OPEN STACKS | #49 Children's Book Week: Javaka Steptoe & Elizabeth Acevedo

 This week on Open Stacks, lit for the little ones, in honor of the 99th anniversary of Children's Book Week! Caldecott Medalist Javaka Steptoe and National Slam Champion Elizabeth Acevedo join us, along with award-winning children's fantasy author and 57th Street Books’ Children’s Manager Franny Billingsley. Plus, our booksellers' childhood favorites and scenes from 57th Street's storytime.

Children’s Book Week is the annual celebration of children’s books and reading. Established in 1919, it is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. The program is administered by Every Child a Reader and the Children’s Book Council (CBC) is the anchor sponsor.

From the archives: Javaka Steptoe's June 2017 reading at 57th Street Books. A speculative (but encouraging) Steptoe invited young audience members to act out scenes from Radiant Child. 

Marguerite Henry, Misty, and children at a birthday party for the horse. Katy O'Brien, who appears first in our series of bookseller recommendations, may or may not also appear in this photo...

Booksellers' choices, for your and your young reader’s reading pleasure:

Misty of Chincoteague, The Worst Princess (Out of print, but worth a try.), From the Mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, The Indian in the Cupboard, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, The Jolly Postman, Merriam Webster Children's Dictionary, The Book of Three, Chronicles of Narnia, D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths, Richard Scarry's Lowly Worm Word Book.

Stop by 57th Street every Wednesday and Saturday morning at 10:30am for storytime with Colin and Franny. And don’t miss the most fun you can have in your promotions folder... sign up for our dedicated children's books and events newsletter, A Young Person’s Guide to 57th Street Books! 

JSTOR Daily offers a wonderful set of reads related to children's literature, including this gem, Why Picture Books Were Once Considered Dangerous for Children:

"To anyone familiar with modern elementary schools, a classroom in colonial New England would look strange in many ways. Perhaps most obviously, the curriculum was almost exclusively religious. But in some respects, a bigger difference was the focus on teaching children in entirely abstract ways, without picture books or references to students’ real-world experiences."

Further reading:

• A Brief History of Young Adult Fiction
• In Children’s Books, How Much Reality Is Too Much?
• Knowledge and Nostalgia at the Museum: From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
• Why Was Turkish Delight C.S. Lewis’s Guilty Pleasure?