Su Chin at ParentReviewers.com gave us a glowing review the other day that made us very proud. What is most important for us is not that parents think the book is cute and that using recycled paper is neat; it is whether the kids find magic in their books and whether we are “Making Reading Fun”.
The concept behind personalized children’s books is not a new one. Kids are just crazy about themselves. They think they are just awesome, which is why a book about someone else (like Cinderella or Jack and Jill) is simply not as interesting as one that is about THEM.
When we go one step further and add illustrations of the child, they are “hooked” and suddenly kids who can’t sit still or think that books aren’t as interesting as TV get excited about the wonderful world of reading.
Most touching to us have been testimonials about children who are just learning to read finding the motivation to learn and to be able to “read it all by myself” because of their importance to the story.
So why choose a Personalized Kids Book? Children can relate more readily to them and that can help you convince your budding reader that there are amazing things to be found in books. Sure it’s bit of a trick, like adding chickpeas to your muffin recipe, but it’s good for them!!!
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Pitching in is not hard. A few good friends of mine are abroad teaching and volunteering in foreign countries because they felt they had to “do something”, but you don’t have to go to China or Uzbekistan (bless you, Melanie, Jon, and Bryan) to make a real difference.
VolunteerMatch will help you find local opportunities for you to volunteer by entering your zip code and a keyword like “literacy” or “environment”.
Big Brothers Big Sisters is almost everywhere and all you need to do is hang out and be yourself. PTA, Boy Scouts, the list goes on…
When I can, I volunteer at 826CHI, the Chicago chapter of a national literacy and tutoring organization. It’s almost shameful how rewarded I feel from this supposedly altruistic act. I feel fantastic after just a few hours of 2nd grade spelling. Can watching a couple episodes of “More to Love” make your whole week seem purposeful and joyous? If not, I suggest that those couple hours can be better spent enhancing YOUR life, not to mention your community.
Pitch in! You’ll thank me later.
Recently, MJM Books has become aware of the good work that Maple Star Colorado is doing to “assist young people to achieve social integration and prepare them to live in a democratic society by serving as an alternative to institutional care and providing opportunities to live in family settings.”
In plain English, they place foster kids who may not exactly feel loved, valued, or accepted into families dedicated to helping those children feel exactly that.
That is why we agreed to provide every young foster child with a personalized children’s book that will (1) show them they are special, and (2) give the child and their new caretakers an opportunity to bond and celebrate that specialness during story time.
These families are making up for lost time, and since we firmly believe that strong communities are built upon strong families, we hope to help in our small way.
I don’t want to sound overly patriotic, but I still get all misty when I hear JFK’s famous quote, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” There are many other inspirational quotes regarding pitching in, but two of the best are “Be the change you want to see in the world” and “Just do it.”
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Pitching in is not hard. A few good friends of mine are abroad teaching and volunteering in foreign countries because they felt they had to “do something”, but you don’t have to go to China or Uzbekistan (bless you, Melanie, Jon, and Bryan) to make a real difference.
VolunteerMatch will help you find local opportunities for you to volunteer by entering your zip code and a keyword like “literacy” or “environment”.
Big Brothers Big Sisters is almost everywhere and all you need to do is hang out and be yourself. PTA, Boy Scouts, the list goes on…
When I can, I volunteer at 826CHI, the Chicago chapter of a national literacy and tutoring organization. It’s almost shameful how rewarded I feel from this supposedly altruistic act. I feel fantastic after just a few hours of 2nd grade spelling. Can watching a couple episodes of “More to Love” make your whole week seem purposeful and joyous? If not, I suggest that those couple hours can be better spent enhancing YOUR life, not to mention your community.
Pitch in! You’ll thank me later.
Recently, MJM Books has become aware of the good work that Maple Star Colorado is doing to “assist young people to achieve social integration and prepare them to live in a democratic society by serving as an alternative to institutional care and providing opportunities to live in family settings.”
In plain English, they place foster kids who may not exactly feel loved, valued, or accepted into families dedicated to helping those children feel exactly that.
That is why we agreed to provide every young foster child with a personalized children’s book that will (1) show them they are special, and (2) give the child and their new caretakers an opportunity to bond and celebrate that specialness during story time.
These families are making up for lost time, and since we firmly believe that strong communities are built upon strong families, we hope to help in our small way.
I don’t want to sound overly patriotic, but I still get all misty when I hear JFK’s famous quote, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” There are many other inspirational quotes regarding pitching in, but two of the best are “Be the change you want to see in the world” and “Just do it.”
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Sara Michaels has worn glasses “all my life,” and she has insisted (and we’re delighted that she did) that parents be offered the option to give their children glasses in Ruler of Space.
Sarah says that as a child she was always drawn to characters in books that wore glasses and described them as “total confidence boosters”.
It has always been our goal to engage children’s interest in books by inserting them into the action with our personalized children’s books. Before, kids with multicultural families might only have found characters similar to themselves in a couple books, and even then the book was likely to be about having a multicultural family. In “If I Were Big“, your adventure is the story, and the fact that your family is made up of a white mom and a black dad is just the way things are.
Now we can say the same thing about kids with glasses. In other books, most characters with glasses will at the very least remark upon their glasses and how other kids tease them for wearing them. At the most, that conflict will drive the entire story. I think a diet of such books, far from convincing a child of their self-worth, will focus them on how they must combat negative assumptions about themselves and their glasses.
In Ruler of Space, wearing glasses isn’t what the story is about. Ruling Space is! You just happen to be wearing glasses like you always do and it doesn’t slow you down one bit. You’re still awesome. You’re still funny. You’re still unique. What gift could be more affirming than being judged the coolest person in the entire Galaxy, glasses and all?
