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With my kids going back to school this week, I updated this post I did at PBS Booklights about helping your child with reading during the year. It's broken it down to the three people involved in your child's reading development - the teacher, the child, and yourself. Here are ways to help each.

1. Helping the Teacher
With class sizes growing and budgets shrinking, teachers need the help of parents more than ever. While you can't present the state-regulated curriculum, any parent can help with building reading skills. If you're good at reading aloud, offer to come in and read to the kids once in a while. Better yet, ask about that state-regulated curriculum and find books at your library that can support it. When my children were studying Native Americans, I brought in folktales to read. How Chipmunk Got His Stripes is one of my favorites. When they learned about insects, I brought in Farfallina and Marcel. You can also use the storytime to bring more depth to issues the teachers don't have time to cover in class. During the 2008 election, I was happy to share Grace for President.

There may be other ways you can help if you're not comfortable being a storytime presenter. Our school had a pull-out program for children who needed a little extra help with reading. Volunteer parents would bring the kids out in the hall for fifteen minutes, select beginning reader books, read along with them, and send the books home for them to practice in the week. This take-home reading program worked very well in giving kids a little extra attention and needed very little training. Volunteer parents also came in on occasion to help the children write stories, to run small book groups, and to prepare materials.

2. Helping Your Child
Other than potty training, I've found nothing that has tested my patience on a continual basis more than the beginning reading stage. There are wonderful successes, often followed by the third laborious rendering of the word then. It can be very frustrating for both of you. So you can help your child by remembering that she will benefit most in her reading growth by mixing up the type of reading she does. Books that are easy for her will reinforce the feeling that reading can be just pure fun. Books that are in her comfort zone will give her confidence of her skills. Books that are a challenge will push her learning to the next level. In fact, while this approach seems somewhat natural for the early reading stage, it applies throughout a person's reading life even to adulthood. It is one of many reasons that kids (and grown-ups) are never too old for picture books. Please don't be one of those parents I see in the library telling their first graders that they can't bring home a "baby book." A better approach is to let that first grader bring home some books that he chooses, and some more challenging books that you choose.

3. Helping Yourself
My last sentence leads nicely to one of the main ways that you can help yourself, and that is to avoid The Reading Game. You know it. It starts with something like, "We can't tear Jacob away from Harry Potter. What is your child reading?" This parental competition starts early ("Lizzie was smiling at us at two weeks) and goes on ("Jamal made All-Stars again!") and on ("Well, Reggie is going to Harvard, but I'm sure that's a good school too."). You'll find the competition in many factors of a child's growth, but verbal skills and reading level seem to dominate. In all my years as a parent, no one has ever asked me if my kids can do long division or sing in tune or climb a tree. But from the first year, I've been asked to compare what words they were saying and then what words they recognized and then what words they were reading until it was all about reading and levels and books.

There is only one way to win this game, and that is not to play. Don't let yourself get sucked into the competition, don't let yourself feel bad, and don't let yourself push your kid based on these conversations. Also, don't let yourself get too proud either, because kids have a way of surprising you. My oldest daughter had a slow start to reading, made methodical progress in first grade, and suddenly made a huge leap in reading level. Now she's looking at Ivy League schools. My younger daughter started reading at four years old and plodded along thereafter. In high school, she's still not much of a reader, yet can memorize scripts almost instantly. My point is that The Reading Game is pretty meaningless anyway, so it doesn't pay to take it seriously.

To be fair, there are a lot of honest exchange between parents about what their kids are doing that is helpful in knowing when to give a little push and when to wait it out. But I trust that you know the difference. One makes you feel connected to another mom or dad, and the other makes you feel like a failure as a mom or dad. Looking for those connections and avoiding those competitions will be one of the best ways that you can help yourself.

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Last month, I mentioned that the Children's and Young Adult Bloggers Literary Awards would be starting soon. Well, nominations for the 2010 cycle opened on Friday, and will remain open until October 15, 2010.

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Is it Friday already? Wow, what a week! Today at Jen Robinson's Book Page, Jen is wrapping up the week with a look at how we take the next step. She and her guests are offering answers and ideas to some of the toughest questions we have as adults ... mostly parents, but not always. We have a few questions left ourselves, so here goes ...

• Is there a book from your childhood that you didn't like "back then," but that you've since re-read and liked? What was it about the book that you didn't like before?
• Do you have a favorite chapter book for reading with kids of different ages  (e.g., 4, 9, 13)?
• What book(s) has your child recommended to you that you loved?

Just a reminder for new visitors. Here's how it works ...
1. Select the question or questions that resonate with you.
2. Find an old post or write a new one that answers the question. [Be sure to grab the Share a Story button from the sidebar to include in your new post!]
3. Come back here and link your post either via the inLinxz box or as a comment.

We'll be adding links for this question through tomorrow (Saturday). If you haven't had a chance to link up through the inlinkz box, don't fret ... the comments will remain open for 30 days, so if something strikes you next week, we'd love to hear from you then.

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Something old, something new, something borrowed ... Yesterday it was "something true." to finish our rhyme. Today? Well, it's something valued.Okay, it isn't a perfect alliteration, but I tried!

Although reading is a timeless skill, what we read - and how we read - change. Some of the books we loved as kids would seem hokey now. Some have references that wouldn't make sense to kids - phone booths? telephone dials? what are they? What hooked us - maybe a classic Nancy Drewor Anne of Green Gables or Heidi or Journey to the Center of the Earth - wouldn't work for many of our 21st Century kids. There was no realistic fiction back in the day - no edginess, no taboo subjects, and the good guys usually won. It's different now - not better, not worse - different.

Donalyn Miller (aka the Book Whisperer) and her group of rabid readers are going to help us embrace the differences and bring them together. They're talking all kinds of books, sometimes pairing books we loved with modern classics. Whether you're trying to get a pre-reader excited about books or trying to keep a pre-teen reading, they've got lots of ideas.

Here's today's lineup.

• Donalyn Miller has “Something Old, Something New: Pairing Classic and New Favorites” at The Book Whisperer blog
• Danielle Smith has “When I Was Young: The Books That Got Them Started” at There’s a Book
• Tess Alfonsin shares some “Childhood Favorites” at Reading Countess blog
• For some “Dystopian Science Fiction” ideas, see what Kate Sutherland suggests at Kate’s Book blog
• “Read Alouds in the Secondary Classroom” at RAW INcK Blog (still waiting on the URL)
• Professor Nana has “The New Classics: New Books for Tweens on Classic Themes” at The Goddess of YA blog
• Hilde Garcia is sharing some “First Lines from Children’s Books”at The Pen and Ink Blog

Do you have some suggestions of books that bring favorite/classic stories to a modern audience.? We'd love to hear them. Reading is a way to connect with your kids ... share the stories, swap books, laugh, cry ... make these the classics YOUR kids remember!

As has been our practice, we will update the direct links to the individual posts as they go live. You can also follow the discussions on Twitter. We're using the #SAS2010 hashtag.

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Just that fact, ma'am ... Sarah Mulhern has us thinking all about Nonfiction today at The Reading Zone. As you'll see from Sarah and her guests, this isn't your parents' nonfiction. Nonfiction books are one of the best ways to hook kids on reading.

* Do you have an image (photo, chart, illustration) from a nonfiction book that has stayed with you, even though you don't remember many of the details about what you read?
* What kind of reading material has inspired your dormant reader to become an avid reader and book seeker?
* Where is your favorite place to read? Do you share  your secret spot with your child?

Here are the steps ...
1. Select the question or questions that resonate with you.

2. Find an old post or write a new one that answers the question. [Be sure to grab the Share a Story button from the sidebar to include in your new post!]

3. Come back here and link your post either via the inLinkz box or as a comment.

The inlinkz box will remain open all week, so come back anytime to add your post.

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Sorry, I couldn't resist. Before you decide nonfiction = boring, you might want to take a stroll around the village today. Nonfiction - particularly nonfiction picture books - may be the perfect lure for reluctant readers.

At the Reading Zone, today's host Sara Mulhern has two posts. In addition to introducing Day 3 of Share a Story, she has a great piece about pairing nonfiction with fiction in the classroom, complete with reviews of a few science/nature books for use in middle school, she links you to great ideas by other nonfiction lovers.

• Anastasia Suen talks about sharing nonfiction with new readers at 5 Great Books;
• Dawn Little, who is talking about Real World Reading with Preschoolers ... at the Literacy Toolbox;
• Monica Edinger is offering information about educating alice;
• Jessica talks about Hooking Reluctant Middle Grade Readers (You Choose and Wicked History Series) at 26 Letters;
• Melissa is talking about finding books with childhood memories a little later in life with After Little House, what? at Kidlit History;
• Natasha Maw is talking about nonfiction for early readers and their parents at Maw Books blog;
• Amy Mascott is talking about Everyday Nonfiction Newspaper Reading at Teach Mama; and
• At Imagination Soup, xxx asks Are You a Fiction or a Nonfiction Reader?

As has been our practice, we will update the direct links to the individual posts as they go live. You can also follow the discussions on Twitter. We're using the #SAS2010 hashtag.

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Good morning, I'm glad you've stopped by. Writing about Reading is a new, daily activity for Share a Story ~ Shape a Future.  As you'll see over the week, our questions are broader than just "reading," but this title is pretty catchy, so I'm going to stick with it. [image credit: Share a Story Logo created by author/illustrator Elizabeth Dulemba.]

We hope you'll grab your favorite beverage, mull over the questions, and pick one to write about. You're always welcome to write about the topic of the day, but we thought we would add some other questions in hopes that by offering more things to talk about,  we can expand the discussions and inspire more people to share their reading experiences and ideas. 

So here we go ... our first three writing prompts for Share a Story 2010.

• What is the book from your childhood you can't wait to share with a child and why?  
• Who is the person who influenced you most as a reader?  
• Do you have any special reading-time rituals for reading aloud with kids?

Just to recap: Our goal with the questions is to reach new places for sharing our reading and literacy experiences and ideas, and we'd love to include your voice, too. Here's how it works ...

1. Select the question(s) that resonates with you.
2. Find an old post or write a new one that answers the question. [Be sure to grab a Share a Story button from the sidebar to include in your new post!]
3. Come back here and link your post either via the inLinkz box or as a comment.
4. (optional) Tweet about your post and include the #SAS2010 hashtag.

If you are interested in the RIF Multicultural Books Collection giveaway, you'll want to read this post on how that giveaway is connected to Writing about Reading activities.

We'll be adding links for the questions all week, so there's no rush to have an answer the same day a question is posted ... unless you are entering a book giveaway contest.

InLinkz updates for Monday, 8 March 2010:

• Jen Robinson adds her thoughts for all three questions at Jen Robinson's Book Page. 
• Eric Van Raepenbusch talks about reading at his house at the Happy Birthday Author blog.
•  Kirsten Cutler tells us why her dad influenced her the most as a reader at the 4IQREAD blog.
•  Roberta Gibson tells us about her favorite book and why it has probably resonated with her more than her son (so far) at Wrapped in Foil.  
• Tess Alfonsin shares her personal journey to reading success in My Cornerstone Book at
  4 Comments on Writing about Reading: Questions for Day 1, last added: 3/11/2010
  Display Comments
  ReadingCountess said, on 3/8/2010 7:14:00 PM
  

  Thank you, Mrs. Wolford!

  Cathy Puett Miller said, on 3/9/2010 2:23:00 PM
  

  Terry,
  
  Better late than never. I wanted to start reading and following yesterday but did today instead. Great content! I'll be sharing!

  Tif said, on 3/9/2010 10:30:00 PM
  

  I believe that in order to be eligible for the giveaway, we are to enter our school or library that we would like to see the books donated to. I just want to put it out there that I am uncertain at this time! I think it will depend on the answer to the question that I posted in the announcement post! :)

  Elisabeth Marie said, on 3/11/2010 12:35:00 PM
  

  Please let me know if I've done this wrong!

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While I may be able to take the heat, my refrigerator apparently found the kitchen too hot! So while I was dealing with all that yesterday, I fell behind Susan and the Literacy Lava crew in telling you about the upcoming edition. That's okay ... we still have a few more days until the new copy arrives on 1 September 2009.

Like the first issue, you will find lots of practical, fun ideas for engaging kids with books and raising readers. One of the things I love about the magazine - and particularly this month's collection of articles - is that there are lots of ideas that aren't just about sitting and reading a book. I don't want to give anything away, so for now, I'll let you *hear* what Susan has to say about the new edition.

Making literacy part of our everyday family life is often just a matter of remembering. We need to make sure our kids see that reading, writing, and communicating are important to us, and give them lots of opportunities to participate too.

Literacy Lava 2 is a free magazine that will bring you ideas: for motivating reluctant readers, for literacy on the go, for developing the imagination muscle, for linking math and literacy, for having a pirate party and a book picnic, for rhymes, games, activities and more!

Brought to you by bloggers and writers who are passionate about children's literature and literacy, Literacy Lava 2 is erupting with no- or low-cost activities parents can do with kids to promote literacy.

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Here we are ... the last post of the 2009 event.

Today's post answers the question "Can you recommend a book like ... ?" Ready-to-go booklists are really valuable (and we do have summer reading coming soon), so if you've got a link for a booklist, please add it below.

I have only included read-alike and booklists mentioned during the event. I know there are more out there -- Little Willow's lists at Bildungsroman are a personal fave. With summer reading looming on the horizon, it would be great to have share more choices.

As I have in days past, I'm including the link to Worldcat to make it easy to find these books.

READ-ALIKES and BOOKLISTS (by audience)

Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers

Elementary Readers (Independent readers – 3rd grade and up)

Middle Grade and YA If you liked …

The Wrap-up ...
Three days ago: Adult, Toddler, and Preschool Books
Two days ago: Picture Books & Easy Readers
Yesterday: Middle Grade and Young Adult Books
Today: The Complete List (PDF version)

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There's a great new collaborative blog on the block ...

Booklights by PBS Parents is a new children's book blog that showcases the talents and kidlit insights of Pam Coughlan (MotherReader), Susan Kusel (Wizards Wireless), and Jen Robinson (Jen Robinson's Book Page). The team will be working with Gina Montefusco from PBS - and various guest contributors - to share a love of reading. From Gina's post ...

Parents can come to Booklights to get book ideas for kids of all ages, "Show and Tale" time, and interviews and literacy news. But most of all, Booklights is about getting kids to love reading, to experience the joy of finding a book that's so good that dinner can wait, TV time can wait, and sleep can wait.

First, read Pam, Susan, and Jen's introductions. Then, go read their favorite picture books (Jen, Susan, Pam). Can't you just picture them sitting under their covers with a flashlight reading?! Congratulations, ladies.

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If you’re looking for a book, you’ve got a wonderfully comprehensive list right here … it crosses age groups and genres and will help you with every stage of your child’s reading development. Other than pulling together the list with nice neat categories, and correcting a title or two, these are exactly as offered by bloggers and their visitors during Share a Story-Shape a Future. We had so many recommendations, I’ve actually had to split them into multiple posts.

Each Day, I will include links to the previous list each day so that on Day 4, you’ll have a link to everything in one post. I have also created a PDF version of the whole kit-and-kaboodle (Thursday)

Here are a few notes:

• Click through the “recommended by” links. They often have more context and tell you why someone loved the book.
• I included all of the library-related books Jules included in her post at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.
• I only added only one book to this entire collection: Wild About Books by Judy Sierra.
• I did not add additional titles by authors whom I know are prolific children’s writers. So no, we do not have every Karen Katz or Mo Willems book. However, if we had multiple books by one author, they are listed alphabetically and also with a “see also” to help you find them all.
• Because reading (not buying books) is what matters, I’m have included a link to Worldcat so you can locate these books in your local library.
• Some of the books came with links to a bookseller. Some did not. If the former, we used their link, I just added author/illustrator data. If the latter, we added a link with a Reading Tub affiliate. If it’s a series, I didn’t add a link. Our affiliate income is small, but it covers things like hosting services. Any income generated through Reading Tub-related purchases will be rolled into Share a Story-Shape a Future 2010.
• If you’re looking for e-books, audiobooks, podcasts, webcasts, and book trailers, then you’ll want to bookmark Elizbeth Dulemba’s Resource List.

Books for Adults

Toddler & Preschool Books - Fiction

Toddler & Preschool Books - Nonfiction

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Last week, we talked about some of the Reading Tips we gathered during Share a Story-Shape a Future 2009. This week, I’ve rounded up the resources and ideas related to reading aloud.

Reading aloud is crucial to our development as readers and communicators. As Donalyn Miller pointed out in her post, you’re never to old to enjoy having a story read aloud. Still not sure? Then visit The Reading Zone, where you can follow along as Sarah shares the reactions and excitement of her middle school students.

These are posts from the week, as well as links and posts mentioned in the comments. Sarah wrote a post in early April about her process for reading aloud. Although it wasn’t directly part of Share a Story, it goes to the heart of what we hope this event will do. So we’ve included it below.

Understanding Read Aloud with Young Children

• Colerin Colorado offers one-page Reading Tip Sheets for parents who want to raise their kids to be successful readers. “Although we've divided these tips by age, many of them can be used with children at various ages and stages — we encourage you to choose the ones that work best for your child. Tip sheets for parents of children in Preschool through Third Grade are available in eleven languages!” (thanks to Fastbreak for Fathers)
• Helping Kids Choose Books: Select books according to how your child will use them (thanks to Tif Talks Books)
• Developmental Milestones of Early Literacy by Reach Out and Read
  

Thoughts and Tips for Reading Aloud with Independent Readers

• Nuts and Bolts of the Read Aloud in my Middle School Classroom by Sarah Mulhern, the Reading Zone
• Reading Aloud to Kids Who Are Old Enough to Shave by Candy Blessing
• Teens Take Time to Listen When You Make Time to Read Aloud by Alison Follos
• Tips for Reading Aloud to Preteens and Teens by Reading Is Fundamental (RIF)
  

Read Aloud Resources for Adults

• Jim Trelease’s Home Page
• The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller
• Books About Books and Literacy @ Jen Robinson’s Book Page

Next Week: Books and Booklists. There were so many recommendations, we’re going to break this into a series.

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In today's edition, I've pulled together the full week's agenda in one post. It is still sorted by day, but it includes all of the hyperlinks from the main posts, as well as other bloggers who added to the discussion.

Thanks to the outstanding work and dedication of our bloggers, this is an incredible resource as a place to start thinking about ways to engage kids in writing. To make it even handier, we have created a downloadable version, too.

Event Takeaways

• Share a Story - Shape a Future: Literacy Resource Kit
• E's resource kit with links to audiobooks, e-books, podcasts and webcast
• Bookmark ideas and templates

Day 1: Raising Readers
host: Terry Doherty @ Scrub-a-Dub-Tub

• Share a Story-Shape a Future: It all Starts with Raising Readers - Terry Doherty
• Finding Time at Home - Tricia Stohr-Hunt @ The Miss Rumphius Effect
• Making Time in the Classroom for Read Alouds - Sarah Mulhern @ The Reading Zone
• Look for the Clues - Tips and Tricks to Uncover and Help a Remedial Reader - Sandra Stiles guest post on Scrub-a-Dub-Tub
• It's Bigger than the Book: Building Strong Readers at any Age with a Daily Dose of Read Aloud, an Interview with Cathy Miller, The Literacy Ambassador®
• Minding the Gap: Engaging Gifted Readers - Donalyn Miller @ The Book Whisperer
• Share a Story: A Personal View of Raising a Reader - MotherReader
• A Public Campaign for Read-Aloud - Jen Robinson

Day 2: Selecting Reading Material
hosted by Sarah Mulhern at The Reading Zone

• Sarah's Host Post: Selecting Reading Material
• Eeny, Meeny, Miny, May- Which Book Do I Choose Today? The ABCs of Reading: Infants, Toddlers & Preschoolers - Valerie Baartz on The Almost Librarian
• How to Help Emerging Readers - Anastasia Suen @5 Great Books
• I Don't Know What I Want to Read Next: Helping Middle Grade Readers - Sarah Mulhern @ The Reading Zone
• Read Alikes and Booklists - Sarah Mulhern @ The Reading Zone
• Using Non-fiction for Read Aloud - Mary Lee Hahn of A Year of Reading, hosted by the Stenhouse blog
• Share a Story Day 2: A List of Picture Books - MotherReader
• Finding Great Kids Books - Read, Talk Share - Marge Loch-Wouters

Day 3: Reading Aloud - It's Fun, It's Easy
hosted by Susan Stephenson at the Book Chook blog

• Eva's Welcome to the Library Post - Eva @ Eva's Book Addiction
• From Cozy to Cool - Library Spaces for Everyone - Eva @ Eva's Book Addiction
• Lions and Marble and Books, Oh My - Betsy Bird at A Fuse #8 Production
  
• How to Make the Library Work for YOU - an interview with Adrienne of What Adrienne Thinks About That conducted by Jules at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
• The World Beyond the Library's Walls - Melissa @ Librarian by Day
• ABC Storytimes: Taking the Library Home - Pam Coughlan @ MotherReader
• Tiger's Bookshelf: Shopping Mall Library (Thai Knowledge Park) - PaperTigers
• Time Travel in a Thai Library: A Visit to Neilson Hays - PaperTigers
• Children's Books: Classic Reading for Fans - CNN.com (courtesy of BookDads)
• Fear of Fines - Tiny Tips for Library Fun
• Wonderful Library Spaces - The Book Chook

Day 5: Share a Story-Shape a Future: What the Future Holds
hosted by Elizabeth O. Dulemba at Dulemba.com

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One of the most commented upon aspects of this year’s Literacy Blog Tour was the collection of reading tips and ideas. In this post we’ve pulled together blog posts, references to websites, and some creative ideas offered by participants and their visitors. There were tons of ideas, but the list below focuses on ways to help you “sneak” reading into your day.

We welcome more ideas, so if you leave a link in the comments, I’ll come back and add it here.

2:00PM: updated to fix the list snafu

Websites with Reading Ideas

Reading Tips – a one-page set of easy-to-use ideas courtesy of Reach Out and Read

14 Fantastic Hints on Reading Aloud by Mem Fox – a post by Susan Stephenson (The Book Chook)

20 Ways to Incorporate Literacy Into Your Own Kids' Lives - Valerie Baartz (The Almost Librarian) offered these in an interview at The Book Chook.

Tif Talks Books has posts about Sorting and Roaming Around the Known – Tif says these are two tools she learned about in a Parents as Teachers workshop.

Ideas for Mixing Reading into Your Day

Bathtub Fun - One of our favorite "pre-reading" activities was playing with foam letters in the bathtub. William would line them up from A to Z and then hide his eyes. I would remove a letter and he would try to guess which one was missing. Sometimes instead of removing a letter I would rearrange them. As he got older, we would spell words for each other and then read them. (Tricia Stohr-Hunt, post at The Miss Rumphius Effect)

Letter Art - Kids love to make art using all kinds of media. I invested in alphabet rubber stamps so that William's art could be adorned with letters and words. In the beginning, the artwork contained his just his name stamped on the page. Then, the objects in the scenes were labeled. Now, the art is fully described or sometimes forms the pages of a story. (Tricia Stohr-Hunt, post at The Miss Rumphius Effect)

Write Stories - When you find a book or character your child loves, try to imagine together what the next adventure might be. (Tricia Stohr-Hunt, post at The Miss Rumphius Effect)

Sign Poetry - Travel is actually a very good time to practice reading skills. We keep a pen and paper in the car and often play a game where we collect words and phrases for poetry. We read and write (not me silly, I’m driving!) words we find on signs, billboards, bumper stickers, license plates, etc. Once we have a decent list, we make up silly poems using the words. (Tricia Stohr-Hunt, post at The Miss Rumphius Effect)

