Author Archives: rosinskynatalie

Let’s Be Visually Literate!

“Comics are the gateway drug to literacy.”   This remark by Art Spiegelman, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the graphic memoir Maus, A Survivor’s Tale (1980-1991), is not as controversial nowadays as it would have been in the 1950s.  Back then, some … Continue reading

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Cracking Codes and Making History: Then and Now

What connects award-winning graphic author/illustrator Gene Luen Yang and film luminary Orson Welles?   Both have cracked codes—figuratively, and in Yang’s case literally, too—and made history.  Welles did this back in the 1930s and 40s, when kids sometimes thought that access … Continue reading

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It’s About Time! Beginning Anew

It’s a new year, but calendars only measure one kind of time.  Its passage is also reflected in our mirrors and the clothes our youngsters outgrow.  That straightforward march of days is why a new calendar year is often depicted … Continue reading

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Diversity: The December Dilemma and Beyond

The month of December has long foregrounded issues of diversity in multicultural countries.  As Christmas approaches in predominantly Christian countries, how do we acknowledge the presence and holidays of other religious groups?  Some non-Christian parents even call the problems raised … Continue reading

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The Marvels and Pleasures of Rereading

I am smiling as I sit down today to share thoughts inspired by The Marvels (2015), the newest beautiful book by award-winning author/illustrator Brian Selznick. The Marvels continues the hybrid format—interspersing pages of prose with pages of wordless visual narrative—that … Continue reading

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Refugees: Haunting Thoughts at Halloween

Nowadays, Halloween is a time for kids to play at being scared or scary.  Wearing fierce masks or dressing up as superheroes, children reassure themselves that monsters do not exist and that they themselves can be powerful. There is really … Continue reading

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Sunny Side Ups and Downs

Life’s ups and downs for ten-year olds are very different from those of senior citizens.  Yet there is also common ground that ultimately unites ten-year old Sunny Lewin and her Gramps in Sunny Side Up (2015).  This brand-new, semi-autobiographical memoir … Continue reading

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O Canada! Super People and Super Heroes

Last month in Montreal, I had the pleasure of dining with three talented illustrator/authors, all members of the SCWBI’s (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’) Eastern Canada Chapter: Julie Prescesky, Julien Chung, and  Emilie Pepin. Chatting with these super people, … Continue reading

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Graduation: Visiting the SuperMutant Magic Academy

Check your high school diploma!  See if the words “SuperMutant Magic Academy” are lurking (perhaps written in invisible ink) on that certificate of achievement.  The feelings and “A-hah!” moments evoked by Jillian Tamaki’s recent publication are heartbreakingly familiar as well … Continue reading

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Color Me Puzzled . . . But Pleased

I had more questions than answers at last Sunday’s Minnesota Crossword Puzzle Tournament, held in St. Paul’s grand Landmark Center.  Yet I had enormous fun participating in this annual event, organized four times now by the Friends of the St. Paul … Continue reading

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