Worlds of Words Center

It’s nearly World Kid Lit Month! Next month is September, World Kid Lit Month: the time to explore the world through international and translated children’s books. September is a busy month for many of us, so how can we get …

It’s almost #WorldKidLitMonth - a time to explore the world through children’s literature! Read all about how to get involved here 📚 🌍 #kidlit #readtheworld

worldkidlit.org/2025/08/01/i...

WOW Dozen: Picturebooks to Encourage Empathy and Helping • Worlds of Words August's WOW Dozen brings together a dozen picturebooks on empathy, showing how children can help others and encouraging helping in communities.

These 12 #picturebooks show children the ways they can be empathetic towards their peers and encourage kinder, more involved communities. The stories show people working towards empathy through policy, societal change and inclusion.

#WOWDozen #booksky

wowlit.org/blog/2025/08...

WOW Reads: S3, E7 - RAP Reads The Strange Case of Harleen and Harley by Melissa Marr Podcast Episode · WOW Reads · 06/18/2025 · 24m

In a special combined group of middle & high school readers, the Reading Ambassadors came together where story worlds collide - in this strange case: DC Comics, Robert Lewis Stevenson & @melissamarrwriting.bsky.social. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

WOW Dozen: Books About Hair • Worlds of Words This month, Janine Schall shares a dozen titles that celebrate hair and all that it can mean for different people and communities.

This #WOWDozen on hair could easily be three times as long; however, a dozen is 12, so we narrowed the book list to provide a variety of depictions and representations with the underlying belief that all hair (or lack thereof) is good hair. wowlit.org/blog/2025/06... #GlobalKidLit

WOW Recommends: Oasis • Worlds of Words The May WOW Recommends Book of the Month is Guojing's graphic novel, Oasis, a touching narrative about family set in a post-apocalyptic landscape.

Guojing's nearly monochromatic illustrations in Oasis convey the emotional depth of loneliness and loss for millions of children due to family separation while the story and her use of traditional media take a stance against AI replacing humans in the creation of art. #WOWRecommends #BookSky #MGLit

8 Nonfiction Titles to Inspire Young Animal Conservationists From a picture book about whales to middle grade books on rescuing red wolves and honeybees, these informational texts will encourage burgeoning environmentalists to take on a cause.

8 Nonfiction Titles to Inspire Young Animal Conservationists
www.slj.com/story/8-nonf...

WOW Reads: S3, E6 - TRAP Reads Dear Manny by Nic Stone - WOW Reads Join the Worlds of Words Center Teen Reading Ambassadors (TRAP) as we discuss Dear Manny by Nic Stone.Nic Stone is open and warm, just like her favorite color -- orange. We discuss her commentary on l...

#NicStone is open & warm, like her favorite color - orange. In this ep of WOW Reads, teens discuss Nic's assertion of fiction as truth through the lens of a lie, how a psychology degree helps character development & that pursuit of discomfort contributes to growth & staves off boredom. #YALit

Travel $ deadline for summer PD=Monday! This interactive workshop w/ @worldsofwords.bsky.social explores children's literature on refugee/immigrant experiences. Goal: encourage children to critically engage w/ story to make sense of their own lives/understand others'.
cercll.arizona.edu/wowinst25/

Our Reading Ambassadors just completed hour one of our four-hour Read-A-Thon. They are hosting it on IG this year. Join us if you are engaged in sustained, focused reading this afternoon. If there's Sky interest, we can post here too. #MGLit #YALit

WOW Dozen: Taking Action for the Earth • Worlds of Words The April WOW Dozen presents twelve titles that focus on youth taking actions to protect the local environment, animals and the planet as a whole.

Prepare for #EarthDay with this WOW Dozen presenting 12 global titles that highlight youth taking action to address local issues impacting the environment.

#BookSky

Visit the U of A campus this Saturday as 12 cultural & science collections offer special programming for #UOfAMuseumDay! We will share our current art exhibit w/ activities, original illustrations from our archives, & a chance to compare award-winning global & international picturebooks.

#Tucson

In collab w/ @cercll.bsky.social, we offer "Forced & Chosen Journeys: Refugee & Immigrant Experiences in Youth Literature." The summer institute features authors, @kaokaliayang.bsky.social & Shifa Saltagi Safad, & Julie Kasper, who works w/ refugee & immigrant students in school contexts. #EduSky

Reading Ambassadors receive a book for themselves and one to share in their school context, which makes for good middle/high school to university relationships. #EduSky Thank you ALSC for sharing our program!

Author's Corner: Andrea Rogers • Worlds of Words In this installment of Author's Corner, Andrea L Rogers discusses her latest books and the parts of her life and philosophy that she adds to her work.

The award-winning @andrealrogers.bsky.social discusses art, family & futurism in an #AuthorsCorner that speaks to educators. #EduSky #ChoochHelped #TheArtThieves

WOW Recommends: Grandma's Roof Garden • Worlds of Words Grandma's Roof Garden by Tang Wei is February's WOW Recommends! This charming picturebook brings to life a garden and the community it fosters.

Set in contemporary Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province in southwest China, Grandma’s Roof Garden tells a story of Granny’s love for gardening and sharing food with her family and neighbors, while also highlighting the theme of sustainability.

