Pedrito's World wins Honor!

Pedrito’s World by Arturo O. Martinez, a local Hoboken author,was selected by the Texas Institute of Letters as the best children’s book for 2007.

Founded in 1936, the Texas Institute of Letters is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to stimulate interest in Texas letters and to recognize distinctive literary achievement. Members of the Texas Institute of Letters include Pulitzer Prize authors Cormac McCarthy and Lawrence Wright.

The Texas Institute of Letters awards annual prizes for individual literary works in several categories. Eligibility for awards is generally that the work is done by a resident of Texas or the work is relevant to the state. Pedrito's World was awarded the Friends of the Austin Public Library Award for Best Children's Book.

Recently, the author, Arturo O. Martinez gave a reading at New Jersey City University. The Guarini Library has a copy of the book in its Juvenile Collection (Juv.M3851p). The book has also garnered excellent reviews in The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Book and Booklist.

MJWC has author event in NYC

The M. Jerry Weiss Center for Children’s and Young Adult Literature at New Jersey City University extends an Invitation for Librarians, Teachers and Other Supporters of Literacy and Literature to Attend

An Evening with Two CBC- Children’s Choice Authors and How to Become Involved in Children’s Choice Program and Children’s Book Week

Who:
Mark Teague
Author and Illustrator of the LARUE series and illustrator of HOW DO DINOSAURS.... Series

and
Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Author and Illustrator of FIRST THE EGG and DOG AND BEAR

and
Rebecca Miller of the Children’s Book Council

When: 6:45- 9:00 PM. March 12, 2008
Where: The Scholastic Center
557 Broadway, NY 10012-3962
Cross Streets: Near the intersection of Broadway and Prince St
Subway: D, F to Broadway-Lafayette St; N, R to Prince St.
Parking: http://newyork.zami.com/Soho/Parking_Garages

COST: FREE
[NJ Professional Development Hours are available- for information see below]

Program:
6:45- 7:00pm Check-In (No walk-ins, Pre-Registrants only)
(Please note all attendees MUST pre-register and bring State Picture ID to enter the event)
7:00- 8:15 Welcome, Author Presentations (Mark Teague, Laura Vaccaro Seeger)
8:15-8:30 Rebecca Miller (Children's Book Council Programs Associate)
“Get Involved! What the Children's Choice program and Children's Book Week can offer you!”
8:30-9:00 Book Signing (Copies of author’s books will be on sale at the Scholastic Bookstore – 20% Educator Discount)

PRE- REGISTRATION

FREE registration:
Phone: Call 201-200-2220 (M. Jerry Weiss Center
Email: weisscenter@njcu.edu (Subject: March 12th event) with name and contact information
Web: Fill in form http://web.njcu.edu/programs/mjwc/Content/contact_us.asp (Subject: March 12th event) with name and contact information

PDH- New Jersey Professional Development Hours Pre-Registration:
Attendees may pre-register for NJCU New Jersey Professional Development Hours
(1 ½ hours) $30
Call 201-200-3196 to register and pay $30.00 fee (MasterCard/Visa accepted)
Or mail the attached form with a check.
Make check payable to NJCU Foundation with designation in memo for M. J. Weiss Center.

Mailing Address: New Jersey City University
2039 Kennedy Boulevard
Hepburn Hall, Rm 112D
Jersey City, NJ 07305-1597




Professional Development Form
An Evening with Two CBC- Children’s Choice Authors and How to Become Involved in Children’s Choice Program and Children’s Book Week


Program Registration Information Required (PLEASE PRINT)


Date of Program: ________________________________________________

Name of Program: ________________________________________________

Name: ____________________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
¬¬¬¬¬____________________________________________________

E-mail: ____________________________________________________

Telephone: ____________________________________________________


Payment Options
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: 03/07/2008

Credit Card:  Visa  MasterCard

Card Number: __________________________________Expiration Date:_______________

Program Fee: $30.00 $_________
Donation to the M. Jerry Weiss Center: $_________
Payment Total $_________

Credit card Payments – Call 201-200-3196 during business hours.
Check payment : Make check payable to NJCU Foundation with designation in memo for M. J. Weiss Center.

