News
We have just won the
15th Annual
Skipping Stones
Honor Awards
The Skipping Stones Honor Awards recognize 26 exceptional books and teaching resources. Together, they encourage an understanding of the world’s diverse cultures, as well as nature and ecological richness. The selection promotes cooperation, nonviolence, respect for differing viewpoints and close relationships in human societies. Reading books is another way to explore cultures, places and even other time periods. The winners are featured in the summer issue and also on www.SkippingStones.org. 5/15/08
National Children's Choice Book Award
Finalist,
through The Children's Book Council!
The CBC is official sponsor of Children's Book
Week, the longest running literacy event in the country.
5/15/08
When the Shadbush Blooms has been named to this year's list of Best Children's Books by the Bank Street College Children's Book Committee! The Committee reviews over 4000 titles each year for accuracy and literary quality and considers their emotional impact on children. It chooses the best 600 books, both fiction and nonfiction, which it lists according to age and category. The Best Children's Books of the Year: One of the most comprehensive annotated book lists for children, aged infant-14. 5/15/08
Lansdowne Tree Day April 25, 2008
Pennsylvania Humanities Council
Commonwealth Speakers: Native American Life and
History
2008-09 Season of Free Presentations
Carla & Allan Messinger will be presenting 2 programs through the Pennsylvania Speakers Bureau. Follow the link above for more information.
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When the Shadbush Blooms has been named to this year's list of Best Children's Books by the Bank Street College Children's Book Committee! The Committee reviews over 4000 titles each year for accuracy and literary quality and considers their emotional impact on children. It chooses the best 600 books, both fiction and nonfiction, which it lists according to age and category. The Best Children's Books of the Year: One of the most comprehensive annotated book lists for children, aged infant-14
We have won the CCBC Choice 2008, Children's Cooperative Book Center Award
&
2008 Notable Children's Book in the
Language Arts
Recommended to teachers by the National Museum of the American Indian, Spring 2008 Education E-Newsletter;
Recommended on National Public Radio's "Tell Me
More" November 2007
Featured in Kirkus Reviews' BEA/ALA Big Book Guide 2007
"The
glory of white shadbush blossoms on the cover should be used as an
excuse to pull it out in the spring and share it!"
From:http://kidslit.menashalibrary.org/archives/017347.html
January 10, 2008 Posted by Tasha Saecker on January
10, 2008 1:45 PM
When the Shadbush
Blooms by Carla Messinger with Susan Katz,
illustrated by David Kanietakeron Fadden.
Books in which Native American traditions are
accurately portrayed are very few, especially in picture book format.
To have a traditional Native American side-by-side with a
contemporary one is nearly unheard of.
In this picture book, you will see the traditional way of life
alongside the contemporary one.
There is a constant tie between the two, but each is unique and
lovely in its own way. The
book moves through the year from month to month, starting with the When
the Shad fish Return Moon and circling to a finish with the same month
again. The book ends with
additional information on the Lenni Lenape people, meaning that this is
not meant to be a more general Native American story, but distinct to a
people.
This alone makes it
worthy of attention, because so many Native titles are left
meaninglessly generic where these specific traditions and people bring
life and accuracy to the story.
The text of the book is clear and has a great
rhythm even though it is prose.
There is a consistent tie to nature and wildlife in each month
that makes the passing of the months fascinating.
The illustrations are the real bridges between the modern and the
historical. The same setting
is used for both periods and they share the same space, making the point
of the text all the more clear for readers.
Highly recommended, this book is perfect to use when discussing calendars with children. I would hate to see it relegated to only being pulled out during a unit on Native Americans around Thanksgiving. Instead, the glory of white shadbush blossoms on the cover should be used as an excuse to pull it out in the spring and share it.
Spirited
Encounters: American Indians Protest Museum Policies and Practices
By Karen Coody Cooper
A good resource for teachers, museum & historical society staff, click the link above for more information.
Colonialism
in the Margins: Cultural Encounters in New Sweden and Lapland
by Gunlög Fur
This book explores Swedish encounters with American
Indians in the New Sweden colony on the Delaware River during the second
half of the seventeenth century. To place Swedish-Indian interactions in
perspective a comparison is made with Swedish-Saami colonial relations
during the same time period. These were two expressions of Great Power
ambitions that place Sweden firmly within the context of European
colonialism, but also meant the two outstanding examples of Swedish
encounters with indigenous populations. Focus is on issues of land
ownership and transactions, on trade, and on cultural encounters.
The book is of particular interest to historians of
colonial encounters in America and Sweden, but also in a larger context
concerning European colonialism and its heritage today.
