MAGIC mirror
Let’s Get This Paint Party Started!
Guadalupe García McCall
Spreads Her Storytelling Magic!
9066: Japanese American
Voices from the Inside
Exploring More Rainbow Families in
Children’s Literature
Dr. Debbie Reese
“American Indians of the 21st Century:
Still Here, Still Fighting”
Pura Belpré Award
20th Anniversary Celebration in Fresno
Arne Nixon Center Research
Fellowships Awarded
The Arne Nixon Center is a unit within the Special
Collections division of the Henry Madden Library
Happy
90th Birthday,
Arne Nixon!
T H E
Newsletter of the Arne Nixon Center
#29
Arne Nixon Center for the
Study of Children’s Literature
The Arne Nixon Center is one of the West Coast’s largest and most significant research
centers for the study of children’s literature. With an emphasis on diversity, the Center’s
collection includes more than 60,000 books, original artwork, letters, photographs,
newspaper clippings, ceramics and other ephemera, including:
■■ The largest LGBTQ collection of books for young people in the United States.
■■ A World Languages collection of books in over 50 languages.
■■ Over 2,100 Spanish-language children’s books.
■■ Over 2,100 editions by, about and inspired by the works of Lewis Carroll.
■■ The Helen Monette Amestory collection of 6,000 books on cats.
■■ Archives for Leo Politi, Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy, Margarita Engle,
Michael Cart, Steven Mooser, Robert San Souci and more…
www.arnenixoncenter.org
ArneNixonCenter
The Magic Mirror is published by
the Arne Nixon Center for the Study
of Children’s Literature
Curator
Jennifer Crow
Email: jcrow@csufresno.edu
Library Services Specialist
Jami Sanford
ANCA Board of Directors
President
Arturo Mendoza
First Vice President
Kari Johnson
Treasurer
Jessica Galvan
Recording Secretary
Jennifer Crow
Correspondence Secretary
Shivon Hess
Directors
Kristin Baer, Larrisa Mercado-López,
Randy Morris, Ellis Vance
ANC Advisory Committee
Alma Flor Ada, Steven Mooser
ANC Governing Committee
Peter McDonald, Michael Cart,
Leonard Marcus
Public Affairs Communications Specialist
Cindy Wathen-Kennedy
Editor
Jennifer Crow
Graphic Designers
David Celaya, Randy Zamorski
Photos by
David Celeya, Jami Sanford,
Smiley Photo Booths
Arne Nixon Center for the
Study of Children’s Literature
Henry Madden Library
California State University, Fresno
5200 N. Barton Ave. M/S ML34
Fresno, CA 93740-8014
559.278.8116
The Arne Nixon Center would like to thank and recognize our Arne Nixon Center
Advocates board members who have retired this past year. We have appreciated all of
their creativity, dedication and teamwork. As devoted allies, their collaborative spirit has
helped make the Arne Nixon Center the best of its kind and we are ever grateful.
Denise Sciandra, Founding President, Director
Kristene Scholefield, Past President
Judith Chibante Neal, Vice President
Cheryl Caldera, Director
Dan Dunklee, Director
Audry Hanson, Director
We are proud to welcome our incoming Arne Nixon Center Advocates board members
and wish them much success as they continue to foster support for children’s literature
and for the Arne Nixon Center.
Arturo Mendoza, President
Shivon Hess, Correspondence Secretary
Kristin Baer, Director
Randy Morris, Director “ It is the function of
some people to be a lamp
and some to be a mirror.
I have been very pleased
to function as a mirror of
others’ work. ” Arne Nixon
Cover illustration by Thacher Hurd, from his book Mama Don’t Allow.
Let’s Get This Paint Party Started!
Paint a canvas today, paint a mural tomorrow!
The Arne Nixon Center Advocates are hosting a new fundraising summer series of Canvas and Cordials paint parties to support the Arne Nixon Center’s upcoming Community Mural Project with internationally recognized and award-winning children’s book illustrator and mural artist, Rafael López.
Tickets are $45 and include all the supplies needed to complete a 16" x 20" masterpiece. A take-home apron is also included.
The paint parties will be held at four different locations and will take place once a month during the months of May through August. Instructors for the evening events will be Mark and Wendy DeRaud, Shivon Hess and Jaipriya Kaur.
