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Taylor Felice, a dedicated supporter of First Book, recently ran the Brooklyn Half-Marathon. Not only did she accomplish the goal of running the race but she also accomplished something else – getting books into the hands of kids in need.

Taylor aimed to raise $1800 through First Book to provide 400 brand-new books to kids in need. She surpassed this goal and doubled it, raising $2,182.85 via a First Book virtual book drive. Due to Taylor’s tireless efforts, 873 brand-new books will be going into the hands of children in need.

First Book:  What made you want to run a half-marathon? Are you typically a runner and/or participate in a lot of races?

Taylor:  My brother’s girlfriend actually got me to run the half-marathon. She ran the Brooklyn Half-Marathon last year and while I was standing at the finish line l became completely overwhelmed with emotion. I watched hundreds of runners in all shapes and sizes crossing and decided that if they could do it, I could too. Before this, I was more of a causal runner that did it for the exercise and had participated in a few short races prior to training for the half-marathon.

 

First Book:  Out of all of the organizations you could have raised money for, why did you choose First Book?

Taylor:  My mom and her best friend, Shelly, began participating in a reading program at a school in New Haven – when she went to the library to pick out books, the shelves were basically bare. After they got over the initial shock, they began reaching out to friends and family all over Connecticut to collect new and gently used books to help make the library a “happy” destination for the students.

Before my mom told me about the school, I’d never really thought about the availability of a book. We always hear about poverty and the difficulty of getting people nutritious food and sufficient clothing but you’d think within the walls of a child’s school he or she would have access to reading materials.

I was fortunate to go to an elementary school with a library full of books as far as the eye could see.  I’ve always been interested in working with and helping children – and while attending Tulane University, I volunteered in the New Orleans public school system – one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. If I can give back to children in low-income housing like many of my former students and inspire them to continue for greatness, I’d consider this half-marathon and these fundraising efforts a success. When I started my research for an organization, I knew I wanted something in the children’s education sector and I decided on First Book because I love to read and after research, knew that the money I was asking family and friends for would truly make a difference.

First Book:  In some of the nation’s lowest-income neighborhoods, there is only a single book for every 300 children. As someone who is passionate about reading, how does this make you feel?

Taylor:   When I first saw this statistic, I was sad – that’s really the only way I can explain my initial response. After getting over the initial shock, I was disappointed – how could children be so far from the opportunity to read a book? How could I have been so naive to never have thought about the possibility that it would be so difficult for children to have the opportunity to turn a page in a fairytale? I know how much I appreciate and enjoy a good book and I hope that some of these children that may struggle in low-income neighborhoods can find an escape inside one of the books that they receive from First Book.

First Book:  Why do you think it’s so important for children to have access to brand-new books?

Taylor:  When you’re a child, something shiny and new is a source of pride – its yours and yours alone and it becomes a part of your identity. Whether it’s a toy, a new piece of clothing or in this case a book, donating something new to a child, instantly becomes special. I think it’s important for children to have books because it inspires imagination and sparks their creativity; as an adult, I still love to read and let my imagination wander along with the characters.

First Book:  Thanks to your outstanding efforts, at least 873 brand-new books will be going into the hands of children in need. (That number is of course still increasing by the day!) How does it make you feel to know that you are making such a huge impact?

Taylor:  At first I was proud that I’d made the decision to support a nonprofit – and then I was a little hesitant to start asking people for money. Once the money started coming in and I beat both my first and revised goals, I was humbled by the outpouring of generosity from friends and family.  Seeing the number of books is great but thinking about making 873 children smile is better than anything.

First Book:  What has prompted you to be so involved with volunteerism? Did someone in your family emphasize the importance of reading?

Taylor:  My family has been involved with charities and volunteer work for as long as I can remember – it’s part of who we are. My parents read to my brother and me a lot and my grandfather used to tell us that he didn’t care what we read as long as we read something. They all knew how important books were to our education and development.

To get brand-new books into the hands of kids in need like Taylor did, visit www.firstbook.org and start your very own virtual book drive today.

 

 

The post Taylor Felice: How I Ran a Half Marathon to Bring Books to Kids in Need appeared first on First Book Blog.

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WordGirl's Word of the Month for June is DEVOTED. Certainly the word-loving girl in my house is devoted to her father, just as WordGirl is. 

Happy Summer Reading!

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Huge congratulations to Lou Allin, whose Rapid Reads title Contingency Plan has won this year’s Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novella!

The Arthur Ellis Awards honor excellence in Canadian Crime Writing. Lou Allin was previous shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel in 2003 for Blackflies Are Murder.

About Contingency Plan:

When Sandra Sinclair, recently widowed and the mother of twelve-year-old Jane, meets wealthy lawyer Joe Gillette, he wins her over with his kind and conscientious attitude. Falling in love faster than she ever thought possible, Sandra agrees to marry. But soon after they move into their new home, things begin to change, and Joe’s controlling behavior causes her to question her decision. When her new husband becomes seriously abusive, Sandra decides that she and Jane must leave.

When Joe makes it clear that he will not just let her walk away, Sandra discovers that it’s quite likely that he arranged his first wife’s death, and that she is now part of his “contingency plan.” She soon realizes that even the law is no defense against this meticulous and egotistical man. Fleeing to an old family cabin on a remote lake, mother and daughter prepare to live off the grid. And when Joe tracks them down, Sandra must come up with a contingency plan of her own. Buy the Book!

About the Rapid Reads series from Orca:

Rapid Reads are short novels and non-fiction books for adult readers. In our increasingly fast-paced world Orca believes there is a need for well-written, well-told books that can be read in one sitting. Rapid Reads are intended for a diverse audience, including ESL students, reluctant readers, adults who struggle with literacy and anyone who wants an high-interest quick read. Each novel in the Rapid Reads series is written between a 2.0 and 4.5 reading level. The plots are contemporary and entertaining, with adult language and themes. More about Rapid Reads.

