4 Selecting Mentor Texts for Writing Box Programs

The process of selecting and evaluating materials for a Writing Box program is no different from any other collection development for a children’s library.

You may notice that the majority of the mentor texts mentioned at the end of chapters are picture books or short poems. This ensures that a workshop can be completed within a one-hour time period.

While pulling books from the shelves or ordering new ones to support the program, ask yourself the following questions:

What am I looking for in the books I select?

• A riveting story (whether fiction or informational)
• Juicy language (is the language rich and varied?)
• Compelling art (does the art reflect and illuminate the text?)
• Dramatic page turns (the art of the picture book hinges on compelling page turns)
• Age relevance: does it engage and inform its intended audience?
• Consistent style (is it excellent throughout, and is the voice consistent?)
• Read-aloud-ability (is it a joy to read aloud?)

Looking at the art of the book?

• What media is used? Do watercolor illustrations serve the story? Is the accomplished or amateur?
• Is this a serious biography?
• Do visual elements add to or distract from the text?
• Is the layout clean and communicative, or is it confusing? Are pieces of the pictures lost in the gutter?
• Are the chosen typefaces easy to read? Do they reflect the tone of the content?
• Does the art expand on the story told by the text?

Diversity: Through whose lens is this story being told?

• Do the titles on display for the Writing Box workshop reflect the dominant white culture of the US?
• Am I considering racism, sexism, and ableism in choosing portrayals of US history?

Resources for mentor text selection
My own go-to resources to give me insight into these issues and inform my selections are Rethinking Schools (rethinkingschools.org) and Teaching for Change (teachingforchange.org). The Zinn Education Project also promotes and supports the teaching of people’s history in classrooms across the country, and provides resources to guide explorations of history and social movements (zinnedproject.org/about).

How am I thinking about diversity? By diversity I mean more than culture, religion, nationality, and the color of someone’s skin. As you collect texts for your program, ask yourself the following questions:

• • Are all the characters white, or are there characters of color? Characters/people from many nations, religions, regions, home languages? Not every book has to fulfill this criterion, but books displayed for mentoring should provide mirrors and windows for the participants’ own lives.
  • Are the books that exhibit diversity included on lists of recommended readings, or have they received awards from their communities or from experts in the field? See z.umn.edu/ALACollectionDevelopment for resources on finding backlisted titles, along with lists of field expert journals.
  • Are they authored or illustrated by members of the communities they represent?
  • Do the titles provide a diversity of gender? Are all the protagonists boys? Seek out books not only with strong girl characters but with characters who are not always gender conforming. Stumped? Look for inspiration at z.umn.edu/wbr4.
  • Have I considered ableism?

“Ableism is a set of beliefs or practices that devalue and discriminate against people with physical, intellectual, or psychiatric disabilities and often rests on the assumption that disabled people need to be ‘fixed’ in one form or the other. Ableism is intertwined in our culture, due to many limiting beliefs about what disability does or does not mean, how able-bodied people learn to treat people with disabilities and how we are often not included at the table for key decisions.” Leah Smith, The Center for Disability Rights, Inc. (CDR) cdrnys.org/about/

And finally, am I thinking about accessibility?

• • Are mentor texts available in a variety of formats? Audio, text to speech etc.
  • Is information about the program is available to users in different formats? Does it include information about accessibility and requesting accommodations?
  • Does signage designate accessible routes, restrooms?
  • Do the program spaces account for the needs of those who are other than neuro-and physical typical?
  • Do we know how to assist with access requests?
  • Do I have tables that are accessible for writing from a wheelchair?
  • Is there an accessible restroom near the workshop area?
  • Have staff been trained to integrate disability-related topics?
  • Do I have a range of writing materials?
  • Have I asked if any of the participants need an interpreter or accommodations?
  • Is my program autism friendly?
  • Have I accounted for neurodiversity in the selection of mentor texts? Neurodiversity is a concept in which neurological differences are to be recognized and respected as any other human variation. These differences can include those associated with dyspraxia, dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyscalculia, autistic spectrum, Tourette Syndrome, and others.
  • Do the titles I’ve selected to read aloud and display reflect all kinds of people of differing economic and social backgrounds, and of different physical and cognitive abilities?

