Children’s Literature Community Supporting I’m Your Neighbor with Trivia Night + Raffle
To help fund the work of I’m Your Neighbor Books (including a new website coming 11/11/20), the children’s literature community (authors, illustrators, publishers, librarians, educators, and booksellers) are coming together for two events in October. Join us! Turning the Page: Children’s Literature Trivia Night October 21, 2020 @ 7:00PM — 9:00PM Build a Team & Support Immigrant Welcoming Work In an evening hosted by two-time Caldecott Honoree Melissa Sweet and NYT bestselling author David Elliott (who together brought you the picture book Baabwaa and Wooliam), 20...
Read MoreImmigration Literature & the Beautiful Blackbird Festival
While the I’m Your Neighbor Books’ immigration engagement tools —like the Welcoming Library —are used across the nation, our organization also works in the New Arrival/New American-rich city of Portland, Maine where we are based. We are proud to be a partner of Indigo Arts Alliance in the creation of the Beautiful Blackbird Children’s Book Festival. The festival is named in honor of the legendary Black picture book creator Ashley Bryan and his classic picture book Beautiful Blackbird. Watch artist and Indigo Arts Alliance co-founder Daniel Minter launch the event with...
Read MoreVideo: How Immigrants Shape(d) the United States
I’m Your Neighbor Books was honored to have been at the National Council of Teachers of English Conference to hear Nalini Krishnankutty speak. Here is her Tedx talk on, “How Immigrants Shape(d) the United States.”
Read MoreCreating Welcoming Classrooms with Immigration Literature: NCTE
I’m Your Neighbor Books is honored to join DiversifiED Consulting in conversation with New Arrival and New American book creators at the NCTE 2019 Conference on “Creating Welcoming Classrooms with Immigration Literature.”. Watch this space for a growing list of resources on welcoming classrooms and the featured books. Louise El Yaafouri, DiversifiED Consulting Website Twitter: @ElYaafouriELD Featured Books: The Newcomer Student: An Educator’s Guide to Aid Transitions The Newcomer Fieldbook: A Workbook Companion to The Newcomer Student Resources: Teaching Resiliency:...
Read MoreLibraries as Centers of Safety, Empathy, and Affirmation
In her introduction to the American Library Association’s Annual Conference panel “Unpacking the Immigrant Experience: Creating a Space for New Arrivals,” I’m Your Neighbor co-founder, Anne Sibley O’Brien voiced the pain and rage of the last year “for all who are concerned about immigrants.” “For all who are concerned about immigrants, it’s been a horrendous month in a terrible year: We still face a Muslim ban, the loss of DACA, and the Syrian refugee crisis, to name a few challenges. Anti-immigrant sentiment is rampant. And most recently and...
Read MoreWelcoming Library Exhibit at ALA Annual Conference
Thank you to everyone that joined the conversation about the Welcoming Library at the ALA Diversity and Outreach Fair at the American Library Association’s Annual Conference! Your insight, your enthusiasm, and your professional and personal commitment to welcoming immigrants gives us the inspiration to move forward! This slideshow requires...
Read MoreI’m New Here: Celebrated for National Welcoming Week
Portland School Children Star in Video on Immigration to Premiere During “National Welcoming Week” Portland, ME—“Being new feels happy, shy and scared,” said a Portland third grader in a recent interview. This summer, thirty-five Hall School children shared their feelings about being “new,” being a new arrival and what it looks like to be welcoming to new arrivals with Maine author/illustrator Anne Sibley O’Brien. The video, featuring their thoughtful responses, will premiere at the Portland Public Library’s Rines Auditorium on Saturday, September 19th at 2:00PM in celebration of National...
Read MoreNew Immigrants, New Approaches: ALA Resources
Anne Sibley O’Brien and Kirsten Cappy were delighted to have been the guests of the Association of Library Services for Children at the American Library Association’s annual conference in San Francisco. We had an intriguing conversation with librarians from all over the country about children’s literature, immigration and I’m Your Neighbor. One result of the conversation is that we need more populations listed on the website—Chinese American, Indian American, and more! We welcome your input on populations and titles here. Following are some of the the materials that...
Read MoreI’m Your Neighbor, Portland: Narrative Report
I’m Your Neighbor, Portland was a 2013 Portland, Maine community-wide read and series of public events designed to promote a sense of community among the diverse people who make the port city their home. READ the I’m Your Neighbor, Portland Narrative Report Want to hold your own community-wide read of New Arrival Children’s Literature? Explore book options and contact us!
Read MoreI’m Your Neighbor at ALA
Librarians! We hope you can join I’m Your Neighbor co-founders Kirsten Cappy and Anne Sibley O’Brien at the 2015 ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco, CA! Saturday, 6/27/15 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM 2015 ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco, CA. Moscone Convention Center – 3001 (West Building) New Immigrants, New Approaches With continuous news stories and rhetoric about “illegal” immigrants and “Islamification” of the Western world, how you change the conversation about “new arrivals” and welcome our diverse neighbors into the library community? This workshop will present...
Read MoreI’m Your Neighbor, Portland
STORIES build understanding. UNDERSTANDING builds neighborhoods. NEIGHBORHOODS build a strong city. I’m Your Neighbor is currently piloting a community-wide read in the city of Portland, Maine. I’m Your Neighbor, Portland features nine books, both fiction and non-fiction, set in Maine and written by regional authors. The collection of books feature multicultural friendships and immigration stories that reflect shifts in Portland’s cultural makeup, with immigrants and refugees coming from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia over the last 30 years. Throughout 2013,...
Read MoreThe Good Braider Celebrated in Portland, Maine
You are Invited to a Celebration for: THE GOOD BRAIDER A Novel by Terry Farish Set in Portland’s Sudanese Community Thursday, 11/8/12 @ 7:00 PM 7th Floor, Glickman Library University of Southern Maine Portland, Maine Free of Charge Info: Curious City, 207-420-1126 ABOUT THE BOOK “A masterful triumph of character and story.” -Naomi Shihab Nye In spare free verse laced with unforgettable images, Viola’s strikingly original voice sings out the story of her family’s journey from war-torn Sudan, to Cairo, and finally to Portland, Maine. Here, in the sometimes too...
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