This spring marks 100 years since the thriving Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma, sometimes called Black Wall Street, was burned down and many of its residents were killed in what became known as the Tulsa Race Massacre. While this is not an easy subject to discuss with children, acknowledging and learning from this violence in…
For Grades 4-6 - Page 4 of 24
Jewish American Heritage Month
May is Jewish American Heritage Month The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of Jewish Americans who helped form the fabric of American history, culture and society.https://www.jewishheritagemonth.gov/ Learn…
Pilkey Apologizes for Passive Racism
In March of 2021, a Korean American father reached out to Scholastic about concerns he had about racist imagery and negative stereotypes in Dav Pilkey’s 2010 book The Adventures of Ook and Gluk. After several conversations between the father, Dav Pilkey, and Scholastic, on Monday, March 22, 2021, Scholastic halted distribution of The Adventures of Ook and Gluk with support from Pilkey. The graphic novel is written and illustrated by characters from Dav Pilkey’s…
Two Spooky Stories for Spring
While many of us associate scary stories with October and cool weather, I think it's great fun to read scary stories in the spring, especially when there's a thunderstorm rolling in. I'd like to recommend two scary books I enjoyed recently, and both of them just happened to be written by Asian American authors. First…
Book review: The Voice of Liberty by Angelica Shirley Carpenter
The Voice of Liberty, by Angelica Shirley Carpenter There was a grand celebration when the Statue of Liberty was presented to the United States of America. It was a gift from the people of France. This enormous statue of a woman holding a torch was an icon of freedom, and was a symbol of welcome to immigrants arriving…
Book review: Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks
Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Cozbi Cabrera J B BROOKS, G. Discover the life and legacy of this famous Chicagoan in a biography that is beautiful to read and look at. Gwendolyn Brooks grew up on the South Side of Chicago in a family that didn’t have much money, but was rich…
Presidents’ Day
What is Presidents' day? To find out, I looked it up in one of our digital resources, Britannica Library Children's edition. It says: "Presidents’ Day is a U.S. holiday that honors Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Its official name, however, is Washington’s Birthday.
Happy World Read-aloud Day
Happy World Read-aloud day! We wanted to share with you some resources for some great read alouds online. You can enjoy story time videos from your friendly MPPL staff on the library's youtube channel. The World Read Aloud activity hub has a list of celebrity readers. And author Kate Messner has a great video with…
Black History Month 2021
Today is the first day of Black History Month! According to Britannica Library for Children: The month of February is African American History Month, also known as Black History Month, in the United States. It was first celebrated in 1926 as Negro History Week. It was created to highlight the contributions Blacks have made to…
Christina Soontornvat
photo by Sam Bond Photography Back in October, Christina Soontornvat visited MPPL to talk about her Diary of an Ice Princess series. Today she won several awards from the American Library Association for two of her other books! All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team, published by Candlewick, won a Newbery…
