Selina AlkoRezensionen

book for primary. Great for teaching that their are families who celebrate differently from one another, and thats ok. Great for helping students to realize that a lot of people don't celebrate holidays the same. Mom who celebrates Hanukkah and a dad who celebrates Christmas, and their daughter who celebrates both with pleasure.

beautiful and vibrant pictures. not enough text of story to be an interesting read.

From Booklist "At Sadie’s house, she has “a mix of two traditions,” and so begins the description of what life is like with Daddy Christmas and Hanukkah Mama. Christmas trees and candles, angels and menorahs all come into play. Songs about dreidels and a silent night are sung. Ironically, it’s Daddy Christmas who knows how to make the latkes and kugel dressing for the turkey. Then the relatives come and everyone tells stories of their own traditions. The wonderful artwork has a definite Maira Kalman look and feel. Using bits of collage for everything from the tree branches to the steam coming from the latkes, the inventive pictures not only help spring the story from the occasionally unremarkable text but they also perfectly capture the love that everyone in this mixed household shares. Religion often leads to arguments more than affection, so this is a book that could (and perhaps should) provoke discussion. It will certainly be a boon for families that need a road map to help them navigate the holidays. Preschool-Grade 1. --Ilene Cooper"

Joni Mitchell was a singer songwriter during the sixties. Learn her story and how she lived, loved and learned to become who she was.
The author combines beautiful, moody collage like illustrations with the emotional story of a sixty’s folk/rock icon. This book would be a great read aloud for elementary students in grades 2-5 as an introduction to the genre of folk music or the sixty’s era. It would be even more impactful to pair it with Mitchell’s music.

In 1958 Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter decided they wanted to marry. Unfortunately for them, it was against the law in Virginia. A white man and a black woman could not marry. This is the true story of Richard and Mildred and their fight to make unconstitutional the laws which prevented interracial marriage.

Perfect picture book to help stoke the imaginations and ambitions of the little girls in your life. Colorful, fun, and with social commentary. The mini biographies in the book of the famous women mentioned throughout definitely makes Every Day Dress Up a welcome addition to any personal library. I intend on buying this book for my daughters and reading it at every story time I get!

The author begins by writing “Joni Mitchell painted with words. . . . The songs were like brushstrokes on a canvas, saying things that were not only happy or sad but true.”

But before the songs, Alko writes, there was a restless and not always happy girl named Roberta Joan Anderson. Alko tells readers what this little girl was like and what happened during her life growing up in Canada, including a bout with polio.

As a young adult, Joni attended art school in Calgary, and immersed herself in “a world of coffeehouses and poetry and a captivating music scene.” She sang songs in the cafes, but at first, they were songs written by others. At age 21 she met Chuck Mitchell, married him and took his surname, and moved with him to Detroit. There she began performing her own songs for the first time. They divorced in 1967, and Joni moved to New York City. She played venues up and down the East Coast, performing frequently in coffeehouses and folk clubs. She became well known for her unique songwriting and her innovative guitar style.

She turned her thoughts and feelings into music. Even looking up at the clouds became the song “Both Sides Now” in 1968. Who hasn't gone up in an airplane for the first time and thought of her lyrics?

"I've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It's cloud's illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all. . . ."

In 1969, she did not perform at Woodstock, but wrote about it in the song “Woodstock” that became an iconic expression for a generation, along with her other big hits such as “Big Yellow Taxi.” In 2020, the New York Times chose her 1971 album "Blue" as one of the 25 albums that represented "turning points and pinnacles in 20th-century popular music." In 2020, Blue was rated third in Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time."

She told Rolling Stone Magazine in 1979:

“The Blue album, there’s hardly a dishonest note in the vocals. At that period of my life, I had no personal defenses. I felt like a cellophane wrapper on a pack of cigarettes. I felt like I had absolutely no secrets from the world, and I couldn’t pretend in my life to be strong. Or to be happy. But the advantage of it in the music was that there were no defenses there either.”

Fans will want to read the New York Times tribute to "Blue" on the 50th anniversary of the album, in which twenty-five musicians speak about the LP’s enduring power, here. Contributors include James Taylor, Rosanne Cash, Judy Collins, David Crosby, Bonnie Raitt, and more. The author of the article writes: "Half a century later, Mitchell’s “Blue” exists in that rarefied space beyond the influential or even the canonical. It is archetypal: The heroine’s journey that Joseph Campbell forgot to map out."

Joni Mitchell became famous, and traveled all over the U.S. and Europe, still expressing her feelings through music. She once said, “I sing my sorrow, and I paint my joy.”

Alko writes, “Her songs show us the way by telling us her truth. Truth gives us freedom. And freedom gives us wings to fly.

The book ends with an Author’s Note, a discography, and a biography.

The illustrations, also by Alko, are gorgeous creations in mixed media using acrylic paint, pencil sketches, collages, and ink stamps. Birds, flowers, musical notes, and lyric excerpts accent the double-page spreads.

Evaluation: This lovely story will appeal to readers whether they know who Joni Mitchell is or not; her childhood journey and turn to the arts to express herself are not only interesting but inspirational. Her music, including songs from the album Blue, are available on Youtube.

The A to Z highlights of immigrants' contributions to America, what truly has made America great throughout its history. Colorful paintings bursting with images reflect the array of cultural delights, heritages, and ideals that can be found here: bubble tea, Jewish delis, kielbasa, opportunity, justice and freedom. Taken as a whole, readers will appreciate that America is not just one but many. Great for classroom sharing and discussion.

