family: 7 Articles

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month With Books

Children's Books September 20, 2022 10:00 am

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we highlight APA children’s books featuring Latinx families. Each of these books celebrates family and highlights the richness of culture and the strength of community and love. Explore them with your child. Something Happened to My Dad: A Story About Immigration and Family Separation by Ann Hazzard, PhD, ABPP, and Vivianne Aponte Rivera, MD Algo Le Pasó a Mi Papá: Una Historia Sobre Inmigración y la Separación Familiar by Vivianne Aponte Rivera, MD and Ann Hazzard, PhD, ABPP “A well-researched, deeply affecting picture book examines deportation and its effects on communities and immigrant families. ...An important, empathetic, and well-told immigration story that strikes a hopeful note of resilience. (glossary of immigration terms, illustrator’s note, further reading, Spanish edition).” –Kirkus Carmen loves doing magic with her Papi. She is sad and scared when she learns he has been detained because he is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. Carmen learns she can find strength in herself and maintain her connection with Papi, no matter what happens. Accordionly: Abuelo and Opa Make Music by Michael Genhart, PhD “This is a reassuring story, emphasizing that though we may be different we can find common ground, an especially important message for multiracial/multiethnic children who can often feel pulled between competing identities… "—Kirkus Reviews Abuelo speaks Spanish. Opa speaks German. Both play the accordion. The little boy in Accordionly: Abuelo and Opa Make Music, shows great creativity and wisdom as he finds a way to help his grandfathers connect through music. Marvelous Maravilloso: Me and My Beautiful Family by Carrie Lara, PsyD “A wonderfully presented picture book story from the point of view of a young interracial child about what color means within the dynamics of race, ethnicity, and culture." —Midwest Book Review Our colors make us beautiful and unique. Explore the colors of the world, including the peoples’ beautiful and unique colors, with a little girl and her family. The Heart of Mi Familia by Carrie Lara, PsyD “A child explores what being bicultural means to them in ways that feel familiar to young readers… Bicultural kids will feel seen in this sweet family story. " —Kirkus Review Follow a young girl as she works with her abuela and her grandma to create a wonderful birthday present for her brother. She creates a gift that celebrates her multicultural family and honors both sides and generations of her family. This follow up to the award-winning Marvelous Maravilliso: Me and My Beautiful Family is a must-read for all families. My Singing Nana by Pat Mora “A winning story that also serves as a useful family resource." —Publishers Weekly Billy and his Nana are very close. They love to sing together. When Billy notices that his Nana is forgetting things, his mom explains that she sometimes needs help. When Nana is having a hard day, Billy draws on his special connection with her to include her in family events.

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month With Books Eileen Hanning 2022-09-17T19:38:26-04:00

Dance With Me! Upbeat Books to Celebrate Dance

families September 17, 2021 3:46 pm

September 18 is National Dance Day. Whether you love hip hop, ballet, salsa, polka, swing, ballroom, or folk dancing, moving to music is a universal experience. These upbeat Magination Press books celebrate dancing with family, friends, and even on your own. When Nana Dances by Jane Yolen and Maddison Stemple-Piatt Nana can make any object a dancing partner. An umbrella, a broom, even a rake! Both onstage and off, she can shimmy, she can mambo, and do the bunny hop. She’s won prizes and can dance to grandpa’s music or to her own beat. But nothing is more special than when grandma dances with her grandchildren. This fun story is filled with the movement, energy, and laughter that comes when kids dance with their grandparents. Accordionly: Abuelo and Opa Make Music by Michael Genhart, PhD When both grandpas, Abuelo and Opa, visit at the same time, they can’t understand each other’s language and there is a lot of silence. The grandson’s clever thinking helps find a way for everyone to share the day together as two cultures become one family. Hector’s Favorite Place by Jo Rooks Hector loves his cozy, snugly, safe home. It's his favorite place to be. Hector loves his home so much that he doesn't often go out, and soon, it starts to affect his friendships. Can Hector find the courage to break out of his comfort zone? Move Your Mood! by Brenda S. Miles, PhD, and Colleen A. Patterson, MA Feeling blah? Here's what to do. Move your body and your mood moves too! Move Your Mood! invites kids and adults to twist, wiggle, shake, hop…and smile! Reading this book with your child is an active and fun way to teach your child about emotions, and introduce the idea that moving our bodies affects the way we feel inside. Ready to start feeling better? Move and groove your way into a better mood!

Dance With Me! Upbeat Books to Celebrate Dance Eileen Hanning 2021-09-17T15:46:23-04:00

As Babies Dream: An Interview With the Author

Children's Books September 14, 2021 10:00 am By Lesléa Newman

As Babies Dream by Lesléa Newman is a sweet, rhyming lullaby. It's a calming ode to nature where a loving family embraces their child as night falls and dream time begins. From rivers to eagles, to lions and lambs, to leaves and rain, and to stars and the moon, the soothing sounds of the world become the inspiration for a loving night of restful sleep for a weary baby. Magination Press interviewed Ms. Newman about her inspiration for the book and the process of creating it. Lesléa and her mother Magination Press: What inspired you to write As Babies Dream? Lesléa Newman: The text was originally written as a poem to express my gratitude for the love my parents gave me from the very first moment that I was born. MP: How did you choose the different animals and ecosystems you included? LN: Since the book is a rhyming text, the animals were largely chosen by playing with language in order to get the words, and especially the sounds of the words, just right. MP: Why focus on animals and natural phenomena until the very last page? LN: I wanted to show that we human animals are part of the beautiful, diverse, natural world around us and all creatures are comforted by loving parents who create a safe harbor to give their offspring a place to dream. MP: There are many bedtime books and books featuring adult and baby animals. Why did you want to create one? LN: There can never be enough of them! Lesléa and her grandmother, 1956 MP: What did you think when you first saw Taia Morley’s illustrations? LN: I was absolutely astonished and delighted at the way she so beautifully brought my text to life. MP: Did you discuss which animals would be in illustrations that don’t name the animals specifically with Ms. Morley? LN: As is usual in the creation of picture books, I did not have any contact with the artist. She was free to interpret my text and use her considerable talent in any way she wished. MP: Did you discuss the depiction of diverse families on the last page with Morley? LN: I discussed this extensively with my editor, as representation of diversity is extremely important to me. And I am thrilled with this illustration. MP: Why show families in an urban setting instead of in nature, like the animals? LN: That was the choice of my editor and illustrator. Lesléa and her grandmother, 1989 MP: Do you have a favorite lullaby or bedtime story? One that you remember from your childhood or from reading to children? LN: My grandmother sang the Yiddish lullaby “Rozhinkes mit Mandlen” (“Raisins and Almonds”) to me when I was a baby. The last time she sang it to me, she was 99 years old and I was 33. I can still hear her beautiful voice in my head singing that haunting melody.

As Babies Dream: An Interview With the Author Lesléa Newman 2021-09-09T14:17:20-04:00

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