Caroline’s Blog

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It Was Love

So often children ask, “What inspired you to write Darius Daniels: Game On!?” In this and future posts, I’m going to expand on my answer.

First and foremost, what inspired me to write Darius Daniels: Game On! — a journey that took 14 years! — was love. In particular, my mother’s love for me and my love for her, which led to so many other expressions and observations of love.

Witnessing every day, my mother’s love for her children, our family, and community made me want to write a book about just a small sliver of her life. I first tried tell her story with a picture book, but  couldn’t get it to work. In a surprise twist, Darius Daniels: Game On! turned out to be the ticket.

I’m so happy that I found the strength to persevere because now I get to see how the love that lifted me is now lifting children, teachers, librarians, and people from all walks of life.

What has love inspired you to do for someone else?

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What would you say?

Poetry, poetry, poetry!
All around outside & flowin’ in me!
I have no hate in my heart,
because it’s all loved up with poesy!
 
Darius Daniels: Game On! & poetry are what’s up in coming days for students at
Lake Ridge Middle School in Woodbridge, VA. They’ll be reading the book for weeks to come, and during my author visit today, we’re going to talk about the power of our own voices, communication breakdowns, the worlds we can make with our words, why we read and write, and poetry as survival. Our goal is to dramatically expand the number of voracious readers at the school because we know words can avert wars, birth peace, and grow gardens of grace in the thorniest space.

What would you say to these students about the power of words? Have a story about how words changed your life? Please share.

*Shoutout to royalbydesign369 for the inspiration of Mantra – Photo credit: Cheriss May

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It’s World Read Aloud Day and We’ve Got Riddles for You!

In my world, every day is World Read Aloud Day, but in 2022, I’m thrilled to be celebrating World Read Aloud Day with 250 students and teachers at Newsome Park Elementary School in Newport News, VA via Zoom.  We’re going to explore the poetry of Darius Daniels: Game On!, with a special focus on riddles. Click Helping Children Write Riddles – Caroline Brewer Books and stay tuned for more read aloud tips. And big thanks to the Wunderkammer Company in Fort Wayne, Indiana for allowing me to Zoom-cast from their beautiful art gallery and performance space.

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It’s National Family Literacy Month & Here’s What You Can Do About It!

Today, November 1, is the beginning of Family Literacy Month and the Happy 2nd Book Birthday to Darius Daniels: Game On! I hope you’ll celebrate with me over the course of the year as I share reading tips, free downloads, and opportunities for families, teachers, librarians and tutors to participate in virtual celebrations!
Tip #1- No matter your child’s age or reading level, rhymes are a super-power!
One super-power of rhymes is that they improve children’s ability to recall words and story concepts. So feed your hungry readers some rhyming books, such as Darius Daniels: Game On!, today. Ask them some questions to see how well they recall a chapter or story and repeat with them their favorite rhyming sections.  Have fun, and share this blog with friends and family, and ask them to join you and the Hungry Readers campaign here!
Click link to FREE literacy downloads and to order the book.
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What September 11, 2001 Gave Birth To

September 11, 2001 was partly responsible for the birth of my first children’s book, Kara Finds Sunshine on a Rainy Day. The book’s theme is “the sun is always shining, even when we can’t see it.”   I was living in NJ, just outside NYC, and wrote a poem in response to the tragedy. A friend who taught second grade read it and wanted me to share it with her students. I decided to turn it into a story of hope and healing. The children responded so beautifully, I created newer editions.

The 2006 edition was created with artwork from Harlem School of the Arts students. These pages are in the 9/11 section. This section tells the story of a group of firefighters who were trying to lead people out of the building. They ran into Josephine Harris, a worker who had been in a car accident months before and was left with a limp. She slowed them down but they moved at her pace, until, suddenly, the entire building – more than a million tons of rubble — crashed around them. They eventually made it out alive because rays of light poured in through the debris.  The firefighters who survived thanked Josephine for saving their lives.

One of the first children to hear me read Kara was an 11-year-old boy named Miles, who was living in a group home for abused and neglected children. He told me the book “changed his life around.” His counselors said he had not spoken to anyone or made friends for six months prior to my visit. After hearing the story, “he opened up like a flower.”

During one of the darkest times in his life, Miles discovered the sun was shining, and so did I.

May we all discover light on our darkest, rainy days.

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Black Children’s Stories Matter: The Evolution of Children’s Literature

Join Creative Writing Coach and Literary Consultant Marita Golden for “Creative Conversations with Marita” on June 12 at noon on Facebook Live. Caroline Brewer, author of “Darius Daniels: Game On!” and “Barack Obama A Hip Hop Tale of a King’s Dream,” and author Leslie C. Youngblood will be featured.
We’ll discuss the growing popularity of narratives for young people that focus on the lives of Black children.
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Five Things You Should Know About Barack Obama: A Hip Hop Tale

In honor of President’s Day and the need to learn about presidents 365 days a year

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Five Things About Barack Obama:

A Hip Hop Tale of King’s Dream Come True

In a nutshell: The artwork is a conversation starter; it has 60 sets of rhyming words (sure to send any child’s vocabulary and comprehension soaring); you can teach  more than a dozen English language learning skills; it’s full of surprises, including fun facts about animals; and opportunities to learn about social activism and politics in ways that are very cool. (To purchase, click here.) Continue reading “Five Things You Should Know About Barack Obama: A Hip Hop Tale”

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Teachers Keep Hope Alive – Happy World Teachers Day!