Mailing Address: New Jersey City University
2039 Kennedy Boulevard
Hepburn Hall, Rm 112D
Jersey City, NJ 07305-1597

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: 03/07/2008

If you have any questions please contact us at weisscenter@njcu.edu ; 201-200-2220

COLLEGE FAIR TOMORROW AT Newark Public Library

THE HIGH SCHOOL ACADEMIC SUPPORT PROGRAM INVITES ALL--and we do mean ALL!--NEW JERSEY HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS AND JUNIORS TO:

THE BIG COLLEGE NIGHT!

WHERE: THE NEWARK PUBLIC LIBRARY
Springfield Avenue branch
50 Hayes Street (14th Avenue)
Newark, New Jersey
973-733-7736

WEHN: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2008
4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Confirmed Colleges:

Rutgers-Newark, Bloomfield, University of New Haven, Montclair State University, Seton Hall University, NJIT, Fairleigh-Dickinson University, Felician College, Delaware State University, New Jersey City University, William Paterson University, Ramapo College, Syracuse University, Drexel University, Duke University, St. Peter's College, and lots of others!!!

And check this out:

*Scholarship Applications Available
*Community Service Opportunities
*Registration for FREE SAT Preparation classes *Registration for SAT/ACT tests

There will be on-site college recruitment and application fee waiver opportunities for high school seniors. Please bring two(2) letters of recommendation, personal statement, high school transcripts, SAT scores and parents' 2007 income tax return.

For more information, contact:

Lyndon Brown at 862-368-4261 or
call the Library at 973-733-7736!

High School English and World LiteratureTeachers Opportunity- Deadline 3/31/08

Teaching East Asian Literature in the High School

Every summer the East Asian Studies Center at Indiana University holds a weeklong professional development workshop called Teaching East Asian Literature in the High School for high school English and world literature teachers. Because it is generously funded by the Freeman Foundation, this workshop is offered to participants free of charge, except for a $60 registration fee. The workshop will take place July 13-19, 2008 in Bloomington, Indiana.

Please visit the website at
http://www.indiana.edu/~easc/lit_workshop/index.htm
for information about the workshop, schedules, reading lists, and lesson plans from previous years’ workshops, and to download a PDF application.

This weeklong workshop provides a broad overview of East Asian literature to high school English and world literature teachers. Participants are only responsible for a $60 registration fee (if accepted), two meals a day during the workshop, and travel to and from Bloomington. All other costs will be covered.

Two days each will be devoted to Chinese and Japanese literature and a day and a half to Korean literature. Faculty literature specialists will lead lectures and discussions on the texts that the participants will have read beforehand, and history experts will present on the historical and cultural contexts of the texts. A curriculum consultant—a high school teacher with many years of experience teaching East Asian literature who will discuss practical ways to bring these texts to the classroom will also be available.

At the end of the workshop, participants will complete lesson plans based on one of the works studied. With the completion and acceptance of their lesson plans, their school will receive a $300 book-buying grant. Participants may also take the workshop for three graduate credit hours through Indiana University, offered at the in-state tuition rate.

The application deadline is March 31, 2008 or until the workshop is filled, and admission is rolling. If you should have any questions, please contact Katie Venit at kvenit@indiana.edu
 

K-12 Public School Teacher Fellowships

Secretary Spellings has announced the creation of Teaching Ambassador Fellowship positions for currently practicing, K-12 public school teachers at the U.S. Department of Education for the 2008-2009 school year. These positions will offer highly motivated, innovative teachers the opportunity to contribute their knowledge and experience to the national dialogue on public education.

The Fellowship includes two kinds of opportunities for teachers across the U.S. Up to 20 Classroom Fellows will remain at their schools under their regular teaching contracts and will be paid to participate in additional Department discussions and projects throughout the school year on a part-time basis. Up to five Washington Fellows will be chosen to become full-time, paid federal employees in Washington, D.C. for the school year, working on education programs and participating in policy discussions.