The parties take place at some of the finest restaurants and cafés in Fresno and Clovis. Canvas and Cordials participants will be offered a delicious faire from each of the site’s menus. These collaborative efforts partner local businesses with the Arne Nixon Center’s goal to raise funds for the community mural. We show our gratitude to the venue owners by purchasing food and drink for the evening. Come an hour early and dine with us!
Wednesday, May 24th
7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Mia Cuppa Caffé
620 E. Olive Avenue, Fresno
Wednesday, June 14th
6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Gazebo Gardens
3204 N Van Ness Blvd, Fresno
Wednesday, July 19th
7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Ovidio Italian Restaurant
3097 W. Bullard Avenue, Fresno
Wednesday, August 16th
7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Elephant Lounge
80 W. Shaw Avenue, Clovis
More information, images of the paintings and registration instructions are available online at: www.arnenixoncenter.eventbrite.com
For additional questions, please email Jami Sanford at jsanford@csufresno.edu or call the Arne Nixon Center at 559.278.8116.
Stormy Tower painting by Mark DeRaud
1Guadalupe García McCall
Spreads Her Storytelling Magic!
The Arne Nixon Center’s first artist-in-residence,
Guadalupe García McCall, fulfilled her fellowship
duties with pride and commitment during her
week-long visit to Fresno, March 13-17. García
McCall, the young adult literature author of three
novels, including the Pura Belpré Medal winner
Under the Mesquite, was chosen as the first recipient to receive the
$10,000 fellowship award. The award was made possible by the generous
gift of a donor who wishes to remain anonymous.
Provost Lynnette Zelezny, Dean of Library Services Peter McDonald and
Arne Nixon Center Curator Jennifer Crow, welcomed García McCall at an
opening reception where she offered her gratitude for being selected for
the prize and delivered a heartfelt talk about her work as a writer.
The rest of the week was a whirlwind of activity as García McCall taught
English classes in Dr. Ruth Jenkins’ adolescent literacy studies and
Dr. Alison Mandaville’s feminism and science fiction graduate
courses. She also presented in Dr. David Low’s literacy
engagement in the community through collaborative inquiry
education class. The students and professors from these classes
were impressed with García McCall’s pedagogical style. Currently
a high school teacher in San Antonio, Texas, García McCall
connected with Fresno State students on an individual and personal
level. Professor Low remarked that his students opened up to her in ways
for which they had been previously reticent.
In addition to embedding in Fresno State classes, the author presented
on a panel discussion titled, “Our Place on the Shelf: A Cross-
Disciplinary Discussion on Chicanx/Latinx Youth Literature.” Along
with professors Laura Alamillo (literacy, early, bilingual, special
education), Cristina Hererra (Chicano and Latin American studies) and
Larissa Mercado-López (women’s studies), García McCall discussed
critical themes, trends and challenges within the field of Chicanx/
Latinx children’s and young adult literature.
Off campus, García McCall gave presentations for
the Fresno County Public Library, Sunnyside High
School English classes and the School of Unlimited
Learning (SOUL), a high school charter. She also
addressed the Fresno chapter of REFORMA, the
National Association to Promote Library Services to
Latinos and the Spanish Speaking. A showcase of Fresno State student
work, accomplished as a result of her visit, and a video chronicling her
busy week were revealed in a reception held the last day of her stay.
García McCall was a perfect choice for the inaugural
artist-in-residence program. She connected
with many people, both on and off campus.
Her stories spoke of great pain, but also
of great resiliency. She writes in order to
give hope to others, letting them know
that they, too, can live and thrive after
experiencing the unimaginable.
The Arne Nixon Center is pleased to award
two Research Fellowships to top scholars of
children’s literature. Dr. Jamie Campbell Naidoo,
from the University of Alabama, in the School of
Library and Information Studies, spent several
days examining the Arne Nixon Center’s LGBTQ
collection to gather information for his upcoming
book, A World of Rainbow Families. Naidoo’s
new book will focus on evaluating and selecting
outstanding children’s books with LGBTQ
content from both English and non-English
speaking countries. Naidoo was recently elected
vice president/president-elect of the Association
for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division
of the American Library Association (ALA).
Dr. Denise Dávila, from the University of
Nevada and Dr. Patricia Enciso, from Ohio
State University, have been awarded a second
Research Fellowship. The Arne Nixon Center’s
collection will play an integral part in the
completion of their soon-to-be-published book,
Attentive Reading & Teaching with Critical
Literature for Children. The book focuses on
ways of “becoming critical readers and mediators
of diverse literature by building new frameworks
and practices for understanding how diversity
works in everyday life and stories.”
