How to use this Page

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Screen Free Week is being observed this week, April 29th - May 5th. Random House has been urging families to Unplug and Read. As you might infer by the fact that I'm blogging right now, I'm not going screen free myself. However, I am attempting to keep my 3 year old daughter, Baby Bookworm, free of screens. Because she never uses screens during the day anyway, this mainly consists of three things:

1. Not letting her use the iPad in the morning after breakfast (something that I often allow, so that I can read the paper, shower, etc.).
2. Not letting her watch television in the evening (we sometimes watch a movie or television episode after dinner - she's currently in the middle of Season 1 of Full House). 
3. Not using my iPhone when she is around (because this makes her want to play with it). 

So how are we doing on these three things?

1. Monday morning she cried for a few minutes over not using the iPad. But then we did some gymnastics, pretended we were taking an airplane to Los Angeles, and read two books. Tuesday morning she didn't even ask for the iPad, wanting instead to play a game in which I was the baby, and she was the daddy. I convinced her that "the baby" wanted to read books, and she went and dug out some of her early baby books for us to read together. Wednesday morning, again, no request for the iPad. We did puzzles, read several books, and packed up for a pretend trip to the beach. 
2. Monday night she protested quite loudly about wanting to watch "a movie" (she calls everything on the TV a movie). But only for a couple of minutes. Then we went into the playroom and played Little People, and she went on a pretend camping trip with my husband. Tuesday night she asked a couple of times for television, but was even more easily deflected by puzzles and pretend camping. We also read a lot more books before bed than usual, because we got started earlier (see stack to the right).  
3. Not looking at my iPhone screen when she's around has been the hardest one for me. Baseball scores! Facebook! Checking my email! But I don't think that she has even noticed. This one is going to be a lot harder on the weekend, when I'm with her all day. 

We're only a couple of days in, but already, I'm noticing a few things.

• It doesn't take very much time to make or break habits when you're dealing with a three year old. I was surprised that on the second day she didn't even ask for the iPad. It's possible that we'll get the to end of the week, and she'll completely stop asking for the iPad at all. 
• When she's not watching TV or using the iPad, she is engaging in more creative play. We did at one point pretend to be watching television, I must admit, but she was perfectly happy to pretend, and didn't ask for the real thing. While I do think that she learns some things on the iPad (we have apps that are helping her with letter recognition, for example), I have to think that active pretend play is more beneficial at this age. We are also reading more books, which is certainly a good thing. 
• I think that the reason she is ok with giving up the screens (which she loves) is that she gets more of mommy and daddy's time and attention. If I was trying to send her off to play by herself in the mornings, I don't think that this whole thing would be very successful.

There's no question that this is a sacrifice in terms of my time. I feel like I'm starting off every day behind, because I get so little time to myself in the mornings. I'm not sure whether I'll be able to continue after this week is over. But there's also no question in my mind that this Screen Free Week is having good outcomes for my daughter.

It's not too late to jump in to Screen Free Week, if any of this sounds interesting to you. My personal view is that it's a good excuse to look at how much time your kids are spending on screens, and see what happens if you scale that back a little bit. I'll report back again after the end of the week. 

© 2013 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook. 

Add a Comment

The recent findings from the Pew Research Center funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates on libraries have been fascinating reading. And now, my youth services friends, it is our turn to have the research spotlight turned on our efforts.

As reported May 1, " the vast majority of parents of minor children — children younger than 18 — feel libraries are very important for their children. That attachment carries over into parents’ own higher-than-average use of a wide range of library services."  (emphasis mine)


In this brief synopsis of findings from the full report parents view libraries as vital to their children's reading and information needs. And - no surprise to us frontliners -these same parents are far more likely to use other library services and to express interest in expanding services and adding tech-related services.

I have had conversations over the years with colleagues in which we express frustration over the lack of support for youth services from our administrations, boards and even our co-workers in other areas of the library.  This is the strongest piece of research we've seen in a while that underscores what we know - parents who use the library are vitally interested in its services not just for kids but for themselves. 

When we see and serve families we are also drawing in these parents for all other adult services as well. These twenty and thirty somethings are a sweet spot demographic that some libraries embrace and some puzzle over. But they are ready for us.

I'll be highlighting this study at my library and in my workshops and presentations and sharing with my colleagues where I work.  I hope you will too.

Powerful stuff.

Thanks to Digital Shift for the heads up.

Add a Comment

Baby Bookworm also had another little literacy milestone this week. She came running in from her playroom, all excited, waving an orange marker. "Mom, I drawed an A." Alas, the A was drawn on the floor, and didn't actually look a whole lot like an A. But she gets that drawing letters is an accomplishment, so that's something to celebrate.

