Someone once said that a good writer, whether for children or adults, has one story, which s/he keeps telling in various disguised ways; the fantastic writer has two stories; and the genius has three. Shakespeare, for example, could write tragedies, comedies, and histories with equal brilliance. In the world of children’s books, you can count the geniuses on one hand. In the pieces in this section, we write about them all – the good writers, the terrific writers, and, yes, those geniuses.
Listen to the Recess! Clip https://recess.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/Hanna-in-the-Time-of-the-Tulips.mp3 Author John Cech Air Date 5/2/2005 Hana in the Time of the Tulips Transcript It’s the first days of May, a time when things suddenly begin to bloom in northern climates, a time for flowers. The ancient Romans even held a festival in the early part of May in […]
Listen to the Recess! Clip https://recess.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/The-New-Mary-Poppins.mp3 Author John Cech Air Date 3/23/2005 Mary Poppins Transcript Nannies seem to be everywhere these days — they’re on TV and writing books, and you can spot them looking after the children of two-career families, and the kids of the stars. But there’s something quintessential about the Nanny who’s […]
Listen to the Recess! Clip https://recess.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/Frankensteins-Birthday.mp3 Author Kevin Shortsleeve Air Date 3/11/2005 Frankenstein’s Birthday Transcript It was March 11, 1818 that Mary Shelley’s macabre masterpiece first rose from the slab. One hundred and eighty-two years later, Frankenstein, or a Modern Prometheus is still very much alive. As a child, my friends and I considered Frankenstein the King […]
Listen to the Recess! Clip https://recess.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/Caldecott-Award-Winners-for-2004-.mp3 Author Rita Smith Air Date 3/10/2005 Caldecott Award Winners Transcript Kevin Henkes is the artist who received the 2005 Caldecott Award for his picture book Kitten’s First Full Moon. The Caldecott Award is given annually by the American Library Association to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book […]
Listen to the Recess! Clip https://recess.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/Alias-Mission-Elsies-War-.mp3 Author John Cech (Read by Jaimy Mann) Air Date 3/8/2005 Alia’s Mission, Elsie’s War Transcript Elsie Kunh-Leitz (“Elsee Qu-en Lights”) was the daughter of a prominent German family in the years just before World War II. Her father, Dr. Ernst Leitz (“Lights”), was the inventor of the first commercially […]
Listen to the Recess! Clip https://recess.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/The-Lindbergh-Baby.mp3 Author John Cech Air Date 3/1/2005 The Lindbergh Baby Transcript On March 1, 1932, between 8 and 9 in the evening, someone put a rickety ladder up to the nursery window of the country home in Hopewell, New Jersey, belonging to the most celebrated couple in the world at […]
Listen to the Recess! Clip https://recess.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/The-Literature-for-Children-Digital-Library.mp3 Author Rita Smith Air Date 2/24/2005 The Literature for Children Digital Library Transcript Would you like to read a version of Little Red Riding Hood published in 1880? Or perhaps The Union ABC, an alphabet book published in 1865 in honor of the Union victory in the Civil War, is […]
Listen to the Recess! Clip https://recess.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/Patchwork-Paths-and-Homemade-Love.mp3 Author John Cech Air Date 2/22/2005 Patchwork Paths and Homemade Love Transcript In her new picture book, The Patchwork Path, A Quilt Map to Freedom, Bettye Stroud tells the story of a young African American girl, Hannah, and her father who escape from slavery in the pre-Civil-War American South. Hannah’s […]
Listen to the Recess! Clip https://recess.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/Vicki-Cobb-and-Her-Science-Books-for-kids.mp3 Author John Cech Air Date 2/16/2005 Vicki Cobb and Her Science Books for Kids Transcript This week at the University of Florida we’re hosting a colloquium about some of the innovative ways that being found to bring science into children’s lives. Over the coming days, we’ll be introducing you […]
Listen to the Recess! Clip https://recess.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/Abraham-Lincoln-Bibliographically.mp3 Author Rita Smith Air Date 2/11/2005 Abraham Lincoln, Biographically Transcript The first full biography of Abraham Lincoln written specifically for young people is a highly laudatory book entitled The Forest Boy: A Sketch of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, for Young People by Z. A. Mudge published in 1867. Mudge’s objective […]