Recipients of the Fellowships will present
brown bag presentations about their findings
to the Henry Madden Library faculty and staff
and other interested Fresno State personnel.
The Arne Nixon Center Research Fellowships
were made possible from a generous gift by an
anonymous donor.
Arne Nixon Center Research Fellowships Awarded
2
To view the video, go to:
http://video.library.fresnostate.edu/guadalupe-garcia-mccall/
9066: Japanese American
Voices from the Inside
In collaboration with the Henry Madden Library Special Collections
Research Center and its exhibition 9066: Japanese American Voices
from the Inside, the Arne Nixon Center created a display of its books
featuring the topic of Japanese incarceration camps. Picture books,
middle grade and young adult books of both fiction and nonfiction are
on exhibit just outside the Arne Nixon Center.
Here is a list of recent children’s books about the incarceration:
Gaijin: An American Prisoner of War
a graphic novel by Matt Faulkner
New York: Disney Hyperion Books, 2014
After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, a 13-year-old California boy
who is half Japanese is sent to an internment camp. Story is based on
the history of the author’s great aunt.
Dash by Kirby Larson
New York: Scholastic Press, 2014
When her family is forced into an internment camp, Mitsi Kashino is
separated from her home, her classmates and her beloved dog, Dash;
and as her family begins to come apart around her, Kashino clings
to her one connection to the outer world—the letters from the kindly
neighbor who is caring for Dash.
Uprooted by Albert Marrin
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2016
On the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor comes
a harrowing and enlightening look at the internment of Japanese
Americans during World War II.
Barbed Wire Baseball by Marissa Moss
New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2013
Traces the childhood of Japanese American baseball pioneer, Kenichi
Zenimura, his dream of playing professionally and his family’s struggles
in a World War II internment camp where he introduces baseball to raise
hope.
Paper Wishes by Lois Sepahban
New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2016
Near the start of World War II, young Manami, her parents and
grandfather are evacuated from their home and sent to Manzanar, an ugly,
dreary internment camp in the California desert for Japanese American
citizens.
Fish for Jimmy by Katie Yamasaki
New York: Holiday House, 2013
When brothers Taro and Jimmy and their mother are forced to move from
their home in California to a Japanese internment camp in the wake of the
1941 Pearl Harbor bombing, Taro daringly escapes the camp to find fresh
fish for his grieving brother.
The Arne Nixon Center is sponsoring two scholarships
for students who might not otherwise be able to attend.
Additional scholarships are available. Please email
Dr. Kathleen Godfrey (kgodfrey@csufresno.edu) for queries.
3
During the first full
week of February, I
had the wonderful
opportunity to
examine the unique
collection of the Arne
Nixon Center as the
inaugural Research
Fellow. The Arne
Nixon Center holds
the largest collection of lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender and queer (LGBTQ) children’s
and young adult books in the United States,
which proved very useful in my research on
LGBTQ characters and families or “rainbow
families” in children’s literature. Following up
on my previous work on the topic Rainbow
Family Collections (Libraries Unlimited, 2012),
my current research project examines how
rainbow families are represented in children's
picture books around the world and supports
my current book project, A World of Rainbow
Families to be published by Libraries Unlimited/
ABC CLIO. The book-in-progress includes
English-language titles published since
Rainbow Family Collections as well as foreign
language LGBTQ children’s books.
Prior to my visit, I examined the Arne Nixon
Center’s holdings and compiled a list of
children’s picture books, informational titles
and novels that met my research needs. The
staff was gracious to pull these titles for me
and have them waiting on a book cart. I was
provided a quiet spot to thoroughly examine
these materials. Jennifer Crow, the director
of the Arne Nixon Center, also arranged for
me to present my work at a lunch-and-learn
session for students, staff and faculty in the
Henry Madden Library. The event was very
well attended! She also planned a number of
lunches for me to meet other research faculty
in children’s literature as well as local experts,
scholars and authors whose work is of keen
interest to my own.
At one of these lunches, I had the fortuitous
chance to chat with award-winning author
Margarita Engle about some of her work.