Thank goodness for washable markers. I don't know how any parent manages without them. 

This post © 2013 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved.

Add a Comment

I've written quite a number of posts about growing bookworms (i.e. raising children who love books). I've shared many, many other people's post and articles on this topic in my literacy roundup posts (with Carol and Terry) and my Twitter and Facebook links. But today I was thinking that it really boils down to a recipe with three ingredients: 

Books + Parents + Time 

Combine these three ingredients by reading aloud together, every day, and you'll most likely grow yourself some bookworms. 

Let's talk about these ingredients for a moment, shall we? 

Books: You need to have books in your house, all the time, if you are going to grow bookworms. They can be your own books or library books (or ideally both). They can be new books or books that you buy for 25 cents at your library booksale. They can be recently published books or classics (ideally a mix of both). But there have to be books. As many, and as varied, as you can manage. This is why I love programs like Reach Out and Read, RIF, and First Book (and many other local programs). But library cards and book sales work great, too.

Parents: While it is certainly true that other people have an impact on whether or not children grow up to love books (librarians, teachers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.), parents are positioned to have the MOST impact. Parents are the ones who are there, every day, and can read aloud, every day. (This does hold for other adults who live with children, of course.) I can (and do) buy books for my niece and nephew. I will talk with them about books when they are older. But they live 3000 miles away from me. Their parents are the ones who will grow them into bookworms, not me. Parents grow bookworms by getting all of those books into the house, by modeling reading as a positive and desirable activity, and, most of all, by reading aloud. 

Time: It's not enough to have dozens or even hundreds of books lying around the house. Parents also have to make time for reading aloud. This means turning off the television in the evening, so that there's time to read before bed. It means starting the bedtime routine early enough that there is time to read before the child, or the parent, falls asleep. It  means carving out other times for reading during the day, whenever you are home with the kids. I'm a working parent myself. I know that this is not always easy. But time spent together enjoying books is a crucial ingredient for growing bookworms. There are no shortcuts. No real ways to multi-task or make your time more efficient. There's just you, your children, the books, and the time to read them. 

There are other things that help, of course. Having great teachers and librarians. Having people to help you find the right books. Going to the library and to bookstores. And there are things (like learning disabilities) that can make this more difficult. But in general, if you want to grow bookworms (and there are many, many reasons why this is a good idea), you need books, parents, and time. Stir these ingredients together by reading aloud, and you're on the right path to grow some bookworms. 

© 2013 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook.  

Add a Comment

Yesterday was a heavenly day!  Hub and I got our granddaughter to ourselves for almost four hours.  Such a pretty, smart, funny and just perfect little girl!!  How very, very lucky we - her parents and grandparents - are.

So, when I saw this video posted over on GottaBook, I had to share it.  Every child is beautiful.  Every parent feels challenged.  But some of us have been "blessed" with more challenges than others.  My heart goes out to parents with differently-abled children and I doff my virtual hat to them in respect.

Cherish each joyful moment no matter how fleeting.  Fill your memories with those patches of brightness to carry you through any long dark days.  Love, peace and courage to parents everywhere.

Display Comments Add a Comment

When parents and teachers work together to create fun and inviting reading opportunities for children, the children will reap the rewards. Here are two interesting articles concerning young readers. In the first, a group of California educators has teamed up with parents to study the issue of family literacy--how to build it. The teachers have expanded their meetings to include parents from across the area. They hope to use the parent's input to make the literacy plan more comprehensive. Bravo to all of them!

The second article I read this week concerning parents actively supporting their child's literary goals concerns a young six-year-old from Staten Island. Isabella Policarpo read over 400 books to earn a trip to Yankee Stadium. She'll be part of a group of eager readers who will go on the field and see their names on the big screen. Isabella's parents helped her check out most of the books from the New York Public library. While they read many of them to her, amazing Isabella did most of the reading herself. Now she reads to her six-month-old sister--just as she was read to by her parents. A little time and effort toward making reading a daily habit in a child's life can go a long way in fostering a strong reader.

Team up with a child(ren) in your life and together you can reach the greatest of literary goals!

Add a Comment

Oh that Sandy!  What a character! She blew out the power in millions of homes, including my parents.  So, since no one else has power, Mom and Dad stayed with Hub and I until this morning.  My Reader's Theater event - featuring the works of the amazing David Lubar and the talents of 11 of Nazareth's finest 4th, 5th and 6th graders - was moved from Tuesday to Thursday but went off very well - prop malfunctions and all.

The Son, DIL and most adorable grand-daughter also stayed here - but in the apartment where the other grandmother lives.  So we got to see Her Sweetness every day.

My Dad is not doing all that well  (understatement alert) so my youngest sister flew in from the West Coast to "help out".  What a blessing!  And I can not say enough about what a wonderful husband I have.