 

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Click on graphic to enlarge.

For kids, few moments in life are more glorious than the end of the school year and the start of summer vacation. Hooray! Three whole months of sweet freedom!

But when school’s out, kids from low-income families have a real problem on their hands.

Unlike their more affluent peers, most of them don’t spend summer break at the library or reading books in the backseat on family trips. In fact, many of them won’t open a book until school starts up again.

Those three months off take a disastrous toll. Experts call the effect “summer slide” and it erases months of hard-earned progress in school, lost ground that kids in need can’t afford.

Books are the answer. Studies show that kids from low-income families who have access to books over the summer not only beat the summer slide, but make even greater gains than kids from wealthy and middle-class families.

You can help save a child from summer slide by putting books into her hands. Click here to help.

The post Kids Who Read Beat Summer Slide appeared first on First Book Blog.

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The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has teamed up with LEGO® DUPLO® to expand the Read! Build! Play initiative by creating the LEGO® DUPLO® Read! Build! Play! 2013 Summer Reading List.  This reading list features recommended titles that inspire play for children age 5 and under and is free to download.

To accompany the Read! Build! Play! 2013 Summer Reading List, LEGO® DUPLO® has created a free downloadable parent activity guide.  This guide includes inspirational building instructions matched with each book for children and their caregivers. Doors in the Air (Orca Book Publishers, 2012) by David Weale and illustrated by Pierre Pratt is one of five titles featured in the Summer Activity Guide for children ages 3-5.

Visit www.readbuildplay.com to download free Summer Activity Guides today. Or click here to direct download the Activity Guide featuring Doors in the Air.

More About Doors in the Air

Doors in the Air is the story of a boy who is fascinated by doors. He marvels at how stepping through a doorway can take him from one world to another. He is especially enthralled by the doors of his imagination, which he refers to as “doors in the air.” He delights in discovering that when he passes through these doors, he leaves behind all feelings of boredom, fear and unpleasantness. Doors in the Air is a lilting journey through house doors, dream doors and, best of all, doors in the air.

“Surreal in its effect, this celebration of the creative mind encourages young readers and listeners to open doors of their own.” —Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2012

“Written in Seussian rhyming couplets…[and] employing alliteration that makes reading it aloud a pleasure…Doors in the Air is a fantastical triumph, celebrating the spaces in which the ordinary and the extraordinary intersect.” —Quill & Quire, May 1, 2012

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The latest Children's Literacy and Reading News roundup is now available at Quietly. The roundups are brought to you by Carol Rasco from RIF and Quietly, Terry Doherty from The Reading Tub and The Family Bookshelf, and me, here at Jen Robinson's Book Page. This particular roundup, which encompasses both the end of April and mid-May roundups, is chock full of news about literacy and reading-related events; literacy programs and research; and suggestions for growing bookworms.

Here are some highlights from Carol's roundup:

• "Children’s Book Week, it’s this week! A time to celebrate the books we hold dear at The Roundup! In addition to the bookmark above by Grace Lin (complete with activities, also see the Brian Selznick posterfor this year as well!) Last evening was the Children’s Choice Book Awards Gala. Not being able to make it in person this year I was thrilled to have a clear, steamed version into my living room…what a fun evening as always. I mean, did you know Meg Cabot raps?  Check out the video of the program yourself, learn the results of the more than one million votes cast by young people!" [Note: I am not at all surprised that Meg Cabot raps. Seems totally fitting.]
• "MAY 29:  Paper Clip Day
  READ: SIX MILLION PAPER CLIPS: The Making of a Children’s Holocaust Memorial by Peter W. Schroeder." [I had to share this one, because one of my college professors, Henry Petroski, wrote a book about the evolution of the paper clip, among other "useful things".] 
• "Prettier Charts Can Be Harder for Students to Read Sarah D. Sparks starts this particular blog entry with “Graphics are often intended to engage children in learning otherwise dry material, such as data on a chart. Yet new research from Ohio State University suggests increasing charts’ artistic appeal can interfere with students’ ability to comprehend the information they represent.”  Read more about this study of 122 middle class 6- to 8-year-old students."

And here are a few additional tidbits from me:

• There was much sadness around the Kidlitosphere when MotherReader announced that she wasn't able to organize her 48 Hour Book Challenge this year (though of course people understood). Happily, however, Ms. Yingling has stepped in to manage the event, with help from Abby the Librarian. The show will go on, the weekend of June 7-9. I will not, alas, be able to participate this year, but I'll be there in spirit. 
• This is hardly unexpected, but a new Canadian report based on a meta-analysis of other reports confirmed the benefits of reading. There are some good soundbytes, like this: "“The research shows that choice, control, and the implementation of reading as a social activity are key to building a nation of those who love to read versus a nation of those who can read,” said the report’s author, Sharon Murphy, Associate Professor of Education at York University. “It also confirms the many long-term societal benefits associated with being a nation of avid readers, including increased civic engagement, empathy for others, and improved cognitive and academic development.”"
• This was an article that I found personally satisfying. A study found that the presence of book-lined shelves in the home give children an advantage in school. Yes, I do have that one covered. 
• The Scholastic Parents Blog Raise A Reader shares 3 Reasons to Read with Your Elementary Schooler Every Night. Scholastic has been posting a ton of good stuff as Summer Reading season approaches. 
• And just for fun, The Jenny Evolution just shared a list of 50+ Great Adventure Chapter Books for Girls. Because "Girls need more to read than princess books. They need to journey with daring, rough-and-tumble girls who seek out adventure or rise to the challenges thrown at them." Can't argue with that! 

And that's all we have for you today. But do check out the full roundup at Carol's. Carol will be back towards the end of the month with another roundup. And we'll continue to share literacy news as we find it @JensBookPage, @ReadingTub, and @CHRasco. Thanks for reading, and for caring about children's literacy. 

