Bringing What Is Hidden to Light: Jane Addams and the 2006 Jane Addams Children's Book Award

  • Susan C. Griffith Central Michigan University

Abstract

In 1953, through its educational affiliate the Jane Addams Peace Association (JAPA), the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) became the sponsoring agency for a children's book award brought to them by WILPF member Marta Teele, who, in the aftermath of World War II, conceived an award for children's books that promote peace (Chalmers). The award, fittingly named the Jane Addams Children's Book Award (JACBA), has been given annually since that time by a committee of WILPF members who are educators, librarians, teachers and children's literature specialists. Books honored by the Jane Addams Children's Book Award recognize excellence in rendering themes of peace, social justice, gender equity and world community in literature for children. They invite young readers to think creatively and humanely about injustice and conflict. They encourage young readers to stretch their imaginations beyond the concerns of their individual and family lives so that, widely at home in the world, they can grapple with its problems courageously and nonviolently (Jane Addams Children's Book Award).

Author Biography

Susan C. Griffith, Central Michigan University
Susan C. Griffith, a member of the Jane Addams Children's Book Award Committee for the past three years, now serves as its Chair. She is an Assistant Professor, English Language and Literature, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. There she teaches children's literature and writing in the elementary school to preservice teachers.
Published
2008-12-09
Issue
Vol. 10 No. 3 (2006)
Section
Picture Window
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