Hold us in the Light as we travel the continuously rocky terrain of the land of ailing elders.

Add a Comment

By Professor Jane Edwards

What does the baby have to learn in these first 12-18 months (before they can speak)? The list  includes what you do with your eyes when with another, how long to hold a mutual gaze, what turn-off head movements work, and with whom, how close you should let the other come to you… how to read body positions… how to enter into turn taking when vocalizing with another… how to joke around, negotiate escalate, back off… make friends, and so on.
Daniel Stern, Forms of Vitality (OUP, 2010) p. 110-111

As a music therapy scholar, teacher, and practitioner for more than 20 years, I have been able to learn from many sources about the crucial role our early years play in our lives. The ability to reflect on challenges experienced in our adult lives by linking back to childhood experiences is an essential aspect of the way that many music therapists practice. Rather than using descriptions of family histories to apportion blame, the therapist tries to understand the current experience of the patient and their worldview through the lens of past experience, to see if there is some way to make sense of self-destructive behaviours, or difficulties experienced in creating meaningful and satisfying relationships with others.

I began my early music therapy practice in mental health services and in nursing homes, working with people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease or other types of dementia. Many people, whether in group or individual music therapy programmes, offered reflections on their early life, and described aspects of their parents’ availability or unavailability; referring to the quality of these first relationships in ways that helped me to understand something of what might have been unresolved or unsatisfying for them. Eventually I found myself very keen to work with people much earlier in life to see whether music therapy could ameliorate some of the issues my older patients were facing.

Although I worked in paediatric music therapy for seven years at a children’s hospital, it was only when I was writing the first proposal to found the (now) international parent-infant support programme Sing & Grow that I had the chance to bring all of my past experience to bear: to make a case for the importance of promoting loving, playful, and nurturing interactions between parents and infants where vulnerability was in evidence. Through my work in this field, I have become increasingly aware of an unrecognised field of practice in music therapy: parent-infant work. This involves the referral of vulnerable parents to a music therapy service. Parents usually attend with their infants and the music therapist provides a safe and accepting space in which the parent and infant pair or group can be encouraged to play and interact in supportive and mutually satisfying ways. This is not always ‘music’ as it might be generally understood; rather it is a musical way of interacting that the therapist encourages.

When adults speak to infants we use particular ways of interaction that seem to be the same across the world. But we should ask why do we use such an exaggerated, playful, and musical way of speaking to infants? The obvious answer is because the infants like it — they raise their eyebrows, fix their gaze on the speaker’s face, and sometimes smile quite quickly on hearing us say ‘ooohhh whooo is my little baaaby?’ This is especially true if the speaker is a family member but it also can occur in new encounters when the conversational partner knows and can offer this communication in a playful and experimental way.  However, there are many more powerful scientific and theoretical findings that indicate how this type of interaction builds the bonds of trust and love between parents and infants.

Work by psychobiologist Colwyn Trevarthen, the ethologist Ellen Dissanayake, and researcher Sandra Trehub and her team at the University of Toronto, has paved the way in showing how the functions of this interaction have less to do with entertaining and engaging the baby and are more aligned with the infant’s ability to evoke and interpret these signals from adults and their siblings within weeks of birth. For me, and for the researchers mentioned above, these interactions are easily identified as musical. Observations of the nature of these interactions between parents and infants led Stephen Malloch to coin the term ‘Communicative Musicality’, to capture the unique pitch and rhythmic structures that communicative partners use.

This type of interaction is, as the quote from Stern at the opening attests, playful, rich, and highly involved. It teaches the many skills we need in being able to be with people successfully in intimate relationships, in relationships involving teachers and students, and in work groups. When we do not have adequately rich and supported experiences of attachment in infancy there can be lifelong consequences. Therefore, offering support to parents and infants in difficulty can provide long term benefits. Music therapy is uniquely poised to make a useful contribution to this work as infants are receptive to musical and music-like interactions from sensitive and responsive adults.

Professor Jane Edwards is an Associate Professor at the University of Limerick where she directs the Music & Health Research Group and is co-ordinator of the MA in Music Therapy in the Irish World Academy of Music & Dance. She was formerly a guest professor at the University of the Arts in Berlin (2004-2011). She is President of the International Association for Music & Medicine. She has published extensively in the field of music therapy including Music Therapy and Parent-Infant Bonding (OUP, 2011), and is sole editor for the first Oxford Handbook of Music Therapy (forthcoming).

Subscribe to the OUPblog via email or RSS.
Subscribe to only music articles on the OUPblog via email or RSS.
Subscribe to only psychology articles on the OUPblog via email or RSS.
View more about this book on the  

Image credit: ‘Mother Kissing Baby’ By Vera Kratochvil (public domain via Wikimedia Commons).

