The Resilience of BIONIC BEASTS: Q&A with Author Jolene Gutierrez

Today I’m interviewing author, Jolene Gutierrez, about her experiences working as a teacher and librarian for diverse learners. Jolene and I will be serving on an author/educator panel along with Beth Anderson for the annual Reading in the City Conference on April 15, 2023, in Denver, CO. The topic is on “Using Narratives as a Bridge to Informational Text.” Since the theme of this year's blog is resilience, I wanted to ask her some questions about her experiences as an educator as well as her new book, Bionic Beasts: Saving Animal Lives with Artificial Flippers, Legs, ad Beaks

 

Carolee: I have been sharing your book, Bionic Beasts, with my students with dyslexia. They love the stories of animals with physical disabilities overcoming challenges by using prosthetic legs, fins, and beaks. Your title, BIONIC Beasts, not only normalizes the use of prosthetics (or any aids for that matter), but it even makes these animals sound a bit like superheroes. In your work with struggling students, how have you seen stories help them to develop a growth mindset?

Jolene: Wow, Carolee! My hope for Bionic Beasts is that it’ll inspire young readers to think about how they might help animals through technology, and I so appreciate you sharing it with your students! 

One of the biggest gifts books give us is the ability to broaden our world by learning about others’ experiences–stories help students become more compassionate and open to others’ viewpoints. Many of my students have connected with characters who have had challenges in their lives. I think it’s comforting to know that you’re not alone in your struggles, and books help young readers to see that. 

Carolee: Stories of resilience are so important to kids with learning challenges. I’m sure that in your role as a librarian, you have had the opportunity to connect readers to books that help them see real-life or even fictional examples of resilience. Are there any particular titles that you recommend?

 

Jolene: Learning differences don’t figure into most of the author Avi’s characters, but Avi has a long history with our school and has spoken candidly with our students about his own learning challenges. It’s inspiring for our students to have a personal connection to an author who has become so successful despite his struggles in school. We’ve also had visits with Henry Winkler and Patricia Polacco, both of whom spoke about how dyslexia impacted their lives. Because of these author visits, our kids love the Hank Zipzer and Here’s Hank! series as well as Polacco’s picture books. For more in the realm of books written by people who have experienced challenges themselves, we love Elana K. Arnold’s A Boy Called Bat trilogy, Leslie Connor’s books, Cece Bell’s graphic novel El Deafo, and Raina Telgemeier’s graphic novel Guts.

 

Carolee: In your Bionic Beasts chapter about Lola, the Sea turtle, I was struck by how depressed she seemed to get when she couldn’t swim without bumping into the side of her tank. She basically gave up and sat at the bottom waiting for food. Then when she received her prosthetic fin, she made a complete turnaround and swam all the time. What do you think animal emotions can teach kids about their own emotions? 

Jolene on the farm

Jolene: I think understanding that humans aren’t the only creatures who experience emotions will help kids to better understand their larger connection to the world and, again, this is a chance for them to practice compassion. I grew up as a farm kid in a very small community, and even though I was surrounded by animals my entire life, books like Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White and A Horse Called Dragon by Lynn Hall helped me become a more thoughtful human being. In my personal and professional experience, many kids love nature, science, and animals, and sometimes, they connect with animal stories more deeply than stories with human characters. 

 

Carolee: Thanks for your insights. Check out our upcoming panel HERE. Check out more of Jolene’s books at https://www.jolenegutierrez.com/.

 

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Wildoak - Middle-Grade Winner of the Schneider Family Book Award

The 2023 Schneider Family Book Awards were given out in January. The award honors an author or illustrator for "... the artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences." This week I'm sharing the 2023 middle-grade award winner, Wildoak, written by C.C. Harrington.

Maggie Stephens goes to stay with her grandfather in the country. Her parents hope that some time in Wildoak Forest will improve her stuttering. While Maggie is there she finds a snow leopard cub that had been purchased as a gift and then abandoned. It is set in 1963 when a wild cat like a snow leopard could actually be purchased at Harrods in London from the exotic pet department that they called Pet Kingdom. Fortunately, that ended in 1976 with the Endangered Species Act.

