By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 12/15/2014
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 12/1/2014
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 11/6/2014
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By: Sarah McIntyre,
on 11/5/2014
If you visit the island of Utsira (the one in the radio Shipping Forecast, in the North Sea, off the west coast of Norway), you may spot a little eeping Sea Monkey on one of the rocks. And you may wonder why it's there. Well, here is its story...
If you read my last two blog posts, you'll know I've been taking part as a barnebokforfatter (children's book author) in the SILK Festival in Skudeneshavn, on the island of Karmøy. When Utsira island librarian Margrethe Djønne saw me in the programme earlier in the year, she asked if Stuart and I would like to make a detour to Ustira for a couple nights, to visit their school. So after the festival, Margrethe (Maggie) and her mother picked us up at the local cafe and drove us from Skudeneshavn to Haugesund, where Stuart, Maggie and I caught the evening ferry boat.
Whenever we'd mentioned to Karmøy people that we were going to visit Utsira, they'd suck in air and shake their heads, warning us about the rough sea passage and telling us to lie down flat on the ferry to avoid getting sick. And that evening WAS quite windy. 
We didn't sit up on the deck, no one did; everyone stayed on the lowest floor of the passenger section. And I thought the advice about lying down would just be for visiting tourists, who didn't have their sea legs. ...Nope. The ship was pitching like a galloping horse in slow motion. By the end of the 70-minute journey, EVERYONE was lying down flat.
But the advice was sound, no one got sick. At Utsira North Harbour, all the passengers put on their shoes and headed out into the darkness. And gosh, is it DARK on Utsira. Island resident and artist Marit Edie Klovning picked us up and drove us to a fisherman's house, where Maggie jumped out to collect some crab he'd caught for us, and his mother had prepared. Then Marit drove us all up the hill, stopping to turn the car headlights onto a mural on the water tower, painted of the island's first female mayor. The first female mayor in all of Norway, in fact, a midwife named Aasa Helgesen, who served from 1926 to 1928. In the dark, her massive head looked quite scary.
The car beams next lit up a white house, where we'd be staying for the next two nights. Maggie and Marit led us into the house, stocked the kitchen and showed us where the linens were, then disappeared back into the night. We lit some candles to make the place feel more cosy, delved into the food bags and feasted on crab and freshly baked bread.
We weren't exactly sure where we were. As the wind wuthered outside, we did a bit of exploring, first the kitchen cupboards:
I'd been talking with a lot of Scandinavian crime writers earlier in the week, so we got a little bit too imaginative about what Kylling, Farinsocker, Finger Salt and Grillkrydder might be. Next the bookshelves, where I pulled out these two rather special books:
We couldn't read anything, but the people in them looked rather jolly. I think the one on the left might be writer-illustrator Alex T Smith in a previous life. The one on the right might be one of my great-aunts or something.
We went to bed, the wind still howling. We woke before sunrise the next morning, and in the dark blue sky, I could see an old lighthouse outside our bedroom window. I ran around outside to see where we were, getting my socks all wet. 
That white house in the middle is where we were staying. It's the Lighthouse artist residence, and it's where the island hosts people who come to work with the school or put on a local exhibition.
Here's a photo of the lighthouse again, taken a bit later in the day:
And the view from the base of the lighthouse:
I got dressed up in my Jampires costume and Marit picked me up in her car to take me to the school, while Stuart stayed behind, with his own plans to hike around the island. 
I thought that we'd only driven a little bit of the island the previous evening, but I quickly realised we'd already covered almost the whole place. Utsira is very small! Here's a map, with the Lighthouse marked in red. The 'Utsira kommune' is in the same building as the Library, right next to the school:
Map from Google Maps
Utsira is basically a pile of rocks with a valley down the middle, a harbour at either end. I took this panorama later in the valley, and you can see a surprising amount of landmarks from a single location: the harbours, the school, the library, the restaurant, the shop.
Marit swung by her son's house, with a big split rock out the back, which is where she gets her married surname 'Klovning', which in English would be 'Clovenstone'. (Which is also the name of a place in Edinburgh and the country in my co-author Philip Reeve's book Goblins.)
And we swung by the South Harbour for a peek. That flat white building to the right of the red boat house is where people might also stay if they were overnatting on Utsira.
Then we arrived at the library! Wow, Utsira Library is well stocked! The first thing I saw was a little exhibition of Tove Jansson's Moomin books:
Maggie had put two of my books on display - There's a Shark in the Bath, Jampires and Oliver and the Seawigs - and I spotted quite a few other familiar names, too. Here's Maggie showing their Francesca Simon section. ('Rampete Robin' must be the Norwegian variation on 'Horrid Henry'.)
I drew a little poster for the library (something I often do, to make sure the flip chart pens really work):
And then the children arrived! My first group was the younger half of the school's 22 pupils. I showed my books to them and read Jampires, then we all drew Jampires together. 
Jampires are a bit like vampires, but instead of blood, they suck jam out of doughnuts. I love how ours all had different personalities:
Then we talked about our favourite foods and they invented their own story creatures:
Here's a Pancakepire:
A Tacopire:
And a Pizzapire:
When the older half of the school arrived, we drew Sea Monkeys (from Oliver and the Seawigs and I led them in a Sea-Monkey-themed Comics Jam. 
The idea was that we'd all draw four panels of a comic, but between each panel, we'd switch papers, so we'd be writing each other's stories. (Here's more information on running a Comics Jam.)
Utsira Library has a great comics collection for its size, and I wish I'd had more time to browse. Here are some interesting-looking comics Maggie showed me:
And picture books, too. This first one's a scrapbook of an artist's travel books, I think:
Maggie said that people don't tend to use the comics section very much, but I hope the kids I worked with will be inspired to explore a bit more in it. I mentioned my favourite comic, Calvin and Hobbes, which is called Tommy & Tigern in Norway, so maybe they can start with that one.
One funny thing about visiting Utsira: I'd assumed my visit would be kind of a big deal because they would get less visitors than your average school. But this was not the case! They have a decent budget for their cultural programme, a school cultural officer named Knut, and they bring in people regularly. So we didn't even have time to finish the Comics Jam because they were off to see an Oslo dance troupe perform! And I got to come along.
The troupe - Panta Rei Danseteater - led them in a warm-up, then put on a quite sophisticated modern dance about an old woman's diary, mortality and the passage of time. 
After their performance, four of schoolchildren (who'd been working with the dancers) performed their own choreographed dance. And then the dancers sat on the floor and did a Question & Answer session. (And we all took a photo.)
The school theatre was new-built and gorgeous; apparently the community had been campaigning hard for the budget and won. The dancers had brought their own flooring, which rolled away into their van; then they pulled away the black curtain backdrop to reveal enormous windows overlooking much of the island. Amazing.
Lunch time with Maggie with Knut, the cultural officer, catered by the island's shop.
Maggie also asked if I wanted to meet the kindergarten children, and I said yes. But I was expecting they'd be four or five years old, and they turned out to be infants as young as a year old. (More of a day care, really.) They looked at me in slight bewilderment when I pulled out my ukulele. But they seemed to like it best when I drew a Jampire for them, and I left them, happily colouring it in.
Here's one of the mums, Katrine Klovning, collecting her son in a little onesie she'd knitted for him:
Stuart wasn't back when I returned from school, so I thought I'd set out by myself to explore the island, and went around behind the Lighthouse. Apparently Utsira is a birdwatching paradise; in peak season, there are more types of bird there than people. Oh look, North Utsira and South Utsira beach huts:
Even though I was wearing wellies, the ground was incredibly rough, and I have sudden visions of pitching onto my face and not being discovered by anyone but the birds and sheep before nightfall. 
So I went back onto the main road, and met a fresh-faced Stuart coming up the hill. Hurrah! He'd already walked all the way around the rough parts of the island, but he came out again to walk along the roads with me.
I love this barn:
Such great textures and colours.
I made Stuart go all posey in his lovely new Norwegian jumper. (We actually bought it at a second-hand shop in London, still with the tags on. But we saw very similar jumpers being worn there, so he didn't feel like a silly tourist and wore it almost every day.)
Check out this Warhol-inspired barn:
And speaking of soup cans, we had to visit the shop, to see what sort of things would be on sale when it's the only shop on the island. It was a wonderful shop, with loads of fresh produce, pretty much anything you could want. But I thought the canned food section was the most interesting because of the mysterious (and occasionally funny) labels. (What is 'Snurring'? A herring that snores?)
I recall a childhood song that went, Fish balls, fish balls, yummy yummy fish balls/ fish balls, fish balls, eat 'em up, YUM. (Or was it 'fish heads'? Anyway, I got the song stuck in my head for awhile.)
Lots of Lapskaus.
Kjøttkaker and Sodd. Heh heh.
But we didn't eat out of a tin that evening, it was much better than that. Maggie had talked with Daniella De Vreeze and Hans Van Kampen, who run the island's restaurant, Dahmsgård Utsira. They weren't planning to be open that evening, as it's not peak season, but they opened just for us and Danielle made us one of the most tasty dinners I've ever had. 
Not that it was overly fussy-fancy, it was just perfect; Daniella knew exactly how to prepare the mushroom sauce for the monkfish, and the vegetables were so tasty; the ice cream meringue dessert had some sort of special texture that was incredible. 
And lovely wine to go with it. Not at all what we'd expected to find in such a remote place! Here are Marit and Stuart:
And we were also joined by Arnstein Eek and Atle Grimsby, who work for the Utstira Kommune administration. It's funny asking people there what they do for their job, because everyone ends up doing a lot of jobs on an island, so nothing's entirely clear. Atle first came there because he loves the birdwatching, and then never left.
The only reading preparation that Stuart and I had done was on the airplane, from a book by Charlie Connolly that I'd had kicking about the house for almost ten years, called Attention All Shipping: a Journey Around the Shipping Forecast. I'd never managed to get through it, so I ripped out the pages that we'd need (which was perhaps a bit naughty, but there you go). It was quite illuminating, and I learned that people from Utsira are called 'Sirabu' (not Utsirans). And, of course, our dinner companions knew all the people mentioned in the book, and Atle's Facebook-friends with Charlie.
We didn't get to see Daniella for most of the meal because she was busy cooking, and Hans helped her serve. But Hans disappeared for awhile to help with the washing up, then we got to see both of them for awhile. They're Dutch, and bought the old school house about four(?) years ago to do up as a restaurant. They'd never run a restaurant before, just an art gallery, but Danielle had done a lot of catering for the gallery - over a hundred people at times - so she knew lots about cooking already. I think they said that they visited Utsira, found out the site was up for sale, and came up with a business proposal, right there on the island, in three hours. They're pretty awesome. They remind me a bit of a Danish film called Babette's Feast, about a French woman who brings fine cuisine to a rugged little island in Jutland. There's one other place on the island you can eat out - a pub that serves pizza, chips, sausages, that sort of thing, but it's definitely worth popping into Dahmsgård Utsira, even if just for cake and coffee. 
The next day was Art Day; I'd been talking with Marit about her work over dinner and really wanted to see her paintings and studio. And Maggie and a few others had mentioned that they wanted me to add to the mural collection of the island, and I said I'd be up for that. So Marit took Stuart and me to her place, where we met her family and had some lovely breakfast.
It was such a cosy house and table, her daughter was warm and friendly, and her grandson was super-cute. I love this photo, it looks like some sort of half-remembered Nordic painting.
Marit's husband used to work as a carpenter (and built their house, studio and workshop) but turned his hand in later life to becoming a fisherman, which he now does with their son.
Here's some lovely cinnamon cake Marit made:
And more nice packaging (this time it's pâté).
While I was talking with Marit's daughter, Marte Eide Klovning, I asked about her job, and it turned out that she's the island's mayor right now. She travels quite a lot, to go to meetings and things, so Marit juggles being a babysitting grandmother with making her artwork. I love the theatre poster hanging in her studio loo, with Marte on the left. I think she said it's a play about Aasa Helgesen, Utsira's (and Norway's) first female mayor.
Marit showed me a few of the paintings and drawings she had on display in the main part of the house:
This one in the kitchen's called The Maker, and has a real bit of lace stuck into it. Marit likes the idea of 'making' as much as 'painting'; she sees herself as much as a Maker as a Painter. I think I'm like that, too.
And here's a large one in the lounge. Until this trip, I never thought of Norwegian beaches as beautiful places, but they have soft white sand as good as Hawaii's (just less sun).
After coffee, we went around to the side of the house, to the separate building that's Marit's studio. You can see it there on the left, through the trees.