Teaching Ambassador Fellows will be selected based upon their record of leadership, impact on student achievement, and potential for contribution to the field. Highly qualified K-12 public school teachers who have spent at least three years in the classroom are eligible to apply. Teachers must be currently practicing in and employed by a public school district to be eligible. To ensure collaboration at the school and district levels, teacher applicants must have the full support of their school principals.

Applications are due by April 7, 2008. Teaching Ambassador Fellows will be named by early summer for the 2008-2009 school year.

Please read the detailed information found at http://www.ed.gov/programs/teacherfellowship to learn more. Be sure to click on all of the links to review the following:
Program Overview (http://www.ed.gov/programs/teacherfellowship/programoverview.html)
Eligibility (http://www.ed.gov/programs/teacherfellowship/eligibility.html)
Applicant Info (http://www.ed.gov/programs/teacherfellowship/applicant.html)
Application Instructions (http://www.ed.gov/programs/teacherfellowship/applicationinstructions.html)
FAQs (http://www.ed.gov/programs/teacherfellowship/faq.html)

African American Lives 2 is on TONIGHT!

Building on the widespread acclaim of African American Lives (2006)[This video is in the library V2615] and Oprah's Roots (2007), AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2 again journeys deep into ancestry of an all-new group of remarkable individuals, offering an in-depth look at the African-American experience and race relations throughout U.S. history. Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. returns as series host, guiding genealogical investigations down through the 20th century, Reconstruction, slavery and early U.S. history, and presenting cutting-edge genetic analysis that locates participants' ancestors in Africa, Europe and America. Joining Professor Gates in the new broadcast are poet Maya Angelou, author Bliss Broyard, actor Don Cheadle, actor Morgan Freeman, theologian Peter Gomes, publisher Linda Johnson Rice, athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee, radio personality Tom Joyner, comedian Chris Rock, music legend Tina Turner, and college administrator Kathleen Henderson, who was selected from more than 2,000 applicants to have her family history researched and DNA tested alongside the series' well-known guests.


Broadcast Times for the Henry Louis Gates Special:

Channel 50 (WNGN)
African American Lives: The Road Home; A Way Out of No Way
Thursday, February 14, 9:00pm
The second-season premiere features Tom Joyner.

African American Lives: We Come from People; The Past is Another Country
Saturday, February 16, 3:00pm
Morgan Freeman's great-grandmother; Peter Gomes's ancestors.

African American Lives: We Come from People; The Past is Another Country
Thursday, February 21, 9:00pm
Morgan Freeman's great-grandmother; Peter Gomes's ancestors.

WNGN Digital Channel
(Check Listings for Channel)

African American Lives: We Come from People; The Past is Another Country
Thursday, February 21, 9:00pm
Morgan Freeman's great-grandmother; Peter Gomes's ancestors.



Channel 13 (WNET)

African American Lives: We Come from People; The Past is Another Country
Saturday, February 16, 3:00pm
Morgan Freeman's great-grandmother; Peter Gomes's ancestors

WNET Digital Channel
(Check Listings for Channel)
African American Lives: We Come from People; The Past is Another Country
Friday, February 15, 11:00am
Morgan Freeman's great-grandmother; Peter Gomes's ancestors.

African American Lives: We Come from People; The Past is Another Country
Sunday, February 17, 9:00am
Morgan Freeman's great-grandmother; Peter Gomes's ancestors.

African American Lives: We Come from People; The Past is Another Country
Monday, February 18, 12:00pm
Morgan Freeman's great-grandmother; Peter Gomes's ancestors.


Channel 21 (WLIW)

African American Lives: We Come from People; The Past is Another Country
Sunday, February 17, 9:00am
Morgan Freeman's great-grandmother; Peter Gomes's ancestors.

African American Lives: We Come from People; The Past is Another Country
Monday, February 18, 12:00pm
Morgan Freeman's great-grandmother; Peter Gomes's ancestors.

2008 Garden State Book Awards

The Children’s Services Section of the New Jersey Library Association announces the following recipients of the 2008 Garden State Children’s Book Award:

(The Garden State Children’s Book Awards were established in 1977 in order to give recognition to books for elementary grade readers.)

