From: Cappiello, Maryann <mcappiel_at_lesley.edu>
Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2012 14:52:17 +0000

Here are two trends I would like to see in the coming years:

Wish #1: In the US, we need more books published in translation from other countries, so that children in America have a wide range of choices. All to o often, the books that are written in America and set in other nations foc us on international or internal conflicts, social issues, etc. - all of whi ch are vitally important. I certainly want more, not less, of those stories . But I also hope to see more translated contemporary realistic fiction, in both picture book and chapter book form, that focuses on the highs and low s of family life, representations of friendship and community, coming-of-ag e, etc. We need more books in translation for children to read at home with their families as well as in school as part of reading groups and content explorations in language arts, science, and social studies.

Wish #2: I would like to see Author and Illustrator notes that are written to the child/young adult reader, not just the parent or teacher who might b e reading the book with the child/teen. I would also like to see more autho r/illustrator notes in general, and more developed notes for those adults r eading with children. I know that there is a wide array of opinions and int erpretations of the Common Core State Standards. One aspect of the CCSS tha t gets me very excited is the great potential for more widespread use of tr ade books to teach language arts, social studies, and science, and to situa te readers "within" text set so that they can question perspectives and inf ormation on a topic or theme.

When using trade books in the classroom that have been heavily researched, I always use the author and illustrator note as a starting point for my thi nking. As a teacher educator, I walk my students through the process of rea ding book reviews as well as author and illustrator notes for the potential teaching ideas and resources that emerge. The more context the author or i llustrator can set for the work that s/he does, the richer the potential fo r classroom considerations of author's craft, visual literacy, and the comp lexity of historic and scientific research. Writing has been largely ignore d in American classrooms over the past decade, but for open response questi ons on tests. The CCSS emphasizes writing for a variety of purposes, and I see the rich opportunities for using trade books as mentor texts. Teachingb ooks.net is doing a wonderful job of capturing author/illustrator interview s and talks that help to set a deeper context for their books and situate t heir books within content of some sort
. I'd love more of that, and more of that written to/spoken to the child reader. The author's note is always in a smaller font and written in a different voice. Perhaps we can have dual a uthor/illustrator's notes, one for child reader and one for the adult readi ng with/alongside the child. I know there is a "real estate implication" in terms of the cost of the space on the page and the price of the book, but it's a pathway towards richer classroom use. If children can see "mentor re search" and read and understand how the author/illustrator arrived at the t ext they just read, they will be better situated to try to do that work the mselves. Hearing the author or illustrator's authentic voice "talking to th em" empowers children to see themselves as capable of such work.

Best, Mary Ann Mary Ann Cappiello, Ed.D. Associate Professor Language & Literacy Division Coordinator, Collaborative Internship Partnership Graduate School of Education Lesley University Teaching with Text Sets, http://estore.seppub.com/estore/product/50688 www.classroombookshelf.blogspot.com

Office Phone: (617) 349-8603 Office Location: 2-054 University Hall

Mailing Address: 29 Everett Street Cambridge, MA 02138
Received on Thu 18 Oct 2012 02:52:17 PM CDT