Guest Post from Erin: Gotta Keep Readin'

Today's post comes from someone I've known for her entire life. There are very few people I've known well since they were born, so my sister Erin should feel very lucky.  Or perhaps unlucky, whatever the case may be. Many thanks to her for keeping her promise to write something for the Look at Books series. I had to laugh when I saw the video she wanted embedded with her post. Obviously I couldn't pick serious pictures of her to go along with that gem, and she told me to choose a picture at my leisure, so here are a few pictures of my younger sister, Erin.  We were lucky enough to have her come visit last weekend and the kids really miss her (so do I)!  

An attempt at the Heisman pose by the three college grads. Jamie looks so serious, I'm kind of in between, and Erin is about to crack up.  We have had a few good times here and there. :)  

I love this one of us!

Alright, enough from me...here's Erin!

I think you could call me a “fair-weather” reader. In high school I read numerous great books, and yet I dreaded the entire process of reading. It wasn’t until after high school was over that I appreciated the books I had actually read during those years. I believe this was simply due to the fact that someone in authority was telling me what to read, and in all my teenage angst it was just right to be angry with the teacher, “How dare they force this on me?!” I wish I would have been this excited about reading at the time:




It wasn’t until I was in about my sophomore year of college that I started to really read for pleasure (other than the occasional yearly Harry Potter or yes, Twilight). I was going through the trenches of college, didn’t really didn’t like where I was at location wise, and I was just bored. So in about a 2 week span I read 5 books, each of which I really enjoyed. This continued throughout college, and even though I don’t have   blogging evidence to prove it, I continued to read many great books just for pleasure.

After watching Oprah’s (I am quickly sold by all things infomercial and all things Oprah) interview last year with Laura Bush about her book, Spoken From the Heart, I knew I wanted to read it. I knew Laura Bush had been a teacher but upon reading the book I learned much more.

I learned that she began the Texas Book Festival in 1995 as the First Lady of Texas and that today this festival attracts over 40,000 people. As First Lady of the United States she hosted the National Book Festival from 2001-2008 on the National Mall. I learned that she also has all of her books organized by the Dewey Decimal System in her house. Anyone that devoted really must love books.

To be honest, I didn’t even know that book festivals like these even existed and I hope I’m not the only ignorant person out there. More than 70 authors gathered on the Mall for two days giving presentations, reading, interviewing, signing autographs and of course, encouraging visitors to buy books. There are always exhibits targeted at children to encourage reading from a young age. The Library of Congress is already asking you to SAVE THE DATE for the 2011 National Book Festival.

Laura Bush spent her time in the White House encouraging literacy not only at home but abroad as well. As I close up this guest post I will do so by sharing an excerpt from her book:

From Paris I jetted to Moscow to attend Lyudmila Putina's first book festival, which was devoted to children'ts literature. The Russian press called it the "Festival of School Libraries." When Lyudmila invited me, she asked that I bring along several American children's book authors. I selected two writers whose books were among the few American children's books that had been translated into Russian, R.L. Stine of Goosebumps fame, whose own ancestors had emigrated from Russia looking for freedom in America, and the teen thriller writer Peter Lerangis. Rounding out our delegation was Marc Brown, best known for his chapter books about Arthur the aardvark. At the festival R.L. Stine helped Russian children write a scary story about a boy named Mark and his father's ghostly car. With Marc Brown drawing on a giant paper wall, the Russian children "created" a make-believe creature built from all different parts of the animal kingdom and invented a fairy tale. To the assembled school of librarians and other invites, I spoke about the need for families to turn off the television and read, and confessed my fondness for scary stories and mysteries and also Harry Potter. I added that to celebrate books is to celebrate freedom as much as it is to have fun.

"How to Raise Boys Who Read"

I am dreaming up some great posts for next week (is anyone else finding it hard to believe that March is nearly over?!) but today just wanted to share a link to an interesting article I read recently. Funny thing is that it was published for the Wall Street Journal six months ago today!  But I saw a post about it last month when the ladies at Bloom wrote a summary.

Feel free to leave comments on what you think about this phenomenon of "grossology" for books aimed at boys, and do take a look at the comments on that Bloom post. I love the first commenter's suggestion for helping boys learn their interests and providing them with non-fiction options. My kids are only 2 and 3 right now, but for my son I can already see how fascinated he is by the things he sees in the world around him. Helping him learn more about the world around him (whether it is in the category of "diggers" or trains or birds or even if it's not non-fiction but a classic fictional work like Charlotte's Web) is something I enjoy now. I sincerely hope that he will continue to find books that aid him in that process as he grows up.    

Thoughts?

Guest Post from Jaclyn: Real books and ebooks

Today's post is from Jaclyn, a longtime friend and a future librarian!  She took some time out of her super-busy last semester of school to write something for us to enjoy and think about. Thanks, Jaclyn!

