Saturday, January 23, 2016

Celebrate This Week 1.23.16 - Celebrating the Schneider Award


It's always good to end the week on a positive note.  Sometimes we concentrate on the negatives.  We have a choice.  Choose positive.  Choose to celebrate.  I will be joining Ruth Ayres and her weekly link-up, Celebrate This Week.  Check out all the other celebrations HERE


This week I am celebrating what this year's Schneider Family Award winners mean to me.




I enjoy finding out which books win the Schneider Family Award each year.  The award is newer, there probably aren't too many students holding Mock awards for this one, but it's one I hold close to my heart.  This year was very special.


Product Details

One of the winners, Fish In A Tree, made me very excited.  The story is a special one.  When I first heard Lynda Mullaly Hunt talk about Ally and her story, it was one of those moments where the rest of the room just goes away and you only pay attention to who is talking.  To listen to Lynda tell Ally's story is special because it reaches your core.  It's a personal story for Lynda, and you know she is absolutely speaking from her heart when she tells it.  I've had the pleasure of being in Lynda's company several times this past year and I'm so happy to see Lynda and Ally get the recognition they deserve.

Now, as many of you know, my daughter has a physical disability.  She has a limb length discrepancy which has her currently wearing a six inch shoe lift.  She will be undergoing her next limb lengthening surgery this summer, which will get her about 4 inches of new bone growth.  She has a fused ankle and no hip, as well.  The ankle is a permanent situation but one day she'll have a hip made for her.  As difficult the situation, it is a part of her life, but it is not her life.  She leads the life of a regular tween.  She drives her parents nuts.  She loves to be with her friends.  She has her own passions and hobbies.  Which is why the next two 2016 Schneider Award winners meant a lot to me.


Product Details

I was also thrilled to see Kimberly Brubaker Bradley win a Schneider for The War That Saved My Life.  Ada's story was fantastically written and bits and pieces of her story hit home.  Not because they were similar, but so completely opposite. The passion the story brought out in me and my daughter - how could she be treated like that?  How could the mom be so awful?  How could you mistake a physical disability with a cognitive impairment?  Wonderful conversations I had with students and my own child around this book.  Because of the life my daughter lives, the thought of being isolated and not allowed to do things does not make sense to her.  But it was also interesting to her to see Ada work so hard to do some things - the perseverance was a good lesson.  And she agreed that I'm not like the mom in the story at all, phew!


Product Details

But the book that caused me to jump up and down with joy when I heard it announced was Emmanuel's Dream by Laurie Ann Thompson, illustrated by Sean Qualls.  When I read the book last January, I immediately shared it with my daughter.  We read it together and talked about what it meant, how she saw herself in the book.  In fact we co-wrote the Nerdy Book Club post about the book.  It was the first time my daughter expressed how she felt about having a disability - how she knows people look at her but she would rise above it.  The words in the book, "being disabled does not mean being unable" are words that I feel she exemplifies.  She lives this motto day in and day out.  I will always hold this book close to my heart.

And just a quick celebration I have to mention in light of this post and what it means to us.  My daughter, who has a definite disability, just made a state cut for Wisconsin swimming this past weekend.  She will participate in the Wisconsin state 12 and under short course championships this February.  Many able bodied swimmers don't get a state cut.  It's an awesome accomplishment.

If you want to know more about Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah and his foundation, Emmanuel's Dream, click here.

To learn more about the Schneider Family Award, click here.

Thanks for celebrating this awesome award with us!


13 comments:

  1. This is a beautiful post, Michele! Keegan is truly an inspiration and an amazing young lady. And I love all three of these books!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I loved FISH IN A TREE! I haven't read the others but definitely have them on my list. I love your daughter's thought that disabled doesn't mean UNable. She will go far with that.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Personal connections with books are so meaningful, and I hear your joy, Michelle, as you write about each one. Congratulations to your daughter for making the cut for state. That is something to celebrate big time! I love all these books, too, am amazed at the way some persevere through a hard thing until they succeed. I have a niece with cerebral palsy, and she would love the quote, "being disabled does not mean being unable". Thanks for sharing all!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This post is a wonderful one about two inspiring women, you and your daughter. One of these days you should consider linking this post to my Feminist Friday. I invite stories about women who inspire. Your daughter certainly is an inspiration.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I've read Fish In a Tree and loved it. I still haven't read the other two, but I definitely plan to. I think that it's awesome the way good literature can be used as a way to build connections and relationships. It looks like you've been able to experience these books in a very personal and meaningful way with your daughter. Congratulations on all your successes so far and for those yet to come!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Important and touching post, Michelle. Thank you for sharing what these books meant to you personally. I have read and loved both of the chapter books but will definitely make a point to read the picture book.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congratulations to your daughter! So thrill for you both!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This post was wonderful testament to the power of books and stories. I really loved The War That Saved My Life and the other two are definitely on my list to read. Congratulations to your daughter, as well, on her awesome swimming accomplishment!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Fabulous post! I love the quote. You both did a fantastic job on the Nerdy post too. Congrats to your daughter on the swimming cut.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Michele - Thank you for doing a Schneider Family Book Award Post. I love when people share more about the award. Not everyone knows and appreciates it like you do. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Everything about this post made me smile. Bigger and bigger and bigger.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I continue to be in awe and inspired by your passion for books, Michelle. Your students are all the better for it. (You're not just 'on the bus,' you might even be driving it). Congrats to K too!!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Congratulations to your daughter Michele! What a marvelous accomplishment. I grew up many years ago with a father who used a wheelchair after an injury at work. I'm thankful that life is much better for other people with physical challenges. My mother had a traumatic brain injury after a fall a few years ago. I've come to the conclusion that still have a long long way to go to deal with the ramifications of cognitive (invisible) disability.

    ReplyDelete