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

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This week I'm joining the Start with a Book blog tour organized by Amy over at Show Me Librarian.

It was an easy yes when Amy asked if I might be interested in participating. The Start with a Book site is so rich I almost feel like a millionaire when I am using it. So.much.at.my.fingertips.

As busy librarians, we juggle so many balls in the air - desk work, programming, budgets, selection, displays, outreach, planning and more. So time is often precious no matter what size library we work at. With summer around the corner, the speed of the balls increases exponentially.

When I discovered this resource, a project of Reading Rockets, my work got immeasurably easier.  While the site supports parents and caregivers, it a treasure trove for librarians as well. I'd like to sprinkle some gold and jewels on one of my favorite parts of the website: the 24 Learning Summer Themes.Once there we are greeted by lots of fresh-faced and diverse children ready to take us on incredibly rich adventures in math, science, social studies - all with strong literacy support.

Pick a theme, click, and scream with happiness!  You find a  list of excellent book titles for multiple ages that can be used as a selection tool to strengthen your collection or to pull for a display inhouse if you already own them at the library.  You also discover a nifty downloadable pdf  "Reading Adventure Pack" that supplies activities, questions and information on effectively using both fiction and non-fiction books for kids. These packs could easily be put together and made available to your families to check out.

Each theme also has a number of resources  featuring more activities, videos, apps and exemplary websites for kids and families to browse to learn more information. One of the perks of this portion of the theme is it lays out rich content that can be easily used to build programs for kids at the library.  Everything in the themes truly underscores literacy and adventure for kids.

It's almost a steal to have this kind of resource at our fingertips as librarians. If you haven't been here before, be sure to dig into this treasure chest of ideas not only for summer but also year round!


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I like WordGirl's Word of the Month for May: Challenge, because I think it's good for kids (boys and girls) to tackle things that they find challenging. Challenging is actually one of my three-year-old's first big words. She was doing well with puzzles, so I bought her a couple that I told her were "more challenging". And she totally got the concept (though she tends to use "it's too challenging" as an excuse to ask for help now).

But Scholastic and PBS Kids have chosen Challenge for the word of the month because WordGirl is the official ambassador for Scholastic's Summer Challenge encouraging reading. Kids can log their reading minutes and win prizes. Scholastic posts stats on minutes spent reading by school, as well as collectively across all participants. 

But however you look at it, Challenge is the word of the month for May. 

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There are 37 days left of my Lilly Badilly Literacy Project. Let’s make it happen!

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Our IndieGogo campaign is up to 220 free books for kids! Thank you for your generous support! Please like our Facebook page.

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We’ve raised over $1,000 on the IndieGogo campaign! Also, my article was posted about the Lilly Badilly Literacy Project on Wandering Educators. You can read it here.

If you want to learn more about literacy rates in your state and county, visit the National Center for Education Statistics website.

 

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First Book is a nonprofit social enterprise that provides new books to programs and schools serving children in need. Dedicated volunteers around the country (called First Book “Advisory Boards”) raise funds in their communities to provide brand-new books to local schools and programs, and YOU can be a part of that.

Learn New Skills

Volunteering with First Book means you can gain new skills, adding professional value to resumes and college applications. There are a wide range of skills that you can develop, including community outreach, partnership building, fundraising, event planning and grant writing.

Meet New People

When you volunteer, you get to meet new people who share the same interests. Volunteering can lead to networking opportunities or even new friends! You will have all kinds of things to talk about as you discuss why you decided to volunteer with First Book when meeting and interacting with fellow volunteers.

Community Ties

By volunteering your time with a First Book Advisory Board in your community, you are furthering First Book’s mission and getting books into the hands of kids in your local area.  Advisory Board members can impact the quality of education for local programs and classrooms by providing books and resources.

It’s Good For You

When you are looking for something new to do that’s good for you, volunteering keeps you busy and active. According to health and fitness website, Greatist.com, a past study has shown that “People who volunteered for selfless reasons and to create valuable relationships decreased the risk of mortality.” Not only does volunteering give you a sense of fulfillment, but also wellness.

You Make A Difference

If you offer your time and volunteer with First Book then you will be helping us get brand-new books into the hands of more kids in need. Together we can transform the lives of children in need and elevate the quality of education.

 

Find out more information about how you can volunteer with First Book by clicking here. 

 

 

The post Lose Ten Pounds & Get More Dates: Five Reasons to Volunteer with First Book appeared first on First Book Blog.

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I love it when teachers and librarians understand and recognize the value that author school visits can provide students. Yesterday, I visited Battle Mountain Elementary and Lemaire Elementary in a small mining community in the middle of Nevada. In spite of the five hour drive through the sagebrush covered desert the day before and the five hour drive back after the visit, it ended up being one of my favorite school visits ever.

The school librarian told me ahead of time that the small, out-of-the-way community doesn’t get much in the way of entertainment, so my visit to the school was going to be a big deal. So of course, the teachers, school administration, and students were all excited to have me there. The kids were all engaged in the presentations I gave. They listened. They participated. They laughed when they were supposed to. Even one sweet little girl ran up to me and gave me a hug afterward. All of those were wonderful and added to making it a great experience, but what really made it such a satisfying experience were comments that different teachers made to me at different times after the presentations.

After my Exciting World of Books presentation, one teacher said something to the effect, “The way you read to the kids with such expression is just what we needed to reinforce what we’ve been teaching with fluency. The kids loved it, and now we can say, ‘See, that’s why it’s important to read with expression.’”

After my presentation on Story Creation Fun, one teacher made a comment like, “Your segment on showing versus telling is just what we we’ve been trying to get across to our students. Kids don’t always believe or think what teachers teach is important, but when they hear it from an author, then it makes an impact.” Another teacher said, “Thank you for covering the “try-fail cycle. We’ve been working on that and you reinforced what we’ve been teaching. It was perfect.”