Engle mentioned that she had written a short
story about gay historical figure Alexander
von Humboldt in the edited collection by Mike
Winchell, Been There, Done That: Writing
Stories from Real Life (Grosset & Dunlap,
2015). That very day Engle was donating a copy
of the book to the Arne Nixon Center! Using my
powers of persuasion (i.e. begging), I convinced
Crow to allow me to examine the book for my
research. If she had not arranged this meeting
during my Research Fellowship, I firmly believe
that I would never have found Engle’s buried
treasure to share with children’s literature
scholars and practitioners interested in LGBTQ
characters.
Other gems in the Arne Nixon Center’s
collection of relevance to my work were self-published
and out-of-print titles related to trans
identity and gender diversity. While many such
titles exist in young adult literature, very few are
available for children and the Arne Nixon Center
has almost all of them in their unique collection.
My week ended on a quiet note with me
finishing my work and driving off into the
swiftly setting sun to meet with a French
translator on the next aspect of the book. Yet, I
had to pause and thank the Arne Nixon Center
staff and foundation for their assistance and
magnanimous generosity in supporting my
work. I hope to have the opportunity to return
again someday! Without a doubt, I will certainly
tell other researchers about the collection and
the treasures within.
Professor Arne J. Nixon would have turned
90-years-old on February 19, 2017. To
celebrate his life and legacy, the Arne Nixon
Center along with its support group, Arne
Nixon Center Advocates, hosted a birthday
celebration on Friday, February 24 in the
Henry Madden Library Leon S. Peters
Ellipse Gallery lobby.
Thacher Hurd, a friend of Nixon, was
the guest speaker for the event. Hurd
is the award-winning author and
illustrator of over 25 books for
children, including the Boston
Globe-Horn Book Award-winner
and Reading Rainbow featured book,
Mama Don’t Allow and the New York Times Best
Illustrated Book Award-winning, Zoom City.
In the past, Hurd spoke at Professor Nixon’s
children’s literature festivals and later for the
Arne Nixon Center in 2002.
Life members were honored with red rose
boutonnieres. Attending life members were
Curator Emerita Angelica Carpenter, founding
Arne Nixon Center Advocates President Denise
Sciandra, past President Kristene Scholefield,
past Director Ruth Kallenberg and member
Lydia Kuhn. Birthday cake and Fresno State
ice cream were served while guests posed for
pictures in a “Magic Mirror” photo both with a
life-sized cutout of the beloved Nixon. It was an
evening of fun of which we believe Nixon would
have approved.
To view photo booth images from the event, visit:
www.smileyphotobooths.com/3183108-2/
Happy 90th Birthday, Arne Nixon!
“Exploring More Rainbow Families in Children’s
Literature: From the Arne Nixon Center and Beyond”
by Jamie Campbell Naidoo
4
The Arne Nixon Center gratefully
acknowledges our new and renewing
Arne Nixon Center Advocates
members. Their gifts were received
from September 2016 to March 2017.
New Members
Mary Bogan
Linda Geis
April Halprin Wayland
Susan Miller
Anita and Randy Morris
Penny Smith
Barbara St. Louis
Betsy Temple
Renewing Members
Ruth Elaine Andersen
Kristin Baer
Margaret Baker
Roberta and John Barta
Shirley and Bob Byrd
Cheryl Caldera
Mary T. Degroot
Saskia and Paul Dyer
Margarita Engle
Ben Ewell
Linda Fraley
Anne Reuland and Michael Gorman
Susanne Haffner
Audry Hanson
Patricia and John Hardebeck
Harriet and James Harris
Sylvia Hart
Eileen and William Hennrikus
Geraldine and Gray Hughes
Mary Hung
Ruth Kallenberg
Lydia Kuhn
Christine Lee
Mai Soua Lee
Patricia Libby
Susan Loucks
Janet Nichols Lynch
Nancy Mack and Bill Geissert
Janice Maroot
Arturo Mendoza
Colleen Mitchell
Michael Motta
Frances Neagley
Anne Neal
Alexis O’Neill and David Boeshaar
Mary Purucker
Kathie Reid-Bevington
Mary Ann and Eugene Richardson
Peter Robertson
Irene Rosato
Eleanor Rubin
Blondina Scherr
Sandy Schuckett
Lisa and James Scroggin
Helen Sirett
Nancy Tholen and Robert Wilkinson
Barbara Troisi*
Lauren Twohey
Christine and Howard Watkins
April Wheaton
Tekla White
Jennifer and Hugh Williamson
Jane Worsley
* Life Member
On October 13, Dr. Debbie Reese addressed a
standing-room only classroom of 150 Fresno State
students, primarily registered in education classes.
