Staff

Junko Yokota, Ph.D.

Dr. Junko Yokota is Professor Emeritus of Reading and Language at National College of Education, National Louis University (Chicago) and Director of the Center for Teaching through Children’s Books. She was an elementary classroom teacher and school librarian for the first ten years of her career. Her research focuses on visual narratives in picture books, multicultural and international literature, digital literature for children, and literacy instruction through quality literature.  Publications include five editions of a coauthored college textbook, Children’s Books in Children’s Hands, children’s literature review columns, over 60 journal articles and over 20 chapters in edited books. Professor Yokota is past president of USBBY, the U.S. national section of the IBBY. She served on the American Library Association’s Newbery Committee, chaired the Batchelder Committee, and chaired the Caldecott Committee and she served two terms on the IBBY Hans Christian Andersen Award jury. She received the Virginia Hamilton Award for Contribution to Multicultural Literature and the Reading the World Award. Born and raised in Japan, Junko is an active participant in the international children’s literature community. She has held research fellowships at the International Youth Library in Munich, as well as at the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin. In 2015, she was at the University of Wrocław as a Fulbright Scholar. 

Toby Rajput, NBCT

Toby Rajput, National Board Certified Teacher,(renewed 2012), directs the School Library program at National Louis University and is the Children's and Youth Literature Librarian for the University and for the Center for Teaching through Children's Books. Toby has experience in public, school and academic libraries; she served as Area Library Coordinator in the district office for Chicago Public Schools, overseeing over a hundred libraries in the system. She has presented at conferences, in classes, and for colleagues on reading motivation, nurturing engaged readers and evaluating children's books for racism and bias. Toby has served as an audiobook judge for the Audio Publishers' Association for a number of years. Most recently, she served as a member of the 2012 American Library Association's Sibert Medal committee to select the most distinguished informational book of the year. A published scholar in the area of authenticity in books, Toby reviews children's books for School Library Journal. 

Christina Hoover Moorehead

Christina Hoover Moorehead is the Program Director of the CTCB and General Secretary for USBBY.  She holds a California Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and Montessori certification for ages 3 through 6.  She has been a classroom teacher for 29 years in California as well as Japan and has taught in public, private and international schools.  Her experience includes the Montessori Method, Reggio Emilia, accelerated curricula, ESL/EFL, IB/PYP and thematic and project-based curricula. Christina also served as the English language editor and Lead Curator for TEDxKyoto from 2012-2015.  Now based in Chicago, Christina is dedicated to promoting social justice and inclusion through her work with CTCB and USBBY, and through her own writing as an aspiring author.   

To view bios for the Friends of the Center, please go to: http://cttcb.org/partners