Tag: middle grade

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A Whole Other Twist on “Let Them Eat Cake!”

A Whole Other Twist on “Let Them Eat Cake!”
DC Elementary Librarian, Local Author, and National Education Lawyer
Team Up to Feed “Hungry Readers Chocolate Cake” Over the Summer!

Donation of Books to Truesdale Elementary Library, Students and School’s Little Free Library
Kicks Off Summer Reading Program and Extends Hungry Readers Campaign

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – June 21, 2021

Contact: caroline@carolinebrewerbooks.com

Washington, D.C. – In a whole other twist on “Let them eat cake!”, Truesdale Elementary Librarian Eboni Henry, National Education Lawyer Gary M. Ratner, and Caroline Brewer, Author of the Forthcoming Say Their Names picture book and Darius Daniels: Game On! have teamed up to feed “hungry readers chocolate cake” over the summer.

The donation of more than 30 Books to Truesdale Elementary’s School Library, its students and the school’s Little Free Library takes place today at the school, 12:30 p.m. – 1:00 p.m., 800 Ingraham St NW, Washington, DC 20011.

The donation continues Brewer’s “Hungry Readers” campaign, where she has enlisted friends and family to help her donate books to schools, libraries, and youth programs in the DC Metro area and around the country. This iteration of the campaign has seen the donation of more than 250 copies of books, including more than 100 of Darius Daniels: Game On!, a book filled with rap, rhyme, and riddles, designed to get kids hooked on books. The donation includes picture books, chapter books, and middle grade novels, books with Black and Latino characters to feed the needs of the majority Latino and Black student population, books on the environment, and some Newberry Medal and Coretta Scott King Award winners. In years past, Brewer has donated thousands of books, mostly her own.

Truesdale Librarian Henry said she’s noticed that children aren’t visiting public libraries as often so she created a “Little Free Library” outside Truesdale where students and any member of the community can take books home and keep them for their own. She and a colleague usually supply the “library” throughout the summer. New donations from Brewer, Ratner, and other friends will help edify the collection.

“I’m a strong believer in the importance of reading to satisfaction and success in life.  Knowing that Caroline Brewer’s books for children help some of our neediest children to attain this goal, I was pleased to make a donation to expand the availability of the extraordinary middle grade novel: Darius Daniels,” said Ratner, Founder and Executive Director of Citizens for Effective Schools. Ratner has been a nationally recognized authority on school reform law and policy for more than 30 years and is a principal drafter of the Joint Organizational Statement on No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, the policy statement for overhauling NCLB endorsed by more than 150 national organizations and replacing it with the ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act). “Rich in cultural allusions and broadening vocabulary, Darius Daniels is an excellent way to engage, entertain and intellectually stimulate students this summer, while simultaneously combatting the traditional summer loss in reading skills.”

Brewer says she’s never met a child who wasn’t hungry to learn to read, write, and learn and that’s why she calls her campaign “Hungry Readers.” The authors of a new book,  How to Raise a Reader, Pamela Paul and Maria Russo, the editor and the children’s-books editor, respectively, of The New York Times Book Review, have said that those who want to inspire reading love in children should present reading not as “spinach,” but as “chocolate cake.” Making books and reading fun has been Brewer’s calling card for the past 20 years as an author, literacy activist, and consultant. “I call rap, rhyme, and riddles ‘literacy accelerants,’ ” says Brewer. “When children get their hands on books that have meaning and are fun, many become brand-new and fall in love with themselves as human beings, whereas before they had lots of doubts. Good books feed children’s imaginations and inspire success and that’s all we’re here for.”

Connect with Caroline Brewer on the following sites:

www.carolinebrewerbooks.com * facebook.com/brewercaroline *twitter.com/brewercaroline

instagram.com/carolinebrewerbooks

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First Classes in the U.S. Give Enthusiastic Video Reviews to Darius Daniels: Game On!

Darius Daniels: Game On! is a certified hit with students in the classes taught by Virginia English Language Arts Teacher Christay Johnson. Her 45 students in two classes are first whole classes in the U.S. to read the book and share video responses. Click here to see what the students have to say about the poetry, imagery, challenges, and adventure provided by 11-year-old Darius and his experience getting sucked into a game world and told that he can’t get out until he hurts somebody.