#BookSky #Picturebooks #WOWRecommends

WOW Reads: S3, E3 - TRAP Reads Destination Unknown by Bill Konigsberg Podcast Episode · WOW Reads · 01/23/2025 · 24m

In this episode, teens talk about the joys of banter between friends, complicated family interactions & how music connects us regardless of the decade. We, like Bill Konigsberg, hope everyone finds love in a beautiful way.

#lgbtqia+ #BookSky @worldsofwords.bsky.social

WOW Dozen: Making and Using Maps • Worlds of Words This month, Janine Schall presents a dozen titles around maps that show children how to navigate the world in both physical spaces and their emotions.

An inquiry into making and using maps is a perfect extension of a child's urge to learn about the world and their place in it. This WOW Dozen features books ranging from nonfiction about maps and reading them to fiction showing children using maps for multiple purposes.

#EduSky #BookSky

Katherine Rundell · Why children’s books? Children have not yet built wide hinterlands: to them, the world is still opaque and full of necessary bewilderment....

“The greatest children’s fantasies were worth your time when you were twelve, and they are equally worth it now.” Katherine Rundell on why we need children’s books | London Review of Books

WOW Reads: Bonus - MSRAP Reads for Mock Caldecott - WOW Reads Join the Worlds of Words Center Middle School Reading Ambassadors (MSRAP) as we recap our experience around predicting the 2025 Randolph Caldecott Medal winner for picturebook illustration.In this epi...

Middle School Reading Ambassadors share their #Caldecott predictions on the #WOWReads podcast (avail. on Apple & Spotify). Listen as we discuss the selection process & the books that caught our attention. Then we reveal our top pick. The ALA Youth Media Awards are 1/27! 🤞🏅

#EduSky #TLSky

WOW Recommends: Disagreement • Worlds of Words Disagreement by Nani Brunini is the WOW Recommends for July, a picturebook that uses colors to show how people resolve disagreements together.

"...brilliantly helps readers understand social dynamics. Through the use of color and shapes, this book demonstrates how far a disagreement can escalate unless we work at carefully listening along with sharing thoughts” THE DISAGREEMENT from #TapiocaStories praised wowlit.org/blog/2024/06...

The Power of Graphic Novels to Foster Critical Literacy and Critical Reading • Worlds of Words The first WOW Currents of January looks at grpahic novels as a multimodal media to encourage literacy, using When Stars are Scattered as an example.

"Traditional reading and writing capture only a fraction of students’ literacy capabilities. Carefully selected multicultural, multilingual and multidisciplinary graphic novels offer powerful tools for critical reading and literacy." #EduSky

Join us this Saturday for the 2025 Mock Caldecott Award Competition!

RSVP required. Register here: wowlit.org/event/mock-c...

WOW Dozen: Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight • Worlds of Words This month, Michele and Avis present a dozen books around the theme "Fall down seven times, stand up eight" to encourage readers to never give up.

This #WOWDozen introduces biographies of people who overcame big challenges as well as fictional stories that are fun & whimsical. Reading these books aloud may inspire children to see themselves as capable & resilient beings in the world.

#KidLit #PictureBooks

The center will be closed from December 20, 2024 through January 6, 2025. We wish everyone the same season's readings that we plan to enjoy. ❄️📚🕯️☕

We nailed the Caldecott last year, then got to welcome @vashtiharrison.bsky.social to our space a few weeks later. We were the biggest winners! Hoping for similar results at our next Mock Caldecott Election.

All the college kidlit conferences (2025 edition!) Or, more formally, "A Comprehensive List of U.S. College- and University-Sponsored or -Hosted Children's and Young Adult Literature Conferences, Festivals, and Symposia." (All of them that I could fin...

For librarians & educators, #kidlit conferences/festivals at universities are great opportunities for professional development. (They can be helpful for authors & illustrators, too!) When I couldn't find a list of these, I decided to make one. I've just updated it: chrisbarton.info/all-the-coll...

The Tucson Festival of Books has announced their 2025 presenting authors! The list includes 19 #picturebook creators, 27 #MGLit authors & 20 #YALit authors. Guess which lucky center of global children's literature gets to be the green room!

#TFOB tucsonfestivalofbooks.org?id=67

WOW Recommends: The Rock in My Throat • Worlds of Words This month, Kathy Short recommends The Rock in My Throat, a picturebook by Kao Kalia Yang and Jiemei Lin about a young Hmong girl's selective mutism.

The Rock in My Throat by Kao Kalia Yang and illustrated by Jiemei Lin takes a stance of resistance with an ending that challenges the privileged status of English and the treatment of immigrants in the U.S.

@lernerbooks.bsky.social #WOWRecommends #KidLit

NYT 2024 best #KidLit pick, "The Yellow Bus" by Loren Long, is in heavy rotation in the center (for preservice teachers AND K-12 field trips). Long shared his process for this book in his virtual visit for Imagination Friday: wowlit.org/event/imagin... #EduSky

The U of A College of Education awarded Worlds of Words Center student employee, Hailey Hanson, their Student Employee for Excellence award. Excelling at work and in school, Hailey will become a first-generation college graduate in May 2025. Way to go, Hailey!