We envision a future where people actively work to dismantle injustices and build a more peaceful, equitable world.

The Healing Superpowers Of Friendship

JANE ADDAMS CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD CALL FOR COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP The Jane Addams Peace Association seeks committee members for the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Committee (JACBA). We are looking for members with diverse perspectives and identities among parents, teachers, librarians, activists, and child advocates, all with knowledge of children’s literature. JACBA selection committees are comprised of nine […]

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Important Stories And The Importance Of Storytelling

JANE ADDAMS CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD CALL FOR COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP The Jane Addams Peace Association seeks committee members for the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Committee (JACBA). We are looking for members with diverse perspectives and identities among parents, teachers, librarians, activists, and child advocates, all with knowledge of children’s literature. JACBA selection committees are comprised of nine […]

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Toni Morrison

“But We Do Language….” And Illustrations Too!

TONI MORRISON WAS A ‘LITERARY MOTHER’ TO COUNTLESS WRITERS Toni Morrison died this (past) week at age 88 and left behind countless writers for whom her characters were like close acquaintances and her stories like parables to guide them through their own lives. Edwidge Danticat, the prize-winning Haitian-American author, called her “a literary mother to […]

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2019 Children’s Literature Legacy Award Goes To Walter Dean Myers

CHRISTOPHER MYERS ACCEPTS THE 2019 CHILDREN’S LITERATURE LEGACY AWARD FOR HIS FATHER, WALTER DEAN MYERS Walter Dean Myers is the posthumous recipient of the 2019 Children’s Literature Legacy Award honoring an author or illustrator, published in the United States, whose books have made a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children. READ MORE.. “ONLY THE […]

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Naomi Shihab Nye Named Young People’s Poet Laureate

COMING VERY SOON 2019 JANE ADDAMS CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD ANNOUNCEMENT NAOMI SHIHAB NYE NAMED YOUNG PEOPLE’S POET LAUREATE The Poetry Foundation has named Naomi Shihab Nye the Young People’s Poet Laureate for 2019 to 2021.  It is yet another distinction for the acclaimed author, who becomes the first Arab-American to earn this honor. The Young People’s Poet Laureate aims to “raise awareness […]

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Black Writers: Abiding Spirit For Young Adults and On The Screen

LITERARY COLLECTIVE: CONSIDERING THE JAMES BALDWINS AND LANGSTON HUGHES’ OF OUR TIMES Young praises poet Lucille Clifton, calling her “an abiding spirit.” Clifton’s 1993 poem “won’t you celebrate with me” resonates with Young. The poem’s title also serves as its first line. The last lines are ‘Come celebrate with me that everyday something has tried […]

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Yuyi Morales: To Even Try To Be Neutral In This Time Would Be A Disservice

IN CONVERSATION: YUYI MORALES AND NEAL PORTER Author-illustrator Yuyi Morales and editor Neal Porter have worked together on six books, but Morales’s newest, Dreamers, is her most personal work to date. It recounts, in poetic form, the story of her emigration in 1994 from Mexico to the United States, with her two-month-old son. “To even try […]

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BOOKEXPO 2018: Children’s Authors Tell Booksellers: “We Are All Dreamers Here”

BOOKEXPO 2018: CHILDREN’S AUTHORS TELL BOOKSELLERS: “WE ARE ALL DREAMERS HERE” Emcee Jacqueline Woodson set the tone right away for Friday morning’s children’s book and author breakfast at BookExpo, explaining, “We’re very intentional in the stories we are trying to tell. Through our narratives, we’re trying to change this crazy world.” Reading the text of […]

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Telling A People’s Story: First Museum Exhibit Devoted To Illustrations Of African-American Children’s Books

MIAMI UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUM HAS A GROUNDBREAKING SHOW OF ILLUSTRATIONS USED ON BOOKS FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHILDREN Spanning nearly 50 years of publishing, Telling a People’s Story recognizes 35 illustrators (all but two of them black) who have depicted a complex cultural history in a way that not only appeals to children but heightens adults’ awareness as well. […]

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Jane Addams Peace Association