Add a Comment

5 Stars When a Dragon Moves In Jodi Moore Howard McWilliam 23 Pages     Ages: 4 to 8 ........ .......... Inside Jacket:  If you build a perfect sandcastle, a dragon will move in—and that’s exactly what happens to one very lucky boy on the beach. The boy and his dragon brave the waves, roast marshmallows, roam [...]

Add a Comment

By Brenda Bursch

Children look to their parents to help them understand the inexplicable. They look to their parents to assuage worries and fears. They depend on their parents to protect them. What can parents do to help their children cope with mass tragedy, such as occurred this week with the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut?

The first thing that parents can do is to calm themselves. Remember that your children will react to your fear and distress. It will be reassuring to them to see that you are calm and not afraid to discuss the event with them.

Next, parents can consider limiting their children’s exposure to media coverage and to adult discussions of the shooting. Young children may have particular difficulty understanding what they see on news stories and what they overhear from adult discussions. They may also have difficulty assessing their own level of safety.

It can be helpful for parents to check in with their children in order to learn about their thoughts and emotional reactions to the shooting. After carefully listening to their children, parents can then determine if it is necessary to correct distressing misunderstandings, answer questions, validate feelings of anger or sadness, and remind their children about how their family members and others, including police officers, help to keep them safe.

Most children will not be traumatized by their media exposure to the shooting, but they may have questions or concerns. Some children will be fearful about returning to school or have other signs of distress, but will adjust with the support and reassurances provided by parents and others. Children who are especially sensitive, those who have a tendency to worry, those with little emotional support, and those who have been previously traumatized, may be more vulnerable.

Trauma symptoms among children vary, but include talking about the event, distress when reminded of the trauma, nightmares, new separation anxiety or clinginess, new fears, sleep disturbance, physical symptoms (such as stomachaches), and more irritability or tantrums. Children may regress, that is, soothe or express themselves in ways they did when they were younger. For example, they might want to sleep with parents or they may wet the bed. Parents might notice an increase in behavioral problems or a decrease in school functioning. If these symptoms don’t improve in the coming weeks, such children may benefit from professional assistance.

Children are reassured by calm and supportive adults, by their normal routines, and by age-appropriate information when they have questions or misconceptions. For those children with ongoing signs of trauma, effective treatments are available. For additional information, parents can access information from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network website.

Brenda Bursch, PhD is a pediatric psychologist and Professor of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Science, and Pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. She is co-author of “How Many More Questions?” : Techniques for Clinical Interviews of Young Medically Ill Children.

Subscribe to the OUPblog via email or RSS.
Subscribe to only psychology articles on the OUPblog via email or RSS.

The post How to help your children cope with unexpected tragedy appeared first on OUPblog.

Add a Comment

I found considerable food for thought in this TeleRead article by Joanna Cabot (brought to my attention by Susan Stephenson from The Book Chook). Cabot shares some thoughts from her "Beloved's" sister, the mother of a toddler and a newborn, regarding the problems that this mother sees in the marketing of children's books. She would like to see more advertising and special promotions, and fewer books that are media tie-ins. But the bottom line is that, as the person selecting books for her children, she has difficulty discovering books. 

The author's conclusion is that there's a gap (and hence a marketing opportunity) in reaching parents like this one. She's talking about parents who have some money to spend on books, and a willingness to spend it, but have difficulty in finding quality books that aren't brand extensions or re-issues of classic titles. She says:

"I do think it’s clear that there is a promotion gap, and perhaps an information gap, too. There’s certainly room for improvement.

Customers are willing to spend in the children’s book category. Indeed, the primary feeling she has about children’s books is guilt—guilt that maybe she isn’t reading to them enough.

A smart publisher—a smart marketer—can sell to a customer like that! So … why aren’t they?"

To me, this is not just a question (and opportunity) for publishers. It's an issue that's important to all of us who want to see children, as many children as possible, grow up with a love of books. How do we help parents find the right books for their children? For the purposes of this discussion, let's stick to parents like the one described in Joanna Cabot's article, parents who want to buy books for their kids, and have the resources to do so, but don't know what books to buy. (Not that the question of reaching parents who don't fit this description isn't important, but let's table that for another day.)

There is a lot of interesting and useful discussion in the comments of the TeleRead article, including people suggesting visits to the library and bookstores. But (as is also clear from the comments), this is not a sufficient solution for many parents. There's a barrier to entry to gathering your kids up and taking them to the library or the bookstore. There's a comfort zone issue - many parents  may not be comfortable asking librarians or booksellers for help. And ever-shrinking budgets for librarians in elementary schools exacerbate the problem. 