This is the effect that I want all my school visits to have. I want to reinforce in a positive way what teachers are trying to teach. I want kids to get excited about reading. I want to help nurture a love for reading in their lives. I not only want to teach kids some of the key aspects of how to write better stories, but I want them to get a feel for how wonderful and fun the story creation process can be.

The real value of an author school visit is not its entertainment value. The real value of an author school visit is the positive, life-changing impact it can have on students, while reinforcing the schools, teachers and librarians’ efforts in a way that no other activity or assembly can.

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Welcome to the latest children's literacy and reading news roundup, brought to you by Carol Rasco from RIF and Quietly, Terry Doherty from The Reading Tub and The Family Bookshelf, and me, here at Jen Robinson's Book Page. For this mid-month roundup I have simply buckets of information regarding literacy and reading-related events; literacy programs and research; and suggestions for growing bookworms.

Literacy and Reading-Related Events

The fifth annual Share a Story - Shape a Future Literacy Blog Tour took place last week. The theme was Literacy: The First Five Years. There were tons of amazing posts about literacy activities and experience with kids, from babies to kindergartners, across the participating blogs. Each day featured writing prompts, to encourage others to participate. Winners of a contest for writing prompt participants are listed here. Terry will be back shortly with a full recap, and a handy list of links to all participating posts. Please stay tuned for that (though only when you have plenty of time on your hands - there is a LOT of material). 

The PBS Kids GO!Writers contest is launching for spring. Here's the scoop: "It's a Contest held by many local PBS member stations for kids in K-3rd grade who want to write and illustrate their own stories. If your local PBS station is participating, you can submit your story to your local station for judging, and a chance to win prizes! Plus, everyone who enters gets a Certificate of Achievement."

March 21st is UNESCO's World Poetry Day. From the UN website: "According to the UNESCO’s decision, the main objective of this action is to support linguistic diversity through poetic expression and to offer endangered languages the opportunity to be heard within their communities. Moreover, this Day is meant to support poetry, return to the oral tradition of poetry recitals, promote teaching poetry, restore a dialogue between poetry and the other arts such as theatre, dance, music, painting and so on, support small publishers and create an attractive image of poetry in the media so that the art of poetry will no longer be considered an outdated form of art but one." That all sounds quite ambitious. But we think it's a good occasion to try reading some poetry with your children. 

April 2nd is IBBY's International Children's Book Day, (via Tarie at Into the Wardrobe), "celebrated to inspire a love of reading and to call attention to children's books." The theme for 2013, hosted by IBBY's US section, is "Bookjoy around the world." The poster to the right was designed by Ashley Bryan. The message was created by Pat Mora. 

The shortlists for the most prestigious literary awards for children's literature were announced this week. They are wonderful lists! I first saw them on Tasha Saecker's blog, Waking Brain Cells. Here Tasha posts the Kate Greenaway Medal shortlist for picture books, and here she posts the Carnegie Medal shortlist for middle grade and young adult books. 

Literacy and Reading Programs and Research

Carol shared a thoughtful piece at Quietly this week, written by Deborah Kenny, founder of Harlem Village Academies, for the Washington Post. Kenny takes on the implementation of the common core standards for kindergarten, and proposes that the right curriculum for kindergartners involves more play. She says: "Play is not a break from learning or a way to fill time for the little ones: play, imagination and discovery are how kindergartners learn."

Reading Horizons recently shared an interesting post about the gap between perceived ability to teach reading and actual ability to teach reading. The post cites the "The Illusion of Explanatory Depth", the idea that people believe that they understand complex phenomena better than they really do, and applies this idea to reading instruction. A survey of teachers found "some major gaps in teacher knowledge about reading instruction and understanding of the structure of the English language." (via @pacrapacma)

Terry found an article by J. Richard Gentry on Psychology Today about a quick method for assessing your child's reading level by looking at his or her drawings (published a couple of years ago, around the time the author published his book, Raising Confident Readers). 

First Book announced two $500,000 grants to publishers for its Stories for All project. First Book offered to purchase $500,000 worth books "featuring voices that are rarely represented in children’s literature: 

minorities, characters of color, and others whose experiences resonate with the children (they) serve" from a publisher. They ended up having such a strong response from publishers that they decided to award two grants, one to HarperCollins and the other to Lee & Low. Many relevant books will be getting into kids' hands thanks to this effort. (Photo credit to First Book's blog)

The Independent, in a story by Jonathan Owen, cites recent research by Jessica Horst from Sussex University to suggest that re-reading the same books to children over and over again has more benefit than reading them a host of different titles. The article concludes with this from Dr. Horst: "Obviously, the more times you read to a child and the more books you have will help them, but you don't need to go crazy and buy every single Thomas the Tank Engine book. Reading the same books over and over again helps." Parents may find this a relief. (via @PWKidsBookshelf)

School Library Journal's Debra E. Kachel and Keith Curry Lance reported last week on a study that found that "a full-time school librarian makes a critical difference in boosting student achievement". The article (which is quite detailed) concludes: "Students are more likely to succeed when they have library programs that are well staffed, well funded, technologically well equipped, well stocked, and more accessible. And, the neediest learners may benefit the most from trained librarians and quality library programs." The study specifically looked at schools in Pennsylvania, but I would imagine that this conclusion holds most everywhere. 

Should Teens Be Reading More Challenging Books? A recent survey conducted in the UK has sprouted a range of responses.  

