During graduate school, I put a significant amount of time and effort into developing lesson plans and complete units which were centered on diversity, tolerance, and global awareness. I pretty much was able to infuse these themes into almost every unit I prepared, even when it came to math.
I am so lucky that my local library does not have a limit on the number of books you can take out or request from other libraries, because it was not unusual for me to have 50 books out at a time! I felt compelled to find the very best resources out there, so I spent a lot of time seeking out all kinds of materials: especially picture books.
Many of you already know that a great way to find extraordinary books is to seek out the popular Caldecott and Newbery award winning books, but did you know that there are also Jane Addams Children's Book Awards and Coretta Scott King Book Awards? I used many of these books for my units on diversity, tolerance, and global/multicultural awareness.
Since the 2009 Jane Addams Children's Book Award winners were just announced, as I found out through Jen Robinson's Book Page, I thought I 'd share a couple of my favorites with you this week.
One of this year's award winners is the book, Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai, by Claire A. Nivola. It's the inspirational story of a woman who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 (the first woman from Africa to do so), as a result of the "connection she made between the health of her country's natural environment and the well-being of her country's people."
This beautifully illustrated and written book clearly shows how much of a difference one person can make in the world. Wangari Maathai saw a problem and took it upon herself to resolve it, and has put her heart and soul into this cause, even before most people around the world had even heard of the concept of "going green." Claire A. Nivola states it so eloquently:
"And so in the thirty years since Wangari began her movement, tree by tree, person by person, thirty million trees have been planted in Kenya - and the planting has not stopped."
A book like this can help a child to make so many connections to his or her own life, to other books, and to the world. Children and adults of all ages can learn something from this masterpiece. It truly is a book not to be missed.
I was going to mention two of my favorite past winners of the Jane Addams Children's Book Award, but have just decided to include them in part 2 tomorrow.
I will soon be leading into ways to help your child love to write. In the meantime, if you'd like to find some other related books within my global awareness category, click here.
Don't forget that you have a week left to tell me about a child or teacher who has a strong interest in "going green!" Whether it's your own child, or a teacher you know, you can help him or her to win a great National Geographic book by simply making a comment at this post. Good luck!
I hope you have a very green week....
