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Children's Literature Offers "Windows into Other Worlds"

MellieRene4
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When a child loves a book, they can love it with an intensity that few adults can match, and the books children connect with often stay with them their entire life.

Children's literature offers windows into other worlds, and also a mirror on your own world. - Ernie Cox

On this edition of Talk of Iowa, Charity Nebbe hosts a discussion on some of the best of modern children’s literature and how it’s influencing young people. She talks with Ernie Cox, chair of the Newbery Award Selection Committee and school librarian in the College Community District south of Cedar Rapids.

They discuss recent Newbery Medal honorees, as well as trends in the field of children's literature, including a greater push for diversity, the fact that literary writers are stepping into the world of picture books, as well as ways parents can help their kids beat the summer slide.

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Letters About Literature - Hear the Iowa winners' letters to authors J.K. Rowling and Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda

Also during the show, Helen Dagley, Coordinator for the Iowa Center for the Book, talks about the Letters About Literature program, a nationwide contest where young readers write letters to the author of a book that means a lot to them.

This year’s Iowa winners are Hannah Huang, of Ames, and Josie Boyle, of Farley. They both won first place in their grade divisions. Huang wrote her letter to Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda, co-authors of the book about pen-pals, I Will Always Write Back. Boyle wrote her letter to J.K Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series.

Charity Nebbe is the host of IPR's Talk of Iowa