• Sean Coughlan at BBC News reported on the survey, published for World Book Day, concluding that "Teenagers are selecting "easier reads" in their book choices, rather than more challenging classics".
• Journalist Annie Murphy Paul responded to the study on her blog, concluding: "Parents may be more inclined to be hands-off in regard to the reading habits of teenagers (maybe they’re happy that teens are reading at all). But this survey suggests that parents need to stay involved in guiding their children’s book choices—even when those kids are in high school." 
• Matt Renwick (@HowePrincipal), however, defends teens' rights to read whatever they want in his post: I Say Let Them Read. He says: "Where some seem to see a problem in students not selecting challenging texts, I see this issue as a success story. Students are reading! Who here reads books because they are challenging? I don’t. I choose to read text that is interesting, engaging, and meaningful to me as a reader and a person. Sounds like this is what these students are doing. For the most part, I say leave them alone and let them read." 
• Amanda Craig also shares some thoughts on this in the Telegraph, suggesting that parents become more involved in helping their kids to find great books. She concludes: "Not every child takes instantly to books like a duck to water, but I don’t believe there are children who hate books. There are just children who haven’t yet found the right books for them."
• What do you all think? I'm with Matt Renwick on this, though I do think that Amanda Craig makes some useful points, too. 

Speaking of Matt Renwick, he had an encouraging piece recently at the Stenhouse Blog about how he revamped his school's reading intervention program (inspired by another post by Peter Johnston). Here's the bottom line: "At a fraction of the previous year’s costs, we have developed a literacy intervention that engages students and has the potential to increase students’ reading abilities at a faster rate than prescribed programming."

And speaking of programs that cost less (and rely on books), there was a thought-provoking OpEd piece by Steven Cohen in the Wall Street Journal this week comparing Reach Out and Read's proven success (at a cost of $10/year/child) to the President's proposal for universal preschool (at a cost of $10,000/year/child). This is something that I've been wondering about ever since the State of the Union address. If the true concern is literacy and kindergarten readiness, there is an awful lot that programs like Reach Out and Read and RIF are already doing, and quite cost-effectively. Just saying... 

Suggestions for Growing Bookworms

NBC Latino shared a nice piece by Monica Olivera for World Read Aloud Day last week about using audiobooks to boost children's literacy. The article addresses the specific concerns that parents might have about the literacy benefits of audiobooks for struggling readers, and includes links to other resources on the topic. The author concludes: "It’s time to get creative and be more open-minded in order to boost our children’s literacy skills and help them succeed academically." (Terry found this one.)

At The Book Chook, Susan Stephenson shares ideas for playing guessing games with kids. She says: "Guessing games help kids to think critically, solve problems, develop skills in numeracy and literacy and generate ideas." That all sounds smart to me! Susan also has a nice post on questions to ask kids to promote visual literacy. 

And, since this seems to be a particularly strong week at The Book Chook, Susan just shared a post with recommendations for a mom who is unable to send her child to preschool. Susan outlines several things that Ethan's Mum can do with him at home (to prepare him for when he does go to school), most notably reading aloud to him. (Susan found this great picture by danitort, made available at morguefile.com.)

I am always on the lookout for initiatives that make reading fun for kids. So naturally, I had to click through when Travis Jonker reported this at 100 Scope Notes: "As part of World Book Day Davyhulme Primary School in the UK held an “Extreme Reading Competition”, where students and staff were challenged to take a picture of themselves reading in the most unique place. They posted a gallery of the results. Click here to check it out." So very fun!!

And that's all we have for you today. But Carol will be back towards April 1st with the end of March roundup. And we'll continue to share literacy news as we find it @JensBookPage, @ReadingTub, and @CHRasco. I'll also share the links that I think are particularly relevant to people trying to grow bookworms on my new Growing Bookworms Facebook page. Thanks for reading, and for caring about children's literacy. 

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

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Balloon Trees, the new title from Sylvan Dell, written by Danna Smith and illustrated by Laurie Allen Klein, reveals that the rubber that makes up balloons, balls, tires, shoes and many more things actually comes from trees! What other surprising things do you think trees give us?

The house you live in may be made from wood from trees; that’s obvious, but did you know that that house is filled with gifts from trees also? Do you like that your parents are less grumpy in the morning when they have their coffee? You can thank the coffee arabica tree for that, a 20 foot evergreen that grows in warm climates of the world. A cup of hot cocoa has made a long journey from cocoa trees along the equator to reach your kitchen. Maple syrup, cinnamon, fruits, nuts, and many more delicious items also come from trees.

Ever wonder how jelly candies get so goopy and great? Check the ingredients and you’ll find “gum arabic” in the list. Gum arabic is hardened sap from an acacia tree, and it’s used in foods like desserts to lend its goopy texture to them. It is also a key ingredient in glues, paints, and many other products that manufacturers want to make ‘slimy,’ ‘goopy,’ or ‘jelly.’

“Cellulose” is part of the ‘skin’ of trees, and when manufactured it can become “Rayon” clothing to make our own skin warmer. Cellulose is even an ingredient in foods and beauty products, lending its texture to them to make them ‘thicker’ or ‘heavier.’ When fat is removed from some “diet” or “fat-free” products, cellulose is often added to try and make the food ‘feel’ the same in a person’s mouth as before. 

Trees also give us many kinds of medicine, such as aspirin, and even the first medicine for fighting malaria, “quinine.” If you’ve read our book, The Most Dangerous, you know how harmful the mosquito-spread disease malaria can be. Without the discovery of quinine from Peruvian trees, malaria would have harmed that many more people, and maybe even changed world history! Soldiers in WWII that fought in the Pacific jungles took quinine everyday, and it helped the building of the Panama Canal, and the Dutch and English to build their historical empires!

Of course, this is only the beginning of the gifts that trees give us. Say “thank you” back, by planting a tree, or at least reading a Sylvan Dell book under the shade of one!

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Today’s guest blog post is from Ann Shaw, Director of Philanthropy for Pi Beta Phi Fraternity. Ann has held this volunteer role for the past six years. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Arkansas and her Master’s in Education from the University of New Orleans. Ann taught for over 25 years as an early childhood teacher and is passionate about literacy.

In 1987, the U.S. Congress designated March as Women’s History Month to ensure that the history of American women would be recognized and celebrated in schools, work places and communities throughout the country.

