A Leader of Peace

Eleanor Roosevelt said, "It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough believe in it. One must work at it."

For the past couple of months, I have learned that leadership and peace go very well together. As we think about traits of a leader, many people do not think of the word peaceful.  John Lennon once said, "Peace is not something you wish for; it's something you do, something you are and something you give away." Outer peace begins with inner peace, it all starts from within yourself. Peace is a feeling that you want to have everyday. You want to teach others about peace and encourage them to be peaceful. In history, many leaders took a peaceful approach when they felt it was necessary. They refused to use disharmony and negative tactics. Those peaceful leaders spoke up against injustice and change harsh conditions. Leaders who believe unity, love, and peace are the leaders that will make a difference in this world.

 Down below I have listed some books to inspire adults and children to make a difference.  Embrace those peaceful leaders....

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Archbishop Desmond Tutu discusses his belief of unity and forgiveness. God's Dream teaches children that we can disagree with each other and still work together to change the world.



A is for Activist is ABC board book about activism and civil rights.  We can start teaching children at an early age to stand up for what they believe in and fight for equality.



Cesar Chavez is known as a great civil rights leader. He lead a peaceful protest march in California.  Chavez took charge and spoke up against injustice.



Malala Yousafzai is a young Pakistani girl who took a stand and spoke out about a child's right for education. She was almost killed by a Taliban gunman, but that only made her fight even harder.  She has been on multiple TV shows and many books have been written about her fight for education.



The story helps young readers view the life of Nelson Mandela and his courageous fight for freedom. Mandela's story is one that isn't told enough in schools.



Martin Luther King Jr.'s words truly came alive in this book dedicated to his famous speech. My favorite illustrator, Kadir Nelson, did a excellent job bringing a historical event to life through drawings.

ABC, Adoption and Me-A Book Review

"Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother"-Oprah Winfrey

          As a teacher and a book blogger for children, I am always looking for books and other resources that can reach children, especially children from different cultural backgrounds. We must take into consideration that families can differ. The authors of ABC Adoption and Me, establish a clear depiction of different types of families through the subject of adoption wonderfully. I believe that more books should be written that discuss sensitive topics. 

        The topic of adoption can bring a lot of unanswered questions, I really do believe books like these can help. I like how ABC, Adoption and Me, has a section in the beginning that outlines how to use the book in different areas when discussing adoption. On the following page, the authors talk about Adoption-attunement Quotient (AQ). The quotient shows how adoption influences a child. The two pages can help the adoptee, the adoptive parent(s), and the birth parent(s). These pages can also help teachers, counselors, and individuals who work in Family Services on educating others about how adoption works.

        Currently, I have a child in my Pre-K Program who is in the process of being adopted and I would love to read this book to him or recommend this book to his adoptive parents. ABC, Adoption and Me, expresses the topic of adoption so well through colorful illustrations. I like how they use the alphabet to explain words that correlate with adoption. My favorite part in the book is the letter “T”. The letter “T” discusses about trust and truth when it comes to adoption and I believe those two words are so important when dealing with family. I will recommend this book to people who work directly with young children and teenagers.

*A copy of this book was given to me by the author.  Opinions in this review are my own.

Illustrator/Author Spotlight-Kadir Nelson

 
"I feel that art’s highest function is that of a mirror, reflecting the innermost beauty and divinity of the human spirit; and is most effective when it calls the viewer to remember one’s highest self. I choose subject matter that has emotional and spiritual resonance and focuses on the journey of the hero as it relates to the personal and collective stories of people."-Kadir Nelson

 Kadir Nelson became my favorite illustrator when I saw a cover he created for The New Yorker. My first thought was that nobody could make such a inspiring and realistic drawing for a magazine, but I was wrong. I felt like I was seeing colors in slow motion that came together all by themselves. So I did some research on this wonderful artist, because I wanted to know more about him.

Nelson was born in 1974 and started his love for drawing and painting at the age of three. He also was an apprentice to his uncle, who was an artist and also an art instructor. Nelson's work can be found in art galleries, museums, and also in the private collection of famous people. He has created artwork for esteemed clients and artwork for music albums.  He created the album cover for Drake's, "Nothing was the Same" and Micheal Jackson's album entitled "Micheal".

Now we get to my favorite part, Nelson is also an author and illustrator of several children books. He has worked with Spike Lee and his wife, Debbie Allen, and many more with creating children's literature . Nelson started his career in children books when he was asked to illustrate a book by Jerdine Nolen. I am fortunate to have some of his books within my book collection. I really enjoy the collaborations he does with authors and others to make these books come alive. Please enjoy his beautiful books below! I know you will enjoy just looking at the book covers! For more books and artwork please checkout Kadir Nelson's website http://www.kadirnelson.com.

Awards

2009 Sibert Medal for We Are the Ship

Coretta Scott King Award for Ellington Was Not a Street, written by Ntozake Shange

NAACP Image Award for Just the Two of Us,

2008 Caldecott Honor for Henry's Freedom Box, written by Ellen Levine

New York Society of Illustrator Award Big Jabe

NYT Best-Selling picture books including, “WE ARE THE SHIP: The Story of Negro League Baseball” and “Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans

Bilingual Books-Yoruba/English

Youtube is another place I like to do research on diverse literature, television shows, and art.  I really enjoy the episodes of Bino and Fino. Bino and Fino are brother and sister who live in a city in Africa. The show educates children ages 3 to 6 about the African Culture, African History,and African Geography. I not only look for diverse books, but I also like to look for diverse television shows that are teaching children about other cultures.  The research that I did encouraged me to learn more about some languages that are spoken in Africa. I found out about a language called Yoruba.

 Yoruba is a tonal language that is spoken in West Africa, mainly Nigeria, which is were Bino and Fino's show is based from. Currently, thirty million people speak this pluricentric language.  Pluricentric means it is a language with many standard versions. So I was really excited when I found out that there are children books that have been written in Yoruba and English.  Bilingual Books are positive influences when it comes to studying a different language. I have taken French and Spanish classes before, not only are you learning the language, but you're learning about the culture too.  Down below I have a list of books that I would love for you to take a look at, if you find anymore please let me know! Please checkout the links and videos that are listed below also!

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One of the Classics!

Even though, it is a coloring book I wanted to put it on here. :)