The first things I noticed were all the portraits on the back wall. Utsira had a Jubilee celebration of and Marit set herself the task of painting a portrait of every single woman on the island, from the youngest baby to a very old woman (104, I think). Many of them bought their portraits from her after the exhibition, but she still has some of them. I can't remember the exact number of portraits, but it was near 100. 
The boxes were another part of the project; Marit likes looking for interesting driftwood on the beaches and she made these boxes out of bits she found. Again, there's one for each woman on the island, and it represents having a little space of one's one. Marit explained that a lot of people don't stay on the island, particularly women, and to keep living there happily, one really needs hobbies and a rich inner life. So these boxes are a bit like the things each one of them treasures around herself. 
Marit had already sold this painting, but she showed me a postcard of it. I love the northern light on it; so atmopheric.
And this one, too. I once took a class at university on Northern European Landscape Art, and true to form, I've forgotten almost everything. But I have vague memories of other Scandinavian painters who use this sort of light in painting, and there's something very magical about it.
Here's a peek into two side rooms.
Marit's used some antique linens and lace effects in her paintings.
I was so pleased that Marit came to my talk on Skudeneshavn, and then took the time to show me around. Thank you so much, Marit! 
The island prides itself on its mural artwork that's been springing up during the past few years. You see this light bulb as soon as you get off the ferry:
And there's a Norwegian video with a bunch more paintings shown here. I was starting to think I'd run out of time to paint a mural (which was okay with me) but in the last two hours, Marit kicked everyone into gear and raced me over to the school to paint a Sea Monkey on one of the rocks on the playground. I was quite happy with how it turned out, despite the rush, and I liked the location, where the little kids would be able to see it. 
Then Marit and Arnstein Eek escorted me to another place to do a second mural, in a housing development by the North Harbour, and I expected to paint on one of the big blank walls. But that wasn't what they had in mind. Another artist, inspired by the Gaza conflict, had painted a sniper pointing a gun at a child with a balloon. And while the residents didn't mind the politics so much, they didn't like coming up the stairs in dim light and being confronted by a gun man. So they wondered if I could do something with it.
...Yikes! I didn't know what to think! Would the artist be angry with me for defacing his work? (They didn't manage to record the name of that particular artist.) What might I be saying, politically? I didn't know! And the ferry was leaving in 40 minutes. Marit helped me and we got to work.
Oh boy. What had I done? Well. Marit and Arnstein and another guy there seemed much happier about it. 
The politics of Sea Monkeys. I don't even know; don't ask me to write a paper on that one. Also, we caught the ferry.
I was sad to leave. The Sirabu were so kind, and looked after us so well. The island is beautiful. I hope I can go back one day. 
Big thanks to Maggie, Marit, the teachers, Arne, Arnstein, Daniella & Hans, Borislav the Bulgarian and the Englishman who both gave us lifts, everyone who pitched in to make the trip so wonderful. You can follow Utsira Kommune on Facebook if you want to follow their news. (I think the community is more active on Facebook than Twitter.) And they also keep a blog here. 
The ferry ride back to Haugesund was much quieter, only about a quarter of the passengers were lying down, and some were reading and chatting. John Rullestad from the SILK Festival met us at the dock and took us back to the Viking Museum at Avaldsnes, which I'd visited on my first visit. (Stuart did a quick run around.) We had coffee there with John's wife Helga Rullestad and my new Danish friend from this year's festival, writer Lene Kaaberbøl. Oh, and of course, we dressed up. 
Stuart's gone completely native. 
Just before we left, Maggie handed me a bottle to put into my luggage. So this evening back in London, I took down to our neighbours gifts of Risebrød (chocolatey rice thingies) and brown cheese, and also brought along the bottle so we could all have a taste. Good stuff, Utsira Akevitt. Very strong. Thanks, Maggie! :)
(And well done, reader, if you got this far! I know this is WAAY too long of a blog post, but I did it, really, for myself, as a souvenir. I didn't want to forget anything!)
Goodbye, Norway. We miss you already. x
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 10/14/2014
Just got back from three days being immersed in my favorite thing: children's literature.
After speaking to education students at the University of Richmond, I headed to St. Christopher's School to speak to the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders.
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| (l to r) Librarian Lucinda Whitehurst, me, Librarian Laura Sabo |
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| (l to r) 5th grade student (and reader/writer extraodinaire) Lois Sabo, me, Librarian Laura Sabo |
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| Denise Johnson (left) and me |
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 10/13/2014
All students at Oakview Middle School in Lake Orion, Michigan, read How to Steal a Dog.
Media specialist Alicia Pearce sent me these great photos of some of the activities and discussions surrounding the book.
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| Bulletin Board Display |
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| Interview Questions |
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| Ms. McGran's class |
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| Students discussing the book |
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By: Jerry Beck,
on 9/5/2014
The BBC published a video report on a new animation initiative in Africa that aims to nurture new talent from around the continent.
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By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 8/29/2014
Love that students from a school in Oconee County, Georgia, made Yoohoo boats after reading The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis.
By: Jen Robinson,
on 8/8/2014
Here are highlights from the links that I shared on Twitter this week @JensBookPage. Topics this week include book lists, growing bookworms, ebooks, apps, KidLitCon, Cybils, reading, schools, libraries, and summer reading.
Books and Authors
Children’s Lit Questions From Beyond the Grave: A Wild Things! Interview of @SevenImp + @FuseEight by @100scopenotes http://ow.ly/zZ2fS
Book Lists
es! RT @BookChook: @JensBookPage Think u wd like: @BooksBabiesBows Ten Reasons to Read Aloud During Times of Tragedy http://www.booksbabiesandbows.com/2014/06/ten-reasons-to-read-aloud-during-times.html?spref=tw …
Stacked: Get Genrefied: Climate Fiction (Cli-Fi) http://ow.ly/zVYbo #yalit @catagator #BookList
Top Ten Novels in Verse by @katiestrawser @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/zTWpJ #kidlit
THIS is a great resource | Easy Reader Books That Are Actually Easy, selected by @momandkiddo http://ow.ly/zVXDe
Children's and YA books featuring unlikely friendships from the SSHEL #Library http://ow.ly/zRc5C #BookList
5 Superhero Comics with Girl Power | Friday’s Five @5M4B http://ow.ly/zRbP1
25 Contemporary Picture Books To Help Parents, Teachers, And Kids Talk About #Diversity @buzzfeed http://ow.ly/A1RrK via @FuseEight
eBooks and Apps
Eight Apps to Support Early Reading and Writing | Cool Tools @ShiftTheDigital http://ow.ly/zZv6r
Important thoughts from @MaryAnnScheuer | Reading Online: How will it affect developing readers? http://ow.ly/zZ0ED
Smartphones: The Silent Killer Of The Web As You Know It @ow at The Next Web via @cmirabile http://ow.ly/zRkWL
Growing Bookworms
Great advice from @TrevorHCairney | Helping toddlers to develop reading comprehension http://ow.ly/zVXip #literacy
#RT @ReadAloud_org Babies are born learning and parents are a child's first and most important teacher. Download our 15 Books & Tips http://www2.readaloud.org/15ReadAloudTips
Raising Readers: The Power of Rereading from @SunlitPages http://ow.ly/zZ37Y #literacy
10 easy tips for keeping the love of books alive in an early childhood classroom | @NorahColvin http://ow.ly/zYW43
Kidlitosphere
On Poetry Friday, @JoneMac53 has A Couple of Announcements about #KidLitCon + the call for #Cybils judges http://ow.ly/zRdZ3
Various interesting #kidlit tidbits in: Morning Notes: See You in 2114 Edition — @100scopenotes http://ow.ly/A56VN
RT @KidLitCon: Check out some of the people who will be at this year's #KidLitCon. Will you be there, too? http://t.co/pk1Xzlpcpw
A #Kidlitcon program teaser @charlotteslib (+a note that the deadline for panel ideas has been extended a week) http://ow.ly/zTWrA
Congratulations to @FuseEight + @SevenImp on the publication of Wild Things! Lots of fun stuff planned http://ow.ly/zYXuu
At A Year of Reading, @MaryLeeHahn + @frankisibberson are Celebrating the fabulous @KateMessner http://ow.ly/zRcCR
On Reading, Writing, and Publishing
"Being readers makes us friends" | Happy Esther Day, Nerdy Friends! | @CBethM @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/zTVLN
Interesting: Wikipedia, Amelia Bedelia, and Our Responsibility Regarding Online Sources — @fuseeight http://ow.ly/zRd6s
Programs and Research
New @RalphLauren program has designs to promote kids' #Literacy, 25% of price goes to @ReachOutAndRead http://ow.ly/zYSvJ @Scholastic
Very nice, from SFC Blog: The Y Helps Kids Combat ‘Summer Slide’ http://ow.ly/A1QVQ via @FuseEight #literacy
Scientists Say Child's Play Helps Build A Better Brain, more important than class time | @NPR http://ow.ly/A5lT5 via @PWKidsBookshelf
Schools and Libraries
Love it! A Librarian's Guide to getting to 10,000 Steps in a day from @abbylibrarian http://ow.ly/zTWjU
Nice idea to encourage reading outside of class | The Phenomenon of the 100 Page Club @stephaseverson @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/zVXYK
Summer Reading
Rocking #SummerReading and STEAM @RIFWEB http://ow.ly/A56jG
#SummerReading Tip36 @aliposner | As we head into August, take a moment to reflect on your kids’ reading lives | http://ow.ly/zTW4c
#SummerReading Tip37 @aliposner | When in transit to your destination this summer, establish some no technology time http://ow.ly/zTWgh
#SummerReading Tip38 @aliposner | Parents of boys, pay special attention to your boys’ reading this summer http://ow.ly/zZ2QI
#SummerReading Tip39 @aliposner | Consider motivating summer reading with some great graphic novels! http://ow.ly/A2GJN
© 2014 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.
By: Jen Robinson,
on 8/1/2014
Here are highlights from the links that I shared on Twitter this week @JensBookPage. Topics this week include authors and illustrators, book lists, diversity, growing bookworms, events, summer reading, summer slide, literacy programs, kidlitcon, writing, movies, and schools.
Authors and Illustrators
Wild Things! Funky Buddha Parties to Children’s Books: Before They Were Authors + Illustrators http://ow.ly/zLu55 @SevenImp @FuseEight
Fun! Books the @growingbbb family's favorite Children's Authors Liked When They Were Kids http://ow.ly/zG4qs #kidlit
Book Lists
100 Children's Books to Read in a Lifetime from @Amazon is a pretty nice list http://ow.ly/zJ66c via @PWKidsBookshelf
A Tuesday Ten: SF-based Time Travel in #kidlit | Views From the Tesseract http://ow.ly/zLujJ #BookList
Books to Help Your Child With Common Kid Problems | @BookishHQ http://ow.ly/zL2xS #BookList #kidlit
From @CoffeeandCrayon | A List of Books About Starting Kindergarten http://ow.ly/zLtEQ #kidlit
New #BookList from Stacked: #YAlit involving Hacking, Gaming & Virtual Reality http://ow.ly/zIkwh
A Top Ten Featuring the Coretta Scott King Book Awards by @medinger @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/zG9wo #kidlit
Nice list of Middle Grade titles for #WeNeedDiverseBooks from @girlsincapes http://ow.ly/zG8aO via @charlotteslib
Stacked: Censorship, Challenges, and Other Forms of Protest: A Reading List from @catagator http://ow.ly/zG6hd
Diversity
Congratulations to #WeNeedDiverseBooks for incorporating + having a great advisory board http://ow.ly/zOh8A @sljournal
Sigh! Infographic: The Diversity Gap in Sci-Fi & Fantasy Films. @bkshelvesofdoom @leeandlow http://ow.ly/zJ5aI
Events, Programs, and Research
Very cool! School Librarian Fights Summer Slide with School Bus-Turned-Bookmobile | @sljournalhttp://ow.ly/zOh3J
Encouraging news from @FirstBook blog: How Kansas City Kids Beat Summer Slide http://ow.ly/zAYTP #SummerReading
Neat idea! Richmond mom brings literacy to laundromats | @KALW in SF http://ow.ly/zJ6do via @PWKidsBookshelf
"This summer, the streets of London have been filled with 50 book-shaped benches, celebrating a range of books" http://ow.ly/zB11c
Mind the Gaps: Books for All Young Readers | @HornBook Colloquium sounds neat http://ow.ly/zOhGA #HBAS14 http://ow.ly/zOhP1
Press Release: A Conference on Censorship in #kidlit and a Call for Proposals @fuseeight http://ow.ly/zG5Nv @ArneNixonCenter
Learning To Read May Take Longer Than We Thought @NPR via @PWKidsBookshelf http://ow.ly/zJ5Xd #literacy
Growing Bookworms
The Maze Runner: Hooking Teachers + Reluctant Readers Since 2009 – Review by @shkrajewski @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/zLtQZ
Keep calm + read to your child, @JGCanada advises parents worried about their kids not yet reading http://ow.ly/zLte8
Don't miss: Getting Boys Excited About Reading: Ideas & Resources from @TrevorHCairney http://ow.ly/zAZw0
Kidlitosphere
Wendie Old has all the links you need to learn about this year's #KidLitCon http://ow.ly/zIkPb #kidlit #yalit
#KidLitCon 2014 Still Wants YOU! says co-organizer @aquafortis | She just registered. How about you? http://ow.ly/zGsup
Children's + YA BOOK blogging friends! This is the last week for Session Proposals for #KidLitCon14 http://ow.ly/zGczI
Lots of good stuff in this week's Fusenews, including a plug for #KidLitCon14 from @fuseeight http://ow.ly/zIfpG
A Little Shout-Out to #KidlitCon from co-organizer Tanita Davis: The more we talk about things like #diversity... http://ow.ly/zG9ec
"My best memories of #KidLitCon are getting to meet people in real life" | @LizB on why you should attend http://ow.ly/zG79Q
How I presented at #Kidlitcon, and how you can too! from this year's Program Organizer @charlotteslib http://ow.ly/zG6LI
On Reading, Writing, Publishing
Middle Grade and YA: Where to Draw the Line? (+ where to shelve the books in the store) http://ow.ly/zJ5qf @PublishersWkly #kidlit
I feel like this too: Books as Traveling Companions through life by @AmericanClassrm @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/zG5op
"Read-alouds can sometimes be just as important to the teacher in the classroom" @rantryan @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/zG8GC
I collect bookmarks, too. Loved: Handmade Mini Bookmarks + Books About Reading from @momandkiddo http://ow.ly/zAZzz
Movies and Video
Wild Things! Tar Babies + Cannibals: Children’s Literature + Problematic Cinematic Adaptations http://ow.ly/zIkcm @FuseEight + @SevenImp
#KidLit Film Adaptations: The Good, The Bad, and the Traumatizing at Wild Things! http://ow.ly/zG63c @SevenImp @FuseEight
Who would have thought? 8 Reasons Why @momandkiddo Loves Pokémon http://ow.ly/zIean
Schools
At Literate Lives, suggestions from a dad to his daughter, a first-time first-grade teacher http://ow.ly/zLtmw
The plot to destroy education: Why technology could ruin American classrooms — by trying to fix them @salon http://ow.ly/zODY5
An idea for teachers: Battle of the Books by Sherry Gick @LibraryFanatic @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/zAZWV
Summer Reading
RT @ErinMargolin: SO GOOD! 10 Tips on How to Avoid the Summer Slide http://www.bonbonbreak.com/avoiding-summer-slide/ … via @bonbonbreak
National Book Foundation Launches New #SummerReading Program in NYC http://ow.ly/zODjU via @PWKidsBookshelf
#SummerReading Tip35 from @aliposner | Parents, participate in a READING IN THE WILD scavenger hunt! | @donalynbooks http://ow.ly/zLvcE
Nancy Howe and Rosanne Macek: Keep our kids off the summer slide w/ #SummerReading programs @MercuryNews http://ow.ly/zAPIA
© 2014 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.
By: Jen Robinson,
on 7/25/2014
Here are highlights from the links that I shared on Twitter this week @JensBookPage. This week's topics include book lists, diverse books, ebooks, growing bookworms, events, KidLitCon, literacy programs, literacy research, schools, libraries, and summer reading.
Book Lists and Awards
Fun new #BookList from Stacked: Teenage Criminals http://ow.ly/zydPR #yalit
A Tuesday Ten: Magical Time Travel in #kidlit | Views From the Tesseract http://ow.ly/zvU6C
2014 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Finalists Announced | @sljournal http://ow.ly/zt0Oq #yalit
In honor of Apollo XI moon landing anniversary, @FirstBook shares favorite space-inspired books http://ow.ly/zsTGS
Our Top Ten Favorite Picture Book Friendships by @heisereads + @fins025 @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/zpXKp #kidlit
First Day of School Books, old and new, recommended @growingbbb http://ow.ly/zpPOa #kidlit
Diverse Books
The 10 LGBT YA Books You Need to Read This Year | Kelly Gallucci @BookishHQ http://ow.ly/zvMAz
An big, categorized LGBTQ TBR List For Any Occasion by Alison Peters @bookriot http://ow.ly/zpTkZ via @catagator
eBooks and Apps
A look at Amazon's new Kindle Unlimited from All Sides — @100scopenotes http://ow.ly/zvTi3 #eBooks
Forbes Says Close The Libraries And Buy Everyone An Amazon Kindle Unlimited Subscription http://buff.ly/1mrHHvf #libraries #ebooks
What Young Adult Publishers and Authors Can Do to Fight E-Book Piracy | Karen Springen @PublishersWkly http://ow.ly/zyG5I
Are Today’s Kids All Thumbs? Touch Matters. Researchers Bring Tactile Learning into Digital Realm @ShiftTheDigital http://ow.ly/zt0I3
Events, Programs, and Research
No Kid Hungry: Summer Feeding and Summer Fun @FirstBook blog http://ow.ly/zkiSg #literacy
Press Release Fun @FuseEight | Announcing the Ninth Annual Carle Honors on Sept. 18th http://ow.ly/zydAj
Hillary Clinton launches campaign that recommends reading aloud to children from birth @MercuryNews http://ow.ly/zyeel #literacy
Study finds children who have strong reading skills 'are more intelligent by their mid-teens' | http://ow.ly/zyd10 via @librareanne
Growing Bookworms
Important post! You’ve got them reading–now, how do you keep them that way? | Kathy Higgs-Coulthard @wendy_lawrence http://ow.ly/zpUJU
Grownups: You Can Read YA, and Why Not Read It With Your Kids? | @lori_day @HuffingtonPost via @PWKidsBookshelf http://ow.ly/zsWPw
Teaching My Daughters to Read -- Part IV, Success by @ReadingShahahan http://ow.ly/zpSZN #literacy
"Wimpy Kid" Author's 6 Tips to Hook Reluctant Readers | @CommonSense via @librareanne http://ow.ly/zpDXV
Kidlitosphere
Fusenews: Full of ever-interesting tidbits from @FuseEight, like The Snow Queen – There Can Be Only One http://ow.ly/zpYrR
Don't miss: A Note for Authors and Publishers About #KidLitCon14 from @Book_Nut + @StackingBks http://ow.ly/zpZCU
Still more from Tanita Davis at Finding Wonderland on why you should attend #KidLitCon14 (even/especially introverts) http://ow.ly/zpYNa
"One of the best ways to deepen commitment to #kidlit is meeting other people who share that passion" @MitaliPerkins http://ow.ly/zkiZ8
On Reading, Writing, and Publishing
Why YA needs heroines beyond Katniss Everdeen http://ow.ly/zsWnj @TelegraphBooks via @PWKidsBookshelf #yalit
Thanks for the laugh, @SevenImp + @FuseEight | Celebrity Picture Books: The Gift That Keeps On Giving (laughter) http://ow.ly/zsUi8
Stacked: A Short Update on a YALSA Policy Change from @catagator http://ow.ly/zpX4g
Things that cause readers to "hit pause" on some books, by @donalynbooks @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/zpTRe
Lovely Infographic: (Canadian) Readers Save the World, shared @bkshelvesofdoom http://ow.ly/zkke7 #literacy @CBCBooks
Schools and Libraries
Why Poor Schools Can’t Win at Standardized Testing (costly textbooks) - Meredith Broussard @TheAtlantic http://ow.ly/zsVR1
Why Do Americans Stink at Math?: NYT article recommended by Jeff Barger http://ow.ly/zyFTZ
Great tips for Supporting Readers During Workshops: The First Few Weeks, by Katie DiCesare @ChoiceLiteracy http://ow.ly/zpE8m
How I Addressed Gender Bias in My Book Club by NC teacher librarian @sedley1 @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/zkjJu
How The Public Library Turned Me Into A Reader by Claire Fallon @HuffPostBooks http://ow.ly/zyGiDvia @PWKidsBookshelf
Summer Reading
#SummerReading Tip27 @aliposner | Encourage summer writing by authoring books (journals) this summer http://ow.ly/zkk2A
#SummerReading Tip29 @aliposner | Use summer as an opportunity to build your child’s vocabulary! http://ow.ly/zpWFG
I'm tempted by #SummerReading Tip30 @aliposner | have “ice cream only day” with your kids (+ tie in #literacy )! http://ow.ly/zsUGe
© 2014 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.
By: Jen Robinson,
on 7/18/2014
Here are highlights from the links that I shared on Twitter this week @JensBookPage. Topics this week include authors, book lists, the Cybils, common core, aging, ebooks, apps, growing bookworms, kidlitcon, reading, writing, play, schools, libraries, and summer reading.
Books and Authors
Stories from authors about school visits "gone terribly wrong" at Wild Things blog http://ow.ly/zcwJO @SevenImp @FuseEight
Book Lists and Awards
Amazon-backed Booktrust Best Book Awards‘ Lifetime Achievement Award turned down by Allan Ahlberg | @TheBookseller http://ow.ly/z3OLT
The Wildest (bold + unique) Children’s Books of 2014 as picked by @100scopenotes http://ow.ly/zcxat #kidlit
Who knew that there could be a list of Top 5 Picture Books about Ninjas? @rosemondcates could! http://ow.ly/z3KJl #kidlit
Thanks! RT @145lewis: #CYBILS are an amazing resource Looking for summer reading ideas? http://dadtalk.typepad.com/cybils/finalists/ … #kidlit #edchat #elemed
Common Core and STEM
#CommonCore Becomes Touchy Subject for Governors Group, reports @WSJ, as both parties are internally split on CC http://ow.ly/z5fA0
Tap the STEM Resources in Your Community! | ALSC Blog post for librarians by @amyeileenk http://ow.ly/z3KzZ
Diversity
eBooks and Apps
RT @TWhitford: Great Apps To Introduce Coding to Young Kids http://goo.gl/uUdGX0 via @mattBgomez
Malorie Blackman: ‘I love gadgets, but e-reading has to be carefully handled’ | @GuardianBooks http://ow.ly/z3P8z via @PWKidsBookshelf
Growing Bookworms
What Do Phonics, Phonemic Awareness and Decoding Mean? @CoffeeandCrayon has the scoop http://ow.ly/zeLEb #literacy
Teaching My Daughters to Read -- Part III, Phonics from @ReadingShahahan http://ow.ly/zcvyn #literacy
RT @LiteracySpeaks: 5 Simple Ways to Improve Reading Comprehension from This Reading Mama! http://fb.me/6BtWnEOln
Fun times @everead | How I Stopped My Children's Whining with Story Club http://ow.ly/z5eUD #literacy
KidLitCon
BOOM: And we are LIVE! Why you should attend this year's KidLitCon, from co-organizer Tanita Davis, FindingWonderland http://ow.ly/zcvbM
The registration form for #KidLitCon14 Oct. 10-11 in Sacramento is now live: http://ow.ly/zc0lr A great way to see friends + talk books
October will be here soon, soon, soon — @bkshelvesofdoom is coming to #KidLitCon14 Are you? http://ow.ly/z3GYs
RT @CBethM: The 8th Annual @KidLitCon - Spending Time Face-to-Face with Kindred Spirits by @JensBookPage #nerdybookclub http://wp.me/p21t9O-1zS
On Reading, Writing, and Publishing
On having (and integrating) multiple Reading Lives by Kristin McIlhagga @TeachChildLit @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/z94kV
Cultivating Curiosity, on love of stories vs. love of words at So Obsessed With blog http://ow.ly/z94SO via @catagator
Why Book Reviewers Would Make Awesome Authors, by @Miss_Fictional http://ow.ly/zcvDd
A proposal from @100scopenotes | All Middle Grade Novels Should Be 192 Pages. No Exceptions. Thoughts? http://ow.ly/zcvYJ
Here's what @medinger thinks about @100scopenotes idea for Putting a Stop to Middle Grade Novel’s Increasing Girth http://ow.ly/zcwej
Confessions Of A Binge Reader (Or, How I Read So Much) | Ryan Holiday at Thought Catalog http://ow.ly/z3LKY via @tashrow
Why Readers, Scientifically, Are The Best People To Fall In Love With @EliteDaily http://ow.ly/z3NZQ via @librareanne
On Kids
How Much Activity Do Our Students Need? asks @katsok How do you help kids who can't sit still, in era of less recess? http://ow.ly/z92pA
Did What You Played as a Kid Influence Who You Became as an Adult? asks @FreeRangeKids http://ow.ly/z933H
Schools and Libraries
Bridging the Gap: Making #Libraries More Accessible for a Diverse Autistic Population | @sljournal http://ow.ly/z3Omk
Corporal Punishment in Schools: Can it be Justified? @TrevorHCairney thinks it's not the right approach http://ow.ly/zi3el
Top 10 Ways to Turn Classroom into a Hotbed of Enthusiastic Readers by @megangreads + @muellerholly @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/z5eFi
Summer Reading
#SummerReading Tip20 @aliposner Set up your vacation accommodations in ways that make literacy more likely to occur http://ow.ly/z3LbF
#SummerReading Tip21 @aliposner Encourage your kids to author “vacation books” when you are traveling this summer http://ow.ly/z5eOF
#SummerReading Tip25 @aliposner | Read the SAME BOOK that your child is reading independently + discuss it together http://ow.ly/zeM9u
#SummerReading Tip26 @aliposner | Try to connect reading to your kids’ summer activities http://ow.ly/zi3mT #literacy
Reading Is Fundamental Study Says Summer Reading Is Not Priority | reports Lauren Barack @sljournal http://ow.ly/z3OeW @RIFWEB
© 2014 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.
By: Jen Robinson,
on 6/27/2014
Here are highlights from the links that I shared on Twitter this week @JensBookPage. This week's topics include book lists and awards, common core and nonfiction, growing bookworms, reading, publishing, schools, libraries, and summer reading.
Book Lists and Awards
International Reading Association 2014 Book Awards | @tashrow http://ow.ly/yrDr6 #kidlit @IRAToday
The 2014 New Zealand Post Margaret Mahy Book of the Year is The Boring Book by Vasanti Unka http://ow.ly/ymcXW via @bkshelvesofdoom
My Magnificent Seven: Fiction Books for Tech Lovers from @BookZone http://ow.ly/yudF2 #yalit #kidlit
Stacked: 2014 Printz and Morris Predictions at the Half-Way Point from @catagator http://ow.ly/yudgo #YAlit
A fun list! 14 Chapter Books about the Theater from @momandkiddo http://ow.ly/ymcbF #kidlit
13 Books with #LGBTQ Characters, #booklist from @Book_Nut http://ow.ly/ykdnF #kidlit
A new #booklist from @FuseEight | 2014 Quaker Books for Quaker Kids http://ow.ly/ymd8I #kidlit
Common Core / Nonfiction
The Uncommon Corps: Mary Ann Cappiello calls for #Nonfiction Book Festivals for Kids http://ow.ly/ypPWE #kidlit
Shanahan on #Literacy: The New Bane of Beginning Reading Instruction: Phony Rigor http://ow.ly/ypPTd #CommonCore
Growing Bookworms
American Academy of Pediatrics Backs Reading Aloud from Infancy http://ow.ly/ypMVm via @PWKidsBookshelf @ReachOutAndRead @Scholastic
Pediatricians recognize importance of reading aloud to babies | @JGCanada on news from American Academy of Pediatrics http://ow.ly/ypPZu
"Reading aloud to infants is a powerful message to send to all parents" | @tashrow on new MD recs re: reading aloud http://ow.ly/ypQ2u
Reading Tips for Parents of Babies | @ReadingRockets via @librareanne http://ow.ly/yua2A#GrowingBookworms
What to Do When Reading Is Too "Sitty" | @ImaginationSoup @readingrockets via @librareanne http://ow.ly/ykdg6 #literacy
Miscellaneous
Thomas the Tank Engine chugs its way to Edaville Railroad in MA. I remember visiting Edaville as a kid :-) http://ow.ly/yeKMf
I love programs like this: Google pushes girls into coding with 'Made With Code' program - @MercuryNews http://ow.ly/yh609
On Reading, Blogging, and Publishing
I read books. Does that make me a nerd? asks teen columnist in @GuardianBooks http://ow.ly/yeKAQ via @PWKidsBookshelf
Bill at Literate Lives shares 5 Things That Made Him a Reader (incl. Willy Wonka) http://ow.ly/yrF0o #literacy
100 First Lines from speculative #kidlit | Follow-Up: The Answers! | Views From the Tesseract http://ow.ly/ykdC9
Must-read post for book bloggers from @catagator at Stacked: On Blogging, Responsibility, and Content Ownership http://ow.ly/ymdWC
So sad to hear via @bkshelvesofdoom that the Strange Chemistry #yalit imprint is being discontinued http://ow.ly/yh3au @StrangeChem
Schools and Libraries
Way to make a difference! Bookmobile donated by Ellen DeGeneres keeps kids reading - Tulsa World http://ow.ly/yv1tV #libraries
A detailed description of her library's 1st Digital Storytime (iPad apps projected on big screen) from @greenbeanblog http://ow.ly/yrDRB
From the Office of the Future of Reading feature @KirbyLarson says Farewell at least for the summer #libraries http://ow.ly/yuceZ
Good stuff from The Show Me Librarian: Thoughts on Reader's Advisory http://ow.ly/ymec9 #libraries
New York Schools Chief Advocates More ‘Balanced #Literacy’ @NYTimes via @PWKidsBookshelf http://ow.ly/yv1fY
Uncommon Corps: Get a Grip: We Need to Focus This Conversation about Including Parents in Education | Myra Zarnowski http://ow.ly/yuby5
"When I do give homework I’m pretty fanatic about the kids doing it on their own." @medinger on homework + parents http://ow.ly/ykdrG
Middle School Student-Parent Book Club – A Recipe for Success by @annhagedorn @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/yh5d7
Summer Reading
Books Beat Summer Slide, nice graphic @FirstBook blog http://ow.ly/yh1Fg #SummerReading
Good advice from Alysa @Everead : How to Visit the #Library with Kids http://ow.ly/yh4IN#SummerReading
Nashville Public Library Reinvents Its #SummerReading Model, Sees Early Success | Lindsey Patrick in @sljournal http://ow.ly/yuDxw
Children's #SummerReading Guide 2014: Level 1 Readers + Beyond - how publishers + librarians try to help parents @wsj http://ow.ly/yrBhB
Raising #SummerReaders: Tip-a-Day series | Raising Great Readers with Great Books by @aliposner http://ow.ly/ykduk
Raising Summer Readers Tip-a-Day #2: Create a Summer Bucket List from @aliposner http://ow.ly/ymdfR #GrowingBookworms
#SummerReading Tip-a-Day #3: Make sure your child always has a next book in mind for after the current one @aliposner http://ow.ly/ypPJW
Raising #SummerReading Tip-a-Day #4: Help your children make “summer book bags” | @aliposner http://ow.ly/yrEgj
Great Kid Books: #SummerReading Favorites: 5th grade suggestions from @MaryAnnScheuer http://ow.ly/yuaNb #kidlit
Nice list of #SummerReading suggestions for kids from Mike Lewis (link goes to PDF) http://ow.ly/ymexO via @FuseEight
First Book's Summer Book List: High School includes Mare's War by Tanita Davis :-) http://ow.ly/yh1sC@FirstBook
So glad to hear that @lochwouters experience of Going Prizeless in her library #SummerReading program is going well http://ow.ly/yh2hI
© 2014 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.
By: Jen Robinson,
on 6/20/2014
Here are highlights from the links that I shared on Twitter over the past two weeks @JensBookPage. I have a lot of links because I was traveling last week, and wasn't able to do a post. Topics include book lists and awards, common core, diversity and gender, growing bookworms, kidlitosphere, reading, writing, schools, libraries, and summer reading.
Book Lists and Awards (find other lists in the Summer Reading section below)
Cool Correspondence | Great Books About Writing Letters | @sljournal #booklist http://ow.ly/yeCXi #kidlit
Always interesting | Newbery / Caldecott 2015: The Summer Prediction Edition from @fuseeight http://ow.ly/y9Ovj #kidlit
Ten Fantastic Father-figures in middle grade science speculative fiction from Views From the Tesseract http://ow.ly/ybPhK #kidlit
Congratulations to @gregpincus | The 14 Fibs of Gregory K is deservedly on the Bank Street Best Children's Books list http://ow.ly/ybO3d
Another fun set of lists from @catagator Stacked | Microtrends in YA Fiction (like being stuck in elevators) http://ow.ly/y9L6p #yalit
Semi-Grown-Up Gumshoes: Three Adult-Market Girl Detectives. http://goo.gl/A5QZmW @bkshelvesofdoom
Common Core
Math: "a lens through which we can see the world better", Jordan Ellenberg quoted in post by Marc Aronson #CommonCore http://ow.ly/ybOwD
Cut to the Core: #CommonCore Is a Hot Topic at Trade Shows http://ow.ly/xWP9y @PublishersWkly
Testing (Again), the Gates Foundation, and Curriculum by Mary Ann Cappiello at The Uncommon Corps http://goo.gl/v6NzfJ
Great Kid Books: #CommonCore IRL: Digital Resources for students studying Colonial America http://ow.ly/xFrGv @MaryAnnScheuer
Diversity + Gender
Diverse Books – on why we ALL need them! by @BooksYALove http://ow.ly/xNviZ #WeNeedDiverseBooks
The Brown Bookshelf shares message from @RIFWEB | how + why to choose good multicultural children's books http://ow.ly/ybPY7 #diversity
#Diversity in Publishing: Next Steps from the Discussion from @thetoast http://ow.ly/xWPmL via @PWKidsBookshelf
Useful resource from Grace Lin | A Cheat Sheet for Selling #Diversity in books http://ow.ly/xQBH2 via @FuseEight
First Book Pledges to Buy Diverse Books in response to #WeNeedDiverseBooks @sljournal http://ow.ly/xNQUI @FirstBook
Interesting question from @haleshannon squeetus: Is anyone really "able-bodied"? Disability as continuum http://ow.ly/xNqjk #diversity
The Muscle-Flexing, Mind-Blowing Book Girls Will Inherit The Earth : Monkey See : @NPRBooks http://ow.ly/xNBBj via @tashrow
Growing Bookworms
So true! "It doesn’t take fine literature to hook a kid for life." @LisaGraff @NerdyBookClub on keeping reading fun http://ow.ly/yerfH
"Reading should not be a chore." On the use of apps that force kids to log book time to earn screen time @salon http://ow.ly/y9H50
Are fathers better at bedtime stories than mothers? - @TelegraphNews via @librareanne http://ow.ly/xWQKo
#DadsRead Campaign Celebrates Fathers Reading to Kids | @sljournal @ZoobeanForKids @goodmenproject http://ow.ly/xWQaU
"I ... credit my husband's love for literature with ... Sprout's enthusiasm for books." @SproutsBkshelf for #DadsRead http://ow.ly/xWOPe
#DadsRead Because Dads are Awesome —adorable photos from @fuseeight for @ZoobeanForKids + @goodmenproject effort http://ow.ly/xNVAC
Raise A Reader: A Parent Guide to Reading for Ages 3-5 | @Scholastic http://ow.ly/xNEqc via @librareanne #literacy
How to encourage students to read for pleasure: teachers share their top tips | Teacher Network via @librareanne http://ow.ly/xFsHm
Kidlitosphere
The scoop from @100scopenotes | #Bookaday-gate Resolved! @donalynbooks #BookADay #BookADayUK http://ow.ly/xNqzn
For her 200th Post, Stephanie Whelan shares First Impressions Through 100 Favorite First Lines in #kidlit http://ow.ly/y9K4w
On Reading, Writing, Publishing
The fault in our aesthetic pigeonholing: Who cares if grown-ups read young-adult fiction? - @GlobeAndMail http://ow.ly/xWPGs
Where, What, How, and Why Teens Do and Don’t Read | Consider the Source | Seeta Pai @CommonSense Media in @sljournal http://ow.ly/xNR5V
Really? Are We Still Genre Shaming People For The Books They Like? Lauren Davis at io9 http://ow.ly/xQCCh via @gail_gauthier
This is hilarious: "adults should be ashamed to read children’s literature!" Satire from Marjorie Ingall http://ow.ly/xQBet @FuseEight
More great stuff! Ten Reasons To Read YA (No Matter What Age You Are) from @Gwenda http://ow.ly/xNtT5 #yalit
Can you infer an author's interests sometimes? Check out Cats, Dogs and Other Authors’ Favorite Motifs @read4keeps http://ow.ly/xNqL6
Schools and Libraries
A teacher says: "you continue the practice of reading aloud because it is right" @Shoulded @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/xNrFc
Ways that kindergarten teachers can foster the love of literacy in kids | Jennifer Schwanke @ChoiceLiteracy http://ow.ly/xNO2h
"As a teacher, I see the importance of caring, compassionate, and dedicated librarians" @JustinStygles @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/xNCt9
When You Know Better: A Journey to Authentic Book Clubs (learning from @donalynbooks ) by @jenbrittin @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/y9KvH
Rethinking Teaching Choices, some thoughts on Accelerated Reader programs from @katsok http://ow.ly/y9Mce
I love @lochwouters descriptions of her annual Library Camp-Out programs. Such a fun way to grow bookworms! http://ow.ly/yegbW
The loss of a school's librarian, from the librarian's point of view, sadly, Zoe @playbythebook http://ow.ly/yeuVb
UpClose: Designing 21st-Century Libraries | How we were vs. are now using libraries @LibraryJournal http://ow.ly/yeCND
Good news! RT @tashrow Libraries see light after years of cuts http://buff.ly/1ulvqiq #libraries
Summer Reading
Great stuff! Top 10 Ways to Enjoy Reading This Summer by @jamibookmom @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/xNth2 #GrowingBookworms
10 Tips for Getting Kids Reading This Summer #SummerReading @5m4b http://ow.ly/xWOYj #literacy
Great photos! Top 10 Just Right #SummerReading Nook Ideas from @growingbbb http://ow.ly/y9JYf
Sigh! New Survey from @RIFweb Finds Only 17% of Parents Make Reading a Top Priority for Summer http://bit.ly/1iHaziD
8 Tips to Prevent the #SummerReading Slide from @growingbbb http://ow.ly/yeqPb #literacy
RAISING A READER Organization Offers Tips for Getting Children to Read During Summer Vacation http://ow.ly/xNwmU via @tashrow
I'm loving this series by @MaryAnnScheuer | Here are #SummerReading favorites for Kindergarteners http://ow.ly/y9KVc #kidlit
Lots of ideas in #SummerReading favorites: 1st grade suggestions from @MaryAnnScheuer http://ow.ly/y9K9R #kidlit
Reading is fun! #SummerReading favorites from @MaryAnnScheuer | 3rd grade suggestions http://ow.ly/yeqca #kidlit
12 #SummerReading lists by transportation category (inc. rocketship) from @NPR http://ow.ly/ybPEl #bookyourtrip via @bkshelvesofdoom
#Diverse #SummerReading Picks For Kids from Michael Martin @npr via @PWKidsBookshelf http://ow.ly/xNPPB
Stacked with a literal twist on "Summer" Reads, 2014 Edition ( #yalit with summer in the title) http://ow.ly/xNrTe @catagator
© 2014 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.
By: Jen Robinson,
on 6/6/2014
Here are highlights from the links that I shared on Twitter this week @JensBookPage. Topics covered this week include book lists and awards, diversity and gender, growing bookworms, the kidlitosphere, parenting, reading, writing, publishing, schools, libraries, and summer reading.
Book Lists and Awards
Stacked: Get Genrefied: Magical Realism in #yalit http://ow.ly/xAi0O @catagator
Barbro Lindgren Wins Lindgren Prize, reports @tashrow at Waking Brain Cells http://ow.ly/xD0Kb #kidlit
The 2014 Lambda Awards have been announced, via @bkshelvesofdoom http://ow.ly/xAhdg #yalit
Four-and-a-half books about the Rwandan Genocide, list from @bkshelvesofdoom who would like other suggestions http://ow.ly/xD0ST #kidlit
Stacked: Making a List & Checking it Twice: Bucket Lists and More in YA (a microtrend) http://ow.ly/xxf8c @catagator #yalit
A solid list | The Best of the Underrated Middle School Books from @fuseeight http://ow.ly/xAhPD #kidlit
The Top Ten Books I Never Wanted to Read (But I’m Glad I Did) by @emilypmiller3 @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/xtAzp #kidlit
Everead: 10 Books to Read to a Kindergarten Class, plus some tips, from Alysa Stewart http://ow.ly/xxhf2 #GrowingBookworms
Who knew that there were 12 Picture Books about Theater for Kids? Erica @momandkiddo has the list! http://ow.ly/xxd6W
Lovely start to the week: Sink Your Teeth into a Sweet Read: Books about Candy, from SSHEL blog http://ow.ly/xx9Wh #kidlit
Diversity + Gender
At The Uncommon Corps, Marc Aronson addresses how we can help encourage girls in math + computer sicence http://ow.ly/xD2ki
Guest Post @CynLeitichSmith | Varsha Bajaj on Reading Across Borders & Cultures http://ow.ly/xD1AG #kidlit #diversity
#WeNeedDiverseBooks, The Panel & Musings on Diversity Discussions from Tanita Davis http://ow.ly/xAghx + #KidLitCon plug
Overview of #WeNeedDiverseBooks panel at BEA 2014 by @sdiaz101 in @sljournal http://ow.ly/xABg1
#WeNeedDiverseBooks Announces New Initiatives at BEA, reports @PWKidsBookshelf http://ow.ly/xASXN
Growing Bookworms
How and Why You Should Help with the #DadsRead Campaign — @ZoobeanForKids http://ow.ly/xDeEV #literacy
Announcing the launch of @ReadingTub Recommendations newsletter - Just in Time for Summer | Family Bookshelf http://ow.ly/xD0xR #kidlit
Judy Blume: Parents worry too much about their kids are reading, @TelegraphArts http://ow.ly/xATfj via @PWKidsBookshelf
Growing up in home w/ lots of books + being read to as a toddler have biggest impact on school readiness http://ow.ly/xx7mN @librareanne
The Reading Teacher by Emily Rozmus @rozmuse @nerdybookclub http://goo.gl/XN4Yeh #growingbookworms
Kidlitosphere
Lots of #kidlit news at Morning Notes: Sit on a Book Edition — @100scopenotes http://ow.ly/xD2X1
Always full of interesting tidbits: Fusenews: The Bear grumbleth “mum mum” — @fuseeight http://ow.ly/xtAQf
48 Hour Book Challenge: A Call for Diversity from @MotherReader http://ow.ly/xAgt4 #48HBC
Good to see countdown to this weekend's 48 Hour Book Challenge @MotherReader | Who is participating? http://ow.ly/xxcvB #48HBC
Much deserved! Celebrating @MotherReader With a Donation to @FirstBook from @MaryLeeHahn + @frankisibberson http://ow.ly/xxfWI
Miscellaneous
Have a Productive Day! | @tashrow links to 2 recent articles about improving personal productivity
Fun! Disney Parks Are Hiding These 35 Secrets From Us...And You Probably Never Noticed! http://ow.ly/xtAlX via @escapeadulthood
On Reading, Writing, and Publishing
Round Up of SLJ Day of Dialog 2014 at BEA from @roccoa @sljournal http://ow.ly/xAB4D
Words to live by! RT @donalynbooks "@rikkir77 @JensBookPage Just read every day and let the rest take care of itself!"
Interesting ideas for reinventing the bookshop to attract people to physical stores in @intlifemag http://ow.ly/xxegk via @medinger
On the autonomy that came with being given permission to read the once-forbidden Harry Potter books http://ow.ly/xx9lv @NPRBooks
12 Quotes From Roald Dahl for Book Lovers @mashable via @tashrow http://goo.gl/8ogjKN #kidlit
Parenting
I loved reading Ami's plan to give her kids a relaxing, time-filled summer vacation at bunkers down http://ow.ly/xxb7C
This post on Building Trust by @lochwouters in response to @NPRBooks piece, resonated with me http://ow.ly/xxhrb
Schools and Libraries
On the importance of audiobooks for teachers + in the classroom by Kristin Becker @KirbyLarson http://ow.ly/xAh3v
I'm enjoying @MaryAnnScheuer series on #CommonCore IRL. Today: Life in Colonial America (grades 3-5) http://ow.ly/xxdxq #kidlit
Summer Reading
Age-selected, updated lists for Building a Home Library from @CBCBook @ALALibrary + @alscblog http://ow.ly/xDfNK #SummerReading
Parents: Here are links to Free #SummerReading Resources for the Whole Family from @Scholastic http://ow.ly/xAdbf
Nice little roundup of #SummerReading Resources, including links to @Scholastic lists from @365GCB http://ow.ly/xxaln
How to Get Kids Hooked on Nonfiction Books This Summer | @MindShiftKQED http://ow.ly/xtBFJ via @tashrow #SummerReading
Things I wish people knew about #SummerReading from @greenbeanblog http://goo.gl/0OYULU
© 2014 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.
By: Jen Robinson,
on 5/30/2014
Here are highlights from the links that I shared on Twitter this week @JensBookPage. There are a few links from last week, too, shared from my iPad while I was on vacation in Disney World. Topics this week include authors, book lists and awards, common core, diversity, events, growing bookworms, reading, publishing, schools, libraries, and summer reading.
Authors
Henry Winkler: I love acting but I am proudest of my books - @TelegraphBooks http://ow.ly/xmNSB via @PWKidsBookshelf
Book Lists and Awards
As Easy as ABC: Awards, Best Sellers, and Critical Thinking by @gregpincus http://goo.gl/UAAJPU
Kirkus Reviews unveils three $50,000 book prizes (for fiction, nonfiction, and #kidlit) http://ow.ly/xoTaovia @bkshelvesofdoom
Damian Dibben's top 10 time travel books | @GuardianBooks via @tashrow http://ow.ly/xjUgM #kidlit
Interesting! Top Ten List: Favorite Postmodern Picture Books by Frank Serafini @nerdybookclub http://goo.gl/c9lTMY #kidlit
So You Want To Read Middle Grade: Natalie Aguirre on upper middle grade #kidlit @greenbeanblog http://goo.gl/8WRC6T
YA Gets Nordic: Seven Stories with Roots in Norse Mythology from @bkshelvesofdoom http://goo.gl/O2QRoK #yalit
A Tuesday Ten: London Calling . . . | Speculative #kidlit set in London | Views From the Tesseract http://goo.gl/5TRX3v
3 YA Novels To Help Us Remember Our Nigerian Girls @mitaliperkins http://goo.gl/nXDsp1
Common Core
Part One: Developing Your Nonfiction Reading Aptitude by Sue Bartle at The Uncommon Corps http://goo.gl/m4oB5p #commoncore
Beyond the Backmatter: Nonfiction Equivalents of Bonus Features and Director Commentary at The Uncommon Core http://goo.gl/45sIvh
Diversity
Thursday Three: Diverse Picture Books suggested by @MotherReader http://goo.gl/A96Hsv
For Armchair BEA, @MsYingling shares a list of books for kids about other cultures http://ow.ly/xoTHk #WeNeedDiverseBooks #kidlit
How To Get People To Care: Anatomy Of A Trending Hashtag, #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign @FastCompany http://ow.ly/xmD0i @PWKidsBookshelf
Where Are All The Fat Girls In Literature? | Mariko Tamaki in @HuffPostBooks http://ow.ly/xkbwt via @PWKidsBookshelf
It's Not Me, It's You: Letting Go of the Status Quo | Zetta Elliott @HuffPostBooks http://ow.ly/xkaUJ via @SheilaRuth #diversity
Diversity in Children's Books: Moving From Outcry to Real, Market-Driven Solutions | Kyle Zimmer @FirstBook @HuffPost http://ow.ly/xjUln
Events, Programs and Research
Activities for Children's Book Week 2014 suggestions from @BookChook http://goo.gl/LjsVS1
Read with your ears! Free SYNC audiobooks this summer, starting now! | @BooksYALove http://ow.ly/xjYKR
It's time for The Sixth Annual Book-a-Day Challenge from @donalynbooks http://goo.gl/PFqkBw #bookaday
Central Ohio Blogger Breakfast to Kick Off to 48 Hour Read and Book-A-Day @FrankiSibberson #bookaday #48hbc http://goo.gl/GuDSL1
Successful Brains, on the behavior differences between successful people and not from @tashrow http://goo.gl/8rK7sd
Growing Bookworms
When Imagination, Story & Creativity Work As One by @TrevorHCairney http://goo.gl/xEFYwm #literacy
Create a reading culture, make sure you are not perpetuating" gender stereotypes, writes Stacy Dillon http://goo.gl/XD4i1t
Good advice! Chris Evans: parents must read to their children, in @TelegraphArts http://ow.ly/xoM7F via @librareanne
The progression of her sons as readers by @katsok and how to create the next generation of @NerdyBookClub members http://ow.ly/xmwtR
"The best thing we can do to ensure our boys are reading ... is to get to know each child" @katsok on boys + reading http://ow.ly/xjTJm
On building a reading culture | We’re All In This Together by Emily Meixner @NerdyBookClub http://goo.gl/vUn4y1
Kidlitosphere
RT @RosemondCates Check out the fabulous @JensBookPage on http://www.bighairandbooks.blogspot.com #spotlightsaturday
On Reading, Writing, and Publishing
"why do we keep judging readers who don’t have the privilege of buying ... books from a (physical) store?" @catagator http://ow.ly/xoUWM
At The Uncommon Corps, Marc Aronson explores the question of what we mean by "pleasure reading" http://ow.ly/xmvh1
Define "Reading", @catagator responds to recent studies about people reading less, questions definition of readinghttp://ow.ly/xjYEs
Fun! Putting Your Book in Your Book — @100scopenotes (on illustrators including call-backs to their own work) http://ow.ly/xmw26
A refreshing primer from @tlt16 | Dear Media, Let me help you write that article on #YAlit http://ow.ly/xkbiY via @PWKidsBookshelf
MAKING OUR OWN MARKET: Why I Leaped into Print-on-Demand and Ebook Publishing by Carole Boston Weatherford | http://ow.ly/xmvH8
On ‘The John Green Effect,’ Contemporary Realism, and Form as a Political Act by Anne Ursu http://goo.gl/Tkt2UK via @bkshelvesofdoom
Schools and Libraries
Can teachers read books only for pleasure or do they think about teaching? Both. by Amanda Jaksetic @nerdybookclub http://goo.gl/pEDT0U
Another sigh! School Librarians Get No Love in Allentown School District (1 librarian for 15 elem dists) | @sljournal http://ow.ly/xmDgH
Sigh! California’s Modesto City Schools To End Library Instruction for Elementary Schools | @sljournal http://ow.ly/xk5Fa
Summer Reading
IndieBound has released recommended#SummerReading #kidlit. @tashrow shares the top ten, w/ links to more http://ow.ly/xoSS8
#SummerReading List: Books, Resources and Programs by @momandkiddo http://goo.gl/UJI80R
© 2014 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.
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 5/27/2014
My last school visit of the year was a special one.
I spoke to 4th and 5th graders at the Mather School in Dorchester, MA. (It's the first tax-supported public elementary school in the U.S.)
All of the students had read The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis.
We had some great discussions about the book: their favorite parts, the character they liked best and why, any connections they had, etc.
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| Students showing drawings of their favorite scene |
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| More drawings of favorite scenes |
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| A student making a video for The Foundation for Children's Books |
By: Sarah McIntyre,
on 5/12/2014
Getting an author to visit your school, library or festival is a brilliant way to inspire kids to read and fire up their creativity. I find a lot of kids don’t really understand that the name on a book cover is a real person. (It’s not some sort of box with a button that you push, and out comes a book.) And when they can see right in front of them that a writer or illustrator is a person who walks and talks and laughs and gets excited about stories, and occasionally makes mistakes, they get an inkling of possibilities: Hey, maybe this is something I could do, too! 
It’s so much more exciting to read a book by someone they’ve met. And if they get hooked on a story or two by that author, they may go on to read other authors, and it can open up to them a lifetime of reading, drawing, and enjoying books and stories. But any author will tell you that it's the host's preparation that can make all the difference between a wildly successful visit and one that make much less impact. 
During the past few years, I’ve picked up a few things that could be helpful if you’re thinking of organising your own Author Visit. (And when I say ‘author’, that can mean a writer or illustrator, they’ve both authors of creative work.)
* Book as far in advance as you can. If you're hoping to book an author for World Book Day, you’ll need to add in extra time, possibly a whole year. Alternatively, you can organise a school book day on another day and have a much better chance of getting an author, particularly at shorter notice.
* Expect to pay your author. You get paid; they should, too. Remember an hour-long school event still can mean several hours of travel, possibly an overnight stay if the author’s coming a long way, preparation time, time away from their regular work, being tired the following day, and the inevitable follow-up head cold. You can read a good article by Nicola Morgan on author visit fees.
* Discuss book sales in advance. Book sales are important: if kids gets excited about an author and a particular book, it makes perfect sense to put that book into their hands right away so they can read it. A signed book may be something they treasure for their whole lives and it will remind them of the visit. Also, it helps the author to carry on doing their job; publishers don’t have a lot of patience for slow sales and will drop authors quickly. John Dougherty’s written a good article about books sales.
* Discuss event format. Authors are all different; some will prefer working with large assemblies and some will want smaller workshops. You can negotiate over e-mail or by phone with them what kind of sessions will work best with the room sizes and school timetable.
* Display your children’s work. Kids get way more excited about doing something creative if they know their efforts will go up on the walls, not stuffed into a desk and forgotten. If you do this well before the author visits, it will create a good creative atmosphere. (Most teachers do this, but I've visited a few schools with no work on the walls at all.)
* Don’t worry about CRB checks. Unless the author is doing long-term work with the group, or one-on-one sessions, this isn’t legally necessary and takes up a lot of time and money. A good reference is much more valuable.
* Prepare your kids. If you whip up excitement in advance, kids will pay far, far more attention on the day and come away much more inspired than if they come into the auditorium wondering, who is this person, some eccentric supply teacher? Set projects based on the author’s work. Perhaps create a wall area featuring the author, with photos, book covers, illustrated characters, things the kids have researched about him or her and written or drawn. Let your author know in advance that you've done a project, so the author can tailor their presentation to something more in-depth than a basic introduction to the books. (They will have to assume no one has read the books unless you tell them otherwise.) One of the best schools for this I’ve ever encountered was Green Lane Primary, have a look at their preparation work here.
* Check out the author's website. Besides being good research, he or she may have materials you can use in advance or as follow-up to the session.
* Come up with a good system for book purchases. Don't expect kids to remember to bring money on the day, have a good pre-order system in place. Your kids WILL want books after a good author visit, and it’s a shame to let them down.
* Get in touch. Contact the author at least two weeks before the event to pin down any final details. Be sure the author has:
- your contact name and number; also a contact name and number for the person who's collecting him or her from the station if it's not you
- If the author is driving, supply information about parking
- Expected arrival time
- Schedule of events with group sizes and age groups, including book signings, breaks and lunch time
- Any further details about book sales
Ideally, all this information should all go on a sheet of paper that the author can print out, so they don't have to piece together lots of different information in e-mails, possibly missing an important detail.
* Think about photos. Clear in advance which kids can appear in them: it's great to have a photo of the author with some of your children, perhaps holding up work they've done during the visit. Useful for the school website, newsletter, perhaps to print and hang up in the class as a reminder of the visit. 
* Local media: do you want to alert them? It's good publicity for the school and the author!
* Assess your supplies: White board, flip chart or visualiser? Remember that if you invite an illustrator to draw on your interactive white board, you won't have original artwork to keep and pin up on the wall; it never looks as good printed out. If the author uses a flip chart, the pictures they draw will be large, like posters; if a visualiser, you'll get notebook-sized drawings. Consider the size of the room: a flip chart can be hard to see from the back of a large auditorium, whereas with a visualiser, you can enlarge the image on-screen.
Using a visualiser
* Buy new marker pens. Every author knows the feeling of discovering on-stage that a pen's a dud. Three test swipes of a used pen won't always reveal which ones will work for more than a minute. An author visit is a big deal; invest in a pack of new markers, they don't cost that much. Make sure you have enough flip chart paper if the author wants a flip chart, and check that the flip chart stand isn't broken.
* Check your tech. If the author has a Powerpoint presentation, try to download it at least a few days in advance and test that it works on the school machines. If you're swapping between Powerpoint and a visualiser, make sure it works. If you’re getting the presentation from them on the day (on a USB stick?), be sure you leave enough time for setup before events.
* Arrange lifts. Makes sure that, if the author is coming by train, that someone meets them at the station and brings them to the school. There’s nothing more dispiriting to an author to start their day trudging through the rain, any supplies they’ve brought getting soaked, and being late because they can’t find the right entrance.
* Make the author feel welcome right away. Be sure the front receptionist knows the author is coming, and knows their name when they greet them.
* Be a guide. Make sure someone's always around to help the author navigate the staff room, lunch room, setting up powerpoint, etc, finding the toilet. Staff rooms can be very intimidating places!
* Take part in whatever the author is doing with the kids. Kids take their cue from their teachers: when they see their teachers taking part, they take the activity much more seriously. The worst thing teachers can do is chat in the back, or ignore the author and mark papers. And it's illegal to leave the author alone in the room with the children (It's sad that this law has to exist, but it's also a boon for visiting authors, whom I've heard sometimes used to get abandoned while teachers went out for smoke breaks.) 
* Remember that authors aren't teachers. While authors pick up techniques with practice, they're not actually trained in crowd control. You and your teaching assistants need to keep a close eye on the kids at all time, particularly the ones you know have special needs.
* Have a book signing system. If an author is signing hundreds of books, have someone go through the queue, find out who the children want the book dedicated to (usually themselves, but sometimes a sibling or friend). Write the dedication name on a post-it note and stick it to the book. Then the author won't get the spelling wrong, or have to wait for the nervous child to spell out slowly his or her name phonetically. 
* Help out at the signing. Make sure the author isn't mobbed while signing. If the author is signing lots of books; he or she may not have time or energy to sign little bits of paper, which will probably get crammed into rucksacks and lost. Don't make the author be the bad guy refusing to sign things; ask the author what he or she prefers, then let the kids know what they can expect.
* Flowers aren't necessary. If your authors are traveling by train, don't thank them with a flower arrangement that will be cumbersome to carry at rush hour. Instead of budgeting for a gift, just pay the extra into their fee. The author can use that money to buy a drink (or help toward the rent). 
* Follow up the visit! Think about ways of following up the visit. Did the author set the kids a challenge? Is there a theme you could take up for a more in-depth project?
Here are some examples of follow-up activities by Portway Junior School (see more here!):
And follow up work from James Allen's Prep School (more here!):
* Keep the paperwork simple. Do everything you can to keep the author from having to fill out reams of forms after the visit. (I’ve occasionally been given up to 50 sheets of paper to go through, including detailed questions about pension schemes!)
Don’t be scared off by the sheer number of tips I’ve given you! Most of these are common sense things, but teachers and librarians are busy people, and it can help to run though a checklist. Remember, a good Author Visit is one of the best gifts you can give your children, and the effects of it may last a lifetime.
Check out Nicola Morgan's Ten Top Tips for an Author Visit and another great post she's done for authors from the point of view of the organiser.
And you can learn more about Author Visits over on the Society of Authors website.
If you'd like to print out a text version of this checklist, you can download it here as a PDF. 
By: Sarah McIntyre,
on 5/11/2014
So I'm back from my first trip to Spain, and wow, was the experience a full one! With school visits every day - four asssemblies at a time, with book signings - it was incredibly hard work, but also loads of fun. I'd planned to make a travel comic, but I was doing so much drawing in the schools that I mostly just flopped about like a fish when I had time off. Or a mermaid. That sounds better than a fish. 
In fact, there were plenty of mermaids to be had; I felt right at home in Benidorm.
One of the people who most made my visit a success was librarian Maria Jose Sanchez, at King's College in Alicante. She was a perfect example of the way a librarian can prepare kids for an Author Visit; a librarian's groundwork gets the kids excited, they pay way more attention because they know who I am, and they come away inspired. (I was in good company; other authors who'd come on this Spain Book Tour with Bookbox International included James Mayhew, Steve Cole, Nick Sharratt, Ali Sparkes, Shoo Rayner, Ian Beck, Korky Paul, Caroline Lawrence, Guy Parker-Rees, Tony Mitton, the 2 Steves, Steve Smallman, Savior Pirotta, Miriam Moss, Julia Golding, Paul Cookson, Brian Moses and Kay Umansky. Lucky schools!)
Sometimes great people come in small packages. Oh, and Maria Jose's son had great specs and loved to draw; I wanted to take him home with me.
I led the different year groups of kids in drawing different characters. Here are a couple sharks from There's a Shark in the Bath and Superhamster from Superkid. I started them off with the basic character and then they'd customise theirs.
Some more fab staff at British School La Cañada! I had lunch with Sarah, the school's head (in the centre), and wow, do they put on a good lunch for the kids and staff alike. I had shellfish paella, freshly squeezed orange juice from local trees, salad and fresh strawberries and cream. That's when I really knew I was not in Britain!
Ha ha... I can't even remember now which school I was at when I drew this comic, but it almost went terribly wrong. I was having the kids help me by telling me what to draw in each panel, and the competition for the best sea banana started to get more and more risqué. The teachers were howling, some of the older kids were grinning away, and the little kids had no idea what was going on. In the last panel, little kids were suggesting I make the Sea Monkey kiss the banana, hug the banana, and my eyes were streaming, trying not to lose it. I think I resolved it as well as could be hoped. It's hard to draw when you're silently shaking with laughter.
When I draw quickly in front of assemblies, my drawings tend to be terribly slapdash, so while the kids are coming into the hall, I try to draw something slightly more polished, that they can keep and remember the day.
One of my favourite things is when teachers draw along with us. They usually really enjoy it, and it gives a good signal to the kids, that drawing is something everyone does, not just a school exercise. Check out this teacher's Captain Waffle from You Can't Scare a Princess!:
I was drawing Captain Waffle with kids who were awfully young - kindergarten, I think. It stretched them, having to pay attention to each step, but they still managed some great results, and I loved all the variations.
Speaking of pirates, here's a lovely wordless pirate comic I found at a book fair in Castellón, Barbosa el Pirata by Jorge Gonzalez. The cover sticker suggested it was appropriate for kids 3+, and I hope I can find a version in English. It's published by Mamut, and the more I see of their comics for kids, the more I love them. (I first saw their books at Angoulême comics festival.)
And now for some sharks! I taught the assembly hall full of kids how to draw a shark, and then they customised to make them as SILLY as possible. We talked about one way to get an idea for a story: pick something kind of scary, then make it silly and see what happens. It's a great way to counter fear; if you're laughing at something, it can't be quite as scary anymore. 
When I was signing books, I found out very quickly that I needed to have the kids write down their names; I had no idea how to spell a lot of them, names like Álvar, Jimena and Maritxell. Most of the kids were Spanish, but there were a fair few Brits, Russians and some Chinese. 
While I did the last three days of school visits, I stayed in Benidorm. When I told people in England I was staying there, they tended to laugh and raise their eyebrows. Benidorm used to be THE package holiday destination for Brits, and there's more highrise buildings there - mostly hotels - than anywhere in Europe. But it's gotten quite chavvy; there's one area that's full of drunk, sunburnt Brits and the British-themed bars that cater to them. (There's even an ITV series now called Benidorm.)
But my hosts, Gary Carton and Ana, took me to the older part of Benidorm, which is rather charming. 
There were lots of Spanish families there, and groups of elderly friends strolling around together. 
This group was standing in the street listening to a guy singing a Paso Doble, it was very blood-stirring.
Our hotel was near this remarkable building:
And my hosts took me there on the last night, to the Benidorm Palace. 
It's quite an experience, like going back 30 years in Spanish tourism. Gary said he thought the stage was the longest in Europe, and it was fascinating seeing the tables fill up for the cabaret show with people from all over the world. 
I was rather sad to leave, there's still so much in Spain I want to see. I loved watching out the van windows while we drove from place to place; the landscape looked much like this, with lots of terraced hillsides and huge orange and lemon orchards. 
A huge thanks for a brilliant visit to Gary, Ana and the five schools who hosted us. Muchísimas gracias!
(See earlier Spain Book Tour blog posts from Castellón and from Sitges.)
By: Jen Robinson,
on 5/9/2014
Here are highlights from the links that I shared on Twitter this week @JensBookPage. Note that I published diversity and gender-related links in a separate post, because there were quite a few.
Book Lists
2014 Mini Trend: #kidlit featuring Ninjas from @100scopenotes http://goo.gl/zsjgd6
Great Kid Books: Common Core In Real Life: Baseball Edition by @MaryAnnScheuer http://ow.ly/wvKt7
#CommonCore IRL: Baseball books for middle grade fans (ages 8-10) @MaryAnnScheuer http://goo.gl/EhhARg
Let's Celebrate Mother's Day with Kids (and books) @BookChook http://ow.ly/wt4h8
Every Dog Has Its Day: Dog Adoption Stories from the SSHEL blog http://ow.ly/wo9Q9 #booklist
Diversity + Gender
Those links published separately.
Events + Announcements
#Nonfiction in Picture Books: A Panel Discussion, report in @PublishersWkly http://ow.ly/wDQGw
Where The Wild Things Really Are, @PublishersWkly report on recent panel on Sex and Violence in Children's Literature http://ow.ly/wyJFj
The 2013 Agatha Awards have been announced. Kudos to @CGrabenstein for Mr. Lemoncello's Library http://ow.ly/wASon via @bkshelvesofdoom
The Edgar Award winners have been announced: http://ow.ly/wqoE6 via @bkshelvesofdoom #kidlit #mystery
Poetry Friday: Wrapping Up #NationalPoetryMonth by @JoneMac53 at Check It Out http://ow.ly/wqsdX
GottaBook: 30 Poets/2 Years/1 Day, @gregpincus wraps up this year's #NationalPoetryMonth posts http://ow.ly/wqrFs
Growing Bookworms
Raising Readers: Using a Whiteboard @SunlitPages - this post made me want a huge whiteboard http://ow.ly/wyM5n
On creating a "Take a Book – Leave a Book" program, so that kids could have books at home by @MrsSKK @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/wqrsK
Kidlitosphere
Love to see the mention of #kidlit bloggers in acknowledgements of I Kill the Mockingbird by Paul Acampora @Semicolon http://ow.ly/wvKkn
Big news! @MotherReader has announced the Ninth Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge | June 6-8 http://ow.ly/wyLdQ #kidlit #48hbc
On Reading, Writing, and Publishing
I can relate: "Simply put, I needed to read in order to feel balanced" by @librarytif @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/wvJD8
"They’re not just books—they’re a part of who we are and how we got that way" #kidlit @pshares http://ow.ly/wyJPZ via @PWKidsBookshelf
Why the Smart Reading Device of the Future May Be … Paper | @wired via @tashrow http://ow.ly/wqpqj #ebooks
Parenting
Thoughts on “How Parents are Ruining Youth Sports” from @StaceyLoscalzo | Well worth reading, if no great answers http://goo.gl/irdG7K
Can Lego Help Return Play to Children’s Lives and Education? | Peter Gray at Freedom to Learn blog http://goo.gl/uEV1TU
Screens & Screen Time: a Precarious Balance (Soapbox Series #10), a parent's struggle | @ReadingTub http://ow.ly/wvKd0
Schools and Libraries
School Librarian Unravels Mystery of Robert McCloskey Art Work Found in Westchester Elementary School | @sljournal http://ow.ly/woaTk
Libraries Working To Bridge The Cultural Divide | Starr LaTronica @HuffPostBooks http://ow.ly/woaN9 via @PWKidsBookshelf
New York Public Library Scraps Controversial Redesign Plans @WSJ http://ow.ly/wDtst @NYPL
Federal Test Shows U.S. 12th Graders Aren't Improving in Reading or Math, ethnic + gender gaps remain @WSJ http://ow.ly/wDtkH
How Can Principals Support Effective #Literacy Instruction? http://goo.gl/Jef0KK @readbyexample
News: @PhilipPullman leads authors condemning inadequate prison libraries | @GuardianBooks http://ow.ly/wyK7R via @PWKidsBookshelf
Elite Colleges Don't Buy Happiness for Graduates (but mentors help), reports @WSJ http://ow.ly/wyJvz
"Learning should be joyous. Teaching too. Joy and tests are not two words I see together." @medinger on testing http://ow.ly/wqqVL
SpeakWell, ReadWell: Explore the Core (#CommonCore State Standards) by @jwstickel http://ow.ly/wqp35
Summer Reading
#SummerReading After Dark | 10 tips from @Scholastic for making the most of bedtime reading this summer http://ow.ly/wDxaf
This sounds fabulous | The No Stress #SummerReading Picture Book Challenge from @greenbeanblog http://ow.ly/wyLud
Press release: Avoid the Summer Slump - Get Kids Excited about Reading with @bookopolis http://ow.ly/wB2ck #SummerReading
© 2014 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.
By: Jen Robinson,
on 5/2/2014
Here are highlights from the links that I shared on Twitter this week @JensBookPage. Please note that I am not sharing my many #WeNeedDiverseBooks retweets, because there are quite a few of them, and they are links to photos, rather than links to articles and blog posts. Instead, I refer you to the #WeNeedDiverseBooks hashtag, where you can find tons of interesting stuff. I do have many other diversity-themed links here.
Book Lists
What’s Old is New: Recent YA Books with Allusions to Classic Lit | @sljournal Spotlight | http://ow.ly/wipb1
10 Books With Meaning, suggested by @Book_Nut http://ow.ly/wg5sG #kidlit #yalit
Very nice list: 10 Books for Teaching Kids About Responsibility from @PragmaticMom http://ow.ly/wgmUx #kidlit #parenting
Diversity
Diversity Social Media Campaign Goes Viral, reports @PublishersWkly http://ow.ly/woaA3 #WeNeedDiverseBooks
Have you heard about the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign? 3 days starting May 1 | Details here: http://ow.ly/wg5gP via @CynLeitichSmith
3..2..1..Action, the steps to take to support the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign, starting tomorrow! http://ow.ly/wlYzz
Tanita Davis "Diverse books remind us that our stories are varicolored, many shaped, multi-shaded http://ow.ly/wo9Lk @WeNeedDiverseBooks
Photo of Charlotte's son + focus on diversity in MG fantasy/science fiction from @charlotteslib #WeNeedDiverseBooks http://ow.ly/wojhV
.@thereadingzone | #WeNeedDiverseBooks in Class "The world is more diverse than panels... would lead us to believe" http://ow.ly/wo9jS
(My #WeNeedDiverseBooksPhoto to the right, click to enlarge)
Thoughts @greenbeanblog on why #WeNeedDiverseBooks and what you can do as a librarian to support this http://ow.ly/wo8Wf
"All I want are books that reflect the world I live in" - Jennie @kidsilkhaze on #WeNeedDiverseBooks http://ow.ly/wlAlJ
Sprout's Bookshelf: #WeNeedDiverseBooks - For My Family and Yours http://ow.ly/wlzA1 @SproutsBkshelf
Melissa from @Book_Nut on why #WeNeedDiverseBooks and the #greatgreenchallenge at the bookstore where she works http://ow.ly/wo8up
Handsell-Off for Varian Johnson's upcoming novel: Here's what's going down, launched by @KateMessner via @haleshannon http://ow.ly/wg3UV
Leila from @bkshelvesofdoom shares highlights from @sljournal : The Diversity Issue. http://ow.ly/wo8hz #WeNeedDiverseBooks
How Author G. Neri and Librarian Kimberly DeFusco Changed a Life | @sljournal via @medinger http://ow.ly/wgmNk #diversity
Should white people write about people of color? @malindalo via @FuseEight http://ow.ly/wg4T5 #diversity
#Diversity, Authenticity, and Literature | Pretti Chhibber @bookriot http://ow.ly/waRKA
eBooks and Screens
I like this idea | @lochwouters library to having "Less Screen Week" b/c true screen free is "practically impossible" http://ow.ly/wg6ef
What You Need to Know Before Letting Your Kids Read E-Books | @Time via @PWKidsBookshelf http://ow.ly/wiYUs
Online skimming probably hasn’t affected serious reading after all | Valerie Strauss in @washingtonpost http://ow.ly/waTgI via @tashrow
Growing Bookworms
10 Steps to Raising a Lifelong Reader | @HarperChildrens via @tashrow (great references too) http://ow.ly/waSWq #GrowingBookworms
Raising readers: How to share a love of literature with your kids. Thoughts from Anna Quindlen @cnnhttp://ow.ly/wob2U
Press Release Fun: A Virtual Book Swap on #SummerReading — @fuseeight + Lori Ess + @Scholastic http://ow.ly/wg6rf
What a fun idea! Story-inspired decor @365gcb | Using picture book jacket covers as art! http://ow.ly/wg4uY
Great stuff from @SproutsBkshelf | 7 Gifts of Read-Aloud, Or Why I'll Read (Almost) Any Book to My Kid http://ow.ly/waVDF #literacy
The 5 Rs of Boosting Your Toddler's Vocabulary | Anjali Joshi @HuffPost http://ow.ly/wbklx via @ReachOutAndRead
Teaching Kids How to Take Care of Books - @growingbbb http://ow.ly/w8451 #GrowingBookworms
National Poetry Month
Blackout Poetry and the New York Times | @medinger wraps up her #NationalPoetryMonth posts http://ow.ly/wlB29
Liz In Ink shares Haiku 30 for #NationalPoetryMonth http://ow.ly/wlzKf
GottaBook: Wrapping up 30 Poets/30 Days for #NationalPoetryMonth w/ Pat Mora and Walter Dean Myers http://ow.ly/wlBfG @gregpincus
Wrapping up #NationalPoetryMonth from @MaryLeeHahn Our Wonderful World 30: People http://ow.ly/wlB9u
#NationalPoetryMonth - Recap and Reflections from @missrumphius http://ow.ly/wo8GH
Wrapping up Science Poetry Pairings @missrumphius with All Things Science http://ow.ly/wlBlT #NationalPoetryMonth
Tanita Davis wraps up her poem a day series for #NationalPoetryMonth http://ow.ly/wlzld
Poetry Reading Challenge for Kids {Final Week} @momandkiddo http://ow.ly/w84aQ #NationalPoetryMonth
On Reading, Writing, and Publishing
Why I Am Mad at the New York Times Best Seller List by @StaceyLoscalzo on Frozen adaptation topping the list http://ow.ly/wlAOZ
On the joy of talking about books by #literacy specialist Lindsey Jones @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/waTPg
Programs and Research
Cheerios launches 11th year of putting kids' books in cereal boxes, now including chapter books http://ow.ly/waQqQ via @rosemondcates
El Paso Public Library, Parks and Recreation give 25,000 books given to area children - @bobmoorenews http://ow.ly/wijDg via @FirstBook
If you send a Mother's Day ecard Macy's will donate $2 to @RIFWEB | Details: http://ow.ly/wg4lh
Schools and Libraries
Books to help teachers get ready for summer vacation (and recommend titles to kids) @frankisibberson @ChoiceLiteracy http://ow.ly/wfZb5
Getting rid of weekly prizes in #SummerReading program by @lochwouters #libraries http://ow.ly/wg4aG
Good advice for what to say when you don't know the answer from @mollyidle @NerdyBookClub on impact of great teachers http://ow.ly/wg5Qs
Girls Do Better Than Boys in School at All Ages and Subjects, Study Finds - @NBCNews http://ow.ly/wj72Q
7 Big Myths About #Libraries | Erinn Batykefer @HuffPostBooks via @somers_library http://ow.ly/wj5AK
Interesting post at the relaunched blog The Uncommon Corps: Thinking About Graphical #Literacy http://ow.ly/wg54m
"Standards of some form, and hopefully #CommonCore, should still be in place for schools" @ReadByExample http://ow.ly/w85vt
Supporting the #CommonCore State Standards: #Librarians at the Center by @MaryAnnScheuer http://ow.ly/waSJk
© 2014 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.