This book celebrates the rich culture of America that is a direct result of the diversity of immigrants who came to the country and strengthened it in countless ways.

The colorful double-page spreads feature words beginning with each letter of the alphabet that come from the various cultures making up America. From bagels to Chinatown, to guacamole to kielbasa and kimchi, to Ellis Island, quinceaños and roti, kids will learn words they will come to know as part of their country’s cultural background. The author writes in her Note at the end of the book, “America isn’t any one thing; it’s many….” and this book certainly shows how true that is.

Alko, also the illustrator, uses brightly colored gouache and collage to provide a closely interweaved impression of the country as a melting pot. The people depicted are a variety of races and from a variety of backgrounds, but all American.

Evaluation: This book for ages 4 and up may introduce readers to new words that will require adult help, but will help them understand just how much America is a country of immigrants, and all the better for it.

Interracial marriage has not always been legal in the U.S. This is an account of the Lovings, and their fight to have the state of Virginia recognize their marriage in the late 1960s. Author’s Note, Source List

This book is suitable for primary grades. It is based on a critical historical moment for interracial marriage. It is based on the Loving family who fight for their interracial marriage to be legal in Virginia, their home state. It beautifully portrays that when two people stand up for what they believe in, progress occurs. I would use this book in my class as a way to celebrate how far our country has come in terms of race and discrimination. I could use this to celebrate the students in my class who come from an interracial family and portray to them how special that is.

counting and kindness

Writing a new review:

I️ love this book. I️t is about a little girl who celebrates both holidays, Hanukkah and Christmas in her family.

This book shows two different Christmas traditions from the little girls parents. Her father celebrates Christmas and her mother celebrates Hanukkah. As they decorate the house, each parent puts up some traditional things. The dad puts up a Christmas tree with a shiny star and the mom lights eight candles for Hanukkah. Then they sing carols unique to each tradition. On Christmas day, they eat food from both cultures and have a great time blending their families. I think this is a great book to read to children around Christmas because it allows them to see that other parts of the world celebrate most of the same holidays, but they have different traditions they do.

We tend to think that if you celebrate one thing, you can't celebrate another. Or if you belong to one religious group. you can't be apart of another. This book proves that wrong. The family celebrates Hanukkah and Christmas with her family. A lesson can be learned from this book; differences should be embraced, not pitted against each other. Instead of the family turning against one another, they support one another and celebrate as a family, differences and all.

I loved reading this book. I honestly felt a connection to this book because I am a biracial child with a Caucasian father and African American mother. My mother was born in 1959 and it amazes me how realistic this book is to be taking place in the 1950’s to almost the 1970’s. It just shocks me completely because my mom never even married my father they were only engaged.
I would love to read this book to a classroom. I think this book would start a good discussion with children about international marriages and acceptance.

I don't know of any picture books that have filled my heart with joy like The Case For Loving has. Selina Alko uses few words but still speaks volumes in this very real and complex story and then streamlines it beautifully in a way that young readers can understand.

The story centers around Richard and Mildred Loving, the interracial couple who challenged Virginia's laws forbidding interracial marriages and took their case all the way to the Supreme Court.

“Tell the Court I love my wife, and it is just unfair that I can’t live with her in Virginia.”

I love love, always have, and this story fills me up and makes me want to share it with all the young readers in my life. Sidenote, the illustrator is author Alko and her real-life husband, Sean Qualls!! What a wonderful collaboration and celebration of LOVE.

This book was really good as well as appropriate and informative for children. It is important for children to have an insight into the challenges faced due to social injustice. Richard is a white man and Mildred is a woman of color. It was difficult for them to live a happy life due to segregation. This book taught that the color of your skin doesn't define who you love.

I think this book is appropriate and informative in telling the story of segregation and interracial marriage. The book tells the story from Richard and Mildred Jeter. Richard is a white male and Mildred is an African American women. Both fell in love and had the issue of getting married in Virginia because in the south it was not considered acceptable to be married interracially. This book is developmentally appropriate for grades 4 and 5 and gives not only a love story but in a historical way for children in this generation who did not experience this time period.

This is a very important story about the social injustice of equality in marriage. It begins with the love story of a white man and African American woman. They fall in love and have to live during the time of segregation. It is extremely important to me for children to see the struggles that interracial couples went through and still go through. They should be taught that the color of your skin should not define what you do, who you are, or who you love.

Great book to show families that were interracial. This picture book teaches you history about segregation. I love how the pictures show exactly what happened so kids could understand how serious it was back when white and colored people were not allowed to date.

This book is told from a child's point of view about living in an interracial family and the injustice that they face due to the color of their skin. Great book to share with children about different cultures, and families.
Age: 3-5 years
Source: Pierce College Library at Fort Steilacoom

I loved this book. It tells the true love story that eventually found its way to the Supreme Court and resulted in a judgement legalizing interracial marriage in the United States. I think that this is a very important topic to talk about with children. They probably have never even thought about two people not being able to be together just because of their color. This book teaches is in an appropriate way that is easy for them to understand. The beautiful artwork also adds to the vibrancy of the story.

This book would be great to use in a classroom when talking about the holidays, because it can be used to explain that there is more than one holiday in winter. It was amazing that it showed how a couple was able to stay together as a married couple even though they came from different religious traditions. It was also wonderful that they brought both Christianity and Judaism together in one big holiday. It is a great way for their daughter to understand and know about both of her families religious backgrounds to understand a bit more about them.