Greetings faithful readers of Stacey’s Blog,

I’m a huge book nerd. I like reading books, I like collecting books, I like talking about books and I even like binding books. I’m also a book nerd getting a library degree (a qualified book nerd?). I’m graduating in May from UNC-Chapel Hill (ahem, go Tar Heels) and it has been quite an experience. When people ask me what I’m going to school for, and I reply with “Library Science,” common reactions are:

“you need a Master’s for that?”
“Oh, I didn’t realize there was anything particularly scientific about libraries”
“Well everything is going digital now, right? So we won’t need books
anymore. Or librarians.”

I have to out my own dad as the culprit of that last question. He and I have been debating about print vs. digital since I started school and of course, as a qualified book nerd, I know I am right (so what if he’s older and wiser and has a PhD? The man doesn’t even like fiction!). 

I’m convinced books will never go away. People love them too much. It’s like getting rid of real sugar just because we made Splenda. Librarians aren’t going anywhere anytime soon either. Who do you think tags and indexes and takes care of all the metadata for your precious digital materials? But I have been doing some thinking about this whole eBook thing recently…and I might just maybe kind of sort of want a Nook…

Before my dad thinks he’s won, let me explain. I want to read eBooks so I can decide which real books to buy. Most public libraries provide eBook service now. You can check out eBooks for free and download them to the eReader of your choice (Nook, Kindle, etc). You have a limited but reasonable amount of time to read it before it expires. And even I have to admit that the eBook format over the regular book format has some definite advantages (easy access and transportation!). 

But I still would never pay for an eBook…If I’m going to pay for something to read it is going to be pretty. It is going to be in my hands. It is going to smell like a book and look like a book. I won’t think twice about lending it to my neighbor. It is going to be something I will still be able to read in 20 years no matter how technology changes. (And that is why there will always be books, dad).

So I guess what I really want to say is, can’t eBooks and real books coexist? 

Guest post from Michelle: Helping a Struggling Reader

Michelle is back again today with some tips for how to help a struggling reader.  Enjoy!


When you have a child who is struggling to read, it can be hard to know where to start. Each child is different and no one sure method will work for each child. One of the best ways to help a child learn to read is to actually spend one on one time with him. As a Reading Recovery Teacher, I was trained to help some of the students who were having the most difficult time learning to read. Each lesson was written for each specific student and taught one on one. It was amazing to see the differences that it made for some of these kids. They were more confident, and were excited to read and write. Here are a few ideas that you can use to help kids who are struggling with reading. 

Find out what the child does know. These concepts could be letters, words, hearing sounds in words, what level he can read at, or how well he can write to name a few. This helps give you what his foundation is and what to start building on. When the child realizes that there is a struggle, he can make himself feel like he can’t do anything. You want to build him up and help him realize that he is capable of completing the task of reading. Once you know what he knows, start gradually adding different concepts. You can work on several different concepts all at once.

Writing will also help your child learn to read. When he is writing, he is incorporating words, letters, and grammar. You will need to scaffold according to your child, but the idea is to make him feel like he is  completing the task. You want this to be a positive experience. If you are having a hard time helping the child write, draw a picture, and ask your child to tell you about it. Then write a story. It can be as long as you want, or as short as you want. The act of writing will help solidify concepts he has been working on.

When working with an actual book, there are several things you can do to help the child succeed in reading. When introducing a new book, give an overview of the book- explain the story line, point out difficult words, ask questions about what they think might happen, or anything you think might help him when reading. This will help give him a background, on what he is reading. As he reads any book, remind him that he needs to make sure that what he is reading looks right, sounds right, and makes sense. (An example of this might be a child reads the phrase “I see a fire engine” as “I see a fire truck.”  It sounds correct, and it makes sense, but it doesn’t look right because truck starts with “t” and the word on the paper starts with an “e.”)

While there are many more strategies that you can use with a struggling reader, these few can help you get started. Working one on one with the child consistently will only help your struggling reader to become a proficient reader. The time will be well worth the effort, and bring joy to you and your child. 

For more information, please visit the Reading Recovery website.

Guest Post from Britt: Getting your kids to love books

Getting Your Kids to Love Books

My 1st child, a girl, has always loved books.  From the minute she was born she'd sit on my lap for forever just letting me read to her.  She crawled late, giving her even more time to learn to soak up the world of books while she could only sit, and not move, for months on end.  I'd constantly find her sitting on the floor looking through books even after she learned to move.  Before she was 1 her favorite book was Fancy Nancy - full sentences, serious story line, not a baby book.  Before she was 2 she had long books, like Peter Pan, memorized cover to cover.  I still find her reading books to herself every day and she'd let me read to her all night if I'd oblige.  

