In this realistic and empowering tale, Carmen learns that through community and love, she can find strength in herself and maintain her connection with her Papi, who has been detained because of his immigration status. Read an excerpt from the adult-child dialog section of Something Happened to My Dad. Hear Something Happened to My Dad read by Ann Hazzard. Escucha a Algo Le Pasó a Mi Papá leido por Vivianne Aponte Rivera.
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That Missing Feeling author, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, and author-storyteller,Vida Zuljevic, have been friends for many years. They met when Vida was a school librarian in the United States. Amy and Vida have continued their friendship now that Vida has returned to her homeland of Bosnia where she writes and shares books and stories with children. It is an honor for Magination that Vida chose to translate That Missing Feeling and to share it with students across the ocean from where it was written. Here’s an interview with Vida about sharing That Missing Feeling with children in Bosnia. Magination Press: What inspired you to translate That Missing Feeling? Vida Zuljevic: When I saw the topic of this book, I thought that it’s an extremely relevant one for many children who’ve found themselves living in two places as a result of their parents' divorce. The topic hit home, too, as my grandchildren went through this difficult family organization. Since retiring in the U.S., I’ve been living mostly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and I’ve been visiting early learning centers and elementary schools as Grandma Storyteller for reading and storytelling sessions. I’m always on the lookout for good stories to read to the children, and I believe that That Missing Feeling should be heard and read by millions of children around the world. Language should be no obstacle to sharing this book with the children I work with now, so I translated it into Bosnian. Vida and her granddaughter MP: To whom did you read the book? VZ: First, I read it to three second grade classes at the elementary school where I did my student teaching when I was first becoming a teacher, 50 years ago. Then, I read it to two of my granddaughters who have experienced “that missing feeling” themselves. I even gifted a book and a doll I made with a notebook to my nine-year-old granddaughter, who fell in love with the book and the doll as well. She said that she planned to take them to summer camp. MP: What about the story did you wish to share with students? VZ: Although That Missing Feeling is a story of a girl whose parents divorce and whose life in two homes leads to the missing feeling, the story can apply to all children (and adults) who miss someone or something they love. Listening to Mia’s story, children can see that there are ordinary people just like them who miss somebody they love. They understand that there are ways to at least soothe those feelings and redirect them to something positive. MP: How did the children respond when you read it aloud? VZ: I like to read and partially tell the story at the same time. With this story, I first asked children if there was somebody in their lives that they missed a lot. They shared. Then, I shared about how much I miss
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July is BIPOC Mental Health Month. It was created in 2008 to bring awareness to the unique struggles that underrepresented groups face related to mental illness in the communities of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Magination Press has several stories that address these unique struggles and open the door for discussion. This year, we feature the Something Happened books. The Something Happened books present and explain sensitive and important events happening in communities across the United States and around the world. Told in clear, compelling stories, the books come with the authority of psychological expertise from the American Psychological Association. They include: Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story of Racial Injustice, which is a New York Times and #1 IndieBound bestseller, and one of ALA's most banned books; Something Happened in Our Park: Standing Together After Gun Violence, which was nominated for The Goddard Riverside CBC Youth Book Prize for Social Justice; and Something Happened to My Dad: A Story About Immigration and Family Separation. Something Happened to My Dad: A Story About Immigration and Family Separation by Ann Hazzard, PhD ABPP and Vivianne Aponte Rivera, MD In this realistic and empowering tale, Carmen learns that through community and love, she can find strength in herself and maintain her connection with her Papi, who has been detained because of his immigration status. Carmen loves doing magic with her Papi. He can make sarapes fly. He can make rabbits vanish! But one day, her Papi vanishes. She is sad and scared when she learns he has been detained because he is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. At first, Carmen’s family keeps Papi’s detention a secret, fearing that they might be judged negatively. As Carmen's community becomes aware of their situation, they rally around her family with love. Carmen learns she can find strength in herself and maintain her connection with Papi, no matter what happens. Read and excerpt from the adult-child dialog section. Check out the English version of the book here and the Spanish version here. Something Happened In Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano, PhD, ABPP, Marietta Collins, PhD and Ann Hazzard, PhD ABPP Emma and Josh heard that something happened in their town. A Black man was shot by the police. “Why did the police shoot that man?” “Can police go to jail?” Something Happened in Our Town follows two families — one White, one Black — as they discuss a police shooting of a Black man in their community. The story aims to answer children’s questions about such traumatic events, and to help children identify and counter racial injustice in their own lives. Includes an extensive Note to Parents and Caregivers with guidelines for discussing race and racism with children, child-friendly definitions, and sample dialogues. Hear Something Happened in Our Town read aloud here. Hear a podcast with Marianne Celano, PhD, ABPP about talking with children about racism here. Check out the book here. Something Happened in Our
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