Although Maggie stutters when she speaks to humans, she is able to speak quite clearly to animals. The story is about communication on many different levels. Even the forest has a voice. It is ultimately a story about compassion and understanding. This is author C.C. Harrington's debut novel. She has experience teaching students with learning differences. Perhaps that is what makes her so empathetic to people who are different. One of the most poignant quotes is, "... there's room in this beautiful, complicated world of ours for all of us. Just as we are. In fact, there is a need for it."

Middle-Grade Honor Titles included Honestly Elliott by Gillian Dunn and Hummingbird by Natalie Lloyd. Honestly Elliott is a story of a boy starting middle school who struggles with ADHD while Hummingbird features a twelve-year-old girl who uses a wheelchair due to brittle bone disease.

For more stories of resilience, check out these books:

Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion written by Shannon Stocker and illustrated by Devon Holzwarth

It's My Whole Life: Charlotte Salomon: An Artist in Hiding During World War II  by Susan Wider 

Jubilee: The First Therapy Horse and an Olympic Dream written by KT Johnston and illustrated by Anabella Ortiz.

Keep up with my book reviews on more exciting stories of resilience by signing up for my newsletter. Visit the Sign Up Page on my website at www.wordtravelpress.com for details and discover free offers.

Using Narratives As a Bridge to Informational Text

I'm thrilled to announce that I will be presenting on an author panel with Beth Anderson and Jolene Gutierrez at Denver Academy for the annual Reading in the City Conference on April 15, 2023. The subject is "Using Narratives As a Bridge to Informational Text." 

Many students struggle with understanding story structure. Even those who do have a good understanding of narrative text still have difficulty making the leap to understanding informational text.

Narratives and Informational Texts actually have a lot in common, especially when those narratives are based on the type of real-life heroes and celebrities that Beth and Jolene write about in their books. Some of those characters are even animals! Narrative non-fiction picture books, biographies, personal interest stories, and scientific innovations told from the perspective of the characters who experience them can all be used to help students form a bridge between narratives and non-fiction. 

Watch my blog in April for Q&As with these two amazing authors and learn more about their books. I will also be sharing tips for comparing narratives and informational pieces from my book, Story Frames for Teaching Literacy.

These women are not just successful authors. They are also educators. Beth is a retired ELL teacher who spent many years teaching English Language Learners. Jolene works with students with learning challenges as both a teacher and librarian. 

The regular registration price for the conference is in effect through March 30. Find out more information at https://idarmb.org/ritc-speakers/. 

Keep up with book reviews and stories of resilience by signing up for my newsletter. Visit the Sign Up Page on my website at www.wordtravelpress.com for details and discover free offers.

My First Decodable Book

I'm thrilled to announce that my first decodable book, No Gift for Man, is available as an e-book. In fact, you can get it for FREE on Kindle Unlimited. If you do get the book, PLEASE leave a review on amazon! Reviews are what drive ratings and that is what gets books recognized by other readers. This book is useful for teachers and tutors of students with dyslexia, and also parents and grandparents who are looking for books to share with developing readers.

The story aligns with Level 1 of my Hot Rod Scope and Sequence and focuses on closed/short vowel sounds. The Pair and Share Reading Strategy is used to give background information about the Greek Creation Myth.

Visit my website at Word Travel Press to find supplementary games and activities as well as information about the Scope and Sequence of the series. There are several free sample games on my page for COR Instruction. Watch for news about the paperback version and additional books coming soon. The colorful illustrations in this book make it engaging for kids of all ages, but if you would prefer a text-only version for teens, you can get a free PDF of the text when you sign up for my newsletter. Visit the Sign Up Page on my website at www.wordtravelpress.com for details.

LISTEN and IN THE BLUE- Award Winning Picture Books Exploring the Disability Experience

Continuing with my theme for 2023 of sharing stories about perseverance, today I'm looking at award winning picture books exploring the disability experience. 

