Nick's Picks: Selected Resources from TeachingBooks.net

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Nick Glass, TeachingBooks.net for Curriculum Connections -- School Library Journal, 10/20/2009

In commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards, TeachingBooks.net has launched the Coretta Scott King Book Award Curriculum Resource Center, a free, multimedia, online database for educators and families, featuring more than 250 original recordings with the award-winning authors and illustrators, and hundreds of lesson plans.

Forty years ago, two librarians and a publisher at the American Library Association conference lamented that no African-American author or illustrator had yet been honored with a Newbery or Caldecott medal. In response to that conversation, they decided to establish an award that would acknowledge the achievements of African-American writers and artists in the field of children’s literature.

Since then, the prestigious Coretta Scott King Book Award has honored a total of 231 distinguished titles that reflect the African-American experience for children and youth. The award has served as a powerful launching pad for increasing the presence and appreciation of African-American writers and illustrators in the book community.

Watch a brief movie trailer on the Coretta Scott King Book Award Curriculum Resource Center

The Coretta Scott King Book Award Curriculum Resource Center contains more than nine hours of original audios with award recipients in accessible, two- to three-minute clips. Search the online center by author, illustrator, title, grade level, and curricular area, or by the year or specific award citation.

Browse the book covers (and teaching materials) for the two hundred-plus books that have been cited by the Coretta Scott King Book Award committees

In addition to free, online primary source materials (audio recordings and book readings), the collection also features lesson plans, videos filmed in the studios of some of the award-winners, and original recordings by authors and illustrators pronouncing their monikers. Can you say Baba Wagué Diakité?

Included among the more than 180 recordings are those of Dr. Maya Angelou and George Ford—two of the first recipients of the award—as well as Dr. Toni Morrison, Walter Dean Myers, and Jerry Pinkney.

Listen to Jerry Pinkney, the only artist to win five Coretta Scott King Book Award medals. Enjoy resources for his 13 books that have received this commendation

We hope that this multimedia curriculum resource center makes teaching these books fun, informative, and exciting. We believe that these online resources support the vision that librarians Glyndon Greer and Mabel McKissick had 40 years ago when they established the award.

The Coretta Scott King Book Award Curriculum Resource Center, created by TeachingBooks.net with the support of the Coretta Scott King Book Award 40th Anniversary Public Awareness Campaign Committee, is found at: http://teachingbooks.net/csk.

Nick Glass is the Founder of TeachingBooks.net, and managed the development of this multimedia collection. If you have questions or wish to share the ways in which you’re using these digital materials, please write nick@teachingbooks.net.