I know for me, I'm something of a homebody. I tend to find out about books that I'm interested in online (though various sources), and then order them from Amazon, because that's what's easy for me. (I also receive books from publishers, but that's clearly not the situation that most parents are in, so we'll discount that). If I find myself out and about near an independent bookstore, I'm happy to buy books in person. If I'm at the library, I'm happy to be able to check out books, too. But I work from home and have a small child. I spend many hours every day on the computer, and what is easiest for me when I hear about a book that I want is to order it online. My guess is that this is true for many other parents, too.

What is also true, however, is that most parents don't have the exposure that I do to ideas about quality children's books to buy. I learn about new books by reading blogs and Facebook posts, by reading e-newsletters from publishers, Publisher's Weekly, and School Library Journal, and by reading print publications like the Horn Book Magazine. But how do other parents, who work in other industries and don't read these various publications, learn about books to buy for their kids? 

There's a wealth of information available online via blogs. But it's scattered and disorganized. There's no one place that a parent can go and rely on finding everything they need. Just taking my own blog, I've published hundreds of reviews. I have them categorized by age range, and I do have a list of all of the titles in one place. But if you're looking for great books for your 10 year old girl who likes magic but no kissing, I don't have an easy way to generate that list for you (though I've certainly been known to pull together such lists manually).

There are other sites that are more organized than I am, in terms of providing lists (StorySnoops, The Reading Tub, the Cybils shortlists) and there are many other sites that are more focused than I am by age range or genre. That all helps. But still, parents have to be able to find these sites. And no one site is going to give them everything they need. The average parent isn't going to spend an hour every day scrolling through the new posts from 158 blogs in Google Reader, either. 

So what can we do? How can we, collectively, the Kidlitosphere, make it easier for parents who AREN'T bloggers, who aren't part of our sometimes self-referential circle, find books? Can we start a discussion about that? And if you're a parent who reads my blog, do you have suggestions for how I can personally make finding books easier for you? I know that there are no easy answers, but I do welcome your feedback. Thanks for listening. 

This post © 2013 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved.

Add a Comment

The other day I shared a post asking "How Can We Helps Parents to Find Quality Books for the Children?" I received a number of thoughtful responses in the comments on the post, as well as on Google+. Here, I'm summarizing some of the ideas (there's other good stuff in the comments, too, but I'm focusing here on specific ideas):