Teachers feed the hearts and minds of those beautiful, hungry children the world keeps trusting to us. Teachers help children develop socially, emotionally, and intellectually in ways that they, and we, find extraordinary. 
Teachers keep hope alive.
Teachers help students overcome doubts and find faith.
Teachers helps students rise from the ashes, over and over again.

Is there a struggle in teaching? Of course. Are there tears in teaching? Absolutely, and of a wide variety. Can we expect enlightenment? Every day, for sure. But mostly, as we move through each day, we reach deeper understanding of who we are and who students are, and that alone brings about a new kind of joy – a permanent joy — for student and teacher. We truly are all in this together.

Happy World Teachers Day to all Teachers!

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4 Places to Pick Up Free Books for A Child’s Home Library! Including Here!

In the last blog, we talked about how books and snowflakes have a thing in common. The more of each you have in your life, the more your circumstances change. Get a few books here and there, not much will change. Get a few snowflakes here and there, not much will change. But get a blizzard’s worth of snowflakes, or a blizzard’s worth of books..change gon’ come!

Why do we need a blizzard’s worth of books? Research shows that more books in the home mean children read more, read better, and perform better academically. The pandemic has made it harder for children to get to public libraries and school libraries, so now is a great time to build home libraries. Do it for your children or someone else’s!

So, how do we get a blizzard’s worth of books into a child’s life? We can start the way the snowstorm starts – with a few books at a time. We are calling it the Look at My Books Campaign. Set a goal of getting at least 20 more books into your house, a student or child in your community’s house, or join our local campaign in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area.

Here’s how we can begin.

FREE BOOKS – The easiest way to build a child’s library is to stock it with free books.
So where can we find free books? Here are 4 Places to Pick Up FREE Books!

  1. Literacy programs – Ask teachers at your school, the PTA, your local librarian, local government officials and social service organizations about literacy programs in your community that offer free books. Usually, these programs give free books throughout the year. Also, libraries often partner with literacy programs to give away free books at their locations. Earlier this year, I worked with three literacy/education programs in Florida that gave away my books to hundreds of children in honor of Martin Luther King Day.
  2. Head Start, Day care programs, Schools, and After-school programs – Programs that provide education and recreational activities for children often are connected to literacy programs, which donate free books.  Or, they might have their own book giveaway program. Ask around.
  3. Author Giveaways – Authors LOVE to sell books and they also LOVE to give away books! Authors LOVE to give away books to children who are hungry to read. I have given away thousands upon thousands of books in my life. It’s one of my greatest joys to see children treat a new book as if it were a hot fudge sundae — something they can’t wait to dig into! In honor of this blog, the first five people to email caroline@carolinebrewerbooks.com will receive a free copy of one of three books: Darius Daniels: Game On! (a middle grade novel), Barack Obama: A Hip Hop Tale of King’s Dream Come True, or Kara Finds Sunshine on a Rainy Day. Also, check the Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages of your other favorite authors to find about about their giveaways.
  4. Friends, family, religious institutions – In the process of moving froBarack Obama: A Hip Hop Tale of King's Dream Come True by Caroline Brewer and Glenn Brewerm my first house, I was amazed to that I still had more than 200 books, which I had purchased for my daughters when they were in preschool and early elementary. I gave those books to a family member who had a young daughter and encouraged her to give some away to friends and family who had young children, too. I continue to this day to go through my stock of books to find books to give away. I also belong to a church where people bring new and gently used books from their homes to our bookstore so that we can also give away books.  So ask around. Ask your friends, ask family, ask people who attend religious institutions, are involved with sororities, fraternities, other social organizations and non-profits, and those who work at government organizations, if they have books they’d like to donate to help a child build a home library.

So, there you have it. Let’s get going on our Look atMy Books Campaign, to help children make homes for lots more books and begin to talk about their collections, and eventually share with someone else! And please, take us along on your journey. Drop us a line or a photo and let us know how you’re doing, who’s been helpful, and any new resources you find. If your children already have plenty of books then let’s work together to find other children who could benefit from some of the books you already have or books you’re ready to go out and find. And let’s all have fun!

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What do books and blizzards have in common?

Did you know that reading is related to snowflakes? I often ask children to think about how nice it is to see a snowflake. Softly it falls from the sky to the ground and as you watch it dance, a twinkle appears in your eye and a little smile creases your face. But then, if the snow begins to fall faster and develops into a blizzard, your smile might turn into an expression of concern – especially if you’re at school and didn’t remember to bring your hat, mittens, or boots.

A few snowflakes here and there are not dangerous. But a blizzard – that’s another story!

The same holds true with books. Having one book fall into our lives every now and then doesn’t change anything. But if we get a blizzard of books into our lives, then it’s going to make a huge difference. That’s what we want children to have and read – a blizzard’s worth of books.

Studies show that the more books children read and are exposed to the better readers they become.

The good news is that a blizzard of books doesn’t mean thousands of books at a time or even hundreds.

Did you know that a mere 20 books in a child’s home can make a huge difference? Twenty (20) books represents the snowfall that will one day turn into a blizzard – a happy blizzard of books.

Share in the comments your ideas for how to get 20 more books into your child’s or a student’s life, and I’ll share in the next blog my ideas.

Stay tuned for how to learn how easily it can be done — and why it’s a worthwhile goal!