Reese, an educator, author and activist, tribally
enrolled at Nambe Pueblo in northern New Mexico,
is best known for her blog, American Indians in
Children’s Literature. She was invited by the Arne
Nixon Center to speak about native populations
and their depictions in children’s and young adult
literature. Her talk to the students and faculty
members, “Teaching Children About American
Indians,” explained the sovereignty of tribal nations
and the concept of federally recognized tribes. She
pointed out what to look for when choosing books
for children that depict American Indians and gave
examples of what she called the “good, the bad and
the ugly.” She also provided suggestions to the
education students on how to best teach children
about American Indians, noting the hot button issues
of Thanksgiving, Columbus Day and fourth grade
California mission projects.
Reese’s second presentation was given to the
Arne Nixon Center Advocates membership at their
Annual Meeting and was titled, “American Indians
of the 21st Century: Still Here, Still Fighting.” She
focused on what the general public can do to become
more informed.
For more information, go to Reese’s blog at: www.americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com
Dr. Debbie Reese
“ American Indians of the 21st Century: Still Here, Still Fighting”
Last fall, the Arne Nixon Center
partnered with the Fresno chapter
of REFORMA: The National
Association to Promote Library
and Information Services to
Latinos and the Spanish Speaking
to celebrate the Pura Belpré
Award’s 20th anniversary. The
Pura Belpré Award, founded by
REFORMA and co-sponsored with
the Association for Library Service
to Children, is presented each year
to the Latinx author and illustrator
whose work best portrays,
affirms and celebrates the Latinx
cultural experience.
Attendees of the Fresno celebration
were treated to music, food,
community organization tables and
a panel discussion. The program
began with children guitarists
from Generaciones, a traditional
Oaxacan community based music
group founded by Agustín Lira and
Patricia Wells Solórzano.
Fresno State’s President Castro
greeted the audience, noting the
Award’s importance. Sandra Ríos
Balderrama, an original co-founder
of the award, and panel moderator,
told of how the Award came
into being.
An informative discussion about
the impact and future of the Award
was presented by panel members:
Margarita Engle and Rafael López,
the 2016 Pura Belpré author and
illustrator Award winners; Alicia K.
Long, former Pura Belpré Award
selection committee member and
Library and Information Services
Professional at State College of
Florida; and Josefa Bustos Pelayo,
multiple subject/dual immersion
teacher at Jefferson Charter
Academy in Hanford. Former Pura
Belpré Award winners, Alma Flor
Ada and F. Isabel Campoy were
also present at the event.
Creating a powerful sense of unity,
the traditional ending of the Pura
Belpré Award celebration was
performed as everyone formed
a large circle, joined hands and
voices and sang De Colores.
Pura Belpré Award
20th Anniversary Celebration in Fresno
Margarita Engle has recently been named the
latest Young People’s Poet Laureate by The
Poetry Foundation, a national independent
literary organization. Engle’s verse books
have won many awards, including multiple
Pura Belpré, Jane Addams and Americas
awards. She received the inaugural Walter
Dean Myers Award Honor, the inaugural
Arnold Adoff Teen Poetry Award, the Lee
Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, the PEN USA
Award for her book, The Lightning Dreamer,
and a Newbery Honor Book Award for The
Surrender Tree.
Engle is the first Latina to receive the title
of Young People’s Poet Laureate. A San
Joaquin Valley resident, she has had a long-standing
relationship with the Arne Nixon
Center where her archives are housed.
“The Center has always been extremely
honored to house the papers of Margarita
Engle,” said Jennifer Crow, curator of the
Arne Nixon Center. “Her imaginative stories
peek into forgotten worlds and give voice
to the silenced. Her fascination with the
intricacies of nature and her advocacy for
greater harmony shine through her free verse
novels and picture books for young people.
We are thrilled that she has received this
deserved honor.”
To learn more, go to:
www.poetryfoundation.org
Congratulations, Margarita Engle,
Latest National Young People’s
Poet Laureate!
Arne Nixon Center
for the Study of Children’s Literature
Henry Madden Library
California State University, Fresno
5200 N. Barton Ave. M/S ML34
Fresno, CA 93740-8014
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
