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Watermark Teacher Feature – February 20, 2008
In this issue:
BOOK NEWS:
* Favorites New to Paperback:
- “Clementine” by Sara Pennypacker
- “London Calling” by Edward Bloor
FRESH TITLES:
* “Woolbur” by Leslie Helakowski
* “Women Daredevils” by Julie Cummins, illus. by Cheryl Harness
* “The Groundbreaking, Chance-Taking Life of George Washington Carver” by Cheryl
Harness
UPCOMING EVENTS:
* April & May KMUW Literary Feasts
* David Almond event: Thursday, March 13. 1:00 p.m.
* Lisa See reading & signing: Tuesday, March 18. 7:00 p.m.
* Catherine Ryan Hyde reading & signing: Tuesday, April 8. 7:00 p.m.
FEATURED REVIEW:
* “Madam President: The Extraordinary, True (and Evolving) Story of Women in
Politics” by Catherine Thimmesh, illus. by Douglas Jones
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This and previous issues of Teacher Feature are available on the Watermark Web
site. You can read on-line, complete with pictures and clickable links, here:
www.watermarkbooks.com/teach.html
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Greetings and salutations,
This issue of Teacher Feature offers a minor celebration of an almost-local
children’s author and illustrator. Cheryl Harness has created many high-quality
nonfiction titles for young readers, and we feature two new ones here: look
below for her just-released biography of legendary Missourian George Washington
Carver and for her collaboration with Julie Cummins on the thrilling recent
history “Women Daredevils.”
Harness’s second title, along with Catherine Thimmesh’s new-to-paperback “Madam
President,” looks ahead to Women’s History Month in March. Both books are
chock-full of surprising and amazing stories of courageous ladies who broke all
the rules (and in the case of the daredevils, maybe a few bones).
And speaking of outstanding ladies, I want to remind you that in addition to
David Almond’s visit (see events below), March will also bring us bestselling
novelist Lisa See, author of “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.” I heard her speak
in New York last June, and I want to urge you to plan to attend her reading and
signing. She’s a fine speaker, and hearing her describe the research she has
done into her family’s and into Chinese history is fantastic. Tell your friends
and bring your buddies—we want to pack the house!
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NEWSFLASH
Favorites New to Paperback
“Clementine” by Sara Pennypacker, pictures by Marla Frazee (Hyperion,
9780786838837, $4.99, 160 pages, ages 6 to 10) Sara Pennypacker’s “Clementine”
chapter books are funny and fantastic, and they fit perfectly between Junie B.
Jones and Ramona Quimby—in both spirit and age. Clementine is a curious and
confident fourth-grader and a joy for every young reader to meet. The first book
in the series, just called “Clementine” is new to paperback:
Read review
"London Calling" by Edward Bloor (Knopf Books for Young Readers,
9780375843631, $8.99) Young-adult author Edward Bloor visited Watermark last
October, and his YA novel “London Calling” has been a favorite of our young
readers for the past two years. It’s the story of an outsider who finds drive
and excitement in the history of the London Blitz—brought close to him through
the mysterious power of a vintage radio he inherits from his grandparents:
Read review
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FRESH TITLES
Picture books for ages 4 to 8
“Woolbur” by Leslie Helakowski, illus. by Lee Harper (Harpercollins,
9780060847265, $16.99, 32 pages, ages 4 to 8) Woolbur’s Maa and Paa would have
liked their son to stick with the herd and act like all the other sheep, but
Woolbur has other ideas. He marches to his own drum, to his own tuba, and even
to his own glockenspiel! “Woolbur” is an affirming story about being a creative
thinker who leads the herd instead of simply following it:
Read review
Illustrated histories for ages 9 to 12
“Women Daredevils: Thrills, Chills, and Frills” by Julie Cummins, illus. by
Cheryl Harness (Dutton Juvenile, 9780525479482, $17.99, 48 pages, ages 9 to
12) Long before the days of television and “extreme sports,” spectators flocked
to live shows given by daredevil performers: bareback riders, lion-tamers, stunt
pilots, and even human cannonballs. In this new picture-book history, we learn
that many of these adventurous souls were courageous women who refused to let
the restraints of “convention and costume” keep them out of the spotlight:
Read review
“The Groundbreaking, Chance-Taking Life of George Washington Carver and
Science & Invention in America” by Cheryl Harness (National Geographic
Children's Books, 9781426301964, $16.99, 144 pages, ages 9 to 12) This brand-new
illustrated biography describes the dramatic life and many discoveries of one of
America’s most decorated and admired scientists. Born near Joplin, Missouri, and
raised partly in Kansas, George Washington Carver used his talents and his great
curiosity about the natural world to improve the lives of millions, especially
African Americans in the South:
Read review
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UPCOMING WATERMARK EVENTS
David Almond Event: Thursday, March 13. 1:00 p.m.
Watermark welcomes acclaimed young-adult author David Almond to Wichita for a
reading and book signing to mark the paperback release of his novel “Clay,”
available March 11. The event will be held at the Allison Middle School
Auditorium at 221 S. Seneca and is co-sponsored by Library Media Services. For
details, including arranging class visits, call Beth Golay at Watermark at (316)
682-1181.
Lisa See Reading & Signing: Tuesday, March 18. 7:00 p.m.
