Children's Author & Educator
GREEN LIGHT!
I am so excited to announce my latest book deal! And I am thrilled to be working with my agent Dawn Frederick at Red Sofa Literary, Beaming Books, editor Naomi Krueger and the talented illustrator Alleanna Harris to bring the story of Victor Hugo Green and his Green Book to young children. Stay tuned.
BEEP! BEEP!
Coming to a shelf near you on January 19, 2021
With the knowledge that schools are reopening differently in every district – some online, some in person, some hybrid – Lindsay H. Metcalf, Jeanette Bradley and I have created a flexible school author visit package for NO VOICE TOO SMALL.
Available September 22, 2020!
Charlesbridge | ISBN: 978-1-6235-4131-6
40 pages | ages 5-9
Featuring poems by: S. Bear Bergman | Joseph Bruchac | Nikki Grimes | Hena Khan | Andrea J. Loney | Guadalupe García McCall | Lindsay H. Metcalf | Fiona Morris | G. Neri | Lesléa Newman | Traci Sorell | Charles Waters | Carole Boston Weatherford | Janet Wong
Order where ever books are sold.
Bookshop | Charlesbridge | Amazon | B&N
We have built both on-demand (asynchronous) and live (synchronous) options, suitable for classroom or at-home use.
Many of the poets who contributed to NO VOICE TOO SMALL have created mini writing workshop videos, some have also recorded themselves reading their poem. We have learned so much from watching these master craftspeople talk about their creative process, and we hope you and your students will as well.
Live Virtual Author Visits
If you are interested in hiring one or all of us for a live (synchronous) virtual school visit, and/or and interactive flip grid classroom visit, please contact me for packages and pricing.
ROAR! Individual Classroom, Grade Level, or School-Wide visit: Students will learn about community activism through the poems featured in NO VOICE TOO SMALL.
POETRY WORKSHOP: Using NO VOICE TOO SMALL as a mentor text to write poetry, students will learn about process, research, and revision required for writing nonfiction poems.
On Demand Distance Learning Resources
Because schools and families are in unique situations in 2020, we have developed multiple ways for you to access and use these On Demand materials in your classroom or for distance learning or homeschool classrooms at home.
Flipgrid Book Club
Check out our NO VOICE TOO SMALL Flipgrid Book Club, featured in Flipgrid’s Discovery Library. Parents and educators can access videos, mini writing workshops, art class with Jeanette Bradley, and the No Voice Too Small pledge. Readers can watch and respond to the videos with their own recordings and writings! For privacy, teachers can copy this module into their own classroom Flipgrid sites.
Educational Guide
Click here to download the standards-aligned (K-4) Educational Activity Guide.
Links for Use in Google Classroom
If you prefer to embed links into your own Google Classroom documents, we have gathered the links to all of the Writing Workshops and Poetry Reading videos that are currently live on You Tube into one google doc. Click here for NO VOICE TOO SMALL Distance Learning Links.
Book trailer
NO VOICE TOO SMALL book trailer, featuring the voices of some of our young activists.
YouTube playlists
NO VOICE TOO SMALL Writing Workshops Poets from NO VOICE TOO SMALL share their inspiration and writing tips with young readers.
NO VOICE TOO SMALL Young Activists Speak A collection of videos of the young activists featured in NO VOICE TOO SMALL. Some were created just for readers of this book, others are news videos, speeches, or performances given by the young activists in the past.
NO VOICE TOO SMALL Poetry Readings A rotating selection of poets read their own poems aloud.
Wishing you a safe and productive school year,
Jeanette, Lindsay, and Keila
Co-editors:
Jeanette Bradley has a background in fair housing and fair lending work. She is the author/illustrator of Love, Mama and the illustrator of When the Babies Came to Stay.
Keila V. Dawson is a New Orleans native, former community organizer and author of The King Cake Baby and the forthcoming Opening the Road: Victor Hugo Green and His Green Book. She’s worked as a teacher, school administrator, and educational consultant and advocate in the U.S., the Philippines, Japan, and Egypt.
Lindsay H. Metcalf has been a writer and editor at publications including The Kansas City Star and Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World and has covered a range of change-makers in politics, education, and communities. She is the author of the forthcoming Beatrix Potter, Scientist, and Farmers Unite! Planting a Protest for Fair Prices.
I am thrilled to be a part of this project! In addition to the amazing youth, look at the talent who will write about them. Nikki Grimes, Carole Weatherford, Greg Wray, Traci McClellan-Sorell, Janet Wong, Hena Khan, Charles Waters, Andrea J. Loney, Lesléa Newman, Guadalupe Garcia McCall, Fiona Morris, Joseph Bruchac, S. Bear Bergman.
Today’s Perfect Picture Book pick is Miss Paul and the President: The Creative Campaign for Women’s Right to Vote.
Written by: Dean Robbins
Illustrated by: Nancy Zhang
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (September 2016)
Suitable for ages: 4-8
Themes/Topics: Activism, Right to vote, Women’s suffrage, US history
Brief Synopsis: As a child Alice Paul saw her father go off to vote but not her mother. Why? She studied the nation’s laws and knew they needed to change to allow women the right to vote. Alice protested in different ways and convinced other women to join her.
One day in 1914, she organized a parade that upstaged the arrival of the newly elected President, Woodrow Wilson. He asked to meet her. However, the president told her he had more pressing issues to deal with that working on the women’s right to vote . But that didn’t stop Alice Paul. She persisted. Even the president’s daughter Margaret agreed with Alice Paul. Then one day in 1918, President Wilson agreed too!
Opening pages:
“Alice Paul hurried up and down Pennsylvania Avenue in a purple hat.
She wanted to make everything perfect for her parade. A parade in Washington D. C. no one would ever forget!”
Why I like this book: This is a wonderful introduction to a female activist who was instrumental in the fight for the right to vote for women. Through scenes that are both playful and serious, Robbins tells the story of activism by describing the actions and persistence of Alice Paul.
The book is a wonderful introduction to this period in history and could spark discussion about the US Constitution as well as the role of Congress in making laws.
Resources:
Read more of today’s reviews at author Susanna Hill’s blog.
Happy reading!