EDUC F203 | Tracing Past, Present & Future: Literacy Journeys through the Study of Picture Books

Children battle an Ogre's attempt to take over world in this picture book about the real history of Christopher Columbus.

When Miguel and his parents move from Puerto Rico to the U.S. mainland, Miguel misses their home, his grandparents, and his pet frog, Coquí, but he soon realizes that New York City has more in common with back home than he originally thought

Danbi is thrilled to start her new school in America. Danbi wants to join in the dances and the games, but she doesn't know the rules and just can't get anything right. Luckily, she isn't one to give up. With a spark of imagination, she makes up a new game and leads her classmates on a parade to remember!

What happens when a new friend arrives who doesn't speak your language? Two girls forge a forever-friendship by learning each other's language.

Caldecott Honor-book artist and five-time Pura Belpre Award winner YUYI MORALES tells her own immigration story in this picture-book tribute to the transformative power of hope . . . and reading.

A look at the life of migrant workers through a child's eyes Emma Turner loves books and dreams of one day having the store-bought kind, but the Turners are migrant workers and money is tight.

Every day, children in migration are detained at the US-Mexico border. They are scared, alone, and their lives are in limbo. Hear My Voice/Escucha mi voz shares the stories of 61 of these children, from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Ecuador, and Mexico, ranging in age from five to seventeen--in their own words from actual sworn testimonies. In both English and Spanish.

Levine presents the stages of learning the language of a new country with empathy and humor.

With the help of her family and friends, and their memories--joyous, fantastical, heartbreaking, and frightening--Lola's imagination takes her on an extraordinary journey back to The Island.

For four generations the quilt is a Sabbath tablecloth, a wedding canopy, and a blanket that welcomes babies warmly into the world. Polacco tells the story of her own family, and the quilt that remains a symbol of their enduring love and faith.

Sun is ready to leave his village in China for America, the place known as Gum Saan, Gold Mountain. His father warns him, though, that passage will not be easy. Because of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, new immigrants like Sun are detained at Angel Island until they are called to take a difficult oral exam before they can "land" - leave Angel Island and go ashore.

This tender tale shows the human side of immigration and imprisonment-and shows how every child has the power to make a difference.

One night they came... The darkness grew colder, deeper, darker, and swallowed up everything... Marwan is a young boy on a journey he never intended to take, bound for a place he doesn't know.

When a little girl visits her great-grandfather at his curio-filled home, she chooses an unusual object to learn about: an old cigar box. What she finds inside surprises her: a collection of matchboxes making up her great-grandfather's diary, harboring objects she can hold in her hand, each one evoking a memory.

Each spring Anna leaves her home in Mexico and travels north with her family where they will work on farms.

Sangoel is a refugee. Leaving behind his homeland of Sudan, where his father died in the war, he has little to call his own other than his name, a Dinka name handed down proudly from his father and grandfather before him.

Cartwheel moves to a new country with her auntie, and everything is strange: the animals, the plants--even the wind. An old blanket gives Cartwheel comfort when she's sad--and a new blanket just might change her world.

Early one Saturday morning, a boy prepares for a trip with his father to The Other Side/El Otro Lado. It's close--just down the street from his school--and it's a twin of where he lives. Their outings always include a meal at their favorite restaurant and a visit with Tío Mateo at his jewelry store. On their final and most important stop, they check in with friends seeking asylum and drop off much-needed supplies.

A little girl learns some words in a new language to prepare for her move to a new country. But when she, her mother and her father arrive, 'all her words fly away like birds.' The girl waits, and watches, and listens, trying to figure things out. Only, it's hard. Then one day the girl meets someone who needs her help. And as she makes a new friend, she finds that the new words start to come easier - becoming her words, at last.

Farah feels alone, even when surrounded by her classmates. Then, on a field trip to an apple orchard, Farah discovers there are lots of things that sound the same as they did at home. As she helps the class make apple cider, Farah connects with the other students and begins to feel that she belongs.

When Isabel and her family move to the United States, Isabel misses all the things she left behind in Mexico, especially her aunt Lupita and hearing people speak Spanish.

A young girl in modern times comes from India to live in America with her extended family.

Isabella has recently arrived from Colombia with her mother and abuela. She misses Papa, who is still in South America. It's her first day of school, her make-new-friends day, but when classes are canceled because of too much snow, Isabella misses warm, green, Colombia more than ever. Then Isabella meets Katie and finds out that making friends in the cold is easier than she thought!

