KRLemmons Uncategorized

Teacher-Author Diana Lee Santamaria On Promoting Literacy & Self-Publishing

missdguzman's avatarLatinxs in Kid Lit

Childrens book, school, teach, kids, learning, DLee's World, DLee, Diana Santamaria Childrens book, buy now, learn colors, teach, DLee's World, DLee, by Diana Santamaria Childrens book, teach counting, lesson plans, DLee's World, DLee, by Diana Santamaria Childrens book, teach counting, lesson plans, DLee's World, DLee, by Diana Santamaria

By Diana Lee Santamaria

Hi, everyone! I am so honored to be a guest writer on Latin@s in Kid Lit. My name is Diana Lee Santamaria and I am a newly self-published children’s author of DLee’s World Books. DLee’s World is a series of learning books that I created for children ages three to five. Since I struggled with issues of illiteracy growing up, I designed my books with bright colors, playful rhyme schemes, and diverse characters to promote literacy, diversity, and most importantly, fun.

Literacy is extremely important to me considering that more and more children
seem to display a lack of interest in literacy education. As a result, according to the most recent statistics
on literacy provided by the National Center of Educational Statistics, about 50% of adults in the United States read at or below basic proficiency level. Therefore, issues of literacy are still a…

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KRLemmons Uncategorized

The 2015 International Latino Book Awards Finalists!

missdguzman's avatarLatinxs in Kid Lit

Below are the 2015 finalists for the 17th Annual International Latino Book Awards in the children’s, youth, and young adult categories. If you click on the images, you will be taken to Indiebound, Barnes and Noble, or Amazon for more information. The Awards are produced by Latino Literacy Now, an organization co-founded by Edward James Olmos and Kirk Whisler, and co-presented by Las Comadres para las Americas and Reforma, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos. The Awards themselves will be June 27 in San Francisco as part of the ALA Conference. Click here for the complete list, which includes adult fiction and nonfiction. Congratulations and good luck to all of the finalists!

Best Latino Focused Children’s Picture Book: English

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Best Latino Focused Children’s Picture Book: Spanish or Bilingual

23242348  20640741  23058499

Best Children’s Fiction Picture Book: English

20759593    20262585  18106361  20763795  

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KRLemmons African American History

May 7 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – May 7 *

1867 – African American demonstrators stage a ride-in to protest
segregation on New Orleans streetcars. Similar
demonstrations occur in Mobile, Alabama, and other cities.

1878 – J.R. Winters receives a patent for the fire escape ladder.

1884 – Henrietta Vinton Davis performs scenes from Shakespeare
with Powhatan Beaty at Ford’s Opera House in Washington,
DC, site of the assassination of President Abraham
Lincoln. Vinton’s career will span a total of 44 years
and will include her involvement with Marcus Garvey’s
UNIA, including a vice-presidency of Garvey’s Black Star
Line.

1885 – Dr. John E. W. Thompson, a graduate of the Yale University
Medical School, is named minister to Haiti.

1931 – Literary critic and editor Darwin Theodore Troy Turner is born
in Cincinnati, Ohio. He will be admitted to the University of
Cincinnati at the age of 13. He will receive a bachelor’s
degree three years later, earn a master’s in English from
Cincinnati at the age of 18 and a doctorate from the
University of Chicago when he was 25. He will begin his
teaching career at Clark College in Atlanta in 1949. He will
teach at Morgan State College and Florida A&M University and
will be chairman of the English department at North Carolina
A&T College before joining the Iowa faculty in 1972. At the
time he joins the ancestors on February 11, 1991, he will be
the University of Iowa Foundation Distinguished Professor of
English. His major works will include “Black American
Literature: Essays, Poetry Fiction and Drama” (1969) and
“Voices from the Black Experience: African and Afro-American
Literature” (1972). He will join the ancestors on February 11,
1991, after succumbing to a heart attack.

1936 – Jimmy Lee Ruffin, Sr. is born in Collinsville, Mississippi. The
older brother of the Temptations’ lead singer David Ruffin, he
will become a singer on the Motown label and will best
known for the hit “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted.” He
will also record “Hold on to My Love,” “There Will Never be
Another You,” and “I’ll Say Forever My Love.” He will join
the ancestors on November 17, 2014.

