Soar with Reading: An Open Letter to Jet Blue

Literacy/kidlit folks: please take a minute to read, sign, and share this open letter to Jet Blue about their new Soar with Reading program.  This is a promising pilot program that aims to encourage literacy by placing book vending machines in low-income areas of Washington, DC. Sadly, the selection of books lacks diversity, and only four out of the initial selection of books reflect diverse authors or characters. Author Zetta Elliott, with help from the community, has researched and written an excellent letter to Jet Blue. Please read and sign the letter here, then share it with your networks.

Give a Book and Help Raise a Reader

When I was growing up, our tradition was that we always got at least one book for Christmas, and those were some of my most treasured gifts. I still remember the Christmas that I got an anthology of Sherlock Holmes stories, and I sat next to the Christmas tree and spent a pleasant couple of hours reading. Giving children books as gifts helps to reinforce that books are something special and to encourage a love of reading. Here are some sources that can help you find the perfect book as a gift for the child in your life:

• 150 Ways to Give a Book: Every year my friend MotherReader posts this list of gifts which pair a book with something fun related to the book. Check out the updated 2013 list here.
• I've been involved with the Cybils Awards since the award was founded in 2006. Our goal is to honor those children's books which have both literary merit and child appeal. The Cybils lists are great sources of ideas for book gifts. Go to www.cybils.com and check out the 2013 nominations lists by category in the middle sidebar. The nomination lists include links to judges' reviews for many of the books. You can also check out previous years' finalists and winners in the right hand sidebar.
• I've also been doing some web development work recently for the Mom's Choice Awards, making enhancements to their web store. Here you can shop for books, toys, and other gifts that meet the Mom's Choice standards of excellence. (My husband's book, The Dark Dreamweaver, is a Mom’s Choice Awards® Gold Recipient)
• Don't forget your local independent bookstore! Independent booksellers are knowledgeable resources who can help you find the perfect gift. You can find a local bookstore or search for books through the IndieBound website.

Game of Books on Kickstarter

Lately I've been interested in Kickstarter, and I keep finding interesting Kickstarter projects to back. This is my second Kickstarter post recently, and I don't want to turn this into a Kickstarter blog, because that would change the purpose of the blog. So instead, I decided to start a new Tumblr called Kickstarter Addicts to post those projects I find interesting.

To kick things off, I wrote about a really exciting project called The Game of Books. It sounds like a fun game that both kids and adults would enjoy, and I want to play it! The picture above is my game card from the demo of the game. If I remember right, I entered Ratha’s Creature, Dune, Dust & Decay, and The Hobbit. I may also have entered The Hunger Games but I can’t remember for sure.

Read more about it on my Kickstarter Addicts post!

While you're there, I hope you'll follow my new Tumblr!

Do non-interactive books do a better job of encouraging literacy than interactive books?

A recent study by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center seems to indicate that they do. The study found that when parents and children read together, children recall significantly more details when reading print books or regular, non-enhanced ebooks than they do when reading interactive ebooks. In addition, children engage with the content more when reading non-interactive books, with actions such as pointing and talking about the story.

So what does this mean? Are interactive books a dead end? I personally don't think so. We live in an era of options, and while all those options sometimes make it difficult to choose, in the long run this is a good thing, because there is no one right option for everyone and every situation. There are many ways to read and many ways to publish, and we can pick and choose as the situation requires. The key, as with everything, is balance.

For Parents

The old advice is still the best: read to your child early and often. We started reading to our son the day we brought him home from the hospital, and read to him almost every day after that until he was a teen. Even then, we sometimes read books together as a family, taking turns reading. We spent a glorious weekend reading the last Harry Potter book together the weekend it was released. I don't think it's unrelated that, at age 16, my son just finished his first year of college, living in the dorm, earning excellent grades and fitting in well with the other students. Reading to him was certainly not solely responsible--he's his own person and in large measure responsible for his own success--but it certainly helped.

But interactive books have their place as well. They may not be as good at developing traditional literacy skills, but computer literacy skills are just as important in today's world, and interactive books do help with those. In addition, the study also showed that interactive books have a lot of appeal for children, and can help encourage an interest in books, especially for reluctant readers. And in some cases, interactive eBooks can teach things that are difficult to teach using traditional books, or provide additional experiences and information about a particular topic. So the key, as it always has been, is in providing a variety of experiences for your child: books, ebooks, apps, not to mention "real life" experiences.

For Publishers, Self-Publishers, App Developers, and Authors

Parents will need books in a variety of formats, which is good news for everyone involved in creating books for children. Publishers can choose to provide their content in a variety of formats, or focus on just one or two. Print, Kindle, ePub, iOS, Android, computer: it's all good and all will be needed. Publishers need to keep aware of the changes in the industry and be prepared to act accordingly. Read industry newsletters and learn as much as you can about the different options, so you can make appropriate choices. Print is not dead, and I don't believe it will go away any time soon, but there's no denying that print markets are shrinking, so publishers need to think carefully about what formats to publish in, and run the numbers to see what makes sense and what will be profitable.

Some projects will be ideally suited to interactive ebooks, others will be a good fit with print and traditional ebooks, while still others will make sense to do in both formats. Any absolute statements about what publishers "must" be doing should be viewed with caution and evaluated carefully. There is no one right solution, and thank goodness we live in an exciting time of options.

Print Books, Basic Ebooks may Top Enhanced Ebooks at Fostering Literacy, Says Study — The Digital Shift

Book People Unite: Take the Pledge and help RIF put books into the hands of kids in underserved communities

"...there’s only one book for every 300 kids living in underserved communities in the U.S." RIF has been putting books into the hands of kids for decades. Now, they've teamed up with some top recording artists and actors to create this music video to raise awareness and encourage people to join the cause. After you watch the video, please go to http://www.bookpeopleunite.org/ to learn more about the video and sign the pledge. It doesn't cost you anything.

RIF recently lost its federal funding, which represented 80% of its operating budget. But rather than give up, this loss seems to have infused RIF with new energy, new creativity, and new determination to accomplish their mission. But RIF needs our help. Visit http://www.rif.org/ for information on donating or volunteering in your community.

Books inspire, educate, inform, entertain, but most importantly they open minds to new ideas, new horizons. Imagine how much it benefits us as a society to put books in the hands of kids who don't have them. In the words of Grammy award-winning Hip-Hop band The Roots, who produced the video, ""Narrative is perhaps the most essential aspect of human culture." I would agree with that, and add that narrative is not "just" story; it helps us to make sense of the world around us. 

Happy Birthday Cat, and help literacy

You've probably already read that today is the 50th birthday of the Cat in the Hat. Happy birthday Cat! You can send a birthday card to the Cat in the Hat and help literacy; Random House will donate a book to First Reads for every card sent. To send a birthday card, go to www.catinthehat.com. If you're at work, you might want to turn off your speakers first, unless you want your co-workers to wonder why the happy birthday song is blaring out of your computer!

Tags: Dr Seuss | children's books | literacy | cat in the hat