The Joy of Children's Literature

I just received a link to a wonderful new series of videos on effective literacy practices developed by The Reading Recovery Council of North America in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education to offer professional development resources and activities to strengthen early literacy outcomes with K-3 students nationwide. As I clicked on the first module, described below, I was thrilled to see Vicki Altland (in the picture above), a literacy coach at Sallie Cone Elementary in Conway, AR, and a dear friend of mine who is featured in The Joy of Children's Literature ! Professional Development Resources to Strengthen Early Literacy Outcomes This video library offers extensive examples to help educators strengthen early literacy outcomes for K-3 students. Six effective literacy practices are highlighted to deepen teachers' understandings of literacy learning. The practices may be incorporated into teaching in the classroom, small groups, and one-on-one instruct...

It's hard to believe that this is the 10th year for the National Book Festival . The first festival began the summer I moved to Virginia, which made it possible for me to attend. And, am I ever happy that I made the trip! Being among people who love books as much as I do is a wondrous thing indeed. Hundreds of people, old and young alike, descend upon the National Mall in Washington D.C. each year to hear authors talk about their work. It's usually hot or raining and crowded, but still, you gotta love it. This year, the National Book Festival will be held on Saturday, September 25th from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and as usual, is free of charge. Each year, the line up of children's and YA authors/illustrators/advocates  is commendable and this year is no different. Check out the list so far: M.T. Anderson Michael Buckley Suzanne Collins Timothy Basil Ering Jules Feiffer Mem Fox Margaret Peterson Haddix Phillip M. Hoose Norton Juster Pat Mora...

Two days ago I was drinking my morning cup of coffee as I scrolled through my blog roll when I received my first gift from children's author extraordinaire, Barbara O'Connor. I came upon a post from Barbara's blog,  Greetings From Nowhere , titled: The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester , Chapter 1 . I thought maybe she had posted the first chapter of her soon-to-be-released new book. But, no. It was so much better than that! Barbara READ ALOUD the first chapter of the book!! And, it is amazing for many reasons: First, Barbara does an excellent job of reading aloud. Second, there is nothing like hearing the author read aloud his/her own work. Just think about it. The author's craft comes alive! Third, what a great way to entice the potential reader to run out an buy a copy of the book as soon as it becomes available.   I think we readers should start a new campaign. Rather than or in addition to the ever so popular book trailer, the author should...

Those of you that read this blog know that I'm a big listener of audiobooks, so last year when I listened to Captain Nobody by Dean Pitchford and was ***completely blown away,*** I told myself to look this guy up to find out more. But, then life got in the way and I totally forgot...until last month when I listened to The Big One-Oh! and thought  this guy is really good! So, I did look him up and found out why he is such an amazing performer: Dean Pitchford starred on Broadway in Pippin and Godspell before turning to songwriting and screenwriting. His multimillion-selling songs include the Oscar-winning “Fame,” “Footloose,” “Holding Out for a Hero” and “After All.” He has been nominated for four Academy Awards, five Grammys and two Tonys. His stage musical adaptation of Footloose played over 700 performances on Broadway and is now being produced around the world.   With those kind of credentials, no wonder Dean Pitchford is so good at performing his...

Seth Godin on how schools teach kids to aim low and wait for instructions. This is a very thought provoking video. Godin says the original purpose of public education as envisioned by Andrew Carnegie, Woodrow Wilson and others was to train people to become compliant factory workers and to teach kids that the best way to fit in and feel good is to buy stuff--and that is what we are still doing today. While we've built an economy on the factory worker, we under value and even discourage creativity, innovation and asking questions. His main premise is that we can't test our way out of this situation. Rather, we must essay, sketch or debate our way out of it. He goes on to say that college is an even bigger scam than public school and that the application process is a joke. My son will be entering his senior year in high school in the fall and we have been visiting campuses in our area. This and the fact that I teach at a college bring this discussion close to home. Throug...

From the July/August 2010 issue of The Horn Book Magazine Books that Horn Book loved by the ALA awards didn't: Someday My Printz Will Come: Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork Everybody Loved It But ALSC:   Marching for Freedom by Elizabeth Partridge Most Discussed, Least : The Lost Conspiracy by Frances Hardinge Best trip to the moon: Mission Control, This Is Apollo by Andrew Chaikin, illustrated by Alan Bean Best trip to Japan: Hannah’s Winter by Kierin Meehan Best camping trip: Alvin Ho by Lenore Look, illustrated by LeUyen Pham Best subway ride: Redwoods by Jason Chin Most instructive: How to Steal a Car by Pete Hautman Most constructive: Pharaoh’s Boat by David Weitzman Most deductive: Thumb and the Bad Guys by Ken Roberts, illustrated by Leanne Franson Best sisters: The Great Death by John Smelcer Best grandparents: Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Parry Best foster mother: Hook by Ed Young Best father figure: The Cha...

The Outreach Council of the African Studies Association annually honors oustanding authors and illustrators of books about Africa published for children and young adults in the United States. The Children's Africana Book Award program has announced two winners and two honor books for 2010. The 2010 Best Book for Young Children is Pharaoh's Boat , written and illustrated by David Weitzman (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children). The 2010 Best Book for Older Readers is Nelson Mandela: The Authorized Comic Book by the Nelson Mandela Foundation and Umlando Wezithombe (W.W. Norton & Co.). The 2010 Honor Books for Older Readers are Trouble in Timbuktu by Cristina Kessler (Philomel/Penguin Young Readers Group) and Burn My Heart by Beverley Naidoo (Amistad/HarperCollins Children's Books). The 2010 Children's Africana Book Awards will be presented on November 6 in Washington, DC. For further information, visit the Africa Access Review website .

From NPR, July 2, 2010 : School’s out for summer. No more homework. Time to kick back and relax–and read for the fun of it. There’s a big world of new children’s literature out there–ready to take to the beach, to camp, and the backyard. Rick Riordan’s back with the “Red Pyramid.” “Mockingjay” by Suzanne Collins comes out in August. And there’s so much more. Pop-up picture books for toddlers. Graphic novels for young adults. Teenage angst page-turners. We’ve got the list that even your kids will want to read twice. Guests: Monica Edinger, blogs on children’s literature at Educating Alice . 4th-grade teacher at the Dalton School in New York. Contributes children’s books reviews to the New York Times. Has received three National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships to study children’s literature. Esme Raji Codell, writes about children’s literature at PlanetEsme.com . Author of several books for adults and children. Her kids’ books include “Vive la Paris,” “Diary of a Fairy ...

from Barnes and Noble . Yep, it's true. Barnes and Noble has ebooks you can download for free including: Maximum Ride Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Irresistible Forces The Glades Essential Tales of Edgar Allan Poe Siren of the Water The Scarlet Letter Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Writings Last of the Mohicans Federalist Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson Uncle Tom's Cabin Common Sense and Other Writings Skinny Bitch Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Call of the Wild and White Fang His Lady Mistress Leaves of Grass Walden and Civil Disobedience DEAD(ish) A free ereader application is available for the I-Pad, I-Phone/I-Touch, Nook, BlackBerry, PC, Mac. Happy reading!