Pi Beta Phi Fraternity for Women was founded in 1867 by 12 students at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois who were the pioneers of the women’s fraternal movement. While our country was rebuilding after the Civil War, few women attended college. The women of Pi Beta Phi were visionaries of their time not only because they founded the Fraternity and patterned it after the men’s fraternal organizations of that time, but also because they were philanthropically minded and wished to better society.

Pi Beta Phi members continued their philanthropic interests by creating a school in 1912 in the remote Appalachian Mountain hamlet of Gatlinburg, Tennessee to provide formal education. In November 2012, Pi Beta Phi members celebrated 100 years of literacy service in Gatlinburg. From their original mission to the continuing legacy of Pi Beta Phi Elementary School and the Arrowmont^® School of Arts and Crafts, Pi Beta Phis are proud of their commitment to literacy not only in Gatlinburg but across the United States and Canada.

In the next 100 years, Pi Phi’s Read. Lead. Achieve.^® literacy platform will continue to provide direction for Pi Phi’s mission “to lead the way to a more literate society” through its partnership with First Book, Champions are Readers program, Arrow in the Arctic, Fraternity Day of Service and local initiatives.

Kyle Zimmer, president and CEO of First Book, is a visionary too, as she had the dream to put books into the hands of undeserved children through the inception of First Book. Both organizations work to end illiteracy and realize the importance of reading and how it is a predictor of success in school and life.

Both organizations work to end illiteracy and realize the importance of reading and how it is a predictor of success in school and life.

Pi Phi strives to lead the way to a more literate society and has supported First Book’s mission financially and through the volunteer efforts of our members. First Book and Pi Beta Phi are making a difference in the lives of children through their philanthropic efforts to create rich literacy environments, improve interest in reading and encourage children to be readers.

While we celebrate the accomplishments of women during National Women’s History Month, let us remember not only the women who have made significant accomplishments to better society but those women who read to their children, surround their children with books and encourage their children to love reading.

Pi Phi recently made a special edition of the title, Remember the Ladies: 100 Great American Women available to First Book’s schools and programs. If you work with kids from low-income families, sign your program or classroom up with First Book.

 

 

 

 

 

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Confession: I did not know the name of the editor of the University Press of Mississippi’s excellent line of books about comics—spanning scholarly works on Chris Ware, Alan Moore, Osamu Tezuka and everyone in between—but his name is Walter Biggins and now he’s leaving. But luckily Jeet Heer, who wrote several books for the line, catches up with him first —hopefully USM’s strong comics list will continue:

In terms of UPM’s line, it’s a great question. When we began publishing in comics studies, over 20 years ago, the emphasis was clearly biographical and art-historical–i.e., placing the cartoonists and their work in socio-historical context. That’s probably because that largely hadn’t been done, and thus there was a need to establish a lineage, a tradition of comics that interacted with, and departed from, the worlds of literature and “high” art. Even in the “Great Comics Artists” series that I established, the monographs therein have a strong element of critical biography.

What has changed under my tenure is twofold. First, I think I’ve placed a stronger emphasis on comics theory and grammar–i.e., “What is a comic, exactly?” “What are its core elements, and the ‘rules’ for using them?” “What is comics as a form, and how is that distinct from other art forms, including those (literature and painting) with which it is forever linked?” My acquisitions have been largely concerned as much with global issues about comics–its production, its form, its grammar, and the discourse around all this–as they are about specific comics and cartoonists. This theoretical bent is in keeping with a more European school of comics criticism, which is more concerned with form than with history. This is all very odd to me, by the way, as I have absolutely no formal training in critical theory and what I know of it has been gleaned from my readings for the press and from, of course, MAD magazine. Anyway, Thierry Groensteen’s Comics and Narration, Jean-Paul Gabilliet’s Of Comics and Men, Hannah Miodrag’s forthcoming Comics and Language, and Elisabeth El Refaie’s Autobiographical Comics are all (pardon the pun) big-picture, macroscopic books rather than close analyses of a single cartoonist or set of works.

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It’s been 50 years since the original author of Amelia Bedelia, Peggy Parish, debuted the popular children’s book series. Peggy passed away in 1988 but her Amelia Bedelia legacy lives on. Herman Parish, Peggy’s nephew, took over the series after Peggy’s passing.

First Book recently interviewed Herman Parish about Amelia Bedelia turning 50 and why books are important for young readers.

First Book:  How was a beloved character like Amelia Bedelia created? Was there any inspiration?

Herman Parish:  My Aunt Peggy Parish would often take things literally, not continually as Amelia Bedelia does, but enough times that one could understand how she could have come up with the character naturally. Peggy also drew inspiration from the class of third graders she taught. She would ask them to do something and a student would ask “Do you mean for us to do what you said?” When Peggy thought back on her exact words, she realized that if they were taken literally, there could be a problem. That got her to thinking that there might be a story there.

A couple of years after Peggy passed away, I heard an intriguing tale that may offer a clue as to why she made Amelia Bedelia a housekeeper. I was visiting Peggy’s hometown of Manning, South Carolina and spoke with one of her cousins. They had been playmates at their Grandparents house, where a big dinner was served every Sunday. The Grandparents were named — surprise, surprise — Mr. & Mrs. Rogers.

Mrs. Rogers had both a cook and a housekeeper. There was also a younger housekeeper whose main job was to look after the children because she was hopeless at housework. Peggy’s cousin recalled a time when this young housekeeper had to fill in for the older one. Mrs. Rogers told her to “sweep around the room.” This young housekeeper did just what she was told: she swept the edges of the room clean, but left the center of the room untouched. All of the children laughed at her mistakes. I asked this cousin if he had ever reminded Peggy about this maid. He said that when he did, Peggy did not say anything — she just smiled.

First Book:  50 years. Would you or your aunt ever think this series would continue on for so long?

