Bringing books to life throughout the curriculum

I deeply believe that children's and young adult books are relevant in pretty much every curricular area. Do you?

With this cross-curricular literacy goal in mind, I'm delighted to announce a time-saving, really useful, standards-based component of TeachingBooks: Instructional Uses.

Try this new Instructional Uses section by picking a relevant area for your work, and exploring resources that support subject-specific standards. We believe that these materials will enhance instruction, engage learners, and stimulate thinking about books for specific instructional areas.

Enjoy. Share with your colleagues who use books. And let us know what you think. Thanks!

Nick Glass, TeachingBooks.net Founder & Executive Director

Behind the Books: Alan Gratz on creating character

Plotting a novel has never been difficult for author Alan Gratz, but creating characters has taken a little more work.

For his latest middle grade novel, Gratz challenged himself to "go deeper" as he developed the characters of Isabel, Mahmoud, and Josef, the children at the center of the stories in Refugee (Scholastic, 2017).

In this month's guest blog post, learn how the author brings to life three distinctly different characters who feel universal, like "children you could have met."

Read Alan Gratz's Guest Blog Post now.

Meet-the-Author Book Reading: Ibi Zoboi on navigating different worlds

Moving from Haiti to the United States, Ibi Zoboi noticed disparity between life in her home country and life in the U.S., but she also noticed acute disparities between different communities within the U.S.

In American Street (Balzer + Bray, 2017), the debut Young Adult author wanted to show how immigrants navigate and negotiate life in a new country where life may not be exactly as they dreamed.

Listen to author Ibi Zoboi share the story behind her novel now.

Browse all TeachingBooks.net Meet-the-Author Book Readings.

Featured Booklist: Ezra Jack Keats Book Award

Are you looking for picture books with a fresh perspective and the comfort of a classic? The Ezra Jack Keats Book Award list may be just the answer!

Celebrating the work of The Snow Day author Ezra Jack Keats, this award honors new writers and new illustrators of children's books "that portray the universal qualities of childhood, a strong and supportive family, and the multicultural nature of our world."

Explore resources for all the books ever recognized by the Ezra Jack Keats Book Award now.

Contests & Giveaways

Check out our August Contests & Giveaways, accompanied by multimedia resources!

• The Man Who Loved Libraries: The Story of Andrew Carnegie by Andrew Larsen
• The List by Patricia Forde
• Dear Dragons Emotions by Margaret Hillert

See the August Contests & Giveaways on our blog.