• Amazon Suggestions. A good source of book ideas for parents is the lists of like books displayed on Amazon, when you search for or purchase books ("you may also like ..." and "customers who bought this item also bought"). This suggestion came from author E.S. Ivy, and it is a method that I have used as a parent. There are acknowledged problems with this approach (broad age categories, a few popular books showing up over and over again), but if you have a book that you know your child likes, this can be a quick way to find other, similar books. 
• Better Classification of Review Books: Include narrower age ranges on book reviews, as well as more subject information, suggests  E.S. Ivy. Consider using Accelerated Reader classifications for the age ranges, as they may be narrower than publisher classifications. I think that I could make improvements in my own blog in this area, though I do have concerns about making age ranges too narrow on book recommendations. There's such a wide range in reading ability at each age range that classifications are very difficult. But for sure I could do better in providing more easy to search subject classification. Our Learning mentioned experimenting with including more detailed categories in the blog sidebar, and is working on evaluating the effectiveness of this. 
• More Lists: Erica MomandKiddo talked in her extensive and helpful comment about making booklists for parents, because she finds those useful herself. They are easier for parents to print out and take to the store or library. I've been dabbling in this already of late, and I do think that people are more willing to spread the word about booklists than about individual reviews. 
• Facebook and Pinterest: Build "respected collaborative resources on the media platforms that most moms are on (ie. Pinterest & Facebook)", suggests Bethany @ No Twiddle Twaddle. +Erica Mom and Kiddo shared similar thoughts on Google+, saying "I feel no shame about trying to promote my book lists on platforms like Pinterest and Facebook even though I know those platforms are not widely used by Kidlitosphere folks. They are super-popular platforms with moms and they find books there." I agree with Bethany and Erica that something based on these platforms would be worth pursuing (and I know that people like Bethany and Erica and Pragmatic Mom are pursuing it at various levels, through group Pinterest boards, Google+ communities, the new collaborative Facebook effort The Niblings, etc.). The idea of leveraging Facebook was echoed by mom Jenny from BooksBabiesBows. 
• Smart Phone Apps (?). Bethany's comment also made me wonder it some day there will be some sort of collaborative children's book finder smart phone App. Because that's the other place moms and dads spend their time these days, right? Tapping away at smart phones.
• Pooling Existing Resources. "Maybe we can pool resources and come up with a better way or organizing the info that we already have as a first step", suggests author Barbara Mojica. I think that the idea of actually tacking something like this is daunting (given the volume of information, and the freewheeling nature of the Internet), but potentially very high yield. Of course there is overlap here with the idea of doing something on Facebook, Pinterest, or an App platform. The "go where the parents already are" message continues to ring in my head. 
• Focus on the Message, rather than the Tools. Read Aloud Dad thinks that rather than trying to give parents shortcuts to the book selection process, "we need to promote the idea of investing time in finding good children's books." His extensive comments are basically a short blog post on the value in parents spending precious time finding the best books for their kids. At Google+, +StackingBooks shared a similar view: "To me a blogger's job is to get to the "good" content and then broadcast it and make it as "discoverable" as possible. The rest is really up to the parent. :)" I don't disagree that parent involvement and investment is key. But I still think that there have to be ways to make the process a bit easier, and to help people get started. Erica responded to this point with "I think it is pretty unrealistic that parents will spend a few hours every week doing so. Parents are busy!! ... Better to help them out with an easy way to find titles so they can spend the hours actually reading! :)" This is pretty much my view, too.
• Search Engine Optimization. The Book Chook also shared extensive comments on this topic (she was the one who brought my attention to the original article). Like me, she's a bit concerned about issuing narrower classifications of books, for fear of "constrict(ing) kids' choices." And she acknowledges that to a certain extent "we are stuck with the transitory, fragmented and idiosyncratic nature of the way we publish information for parents and other book buyers about books." But she does suggest a couple of concrete things, including working on search engine optimization (so that people can find our blogs more easily. What if every blog-posted children's book review was tagged with a standard set of tags? Would you be able to search for those tags on Google? (This last thought came out of a discussion on the Kidlitosphere Yahoo Group.)
• Reaching Out to Other Communities. The Book Chook also talked about "reach(ing) out to other communities. There are parent forums, teacher groups, librarian lists. If we join in their discussions, answering questions where we can, participating rather than promoting, I believe we have a chance of extending our reach." This last point is similar in spirit to Bethany and Erica's thoughts about finding moms where they spend time online, but with a different means of execution. 
• An Idea for Libraries. Author and mom Rosanne Parry suggests "a parent component to preschool story time. My own half hour w/ a book person who could help me find what my family needed." There's not much I could personally do in that direction, but it is a neat idea for a library program, isn't it? Help for parents to find great children's books. 
• Don't Forget Libraries and Bookstores. Like some of the commenters on the original article, Sara Lane suggests that parents take advantage of the wonderful resources that libraries and bookstores offer to help in selecting books. I certainly agree that this is a good idea. But I would like to also come up with resources to make things easier for parents for whom regular visits to libraries and bookstores, for whatever reason, aren't as good a fit. 

This question of how to help motivated parents to find quality books for their children is clearly something that many of us have struggled with. Just as clearly, there is no silver bullet. Some of the commenters would push most of the responsibility back onto the parents, telling them to spend more time, visit libraries, etc. But I still think, and a number of people seem to agree, that there is room for us to do more.

That "more" could involve something as ambitious as building a new collaborative platform to better share information. Or it could take the form of more incremental steps, tweaking individual blog reviews to make them more useful, publishing more themed book lists, reaching out to other communities, and working together on existing platforms like Google+, Pinterest, and Facebook.  

I'm going to keep thinking about this. I hope others will, too. I have always believed that by bring great books to the attention of people who can put them into the hands of children, I am making a positive difference in the world. I still believe that. I believe that each book review that I post is a tiny ray of light pointing out into the darkness. But now I'm trying to figure out a way to turn up the wattage of that light. I appreciate all of you who have taken time to help me think about this. I hope that our discussion will continue. 

This post © 2013 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved.

Add a Comment

Add a Comment

In D.H. Figueredo's When This World Was New Danilito and his parents leave their home in the Caribbean in order to live in America. Danilito is nervous, everything is new and strange. He worries whether his family will be able to have everything they need in the new country.  His Uncle Berto takes the new immigrants to what is to become their home and the next morning, Danilito sees something he never has before: snow. Spending the morning playing in the snow with his father eases some of Danilito's fears and he feels ready to meet his new life.

Figueredo has written a thoughtful tale and the book is pleasant enough. Although the book doesn't stand out for me, if you are tackling issues of diversity and immigration I would certainly include it in your reading. The metaphor of new snow/new world is an obvious one, but it works here. Figueredo also successfully addresses the issue of a child's fears over the meeting of basic necessities.  Enrique O. Sanchez's illustrations are a good match.

Both the island left behind and the city are never named, but we might assume that they are based on Cuba and a city in New Jersey, mirroring the experience of the author as a teenager when he immigrated to the United States. The city certainly feels like something in New Jersey: a suburban-like neighborhood against the nondescript city skyline.