Let the River Run Silver Again!
Let the River Run Silver Again!
How One School Helped Return the American Shad to the Potomac
River -- And How You Too Can Help Protect and Restore Our Living Waters
When the Shadbush Blooms
Season -
Pooxit
(Fall ) Is Coming
Lenape children’s book teaches about the seasons
Carla Messinger, who has spent her adult life
sharing her interest in the Lenni Lenape culture, is happy that her
first book, When the Shadbush Blooms, has been
published—just in time for Pooxit, the time of the falling leaves. The
fully-illustrated, full-color 32-page children’s book
was released to bookstores on Sept. 1, 2007 by publisher Tricycle
Press.
The Lenni Lenape sometimes called the Delaware or
Woodland Indians, were the native people that lived in the region of the
Delaware River Watershed at the time the first Europeans explored and
settled in America.
They lived in villages throughout Eastern
Pennsylvania and farmed, fished and hunted. The Lenape made friends with
the Europeans and sold land to William Penn to help open Pennsylvania to
settlement. Local communities still bear names given by the Lenape:
Catasauqua, Mahoning, Towamensing—to name but a few.
When the Shadbush Blooms,
conceived by Messinger, written in a poetic format by Susan Katz, and
illustrated by David Kanietakeron Fadden, tells a story about two Lenape
girls. One who lived 400 years ago when the Lenape people led a
traditional life barely touched by Europeans. The other lives in
contemporary America. It is a parable of how the Lenape continue to
adapt to a changing world while remaining close to the land and their
culture.
“Lenape life has not really changed in thousands of
years,” explained Messinger. “People today still follow the cycle of the
seasons. The seasons dictate what clothing we wear and the foods we eat.
We are completing the season of corn and entering that of pumpkins.”
The book’s title, When the Shadbush
Blooms, refers to a bush that is widespread in
northeastern Pennsylvania and is more commonly called the serviceberry.
The Lenape gave the name to the bush because it blooms on the shores of
the Delaware River when the shad return to spawn.
In the summer, the shadbush produce up to a quart
of sweet berries that are eaten fresh, assuming the birds don’t get to
them first. In the fall, the shadbush berries are dried. In the winter,
when the snow is on the shadbush, its dried berries are used in cooking.
In the spring, they bear large white flowers. To the Lenape, the
shadbush is symbol of the yearly cycle.
“I am so glad the book is out,” said Messinger. “It
was a very long birthing process.”
But with the book published, her teachings can go
into the library, the classroom, the home, or wherever children are
reading about multicultural heritage—places that she could never get to
in person. “Teachers and parents can use this to supplement a textbook,
which usually have meager information on the Lenape culture or nothing
at all,” she noted.
The book is aimed at the pre-school through
elementary grade schoolers. The type is large enough for a teacher to
read the book upside down while showing the pictures to the children.
The text is brief, colorful and at a five to seven year old child’s
reading level. In the back of the book is a section that provides
supplemental information for teachers and parents.
Creation of the multicultural book was faced with a
multicultural challenge. Messinger is of Lenape heritage. Their
illustrator recommended by the publisher, David Kanietakeron Fadden, is
of Mohawk/Iroquois heritage.
This presented two challenges. First, the Lenape
lost their land to the Iroquois and Proprietors in the Walking Purchase
Treaty of 1837. Since then, there have been ill feelings between the
tribes. Fortunately that didn’t become a problem.
But secondly, as a member of the Mohawk/Iroquois, Fadden was familiar with a different language, set of customs, clothing and type of design. It took many discussions and sketching and re-sketching before they could agree upon final illustrations.
Unlike American children, there was no centralized
school for Lenape children. They learned within their community. They
learned to pick berries from a sister, to make arrows from a
grandfather, and gardening from a neighbor. As far as Lenape education
was concerned,” said Messinger. “It takes a village.”
For more information about the book or Lenape
programs, see www.lenapeprograms.info, email: palenape@enter.net, or
call: 610-434-6819. Copies of the book are available at select local
bookshops and
Oyate.
Review from the November issue of School Library Journal. MESSINGER, Carla, with Susa Katz. When the Shadbush Blooms. illus. by David Kanietakeron Fadden. unpaged. CIP. Tricycle. 2007. Tr $15.95. ISBN 978-1-58246-192-2. LC 2006017389.