1941 – “Natural Man,” a play by Theodore Browne, premieres in New
York City. It is a production of the American Negro
Theatre, founded by Abram Hill and Frederick O’Neal.

1945 – Baseball owner Branch Rickey announces the organization of
the United States Negro Baseball League, consisting of six
teams.

1946 – William Hastie is inaugurated as the first African American
governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

1959 – 93,103 fans pack the Los Angeles Coliseum for an exhibition
game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York
Yankees. It is “Roy Campanella Night.” The star catcher
for the Dodgers, paralyzed in an automobile accident, is
honored for his contributions to the team for many years.
“Campie” will continue to serve in various capacities with
the Dodger organization for many years.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Mr. Rene’ A. Perry.
KRLemmons Uncategorized

Libros Latin@s: Pickle: The (Formerly) Anonymous Prank Club of Fountain Point Middle School

missdguzman's avatarLatinxs in Kid Lit

13170031By Kimberly Mach

DESCRIPTION FROM THE BACK OF THE BOOK:

Dear Parents and Teachers:

This is a work of fiction. There is no Prank and Trick Association at Fountain Point Middle School. And you absolutely will not find instructions on how to log in to a top-secret prank instruction website anywhere on these pages. All we do is make pickles. OK?

Sincerely,

Ben Diaz

President, The League of Pickle Makers

MY TWO CENTS: Now, if the description above won’t get a child to pick up a book, I’m not sure what will.

Kim Baker had me laughing from the first page. The book opens with this line: Can I trust you? She had me hooked right there, with all that the question implies.

There are so many ways to talk about Pickle because it really is a perfect middle-grade novel. Kids will laugh out loud, and they may even go…

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KRLemmons Jazz Appreciation Month

April 12 Jazz Artist of the day: Blanche Calloway

Blanche Calloway, the older sister of Cab Calloway, is April 12 Jazz Artist of the Day.  Read more about this talented and fascinating artist below.

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All Music Biography: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/blanche-calloway-mn0000758950/biography

African American Registry: http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/blanche-calloway-bandleader-and-much-more

All About Jazz: http://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/blanchecalloway

Youtube videos: “I Got What it Takes” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdaLB1xzfrA, “I’m Getting Myself Ready for You” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLSA4iTk8c0

KRLemmons African American History

May 6 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – May 6 *

1787 – Prince Hall forms African Lodge 459, the first African
American Masonic Lodge in the United States.

1794 – Haiti, under Toussaint L’Ouverture, revolts against France.

1812 – Martin R. Delany is born free in Charlestown, Virginia. He
is considered to be the grandfather of Black nationalism.
He will also be one of the first three blacks admitted to
Harvard Medical School. Trained as an assistant and a
physician, he will treat patients during the cholera
epidemics of 1833 and 1854 in Pittsburgh, when many doctors
and residents flee the city. He will work alongside
Frederick Douglass to publish the North Star. Active in
recruiting blacks for the United States Colored Troops, he
will be commissioned as a major, the first African American
field officer in the United States Army during the American
Civil War. After the Civil War, he will work for the
Freedmen’s Bureau in the South, settling in South Carolina,
where he will become politically active. He will run
unsuccessfully for Lieutenant Governor and will be appointed
a Trial Judge. He will also be a noted author, explorer, and
a newspaper editor. He will join the ancestors on January 24,
1885.

1930 – Noted actor Charles Gilpin joins the ancestors. The founder
and manager of the Lafayette Theatre Company, one of the
earliest African American stock companies in New York,
Gilpin achieved fame for his performance as Brutus Jones
in Eugene O’Neill’s play “The Emperor Jones.” In 1921, he
won the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal in recognition of his
theatrical career.

1931 – Willie Mays is born in Westfield, Alabama. He will become a
professional baseball player at the age of 16, for the
Birmingham Black Barons. After graduating from high school,
he will be signed by the New York Giants. His 7095 putouts
will be the all-time record for an outfielder. His career
batting average will be .302. For eight consecutive years,
he will drive in more than 100 runs a year, and his 660 home
runs will put him in third place for the all-time home run
record. He will win the Gold Glove Award 12 times. He will
be voted Most Valuable Player in the National League in
both 1954 and 1965. He will be inducted into the Baseball
Hall of Fame in 1979.