Every January the American Library Association (ALA) announces its most prestigious awards at its Midwinter Conference. These include the Caldecott, the Newbery, and the Printz Medals. In addition, there are several lesser known categories of winners that appeal to specific interest groups. One of these is the Schneider Family Book Award which honors an author or illustrator for "... the artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences." There are three categories for ages 0-8, 9-13, and 14-18.

The 2023 winner of the Young Children's (0-8) category was Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, A Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion written by Shannon Stocker and illustrated by Devon Holzwarth.

Evelyn loved music from a very young age. When she was eight, she could play songs on the piano by ear. At ten she tackled the clarinet. But soon she began to lose her hearing. A doctor told the family that the nerves in Evelyn's ears were degenerating. By the time she was eleven, she could barely hear the phone ring, but there was something she could hear - percussion. She loved the marimba, the timpani, and the snare drum and she found an understanding music teacher who helped her learn how to "feel" the different sounds in her body. She went on to attend the Royal Academy of Music and become an award-winning solo percussionist. To this day she performs barefoot so that she can feel the musical vibrations as they move through the floor and into her feet. 

As a speech-language pathologist, I especially enjoyed the explanation of how sound and touch are similar. Air vibrates and travels through the human ear before that vibration is converted into an electrical signal that we perceive as sound. 

Evelyn was featured in a BBC documentary called, The Will to Win and a second documentary called Good Vibrations. She has created a film entitled Touch the Sound and the TED Talk, "How to Truly Listen." She has a solo album entitled Rhythm Song and more than 40 CDs. 

Read more about Evelyn at www.evelyn.co.uk. Check out her website where you will find videos of her discussing "Feeling Sound" and other topics. You can also listen to samples of her music.

The 2023 honor title for Young Children was In the Blue written and illustrated by Erin Hourigan. It is a picture book for young children (ages 4-8) about depression that handles a sensitive topic and makes it accessible through the use of art and color. The book provides a sensitive and thoughtful way to begin conversations with young children about mental illness.

For more stories of resilience, check out my January 28th post on It's My Whole Life: Charlotte Salomon: An Artist in Hiding During World War II  by Susan Wider as well as Jubilee: The First Therapy Horse and an Olympic Dream written by KT Johnston and illustrated by Anabella Ortiz.

Keep up with my book reviews on more exciting stories of resilience by signing up for my newsletter. Visit the Sign Up Page on my website at www.wordtravelpress.com for details and discover free offers.

Accolades for New Mexico Author Susan Wider

Susan Wider, New Mexico children’s author, received the Young Adult Literature Award from the Jewish Book Council for It's My Whole Life: Charlotte Salomon: An Artist in Hiding During World War II (Norton Young Readers). 

The Jewish Book Council was founded in 1943. It is dedicated to the support and celebration of Jewish literature. Each year the organization gives awards for outstanding Jewish literature. Earlier this month, on January 18th, they announced the winners of the 72nd National Jewish Book Awards as part of their Books That Changed My Life festival in Manhattan. 

Charlotte was a young Jewish artist who created a series of paintings to document her experiences while hiding from the Nazis. I interviewed the author, Susan Wider, in August of 2022 when the book first came out. I have posted a copy of that interview below. To find out more about the Jewish Book Council awards and other noteworthy titles, visit their WEBSITE.

Carolee: In your author’s note you mention that you first became aware of Charlotte when another artist, Maira Kalman, shared in an interview about how Charlotte influenced her work? How has Charlotte influenced your work?
 
Susan: When the Nazi invasion of the south of France became inevitable, Charlotte described her need to “vanish for a while from the human plane and make every sacrifice in order to create.” With Charlotte’s words in my head, I find it easier to close out the world—as politely as possible—and disappear into my writing
 
Carolee: What inspired you to write a book about her?
 
Susan: When I realized that there were no books about Charlotte for young readers—apart from one Italian graphic novel-style biography—I wanted to write about her for teen readers. Charlotte deals with an avalanche of difficulties, from psychological abuse to family suicides to racism to genocide to living as a refugee, all issues that many teens face today.
 
Carolee: Your original manuscript for this book included three artists. Who were the other two? 
 
