Check out the books by Tanzanian born Tololwa Mollel, an award-winning storyteller, author, and playwright.

Great start -- now let's keep these books at the forefront and not pigeonhole new books to "special lists" -- diverse books need to be integrated into all lists and all columns.

For more books like Erdrich's CHICKADEE, see the website American Indians in Children's Literature, published by Debbie Reese (me), and the list of books in November, School Library Journal: http://www.slj.com/2013/11/collection-development/focus-on-collection-development/resources-and-kid-lit-about-american-indians-focus-on/

I've always thought that NYPL has a great children`s book collection, and I think it is great how the library responds to its patrons requests. If you don`t see a book you think should be there, just ask them to add it to the shelves.

I loved the Library's amazing exhibit on the history of children's picture books. I attended twice last year and I was dazzled. I came across your blog above by happy accident, via the Eric Carle Museum's Facebook page. I’m taking the liberty of reaching out to tell you about my efforts to amplify the haiku legacy of my late mom, Sydell Rosenberg, a gifted American haiku poet and NY public school teacher who passed away in 1996. According to a recent NY comptroller’s report, overall, funding for arts education has been reduced. It’s a distressing state of affairs. But this small, personal effort I have undertaken may interest you: Syd was a charter member of the Haiku Society of America, founded in 1968 in the city (it still exists today). She wrote other poetry as well as short stories and puzzles, and translated Spanish literature as well, but I think haiku (and senryu) were her favorite creative writing formats. I want some of her work to live for today’s audiences – especially children. I know that my mom wanted to publish a haiku picture book – an A-B-C reader. She never fulfilled this particular dream, although she was well-anthologized and appreciated in her circle. In my idiosyncratic way, I am making some strides in sharing her work with young audiences: I have just concluded the second Sydell Rosenberg-Arts For All haiku/art workshop series for second-graders at P.S.163 in the Bronx, in which haiku are paired with drawing and painting. The first program took place in the fall of 2013. Another program is also underway at P.S. 163: a haiku/music workshop series for English as a Second Language students in second grade. I attended a couple of sessions, and they are delightful. The music teachers from the nonprofit Arts For All, my partner, have devised an inventive way to connect my mom’s haiku to melody and rhythm, with the words serving as the verses. The children are helping to construct the melody and even their own haiku “lyrics.” From the spring 2014 haiku/art class, I have photos of the pictures the children painted and drew. I hope to arrange them into an album. Arts For All (arts-for-all.org) created a keepsake book as a thank you from the first haiku/art workshop series, so in a way, mom now has her picture book! The cover art, and the pictures inside (all made by second graders), are based on the following haiku and I love how the words reinforce the images, and vice-versa. Haiku, with its compact and concise format, which is so richly evocative – and of course, poetry in general – can expand the scope of kids’ imaginations and help them make creative connections, as well as help nurture an appreciation of wordplay and metaphor. In closing, please permit me to share this noteworthy article on TakePart.com about the importance of teaching poetry in schools. The program I co-created with Arts For All is featured and I am quoted. If you wish to read additional selections of my mom’s haiku and senryu, let me know. Thank you for the opportunity to contact you about my endeavors. http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/04/16/why-its-important-teach-poetry-schools Prodding a fall leaf after the rain — sparrow in a new puddle. Traffic-wise cat crosses the street for better prey – suburban lunch hour. Against the blue sky a green parrot on a dead branch. Crossing the wide sky a blue jay is held briefly in the window square. For a moment one circling round each other two white butterflies. When the sun came out my turtle climbed on a rock and conjured a view.

Fabulous list—thank you!

This <a href="http://www.amarchitrakatha.com/ack/">Kids Story Books</a> are very authentic ...portraying the realism into the story