1960 – The Civil Rights Act of 1960 is signed by President
Eisenhower. The act acknowledges the federal government’s
responsibility in matters involving civil rights and
reverses its customary “hands-off” policy.

1967 – Four hundred students seize the administration building at
Cheyney State College.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Mr. Rene’ A. Perry
KRLemmons African American History

May 5 African American Historical Events

* Today in Black History – May 5 *

1857 – The Dred Scott decision, in the famous U.S. Supreme Court
case, declares that no black–free or slave–could claim
United States citizenship, therefore could not sue. It
also stated that Congress could not prohibit slavery in
United States territories. The ruling will arouse angry
resentment in the North and will lead the nation a step
closer to civil war. It also will influence the
introduction and passage of the 14th Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution after the Civil War (1861-1865). The
amendment, adopted in 1868, will extend citizenship to
former slaves and give them full civil rights.

1865 – Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. is born near Martin’s Mill in
Franklin County, Virginia. He will be a social and
religious leader at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem,
after becoming the pastor in 1908. Under his leadership,
he will expand the role of the church in the community and
increase its membership to 10,000. When he retires in
1937, Abyssinian Baptist Church will be the largest
Protestant church in the United States. He will be
succeeded in the pulpit by his son, Adam CLayton Powell,
Jr., who will become a future congressman. He will join
the ancestors on June 12, 1953.

1883 – Josiah Henson joins the ancestors in Dawn, Ontario, Canada
at the age of 93. He had escaped slavery in Maryland and
settled in Canada. He had been part of the creation of a
settlement for fugitive slaves near Dawn, Ontario.

1905 – Robert Sengstacke Abbott founds the Chicago Defender,
calling it “The World’s Greatest Weekly.”

1919 – The NAACP awards the Spingarn Medal to William Stanley
Braithwaite. Braithwaite’s publication of essays and verse
in notable mainstream magazines and editorial efforts on
three books of verse and poetry anthologies had earned him
wide acclaim among African Americans and whites.

1931 – Edwin A. Harleston joins the ancestors in Charleston, South
Carolina. One of the most popular and influential African
American painters of the day, his work will be exhibited at
the Harmon Foundation, the Gallery of Art in Washington, DC,
and in the exhibit “Two Centuries of Black American Art.”

1935 – Jesse Owens, of the United States, sets the long jump record
at 26′ 8″.

1943 – Maximiliano Gomez Horatio is born in San Pedro de Macoris,
Dominican Republic. After working in the sugar refineries
in his home area, be will become a politician, leading the
Dominican Popular Movement. He believed that the Dominican
Republic should be guided by its own historical and social
environment, not on any European model. He will participate
in an insurrection that is ended by a U.S. invasion in 1965.
He will later be imprisoned and after his release, he will
go into exile. He will join the ancestors under suspicious
circumstances in Brussels, Belgium, on May 23, 1971.

1965 – Edgar Austin Mittelholzer joins the ancestors in Farnham,
Surrey, England, after committing suicide at the age of 55.
He had been the first author from the Carribean to earn his
living as a writer. He was considered the father of the
novel in the English-speaking Caribbean.

1969 – Moneta Sleet becomes the first African American to win a
Pulitzer Prize for his photograph of Mrs. Martin Luther
King, Jr. and her daughter at her husband’s funeral.

1971 – A race riot occurs in the Brownsville section of New York
City.

1975 – Hank Aaron surpasses Babe Ruth’s RBI mark. He will finish
his career with 755 home runs and over 2200 RBIs. Both
records will stand for many years. Aaron will be inducted
into Baseball’s Hall of Fame on August 1, 1982.

1977 – The Afro-American Historical and Genealogy Society is
founded in Washington, DC. The society’s mission is to
encourage scholarly research in African American genealogy.

1988 – Eugene Antonio Marino, is installed as the archbishop of
Atlanta, becoming the first African American Roman Catholic
archbishop in the United States.

2003 – Walter Sisulu, a major player in the fight against apartheid
in South Africa with Nelson Mandela, joins the ancestors at
the age of 90 after a long illness.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Mr. Rene’ A. Perry.