Click here to order copies for your children or students or email: caroline@carolinebrewerbooks.com

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Black Joy! Books that empower children with love of self, strength, and ingenuity

Black children are beauty, intelligence, ingenuity, resilience, and spontaneous joy, peace, power, and so much more. So in that spirit, I offer the following books that are devoted to true and positive identities of black children and adults. I offer books that are in some ways Afro-futuristic, embodying parallel and fiercely optimistic tales of who we are, who we want to be, where we’ve been, where we’re going, and how we plan to get there, against the backdrop of racism, oppression, rising, uprising, and rising again. These are tales of how we and others have found ways to stay lifted and to lift up others even in the deepest, darkest, and even hopeful times like… now. Enjoy!
Kara Finds Sunshine on a Rainy Day is a picture book about hope, healing, and discovering heroes around us and within, as experienced by 9-year-old Kara, whose plans for a fun-filled day get disrupted when it rains cats and dogs. Her mom responds by sharing rhyming stories about historical figures and ordinary people, of a wide variety of races and backgrounds from across the globe (including Rosa Parks, Cesar Chavez and Andre Trocme) who found or made “sunshine” in difficult times. This special edition, illustrated by children from the Harlem School of the Arts, was written to support children and families who survived the devastating Hurricane Katrina in 2005. A child psychiatrist has called Kara Finds Sunshine “a voyage to resiliency.” A cultural historian suggests it’s a powerful education in the “habit of love.” (This book includes an extensive parent and teacher guide and comes with FREE downloads.)
Barack Obama: A Hip Hop Tale of King’s Dream Come True is a picture book is a humorous, satirized and fictionalized account of the presidential campaign of Barack Obama. Its swift-moving rhymes, rhythm and drama entertain while educating children about one of the most important events in world history and the social movement that made it possible. The brightly-illustrated 32-page book ultimately reveals President Obama’s powerful connection to the enduring legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement he so honorably and courageously led. (This book includes an extensive parent and teacher guide and comes with  FREE downloads.)
Darius Daniels: Game On!  – An anti-racist verse novel about identity, black boy joy, family, community, disabilities, moral questions, told movingly through more than 10 forms of poetry.Darius Daniels: Game On! is a middle-grade rhythmic novel about an 11-year-old boy, a video game, and a great and scary adventure the boy cannot escape – until he hurts somebody. D was his name, you see, and he was on the Edge. Family and friends on one side, Getting together at his home. Him on the other, sometimes feeling alone, In a game world that made his head swirl. Jammed up his brain and rained Karate chops and knocked him for a Loop. He didn’t see it coming that Morning. Should have been a warning, but No. Oops. (This book comes with FREE downloads and opportunities and numerous Language Arts learning standards applications.)
Click here to learn more: https://carolinebrewerbooks.com/books/
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D.C. Author Launches Musical Children’s Novel

D.C. Author Launches Musical Children’s Novel

Darius Daniels: Game On! promotes literacy through music and poetry

For Immediate Release – Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Washington, D.C. – Veteran Children’s Author and Literacy Activist Caroline Brewer will launch a musical children’s novel on Friday, November 1 at www.carolinebrewerbooks.com. Free downloads with activities, games, and chances to win free books will be featured. Book “tasting” parties are scheduled later this month and year. Ms. Brewer is open to media appearances and interviews that will showcase the musical, poetic, and instructional elements of the book.

Darius Daniels: Game On! is a 35,000-word middle grade adventure novel about an 11-year-old boy, a video game, and a great and scary adventure the boy cannot escape – until he hurts somebody. Travel to the game world Washington, D.C. is part of the game. The book also represents a new genre, the rhythmic novel, where the plot pulses with musical rhythms and songs.

“Based on national assessments, for more than 30 years, about two-thirds of American children have entered and exited school reading below grade level. This book was written to Change the Game for them. Every child I have ever met is hungry to learn to read, eager to improve as a reader, and ready to devour more books. This book will feed their appetites,” said Brewer, a D.C.-based author who has given reading and education presentations to more than 25,000 teachers, children, parents, and librarians across the U.S and in Ghana.

Darius Daniels: Game On! is a Wizard of Oz-like virtual urban fantasy sprinkled with rhythm, rhyme, rap, riddles, and more than 10 forms of poetry (which research and experience show accelerate reading progress and deepen engagement). It comes in a 256-page Complete Volume edition or as three individual books (Book 1, Book 2, and Book 3 for children who want to read the story in smaller chunks). Available at bookstores everywhere now!

Caroline Brewer is the author now of 12 books, editor of five books written by students, a former teacher, and wildly successful reading coach of children. She’s coached hundreds of children, personally and professionally, to bridge the literacy gap by as many as nine grade levels. She lives in Washington D.C. Click bar above to hear our featured demo of the rap WOKE, contact Caroline for excerpts from the book, a copy of the book, or additional information.