In this moving and timely story, a young child describes what it is like to be a migrant as she and her father travel north toward the US border.

Based on the author's father's own story. Joe came to America from Africa. He worked hard in school, made friends, and embraced his new home. Like so many immigrants, Joe succeeded when many thought he would fail.

From the native Americans who first called this continent their home, to the millions of people who came in search of better futures, America is a land of diversity. Whether driven by dreams and hope, or escaping poverty or persecution, our ancestors--and the faces of America today--represent people from every reach of the globe.

Zahra lives in a beautiful place where the desert reaches all the way to the sea and one hundred butterflies always fill the sky. When Baba and Mama tell her that their family is no longer welcome here and they must leave, Zahra wonders if she will ever feel at home again--and what about the people she will leave behind? But when she and her family arrive in a new desert, she's surprised to find magic all around her. Home might not be as far away as she thought it would be.

A celebration of thinking outside the box--or cage! The Great Bird Circus is headed to a big show, but they run into trouble when they reach the border. Paloma and the ringmaster are allowed to cross--but their birds need paperwork, and lots of it! The situation seems hopeless, unless ... what if there's more than one way to get across?

It's Dat's first day of school in a new country! Dat and his Mah made a long journey to get here, and Dat doesn't know the language. To Dat, everything everybody says - from the school bus driver to his new classmates - sounds like gibberish. Luckily there's a friendly girl in Dat's class who knows that there are other ways to communicate, besides just talking. Could she help make sense of the gibberish?

Mateo Garcia and his younger sister, Sophie, have been taught to fear one word for as long as they can remember: deportation. Over the past few years, however, the fear that their undocumented immigrant parents could be sent back to Mexico started to fade. Ma and Pa have been in the United States for so long, they have American-born children, and they're hard workers and good neighbors. When Mateo returns from school one day to find that his parents have been taken by ICE, he realizes that his family's worst nightmare has become a reality. With his parents' fate and his own future hanging in the balance, Mateo must figure out who he is and what he is capable of, even as he's forced to question what it means to be an American.

Maizy has never been to Last Chance, Minnesota . . . until now. Her mom's plan is just to stay for a couple weeks, until her grandfather gets better. But plans change, and as Maizy spends more time in Last Chance (where she and her family are the only Asian Americans) and at the Golden Palace-the restaurant that's been in her family for generations-she makes some discoveries. But the more Maizy discovers, the more questions she has. And when she discovers that a beloved family treasure has gone missing-and someone has left a racist note-Maizy decides it's time to find the answers.

Stella and Luna know that their mama, Elsie, came from the Philippines when she was a child, but they don't know much else. So one night they ask her to tell them her story. As they get ready for bed, their mama spins two tales: that of her youth as a strong-willed middle child and immigrant; and that of the young life of Mayari, the mythical daughter of a god. Both are tales of sisterhood and motherhood, and of the difficult experience of trying to fit into a new culture, and having to fight for a home and acceptance.

Kenan loves drawing and playing soccer with his friends. He wants to be a famous athlete, hates it when his classmates trash his buck teeth by calling him "Bugs Bunny," and fights with his big brother, who's too busy and cool for him lately. Sometimes his parents drive him crazy, but he feels loved and protected--until the war ruins everything. Soon, Kenan's family is trapped in their home with little food or water, surrounded by enemies. Ten months later, with help from friends and strangers, they finally make it out of the country alive. But that's only the beginning of their journey.

In this magical middle grade novel, ten-year-old Gabrielle finds out that America isn't the perfect place she imagined when she moves from Haiti to Brooklyn. With the help of a clever witch, Gabrielle becomes the perfect American--but will she lose herself in the process?

When Areli was just a baby, her mama and papa moved from Mexico to New York with her brother, Alex, to make a better life for the family--and when she was in kindergarten, they sent for her, too. Everything in New York was different. But with time, America became her home. And she saw it as a land of opportunity, where millions of immigrants who came before her paved their own paths. She knew she would, too.

A picture book that introduces young readers to the young man who challenged the Supreme Court for his right to be an American citizen and won, confirming birthright citizenship for all Americans.

The images here are a selection from the hundreds sent in by children's book illustrators from all over the world for an exhibition entitled Migrations. Its aim is to express support for and solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of human migrants who face immense difficulties and dangers in their struggle to find a better and safer place to live.

Learn about immigration and refugee resettlement within the United States and throughout the world. Follow both historical and recent large migrations, understand the challenges of life in a new country, and see how activists fight for immigrants' and refugees' rights.