Want More?
Read a bit about the author or the illustrator.
If you want to use the book for further discussion, this guide might help.

Display Comments Add a Comment

Display Comments Add a Comment

Yes, that was my letter from the IRS.

I misfiled our tax extension. My husband, who is hilarious, wrote a letter to the IRS asking for clemency due to new-baby-induced Jello Brain. The IRS, who are apparently also hilarious, quoted him in their response.

I scanned the letter and he put it on Facebook. It went viral.

That afternoon during a lull in the daily baby-management, I hopped on Reddit to post the letter and discovered that someone had put it up hours earlier. Our funny IRS letter was now at the top of Reddit’s front page.

Over 1,800 people left comments and opinions. Everyone was pretty nice and we enjoyed the discussion. Some IRS employees even chimed in, talking about their jobs and lives.

This is the nature of the Internet. Something strikes a chord in our collective subconscious, and we share it with ourselves at the speed of thought.

I think we are all a little afraid of the IRS.

They seem to speak a slightly different language. They use phrases like: “A nonbusiness bad debt must be treated as a short-term capital loss” and look at us expectantly.

Every year they make us do math. They know our financial secrets, and they remind us that our money will be spent by people we probably didn’t elect, on things we might not like.

They could put us in jail. They took down Al Capone.

As a result, people yearn for a bit of humor from the IRS. I think any reminder that the government is made of people who are themselves parents and taxpayers is welcome news.

Anything to break the tension.

Related posts:

1. How FreeFile Almost Cost Me Plenty Let’s talk for a moment about why I misfiled my...
2. Parenthood by Percentages In case anyone is interested in the relative effects of...
3. A Parent’s Life as a Video Game My job is in the video game industry, so I...

Add a Comment

My kids have some sort of superhuman radar when it comes to locating books about trains. One of the books they insisted on bringing home from the library a while back was Friday's Journey. It just happened to be set in the city, too.

In Ken Rush's Friday's Journey, Chris' parents are divorced and his dad has come to pick him up for their Friday journey, which is a subway ride to Dad's place, where he spends the weekend. During the train ride, Chris imagines the places the train could take him: places he used to go with both his parents. In the end, he realizes he can still enjoy those places just with Dad.

The story fell a little short for me, but I imagine it has a place among the targeted audience. However, there are a number of specific subway experiences that my young listeners grabbed on to, which is why I'm including a review on this blog. For example: the distant lights of the subway in the tunnel, the experience of watching the tracks out the front window, the screeching noise of the train stopping in the station. The city is obviously New York City, but it is never mentioned by name and because of the book's theme of living with divorced parents this book will find an audience outside the local one.

Want More?
My favorite book about a dad and his sons riding the subway is the ingenious Subway by Christopher Niemann.

Little Kid says: Where is that train going?

Display Comments Add a Comment

A non-hysterical newspaper article in the Boston Globe about whether parents should let their pre-teens see The Hunger Games or not. Katie is going to be reviewing the movie for us so look out for that. She’s already posted some read-alikes.

Has anyone seen Tomorrow, When the War Began? I don’t know if it got a theatrical release here but it’s on PPV. Should I watch?

Add a Comment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZR6DqWkcVo&feature=youtu.be

Add a Comment

I know I'm a day behind with the posts. No worries, I'll be all caught up by Sunday.

Today is my parents' wedding anniversary. Thirty-five years and still going strong. They're high school sweethearts, which means they've actually been together longer than 35 years. From what they tell me, their relationship started out as friendship and progressed into something more.

Thirty-five years is a LONG time. Not all couples make it that long. According to statistics, only 50% (or some high percentage like that) of married couples stay together. I am so glad my parents are a part of the group that has stayed together. Although their mushiness is something kids - even grown kids - would rather not witness from their parents, I'm glad to see they're still in love. I must admit, their mushiness is kinda cute. But don't you DARE tell them I said that.

They've made mistakes in their marriage; some I know...some I don't know. BUT I still consider them to be models for what a strong, godly marriage is supposed to look like. Watching my parents, I learned how important it is for couples to put God first in their relationship. I learned how a real man treats his wife and how a wife can be submissive without being a doormat. My father treats my mother like a queen. He's very protective of her...of all his girls (Mama, my sister, and I). My future hubby has some big shoes to fill. My mother knows when she needs to step back, but at the same time, she'll let Daddy know when he's wrong. She knows when to submit, even when she doesn't want to. We joke and say Mama is really the one who runs the house, but make no mistake. My dad is the head of the household as God intended him to be. 

I pray that, when my time comes to be married and have a family, my marriage is as strong as my parents. No, each generation is supposed to be better than the previous, right? So, I pray my marriage is even stronger than my parents'...and that's pretty strong.

