Picture book, 40 pages. Harry S. Abrams, Publisher, 2022.
"Yes, my love, it will. It will be okay."
Why do I love this book? I love Jessica Love's illustrations - she is one of my favorites! And I really admire Dragonwagon's reassuring narrative which walks a narrow line between acknowledging the little girl's fears and encouraging her with concrete actions to deal with her concerns.
Most importantly, I love this book because of the historical context surrounding the first and second editions of the book! Children are anxious; some more so than others. And it seems the recent pandemic plus extreme weather due to climate change plus a constant bombardment by social media keeps us - including our kiddos - on edge most of the time. But you know, the world has always been ending. The original publishing date for Will It Be Okay? was 1977. And the problems we faced 45 years ago were not much different than today - except for the omnipresence of today's digital news -
This is not meant to minimize today's problems and challenges, but to say that we need to take a big breath and to tell our children every day, "Yes, my love, it will. It will be okay." Crescent Dragonwagon & Jessica Love
Dragonwagon is the award winning author of over 50 books for readers of all ages. Born in New York, Crescent spent the majority of her life in the South, in the Ozark Mountain resort town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. And, yes, that is her real name!
Love studied printmaking at the University of California and theatre at Julliard. After working as an actor in New York for ten years, she made a pivot and created Julián is a Mermaid - which received numerous awards including the 2109 Stonewall Book Award - followed by Julián at the Wedding in 2020. Five Resilience-Building Habits for Children Ideas to Make it Real
What are your child's biggest concerns - her biggest "what-ifs?"
Our children are not usually looking for logical answers to their fears, but reassurance that we understand and will face it with them. Some stories address the "what-ifs" with silly responses to encourage children to giggle through their fear and others, like Will It Be Okay? present some pretty rational responses to give older children a way to get a handle on their world. Either approach is okay, but you will be the one to determine what is best at any given moment for your kiddos. Our children need us to listen and to thoughtfully respond to the very real fears in a way which empowers them. 
Picture book biography, 40 pages. Candlewick Press, 2022.
Our Name Matters
In addition to the stunning illustrations and lyrical text, I added Hope is An Arrow to this month's curated titles specifically because it tells the story of a young boy who is forced to transform his story more than once as he grows up. Fleeing religious persecution, Kahlil's family emigrated to America at the turn of the twentieth century and attended public school in Boston. But his Mother sent him back to Lebanon to finish his education because she was worried by how quickly Kahlil assimilated to his new country.
Gibran Kahlil Gibran or Kahlil Gibran? Or both? The various meanings of these names is friend and to restore or repair - which did the Poet live out? Our name matters, especially as we navigate our identity. Cory McCarthy
McCarthy is an acclaimed, best-selling author of children's books including their verse novel, Name Me America, which won the middle grade category of the 2014 Katherine Paterson Prize. Like Kahlil Gibran, their family emigrated from Lebanon and settled in New England. McCarthy lives in Vermont with their family and is on faculty at Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Ekua Holmes
Holmes is the illustrator of numerous books for children, including Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement by Carole Boston Weatherford, for which she received several awards, including a Caldecott Honor, the John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award, and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor; Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets by Kwame Alexander, Chris Colderley, and Marjory Wentworth, for which she received the 2018 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award; and The Stuff of Stars by Marion Dane Bauer, for which she received the 2019 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award.
Five Resilience-Building Habits for Children Ideas for Making it Real
I think the strongest resilience skill to teach your child is how to tell her own stories - how to understand her self. This begins with understanding the meaning of her name. Does you kiddo know the meanings of her name and why you chose it for her? This is an excellent place to begin to tell her own story.
There are numerous Name Crafts and Activities for younger children, as well as for elementary age children offered by Teaching Expertise and most are appropriate for using at home. And #TeachingLivingPoets has a wonderful lesson on name poems for older kiddos and teens. 
Picture biography, 48 pages. Harry N. Abrams Publishers, 2020. A 2021 Coretta Scott King Book Award Illustrator Honor Book. A 2021 Robert F. Sibert Informational Honor Book. A 2021 Association of Library Service to Children Notable Children's Book.
Poetry: Resilience Embodied
Poetry is the literary language of resilience and what better month than February to learn about poets who have changed our world - not with just their words, but with the resilience those words embody.
Gwendolyn Brooks was an American poet, author, and teacher. Her work often dealt with the personal celebrations and struggles of ordinary people in her community. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry on May 1, 1950, for Annie Allen, making her the first black person to win the Pulitzer Prize. Exploring the dire poverty of the Great Depression as well as race and gender in the early 20th century, Exquisite tells of Gwendolyn's desire to and practice of writing poetry throughout her life in all circumstances and settings. Suzanne Slade & Cozbi A. Cabrera
Sibert Honor author Suzanne Slade has written more than 150 children's books. As a mechanical engineer who worked on rockets, many of her titles are about space and women in STEM. Some recent titles include The Universe and You, June Almeida, Virus Detective!, The Woman Who Discovered the First Human Coronavirus, and A Computer Called Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Helped Put America on the Moon (NSTA Best STEM Book). Her title, Astronaut Annie, soared to the ISS and was read by astronaut Anne McClain for Story Time From Space.
Cozbi A. Cabrera is the author/illustrator of Me & Mama which won a 2021 Coretta Scott King Honor and a Caldecott Honor. Her star reviewed illustrated titles include Most Loved In All The World by Tonya Cherie Hegamin, Stitchin’ and Pullin’ A Gees Bend Quilt by Patricia McKissack, Thanks A Million by Nikki Grimes and Beauty, Her Basket by Sandra Belton. Cozbi has been a contributing illustrator for various titles including Our Children Can Soar: A Celebration of Rosa, Barack, and the Pioneers of Change by Michelle Cook (NAACP Image Award). Five Resilience-Building Habits for Children Ideas for Making it Real
Share poetry with your child and help her to memorize the one she really likes - it's a simple practice in understanding how someone else has transformed their own story. And much like singing a song, keeping poetry close to the heart helps us to see our experience of the world in a different way. It gives voice to what children feel, but may not yet have the words to describe.
If you are not familiar with poetry or do not have a favorite poet, start at your local library to look for the Poetry for Young People series which includes poets Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Emily Dickenson and Robert Frost. |