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Literary Activities for African American History Month

By on January 25, 2019   /   Articles, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers  

African American History Month starts next week, and schools across the country have a variety of activities planned to celebrate. In addition to being a middle grade writer and blogger, I am the PTA President at my kids’ elementary school, and so I’ve had the good fortune to be involved in our school’s planning for this special time. Of course, reading had to be a big part of it!

We decided to welcome parents into the classroom to read works by and about African Americans. First, we met with principal, and discussed our mutual goal of enhancing kids’ understanding of the breadth of the contribution of African Americans to American history. Often, kids point to the same five or seven famous African Americans, without a sense of how many more people have shaped our society in a broad range of ways. We then put together a list of books that included biography, fiction, poetry, and more, all by or about African Americans. We worked with the librarian to find out which of those titles our library already contains, and created an Amazon wishlist of the remaining. We will send that out to parents, to see if anyone would like to contribute. The librarian will collect the selected books onto a few shelves of the library for parents to choose from when they come in to do their reading at the appointed time.

As we planned, we came across a number of other ideas and resources for those putting together literary activities for African American History Month. Here are a few:

I hope this African American History Month is filled with fun, discovery, and plenty of great books!

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Cover Reveal for Jennifer Swanson’s, Spies, Lies, and Disguise: The Daring Tricks and Deeds That Won World War II

By on January 23, 2019   /   Articles  

Hello Mixed-Up Filers!

Wow, do we have exciting news for you! Mixed-Up Files will start doing cover reveals, and we can’t think of a better way to start than with our own Jennifer Swanson!

Illustrated by the fantastic, Kevin O’Malley, the book, Spies, Lies, and Disguise: The Daring Tricks and Deeds That Won World War II is due out November 26th from Bloomsbury.

About the Book:

In the late 1930s, times were desperate. The world found itself at war again, less than twenty years after the first World War had ended. No one could quite believe it. And no one wanted it. The leaders of every country involved were left with no choice. They had to try to end the war as fast as possible, using whatever means they could. That meant coming up with secret operations meant to deceive, deflect, and confuse the enemy.

 

In the 25,000-word off-center look at history for middle graders, SPIES, LIES, and DISGUISE: THE DARING TRICKS AND DEEDS THAT WON WORLD WAR II, readers will be captivated by the classified and covert efforts made by each side as they tried to gain the upper hand and win the war. Restricted access is lifted to give the reader a peek into the top-secret operations of the daring men and women who fought the war under a cloak of secrecy.

 

Now, for the moment you’ve all been waiting for, the cover reveal!

 

Love it!

 

To purchase SPIES, LIES, and DISGUISE: THE DARING TRICKS AND DEEDS THAT WON WORLD WAR II, visit:

 

IndieBound

 

You can visit Jennifer Swanson’s website at:

http://www.Jenniferswansonbooks.com

 

 

We’re thrilled that we could host Jennifer’s cover reveal and wish the best of luck with SPIES, LIES, and DISGUISE: THE DARING TRICKS AND DEEDS THAT WON WORLD WAR II!

 

If any traditionally-published authors wish to host cover reveals at Mixed-Up Files, please feel free to reach out to us. We’d love to have you!

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Hearts, Flags, and Tricks

By on January 23, 2019   /   Book Lists, Fiction  

Many books are published for and about major holidays, but it’s much harder to find books for some of the other holidays. Here are some humorous chapter books that children may enjoy for the upcoming holidays–Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, and April Fool’s Day.

VALENTINE’S DAY

By A.I. Newton and illustrated by Anjan Sarkar:

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and Harris explains the holiday and its traditions to Zeke. When Zeke gets an anonymous valentine, Harris is excited to help him figure out who sent it, but Zeke is confused at the customs of Earth, and his efforts to get a girl to notice him by doing what Harris tells him to don’t go quite right. Will Zeke be able to turn things around and show his valentine his feelings?

PRESIDENT’S DAY

Written by Hillary Homzie and illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbler:

Quirky and funny, second-grader Ellie May enjoys learning about US presidents. But she absolutely loves the idea of being class flag leader during the week before Presidents’ Day. Tired of not being chosen to hold the flag, she makes it her mission to finally get picked. Along the way, Ellie May ends up karate chopping the class plant when she tries to determine whether George Washington actually chopped down that cherry tree. Next, she takes apart the class pencil sharpener when she learns that Abraham Lincoln liked learning how gadgets work. Ellie May may not be perfect like Miss-Know-it- All Ava or calm like her best friend Lizzy, but she’s good-hearted and eventually realizes that honesty and patience go a long way.

Written and illustrated by Matt Stanton:

When the school principal, Mrs. Sniggles, suggests Max run for class president, Max isn’t the only kid on the ballot. His archenemy, Abby Purcell, is also up for election—and she’s out to defeat him at all costs. To win, Max is going to need the 24/7 help of his best friend, Hugo, and he’s going to have to run the campaign of a lifetime.

Max may not be the smartest or fastest kid, or the handsomest, but he just might be the funniest kid you’ll ever meet—and it’s this talent that could turn him from underdog to top dog. Max for President!

APRIL FOOL’S DAY

By Hillary Homzie and illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbler:

Quirky and funny second grader Ellie May can’t believe her class is allowed to celebrate April Fools’ Day–so long as it’s done in good fun. She absolutely loves the idea of targeting a certain someone–the practically perfect Ava. Practicing on her parents and sisters, Ellie May begins to brainstorm harmless pranks. Soon enough, good intentions turn the classroom and her home upside-down when fake ants, trick tape, and hidden surprises don’t go as planned. Ellie May eventually realizes that the best trick is to make friends genuinely laugh–at no one’s expense.

By Megan McDonald and illustrated by Erwin Madrid:

April Fools’ Day just happens to be one of Judy Moody’s favorite days of the year. And this year she’s got one thing on her mind: the perfect prank she’s going to play on Mr. Todd, thanks to an awesome present from her brother, Stink. Gotcha, Mr. Todd! But in all the excitement over spaghetti trees, April fish, and fools’ errands, Judy worries that something else will be forgotten by Mr. Todd and Class 3T altogether: April 1 also happens to be Judy’s birthday! Gulp! Will her friends remember in time, or will Judy be the fool this year? And just what might Mr. Todd have up his sleeve?
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