Maria’s Kit of Comfort
Kathy Fry-Miller and David Doudt, authors and Children’s Disaster Services volunteers
Kate Cosgrove, illustrator
Brethren Press, 2022
This story came out of the creators’ work with Children’s Disaster Services (CDS). CDS volunteers are trained and certified, and carry with them a Kit of Comfort, a “child care center in a suitcase”. They set up play spaces for children following disasters including natural disasters, work with immigrant families, and mass casualty disasters. The focus of interactions and play is on children sharing their feelings and stories through play, as well as experiencing healing and hope within a nurturing playful community.
The story is told in rhyme with additional comments for children to think about as they listen and respond. Kathy was the director of CDS for 5 years, and David’s late wife Karen had the original idea to go to disaster sites with a Kit of Comfort in 1980. Dr. Karen Doudt (Early Childhood Professor at Manchester College) developed the training for these volunteers. Today, Red Cross is the primary deployment partner for CDS, though CDS also works closely with FEMA and many other disaster response agencies. Some significant recent responses have been in Florida (Hurricane Ian, 2022); Uvalde, TX (school shooting, 2022); and Fort Bliss, NM (Afghan families, fall 2021).
Here are some relevant links:
- CDS information and training dates/locations opens in a new tab
- Book order information opens in a new tab with links to a one minute trailer and activity pages
Thank you, Kathleen Frye- Miller for this meaningful story about the Children’s Disaster Services, and for your role in its work. We, in P.E.A.C.E. knew about it because one of our members, John Surr, missed meeting with us several times because he had picked up his supplies for an urgent call from the CDS to serve at a disaster setting.
A Library
Nikki Giovanni, author
Erin K. Robinson, illustrator
Versify 2022
In this lyrical picture book, world-renowned poet, and Coretta Scott King Honor winner Nikki Giovanni and fine artist Erin Robinson craft an ode to the magic of a library as a place not only for knowledge but also for imagination, exploration, and escape.
In what other place can a child “sail their dreams” and “surf the rainbow” without ever leaving the room? This ode to libraries is a celebration for everyone who loves stories, from seasoned readers to those just learning to love words, and it will have kids and parents alike imagining where their library can take them. In an author’s note in My Library, Giovanni describes her early library experience in Knoxville, TN, and her first librarian, who helped her get books outside of the “colored” library.
Nikki Giovanni is a Grammy-nominated American poet, activist, and author who has written many books of poetry for children and adults. She was the first recipient of the Rosa L. Parks Woman of Courage Award and has been awarded the Langston Hughes Medal for poetry. She lives in Blacksburg, Virginia, where she is a University Distinguished Professor of poetry at Virginia Tech.
Erin Robinson is a Fashion Designer by trade but also a trained fine artist from Parsons School of Design and the Corcoran School of Art. Her daydreamy, magical imagination is inspired by travel, color, texture, the feminine shape and the many shades and coifs of Brooklyn.
Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar: The Musical Story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Woman Who Invented Rock and Roll
By Charnelle Pinkney Barlow
Doubleday Books, 2023
“Music is the heart of our story,” says Momma to young Rosetta, surprising her with her first guitar. Rosetta’s strums sound like ker-plunks. But with practice and determination, she makes music, fingers hopping “like corn in a kettle,” notes pouring over the church crowd “like summer rain washing the dust off a new day.” Rosetta picked up a guitar at 4 years old and was skilled by 6 years old. Before she changed history, she was a little girl who loved music.
In this stunning picture book, author and illustrator Charnelle Pinkney Barlow imagines the childhood of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, whose rural roots inspired the music we still hear today. Her exquisite collages propel us through this biography.
Readers will see a child’s dream become reality through hard work and perseverance and learn the overlooked story of a pioneering Black artist, born in 1915, whose contribution to music history is only now being discovered. She is truly the Godmother of Rock and Roll.
Charnelle Pinkney Barlow received her BFA from University of the Arts, Philadelphia, and her MFA in the Illustration as Visual Essay program from the School of Visual Arts, New York.