The bestselling author of “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” will visit Watermark
on her tour for the paperback release of her newest novel “Peony in Love.” Set
in 17th century China and based on a true story, this haunting novel uses the
richness and magic of the Chinese afterlife to explore the many manifestations
of love, the bonds of female friendship, and the desire all women have to be
heard. “Peony in Love” is new in paperback this week and is available now!
April KMUW Literary Feast: Friday, April 4. 7:00 p.m.
The April book will be “People of the Book,” a sweeping historical tale of
religion, sacrifice, and mercy by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Geraldine
Brooks:
Read review
Literary Feast participants will enjoy dinner together, with a menu specially
created by our Watermark chef, then take part in a book discussion over dessert.
Tickets are available at the Watermark book counter or by calling (316)
682-1181. Places are limited, and we recommend purchasing your ticket well in
advance. Read more about the book and author on the
KMUW Web site
Catherine Ryan Hyde reading & signing: Tuesday, April 8. 7:00 p.m.
Join us as we host Catherine Ryan Hyde for a reading & signing of her latest
book, “Chasing Windmills.” Hyde is the author of several books, including “Pay
it Forward” and “Love in the Present Tense.” For more information about the
author, visit her websites at
www.cryanhyde.com and
www.payitforwardfoundation.org
May KMUW Literary Feast. Friday, May 2. 7:00
p.m.
The May book will be “The Commoner” by John Burnham Schwartz, a novel of a
young woman who marries into the Japanese Imperial family and learns the lessons
and sacrifices that come with a life lived apart:
Read Beth’s review
Tickets for the feast are available at the Watermark book counter or by calling
(316) 682-1181. Places are limited, and we recommend purchasing your ticket well
in advance. Read more about the book and author on the
KMUW Web site
For a full listing of Watermark events, including book clubs and art openings,
visit the Events page of our Web site at: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/events.html
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FEATURED REVIEW
“Madam President: The Extraordinary, True (and
Evolving) Story of Women in Politics” by Catherine Thimmesh, illus. by Douglas
Jones (Houghton Mifflin, 9780618971435, $7.95, paperback, 80 pages, ages 9
and up)
Brand-new this week in paperback, this illustrated history lesson is smart,
timely, and inspiring. Aided by Douglas Jones’s appealing cartoons, Catherine
Thimmesh takes a look at the many trailblazing American women who have advanced
women’s rights and national leadership.
Thimmesh is an award-winning children’s author from Minneapolis, and Jones is a
frequent contributor of illustrations to the New York Times, the Washington
Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the Atlantic magazine. This is his debut
children’s book. “Madam President” is packed with intriguing facts and stories;
some are well known, but others arrive as fascinating surprises:
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As early as 1776, Abigail Adams, wife to
founding father John Adams, often wrote to her husband to tell him her views
on political matters. When the future president was at work in the second
Continental Congress, his wife famously instructed him to “Remember the
Ladies”--and their rights. Ms. Adams’s strong support of rights for women
became legendary and later earned her the nickname “Mrs. President” from her
husband’s rivals.
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When President Woodrow Wilson suffered a
paralyzing stroke in 1919, his wife Edith Bolling Wilson secretly, and
rather illegally, took up the reigns of government for several months.
Acting as his steward and intermediary, she approved grain sales to Poland,
a treaty with Bulgaria, and the withdrawal of U.S. representatives from
post-war peace negotiations in Paris. Ms. Wilson insisted that she initiated
no programs or major decisions, yet she is regarded by many historians as
the nation’s first acting woman president.
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The 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment,
which recognized women’s right to vote, came down to one tie-breaking vote
cast by one state representative from Tennessee. Harry T. Burn had planned
to vote “nay” on the matter, but a timely letter from his mother convinced
him to change his vote to “aye” and thereby usher in a new era. “I
appreciated the fact,” he said, “that an opportunity such as seldom comes to
a mortal man to free 17 million women from political slavery was mine.” In
his case, there’s really no doubt: Mother surely knew best.
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And my favorite story, that of Charlotte
Woodward: In 1848, the first women’s rights convention at Seneca Falls, New
York, approved the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments, which called for
women to have the vote. Charlotte Woodward, a farm girl and glove maker then
just nineteen years old, was the youngest woman to sign her name to the
document. More than seventy years later, when the 19th Amendment finally
passed, Woodward, at the age of ninety, was the last living Seneca Falls
signer, the last of one hundred, yet she was among the first wave of
American women to cast their votes at the ballot box.
“Madam President” surveys more recent pioneers as
well, telling how Eleanor Roosevelt put the “first” in first lady; how Madeline
Albright and Condoleezza Rice became the first women to hold top diplomatic and
security positions; how Nancy Pelosi has broken barrier after barrier as a
leader in the House of Representatives, and how Hilary Rodham Clinton became the
first presidential spouse to have an office inside the West Wing--and the
first-ever former first lady to become an elected official in her own right.
Reading these incredible stories gives weight and exciting color to the long
march of women’s rights. It also brings to mind Susan B. Anthony’s most famous
saying, which carries the ring of prophecy: “Failure,” she said, “is
impossible.”
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Past reviews and archived issues of Teacher Feature can be read on-line on the
Watermark Web site at:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/teacharchives.html
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Later educators,
Mark David Bradshaw
Click here for the Teacher Feature Archives
Peruse
back issues of teacher feature since its inception in April
2003.
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