KidLitCon

07/15/2020

Who else is reading along with this?

"This week’s theme for the Brown Bookshelf Generations Book Club is Heritage and Legacy. This feels especially appropriate as we think about the legacies that have shaped the country, that is now in the midst of growing pains as it attempts to heal from its divisions." To read more about these book selections and the Brown Bookshelf Generations Book Club go to their blog page https://thebrownbookshelf.com/2020/07/15/generations-book-club-heritage-legac

06/18/2020

Important stuff!

HAPPENING TONIGHT: Town Hall on How to Raise and Teach Anti-Racist Kids. Hosted by Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander. Streaming live at 7 p.m. EST on Facebook Live Literacy Association and Zoom. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89619854060


(With ASL interpreters. Will be recorded.)

06/15/2020

Please join us for a Town Hall Meeting on creating anti-racist classrooms and homes...THURSDAY at 7:00 pm EST. (This will be recorded for later viewing on Facebook and YouTube).

Event page: https://facebook.com/events/s/how-to-raise-and-teach-anti-ra/261454078273904/?ti=icl

Panelists include educators Cornelius Minor, author of “We Got This: Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be;” Tiffany M. Jewell, author of “This Book is Anti-Racist;” Dr. Pam Allyn, global literacy expert and coauthor (with Dr. Ernest Morrell) of “Every Child a Super Reader;” and Dr. Noni Thomas López, head of school at The Gordon School in Providence, RI, in addition to Karyn Parsons, author and founder of Sweet Blackberry, a nonprofit with a mission “to bring little known stories of African American achievement to children everywhere.”

06/02/2020

I'm really looking forward to participating in this! Who else is adding these books to their TBR?

Today kicks off Black Music Month. In our first list for Generations Book Club, we include books that salute our Black National Anthem, explore a middle grader finding his voice and purpose, show an 18-year-old violinist navigating complicated choices about life and love and offer wisdom and experie...

04/15/2020

This is the last of our would-have-been sessions – a session that Pam has been running at every KidLitCon for several years now. Please feel free to share your favorite relevant books in the comments so we can take this conversation online! Here's the original description!

What are the issues that kids and teens face today and what are the books that represent these issues in literature? Turning to books in a time of crisis helps the reader process their situation. Join Hawanya Urquhart of Project Lit 313 and Pam Margolis, the Unconventional Librarian, for a discussion on tough topics in YA and Middle Grade Lit and leave with a list of crowdsourced book titles.

04/09/2020

Well, one small bit of good news in spite of everything being canceled is that even though we aren't having the live show, the Fuse 8 & Kate podcast has still been broadcasting new episodes every Monday. If you haven't listened before, now is a great time! Here's the original panel description - we hope to reschedule it someday.

One sister doesn't know anything about picture books. One sister knows way too much. See what happens when Kate is handed the famous Cat sequel for the very first time. A live recording of the School Library Journal podcast, starring Kate Ramsey and Betsy Bird.

04/06/2020

We’re staying safe at home like everyone else, but remembering that those who are left behind in ordinary times are even more likely to be left behind now. Here’s a conversation that we want to continue however we can. And, as you’re able, please support these authors and your local bookstores!

Here’s the description of the panel we planned to have in our live venue:

You’ve read the stories: character is different, bullied, and then saves the day with their uniqueness. The new inclusivity is about characters whose differences aren’t the only thing that defines them. With authors Merrie Haskell (Handbook for Dragon Slayers), Lisa Rose (Star Powers), Jack Cheng (See You in the Cosmos) and Jennifer Camiccia (The Memory Keeper), moderated by disabilities studies expert Kira Dallaire.

04/04/2020

No, the coronavirus is not an “equalizer.” Black people are being infected and dying at higher rates. Here’s what Milwaukee is doing about it — and why governments need to start releasing data on the race of COVID-19 patients.

04/01/2020

As you know by now, KidLitCon 2020 has been canceled because of COVID-19. All of the authors who were doing book tours and events to promote their new books have also seen those events canceled. As much as you can, please support these authors and illustrators and your local bookstores!

Here’s the description of the panel we planned to have in our physical venue. Please share your thoughts and start or join the conversation!

Come discover some recently- and soon-to-be published authors. Learn about books and the publication journey with Alex Aster (Emblem Island), Vicky Fang (Layla and the Bots series and Invent-a-Pet), and Heather Shumaker (The Griffins of Castle Cary). Moderated by YA author Erin Hahn (More Than Maybe).

03/30/2020

The world has changed so very much, so quickly. The thought that we might have been at KidLitCon just two days ago seems like something from a different world.

And yet, my kid is burying herself in graphic novels more than ever. Here is the description of the panel we planned to have. Please share your thoughts on the topic here or on our social media. And, as you’re able, consider buying their books from your local bookstore.

Explore a world of graphic novels beyond superheroes with fact-based and educational graphics from Jim Ottaviani (Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier), Matt Faulkner (Gaijin: American Prisoner of War) and Sarah Jamila Stevenson (Alexis vs. Summer Vacation), as well as how to use comics in schools with comic artist Kam Reynolds. Moderated by Edith Donnell, co-director of Kids Read Comics.

03/27/2020

KidLitCon author Heather Shumaker has videos posted for all of you homeschooling! It’s a mix of writing lesson, author experience, and bad jokes. The second one was posted today, but linking to the first episode here.

Author chat for kids ages ~ 6-13 stuck at home during closed schools and for young writers and adults of all ages interested in fiction and how authors write...

03/26/2020

Here's a description of another session we would have held at our live venue. We really hope that we'll be able to have KidLitCon again after all this is over. But in the meantime, please support our authors and panelists!

Let's take a look at Muslim-positive, Muslim-centric books for kids and teens - celebrate what's there and look at how far we still need to go, with Newbery Honor-winning author Jasmine Warga (Other Words for Home), author Siman Nuurali (the Sadiq series), We Need Diverse Books mentorship winner Tahira Bryant Naeem, and Mena and Zena of Girls of the Crescent. Moderated by middle school teacher Saina Sajjadi.