Maggie Steele is headed to the Statehouse! Author Grant Overstake will introduce his young adult novel, Maggie Vaults Over the Moon, to the book-loving people of Kansas at the Kansas Book Festival, to be held Saturday, Sept. 7th, on the … Continue reading 
By: Hazel Mitchell,
on 7/2/2012
Good news for librarians this week ...
By: Inspired Kathy,
on 11/23/2010
8 Days until the Holiday Hop! Time to tell you about my final sponsor: Usborne Books.
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By: Adrian,
on 10/16/2009
Last week I was in Washington, D.C. and while I was there I had the chance to visit the Smithsonian and the National Gallery of Art. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many Usborne Books in the gift shops at all the Smithsonian museums and at the National Gallery of Art.
I knew all along that Usborne Books are the BEST books out there for kids, which is why I decided to become an Usborne Consultant a few months ago. But seeing so many Usborne Books at both the Smithsonian and the National Gallery of Art made me realize that our nation’s TOP museums and galleries realize just how GREAT Usborne books for children are, too.
And now, you don’t need to travel to the Smithsonian or the National Gallery of Art to purchase Usborne Books. Simply visit my online bookstore HERE to get the best books for kids at the BEST prices!
Don’t forget to register for the monthly contest and you just might win $50 worth of Usborne Books!
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By: Writing for Children,
on 7/30/2009
from Dorit Sasson, Teaching Tips Contributing Editor
Teachers all across the US and abroad are trying to find the magic recipe for reading proficiency, but what often goes unnoticed is the listening vocabulary that needs to be built up from Day 1.
Kids spend 900 hours in school as opposed to 7,800 hours outside school annually. If teachers and parents expect their kids to be avid readers, they need to build what Jim Trelease, author of the Read-Aloud Handbook, refers to as “Listening Vocabulary,” which is made up of speaking vocabulary, reading vocabulary and writing vocabulary. Students will not become better readers by taking tests nor will at-risk or struggling students suddenly be motivated to read if their sole or partial source of information outside school comes from TV.
At the Usborne/EDC Publishing conference in Oklahoma last Saturday, (see the photo of Jim Trelease and me) Jim Trelease’s talk was called “Raising Readers Requires the Right Fertilizer in the Home.” He spoke of children as pleasure oriented human beings who are also sponges; they “soak up” everything we as adults say and do with the primary influence coming from parents. Teachers should bridge those “pleasure bridges” by building listening vocabulary through books and topics children enjoy reading. In fact, oral instruction is key for setting important groundwork for engaging students in what they read.
Children can’t say sounds, syllables, endings, blendings if they haven’t even heard them. Listening comprehension is reading comprehension. So it comes to no surprise, after hearing Jim Trelease, that the single MOST important activity for bridging the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.
So start thinking of your son or daughter as that sponge in the kitchen sink. The language on TV is significantly lower than the language of books so we need to do everything in our power to build a child’s listening vocabulary. By age six, a child should be a veteran listener. And since reading is anaccrued skill, reading catches up with listening - that is if there was enough time for a child to listen to a read-aloud.
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By: Writing for Children,
on 5/26/2009
Listen to Book Bites for Kids, LIVE this afternoon at 2:00 CDT on blogtalkradio. Be the fifth caller during the show and you’ll win a copy of a delightful picture book called Big Pig on a Dig. The number to call is 1-646-716-9239.
Children’s writer and consultant and sales rep for Usborne Books, Inc. Dorit Sasson will be today’s guest. She’ll give an overview of the wonderful books offered from Usborne Books, Inc.
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Wow! You have a lot of sponsers. Hopefully this means lots of great giveaways? Can't wait!
I'm doing the Holiday Hop too, but I still can't find a sponser. Are there any that you recommend me trying to get that would most likely help me? Let me know. Thank you!!!!