Check out our recent featured articles, reviews, projects, and more.

• Challenged Books: Coraline by Neil Gaiman (8/1/2016) - Neil Gaiman’s Coraline features a clever 11-year-old girl who is struck with a horrifying case of Borden after her family moved to a new house. With her parents too busy to entertain her, Coraline becomes enchanted by the promise of a doting father – mother and father on the other side of a curious, small…
• Challenged Books: Eleanor & Park and the READ BRAVE Program (8/15/2016) - In the author’s own words: Eleanor & Park is set in 1986. It’s about to 16 year old to fall in love on a school bus. The story is told from both of their points of view. Eleanor, a chubby redhead, is the new kid at school, and she’s facing some pretty intense bullying. Also,…
• Deep Plunge Between the Lines: (Random Acts of) Kindness (10/2/2016) - Deep Plunge is a definitive commentary on key aspects of children’s and adolescent literature. Offered freely by Vernon the Reading Primate for the betterment of all reading primates everywhere, it reveals invaluable insights into how books work and why you should read them. Being kind to others is one of those (cross)cultural norms that seem…
• Deep Plunge Between the Lines: Fear (9/1/2016) - Deep Plunge is a definitive commentary on key aspects of children’s and adolescent literature. Offered freely by Vernon the Reading Primate for the betterment of all reading primates everywhere, it reveals invaluable insights into how books work and why you should read them. The experience of fear is familiar to everyone, but for young people…
• Deep Plunge Between the Lines: Noise (8/1/2016) - Deep Plunge is a definitive commentary on key aspects of children’s and adolescent literature. Offered freely by Vernon the Reading Primate for the betterment of all reading primates everywhere, it reveals invaluable insights into how books work and why you should read them. One of the biggest challenges we face today is to develop multicultural…
• Deep Plunge: Disrupting Stereotypical Notions in Children’s Literature (1/3/2018) - Disrupting Stereotypical Notions in Children’s Literature by Aaron Stein In children’s literature, characters of color are rarely “given a pass card to traverse the lands of adventure, curiosity, imagination or personal growth,” and they are often stuck in the “legacies of civil rights and slavery” (Myers, C. 2014). When characters of color do break these…
• Exploring Banned & Challenged Books: And Tango Makes Three (7/28/2017) - And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, illustrated by Henry Cole, a picture book that recounts the true story of two male Penguins, Roy and Silo, that hatch and raise a chick as part of their family at New York Central Park Zoo, received more challenges than any other book in the US…
• Exploring Girl Power in Multicultural Graphic Novels (1/9/2017) - This project was completed as part of course requirements for EDCI 5404: Multicultural Children’s Literature.  Below you’ll find a collection of graphic novels featuring diverse female protagonists. From an abolitionist to a superhero, these characters are not just about girl power;  they also represent the audacity of spirit, the courage of souls, and the humanity…
• Exploring Women’s History with Children’s Picturebooks (3/9/2016) - Celebrate Women’s History Month with these wonderful picturebooks.  From Susan B. Anthony to Wangari Maathai, these stories will aspire young readers. Heart on Fire: Susan B. Anthony Votes for President by Anna Malaspina , illustrated by Steve James (2012). She broke laws. She was arrested. She went on trial. She changed the world. This boldly…
• When Meow Becomes Hello: Talking Animal Stories and Children (12/14/2016) - By Adelaide Rohrssen As a future teacher of young children, I know that talking animal stories are going to be a continuous part of my life and my students’ lives. Books like The Berenstain Bears or The Cat and The Hat are seen in schools across the country. But what is this literature communicating to our…