Tag Archives: Jacqueline Woodson

Comforting Children’s Books: The Year We Learned to Fly and Lost in the Clouds

23 Mar

The Year We Learned To Fly
By: Jacqueline Woodson
Illustrated by: Rafael Lopez
The author of The Year We Learned to Fly, Jacqueliene Woodson, shares with the reader that if you just close your eyes, your imagination can take you out of the darkest places. One of the illustrations in the book displays the generations before us who overcame their struggles by just using their imagination. This book is an excellent read for children who are struggling with a change in their environment, or even stuck in the house on a rainy day. This book lets the reader know that their imagination can be utilized any time they want to escape their reality. This book is available to borrow at our Main and Grand Street Branch. You can also read a previous blog about Woodson’s popular middle grade memoir in verse Brown Girl Dreaming.

Lost In the Clouds
By: Tom Tinn-Disbury
Lost in the Clouds is the perfect book to read to a child who is grieving or is dealing with a loved one passing away. The book is from the perspective of the child character in the book, Billy. The illustrations in the book show Billy talking to a cloud and developing a relationship with the cloud that he believes is now his mom. The book shares the daily emotions Billy and his dad are faced with while grieving the death of his mom. Toward the end of the book, Billy learns that whenever he is feeling sad, he always has the support of his loved ones including his dad. This book is now available at our Grand Street Branch.

Written By:
Vanetta Rivera
Library Assistant
Grand Street Branch

Tags: , ,

Thriving Despite Adversity: Brown Girl Dreaming

3 Jun

brown girl dreaming
One would think that authors have to speak as many words as possible to get their point through, but often with poetry it is finding just the right words. In the case of these authors, one can see that there are many different ways to express one’s thoughts. Here is a memoir in verse by Jacqueline Woodson, you should take note of. The book, Brown Girl Dreaming, will appeal to patrons that are from elementary school age to adulthood. Each poem is written in verse and, therefore, a great way to teach people to take in their environments in ways that Woodson has learned exquisitely.

Jacqueline Woodson is an author of 40+ books and the recipient of the National Young People’s Literature Award. One would have thought that she was an avid reader and writer as a child, but that wasn’t the case for Woodson. Her sister ended up being the reader in the family. Jacqueline Woodson had trouble reading due to her dyslexia. One thing that stood with her that helped her become an accomplished author is her ability to take in her surroundings. Through this memoir in verse, she spoke about her life growing up in the South and moving to Brooklyn, New York. She gives vivid insight and imagery through her words. The reader cannot help but be charmed by Woodson’s description of her early life and how she became the author that she is today despite the adversity that was in her way.

You can borrow Brown Girl Dreaming from eBCCLS and eLibraryNJ!  If you love this book, Brown Girl Dreaming was previously featured on our ultimate book lovers list for kids and parents and great books in verse list, check out these previous blogs for more great ideas to read!

Written by:
Elbie Love
YA Library Associate

Tags: