How to use this Page

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

What Makes a Family?: Novels for Middle Grade Readers | JLG’s Booktalks to Go | @sljournal http://ow.ly/wijkW #kidlit

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

Nice list of Rick Riordan Read Alikes from @alibrarymama http://ow.ly/wg3My #kidlit @CampHalfBlood

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

Update on The Great Greene Heist Challenge from Varian Johnson http://ow.ly/wlBIE #kidlit #diversity

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.

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• Links I Shared on Twitter this Week: April 25

Screen-Free Week is May 5 – 11, 2014! 

Kids, families, schools, and communities pledge to spend 7 days unplugged.

BOSTON -- April 28 -- Children are spending way too much time with screens -- and it’s not good for them.

• School-age children spend more time with screen media -- television, video games, computers, and hand-held devices -- than in any other activity but sleeping.
• Screen media use is at an all-time high among preschoolers -- according to Nielsen, young children spend, on average, more than 32 hours a week watching just television.
• A recent survey found that the amount of time children ages 0-8 spend using mobile devices tripled in two years.
• Screen time is habit forming and linked to poor school performance, childhood obesity, poor sleep habits, and attention problems.
• 64% of children ages 12 to 24 months watch TV and videos for an average of just over two hours a day -- even though the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends discouraging screen time for children under two.

For these reasons and more, so many leading health, education, and childcare organizations actively support this year’s Screen-Free Week (May 5 – 11, 2014), the annual celebration where children, families, schools, and communities turn on life by turning off screens for entertainment. Endorsers include the National Head Start Association, the National WIC Association, KaBOOM!, the US Play Coalition, the Association of Children’s Museums, the National Black Child Development Institute, and the American Public Health Association.

“Such wide-ranging support for Screen-Free Week reflects the growing national consensus that kids spend too much time with television, video games, apps, and computers,” said Dr. Susan Linn, director of Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, the official home of Screen-Free Week. “More screen time means less time for hands-on play, reading, exploring nature, and dreaming -- activities crucial to a healthy, happy childhood."

Since 1996, millions of children and their families have participated in Screen-Free Week (formerly TV Turnoff). Each year, thousands of parents, teachers, PTA members, librarians, scoutmasters, and clergy organize Screen-Free Weeks in their communities. Here are just a few of the upcoming festivities:

• The Irving (TX) Public Library is hosting events all week long including sidewalk chalk art, a bubble bonanza, a science experiment, and opportunities to create books and build with construction materials.
• In NYC, The Uni Project will take up residency all week on a wide stretch of sidewalk in the Lower East Side with their pop-up, open-air reading rooms.
• The Wooden Horse toy store in Los Gatos, CA has a week of activities planned, starting with a pajama party and story time and ending with a play day that will be filled with arts & crafts, games, and races. A game night and nature-themed activities will also be offered during the week.
• Spring Garden Recreation in York, PA will be joining with local businesses and Recreation departments to offer an activity for each day of the week free of charge. They’re starting the week off with a kids’ biathlon.
• In Cambridge, MA families will celebrate Screen-Free (Screen-Wise) Week with cooking from the garden, building and playing with cardboard tubes, a kids’ walk and picnic at Fresh Pond, exploring materials with magical properties, and sketching plants and trees. They’ll end the week with a Mother’s Day bike ride.

Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (www.commercialfreechildhood.org) is a national coalition that counters the harmful effects of marketing to children. CCFC is a project of Third Sector New England (www.tsne.org).

_______________________________

See also my post about my family's experience with Screen Free Week last year. I'm going to try for "Less Screen Week" this year (see a post by Marge Loch-Wouters on this topic), but I think that's all I'll be able to manage right now. 

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