From: Tattercoat at aol.com <Tattercoat>
Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 11:27:39 EST

Thanks to Lulu for her posting from the author/illustrator perspective. Her books are often on the reading list for my Children's Literature course, taken by future teachers. One problem I have in teaching about literature for the classroom is that when I have my students read the best new books--especially if they are cultural literature--the books are no longer available in print by the time my students start teaching in their own classrooms. I don't want to teach just the classics and Newbery and Caldecott winners which are always in print. My goal is to develop discerning readers of children's books, teachers who can find and evaluate literature that their students need and who will be eager readers of new books and new authors.

In California, we already have a large Latino population. Meeting the needs of kids here involves, in part, including high quality Latino literature for all in the classroom. The Pura Belpre award is important in developing awareness of good books and I am grateful for it. Educator awareness is a crucial element of the market.

Carolyn Lehman Humboldt State University
Received on Sun 12 Mar 2000 10:27:39 AM CST