By: Jen Robinson,
on 4/25/2014
Here are highlights from the links that I shared on Twitter this week @JensBookPage. We are light on book lists this week, but heavy on events (World Book Night, Children's Choice Awards, National Poetry Month, etc.).
Authors
Author Tanita Davis on why she's supporting the ALTERED PERCEPTIONS anthology in support of author Robison Wells http://ow.ly/w84Wy
squeetus: What do writers and mental illness have in common? Why @haleshannon is participating in Altered Perceptions http://ow.ly/w6a6N
Book Lists
11 Jewish Folktales for Kids from @momandkiddo http://ow.ly/w00w3 #kidlit #booklist
Diversity + Gender
A Diverse Dozen in #yalit http://ow.ly/w03aO #booklist @diversityinya
CCBlogC: Same Old Story: The Stats on Multicultural Literature http://ow.ly/w3xrF #diversity
Heartening post @Freakonomics on father/daughter initiative to encourage McDonalds to not make gender assumptions http://ow.ly/w3z6C
"it’s our job to represent humanity in literature. And humanity is #diverse" | @haleshannon on "Neutral characters" http://ow.ly/w02g2
Boys, Reading and Misogynistic Crap | @tashrow takes on Jonathan Emmett's recent Times of London piece http://ow.ly/vZZz1 #literacy
Events
World Book Night (tonight!) and a Proper Celebration of the Day of Shakespeare’s Birth — @fuseeight http://ow.ly/w5qiK
Voice your choice! Voting for @CBCBook's Children's & Teen Choice Book Awards is open through May 12: http://ccbookawards.com #CCBA14
Is anyone participating in Screen-Free Week 2014, May 5-11? | @CommercialFree Childhood Campaign http://ow.ly/w3wZw
Can you commit to 20 min of reading as a family for 20 days? #Read20 — @jendonn @5M4B is taking @Scholastic Challenge http://ow.ly/w01Qd
Celebrating Earth Day: A focus on Molly Bang's science picture books (ages 4-10) from @MaryAnnScheuer http://ow.ly/w01jW #kidlit
Poetry Challenge for Kids {Week 4} from @momandkiddo for #NationalPoetryMonth http://ow.ly/vVOlL
Growing Bookworms
Teaching Kids How to Take Care of Books - @growingbbb http://ow.ly/w8451 #GrowingBookworms
Another well-put reminder: "All books are worthy of being read. Just let kids read" by @mentortexts @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/w00Ld
Study finds mothers share rich Information when Reading Picture Books (narrative and non) reports @tashrow http://ow.ly/w815v #literacy
On Reading, Writing, and Publishing
"No matter how long a book has been out, the first time you read it, it’s new to you" Michael Guevara @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/w84sR
Parenting
Literacy, families and learning: Fifteen Creative Ideas to Try During Holidays from @TrevorHCairney http://ow.ly/w5qNy
Schools, Libraries, and Homeschooling
12 Big Ideas About Homeschooling from @PenelopeTrunk @escapeadulthood http://ow.ly/w82ci
Growing Our Reading Community: Learning from Older Readers (on reading buddies) by @cathymere http://ow.ly/w02Cw
The joy of sharing (recommending) books, by Hong Kong Academy teacher librarian @tgaletti @KirbyLarson http://ow.ly/w8349
Going to the #Library Gives You the Same Boost as Getting a Raise! | @tashrow Sites and Soundbytes http://ow.ly/w80sz
Depressing | Modesto to Replace School Librarians with Teachers in response to #CommonCore http://ow.ly/w3vKt via @PWKidsBookshelf
Common Core Flip-Flop: Gov Cuomo Changes Mind About Using #CommonCore Results For Teacher Evaluations | @sljournal http://ow.ly/vUiip
© 2014 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.
By: Robin Brande,
on 4/23/2014
I love any and all TED talks given by Sir Ken Robinson. Take a look at his latest one about education and creativity and I think you’ll understand why:
And if you liked that one, check out this earlier talk that’s still my favorite, on how to nurture creativity.
By: Jen Robinson,
on 4/18/2014
Here are highlights from the links that I shared on Twitter this week @JensBookPage. There are a few more than usual, as I was traveling late last week, and then had a big burst of catch-up links on Monday and Tuesday. Lots of links this week about diversity and about libraries.
Book Lists and Awards
RT @tashrow James Patterson wins the 2014 Chicago Tribune Young Adult Literary Award. http://buff.ly/1l1S0Yk #kidlit
Booklist for Easter from @cjfriess | Favourite picture book bunnies http://ow.ly/vPivI #kidlit
Chapter Books for the New Chapter Book Reader | @ReadingWithBean http://ow.ly/vPhZO
20 Books for Tween Boys Reading Up » Children's Book Reviews by @StorySnoops http://ow.ly/vPjw7 #kidlit
15 Adorable Children's Books For Your Little Architect from @buzzfeed via @PWKidsBookshelf http://ow.ly/vPsvr #booklist
A fine list: 22 Great Non-fiction Books for Boys (& Girls) from @TrevorHCairney http://ow.ly/vPgjr #nonfiction #kidlit
The top 10 most frequently challenged books of 2013, from @GuardianBooks + @bkshelvesofdoom http://ow.ly/vN1Bm #censorship
Diversity + Gender
We Need Bigger Megaphones for #Diversity in #KidLit | "Why aren't more people" speaking up? @catagator @bookriot http://ow.ly/vPeKy
Becoming More Diverse – A #Library Journey by Crystal Brunelle @librarygrl2 @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/vVOsw #diversity
Shattering the Multicultural Myth of the Market. Let's go, urges @MitaliPerkins http://ow.ly/vUtir #yalit #diversity
Diversity in young adult literature: Where's the 'Mexican Katniss'? ask #yalit authors @cnn http://ow.ly/vMQMW via @PWKidsBookshelf
Stacked: TeenGirls Reading: What Are They Seeing (or Not Seeing)? asks @catagator http://ow.ly/vUsRL #yalit
Boys Read Girls (Let Books Be Books) @bookzone http://ow.ly/vPgIy via @charlotteslib #kidlit #gender
RT @ElisabethElling "Are Teen Girls Seeing Themselves Reflected in What They Read?" #yalitclass http://feedly.com/e/YKzivZyN
Sigh: "Being male still seems to present an advantage when it comes to recognition, prestige, and awards" in #kidlit http://ow.ly/vMRKY
eBooks / Online Reading
It’s an #Ebook World for Young Readers 13 and Under Says PlayCollective Report | @sljournal http://ow.ly/vVO9q via @tashrow
RT @tashrow Serious reading takes a hit from online scanning and skimming, researchers say – Washington Post http://buff.ly/1qkngTN #reading
Author @MitaliPerkins is proposing once a week Device-Free Day. Are you in? http://ow.ly/vN1m3
Events (inc. National Poetry Month)
Support @readergirlz Teen Literature Day & "Rock the Drop", @CynLeitichSmith @melissacwalker http://ow.ly/vUsyl
5 Great Poetry Collections for Kids #NationalPoetryMonth — @jenndon @5M4B http://ow.ly/vVNQZ
10 Ways to Get Kids Excited About #Poetry by @smozer at @KirbyLarson blog http://ow.ly/vPjjb
Forgiving Buckner by John Hodgen, #poetry @missrumphius | "Can baseball be the true harbinger of spring?" http://ow.ly/vPiKz #redsox
Poetry Challenge for Kids {Week 3} from @momandkiddo http://ow.ly/vPiro #NationalPoetryMonth
Kidlitosphere
This post made me happy + sad| Children’s Literature Online at a Glance: A Look Back at Friends Long Gone @fuseeight http://ow.ly/vN1Um
On Reading, Writing, and Publishing
Lovely! The Top 10 Reasons Why I Can’t Stop Reading Children’s & Young Adult Literature by @EsMteach @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/vPhG5
Growing Up As an Only Child, Fictional Characters Were My Siblings | @BookishHQ http://ow.ly/vMS12 via @PWKidsBookshelf
Schools and Libraries
This is interesting | (Much of) Parental Involvement (at school) is Overrated @NYTimes Opinionator http://ow.ly/vPqwg
Shanahan on #Literacy: How Much In-Class Reading? (On reading aloud and silently in the classroom) http://ow.ly/vPhhi
How VA Middle School Librarian + Book Club Raised Funds to Provide 15k Meals for Students in South Sudan | @sljournal http://ow.ly/vUhW5
Thanks to NBA Star LeBron James, Akron Public Schools Has One of the Largest E-Libraries in Country | @sljournal http://ow.ly/vUh45
12 ways to Save Money at Your Public #Library from @AboutKidsBooks - Borrow Kids Books eBooks Audiobooks DVDs http://ow.ly/vRqJ3
Betsy @FuseEight has set up a very cool #Literary Salon @NYPL on Podcasting Children’s Books w/ @KatieDavisBurps + more http://ow.ly/vRq7K
RT: AboutKidsBooks: 6 picture books about libraries and librarians and 1 article about how to save money at your public library. http://abt.cm/1hHgTtt
What you should do to help libraries in crisis (instead of holding a spontaneous book drive) — @lizb http://ow.ly/vN2ar
Think libraries are dying? Think again @cnn shares #library photos and reports on their enduring popularity http://ow.ly/vPb68
Reasons why you should be taking your child to the #library from @HuffPost + @tashrow http://ow.ly/vN1ru
In Arizona, After Girl Scouts’ #Library Project Set on Fire, Public Support Pours In | @sljournal http://ow.ly/vMQqc
© 2014 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.
By: Barbara O'Connor,
on 4/8/2014
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| Viola is coming to Owen. She is gonna blow there minds. Viola is mean. |
