SLIDING

This month, we will jump into the rhythms, dance moves and worldwide experiences created around music. Jump in and check the articles in this issue. Who knows? Maybe you might discover a new favourite in here!

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Highlights from the issue

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  Feb 26

  Read Aloud: Mama Mable’s All-Gal Big Band Jazz Extravaganza!

  “Did you hear? Mama Mable’s band is coming to town!” – If you are curious to learn more about her, come listen to this read-aloud of Annie Sieg’s joyful picturebook Mama Mable’s All-Gal Big Band Jazz Extravaganza! (2019). 

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  Feb 22

  Family raves: the evolution of EDM parties

  The words “raves” and “children” are not usually used in the same sentence. However, the concept of “Family Raves”, or “Baby Raves” has changed that by building a considerable fanbase with its high-intensity techno music, often enjoyed in colourful, playful parties for young ones.

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  Feb 16

  When Childhood Has a Rhythm: Music in Latin-America and the Caribbean

  Children are not exempt from experiencing music as something lived and felt, after all, why would such a universal human experience bypass them? What interests me most is how that experience varies across cultures, and how children around the world learn and are socialized through music. In this article, I explore how music is experienced in Latin America and invite…

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  Jan 31

  Fictional Diaries: A review of Les Carnets de Cerise: Le Zoo pétrifié (2012)

  Les Carnets de Cerise: Le Zoo pétrifié (2012) follows the ten-and-a-half-year-old aspiring writer Cerise. In fictional diary form, she tells her stories. In this review, I discuss the aspects of the diary and how to relate to this graphic novel.

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  Jan 21

  I Swear: depictions of life with Tourette’s Syndrome on the big screen

  I Swear (2025) explores the life of John Davidson, a Scottish man who, in his teenage years, developed Tourette’s Syndrome. This motor disorder was widely unknown in the 1980s, and so he had to endure the consequences of ignorance and lack of social and structural support. Through an emotional lens, the movie invites the audience to reflect on the importance…

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  Jan 20

  Read-Aloud: Swan. The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova (2015)

  In this read-aloud we share with you the story of the legendary ballerina Anna Pavlova. Laurel Synder and Julie Morstad brought Anna’s story to life with their poetic words and beautiful illustrations in the picturebook Swan (2015). Come join us in learning about a young girl determined to share the beauty of ballet with the whole world.

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  Feb 18

  From Europe to India: Children at the Edge of Adult Dreams between the Crossroads of Ibsenite and Tagorean Worlds

  This essay explores how Ibsen’s Ghosts and Tagore’s The Laboratory depict children navigating inherited adult ambitions, moral expectations, and social pressures, highlighting the interplay of imagination, care, and intergenerational transmission across European and Indian literary worlds.

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  Feb 3

  “My art is the business of making art visible”. An interview with Uchenna Emelife

  In a new piece for Sliding into the DMs of book professionals, I had the chance to talk with and learn from Uchenna Maximus Emelife, a 26-year-old Nigerian literacy promoter, bookseller, and artist.

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  Jan 26

  Republic Day and the Promise of Innocence: Reading the Indian Constitution Through Childhood

  As India celebrates Republic Day, this article reflects on the Constitution not merely as a legal document, but as a lived promise experienced first through childhood—through festivals, stories, and everyday freedoms. Tracing the making of the Constitution under Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the piece explores democracy, religious freedom, caste-based inequality, and the growing fear around cultural expression. It concludes by…