I absolutely adore my parents and am so blessed God chose me to be their child. My parents are all kinds of awesome and they deserve every good thing that comes their way.

Display Comments Add a Comment

You can also find my comics for writers on Tumblr and Pinterest.

Add a Comment

American Libraries recently posted an article about programming for homeschooled kids and their families. There are a lot of great ideas there that you should take a look at, but very few of the ideas are focused on teens. Like any library media specialist knows, teens need to have their reading, research, and library skills in check before college, and those being homeschooled are no different.

In addition to inviting those teens to your regular programming and events, consider doing things for them during the lull of the day, when everyone else is in school. Not all parents who homeschool are necessarily schooled in how to use library databases, scholarly journals, and online media for research projects, so perhaps a small group might appreciate a workshop similar to the ones high school students get from their librarians. You could even designate a special hour a week for drop-in lessons.

On a similar note, homeschools don’t employ full-time college counselors, but you probably have a circulating and non-circulating collection of test prep books, college guides, and more. Another unique daytime program you can offer, then, is a college workshop. Invite some current college students, whose schedules also allow them to have some free hours during the day, to answer questions about local schools and essay topics, and see if any of your regular homework tutors can volunteer to come in and help with the process.

Many homeschooled kids participate in things like Cub Scouts, community theatre, and sports so that they’re not cut off from the greater community. But what about that good ol’ teen stuff that your parents aren’t supposed to facilitate for you? You know…angst, sex, peer pressure, body changes. Consider hosting a daytime talk group, possibly broken into male- and female-only groups, where peer mentoring and bonding can happen outside of the home and away from the parents. This is also a great way to look into partnering with community organizations dedicated to youth development or prevention, or to bring in a volunteer or intern, such as a graduate student in counseling. To broaden horizons even more, make it a drop-in after-school talk, where teens from any school situation can hang out. Write a theme on a whiteboard outside the door, alongside some guidelines for safe spaces, and let them guide the conversation the way they would at lunchtime on the bleachers.

Many homeschooling parents form support or social groups. Look online for groups in your area, and then reach out to them to let them know about the resources you already have. Since they’re apt to take their kids on field trips, remind them about the museum passes you offer. Put them on a mailing list and let them know about new materials in the library relevant to curriculum and enrichment. Send them a schedule of all the events for teens, but highlight those that are designed specifically for homeschoolers. Or reach out and ask the parents and the teens what they’d like to see in their library.

Host an alternative futures event! If local high schools are only doing traditional college fairs, work with representatives from the Peace Corps, Americorps, and other post-graduation, gap year programs. While any teen would enjoy programming such as this, it’s especially relevant to more and more homeschooled teens, who often decide against college or the military post “graduation” in favor of more self-paced, experiential learning like they’re used to. This would be a great way to spark conversation between your homeschooled patrons and their traditional school counterparts–what do they think are the best plans for an 18-year-old? What could they never see themselves doing?

Do you have a strong contingent of homeschooled teens in your community? Do you even know?

Add a Comment

Summer is just around the corner and in cities everywhere, rooftops become outdoor gathering places for those in yard less apartments. Faith Ringgold's Caldecott Honor book Tar Beach is a magical story celebrating family, city life and a special bridge.

Much has already been written about this beautiful book (see Want More? section below) and there is every reason in the world to pick it up this summer and read it with your kids. The free-flowing story of Tar Beach was originally told via a quilt Ringgold crafted around the image of a family gathered around a late summer dinner on their rooftop. The term "tar beach" obviously refers to the blackness of the roof on which the narrator (a stand-in for a young Ringgold) relaxes and remembers her life in Harlem, New York City.

Our young protagonist, Cassie, alternates her narration between her imagined flights over the city and the George Washington Bridge (which she imagines wearing "like a giant diamond necklace") and a more realistic vision of her family's life in the city. There is her dad, who has a hard time finding construction work, her mom, full of laughter and tears, and her younger brother BeBe, who Cassie eventually takes with her on her nighttime flights.

It is hard to describe the beauty of this book. It is truly a love letter to the city and the freedom it offers. I hope you add it to your summer reading list.

Want More?
Visit the author's website.
Flying over the city is a popular motif in urban picture books: see any number of my bird book reviews, but also: Flying Over Brooklyn, Come Fly With Me, Wings,  The Little Reindeer, The Tale of Hilda Louise and Abuela.
Enjoy another of my favorite rooftop books: At Night. 
Gathering Books has a blog post with links to educational resources about the book.
Watch this great Reading Rainbow episode, featuring New York City rooftops and a lovely reading of Tar Beach.  (If you search for Ringgold on You Tube, you will find several videos of her discussing her book and quilt.)

View Next 25 Posts