"Wow, I must be a great mom!" I thought to myself.  Cute little genius.  

And then I had another baby.  Baby #2 was a boy.  Cute little dude was so different from his sister from the start.  I'm sure I didn't read to him as much as I did to my daughter (who can with a toddler running around?), but I definitely tried.  The level of interest wasn't the same.  Then he crawled at 6 months (compared to my daughter at 10 months) and had no interest in anything but moving from then on out.  I had to basically pin him to the bed to even get in a bedtime book... or a few pages of a bedtime book.  

But, since I'm trying to do my best with this mom gig I persisted.  I really think that you instill a love of books in your children at a young age.  I didn't want to lose my chance to make my boy a reader.  

I finally found a book that he liked at about 8 months.  Gallop by Rufus Butler Seder.  It's scanimation, so the pictures move.  I should have guessed then what type of books would hook him, but my daughter was too easy for me to think that deeply into it.  

Then another breakthrough - Baby Face (I don't know the author), a book with a mirror at the end where he could see himself.  

Then Sandra Boynton books - need I say more?  Pajama Time, Doggies, Blue Hat Green Hat.  

Did you figure out where I'm going with this?  The key to getting a seemingly uninterested reader loving to read is zeroing in on their style.  

My son likes interactive books without a story line.  For him, this means a number of things beyond moving pictures and mirrors.  Simple pictures he can recognize and point out - "Buddy, where's the banana??".  Animals he can make a sound for.   Have you read Dinosaur vs. Bedtime?  It's a treat! Things we can laugh at.  He loves to laugh.  Flaps to open. A book with lots of sound words - boom, crash, knock.  Think Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?  It's a favorite at our house.  


My daughter loved rhyming.  My son could care less.  My daughter loved ABC books.  My son steers clear of them.  My daughter loved story lines very early.  I finally just found the first "story line" book my son likes - I Love You Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt.  And we can roar like a dinosaur and whisper in Stinky Faces' ear.  Interactive.  

My little guy now wants multiple books at bedtime.  He brings books to me then backs up into my lap randomly in the middle of the day for a mid-day reading treat constantly.  I'm so happy I didn't give up when he seemed hopelessly wiggly and uninterested.  

So find your kids' style.  Ask your children's librarians for recommendations.  Ask your friends what their kids' favorites have been.  Ask your mom what your favorites were.  Keep trying.  Try things you think they won't like.  They might surprise you.  Invest in a few favorites that really emphasize the kids' style.  Kids feed off of repetition.  

I only have 2 kids (so far!), but my perspective on reading to my kids has changed so much.  I felt slightly hopeless with my 2nd, but with my future children I will be more than thrilled to play book detective until I figure out their styles - rhyming, story line, picture, ABC, interactive, whatever it may be.


From Stacey:
Thanks, Britt!  I loved your term "book detective" and agree with you that it is important to find out what suits your children when they are tiny. This will help down the road a few years so you can know how best to help them as they begin reading more on their own.  And I love Dinosaur v. Bedtime - hilarious.  The "sequel" to Gallop is called Swing and my kids love that one...I'll have to remember to show them Gallop soon too! Lots of great books you've mentioned here!  Thanks again!  


Slight-Off-topic-but-hey-this-is-still-my-family-blog: I had to laugh when I checked out the pictures Britt sent me in her email with this post. The first attachment was this photo from 2008, below on the left.  I thought I had one from the same day of Jacob smiling a tiny bit...  Go figure - E is giving his arm a pat and that's when he cracked a smile. Or maybe it was elbow grazing!  I showed this to my son and told him it was him and his ol' buddy E and he said, "Why did Jacob just grow up?"  Sometimes I wonder the same thing...but maybe more of a when than a why. :)  

Did you enter the giveaway?  

Sunday: Took a break today!

Sorry for no post about Spiritual Literacy like the last two Sundays; I'll have two posts up tomorrow to make up for it!  I was busy being with family and celebrating Rebecca's 2nd birthday! Pictures to come soon.

Guest Post from Diana

Today's post is from Diana!  She shares a memorable reading experience in her post today and discusses how other books have affected her life. You can also visit her blog and see what she has to report on her 2011 resolution to read at least one book per month and post about it. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts, Diana...especially since I know things just barely (or hardly?) settled down a bit for people in your line of work!

While it might not be the first book I ever read, the first one I remember reading by myself is the book "Wolf by the Ears" by Ann Rinaldi.  I sat in my pajamas in our living room surrounded by Christmas wrapping paper after the presents were open, reading and totally hooked.  The book is about a possible child of Thomas Jefferson by his slave Sally Hemings.  It's not classic literature, but I was engrossed at age 9 or 10.  As someone who used, and uses, books to escape a world where I sometimes felt uncomfortable in my own skin, I found this tale of a girl caught between two worlds strangely relatable.  Harriet Hemings faced a decision about whether to "pass" for white in a society where the the shade of your skin determined your status.  