Recommend resources for finding and evaluating mentor texts

The following recommended resources (with a few updates) were part of a collection development workshop presented by Betty Carter, Professor Emeritus, Texas Woman’s University; Thom Barthelmess, Youth Services Manager, Whatcom County Library System, Bellingham, WA; Vicky Smith, Children’s Editor, Kirkus Reviews; and myself. We presented at the ALSC National Institute, September 23–25, 2010, at the Emory Conference Center in Atlanta, GA. The handout containing recommendations and resources and can be found at z.umn.edu/ALACollectionDevelopment.

Review Journals

Booklist (ala.org/booklist)

The Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books (BCCB), or The Bulletin (bccb.ischool.illinois.edu)

The Horn Book Magazine (hbook.com)

Kirkus Reviews (kirkusreviews.com)

Publishers Weekly (publishersweekly.com/pw/home/index.html)

School Library Journal (SLJ; slj.com)

VOYA: Voice of Youth Advocates in Libraries (voyamagazine.com)

Subject-Specific Journals

Except for Science Books and Films and Multicultural Review (which are review journals), the journals below sometimes review books for children and young adults and frequently mention young adult and children’s literature in their articles. They are aimed at subject-area educators.

Mathematics Teacher (z.umn.edu/wbr5): Official publication of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Multicultural Review (ala.org/rt/emiert): Official publication of the Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table of the American Library Association; reviews books that provide a glimpse into our diverse society.

Reading Teacher (z.umn.edu/wbr6): Official publication of the International Reading Association, targeting teachers of reading in elementary/middle schools.

Science and Children (nsta.org/elementaryschool): Official publication of the National Science Teachers Association.

Science Books and Films (z.umn.edu/wbr7): Review journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (which publishes Science), in which subject-area specialists evaluate science books for children, young adults, and adults.

Social Education (z.umn.edu/wbr8): Official journal of the National Council of the Social Studies.

Online Resources

Bank Street College of Education, Children’s Book Committee (z.umn.edu/wbr9): The Children’s Book Committee members evaluate current literature for children and publish booklists to guide parents, librarians, and teachers in the selection of developmentally relevant reading materials.

Capitol Choices (www.capitolchoices.org): “Our mission is to identify and select a yearly list of outstanding titles for children and teens.”

Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC; ccbc.education.wisc.edu/default.asp): A unique examination, study, and research library of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the go-to resource for thematic bibliographies, current book awards, and lists, as well as for identifying current books of excellence.

GLSEN [Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network] Booklink (www.glsen.org): As stated on their website, “The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network strives to assure that each member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.” Recommended titles reflect this mission.

No Flying No Tights: A Website Reviewing Graphic Novels for Teens (www.noflyingnotights.com) The title says it all. Multiple contributors cover all aspects of graphic format, including adult crossover.

Shelf Awareness: Daily Enlightenment for the Book Trade (shelf-awareness.com): Shelf Awareness is “an email newsletter dedicated to helping the people in stores, in libraries and on the Web buy, sell and lend books most wisely” and includes reviews of current and upcoming titles of interest.

Sidekicks: A Website Reviewing Graphic Novels for Kids (z.umn.edu/wbr10): Part of this site is devoted to presenting graphic-novel reviews for kids and those who work with them, including librarians, teachers, and parents.

Blogs

American Indians in Children’s Literature (americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com): Debbie Reese (Nambé Pueblo) provides critical perspectives of indigenous peoples in children’s Mentor texts, poetry and young adult books, the school curriculum, and society at large.

The Brown Bookshelf (thebrownbookshelf.com). The Brown Bookshelf is designed to push awareness of the myriad Black voices writing for young readers.

Blue Ox Review (www.continuum.umn.edu/kerlan/): Recommended reading from my blog and thematic lists.

Fuse 8 (z.umn.edu/wbr11): A Fuse #8 Production, on the School Library Journal website, provides a forum for the personal, etntertaining reviews, reactions, and op-eds of Elizabeth Bird, Children’s Librarian at the New York Public Library.

I’m Here. I’m Queer. What the Hell Do I Read? (www.leewind.org): Lee Wind’s blog addresses gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and gender non-conforming teens by raising issues of importance and reviewing relevant books.

