimal feel of each position. Features are too many to list but include evaluations of Body Mass Index and balance, and tracking and assessment of weight-loss goals (all of which can be password protected).

Old treasures for new eyes

Meanwhile, children’s classics thrive. Among the titles that caught my eye was a black-and-white graphic novelization of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice (Candlewick Press, 2008) by Gareth Hinds, whose previous adaptation of Beowulf received favorable reviews. Also, Oxford University Press is relaunching its editions of the Shakespeare plays frequently taught in upper grades, as well as touting a series of hardcover youth classics that one representative described as having a “Lemony Snickett feel.”

If one needed proof, however, of the appeal of classic children’s titles, one had only to look to the New York Review of Books booth. For five years, NYRB has been acquiring and republishing older titles for children, and librarians have been enthusiastic, the press’s Linda Hollick said. Near the end of the conference, not a single copy of Jenny Goes to Sea by Esther Averill, Ingri D’Aulaire’s Book of Norse Myths, or any other work in NYRB’s children’s line remained in the booth. Meanwhile, James Thurber’s long-out-of-print The Thirteen Clocks, with an introduction by Neil Gaiman, was republished at the end of July.