Tra­di­tion­al­ly, alpha­bet books, or abecedaria, serve as begin­ning lit­er­a­cy instruc­tion for babies and young chil­dren to pro­mote let­ter, sound, and word devel­op­ment. But, greater poten­tial than instruc­tion exists in this form of pic­ture books.

In this arti­cle, we explore find­ing peace with­in. How can we shift our hearts and minds towards peace? How can we help the chil­dren in our class­rooms do the same? What books, both for chil­dren and adults, can sup­port our efforts?

Eugene Yelchin grew up in Stal­in­ist Rus­sia, the Cold War Sovi­et Union. We grow to love his par­ents, his grand­moth­er, his broth­er Vic­tor, but most espe­cial­ly Eugene. His mem­o­ries are at once sad and humorous.

And then came the time to choose a theme for the bath­room. We got the fam­i­ly togeth­er so every­one could have their say. And people…I’m so proud! Our off­spring sug­gest­ed a lit­er­ary-themed bathroom! 

I sat on a rust­ed swing hung from an I beam in our base­ment with a heavy book on my lap. I was ten and lone­ly because my only sis­ter had left home a year earlier.

Spring is in the air, and we’re pulled out­doors to wan­der in our favorite city parks. Ducks are dab­bling; frogs are trilling; the apple trees are burst­ing into bloom. Every­where, it seems, chil­dren frol­ic and neigh­bors wave. It’s been a long win­ter, but our cities are alive.

Nev­er did I ever think I would do sto­ry­time on a screen. I want to see those sweet faces, get the high-fives and hugs, watch their delight in a story’s twists and turns. However…needs must!

Heard on the news: “No one wants to be a refugee.” Here’s a look at four pic­ture books that share the refugee expe­ri­ence with young readers.

We’re pub­lish­ing a list of some of the more recent books about peace and con­flict res­o­lu­tion, as anno­tat­ed by Car­ol Spiegel, a long-time K‑8 educator.

In this lat­est post, con­trib­u­tor Con­stance Van Hov­en shares the ways that books helped her recon­nect with her Read­ing Team now that they are able to be togeth­er in per­son once again.

When we pub­lished our first issue of Bookol­o­gy back in April of 2015, Karen Cush­man was our first fea­tured author. With the pub­li­ca­tion of her 10th book, War and Mil­lie McGo­nigle, we knew it was time to check in, curi­ous about the way Karen orga­nizes and writes her novels.

Why do I love this expos­i­to­ry lit­er­a­ture book so much? Because it clev­er­ly com­bines envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence and engi­neer­ing in a way that’s bound to engage a broad audi­ence of young readers.