Kidlitosphere (www.kidlitosphere.org): This blog clearinghouse “strives to provide a passage to the wonderful variety of resources available from the Society of Bloggers of Children’s and Young Adult Literature.” In other words, it lists every blog under the sun.

Oyate (z.umn.edu/wbr13): Oyate is a Native organization working to see that our lives and histories are portrayed with honesty and integrity, and that all people know that our stories belong to us.

Reading Rants (www.readingrants.org/): Jennifer Hubert Swan, middle-school librarian at the Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School in Greenwich Village in Manhattan, takes on current literature for young adults ages 12-18.

Individual American Book Awards

AAAS/Subaru/Science Books and Films Awards (sbfonline.com/prizes.htm)

American Indian Youth Literature Award (z.umn.edu/wbr12): The American Indian Library Association sponsors this award.

Américas Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award (z.umn.edu/wbr14): The Américas is sponsored by the Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs and given to a number of books (including picture books, middle-grade readers, and young adult titles) written in either English or Spanish that “authentically and engagingly portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States.”

Arab American Book Award (z.umn.edu/wbr15): Sponsored by the Arab American National Museum, this award is given to a children’s or young adult book that “celebrates the lives of Arab Americans.”

Asian Pacific Awards for Literature (z.umn.edu/wbr16): These awards, administered by the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (an affiliate of the American Library Association) recognize one picture book and one youth literature award to “promote Asian/Pacific American culture and heritage.”

(Mildred L.) Batchelder Award (z.umn.edu/wbr17): The Batchelder is given by the Association for Library Service to Children to the publisher of the most outstanding book “originally published in a foreign language in a foreign country, and subsequently translated into English and published in the US.”

(Pure) Belpré Medal (z.umn.edu/wbr18): The Association for Library Service to Children and National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking (REFORMA) jointly present the Belpré to a Latino/ Latina writer and illustrator whose “work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.”

Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards (z.umn.edu/wbr19): Sponsored by the Boston Globe and The Horn Book, these prizes are given every year for the best book for children or young adults in three categories: fiction and poetry, picture book, and nonfiction.

(Randolph) Caldecott Medal (z.umn.edu/wbr20): The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children to the “artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children” published the previous year.

Carter G. Woodson Book Awards (z.umn.edu/wbr21): These awards recognize books in three areas: elementary, middle level, and secondary. Given by the National Council for the Social Studies, the awards are for “the most distinguished social science books appropriate for young readers that depict ethnicity in the US.”

Charlotte Zolotow Award (z.umn.edu/wbr22): The Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, administers this award, given annually to the author of the most distinguished picture book text in a US book published the preceding year.

Children’s Africana Book Awards (z.umn.edu/wbr23): Supported by the Outreach Council of the African Studies Association, these two awards—one for a book for young children and one for older readers—are presented annually.

(The) Cook Prize (z.umn.edu/wbr24): Awarded to the best Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) picture book for 8-10 year olds. The Cook Prize is the only national children’s choice award honoring a STEM title.

Coretta Scott King Book Awards (z.umn.edu/wbr25): The Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table of the American Library Association administers these awards, recognizing an African American illustrator and an African American author who made an outstanding contribution to literature during the previous year. The John Steptoe New Talent Award recognizes excellence among debut creators, and the Virginia Hamilton Award recognizes lifetime achievement.

E. B. White Read Aloud Awards (z.umn.edu/wbr26): Established by the Association of Booksellers for Children, these awards honor two books (one picture book, one book for older readers) published each year that “reflect universal read-aloud standards.”

(Theodor Seuss) Geisel Medal (z.umn.edu/wbr27): Selected annually by a committee from the Association for Library Service to Children, this award goes to the most “distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States.”

Irma Simonton Black and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature (z.umn.edu/wbr28): The Bank Street College of Education presents this award annually to “an outstanding book for young children—a book in which text and illustrations are inseparable, each enhancing and enlarging on the other to produce a singular whole.”

Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards (z.umn.edu/wbr29): The Jane Addams Peace Association selects the winners of these awards for children’s books published the “preceding year that effectively promote the areas of peace, justice, and world community.”

