Nicola on Fulbright in Arizona

The last day of the NCTE conference in Baltimore began with the Children’s Literature Assembly breakfast at which   Yuyi Morales gave a talk, sharing with us many of the techniques she uses for illustrating her books.  The Children's Literature Assembly is a group within the larger National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) organisation. As I lined up to get a copy of her book signed, I met up again with a colleague who had also been to the International Youth Library in Munich- not at the same time as me, but I remember her trip inspiring me to apply. As we waited in the line two more ‘Stippi’ came into view. Stippi is the name given to people who go to Munich to do research at the Youth library and are given a stipend- hence the name ‘Stippi’. Anyway, once we got to Yuyi and had our books signed we had a photo together.   Later that day I got to join in a dinner with the board of Worlds of Words, the library where I am based. This group of women are former...

Today at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) conference I went to some really interesting sessions, including a panel of female authors in the evening, including Newbery medal winner Megan Medina who chaired a session of three young female authors, including Brittany Luby, a Canadian writer of Anishinaabe-kwe heritage whose recent picturebook, Encounter , is about a first contact between an indigenous boy and a French boy on a sailing ship. I met Brittany after the session and was interested to hear more about her next book which will be bilingual. This linked to another session I had attended earlier in the day with four Native American authors entitled ‘Bringing indigenous voices into your classroom’. The chair of the panel was not American Indian, but a teacher who works in a school with Native American children. She began by quoting the data on books by and about people of colour and from First/Native Nations published for children and teens compiled ...

21 October This week I have decided to join Kathy and three of her colleagues in coming to a huge conference in Baltimore for the National Council of Teachers of English, known as NCTE. We set off at 6am and arrived in Baltimore around 3pm, to a somewhat cooler temperature than in Arizona. The plenary speaker I made it to today was George Takei who played Hikaru Sulu on the Starship Enterprise in the television series, Star Trek. George spoke about his family who were in an American Japanese Internment Camp during World War II. He also spoke very engagingly about his life, his belief in democracy, and about writing a graphic novel about his life. There are over 5,000 registrants, and at any one time there are many events on, including publisher events and meals. I was very lucky to be invited to the Chronicle Book Middle Grade Author Dinner featuring Jon Scieszka and Steven Weinberg (author and illustrator of  AstroNuts) , Kate Messner (author of  Insect Superpowe...

16 November Quite regularly, the Worlds of Words Library hosts authors and illustrators, and on Thursday this week I heard Isabel Quintero speak. She has recently had published a picturebook, simultaneously in Spanish and English called ‘My Papi has a Motorcycle/Mi Papi tiene una Moto’ which is based on her memory of her Dad taking her out for rides on his motorcycle after work. Quintero is a Mexican American author who has written a YA novel, a graphic novel, as well as poetry. She is very versatile, and was a delightful speaker to listen to.  The text for her latest picturebook is beautifully written, with one of my favourite phrases about the smell of sawdust on her father, a cabinet maker, when he came home from work. Isabel explained the ways in which she and the illustrator worked together to make the illustrations of Corona in Southern Arizona where she grew up, authentic to an era before present day gentrified Corona. The colours of the illustrations are sensatio...

I spent my first weekend on my own firstly finding my local laundromat, and learning how to work the machines, and then visiting the Arizona State Museum which is on the university campus. This museum, in contrast to its very colonial red brick appearance, focuses almost exclusively on Native American stories and knowledge. One of the ongoing exhibitions concerns  woven textiles  and another 2,000 years of pottery tradition among local Native American groups. There is also an exhibition of Pahko’ora/ Pahk’ola  masks from the Mayo and Yaqui people. These masks have deep ritual significance for the Yaqui and Mayo people of Southern Arizona and Northern Mexico. I read that when a person wears them they take on an animal spirit.   A temporary exhibit is one named  Sorting Out Race: Examining Racial Identity and Stereotypes in Thrift Store Donations , in which items from  Thrift stores are used to exemplify stereotypes concerning racial identit...

At the end of my second week at the University of Arizona, I am starting to settle in. I now have a staff ID number and a Staff ID card which has allowed me email, library and internet access, and I have joined the university recreation centre where I am able to swim and attend yoga classes.  I am really enjoying these facilities! While here I have the opportunity to sit in on a couple of courses. I have already mentioned the one called the   Critical Content Analysis of Text and Image. This last week we used some of the techniques we’ve learned to examine some of the books in the U.S. IBBY Outstanding International Book Awards. This award has been awarded since 2006 in an effort to encourage US publishers to publish books published outside the United States, thus allowing US children to develop global awareness. One of my favourites from last week comes from Tara Press in India. It’s called   Hope is a GirlSelling Fruit by Amriti Das.  Not only is the art ...

6 November As we left the elementary school where my colleagues are running a Global Cultures Club in an after school programme, using books to develop global awareness, everyone breathed deeply and said it smelled like rain. When we got to the car we could see it had indeed rained, and I realised that I could smell the scent they were referring to. I guess when rain doesn’t come often the scent is very distinctive. It reminds me of one of my favourite Hone Tuwhare poems: Rain by Hone Tuwhare. I can hear you making small holes in the silence rain If I were deaf the pores of my skin would open to you and shut And I should know you by the lick of you if I were blind the something special smell of you when the sun cakes the ground the steady drum-roll sound you make when the wind drops But if I should not hear smell or feel or see you you would still define me disperse me wash over me rain And then the following morning as I walked to the...

4 November 2019 Well, it’s been a very cultural experience for me over the weekend. First on Saturday I attended a Homecoming Football match between the University of Arizona Wildcats and the Oregon State University team. It was a very interesting spectacle with a huge brass band, cheerleaders and ceremonies to honour military service people, first responders and university staff at many times during the game. The Cats lost, but had some moments of brilliance, and it was a   very rich experience for me. Even before we got into the stadium, the university was filled with tents for every department, welcoming alumni who were visiting for homecoming .  Then on Sunday, quite a different experience when I was invited to attend the All Souls Procession , a community event to remember those who have died.  I had my face painted and   joined in with a colleague to have dinner with friends. There was a mixture of emotions during the procession: It was very moving t...

October 31 It’s Halloween today and it has been fun seeing people out and about wearing, if not full costume, then a bit of makeup, some cats ears or a pumpkin earrings. Even university students have come to study wearing some costume, and when I entered the lift this morning there was cobweb with spiders display! After completing final sign of my grading for Semester B courses at home, I have enjoyed a day of starting to give my complete focus to thinking about my work here. I have been working on my talk for next Tuesday here at the University of Arizona and for a workshop I have been invited to give at the University of Georgia in January at their Journal of Language and Literacy Education conference. I’ll be talking about ‘Bilingual Books’ Why Layout Matters’. My host and colleague, Kathy, talked me through some of the resources Worlds of Words lend out from the Worlds Of Words library, including Global Story Boxes for K2 (kindergarten year 2)  classes, and Lang...