EASY-TO-READ BOOK
ONE NOSY PUP by Carol Wallace, illustrated by Steve Björkman


EASY-TO-READ SERIES BOOK

HENRY AND MUDGE AND THE GREAT GRANDPAS by Cynthia Rylant,
illustrated by Suçie Stevenson
Juv.R994hg

FICTION, GRADES 2 - 5

LUNCH MONEY
by Andrew Clements, illustrations by Brian Selznick

NON-FICTION, GRADES 2 - 5

RUNNY BABBIT: A BILLY SOOK by Shel Silverstein
Juv.811.54 .S5878r



The nominees are selected by a committee of the Children’s Services Section of the New Jersey Library Association on the basis of literary merit; the winners are chosen by popularity with readers.

A three-year lapse from the original publication date is allowed in order to determine popularity. The awards are given in three categories, with the option of one additional series category: a work specifically designated as “Easy-To-Read” by the publisher; a work of fiction for grades 2 – 5; a work of non-fiction for grades
2 – 5.

Awards, presented annually at the NJLA spring conference, are given to both the author and the illustrator. This year’s conference will be held at the Ocean Place Conference Center in Long Branch, from April 29-May 1 with the awards presentation luncheon on May 1.


For further information, visit the NJLA website at www.njla.org.

A Black History Gem from the Past!- The Brownies' Book

A Children's Magazine for the "Children of the Sun"
During the two years from 1920-1921, a children's magazine edited by W.E. B. Du Bois, Jessie Fauset and Augustus Dill was published. The magazine, an offshoot of Crisis, was dedicated to a positive representation of children of color. It not only contained short stories, poetry and graduation notices of Black youth (Langston Hughes among others), but it also contained columns about global affairs and world folklore. The Jury (letters to the editor column) gives an amazing snapshot of the problems experienced by black youth and their parents at that time.

A digitized version of the magazine is avalable at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/ser.01351

Lesson plans for the journal are available at
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/2370/

http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/TLRESOURCES/units/Byrnes-famous/hughes.html

The Congressman Frank J. Guarini Library has several books with information and critical evaluations of The Brownies' Book:

PS153 .N5 B526 2007b 2007
Free within ourselves : the development of African American children's literature

PS153.N5 J64 1990 1990
Telling tales : the pedagogy and promise of African American literature for youth

PS153 .N5 S62 2004
Children's literature of the Harlem Renaissance

Pedrito's World Book Reading- 2/12/08-3PM

Author Arturo O. Martinez to Read Excerpts from Pedrito’s World on February 12 at 3pm.

Author Arturo O. Martinez will read excerpts from his middle school novel, Pedrito’s World, at New Jersey City University on Tuesday, February 12 at 3:00 p.m., in room 202 of Hepburn Hall, 2039 Kennedy Boulevard in Jersey City. Mr. Martinez will also autograph copies of the book, which will be sold at the free program. The community is welcome.

Meet six-year-old Pedrito, who lives on a South Texas farm with his mother, father, and younger sister. The year is 1941, and except for a trip to the big city of San Antonio, five hours away, Pedrito's life is the farm and the school he attends in a village a few miles away. Pedrito's father has the papers he needs to work legally in the United States, but that doesn't stop the Border Patrol from harassing him and his son. Pedrito speaks only Spanish and is frightened on his first day of school when he learns that he must speak English. Luckily his teacher, Miss Garcia, is patient with her students, and soon Pedrito is sharing his new English words with his family. Pedrito also relates his opinion of outhouses versus indoor plumbing and tells of a happy Easter decorating cascarones. Pedrito's World is a window on the lives and culture of a Mexican family living and working in South Texas.

Sponsored by NJCU’s Federacion de Estudiantes Latino-Americanos, Council on Hispanic Affairs, Latino Cultural Center, and the Department of Modern Languages, the program will also feature an introduction by Dr. Grisel Lopez-Diaz, an NJCU associate professor of modern languages.