(Michael L.) Printz Award (z.umn.edu/wbr30): A committee of the Young Adult Library Services Association selects the winner of this award in recognition of a book of outstanding literary excellence published expressly for young adults.

National Book Award (z.umn.edu/wbr31): The National Book Awards recognize one book annually for excellence in young people’s literature.

(John) Newbery Medal (z.umn.edu/wbr32): The Newbery is awarded annually by a committee from the Association for Library Service to Children to the “author of the most distinguished contribution to American Literature for Children.”

Odyssey Award (z.umn.edu/wbr33): Given annually by a committee of members from the Association for Library Service to Children and the Young Adult Library Services Association for the best audiobook produced for children/young adults.

Orbis Pictus Award (z.umn.edu/wbr34): The National Council of Teachers of English gives this award to the best nonfiction book published each year.

(Robert F.) Sibert Informational Book Medal (z.umn.edu/wbr35): Awarded by a committee of the Association for Library Service to Children for the best informational book of the preceding year.

Schneider Family Book Award (z.umn.edu/wbr36): Awarded by the American Library Association to recognize “an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.”

Sydney Taylor Book Awards (z.umn.edu/wbr37): These awards recognize three outstanding books published the previous year that “authentically portray the Jewish Experience.” Books for younger, older, and teen readers are honored by the Association of Jewish Librarians.

Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award (z.umn.edu/wbr38): Sponsored by Texas State University, and recognizing one book that “honors authors and illustrators who create literature that depicts the Mexican American experience.”

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults (z.umn.edu/wbr39): Given annually to “the best nonfiction book published for young adults” by a committee from the Young Adult Library Services Association.

Lists

Américas Children’s and Young Adult Literature Commended Titles (z.umn.edu/wbr40): This list includes additional outstanding books considered for the Américas Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (z.umn.edu/wbr41): This annual list, developed by the Young Adult Library Services Association, recommends outstanding fiction for young adults, ages 12-18.

Children’s Choices (z.umn.edu/wbr42): Annual list of books selected across the U.S. by children (ages 5-13) in the year the books are published; administered by the International Reading Association and the Children’s Book Council.

Great Graphic Novels for Teens (z.umn.edu/wbr43): These titles are selected annually by a committee of the Young Adult Library Services Association.

Notable Books for a Global Society (z.umn.edu/wbr44): An “annual list of exceptional multicultural literature” compiled by a special-interest group of the International Reading Association and covering books for children in grades K-12.

Notable Children’s Books (z.umn.edu/wbr45): Compiled annually by a committee of the Association for Library Service to Children, the Notables list honors the year’s most outstanding books for children, ages birth–14.

Notable Children’s Books in English/Language Arts (z.umn.edu/wbr46): The National Council of Teachers of English compiles this list of outstanding children’s books.

Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People (z.umn.edu/wbr47): Annual list compiled by the National Council of Social Studies and the Children’s Book Council.

Outstanding International Books List (z.umn.edu/wbr48): Compiled each year by the U.S. Board on Books for Young People to recognize outstanding books published or distributed in the U.S. and that originated or were first published in another country.

Outstanding Science Trade Books (z.umn.edu/wbr49): This annual list, administered by the National Science Teachers Association, recognizes outstanding books for students in grades K–12.

State Reading Lists (z.umn.edu/wbr50): It is important to know those books highlighted by your own state each year. Children’s and young adult author Cynthia Leitich Smith provides links to individual state reading lists at her website.

Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers (z.umn.edu/wbr51): This list, compiled annually by a committee from the Young Adult Library Services Association, identifies outstanding books that have great appeal for reluctant young adult readers.

Rainbow List (z.umn.edu/wbr52): The Rainbow List is an annual list sponsored by the American Library Association’s Rainbow Project and identifying outstanding books “for children and teens that contain significant gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer or questioning (GLBTQ) content.”

Teachers’ Choices (z.umn.edu/wbr53): Teachers from the International Reading Association identify books than can both be enjoyed by children and used across the curriculum.

Young Adult Choices Reading List (z.umn.edu/wbr54): This list, administered through the International Reading Association and the Children’s Book Council, is created by middle- and high-school students across the U.S. who select their favorite books published each year.