Never Leave Home Without It - Anytime we leave the house for errands we carry a bag that holds plain paper, crayons or colored pencils, and a few books that William has selected. Now the mantra before heading out is "Go to the bathroom and then grab a book." There always seems to be time to read in the car, the doctor's office, the restaurant, you name it. (Tricia Stohr-Hunt, post at The Miss Rumphius Effect)

Light Up the Night - Buy your child a flashlight or book light and let him/her read under the covers. William will actually go to bed early if I tell him he can have time reading AFTER lights out. Reading undercover is fun and helps build independence. (Tricia Stohr-Hunt, post at The Miss Rumphius Effect)

Make a List - Keep a running list of favorite books or authors in a spreadsheet or table or use an online service like Goodreads.com. Before you head out to the library or to the bookstore, bring a print out. This list lays out your groundwork. You have information to provide those librarians when they ask what you've liked in the past and you've got solid sources to go back to in case you aren't able to find anything new during that trip. (recommended by Valerie Baartz)

Next post: Literacy Resources

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As we were gearing up for Share a Story-Shape a Future, we were collecting lots of information. We were visiting lots of our favorite spots, identifying new resources and links, and thinking about what people had suggested in the comments to Jen Robinson's post about Encouraging Read-Aloud.

The more we collected, the more we realized that this was turning into a cohesive resource. And since the value of information is in the sharing, it only seemed logical to put everything together in one place and make it accessible to anyone who might want it. Hence, the Literacy Resource Kit.

We had links to it yesterday, but it really does deserve it's own spot in the sun. Depending on the results of the survey, we may try to go back through the tour and collect posts, links, and booklists.

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" I have always loved picture books. Growing up, I stared at my favorite for hours at a time wishing I could visit the magical worlds on its pages. Through drawing, I found a door and was seldom seen without a drawing pad tucked under my arm. When I drew, I lived in the stories that filled my head. Eventually, I put them to paper as well."

Elizabeth O. Dulemba, a.k.a. "e," is an award winning children's book author and illustrator. If you ask her, she will tell you that she was "beamed to this planet with a pencil in her hand. Once she stopped chewing on it, she began to write and draw." Given her interplanetary travels, she knows that paper books don't always travel well and that the future for books may be ... Nope, I'm going to let her tell you!

• Interview about Audiobooks with Bruce Coville of Full Cast Audio
  
• Interview about Audio Books with Mary Burkey of Audiobooker
• Interview about E-books with Harold Underdown of The Purple Crayon
  
• E-books and Readers with Sheila Ruth of Wands and Worlds
  
• Podcasts with Andrea Ross of Just One More Book! and Cheryl Rainfield of cherylrainfield.com
• E's resource kit with links to audiobooks, e-books, podcasts and webcasts @ Dulemba.com
• Free coloring pages dedicated to reading @ Dulemba.com NEW!
  

More Great Posts

• Reading the Future - Kathleen Duey @ writerwriterwriter
• RIF, USAirways and Day 5: Shaare a Story Blog Tour @ Rasco from RIF
• 
  

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We promised lots of useable content this week, and here is the next free thing: bookmark ideas.

Bookmarks can come in handy. We normally associate them with longer books, but in our house they've been known to hold our place in a picture book . ["Mommy, put a bookmark on page 3, I have to go the bathroom."]

Kids like to use the things they make - and goodness knows they make lots of art. So why not create art for their books? They might even find an excuse to use their creation and pick up a book!

Bookmarks can be made of just about anything. In the days before craft foam, we used paper, card stock, and felt. Now, a piece of craft foam and a bucket of self-adhesive stickers make it easy to create bookmarks as a class project, as party favors, or just because. In this document you'll find links to places where you can download ready-to-go bookmarks and quick step-by-step ideas (and templates) for creating your own.

Credits:
Susan Stephenson created this document
The Just One More Book! logo courtesy of Just One More Book!

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