Herman Parish:  Peggy Parish passed away in November of 1988. All during that spring and summer, she and Amelia Bedelia were celebrated at national meetings and conventions of teachers and librarians because it was Amelia Bedelia’s 25^th Birthday. So Peggy must have had a sense that the character she created would live on long after she was gone. I’m sure that Amelia Bedelia will be around long after I am gone, taking the world at face value as she does exactly what she is told to do.

First Book:  Why are books so important for young readers?

Herman Parish:  I’ll tell you what my Aunt Peggy Parish thought because I agree with her. She believed that there was a very narrow window when a child would be or could be interested in reading. If you missed that opportunity, it was very difficult to engage them later. She felt that reading was important because a child’s imagination can take them anywhere. It opens them up to all sorts of possibilities in their own lives.

First Book: Over 40% of children in the US do not have age-appropriate books in their homes, nor in classrooms or programs they attend due to the fact that they simply cannot afford new books. As someone who writes children’s books, how does this affect you?

Herman Parish:  Well, I would be optimistic about it. I would say that whatever could be done to get just one book into the hands of those 40% would give them a big boost make a huge difference to them. Also, whatever books they get would be cherished and recalled fondly for years to come.  As a writer, I do my best to write the best books that I can. That way, if one of those children in the 40% happen to read one of my books, they will have fun. Reading what you like to read one book at a time will develop the habit of simply liking to read, which will be with them for the rest of their lives. I only hope that children would find my books fun to read, which would encourage them to keep reading and seek out other books they would enjoy.

First Book:  What was your favorite children’s book?

Herman Parish:  My Aunt Peggy sent me a copy of The Cat in the Hat when it was first published. At that time, my father was in the Air Force and we were stationed in England. I remember thinking that the Cat himself must be an American because he was so brash and bold, which is how the British saw us. I identified with this character as a role model, as I was born in Texas and wore cowboy boots and jeans in the first grade at an otherwise tame British primary school. The other kids probably thought that I was the Cat!

Amelia Bedelia books are available on the First Book Marketplace, a website exclusively for educators and program leaders that work with kids in need.

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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.  

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A publicist for The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards contacted me about profiling two young women who were named among their states’ top youth volunteers of 2013 for helping others experience the many benefits of books. Since I am all in favor of kids helping kids to gain access to books, I thought that I would share their stories:

"Alison Forger, 16, of Monroe, Conn., a junior at Masuk High School, promotes the love of reading and writing in young students through a club she organized that sends high school students to elementary school classrooms to assist with reading activities. When Alison was in eighth grade, her English teacher challenged her to use her love of reading and writing to benefit the community. Alison created “Reading and Writing Rock,” a student mentoring club that she has run for the past four years. “I wanted all of those students to be able to pick up a book or write a story and feel the same sort of happiness and satisfaction that I do,” said Alison.

To start her club, Alison, with the help of her English teacher, recruited six fellow students and contacted local elementary school officials, who agreed to let the students visit their school once a week during English classes. The older students read to the children, helped them write stories, taught them about authors and even organized plays based on their favorite books. Over the years, the club has grown to include 35 high school mentors in all three of the district’s elementary schools. In 2010, Alison won an essay contest sponsored by NBC Connecticut’s Education Nation and was awarded $5,000. After soliciting input from elementary teachers involved in her program, she used the money to purchase more than 500 books for the schools. Last summer, she also worked with a local bookstore owner to hand-pick 100 books to stuff in backpacks for children in need. “I always tell other high school students how much fun it is to see the kids light up when you walk through the door,” said Alison.

Emily Morgan, 17, of Moscow, Pa., a senior at North Pocono High School, has raised $24,000 in donations and distributed 1,700 new books, bookcases, art and school supplies, games and puzzles through the organization she founded called “Eat a Book.”  Emily, who started the project in 2011 to inspire children to “devour” good books, developed curriculum for two summer camps, publishes a children’s magazine and has built six literacy centers at shelters and other facilities for at-risk children.

National Volunteer Week is April 21^st-27^th.

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program is the United States’ largest youth recognition program based exclusively on volunteer community service. Since 1995, more than 345,000 young Americans have participated in the program. Each year, the program’s judges select 102 State Honorees to receive an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. where, on May 6th, 10 of them will be named National Honorees. You can watch the live webcast of the May 6^th event here: http://bit.ly/YN1OLU."

Two pretty impressive teens helping connect other kids with books. We should be celebrating young women like this, and programs like these, year-round. There are, of course, tons of other kids doing great things all around the country, too. If you are in need of inspiration, you can browse by state here.

This post © 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. 

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Recently Deb Gaby and I attended a Choice Literacy Workshop called Coaching the Common Core. It was one of the best conferences I’ve ever attended (and I’ve attended a lot of really great… Read More →

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Random House Children's Books is strongly promoting this year's Screen Free Week, April 29th - May 5th. They are urging kids and parents everywhere to Unplug and Read. Today they published this video, in which four well-known author-illustrators (Bob Staake, Chris Raschka, Dan Yaccarino, and Tad Hills) call for kids to unplug, and spend their time doing other, more active things. It's well worth a look. 

There are lots of great reasons to get kids to unplug, though of course it's hard to do. More time to read, more time to play, more active play, more use of the imagination.... The list goes on.

Here are a few things I've noticed about screen time and my three year old:

• The more time she gets, the more time she wants. This goes for movies and iPad time, her primary sources of screen time. Screen time is highly addictive.
• When she's absorbed in the iPad, she is oblivious to things going on around her. 
• When she watches movies in the evening, she doesn't sleep as well. She tends to wake up during the night, and wake us up, because she's afraid of something. Presumably, she is having bad dreams.
• When we watch television in the evening, we end up with less time for reading books, mostly because my husband and I get tired, and can't stay awake to read as many as our daughter would like.

This is not to say that we don't derive any benefit from this screen time. Most of the apps that she uses on the iPad are educational in some way. She does puzzles, she learns some vocabulary, she does some concentration-type practice, etc. And when we watch movies as a family, we build a common frame of reference. My husband and I can share movies that we love with her. We now sing songs from The Sound of Music most nights before she goes to sleep. And of course, screen time sometimes provides a break for me, time to read the paper or take a shower in the morning. But I try to keep it to minimum, because of the above behaviors that I've noticed.