What I loved about this book was that it made me step outside myself and ask what I would do in such a situation.  Clichéd as it sounds, this book opened a portal into a new world and made slavery real to me in a way that years of visiting Virginia battlefields and learning about the Civil war in textbooks did not.  It created a character who I identified with and helped me understand the tragedy of slavery's toll on a personal level.

And that's an aspect of literature that I love - the ability I get to step into the shoes of different worlds, places, and people and learn things about myself, relationships, and the world at large.  Whether it's traveling the galaxy with Ender Wiggins, reading the story of an illiterate teenage mother in New York City, stopping by the island of Guernsey post-World War II, or dropping myself into a modern presidential campaign, I get to visit magical book worlds.  These worlds teach me things about people and about myself.  Books can nudge us or startle us out of our "thinking ruts."  Reading "The Brothers Karamazov" changed the way I thought about my religion.  Jane Eyre teaches me about acting for good in a sometimes inexplicable and unpredictable world.  Anne Shirley reminds me to find zest in life and look for the "White Way of Delight" in what other people may see as a prosaic path.  Even though I hated parts of it, Thomas Hardy's "Tess of the D'ubervilles" taught me about relationships.  And Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy just makes me laugh when I need to.

So while I've moved on to other books with smaller print and bigger words, I still have "A Wolf By the Ears" on my bookshelf almost 20 years later.  It's a testament to how important the written word is to me.  I'm grateful it started me on the delightful habit of curling up in my pajamas with a good book.  In fact, I'm off to do that now!

Guest Post from Susan

Hi, I'm Susan. 

I'm the mother of 4 girls and I've been married to my husband Jim for 20 years. I'm a full time teacher with one of the world's best jobs. Currently I work in a school library teaching classes to children in the primary grades. It's my job to read to young children every day and teach them about some amazing authors and illustrators.

I've always had a creative soul, I especially enjoy decorating. I like to sew, make jewelry and do crafty projects around the house. I'm always up for learning new things and I enjoy teaching what I know to others. I'm energized by working on my blog, I love creating and teaching about it. I like to thrift and turn junky finds into something spectacular! Recently I've opened up Homeroad the Store, my Etsy shop. Stop by and have a look!

Come visit my site at homeroad.net. I think you'll like what you see and I hope you can take away some inspiration from my work. I just finished my craft room and I'm working on my next project...a work bench in the basement. My husband Jim and I will work together on this one, power tools are on my wish list! Enjoy!

This is a post from my other site...

Library Lessons

This is where I get to do the kid stuff!

 

 McElligot's Pool by Dr. Seuss What a great story! Written in 1947 Theodore Geisel dedicated this book to his father. 

The illustrations in this story were done in colored pencil. This gave the pictures an aged look, unlike the later stories by

Dr. Seuss that we all know so well which were done in ink. 

Before reading McElligot's Pool to the children, I asked them to notice the fish that were in the story.  I would be having each of the children draw their own fish straight from their imaginations.

I then read an "excerpt", the first few "fishy" pages, of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. I explained that an excerpt was just a taste of a story to spark their interests.

After reading and discussing the story, I gave each child a piece of paper and let them draw a fish, any size, color or shape they wanted to.

 We were going to cut them out and add them to a large "McElligot's Pool" made from craft paper on the bulletin board.

Each class added their fish to the pool and by the end of the week McElligot's pool was filled with fish of all sizes and shapes. 

I think the chances of catching a fish in this pool have increased greatly!

Too Many Mittens, by Florence and Louis Slobodkin

source

In February I found a copy of the 1958 children's book Too Many Mittens for a pretty penny (alright, just a quarter) at the Quarter Book Sale here in Ann Arbor.  I hadn't read it before but I'd heard good things about it and had actually looked for a reasonably priced copy on half.com a couple months earlier.  We brought it home, read it, and I thought it was a great one to share with the kids.  It even takes place in Michigan!  I found a summary about this book that I wanted to share so you could see Louis Slobodkin's simple and colorful illustrations and read more about this cute story of a small town that rallies in support of twin boys who lose their mittens.  

Now, keep an eye out for any red mittens you may see lying about! They might belong to Ned & Danny!  

Guest Post: Brooke and Ideas for Learning to Read

Today, with permission, I'm linking to a post written by my friend Brooke. Her family lives right near us here in Michigan and in her post she shares all sorts of wonderful ideas for things she has used for teaching her children to read. Brooke is very well-read herself and when I read this post several weeks ago on her blog I was so impressed with all the tools she is using to pass her love of learning on to her three boys.  Enjoy!