Susan: As I was researching Charlotte’s story, I came across two other creative young women—among many hundreds of thousands—whose lives and talents were severely disrupted by World War II. In the initial manuscript I braided the stories of Charlotte Salomon, Helga Weiss, and Zdena Berger because their creative output was influenced by pre-concentration camp years (Charlotte); time inside a concentration camp (Helga); and post-war reflection on surviving four camps (Zdena).

Carolee: Those are three very interesting perspectives. How did you decide to focus on Charlotte? 

Susan: When my agent sent that manuscript to various publishers, they all felt that each woman deserved her own book. Back to the drawing board and my agent suggested I start with Charlotte.
 
 Carolee: What is one thing you hope young readers take away from Charlotte’s story?
 
Susan: In spite of everything she was up against—Grandfather, her stepmother, a family history of suicide, Adolf Hitler—Charlotte was able to find her voice in art and writing “with the feeling I had something I would be able to say to humanity.” I hope she inspires young readers to search for their own forms of self-expression, even in dark times.

Carolee: I was certainly inspired by her story when I read it. Art is what gave beauty and purpose to her life during a time that could have otherwise been unbearable. Thanks so much for sharing her story!

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UnDiagnosed: The Ugly Side of Dyslexia

In Undiagnosed: The Ugly Side of Dyslexia, Ameer Baraka shares his personal struggles with growing up on the mean streets of New Orleans, unable to read, and in continual trouble with the law. He was incarcerated at the age of 14 for manslaughter and served time again in his twenties. He was finally diagnosed with dyslexia while in prison.

After learning to read, Ameer turned his life around and became an Emmy-nominated actor. He is also a dyslexia advocate, youth mentor, and prison coach. He works with youth that are behind bars. He is keenly aware of the school-to-prison path for kids who can't read, and he makes it his mission to raise awareness about dyslexia by speaking at universities, businesses, and youth organizations around the world.

As I mentioned in last week's post about Jubilee: The First Therapy Horse and an Olympic Dream, my mission for 2023 is to share stories of resilience. There are many stories out in the world today about people who have overcome dyslexia to become successful entrepreneurs, millionaires, and billionaires. But there is also an ugly side to dyslexia. It's the story Ameer shares of young kids who get stuck in a school-to-prison pipeline because they cannot read.  Many of these young people belong to minorities. They don't have wealthy parents who can pay for expensive tutors or private schools for kids with learning differences. They don't have parents with the tenacity to go up against powerful school systems to demand accommodations for their struggling learners. They are not raised in families with the understanding and the means to support alternative dreams if pursuing higher education is not in their child's future.  

And yet, Undiagnosed is still ultimately a story of hope and resilience. Ameer takes us through his journey through a very dark place to come out the other side where he offers hope to kids who were just like him and understanding to educators as well as legal authorities. He now speaks to police departments and provides training on racial bias. He used to be part of the problem and has now become a shining example of the solution.

Ameer will be speaking on Monday, January 9, 2023, at a free online event hosted by the Dallas Chapter of the International Dyslexia Association. Hear his story live at his book launch. See the QR code in the announcement at the bottom of this post for details.

When I was working in the public schools, a large percentage of my struggling students had parents who were or had been incarcerated. It is what inspired me to write Take Me There, about a teen boy who has a big heart but always finds himself on the wrong side of the law. The story is fictional, but it was inspired by a theme I saw over and over again. Parents can't read, have limited life choices, and end up in prison. Their kids can't read and often end up on a similar path, not knowing why. The young man in my story goes looking for his father who is in prison in Texas to find out if badness is in his blood or if it is something he can outrun. What he learns is that his father's illiteracy led him to a life of crime. He was a football star in a small Texas high school who got passed along in school by teachers who meant well but never really helped him learn.

There are many places in our country where there is a simple formula for estimating the size of a new prison. They look at the illiteracy rates of the surrounding area. That is the real crime, that we have learned the formula for a life of incarceration, that it is within our power as a society to remedy much of it, but that we don't. Listen to Ameer's story to get inspired about what can be done. See details below.