So what I plan to try to do during Screen-Free Week is replace my daughter's several mornings per week iPad time with reading together, even if it means I have to find time to shower and finish the paper later in the day. I'll also see what I can do about not watching any television in the evenings. (We don't watch much, but as I said, she gets a bit addicted, and always asks. She doesn't get any screen time during the day as it is.) I'll be interested to see how that affects her sleep. I'll report back.

How about you? What are your plans for Screen-Free 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. 

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Yesterday morning, Andrew Meyer, the operations manager for the First Book Marketplace, sent an email to the First Book staff sharing his thoughts about a young foreign service officer killed in Afghanistan while bringing books to children in need.

I was touched by Andrew’s email, and asked him if I could share it on the First Book blog.

Anne Smedinghoff (Photo from washingtonpost.com)

Many of you probably heard that six Americans were killed in a suicide attack in Afghanistan this past Saturday. It seems that we have something in common with at least one of them: Anne Smedinghoff, a 25-year-old foreign service officer from Chicago. Anne was killed while delivering textbooks to children at a school.

Certainly we’re far from the chaos of Afghanistan, but I can’t help but feel a kinship with this young woman. I know as well as anyone that this business — this business of doing good — can be extremely challenging: long hours, increasing demand, lower salaries, uncertain funding sources, etc.

But never forget that we are all doing our part to increase knowledge and level the playing field. We are contributing to a movement that will have an impact centuries from now.

I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on life since my wife’s passing back in September and I know that when my time comes I hope to be comforted by the fact that I’ve done my part to make the world just a little bit better.

The post Young Diplomat Killed While Bringing Books to Kids appeared first on First Book Blog.

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Today is Drop Everything and Read Day (D.E.A.R. Day), celebrated every year on April 12th in honor of Beverly Cleary's birthday. D.E.A.R. is "a national month-long celebration of reading designed to remind folks of all ages to make reading a priority activity in their lives."

How will you make reading a priority today? You could:

• Spend some time reading aloud with your child after breakfast.
• Play hooky in the afternoon by sitting outside with your own book.
• Read a book instead of reading email and Facebook on your cell phone while you wait for an appointment. 
• Volunteer to read to your child's class.
• Take your child to a bookstore or the library after school.
• Forego television in the evening, so that you'll have more time for reading books. 

Those are just a few thoughts. I'm sure you can come up with others that fit your family's situation. 

Happy Birthday, Beverly Cleary! Thanks for encouraging people to Drop Everything and Read. 

D.E.A.R. sponsors include:

• National Education Association (NEA)
• National Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
• Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association
• Reading Rockets
• General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC)
• Newspaper Association of America Foundation (NAA)
• First Book
• Read Kiddo Read
• Walden Media
• HarperCollins Children’s Books

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

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Welcome to the latest children's literacy and reading news roundup, now available at The Family Bookshelf. The roundups are brought to you twice a month by Carol Rasco from RIF and Quietly, Terry Doherty from The Reading Tub and The Family Bookshelf, and me, here at Jen Robinson's Book Page. For this mid-month roundup, Terry has highlights regarding litercay and reading-related events; literacy programs and research; and suggestions for growing bookworms.

Here are some highlights from Terry's roundup:

"National Poetry Month is still going gangbusters! There are lots of activities.

• One of our favorites is 30 Poets 30 Days at Gottabook, poet Greg Pincus’ blog. 
• TOMORROW is Poem in Your Pocket Day. If you’re looking for a poem, be sure to visit Poets.org. They have “thousands of poems” that you can read and print. PLUS you get to read a bio of the poet."

Like me, Terry was taken with Gail Gauthier’s post about Book Train, "a literacy nonprofit that gives books to foster children. Currently, Book Train distributes books in Colorado and Connecticut, and is looking for social workers in other states to distribute books.” 

This is interesting. "Scientific American recently had an article about changes in our “reading brain ” in this modern age. The Reading Bran in Digital Age: the Science of Paper vs. Screens shares research in how our brain needs “physicality” in reading to help with comprehension, a sense of control, and other sensory development. It is fascinating research."

But do click through to read the full roundup. And here are a few additional tidbits from me:

Screen Free Week is coming April 29th - May 5th. I wrote about Screen Free Week previously (including some things I've observed about screen time in my own daughter). Today I came across a fun article by Bob Staake (one of Random House's ambassadors for Screen Free Week) in the The Huffington Post. Staake (whose picture books I adore) shared a tongue-in-cheek 31 Things Parents and Kids Can Do Without a Screen. Like "Go on a hike -- and ask random woodland creatures to friend you." Fun stuff! (See also this list of 7 great picture books for Screen Free Week from Erica at What Do We Do All Day?)

Earlier this month, Trevor H. Cairney shared a useful post on Getting Boys Into Reading: Ideas, Books & Resources. He lists four fundamental building blocks to get boys reading, and goes on to give some specific ideas for reading with boys, as well as book suggestions. 

Our friend Susan Stephenson shared an important post on letting kids read the books that they want to read, rather than pushing them to read ever-more-difficult titles. Here is her conclusion (but do read the full post):

"Sometimes it seems to me there are forces at work that want to rob our kids of their childhood. By trying to push them into learning they are not ready for, by making everything a competition and comparing our kids to some so-called norm, we are doing them a huge disservice. I believe we must do our best to help our kids love reading. That is the number one priority in my mind. I urge every parent to make it a priority too."

And that's all we have for you today. But Carol will be back towards May 1st with the end of April roundup. And we'll continue to share literacy news as we find it @JensBookPage, Growing Bookworms, @ReadingTub, and @CHRasco. Thanks for reading, and for caring about children's literacy. 

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

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