Books to hold, books to hunt

Did you know that our fellow parishioner, David Smith, is an award-winning teacher and children's author? Here's a brief bio of David to catch you up on his many achievements (and for a great interview in which you can hear David talk about his professional path and some of the fascinating facts he has unearthed along the way, tune into this hot-off-the-presses podcast!)

David J. Smith is a classroom teacher with over 25 years' experience teaching Middle School English, geography, and Social Studies. He is author of a unique method of teaching seventh graders to draw maps of the entire world from memory, now published by Peter Reynolds’ Fablevision as "Mapping The World By Heart". David won the U.S. Department of Education's "A+ For Breaking The Mold" Award for this work.

David is also author of If The World Were A Village, published in 2002 by Kids Can Press in Toronto and now in its 2nd edition, 26th printing, and published in 36 languages worldwide. His second children’s book, If America Were A Village, was published in August, 2009 also by Kids Can Press. This Child Every Child was published in 2011; it is a picture book for children about children’s rights, based on the U.N. Convention On the Rights of the Child, and endorsed by UNICEF. Another picture book was published in August 2014 – entitled IF… A Mind-Bending New Way of Looking at Big Ideas and Numbers; it has already been re-published in nine languages other than English and French.

We are delighted to let you know that David has kindly donated his three books to the St. Clement's library as part of our recent Shelter Movers fundraiser. Thank you, David! They will be enjoyed by many families, we're sure - as soon as COVID restrictions permit the re-opening of our library.

In the meantime, David has compiled a list of his recommended reads for youth and adults who are interested in expanding their knowledge of different countries, cultures, and conditions around the world. Please click the file below for titles to engage your curiosity about different peoples and the planet we share. Thank you, David, for sharing your expertise with us!