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…
Toad Rage by Morris Gleitzman By: Kelcy Niccum and Kim Alexander Toad Rage took a creative take on advocating for animal, specifically toad, rights by following a young cane toad’s quest for the truth about why humans seem to hate toads. Toad Rage is a very interesting book told from the point of view of…
Frank Einstein and the Antimater Motor by Jon Scieszka Review by Emily Midkiff Jon Scieszka’s new middle-grade novels series promises to give young readers and unprecedented introduction into brain science, matter and antimatter, magnetism and more. The level of these science concepts goes beyond what most authors would dream of including and a fiction book…
by Nick Kleese The trees held onto their leaves for one final week this year, all so that attendees’ journeys to the 2017 Book Week event with Thanhha Lai could be quintessentially autumn. In fact, Lai would go on to acknowledge this picturesque weather in her lecture. “It’s not cold enough,” she joked. The crowd…
Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich by Adam Rex is a collection of monster tales that cannot be missed! This amazing picture book takes a humorous look at the monsters we have grown to love. The subtitle sets the stage for this collection that includes the titular story “and other stories you’re sure to like because…
Children's Literature at UMN 