K-Gr 5-Yesterday and today are connected through shared experiences in this picture book about Lenni Lenape customs. As Traditional Sister (from the past) and Contemporary Sister (from the present) describe the activities of their extended families through the seasons, readers will realize that even though times change, family traditions remain the same. The past is portrayed on the left-hand pages, which show a family wearing deerskin clothing, using traditional tools, and living in a wikwam (small lodge). The present is portrayed on the recto, where a family dresses in modern clothing, drives a pickup truck, and lives in a modern house. The characters from both periods engage in similar activities, such as catching fish, harvesting pumpkins, or telling stories. Some objects, such as a baby's cradleboard, are used in both settings. The design is effective, and images in the gutters-a tree trunk, a shoreline, a sledding hill-creatively link the two eras together. Discreet yellow banners identify the seasons-or moons-in both Lenape and English. Messinger (Turtle Clan Lenape) and Katz poetically tell the story in first person, present tense. Fadden (Wolf Clan Mohawk) uses lush hues in his sensitive, acrylic illustrations. An opening note points out the ways that the Lenape and Europeans exchanged cultural elements, and endnotes provide information about the Lenni Lenape and their culture, a description of the Lenape seasons, and a pronunciation guide. Share this book with children of all backgrounds during celebrations of families, traditions, and seasons.-Shawn Brommer, South Central Library System, Madison, WI
Announcing When the Shadbush Blooms,
a new children’s book about southeastern Pennsylvania’s Native people,
the Lenape (or Delaware) Indians
-- Featured in Kirkus Reviews’ BEA/ALA Big Book
Guide to the buzzworthy books of 2007
A collaboration between Carla Messinger, Turtle
Clan Lenape, and Susan Katz, children’s author, When the Shadbush Blooms
is a book about tradition and about change. Two Lenape Indian girls from
different times – the past and the present – live through the cycle of
the seasons. The past is 400 years ago when the Lenape people lived a
traditional life barely touched by European traders, and the present is
contemporary America. But what is important has remained: being with
family, knowing when berries are ripe for picking, listening to stories
in a warm home. Seen through the eyes of Traditional Sister and
Contemporary Sister, each from her own time, then and now are not so
very different when the shadbush blooms. Includes an afterword about the
culture and history of the Lenni Lenape.
Reviewers’ comments about When the Shadbush
Blooms:
"The language is crystalline, pure and sparkling,
nothing wasted, nothing more needed." When the Shadbush Blooms is a
delightful way to introduce young readers to the lives and ways of
American Indians." – Karen Cody Cooper, National
Museum of the American Indian
"A beautiful volume. When the Shadbush Blooms is
one of those rarest of volumes in children’s literature, a picture book
that’s not just about American Indians, but is a true sharing and
celebration of a vibrant people. It’s a book that deserves to be in
every school and library." – Joseph Bruchac, Abenaki storyteller and
author
"Over and against the plethora of ‘multicultural’
writing for children, this is the one I would choose to show them our
pre-conquest lives." – Doris Seale, editor/author
of Through Indian Eyes
"While the beautiful illustrations may first
attract you to When the Shadbush Blooms, the words that describe the
feeling of joy children take in their families now, and took long ago,
will hold you and any child. Kids will ask you to read and reread the
story. While it describes the Original People, it applies to all people
and to the strength of families everywhere." –
Susan Gilbert Beck, librarian and teacher
"Teachers will be thrilled with the authority the
author brings to the story and the wealth of information contained in a
short picture book." – Peggy Dilner, University of
Delaware
"Informative and useful, a gentle introduction to
the fact that Native Americans are an important part of our history –
and of our present." – Kirkus Reviews
"When the Shadbush Blooms is a poem, a song, a prayer for Earth and her inhabitants." – Oyate, the organization dedicated to evaluating children’s books about Native Americans.
Celebrate First Nations!
First
Nations Public Libraries Week (Feb. 11 to 16, 2008). Celebrate the end
of this special week by reading these excellent aptly-themed stories
from the Timmins Public Library....
When the Shadbush Blooms by Carla Messinger with Susan Katz (Tricycle Press, Ages 5-10) Past and present meet in this unique picture book, told side-by-side by Traditional Sister and Contemporary Sister. The story moves through the year using the Lenni Lenape calendar, beginning and ending in spring with When the Shad fish Return Moon or Mechoammawi Gischuch. Each passing month has a specific link to nature, and the text explains how even 400 years apart, the young girls spend time with their loving families doing similar activities. This book about tradition, change and nature's cycle is illustrated by David Kanietakeron Fadden. Getting the Word Out, written by Jose Gagnon Timmins Daily Press in Ontario, Canada
When the Shadbush Blooms (ISBN-13:
978-1-58246-192-2; 1-58246-192-9) is available
signed or from
Oyate or direct from the publisher:
Tricycle Press
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